For unknown millennia, the south fork of the Flathead River had been relentlessly chewing its way deeper and deeper into the floor of the canyon. Rushing and turbulent in spring, subdued and depleted in late summer, ice-encrusted in winter, the river had for countless generations sent its waters into the massive Columbia River system and eventually on into the Pacific Ocean. Then one day, the newest—and puniest—intruder into the forest had dropped a massive concrete plug into the ravine, wedged it tightly against the shoulders of both hillsides, and cut the water’s relentless flow. Now the river had to pay toll for passage by turning the huge generators buried deep in the concrete bowels of the dam.
It was a massive cork for such a narrow river. As high as a fiftystory building and nearly half a mile across the top of the curving arch, the Hungry Horse Dam had finally let the river pass, but not before it had stolen three and a half million acre-feet of water and formed a ten-mile-long lake of incredibly deep blue waters.
Normally the sight brought a quick intake of breath from all who saw it, but today Eric Lloyd had no eyes for the view. He, Cliff, and Nicole were hidden in the trees a few yards from the west end of the dam, and Eric stared out across the concrete road way where, in a moment, he would step out to meet Travis. He turned and gave Nicole and Cliff one last look. “I guess I’m ready.”
Cliff sighed. “You know what we’re up against as well as I do, so watch yourself.”
Eric nodded. The Major had been pouring men into the area steadily for the past thirty-six hours. In addition to the fifteen or twenty he was openly displaying around the Visitors Center across the dam, he had sent two truckloads a couple of miles up the reservoir to wait for his signal. An equal number had been left down canyon below the dam. A dozen more had been seen going into the powerhouse at the base of the dam. The last group worried Eric the most. The powerhouse was six hundred feet below the area where the exchange would take place, but an elevator connected it with a small concrete blockhouse at the center of the dam. Though it supposedly hadn’t been used for years, there was no question but what it would be used today.
Eric patted the heavy padlock in his back pocket. He and his companions had a surprise or two of their own for the group in the elevator shaft. Eric took a deep breath. In terms of manpower, the odds were about twenty to one, but surprise and high explosives would be the equalizing factors.
Cliff lifted his walkie-talkie. “Chet? Are you two all set up there?”
Rod Loopes and Chet Abernathy sat across the dam on the east mountainside, hidden in the trees about a hundred and fifty yards above the Visitors Center. They had rifles, a stun gun, binoculars, and a walkie-talkie. That was surprise number two for the Major. Chet Abernathy answered almost instantly. “Affirmative. We’re standing by.”
“Dick?” Cliff asked into the radio.
“Roger, I’m ready too. Good luck, Eric.” Andreason was on the ridge directly behind them, also with binoculars and a rifle and a clear view of the top of the dam. Surprise number three. In addition, a small radio transmitting device was linked to a detonator planted in thirty pounds of high explosives hidden in an outcropping of rock above the road. Surprise number four. No truckloads of men would be coming up from below the dam.
As soon as Eric called for Nicole to be sent out to join him, Cliff would head south along the lake to where he had planted explosive charges at the base of a huge pine tree. Surprise number five. It wouldn’t be as effective as the rock outcropping, but it was the best they could find, and it would slow the Guardians down enough for Eric and his family to get back off the dam and to the horses.
The only question was, how many surprises did the Major and Travis have planned? Eric shook off that thought and squared his shoulders. “Okay, then, I guess this is it.”
Cliff touched his arm. “I don’t think the Major will call for his dogs until he’s sure Nicole is safe, so that should give us a few minutes to get in place, but watch yourself. And bring them home.”
He gave Cliff a thumbs-up sign and moved out onto the dam.
He had gone only twenty yards toward the center of the dam when a burst of static at his waist broke his stride. He unclipped the walkie-talkie and pressed the button. “Yes?”
It was Chet Abernathy’s voice. “Someone is just starting out onto the dam—tall, dark-haired, wearing a Guardian uniform. He’s not armed, as far as we can tell.”
“Is he alone?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, that’s Travis. Have they brought my family out yet?”
“No, not yet. They’re still inside the Visitors Center.”
“Okay, cover him. I’ll leave the transmit button switched on so all of you can hear what is going on.”
The engineers who designed Hungry Horse Dam had shaped it into a sweeping concave curve so it could better withstand the almost unbelievable weight pushing at its back. The roadway that spanned the half-mile long crest had been lined with concrete retaining walls chest high, and so, for a minute or two, as Eric walked steadily toward the center of the dam, all he could see of Travis was his head and shoulders. Only as they got to within the last hundred yards of each other did he come fully into view.
Eric slowed his pace slightly and then halted next to the concrete blockhouse that housed the central elevator shaft. He took the padlock out of his back pocket, keeping it behind him, and tested to make sure it was open.
“Hello, Eric.” Travis stopped about twenty feet away.
Eric nodded. “Travis.” Then he turned and stared at the door of the blockhouse. It was just as Cliff had said. “Well, well,” he drawled, “would you look at that carelessness.” Moving quickly enough to make Travis jump, he reached the door in three steps, slammed shut the metal hasp on the doorway, and clicked the heavy-duty padlock over it. “Someone could get hurt, leaving a doorway unlocked like that.”
He grinned at the sudden flash of anger that swept across Travis’s face. But as quickly as the anger had come, it fled, and Travis’s face became a carefully controlled mask of composure. “Where’s Nicole?”
“Safe. Where’s my family?”
“Here. Shall we begin?”
“I’d say it’s time.”
“You start Nicole out here, and I’ll send for your family.”
Eric shook his head. “Uh uh. For some reason, we have this nagging suspicion that you and the Major are not playing this completely straight, so you get my family out here first, where I can make sure everything is all right; then I’ll bring out Nicole.”
Travis shrugged, then turned around, lifted his arm, and waved it back and forth slowly.
From the center of the dam to the Visitors Center measured nearly four hundred yards, so it was difficult to tell for sure, but Eric thought he could see the heads and shoulders of two women. He unclipped the walkie-talkie from his belt. “Dick, can you see them?”
Eric knew the radioman behind him was studying the figures through the binoculars. Then the radio crackled. “Roger. It’s a long way from this side of the dam, but I see six people—two women, two children, and two Guardians.”
“My, aren’t we organized,” Travis mocked. “Radios, men on the hillside, guns. This is better than TV.”
“Travis, tell your men to stay where they are. My family is to come out alone.”
Almost immediately Andreason’s voice spoke again. “They’re starting out onto the dam. The guards have stopped.”
Travis and Eric fell silent as they watched the steady progress of the small party coming toward them, but Eric was aware of a prickling sense of uneasiness. Travis was still too confident. Eric’s locking of the elevator shaft had set him back, but only temporarily. The battle was not over yet by any means.
When Eric’s family came around the gentle curve of the roadway and into full sight, Becky exploded into a run, her short legs pumping like pistons, her ponytail bouncing wildly. “Ricky! Ricky!” she screamed with delight.
Travis turned quickly and intercepted her in midstride, swinging her up off the ground. “Hey, Tiger!” he said, “just hang on a minute.”
“Put me down! “ she wailed, pummeling Travis with her fists. He swung her back down and gave her a gentle shove into the arms of her mother. “Mrs. Lloyd, stop right there until I say.”
“Mother,” Eric called. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “We are now. Are you okay?”
“Never been better. Have they removed your implantations?”
“Yes.” It was almost a sob, and Stephanie put her arm around her mother’s waist.
“For all of you?” Eric persisted. “You’re sure?”
“Yes, Eric,” Stephanie answered. “They let Mother and me watch them do it.” She held up her left arm. “And they took off our wrist computers too. We’re all free.”
“Now are you satisfied?” Travis sneered.
“Not quite. Mom, Steph, come over here behind me.”
“Oh, no, you don’t!” Travis snapped, raising his arm to block their progress. “They stay right here until I see that Nicole is okay.”
Eric shrugged and lifted the walkie-talkie. “Okay, Cliff. Send Nicole.”
As Travis had done with Becky, Eric had to intercept Nicole as she almost broke into a run when she saw Travis. “Just stay behind me, Nicole,” he said, not taking his eyes from Travis.
She started to answer but the words caught in her throat, and she finally nodded. Before Travis could answer, a loud thump rattled the steel doorway of the blockhouse, and Eric heard a muffled cry of surprise.
Eric smiled briefly. “Sorry to spoil their little welcoming party.”
“Sergeant Decker,” Travis shouted, “the door’s locked. Just stand easy for a while.”
Eric half turned around to face Nicole. “I’m sorry for the last few days. I really mean that.”
She stared at him for a moment, her eyes as green as the depths of the sea. “I appreciate your treating me with respect.”
“I hope you can find peace within yourself.” He turned back to Travis. “Okay, start my family over, and Nicole is all yours.”
Becky lurched forward, but Travis’s arm was like a steel bar holding her back. “Just like that, huh?” he said softly. “Then we all walk away and everyone is happy?”
Nicole too had started around Eric, but he yanked her back against him, suddenly wary. “Yes. Just like that.” His eyes were riveted on Travis’s face, and he felt his muscles tensing rapidly.
“Sorry, Eric,” Travis said, “but it can’t go down that way. If it was simply your family for Nicole, the Major might have bought it. But when you started removing the implantations on other people, that set it in concrete. No way can the Major let it go now. We’ve got a hundred men closing in on you right now. There’s no way to get out of here.”
Eric jerked Nicole around to shield him as his hand whipped down to his boot and pulled out the hunting knife hidden there. “Did you hear that, Dick?” he shouted, ignoring Nicole’s sharp gasp of surprise.
“I sure did,” came the answer from the walkie-talkie. Almost instantly the blast of the explosive rocked the air, spinning everyone on the top of the dam around to look northward. A huge cloud of dust and smoke billowed upward about a quarter mile away.
“So much for those truckloads,” Eric said. He looked past Travis to his family. “Mother, you and the girls start walking slowly toward me.”
Travis didn’t turn around, but the menace in his voice was like the quiet rustle of a cobra lifting its head to strike. “Mrs. Lloyd, for your sake and that of your children, don’t move. A dozen rifles are trained on your backs at this moment.” His eyes narrowed as he glanced at the knife. “You’re a fool, Eric. We know you won’t hurt Nicole. Now that you’ve brought her back to us, she’s home free. You know that and so do we. You can’t get away from here.”
In an instant, the point of the knife was touching Nicole’s throat, and she gave a sharp cry of fear. “I think,” Eric said, so softly that his voice was almost lost in the gentle breeze blowing across the top of the dam, “I think you’re about ninety-five percent sure of that. But what if you are five percent wrong?”
Travis hesitated a moment then said patiently, as though to an errant child, “Oh, Eric, Eric, what will you do? Cut her throat? Come on.”
“Let my family come over here, Travis, or you’ll see exactly what I’m willing to do.”
Again for one split second, Eric saw the hesitation in Travis’s eyes; then it was gone. “Give it up, Eric. You’ve lost the game.”
In an instant, it was clear why Travis hadn’t given up. Behind him, a low, throbbing noise was rising rapidly, and then suddenly it exploded into a deafening roar as a helicopter swept over the ridge behind Eric and swooped down toward them. As Eric’s head swung around to look up, Travis quickly stepped behind the corner of the elevator tower. His hand darted out, and when he straightened up, he held a deer rifle pointed at Eric and Nicole. “You’re playing against the Major now, Eric. Amateur night is over. Give it up. Let her go.”
“Mother!” Eric shouted. “Come now. Quick!”
Travis spun around, pointing the rifle directly at Madeline Lloyd’s stomach. “You’ll start back for the Visitors Center, Mrs. Lloyd,” he hissed. When she hesitated, his voice exploded. “Now! Move it!”
She reached out for Becky and Lori, who had both started to cry, and the little group started back in a dazed, stumbling run. For a moment Eric nearly threw himself at Travis, the rage in him boiling like molten lava, but the helicopter was coming fast now, skimming across the top of the water toward them. As quickly as it had come, the rage was gone, and his mind raced over his alternatives. He yanked Nicole hard against him and backed up. “So much for your loving fiancé,” he hissed into her ear. “Stay with me, Nicole. If I have to fight you, you’ll get hurt.”
“Let her go, Eric. I’m warning you.”
“Please, Eric,” Nicole gasped. “Let me go. Don’t hurt me.”
But Eric was too busy swinging her back and forth to answer. He kept her moving, keeping her between the muzzle of Travis’s rifle and the muzzle of the stun gun held by a Guardian hanging out the doorway of the helicopter. Dick opened fire from behind them. The clattering roar of the engine drowned out any noise from the shot, but suddenly the window of the chopper exploded in a shattering spray of glass. Eric had a fleeting impression of a terror-stricken face, and then the helicopter peeled off sharply, seeking escape from the attack.
Travis stopped dead, his eyes wide with shock. “Hey!” he screamed.
At that moment a second shock wave rippled through the canyon. Cliff had just dropped the tree across the road from above.
Eric dragged Nicole backwards again. “Sorry, Travis. There goes your second source of help.”
Like a raging bull, his face contorted with fury, Travis whirled around and ran to the door of the elevator shaft. At point-blank range, he fired at the lock Eric had clipped into place, then kicked the door in. Instantly, orange-clad bodies came pouring out like popcorn spitting from a popper.
“Hold your fire! Hold your fire!” Travis screamed at them. “He’s got Nicole. Form a line. Take your positions.” He grabbed a man by the shoulder. “You! Get the Lloyd family back to the Visitors Center.”
By now Eric was in a half run, pulling Nicole back with him, and was nearly thirty yards from Travis.
“Stop, Eric, or we’ll shoot!” Travis had formed a skirmish line with his men and was moving swiftly toward him. The Guardians held no stun guns now, only deer rifles.
Eric knew that Travis’s threat was a bluff. They wouldn’t dare shoot with Nicole in the way, but why hadn’t Dick opened fire on the Guardians pouring out onto the dam? Then in a flash he understood. His family was just starting to disappear around the curve of the dam, out of the line of fire.
“Form a line! Stay behind me!” Travis waved his men into position behind him. “Don’t shoot. The others are coming. They’ll cut him off.”
Eric watched his family go around the curve of the retaining wall. Now! It was an inward shout, but as though Dick Andreason had heard it, the flat crack of a rifle, followed swiftly by another, burst out from behind him. The man next to Travis gave a sharp cry as the bullet slammed into him, cutting him down like a scythe.
“Under fire! Under fire!” Travis’s warning was totally unnecessary, for the orange-suited Guardians were already scrambling wildly for cover. But the top of the dam offered no cover, not from the vantage point of the hillside where Dick sat. The third shot sent another Guardian thudding off the retaining wall.
“Let’s go!” Eric shouted, grabbing Nicole by the arm and breaking into a pounding run for the west end of the dam.
Travis fired at them twice, but the shots were wide and high, and Eric knew he was still afraid of hitting Nicole. He risked a quick glance back as they ran, and saw the earlier scene reversing itself. The only cover on the top of the dam was the elevator tower, and the open doorway was sucking men back into it like a concrete vacuum cleaner. Off to his left, up the lake, the clatter of rifle fire split the mountain stillness. One seventy-year-old man had locked battle with two squads of Guardians.
By the time Eric got off the dam and dragged Nicole up to the ridge where Dick Andreason was methodically firing at flashes of orange, both he and Nicole were gasping for breath. As he released her arm, she dropped to the ground and rolled into a ball, holding her stomach.
“We’ve got them pinned down for now,” Andreason said. “But Cliff won’t be able to delay those others for too long. We’ve got to get out of here.”
“I’ve got to go help Cliff,” Eric blurted between breaths. “Watch Nicole.”
But as he got back up to his feet, their radios blared simultaneously. “Eric, this is Rod. Can you hear me?”
He jerked up his radio. “Yes, this is Eric. Go ahead.”
“They’ve brought your family back into the Visitors Center. If you could draw off the troops to your side of the dam, we think we can get to them.”
The surge of exultation that flashed through him was like a jolt of electricity. “Understood. We’ll do our best.”
“We have a stun gun, but right now the men are afraid to go out on the dam when you command the heights. Get them to come to you—it looks like the Major will leave only a man or two with your family. We’ve held our fire so far, and they have no idea we’re here.”
“Good work!” Eric exclaimed. “We’ll draw them to us.” He turned to Dick Andreason. “All right, Cliffs on his own for now. We’ve got to make it look like we’re falling back so they’ll come after us. Shoot once or twice more, then hold your fire. Let them come clear to the edge of the dam, if necessary, before you open fire. Then we’ll engage them long enough for Rod and Chet to get clear.”
Dick stood up. “Eric, you’ve got to get Nicole out of here. Take two of the horses. I’ll cover the dam.”
“No!”
“Eric, don’t be bullheaded.”
Stubbornly he stood his ground. “Not until I know about my family.”
Andreason held up the walkie-talkie. “Eric, by the time you reach the spot where you left your horses, you’ll still be in radio range. If Rod and Chet can get them out, you’ll know it. If they don’t…” He shook his head. “Cliff and I will stand a better chance of getting away if we don’t have you two.”
He was right, and Eric knew it. “Okay. Good luck.” Eric turned and reached for Nicole’s elbow. She was still lying on the ground, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to get her breath from the hard run. “Come on, Nicole. One shout and I’ll gag you, out of breath or not.”
“No, Eric. Please. I can’t. I can’t go any further.”
“You can and you will,” he said firmly, pulling her up and putting his arm around her to support her. “It’s only a hundred feet, then the horses will do the work. Come on!”
Eric had just released their lathered mounts and was untying their own horses when the radio at his belt burst out again. “Eric, this is Rod.”
He swung up the walkie-talkie. “This is Eric. Have you got them?”
“That’s affirmative, Eric,” came the jubilant cry in his ear. “We’re away and clear. We’re headed up now and hope to get another half an hour or more head start before they even know we’ve gone.”
Eric’s head dropped momentarily, and the breath went out of him in a great whoosh of relief. “Thank you.”
“You are most welcome! See you at Home Base. Over and out.”
His arm slowly lowered until the radio hung limply by his side. When he finally looked up, he saw Nicole watching him. “They got my family out,” he said.
She nodded. “Believe it or not, Eric, I’m glad.” Then she turned and walked quickly to her horse and untied the reins. As she put her foot in the stirrups and started to swing up, the horse shied a little, and she lost her balance, nearly falling. She moved to try again, and Eric strode over and took her elbow. “Here, let me help you.”
She spun around as if he had laid a hot iron on her arm. “Don’t you touch me!”
Eric jerked his hand away in stunned surprise. Tears had spilled over and left wet streaks down her cheeks, but her eyes were twin sparks of emerald fire behind the glossy shininess.
“I was just going to help you up,” he apologized.
“Don’t you understand?” she shouted at him through the tears. “I hate you. I hate what you’re doing. To me, to my city, to everyone you touch. Now leave me alone!”
She gave the reins a vicious yank, tried to mount again, this time successfully, and sank her heels into the mare’s flanks.
“All right, Miss Lambert,” he snapped, swinging up onto his horse and yanking on the lead rope of the packhorse. “Have it your way. But I don’t think I’m the only one you’re angry with right now.”