Operation Terror | Page 8

Lake!
When you get the chance, turn around and get the hell away."
He watched for a chance to get back on the road, having delivered his
warning. Lockley got out of his car and went over, "You're talking
about the thing that came down from the sky," he said grimly. "There
was a girl up at the camp. Jill Holmes. Writing a piece about building a
national park. Getting information about the job. Did anybody get her
away?"
The man who'd warned him continued to watch for a reasonable gap in

the flood of racing cars. They weren't crowded now as they had been,
but it was still impossible to start in low and get back in the stream of
vehicles without an almost certain crash. Then he turned his head back,
staring at Lockley.
"Hell! Somebody told me to check on her. I was routing men out and
loading 'em on whatever came by. I forgot!"
A man in the back of the sedan said, "She hadn't left when we did. I
saw her. But I thought she had a ride all set."
The man at the wheel said furiously, "She hasn't passed us! Unless she's
in one of these...."
Lockley set his teeth. He watched each oncoming car intently. A girl
among these fugitives would have been put with the driver in the cab of
a truck, and he'd have seen a woman in any of the private cars.
"If I don't see her go by," he said grimly, "I'll go up to the camp and see
if she's still there."
The man in the driver's seat looked relieved.
"If she's left behind, it's her fault. If you hunt for her, make it fast and
be plenty careful. Keep to the camp and stay away from the lake. There
was a hell of an explosion over there this morning. Three men went to
see what'd happened. They didn't come back. Two more went after 'em,
and something hit them on the way. They smelled something worse
than skunk. Then they were paralyzed, like they had hold of a
high-tension line. They saw crazy colors and heard crazy sounds and
they couldn't move a finger. Their car ditched. In a while they came out
of it and they came back--fast! They'd just got back when we got short
wave orders for everybody to get out. If you look for that girl, be
careful. If she's still there, you get her out quick!" Then he said sharply,
"Here's a chance for us to get going. Move out of the way!"
There was a gap in the now diminishing spate of cars. The driver of the
stopped car drove furiously onto the highway. He shifted gears and

accelerated at the top of his car's power. Another car behind him braked
and barely avoided a crash while blowing its horn furiously. Then the
traffic went on. But it was lessening now. It was mostly private cars,
owned by the workmen.
Suddenly there were no cars coming down the long straight stretch of
road. Lockley got back on the highway and resumed his rush toward
the spot the others fled from. He heard behind him the diminishing
rumble and roar of the fugitive motors. He jammed his own accelerator
down to the floor and plunged on.
There'd been an explosion by the lake, the man who'd warned him said.
That checked. Three men went to see what had happened. That was
reasonable. They didn't come back. Considering what Vale had
reported, it was almost inevitable. Then two other men went to find out
what happened to the first three and--that was news! A smell that was
worse than skunk. Paralysis in a moving car, which ditched. Remaining
paralyzed while seeing crazy colors and hearing crazy sounds....
Lockley could not even guess at an explanation. But the men had
remained paralyzed for some time, and then the sensations lifted. They
had fled back to the construction camp, evidently fearing that the
paralysis might return. Their narrative must have been hair-raising,
because when orders had come for the evacuation of the camp, they had
been obeyed with a promptitude suggesting panic. But apparently
nothing else had happened.
The first three men were still missing--or at least there'd been no
mention of their return. They'd either been killed or taken captive,
judging by Vale's account and obvious experience. He was either killed
or captured, too, but it still seemed strange that Lockley had heard so
much of that struggle via a tight beam microwave transmitter that
needed to be accurately aimed. Vale had been captured or killed. The
three other men missing probably had undergone the same fate. The
two others had been made helpless but not murdered or taken prisoner.
They'd simply been held until when