Termination Shock

Saskia now perceived the humor but felt a need to patiently explain. “No one died. No one identified us. Lennert and Johan are getting the best care they can. We are here on this boat with this man who seems helpful.”

Amelia thought it over and shrugged. “With Lennert gone, I’m in charge of keeping you safe. This is not what we expected. For the moment, this is no more dangerous than any other random place in America. But we are not supposed to be in a random place in America. We are supposed to be at T.R. McHooligan’s guesthouse in Houston.”

“You should get in the habit of calling him Dr. Schmidt,” Saskia pointed out.

“Yes, mevrouw.”

“Would that really be safer, though?” Saskia asked. “Houston is about to be hit by a hurricane. Then it will flood.”

Amelia considered it and checked the screen of her watch, which was showing a little weather map.

“What do y’all want to do?” Rufus inquired.

“Eventually we have to meet someone in Houston.”

“Y’all’re gonna have to kill two or three days then. Hurricane’s coming. Can’t go in there now.”

“What do you suggest? Where is a good place to ‘kill’ two or three days?”

“You could do worse than Beau Boskey’s pontoon boat.”

Of course that was what a man such as Rufus would suggest given that that was what he had access to and was used to. But try as they might, Saskia and Amelia couldn’t find any reason why it was a bad idea.

Above all, they had to sleep. This was a biological reality. They could backtrack up the river, beach the RHIB at the suspension bridge, run across the street, and check in at the Hilton. But Willem was at the hospital at the other end of town with the documents and the cash. There would be a lot of details having to do with passports, payment, and so on that would be sticky given the way they had just entered the country. There would be surveillance cameras. Not that the secret police were, as a general practice, staking out the lobby of the Waco Hilton for stray European royalty. But you could never tell where those things were networked and what humans or AIs might licitly or illicitly have access to their feeds. And from the looks of things she was pretty sure that once they put another kilometer of Brazos behind them, there were not a lot of cameras.

They had entered the country illegally, yes. But there was nothing they could do about that now. Getting all that sorted in Houston—a vast international metropolis—in a couple of days would be just as good as, and maybe better than, doubling back into Waco and trying to track down the relevant officials—assuming there even were any in Waco—to stamp their passports.

The more they went on pondering these things, the farther downriver they got. The stadium and the big structures on the Baylor campus receded. They found themselves in open country. Communications from Willem suggested he had things well in hand. Not just on the medical front but also in the sense of linking up with staff back home. Last week they had prepared a cover story to explain why Saskia would not be making any public appearances this week, and it was as good now as it had been before the jet had hit the pigs.

Rufus for his part was talking to his friends. They had retrieved his truck from where he’d left it and they were said to be “mobilizing,” which sounded like it involved getting “Beau’s pontoon” on a trailer and other such logistics. After dark they could all meet up at a “put-in” downriver. At that point some decisions would have to be made. The first being: Where could they sleep? Because more and more that was the only thing Saskia could think about.

She sent a secure text to T.R.:

> We have been delayed in the Waco area.

He responded:

> Willem informed me.

> Are you staying in Houston, or going to the site?

> Riding the storm out here. The whole program has been pushed back.

> So we are not going to miss the event if we wait?

> Correct. Stay safe and we’ll sort it out after the hurricane.

> Thank you T.R.

> Godspeed Y.M.