He waited a moment, then said, "If you help me back into my chair, we can get out of here."

Judy did. As she struggled to help. him up, she said, "Mr. Herbert--"

"Bob," he said.

"Bob," Jody said, "what do you know about the people who tried to kill me?"

Herbert thought back to the satellite view of the area. "I believe they're at a lake north of here."

"How far north?"

"A few miles," Herbert said. He picked up his phone. "I'm going to let my superiors know I've found you, get you to Hamburg, and fly you home from there."

"I don't want to go yet," she said.

"Why?" he asked. "Are you tired-- hurt? Hungry? I don't have any food--"

"No, none of that," Jody said. "While I was up in the tree, I was thinking how much I hate them."

"Me too," Herbert said. "People like them took away my legs and my wife for reasons that don't even matter any more."

"And I was thinking," Jody went on, "that maybe I survived for a reason."

"You did," Herbert said. "To go home to your folks."

"If that's true," she said, "then I'll get home to them. Only a little later. I want to do something about what's going on here."

"Good," Herbert said. "When you get back to the States, sell the movie rights to your story. I'm serious. Let people know what's happening in the real world. Just make sure Tom Selleck plays me, okay? And that you hold on to creative control. Otherwise, it'll get all crapped up."

"I studied film," Jody said, "and right now we haven't got a climax."

Herbert made a face. "Bull," he said, and spread his fingers headline-size. He swept them to the side. "Long Island girl helps government agent kill German neo-Nazi police officer," he said. "Seems like a helluva climax to me."

"It isn't," she replied. "A better one would be: American girl makes grandfather proud by fighting his old enemies. More substance, less sensation."

"You're loco," Herbert said as he began punching in a number. "As we used to say in Beirut, 'Gutsy but nutsy.' "

"Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do." Jody walked over to the police officer. She picked up his gun and brushed off the dirt by wiping it on her jeans.

"Put that down," Herbert said. "We don't need it going off by accident and bringing reinforcements."

Jody examined the weapon. "We were using a P38 like this in the movie," she said. "The prop man showed me how to work it."

"Hooray for him. Did you fire it?"

She nodded. "I hit a log from about ten yards away."