Chipper had an idea.

You know how to drive.

Jeff said, “Well, kinda. I drove Aunt Flo’s old pickup truck. And for about five minutes, I drove Daggert’s big honking SUV.”

So if we find a car you can drive it and we can get away.

“I don’t want to steal a car!” Jeff protested.

You would only be borrowing it.

“If we get a car, where are we going to go?”

Harry had that idea about going to a newspaper or TV news station. I do not think he really meant to do it but it is an idea.

“Right!” said Jeff. “But where would we go? I don’t know anything about that kind of stuff. I never watch the news or anything.”

Let me research that.

Chipper seemed to freeze for a moment as he searched his memory banks.

There are big papers in New York and Washington. New York is closer.

“Uh, you want me to drive into New York City?”

Is that a problem?

“For someone who’s only ever driven from a fishing camp to a garbage dump on a country road, yeah, that’s a problem.”

I think you can do it.

“Just because you think so doesn’t make it so. Can’t we just take a train or something?”

They will be looking for us in train stations. Not safe. But I

Jeff was looking at the phone and wondered why Chipper had stopped in mid-thought.

“But you what?” he asked.

Chipper was no longer looking at him. His body had begun to tremble. His eyes, which weren’t real eyes anyway, appeared more distant than normal, as if he was not focused on anything at all.

“What’s going on with you?” Jeff said. “Are you okay?”

Chipper swayed. He appeared ready to fall over. Jeff knelt down and put his arms around the dog so he would not collapse, but turned his hand so he could still read his phone.

“Talk to me, Chipper. What’s going on?”

Trying to make contact with

“What? Someone is trying to make contact with you?”

System invasion

“What’s a system invasion? Someone is trying to invade your software? But Emily turned all that stuff off before we got away.”

Jeff felt increasingly frightened. Something was very wrong with Chipper.

“Is it The Institute? Is it Daggert?”

Message. Trying to send a

“Who’s trying to send a message?”

Now Chipper was trembling even more. It was just like what had happened to him on the gravel road near that dump, when Jeff first found him, nearly running him over with his aunt’s truck.

“Are they trying to find us?” he asked.

Not find just messa

“Can’t you shut them out? Can’t you turn off whatever it is they’re latching on to?”

Jeff could imagine what might be happening at The Institute. There was probably an entire team devoted to re-establishing contact with Chipper. If they could find a way to do it, they’d get word to Daggert.

Suddenly, Chipper went limp.

“Oh no, oh no,” Jeff said, as Chipper slid through his arms to the ground. “Please don’t be dead, please, please, please.”

He placed his palm on the dog’s chest and was pretty sure he could still feel it going up and down.

Jeff huddled over Chipper, held him tight and whispered into his ear, “If you let them make contact, even for a second, will you be okay? Let them tell you what they have to tell you, then shut them down again? Can you do something like that? Even if it means they know where we are, for a second, then we can make a run for it. Huh? What about that? Is that a plan?”

Chipper’s tail thumped. Once.

“Yes!” Jeff said. “That’s it! You’re going to be okay!”

Another thump. But this weak wag of the tail did not suggest that Chipper was happy. It was a signal to Jeff that he was listening, that he understood.

Chipper trembled for another second, then went very still.

Jeff released his hold, but stayed on his knees next to the dog as he slowly raised his head.

“You’re okay, right?” Jeff asked, looking at his phone.

I think so.

“What was that all about? Who was sending a message?”

The Institute.

“Was it Daggert? Was it him?”

Chipper actually moved his head from side to side.

No. It was someone named Timothy.

“Timothy? Who the heck is Timothy?”

I do not know.

“What did he say?”

Pepper and Emily. The Institute says it has them both.