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“Okay, Mr. I’m-in-my-element. What’s the plan?”

“We’ve got to get word back to the authorities to shoot down your old man’s plane in case my modifications to the bomb don’t stop it from blowing up.”

“I think that ship has already sailed,” she replied soberly.

A knife of pain stabbed her gut, and she forcibly set it aside. Not now. Not yet. First, they had to survive the killer desert they’d been dropped into. Then they had to stop Yusef Abahdi’s virus from killing thousands. Then…then, she could grieve her father and maybe unravel her complicated feelings about the man.

“Any idea where we are?” she asked.

“Assuming the helicopter made a forward speed of no more than, say a hundred miles per hour away from the power lines, we’re about twenty miles north of the power lines.”

She frowned. “Then we aren’t that far away from Overton. We should be able to head northwest and run into it.”

“Theoretically,” he replied. “Assuming we don’t die of exposure or dehydration, or miss it and end up heading past it into the desert.”

“We’re already in the desert, big guy.”

He smiled ruefully “Is there anything made of cloth in the bag?”

“A t-shirt.” She pulled out the white cotton garment wadded in the bottom of the bag.

“That’ll work. Tear off pieces of it so we can cover our heads, faces, and necks.”

“There’s a knife in here, too,” she commented as she commenced sawing off big pieces of cotton from the front and back of the shirt. She tied the cotton square low over her forehead, covering as much skin as she could. Ian drew a corner forward and draped it loosely across her face, leaving only her eyes exposed.

“It’s hot,” she complained.

“Believe me. It’s better than the sunburn alternative. And, the white fabric reflects sunlight. You’ll ultimately be cooler.”

“Too bad there’s not a cell phone in the bag,” she commented.

“No matter,” he replied. “The cell towers all over this region went down the second those power lines blew up.”

“I can’t imagine what’s going on in Las Vegas right now,” she said grimly.

His reply was equally grim. “The lights all just went out, and all the air conditioning went off. People are complaining and pulling out their cell phones, and only now realizing they don’t work, either. The stop lights will blink red until their internal batteries go out, and traffic will be a mess. Which will freeze the cars in place until your Dad and his little bomb can knock out all their internal electronics and kill them.”

She asked heavily, “Any idea how long it takes for back-up generators to kick in?” Not long after they did, her father would undoubtedly blow himself and his plane up. No reason for him not to kill himself as efficiently as he’d done everything in this attack of his, so far.

Ian looped his good arm around her shoulders and gave her a hard squeeze that was more an exhortation to be strong than an actual hug. “The casino back-up systems will come up a few seconds after the initial EMP because of all the security systems they use.” A pause, and then he added low, “He won’t feel a thing. It’ll be instantaneous.”

She buried her face against his chest momentarily. Her father was about to blow himself up and there wasn’t a thing she could do to stop it. “He wasn’t even a good father,” she mumbled.

“But he was the only one you had. And that makes it hurt. You’re allowed to grieve his loss, Piper.”

“It’s stupid. I’ve spent my whole life rebelling against him. Why would I shed tears for him now? He doesn’t deserve them, dammit!”

Ian replied gently, “Conserve the water if you can, sweetheart, and don’t cry.”

She sighed. “I know. We’d better get going. How far do you think it is?”

“Ten miles. Maybe twenty.” He made that sound like a walk in the park. But she knew better. She already felt like she was overheating dangerously, and they hadn’t started moving, yet. And his shoulder had to be killing him.

Ian shouldered the pack on his good side and took the lead.

To say it was hot didn’t capture the true experience. They were in Hell. And exercising strenuously. If she’d thought Khartoum had been hot, it was nothing compared to this blazing inferno.

Ian’s voice floated back to her. “You did great earlier, Piper.”