Page 62 of The Presidents Shadow

I realize, of course, that while I am the cause of Dr. Laksa’s jeopardy, I can also be the source of his safety. I know that Laksa cannot be protected by guards with guns or locked rooms with steel-and-granite walls. A madman like Ambrose will track down Laksa easily. He will destroy him handily.

So I try mightily to connect with the most dependable source of safety in the world. I send psychic signals with my greatest possible strength of concentration. Margo can sense what I’m seeking. She does not cower, but she does close her eyes and hold my hand.

I am not certain if it’s taken a minute, an hour, or even a lifetime for a successful mental connection to be made. But when the powerful process of double presence finally occurs, I see Dache standing before me.

“Your wise and good friend. Laksa. About him you will speak, and I will listen,” he says in a voice that is at once strong and soothing.

I begin.

“We owe him his safety. He deserves that. And we deserve his wisdom, his knowledge.” Dache gives no response, so I continue.

“Laksa will only be safe if he is in your care. With the power of shape-changing and your stunning instincts for sorting good from evil, you can cross the guarded borders with him; you can guarantee Laksa’s safety. Then the remainder of us can swiftly begin our work.”

Do I see Dache nod? Is he even moving? Do I hearsomething, anything? Is there even a murmur of agreement? I wait, and Dache remains still and silent.

Finally he speaks. “You have spoken. I have listened. I will comply.”

Then he pauses once again. He has only one more word to speak.

“Tibet,” he says.

I nod. I know there is one place Dache can keep Dr. Laksa completely safe. The great monastery hidden in the mountains of Tibet where I once trained. Unfindable and untraceable. The presence of Dr. Laksa will not be detected by Ambrose and cannot invite his fury onto another unsuspecting location.

Dache dissolves into another world. Now the room is empty except for Margo and me. Yet even in Dache’s absence, the great man’s aura of hope and strength remains.

CHAPTER 83

THE SHARP-EDGED, SUPER-STREAMLINED plane cutting through the sky is an aeronautic design masterpiece created in the year 2055, an evolutionary variation of the NASA X-43. There is no faster, finer aircraft in the world.

Right now, in the two-seater front section of the vessel, sit two angry, unhappy passengers. They are tightly buckled in, with twine and cables binding their hands and feet. They are being nourished by feeding tubes, which are looped around their seatbacks. The ramjet engines are so loud that conversation is completely impossible, even without their gags. The two very unhappy passengers have been informed the flight time is three hours from takeoff to landing.

Suddenly, the plane makes a dive-bomb descent. It feels like a crash landing is about to occur, but then, within seconds, the plane lands softly on the ground. From the small windows, the two passengers see only endless miles of sand and bright sky.

In less than a minute, the plane doors open and the twopassengers appear on the landing strip. It is not Laksa and Dache; they are safely in Tibet already. It is not Lamont and Margo. They are still in New York, anxiously hatching a plan for moving forward.

The two passengers are Maddy and Belinda. They emerge blindfolded and handcuffed, accompanied by Detective McCarthy and three other men Maddy continues to think of as stooges. She can hear them all talking to one another even though she can’t see anything. She assumes the two new men—whose voices are unfamiliar—must have been sequestered in the rear section of the plane.

All four men shove the women out onto the tarmac. Maddy estimates that the heat level surrounding them is 110 degrees Fahrenheit at minimum. The air is so dry and hot that when she takes a deep breath, her throat and nose are filled with pain.

“Move fast and watch your pretty little heads,” says one of the new stooges. Within a few seconds Maddy and Belinda are pushed into an RV.

“Now that you are safely on board, we can remove the blindfolds,” they hear McCarthy say. “Let them enjoy the scenery during the ride.”

Two stooges remove the blindfolds, then unlock the handcuffs. To Maddy’s surprise, all four men then exit the vehicle. The only other person in the RV is the driver, a young man with a mustache and beard, wearing a black helmet.

As the RV makes its way along at an insanely high speed on a deserted highway, Maddy and Belinda begin to talk.

Belinda asks, “Do you have any freaking idea where we are?”

Maddy begins to answer. “No, it could be the moon for all I know. Maybe it’s—” But she is interrupted by the driver’s voice on the intercom.

“Kindly shut the hell up. We have work to do.” Maddy and Belinda trade looks of confusion with each other.

Then the driver talks again.

“I call your attention to the plastic bags under your seats, one each. There you will find fresh clothes to replace what you are wearing.”

Belinda and Maddy reach under their seats. The bags they find contain normal-looking street clothes.

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