Arthur shook his head. She brought her hands over her face again, but her trembling had stopped. "I can't tell them, and you must not," Arthur said. "It would only hurt them."

Danielle appeared in the hallway door, wearing a long silk gown with a chenille robe thrown over it. "What's happened?" she asked.

Francine embraced her and led her into the den. Arthur regarded the untouched bowls of soup, thinking, Not yet. . . But it can't be much longer.

Chapter 65

65

A knock on his tent-cabin door awakened Edward at eight o'clock. He glanced at his watch and scrambled into his pants, then opened the door to see Minelli and a plump black-haired woman in black T-shirt and black jeans. Minelli reached out a hand. "Congratulate me," he said. "I've found Inez."

"Congratulations," Edward said.

"Inez Espinoza, this is my friend Edward Shaw. He's into rocks, too. Edward, Inez."

"Pleased to meet you," Inez said.

"We met at the dance last night. Pity you weren't there."

"I was depressed," Edward said. "I couldn't handle company."

"There's a story going around about robot insects. Inez says she saw a bunch of them up behind Yosemite Village. What do you think they are?"

"I saw some, too," Edward said. "Wait a minute. I'll get dressed and we'll fix breakfast."

Over Coleman-stove toast and hard-boiled eggs, Edward told them what he had seen below the Mist Trail. Inez nodded and regarded him with her large brown eyes, obviously content to say little.

"What do you think they are?"

"Hell, if the bastards can make fake aliens, they can turn out robot spiders. They're surveying the Earth. Conducting a general assay before they blow it up."

Inez spontaneously began to weep.

"Hey, let's not talk about that shit," Minelli said. "She's sensitive. Her old man was killed on a Harley on the highway a couple of days ago. She was thrown clear." Inez sobbed and dabbed at her eyes, revealing a nasty scrape and bruise on her forearm. "She hitched a ride here. She's a sweetheart." Minelli hugged her and she hugged him back.

A small, skeletally thin man with a high, square forehead walked past the rock where they breakfasted. He carried a baseball bat almost as big as himself and seemed bemused.

"What's up, man?" Minelli asked.

"Just heard it on the radio. The aliens nuked Seattle and Charleston and Shanghai last night. I was born in Charleston." He continued down the path, bat dangling from an unenthused wrist.

Inez hiccuped spasmodically.

"What're you going to do?" Minelli called after him.

"Going to catch some of those fucking chrome bugs out in the woods and smash them," the man answered, not stopping. "I want to get my licks in."

Minelli set down his tin cup of tea and slid down from the rock. Inez took his offered hand and did likewise with surprising grace. "I think it's time we hiked up to Glacier Point," Minelli said quietly. "Want to come?"