CHAPTER 36

John and Professor Blackstone were grimly silent as John sped toward their destination. They passed a kaleidoscope of mountain vistas and scenery, but neither was interested. Each was lost in thought about what had transpired earlier. John gripped the wheel tight, focused on the road. Blackstone was lost in thought, wondering where the scientists had gone wrong with the experiment. He remembered Claudia’s warning and thought how prescient she had been. Next time, he thought, he would listen to the brilliant young woman …if they made it through this.

Both men remained in the dark about the death and destruction that Lucien had wrought on the Committee members. All John and Blackstone’s efforts had been directed toward Claudia’s safety and neither had been able to communicate with any survivors.

They traveled on the highway that connected the city of Bern with Zurich, and were headed to a small but close regional airport. A short time had passed since they watched Todd and Claudia speed away in the Jeep, headed toward the mountain hideaway.

Blackstone looked at his watch.

“Where are these men meeting us?”

“At the airport,” said John.

“Excellent,” said Blackstone.

“The helicopter will be ready to go,” said John, his voice quiet, his mind racing.

“Tell me: Who else knows about the cabin?”

“No one,” said Blackstone. “That is precisely the reason why I choose that location for her to hide. Claudia and I spent a lot of time there with her foster parents, when she was young.”

“Understood,” said John.

“But we need to hurry,” said Blackstone, again looking his watch. “I don’t want her there too long without any security.”

John was about to respond to the Professor, but was distracted, his thoughts elsewhere. Feeling a vibration in his pocket he looked down, diverted by the motion of his cell phone. He kept one eye on the road as he drove and read the detailed text message.

A group of six men and two trucks were waiting on the tarmac when Blackstone and John arrived at the airport. Several brandished rifles across their shoulders. All of the men wore sidearms.

John approached and gave the men their instructions, which included a map giving detailed directions to the cabin. The two trucks were to maintain radio contact with the helicopter and follow John’s lead.

Two men carried rifles as they followed John and Blackstone up the short steps into the helicopter.

***

Claudia was quiet as she drove the Jeep out of town, onto the winding dirt road that led to the mountain cabin. The path was narrow, but wider and much gentler than the trail they used to escape from the estate. Claudia was subdued, the excitement gone, and she felt no more thrill from the chase. Claudia had lost her sense of adventure, haunted by the two men they left behind them in a watery grave.

Todd was also quiet, lost in his thoughts.

***

A tow truck backed up to the canal as emergency crews entered the water in an attempt to save whomever it was that had plunged their vehicle into the waterway. A group of citizens and tourists lined the canal, watching as a diver hooked the front end of the SUV chassis to a line extending from the tow truck winch. The diver raised his hand and the winch pulled in the cable, raising the upside down car out of the water. Hector’s arm was visible, hanging limp from the driver’s side window as the vehicle rose upward.

The rescue efforts were observed with interest by another SUV, the second group of thugs commissioned by Lucien. The driver nodded to his passengers when the cable pulled the crushed SUV from the canal and rescue personnel carefully removed the two occupants. They watched as Hector and his comrade were placed into body bags.

“Let’s go,” said the second man, his voice grim.

“Okay,” said the driver. He pulled onto the roadway, dialing his cell phone at the same time and lifting it to his ear. Headed to the outskirts of town, they went in the same direction as the Jeep.

After he reported the death of his two companions, the driver made note of Lucien’s new instructions.

***

Claudia redirected her sadness about the death of the two men and pushed the Jeep faster, up the winding dirt road that led to the cabin. Todd sat next to her, still quiet and pensive. She looked at him. Struck by everything he had done, leaving a job he loved and supporting her through this difficult period, he had managed to penetrate her inner world. It was hard for Claudia to feel love in the way story tellers spoke of it. Claudia knew there would never be a knight in shining armor who spirited this Princess away on a beautiful white horse. But Todd had stayed there, by her side, with her, helping her flee the bad people. And they had done it together. She laughed to herself, realizing that a non-scientist like Todd had been the one to penetrate the thick wall she had constructed around her heart.

Claudia knew now that she loved him and was happy to have him with her through this adventure and whatever else life threw at them. What differences they had intellectually, it was of no consequence; they would make it. She was sure of it now. It was not because she was incapable of doing anything on her own. Her sense of independence would never leave her. What he provided was the support and love she had so dearly missed growing up. Perhaps this was a new beginning? The family she had longed for could now become a reality. She made a note to learn all she could about her blood relatives, the family; Albert Einstein’s ‘legitimate’ offspring. She would reach out to them. And yes, she would also have her immediate family; Uncle Rodney, Todd, John and her best buddy Kaiser, who would form the very core of her being. With them, no goal was unattainable, scientific or otherwise. She could climb any mountain, face any obstacle.

For that she would always be grateful.

The serpentine road to the cabin was dusted with a small amount of snow, but not enough to slow down Claudia’s progress up the mountain. Todd was more relaxed with this gentler ride, but still remained distant. Claudia was back in her own special world, mentally conducting the thought experiments that ordinarily consumed her waking hours. Unable to jot any notes on her ever present note pad, she used mnemonic techniques to retain her thoughts.

Whenever they hit a sharp switchback, Claudia would downshift and bury the wheel into the turn. Both she and Todd would automatically lean and follow the turn. They traveled without incident up the tree-lined passage until they were almost at the summit. The sky opened up. Barren alpine rock replaced trees as they hooked around the last turn and the cabin appeared.

A complete log structure, the cabin was a small footprint on the expansive alpine setting. A stairway faced the end of the access road and led to the front door. A front porch faced them. A railing bordered the porch and travelled around the cabin, surrounding an expansive back deck that was built on the edge of a giant rock cornice. The cornice, covered with snow, ran in a half circle pattern that formed the precipitous bowl below them. The bowl dropped steeply into a sheer snow-rock pattern that fell sharp, flattening out in the tree-filled valley below.

Claudia swung into the driveway and parked.

Todd was the first to step out of the Jeep.

“This is beautiful,” he said.

Claudia slammed her door shut and the sound echoed across the mountain range.

“It is, isn’t it? I came here a lot with my foster parents.” She pointed at a spot about a quarter mile from the cabin. “Over there is where I learned to ski.”

She grinned. “Started young.”

Todd held onto a boulder and leaned, peering over the rock cornice. “What’s the size of that drop? 500 feet?”

Claudia nodded. “Give or take.”

Claudia walked around the back of the Jeep and lifted the hatch. “Let’s unload the car. Then I’ll let Uncle Rodney and John know that we made it here in one piece.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Todd.

They unloaded the ski equipment and leaned it on the outside wall of the cabin. Claudia scrambled underneath the porch overhang, located the key and unlocked the cabin door.

***

The second SUV sped away from the scene of the bridge accident and followed Lucien’s directions to a dirt cul-de-sac, for a pre-arranged rendezvous with Lucien and Hamid. They pulled in parallel to Lucien’s vehicle and rolled down their windows.

“There’s no way out,” said Lucien, who remained in his vehicle. “We finally have her in our grasp. Just remember, no rough stuff. She must be taken unharmed.”

The group of men nodded in agreement. They spun around, turning sharply in a cloud of dust and mud, and sped from the scene.

Lucien and his men located the access road to the cabin without any problem. Lucien’s vehicle led the chase. They followed the two tire tracks, a clear trail left by the Jeep in the light snow that covered the mountain road.

Lucien was in the passenger seat as Hamid drove. The two skiers and their equipment were in the back.

Lucien felt a slight vibration in his coat pocket. He reached inside it and read a text message sent to his cell phone.

He looked at Hamid.

“We need to hurry.”

***

Claudia was outside the cabin, standing next to Todd, who stood at the edge of the cornice, still mesmerized by the stunning overlook.

“Let me borrow your cell phone.”

Todd reached into his pocket and handed it to her.

She dialed a number she had had memorized in Colorado.

***

John was in the helicopter with the Professor and the two men they picked up at the airport when his cell phone vibrated. He reached in his jacket pocket and answered it on the second ring.

“Hello?” He had to yell to be heard. The interior vibrated with the thrusting sounds of the turbine motor and blades.

“John? That you? It’s Claudia.”

“Claudia!” He looked at Professor Blackstone and nodded affirmatively. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she said. “We made it to the cabin. What’s that noise?”

“We’re in the chopper,” he said.

“I hope you’re headed here,” she said.

“Claudia, there’s no time. They’re coming for you. They are headed your way!”

Claudia shot a worried look at Todd.

“Hide somewhere,” said John. “We’ll be there in –”

“Just get here,” she said and hung up the phone.

Claudia tossed the cell phone at Todd and ran for the ski equipment. She threw the skis on the ground and slipped on a pair of ski pants. The boots came next.

Todd looked at her, perplexed.

“What’s wrong?” he said.

“Get your boots on.”

“We’re going skiing?”

“There’s no time,” said Claudia. “They’re on their way here.”

“Who is –”

“The creeps who are after us. Go. We don’t have time to debate our next move. “

Claudia slipped on a pair of thick wool socks. The first boot was stiff. She pulled out the tongue, slipped her toe into the boot and stood, slamming the boot on the ground.

“It fits.”

Todd nodded. “John knew your boot size and ordered the gear. He told me the Professor pretty much gave him an open checkbook.”

“Nice gear,” said Claudia.

She took her second boot and manually clicked it into the skis, adjusting the setting on both bindings with a wrench. She slipped on the second boot and was ready to go.

Todd followed her lead, adjusted his skis and put on his gear.

They grabbed their skis and poles and walked to the edge of the cabin. Todd peered over the edge of the rock cornice, into the bowl.

“Wait a minute,” he said. He pointed to the right. “Look over there. I don’t like what I’m seeing.”

Adjacent to their take off point was a steep cornice of snow, at the peak edge of the bowl. It had built up over time and appeared heavy, ready to break free and slide.

“I see what you’re saying,” said Claudia. “That cornice looks ripe.”

“An avalanche waiting to happen,” said Todd.

Claudia pointed at an area a quarter mile across the top of the bowl, “See that?”

“Yes,” he said.

She clicked the release on her skis, lifting her boots out of the skis as she spoke. “Take off your skis. It’s about a quarter mile distance. We can hike over there and hide in the woods. It’s a much safer point if we need to drop down into the base of the bowl and ski away.” She pointed. “We can traverse hard right and make our way into that glade of trees at the bottom.”

She grinned. “I don’t think anybody’s going to catch us.”

“Shouldn’t we wait for John?”

“He said we need to get away from the cabin. They know we’re here. He said we should –”

Claudia froze.

The quiet tranquility of the cabin was broken by the sounds of two vehicles turning the bend.

Lucien had arrived.