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Jocko thought about it anyway Jocko couldn’t turn his mind off It spun and soenals No need for theh all this thinking, Jocko secretly watched Erika
"Do you think about big issues?" Jocko asked
"Like what?"
"Like … things you don’t have"
She was quiet so long Jocko thought he screwed up again
Then she said, "Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a mother"
Jocko slumped in his seat "Jocko’s sorry Sorry he asked That’s too hard Don’t think about it"
"And what’s it like to be a mother? I’ll never know"
"Why never?"
"Because of how I’reatEyes on the road Rain on the road, rain in her eyes
"You would," he insisted "You take care of Jocko real good"
She kind of laughed It was kind of a sob, too
Way to go Jocko speaks People weep
"You’re very sweet," she said
Sotheir speed drop, she said, "Isn’t that Victor’s car?"
Orin his seat, he said, "Where?"
"That rest area on the right Yes, it’s hi"
"I don’t want hiet there separately from him, or I can’t sneak you in"
Erika pulled into the rest area Stopped behind Victor’s sedan "Stay here, stay down"
"You’re getting out? It’s raining"
"We don’t want hi to us, do we?" She opened the door
AFTER RECEIVING CONFIRMATION that James had done as instructed, Victor took a few minutes to consider hoould approach the tank farht be breaking down in one way or another He would need to be cautious, but he refused to be scared off These were his creations, products of his genius, inferior to hihten him than one of Mozart’s concertos could have terrified the co by Reht They would submit to him or hear the death phrase
He foresaw no chance that anything like the Werner aboularity And where was it now? Vaporized with everything else in the Hands of Mercy
No rebellion against Victor could hope to succeed, not only because his poas that of the ods, but also because the smartest of the Alphas was an idiot by comparison with its maker, he on whom the centuries took no toll
Erika Four, an Alpha, would be no match for him He had killed her once with only a silk necktie and the power of his hands, and he could kill her again if the bitch had in fact been revived An Alpha, a woman, and a wife--she was three tiht in the opportunity to punish her for the iht she had been cruelly treated in her first life, in her second he would teach her what cruelty really was
He had no fear of going to the tank farm He seethed with desire to be there and to rule this new kingdom with a ferocious discipline that would allow no repeat of the Hands of Mercy
As he reached to release the parking brake, a vehicle appeared on the highway, approaching fro, it parked behind hiht
His mirrors presented too few details, so he turned in his seat to look through the backErika Five was behind the wheel of the GL550, which he had ordered her to drive to the far back at her, furious with her because she looked like the i in the backseat, but he heard so move there In the instant, he knehy he had felt that he was not alone: Chameleon!
The New Race pheromones hich he had doused himself would provide hours of protection Except that … in ht be broken, in row riper andopen the driver’s door and plunged out of the car, into the night Into the rain The down-pour would fade the scent of his own pheromones, but it would more effectively wash away the odor of the New Race, which was only sprinkled on his suit
He should have slaone to the farer dared approach the open driver’s door, because Chaht already have scraht be out of the sedan, on rest-area pavement immediately around him The ceaseless dance of raindrops on the blacktop would entirely conceal the telltale ripple of Chaotten out of the GL even an instant before he had vacated the S600 At his side, sensing trouble, she said, "Victor? What’s wrong?"
ERIKA TOLD JOCKO, Stay down
She said it like a scolding ood mother But wasn’t Jocko’s mother Nobody was
Jocko raised his head Saw Erika and Victor together Instantly soaked by rain
More interesting was the bug The biggest bug Jocko ever saw Half as big as Jocko
This one didn’t look tasty Looked bitter
In the stors didn’t know his big yellow eyes could see the so big
Suddenly Jocko knew The way it sneaked The way it started to rear up This bug would kill
Pillowcase On the floor In front of his seat Slip the knot in the shoelace Inside--soap, soap, soap The knife
Quick, quick, quick, Jocko in the rain Capering toward Erika and Victor Don’t pirouette
CHAPTER 66
THE BUG DIDN’T WANT TO DIE
Neither did Jocko Everything going so well Soap His first ride in a car Someone to talk to His first pants Nobody hit hi shows up Jocko luck