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Because there was no logical target at which her eer slowlyto fear They sees house After passing one uneventful night in the place, they almost could be assured that their presence would never be public knowledge, for otherwise killers from the past no doubt already would have appeared Yet Laura was afraid
So very bad
Trouble was co Soon
Too bad the old saasn’t true: In fact lightning did strike twice in the same place, three times, a hundred, and she was the reliable rod that drew it
Dr Juttner entered the last of the nuate To Erich Kliet to the vicinity of Pals?" Klietmann was surprised
"Yes Of course, we had expected you’d have to go soe County area, where you would have found your young-executive dress more appropriate than in a resort town, but you’ll still pass without notice For one thing, it’s winter there, and even in the desert dark suits will be appropriate for the season" Juttner handed Klietmann a sheet of paper on which he had written directions "Here’s where you’ll find the wo it in an inside coat pocket, the lieutenant said, "What about Krieger?"
"The researchers didn’t find mention of him," Juttner said, "but he must be with the woman and the boy If you don’t see him, then do your best to take the woman and boy captive If you have to torture theer’s whereabouts, so be it And if worse coer-kill theht draw him into the open somewhere down the time line"
"We’ll find him, Doctor"
Kliet their ho their Mark Cross attache cases, they walked to the gate, stepped up into that giant barrel, and moved toward the two-thirds point where they would pass in a wink from 1944 to 1989
The lieutenant was afraid but also exhilarated He was the iron fist of Hitler, froer could not hide even forty-five years in the future
On their first full day in the Pals house, Sunday the fifteenth of January, they set up the computer, and Laura instructed Stefan in its use IBM’s operating program and the software for the tasks they needed to perforhtfall Stefan was far fro the computer, he was able to understand how it functioned, how it thought He would not be doing most of the ith the machine, anyway; that would be left to Laura, as already experienced with the system His job would be to explain to her the calculations that would have to be done, so she would be able to apply the computer to the solution of the o back to 1944, using the gate-ho belt he had taken off Kokoschka The belts were not tiate itself was the machine, the vehicle of transport, and it remained always in 1944 The belts were in tune with the teht the traveler home when he pushed the button to activate that link
"How?" Laura asked when he explained the use of the belt "How does it take you back?"
"I don’t know Would you kno a microchip functions inside a co the coate"
Having returned to the institute in 1944, having seized control of the main lab, Stefan would make two crucial jaunts, each only days into the future froe the destruction of the institute Those two trips had to be meticulously planned, so he would arrive at each destination in exactly the geographical location and precisely at the time that he desired Such refined calculations were impossible to make in 1944, not only because computer assistance was unavailable but because in those days le and rate of rotation of the earth and about other planetary factors that affected a jaunt, which hy time travelers from the institute frequently arrived off schedule by minutes and out of place by miles With the ultiate to deliver him within one yard and within a split second of his desired point of arrival
They used all of the books that Thelht These were not merely science and mathematics texts, but histories of the Second World War, in which they could pinpoint the whereabouts of certaincomplex calculations for the jaunts, they had to allow time for Stefan to heal When he returned to 1944, he would be reentering the wolf’s lair, and even equipped with nerve gas and a first-rate firear killed "Teeks," he said "I think I’ll have enough flexibility in the shoulder and aro back in two more weeks"
It did not matter if he took teeks or ten, for when he used Kokoschka’s ho belt, he would return to the institute only eleven minutes after Kokoschka had left it His date of departure from current time would not affect his date of return in 1944
The only worry was that the Gestapo would find them first and send a hit squad to 1989 to eliminate them before Stefan could return to his era to ih it was their only worry-it orry enough
With considerable caution,and a roll of thunder, they took a break and went grocery shopping Sunday afternoon Laura, still the object of media attention, remained in the car while Chris and Stefan went into thestruck, and they returned to the house with a trunkful of groceries
Unpacking the s in the kitchen, Laura discovered that a third of the sacks contained nothing but snack food: three different kinds of ice-cream bars, plus one quart each of chocolate, rocky road, butter als of M&Ms, Kit Kats, Reese’s Cups, and Almond Joys; potato chips, pretzels, tortilla chips, cheese popcorn, peanuts; four kinds of cookies; one chocolate cake, one cherry pie, one box of doughnuts, four packages of Ding Dongs
Stefan was helping her put things away, and she said, "You est sweet tooth"
"See, this is another thing I find so a and wonderful about this future of yours," he said "Just ier any nutritional difference between a chocolate cake and a steak Just as reen salad You can eat nothing but desserts and remain as healthy as a man who eats balanced meals Incredible! Hoas this advance achieved?"
Laura turned in ti out of the kitchen "Whoa, you little con artist"
Looking sheepish, he said, "Doesn’t Mr Krieger get some funny ideas about our culture?’ ’
"I knohere he got this one," she said "What a sneaky thing to have done"
Chris sighed and tried to soundhunted down by Gestapo agents, we ought to be able to eat as s as ant, at least ’cause every meal could be our last" He looked at her sideways to see if she was buying his condeh truth to make his trickery understandable if not excusable, and she could not find the will to punish hi on Stefan’s wound The i had left an enormous bruise on his chest with the bullet hole at its approximate center, a smaller bruise around the exit point The suture threads and the inside of the old bandage were crusted with fluid that had seeped from hi thatthe scab, she gently palpated the flesh, producing a trace of clear seepage, but there was no sign of pus formation that would indicate a serious infection Of course, heinternally, but that was not likely because he had no fever