The ride down the broken, abandoned highway slowed to a walk, a crawl. Alec hefted his machine pistol and snapped its wire stock into place, so he could rest the base against his hip. He walked a few paces out in front of the truck, well off to the right shoulder of the highway. The road was broad enough for several trucks to pass side by side. But the brush and trees came right up to the edge of the cement and even invaded the cracks in the paving. An army could hide in here, Alec knew. But he saw nothing.

“Something up ahead!” the driver’s voice sounded shrilly in his earphones.

“I saw something!” a trooper agreed excitedly. “It went across the road from left to right. Fast.”

Alec said, “Gunner—spray the right shoulder of the highway... how far up ahead, Joe?”

“About fifty meters. I’d say.”

“Fifty meters, gunner.”

The truck stopped. The low hum of its electric motors was replaced by the high-pitched whine of the special generator that drove the laser. In the darkness Alec could barely make out the oval metal mirror of the laser as it turned slightly in his direction, catching a glint of starlight on its polished copper surface.

Then the whine rose to a harsh crescendo and the woods some fifty meters ahead burst into sudden flame. It sounded like a dull whooshing explosion, then a roaring crackle, as the invisible laser beam poured infrared energy into the brush. In the lurid light of the flames two large animals leaped onto the highway and bounded across it and into the brush on the other side. They were four-footed, with graceful slim legs.

“Deer,” someone said disgustedly.

“Deers have horns on ‘em.”

“Not all the time!”

“Cease firing,” Alec commanded.

The flames disappeared as abruptly as they had sprung up, leaving a patch of dull red embers at the side of the road. Alec smelled an oddly pleasing odor. It made him want to cough, yet it touched a cord so deep inside him that he had never known it was there. Burning wood? Why should it smell so good?

With a shake of his head, he ordered, “All right, everybody back on the truck. If there were any people there, they’ve taken off by now.”

Kobol climbed back up on the left front fender with a grunt, then said loudly enough for everyone to hear, “Well, there’s your ambush—two scared deer.”

They all laughed as the truck started up again. But Alec couldn’t help thinking, He’s out there. Somewhere he’s out there waiting for us. And he’s not alone.

He checked with Ron Jameson back at the airport twice over the next few hours. No activity there; a quiet night with no movement. The men were sleeping in relays.

Alec found that his own men were dozing off as they rode, clinging to various parts of the truck, sprawling wherever they could find enough flat surface. He took over the driving himself, after his second call to Jameson, and let the driver catch a nap on the fender. Even Kobol seemed to be drowsing, chin on chest, head bobbing gently as they drove.

In the infrared scope before him, the highway showed clearly as a band of orange stretching out ahead, crisscrossed by cracks and breaks. The foliage to either side was pink, except for a small scurrying animal here and there, which showed a bright red.

“Who’s on the gun?” Alec asked softly into his helmet mike.

“Gianelli.”

“You wide awake?”

“Depend on it. Got my IR goggles on—they’re so damned heavy they’re giving me a headache. I couldn’t fall asleep if I wanted to.”

“Good.”

“Glad to hear you’re worrying about me, chief.”

Alec grinned to himself. “You just keep a sharp eye out, especially to our rear. I’m watching up front.”

“Right. I’ve been doing that. Nothing moving except a few more deer.”

“You’re sure they’re deer?”

Gianelli laughed softly. “Unless men bounce across the road on all fours.”

“All right.”

Alec was still driving when they topped a rise and the heat-radiating buildings of the Oak Ridge complex came into view on his scope. Almost automatically he slowed the truck to a gradual, gentle stop. Then he glanced at his wristwatch. The Sun will be up in another hour and a half.

For a moment he debated waking the sleeping men. Instead, he fished in the pouch at his belt for a stimulant capsule and swallowed it dry, with a hard gulp. Then he swung the overhead cockpit hatch open.

Climbing out into the breeze-murmuring night, he stood on the top deck of the truck and stretched his cramped arms and legs. Sleeping bodies sprawled everywhere, barely visible in the darkness. Another weird hooting sound floated out from the woods, sending a shiver along Alec’s spine.

Stepping over one of the dozing men, he reached the laser gun mount. “Gianelli?” he whispered.

“Yeah.”

“Take a nap. I’ll stand watch.”

Gianelli did not argue. Alec climbed into the gunner’s jumpseat and silently took the infrared goggles from his hand. The laser was humming softly, set on wide-beam scan, acting as a searchlight instead of a weapon.

The goggles were heavy. Alec had to make a conscious effort to keep his head erect as he slowly swung the gun mount around in a complete circle. The faint whine of the drive motors sounded almost comforting against the strange night noises from beyond the truck.

The trees appeared ghostly white in the goggles, the concrete buildings of the complex down in the valley below were a hotter shade of orange. The buildings were set out in an open area, with the closest trees many meters away. The land around the buildings looked dark, lifeless. Maybe some grass, but not much else.

As Alec swung the laser around slowly, scanning in a complete circle around the truck, he began to get the uncanny feeling that someone was watching him. At first it was nothing more than a vague uneasiness. But gradually the feeling grew, became a prickling along his spine, a cold fear pressing into the back of his neck.

Maybe I should wake a few of the men, he thought. Then he answered himself, No! You’re just nervous. Scared to be out here alone.

Clenching his teeth, he continued to turn the gun mount slowly, feeling colder every minute. Straight ahead was the road and down on the valley floor, the buildings. Turn and the trees came up, closer, closer, mysterious white branches reaching out toward you, grasping, lifting themselves up into the sky. Keep turning, the road again, the trail back to the airport, the shuttles, safety. Then the trees again, and finally the buildings.

What if he’s out there? Does he have IR detectors? Goggles? If he does, then we’re sitting here like a beacon, a big fat bright target.

Abruptly, Alec kicked on the foot pedals to reverse the mount’s rotation. The electric motors shrilled for an instant, the mount jerked, then swung in the opposite direction.

There! In the trees!

It was gone before he could be sure of what it was. Hot spots, several of them in among the trees. They vanished from his field of view just as the laser beam exposed them.

Animals, he told himself. But are animals sensitive to infrared illumination?

He glanced at his wristwatch. Still an hour before sunrise, but already the sky beyond the Oak Ridge buildings was beginning to pale. Could our sunrise times be wrong? Then, remembering the lingering beauty of the previous night’s sunset, and the briefings he had received from Dr. Lord on terrestrial atmospheric effects, Alec realized that the daylight actually started before the Sun itself appeared above the horizon.

For a tense fifteen minutes he continued to scan around the truck, moving the beam back and forth randomly, trying to avoid a predictable pattern. He saw nothing. Then it was light enough to snap off the laser and remove the heavy goggles.

A couple of men stirred as the light grew brighter. Alec didn’t know which made him feel better, the fact that he was no longer alone, or the end of the dark, threatening night.