They looked at each other in the half light of the car’s interior. They were all keyed up and their pulses were racing. Everyone smiled.

“We did it!” Melanie asserted.

“So far so good,” Kevin agreed.

Kevin put the car in gear. He turned right for several blocks to give his house a wide berth and headed for the motor pool.

“You’re pretty sure no one will give us trouble at the garage,” Melanie said.

“Well, there’s no way to know for sure,” Kevin said. “But I don’t think so. The motor-pool people live a life of their own. Besides, Siegfried has probably kept the story of our disappearance and reappearance a secret. He’d have to if he were truly planning on handing us over to the Equatoguinean authorities.”

“I hope you are right,” Melanie said. She sighed. “I’m half wondering if we shouldn’t just try to drive out of the Zone behind one of the trucks instead of bothering with four Americans we’ve never met.”

“Those people got in here somehow,” Kevin said. “I’m counting on their having had a plan to get out. Running the main gate should be considered our last-ditch option.”

They pulled into the busy motor-pool facility. They had to squint under the glare of the mercury-vapor lights. They continued until they came to the repair section. Kevin parked behind a bay with the cab of a semi up on the hydraulic lift. Several greasy mechanics were standing under it, scratching their heads.

“Wait here,” Kevin said, as he alighted from the Toyota.

He walked inside and greeted the men.

Melanie and Candace watched. Candace literally had her fingers crossed.

“Well, at least they didn’t bolt for the telephone the moment they saw him,” Melanie said.

The women watched as one of the mechanics sauntered off and disappeared through a door in the rear of the facility. He reappeared a moment later, carrying a lengthy hunk of heavy chain. He gave it to Kevin who staggered under its weight.

As his face turned a progressively brighter shade of red, Kevin stumbled back toward the LandCruiser. Sensing he was about to drop the chain, Melanie hopped out of the car to open the luggage area.

The vehicle lurched as Kevin dropped the chain onto the tailgate.

“I told them I wanted heavy chain,” Kevin managed. “It didn’t have to be this heavy.”

“What did you say to those men?” Melanie asked.

“I said that your car got stuck in some mud,” Kevin said. “They didn’t bat an eyelash. Of course, they didn’t offer to come and help, either.”

Kevin and Melanie returned inside the Toyota, and they started back toward town.

“You’re sure this is going to work?” Candace asked from the rear seat.

“No, but I can’t think of anything else,” Kevin said.

For the rest of the trip, no one spoke. They all knew this was the most difficult part of the whole plan. The tension mounted as they turned into the parking lot for the town hall and doused the headlights.