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.For the first time I saw her look at Maggie with sympathy.“We’re not just witnesses,” Maggie told her.“We’re carrying evidence that could impeach Vice President Jouvert and force Senator Fletcher to resign if we can get it in the right hands.”That’s when I realized that, despite everything I’d heard Maggie reveal, she hadn’t said a word about Sparrow’s final, deadly message now back in my pocket.“Who’s going to touch your evidence?” Rogan said.“Any news service or blogger who puts it on their site’s going to get shut down.”I thought about Sparrow’s software.The government couldn’t kill millions of copies if I could blast them through the paternal controls to every Princess phone in the U.S.“Right now there are people inside the government and out who support Gen S rights.I know at least one congressman who’s sympathetic,” Maggie said, “although he’s keeping it quiet.” She smiled ironically at me.“You met him.”Congressman Paul? I was shocked at first, but it made sense.His hands all over me and his tongue in my ear? He was playing the loyal Paternalist jerk in front of his congressional dirtbag friends.Barnabas and Maggie laid out the plan they’d been working on.The three of us would ski out in a day or two and make contact with Exodus in eastern Washington so they could pick us up and hide us.Now we had to move up the timetable and add Yates.The Council calmed down after hearing we were leaving, but then things turned red-hot.“Something’s bothering me,” Ramos said, turning to Yates.“You said Pastor Isaac drove you out here on that snowmobile, but how did you find him?”“I asked a bunch of ministers around town how to find Salvation.He was the only one who didn’t think I was looking to be saved.”“You talk to Reverend Frank?”Half the people around the table exchanged looks.“Yeah.He said I’d find salvation through prayer and reading the Good Book.What’s the problem?”“He left us a few years ago under bad circumstances,” Rogan muttered.“I sincerely hope,” Beattie said, “that whoever’s looking for you doesn’t find Taylor Frank.”“Or those snowmobile tracks that lead right to us,” Barnabas said.“I don’t understand,” I said.“Won’t you be safe after Maggie and Yates and I leave?”Barnabas shook his head.“Whoever’s after you won’t stop until they’ve eliminated the danger.” He looked from face to face.“Nobody who’s seen or talked to you or harbored you in their home is safe.”Yates clenched his jaw and swallowed hard.I gripped his hand.You didn’t do anything wrong, I told him with my eyes.Yates shook his head.“Stop scaring everyone.You don’t know that, Barnabas,” Beattie said.“I was in Langley for six years.I know how they think.”I glanced at Yates.“CIA,” he whispered.I respected Beattie, but I trusted Barnabas to know what they would or would not do.“We’ll leave before sunup,” Barnabas said.“Luke, Rogan, we need to go warn people what’s coming.Maggie, take Yates and Avie back to my house and get the packs ready.With any luck, you three will be gone and I’ll be back in Salvation before the bad guys get here.”I got up from my seat.Luke glanced at me and turned away.I couldn’t read his face, but if I was him, I’d be mad as hell if some Outsider arrived and blew my life apart.My neck was pink hot.That easy friendship Luke and I had out in the woods was gone.Yates felt for my hand, but I pretended I didn’t know he was doing it.Maggie stood in the doorway.She wouldn’t let Yates and me out until she saw Ramos go inside his house.As we went down the steps into the open, she kept her eyes on his house, and her hand on her gun.She never said it, but it was obvious: she didn’t want Ramos killing us before we had a chance to make things right.79It was barely any work to put the packs together, because every house kept a couple bug out bags ready to go.That’s the beauty of TEOTWAWKI, I thought, going through the equipment in the bags [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]