Kate leaned closer. Vegetable beef stew with crackers. Or something approximating vegetable beef stew. Kate wanted to turn away, but the sight and smell of the hot food made her stomach churn — she was starving. She hadn’t eaten all day yesterday. She took the meal, sat down, and pulled the plastic off the flimsy carton. A plume of steam rose. She took a bite of the beef and almost spit it out. “God, it’s terrible.”
“Yeah, sorry about that; it’s a little past its expiration, and it wasn’t that great to begin with— No, I don’t have anything else. Sorry.”
Kate took another bite, chewing only briefly before swallowing it down. “Where are we?”
David sat down at the table opposite her. “An abandoned development off the coast of Jakarta. I bought a place here after the developers went bust, figured it would be a good off-the-books safe house in case I ever had to leave Jakarta in a hurry.”
“I don’t remember much of that.” Kate tried the vegetables. The urge to hurl was abating — either it tasted better than the beef or she was getting used to the meal’s general repulsiveness. “We have to go to the authorities.”
“I wish we could.” He slid a printout over to her, an article from Al Jazeera describing a manhunt for them.
Kate choked down some vegetables and half shouted “This is absurd. This is—”
He took back the page. “It won’t matter soon. Whatever they’re planning, it’s happening now. They’re looking for us, and they have government connections. Our options are pretty limited here. I have a lead, and I need to check it out. You’ll be safe here. I need you to tell me—”
“No way I’m staying here.” Kate shook her head. “No way.”
“I know you don’t remember it, but it wasn’t that easy extracting you from Immari custody. These are some very bad people, this is not like the movies where the hero and girl go off on a grand adventure for the sake of plot convenience. This is what we’re going to do: you’re going to tell me everything you know, you have my word that I will do everything I can to save those two children. You will stay here and monitor a web site for new messages.”
“No deal.”
“Look, I’m not offering you a deal, I’m telling you—”
“I’m not doing it. You need me. And I’m not staying here.” She finished the last bite of meal and tossed the plastic fork into the empty carton. “And besides, I think the safest place to be is with you.”
“Nice. That’s a nice touch, appealing to my ego like that, but unfortunately I’m just barely, barely smart enough not to fall for it.”
“You’re leaving me here because you think I’ll be in your way.”
“I’m trying to keep you safe.”
“That’s not my biggest concern.”
The man opened his mouth to respond, but stopped, jerking his head sharply to the side.
“What—”
His hand shot up. “Quiet.”
Kate shifted in her seat. Then she saw it — a spotlight, sweeping the beach, then the sound of a helicopter. How had he heard that?
He sprang up, grabbed Kate by the arm and half-dragged her to the coat closet near the entrance to the home. He pushed hard on the back wall and it swung inward, revealing a concrete stairway.
Kate looked back at him. “What is this—”
“Get down there. I’m right behind you.”
“Where are you going?” Kate asked, but he was gone.
Kate ran back into the home. The man was gathering up their things — the meal and his jacket. Kate ran into the bedroom and smoothed the covers, then did a quick clean-job on the toilet. The helicopter was still in the distance, but it was getting closer. It was dark now, and she could see very little — last night was a full moon and tonight was a new moon. The faint light barely illuminated the beach.
David popped into the room and looked at Kate. “Good job, now come on.”
They raced back to the coat closet, through the passage, and down into a small room that looked like a bomb shelter. There was a desk with a computer, a single light hanging from the ceiling, and a small cot — definitely designed for one.
The soldier forced Kate onto the cot and held his index finger at his lips. Then he pulled the cord on the bulb, plunging them into total darkness.
Some time later, Kate heard footsteps on the floor above.
CHAPTER 45
Immari Research Base Snow Island
96 Miles off the Coast of Antarctica