The escape had been a heady experience for everyone: triumph for Kevin, Melanie, and Candace; surprise and utter relief for the crew from New York. The seven exchanged terse introductions; then the questions started. At first, everyone spoke at the same time.

“Wait a second, everybody!” Jack shouted over the babble. “We need some order in this chaos. Only one person at a time.”

“Well, damn!” Warren said. “I’m going first! I just want to thank you guys for coming when you did.”

“I’ll second that,” Laurie said.

Having cleared the central part of town, Kevin pulled into the parking lot for the main supermarket. There were several other cars. He stopped and turned off the lights and the engine.

“Before we talk about anything else,” Kevin said. “We’ve got to talk about getting out of this town. We don’t have a lot of time. How did you people originally plan on leaving?”

“By the same boat we came in on,” Jack said.

“Where’s the boat?” Kevin asked.

“We assume it’s where we left it,” Jack said. “Pulled up on the beach under the pier.”

“Is it big enough for all of us?” Kevin asked.

“With room to spare,” Jack said.

“Perfect!” Kevin said with excitement. “I was hoping you’d come by boat. That way we can go directly to Gabon.” He faced around quickly and restarted the engine. “Let’s just pray it’s not been found.”

He drove out of the parking lot and began a circuitous route to the waterfront. He wanted to stay as far from the town hall and his own house as possible.

“We have a problem,” Jack said. “We have no identification or money. Everything was taken from us.”

“We’re not much better off,” Kevin said. “But we do have some money, both cash and travelers checks. Our passports were confiscated when we were put under house arrest this afternoon. We were destined for the same fate as you: to be turned over to the Equatoguinean authorities.”

“Would that have been a problem?” Jack asked.

Kevin let out a little derisive laugh. In the back of his mind, he could see the skulls on Siegfried’s desk. “It would have been more than a problem. It would have meant a hush-hush mock trial followed by a firing squad.”

“No shit!” Warren said.

“In this country, it is a capital offense to interfere with GenSys operations,” Kevin said. “And the manager is the one who decides whether someone is interfering or not.”

“A firing squad?” Jack repeated with horror.

“I’m afraid so,” Kevin said. “The army here is good at it. They’ve had a lot of practice over the years.”

“Then we’re even more in debt to you people than we thought,” Jack said. “I’d no idea.”

Laurie looked out the side window of the car and shuddered. It was just sinking in how seriously her life was on the line and that the threat was not yet over.

“How come you guys were in the soup?” Warren asked.