Chapter 33
“Gordon’s going to be back any minute.” Rebecca’s voice drifted out through the open bathroom door, barely audible over the sound of the shower. “This could get really awkward.” Thad grinned as he yanked back the heavy blanket of the hotel bed and tested the overly springy mattress. He was stark naked, still dripping wet from the shower himself; it hadn’t been the first time he’d taken a shower with Rebecca, but it had certainly been the most exciting, the two of them taking turns under the quirky, chrome-plated faucet, their bodies pressed together as his hands roamed over her skin, his fingertips gliding across her flat stomach, around her thin waist to the small arch of her back, to the gentle hills of her perfect little ass—he almost took her right there, under the low-pressure stream of water, soapy, glistening, slipping around in their bare feet against the shiny white tub—but then he had a better idea and, without a word, had dived past the plastic shower curtain and out into the hotel room. “You obviously haven’t spent a lot of time with stoners. Getting a pizza to them is kind of like a religious affair. If Gordon makes it back in time for the exchange, I’ll be shocked.” Thad wished the words were true, even as he said them. They still had about an hour before they had to meet the buyer at the restaurant, and he was pretty certain from the way Gordon had reacted to seeing what was in the tackle box that the dude was going to see this through to the end. Gordon had been pretty damn shocked at the sight of the little containers of moon rock, but even though he’d seemed shaken by the reality of the situation, he also appeared to understand the historical nature of what Thad had done. This was a party Gordon wasn’t going to miss. The scary thing was, he looked stoned out of his mind, and would probably come back from his pizza mission even more so; Thad
could only hope that Gordon would keep it together long enough not to screw up the deal. Whether Gordon was returning or not, Thad knew that he and Rebecca had some time alone. A quick nap after the fourteen hours spent in the car—and the five hours in the Baptist church parking lot— would have been the most sensible thing, but Thad had come up with a much better idea. He quickly crossed to the bureau, where the tackle box was sitting between the hotel television and the suitcase they had brought with them from Houston. Thad went straight for the tackle box, opening the clasp with almost loving care. He surveyed the carefully lined-up bags and vials containing the lunar samples. Then he reached for the bag with the markings that indicated it was from Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong’s first walk on the moon. Slowly, like he was walking down the aisle of a church, he crossed back to the bed. With one hand he lifted up the mattress cover, and then he carefully placed the bag containing the lunar sample underneath. He replaced the mattress cover and the sheet, then went back and closed the tackle box. He was just stepping away from the bureau as Rebecca came out of the bathroom, wrapped only in a towel that was way too small for even her diminutive frame. Her porcelain skin was glistening where it was visible above the top of the white cotton material, beaded drops of water resting in the small crevice between the tops of her breasts, like pearls escaped from a necklace that Thad might soon be able to afford. Her legs, tight and muscled, were naked to the very peaks of her thighs—and even a little higher. Her hair was soaking wet, a few errant strands plastered down against the sides of her neck, jet-black strands beckoning down toward her bare shoulders and beyond, toward her perfectly sculpted back. She was waiting for his cue. If they had had more time, he would have been content to just stand there, looking at her. But in less than an hour, they were going to be meeting the sister-in-law of a Belgian rock collector to make a deal. So instead, he headed for the bed. If Rebecca noticed the small, fist-sized lump beneath the mattress cover, she didn’t say anything. Maybe she was simply too busy, her
lips against his as her hands moved low, first touching herself and then him, teasing, and then guiding. Thad’s entire body surged, every nerve ending firing off as he rolled on top of her, his knees parting her legs, his hands reaching for her wrists. As the moment approached, he looked right into her eyes. For the briefest of seconds he saw himself, hovering over her, fantasy and reality superimposed—but now the fantasy was real, the moment was real. They were making love in a Sheraton Hotel in Orlando, Florida, separated by a thin strip of material from a piece of the moon. It was a first for humankind. Exactly thirty years earlier, to the day, Neil Armstrong had taken the first step—but right then, right now— Thad Roberts was the first man to have sex on the moon.
sex on the moon - the amazing true story
Re: sex on the moon - the amazing true story
Chapter 34
Thad did his best to conjure up the theme songs to either Mission: Impossible or James Bond as he strolled along the edge of the highway, but the notes just wouldn’t come, his mind simply couldn’t focus past the image of the restaurant parking lot—which he could already make out over a low hedge embankment a dozen yards ahead. The never-ending stream of cars whizzing by, some so close he could feel the hot wind of their exhaust against the back of his neck, didn’t help; the roar of engines mixing with the metronomic beat of his own sneakers against Florida-hot asphalt was the only score he was going to get as he made his approach. Getting dropped off two blocks from Italliani was about the only part of the newly reformatted plan that he actually liked. When Gordon had returned to the hotel room, just ten minutes ago, Thad had practically begged the two of them to let him handle the deal on his own; there was no need for them to be in the restaurant, and it seemed like such a stupid risk. His plan to protect Rebecca, no matter what, would be seriously hampered if she were caught with him, red-handed. And then there was the added loose-cannon factor, Gordon. The guy had seemed even more high when he returned from his pizza expedition, and there was no telling what he would do in the restaurant. As it was, Thad had practically ordered them to wait at least ten minutes before entering the place, and they had agreed to play the part of a couple who’d just happened to wander into the restaurant—without any connection to Thad. If things went well, and Thad felt comfortable with the Belgian’s sister-in-law and her husband, he’d call them over and together they could all return to the hotel to show the buyer the moon rocks. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do. Steeling himself—without the help of a really good theme song—Thad skirted past the low hedge
and across the crowded parking lot. As he stepped through the front entrance of the restaurant, he did his best to take in all the details at once—the kitschy, Italian decor, the red-brown curtains that obscured the glass picture windows, the low booths that lined three walls of the rectangular space, the waiters and waitresses wearing black and white, the hostess stand where a young woman stood talking to a pair of middle-aged-looking customers. It was the kind of restaurant that could have appeared in any town in America, and it seemed like the perfect public setting for a deal to go down. As Thad approached the hostess, he was pleased and surprised to see that the restaurant was extremely crowded for six P.M . Then again, it was Orlando, which even in the summer was a haven for tourists from all over the world. Hell, he might as well have set the meeting for the middle of Disney. They could have exchanged contraband for cash on the way up Space Mountain. Except, of course, there would be no exchange of contraband for cash until everyone felt comfortable with each other. Thad hadn’t brought any of the samples along with him, and he was expecting the buyer to be just as cautious. After the middle-aged couple moved out of the way, Thad walked up to the hostess and told her that he was meeting someone for dinner. He didn’t give the hostess any names, nor could he actually describe whom he was meeting. In any event, the hostess told him that he was the first to arrive, so he opted to wait at the front of the restaurant. A good five minutes went by as he watched at least a half dozen more tables get seated. The place was really bustling. Standing there, with so many people hovering around, he started to feel pretty nervous. Hell, he wasn’t even certain that the other party was going to show up. Maybe the woman had chickened out at the last minute. Maybe she had even called 911. Thad knew his own nerves were working against him, and he had the sudden urge to just turn around and walk out of there. And then he saw her, the woman as she had described herself in an e-mail, dark-haired, respectable-looking, wearing a tailored suit-skirt combination—she looked like a schoolteacher or a businesswoman, and there was a nervous smile on her youthful face.
She immediately recognized him from the outfit he had told her he’d be wearing: a black shirt and silver necklace sporting a dolphin pendant. The pendant had sentimental value—Sonya had given it to him years ago—but he wasn’t sure why he had chosen it for this moment. She shook his hand, introducing herself as Lynn Briley. Thad didn’t give any name himself, and let the woman lead him, with the help of the hostess, to a four-seater against the right side of the restaurant, right up next to one of the curtained picture windows. Thad didn’t see the woman’s husband anywhere nearby, so he assumed that she had wanted to meet him first—which made sense, since she was the American. Kurt, Axel’s brother, might not even have spoken English, for all Thad knew. Emmermann’s e-mails had always seemed to be written in that very staccato manner of foreigners who’d learned English in school, rather than on the street. After they were seated, and a waiter took their order—a random and hastily constructed list of Italian appetizers and entrées—they went right to business. Lynn had obviously noticed that Thad wasn’t carrying anything with him; he was wearing shorts, sneakers, the shirt, and the necklace. So Thad wanted to quickly set her at ease. “The samples are back at our hotel. After we’re comfortable with each other, we can go back and exchange the money there. Does that sound good?” She nodded, taking a sip of her water. She seemed as nervous as Thad felt, and that actually made him calm down a little. She was pretty, in that slightly older-woman sort of way, and he noticed that she had left the top button of her dress shirt undone, revealing the angle of her collarbone. “Okay, where’s your hotel?” “The Sheraton.” “If you’re more comfortable with that, we can do that. The Sheraton just down the street?” “The big tall one,” Thad responded. The woman was talking fast, and Thad really wanted to make her feel comfortable enough to relax. “On the left. It’s been very nice. I’m telling you, this has been the most exciting event in my entire life, I think. Heck, I’m just hoping you don’t
have a wire on you! Anyway, you know what my girlfriend said today? She’s like—they could make a life out of my movie.” Thad knew he was talking too much, but he couldn’t help himself, he was starting to enjoy this, starting to really ride the adrenaline. The woman seemed to be easing up a bit also, and she seemed amused by his obvious enthusiasm. “You sound very adventurous,” she commented, “and your girlfriend must be very adventurous, too.” “What she meant to say is, they could make a movie of her life.” It was an extremely surreal comment to make—both for Rebecca, back at the hotel, and for Thad, here in the crowded restaurant, speaking to a woman who was about to pay him a hundred thousand dollars for stolen moon rocks. Thad was starting to feel a bit more in control as he took a long sip of his own water. But there were still plenty of loose ends. He asked her about Kurt, her husband, and she explained that he was waiting nearby for her to call, to let him know that things were progressing. In return, Thad told her that his own partners were on their way to the restaurant and would be there soon. “Do you want to talk to your husband before you meet the others?” he asked, wanting to move this along. His ten-minute grace period was almost up, and he expected Rebecca and Gordon to walk in at any moment. The woman seemed to think about it for a second, then nodded. “I tell you what. The music in here is really loud. Let me step out. I’ll call my husband and get him on the way here, and while he’s on his way, you can call your friends, and we can all sit down and chitchat. Sound good?” Thad was about to answer, when he saw them—Gordon and Rebecca, strolling into the place as if they owned it, actually holding hands, although Thad suspected that Rebecca was just trying to keep Gordon from toppling over. Just as Thad had demanded, they took a table across the crowded place and called over a waiter. Gordon was talking extremely loud—so loud that Thad could hear him ordering Heinekens over the din of the other diners. Hell, the guy was really making a scene—but it didn’t seem like
anyone else noticed, so Thad turned back to the woman. “That’s fine. I’ll wait right here.” Thad realized he was sweating as he watched her go. All of his bravado from the moment before was gone, his nerves firing off, his entire being shaken by the sight of Gordon and Rebecca sitting there, across the way. He took another sip of water, trying to compose himself. … Lynn Briley—aka Special Agent Lynn Billings—waited until she’d moved out of earshot of the suspect, whom she knew only as Orb Robinson, before pulling her cell phone out of her front pocket and placing it tight against her ear. She was breathing hard, though she wasn’t particularly nervous; as an undercover agent with the FBI, she had conducted numerous missions in the past. Certainly, this was not the first time she had worn a wire, but there was always that special feeling you got when you strapped the electronics to your body— especially when you weren’t certain what sort of environment you were getting yourself into. But Orb Robinson seemed pretty harmless. Of course, that didn’t make him any less guilty. “Kurt.” She spoke rapidly into the cell phone. Even though she was out of earshot, she never broke character during a mission. “Things are going very well. His other two friends are here, um, that are involved in this as well. He does not have the samples on him right now, so they want to go to their hotel room. Which is the Sheraton just down the road by I-4. He said it’s the big tall one. So his two friends are already in the restaurant. They have not sat down at the table yet. They want to get comfortable with you, and then we’re gonna go and everything should be in the hotel room at the Sheraton; just advise— advise our friends. You know, why don’t you do that right now. Um, well, go ahead and do that. I think that might help. Okay, and, um, just come in and we’ll be waiting for you.” With that, she hung up and deftly slid the cell phone back into her suit pocket. She did a mental check, making sure the digital recording device was still well hidden beneath her clothes. Pasting a calm, collected smile back on her lips, she headed back to the table.
… The woman was already talking, before she even fully settled back into her seat. “I forgot to ask before I left,” she said, and she seemed to be more relaxed after her phone call, “if you wanted him to bring the money. So, he’s going to. Just, I figured that was the safest thing to do.” “Can we leave it in your car?” Thad didn’t like this development at all. A suitcase full of money did not belong in this restaurant, and it seemed like an unnecessary danger. After all, they were going to all have to go back to the hotel anyway, to look at the moon rocks. “You don’t want him to bring it in?” “No.” “It’s up to you; I can tell him not to.” Thad took a breath. He didn’t want to fuck this up by being too paranoid. “Okay, I don’t want to open up a briefcase full of money in here. But he can bring it in.” He wanted to keep the woman happy, and comfortable. Especially because he could really hear Gordon now, over the din of the restaurant, saying something to the waitress, something about some huge tip he’d obviously given her. Thad wasn’t sure, but he thought Gordon was on at least his third Heineken. Which was kind of a terrifying thought, considering how high the kid already was. “It doesn’t matter,” Thad quickly added. “I’ll follow him out to the car afterward, and look inside real quick—” He had barely gotten through the sentence when he saw a man approaching the table—tall, square-jawed, maybe a little too thin, wearing a somewhat stiff-looking blue blazer and a tie. Kurt Emmermann certainly looked European. And he was holding a briefcase in his left hand. As he introduced himself, shaking Thad’s hand and giving Lynn a little kiss on the cheek, Thad couldn’t keep his gaze off that briefcase. Sure, he had no intention of opening it here in the restaurant, but he knew what was inside. More money than he had ever seen in his life. More money than he could imagine in one place. Enough money to
change everything. “Unbelievable,” he said, realizing he was saying it out loud, but not really caring. “You spend so much time thinking about it. I mean, you see it in a movie in your mind, and then it happens. It’s happening right now. It’s weird. I almost feel like I’ve lived over the last two months, you know, this whole ordeal, I don’t know how to feel. I really don’t want too much more.” Both the woman and her husband were looking at him, maybe trying to decipher what he was saying, maybe just wondering what was going to happen next. The woman’s eyes still seemed kind of amused, but the man was much more about business. Thad didn’t care. He felt like he had one foot in the fantasy world he had been building for the past year, and one foot in reality. It was a wild sensation. He quickly glanced at Rebecca, catching her eye. He was glad to see that Gordon was too busy with his Heineken to notice. Rebecca separated herself from the table and headed over by herself. She had to weave between a pair of diners being led by the hostess to their table—and as she passed them, Thad noticed something for the first time, something that seemed the littlest bit peculiar. Other than the hostess, the other people in the restaurant—and there had to be at least fifty of them—all seemed to be middle-aged. No kids, no teenagers, no families. Nobody that was in their twenties, other than Thad, Rebecca, and Gordon. Well, maybe there was some sort of convention nearby. Or maybe it was just Florida. Thad filed it away in the back of his mind. He stood as Rebecca reached the table, introducing her to Lynn and Kurt. “You’re really close to what I was expecting.” Thad wasn’t sure why Rebecca had just said that, but from her voice, he could tell that she was really nervous. He gestured for her to take a seat, next to him. Kurt and Lynn were across from them. Lynn turned toward Thad. “I don’t even know your—Orb? I was going to say I don’t even know your real name, but that’s all right. You have one more friend coming, too?” Thad shrugged, because he was really hoping that Gordon would just pass out at his table. Then, without warning, Kurt broke into the
conversation for the first time, his words barely audible through a thick European accent. “Now, this is exciting. I’m betting you will think about this for the rest of your life. You guys will be off to some beach somewhere, and you’ll remember this day, this life-changing event. Very fun.” Thad glanced at Rebecca, who seemed to be put slightly at ease by the man’s happy comments. Maybe she was picturing that beach. Thad looked toward the briefcase full of money, then back at the couple across from him. A ship in a storm that seemed to be settling, he’d pitched back to some level of confidence; he was ready to move this along. “Well, we’ve talked quite a bit. I feel very comfortable. I think it’s a good idea not to open the briefcase in the restaurant. And all of the samples are in the hotel.” He was squeezing Rebecca’s hand under the table, and he felt her leaning into him, feeding off his renewed confidence. “Oh, and tell them about the Antarctic meteorite,” she burst in, her voice filled with energy. Thad felt himself smiling. Rebecca was right. Why not have some fun with this? There was nothing he loved more than an enrapt audience. “Have you heard of the ALH meteorite? It was collected in Antarctica. We have a NASA team that goes down every year. It’s a great place to find meteorites.” The woman and her Belgian husband were leaning in over the table, obviously intrigued. Thad felt like he was back at the JSC, speaking to new co-ops, always the center of attention. “Anyway, they bring them all back to NASA and start cataloging them. The first one they said, this looks so weird, so they called it 84, in the dilute form 001. They just put it in a big freezer, so it wouldn’t be contaminated. They started studying it and noticed really strange stuff on it. It looked like microfossils. So they studied it more in depth and verifiably proved it’s from Mars—” And right in the middle of his lecture, suddenly there was Gordon, leaning in over the table, his breath stinking of alcohol. Before Thad or Rebecca could say anything, he was sliding into the seat next to them, his hand shooting out toward the couple across the table.
“Gordon,” he said, by way of introduction. Kurt and Lynn shook his hand, and then he was shouting toward the waiter. “Heineken!” Thad felt his face getting red. But the couple seemed to take it all in stride, and they had already turned their attention back to him. He decided to just ignore Gordon as much as possible, and continued his story. “So everyone also agrees that the stuff is actual microfossils. The question is, since it is here, what does that mean? Anyway, needless to say, it’s one of the most famous rocks on the planet. I didn’t put that in the list originally. Quite a find, huh?” Lynn looked at her husband, then back at Thad. “Isn’t it in something to protect it, and keep it from being exposed?” Thad nodded. She really seemed interested. Maybe she’d want to buy that, too. Maybe there were more briefcases full of money to be had. And maybe he would sell it, if the price was right. Hell, he was beginning to feel loose, like anything could happen. “Yes, it’s in a vial. Oh, you’re gonna love it. This is like an extra bonus. We were very happy when we found it. At least, as a scientist, this—this one specimen is the most famous rock on the planet. Wow.” And then suddenly Gordon was butting in, his voice way too loud. “Remember, you just saw something the other day about it on TV! He shows me it—remember this? It was on TV!” Thad stared daggers at him. What the fuck was he even talking about? Gordon’s eyes were totally bloodshot, his eyelids at half-mast. He was royally fucked up. But the couple still didn’t seem to be bothered. The woman cleared her throat, drawing Thad’s attention back to her. “So, are you all mineralogists?” “I’m actually into bioengineering,” Rebecca butted in. “We go to school together. I’m biology.” “Are you really?” “Bioengineering.” “Mineralogy, well, geology,” Thad said, pointing to himself. Gordon coughed. “He’s got three degrees he’s working on. Yeah. He’s a freaking
genius.” Thad smiled thinly. “I can pick between the three.” “The Cayman Islands!” Gordon suddenly shouted, taking them all by surprise. “Isn’t that where we’re trying to get anyway, with school? Sit on the beach and enjoy it! It’s the Bible that’s worked for us!” Christ, he was really losing it. Thad glanced at Rebecca, and he could see she was thinking the same thing. They needed to wrap this up, and quickly. Thad lowered his voice, speaking directly to Lynn. “Do you wanna just go ahead and get the check?” Gordon butted in again before she could answer. “I gave that girl back there a thirty-dollar tip!” he exclaimed. Thad wished he would just shut the fuck up, but Lynn seemed amused, rather than afraid. “Are you kidding me? Dude, you’re crazy.” “It was her first, I was her first table, ever. Aw, it was her first table. I said I’m gonna make your night. Belgium, eh, how is Europe now?” This last was to Kurt. The guy seemed not quite to know what to make of Gordon, but he gamely tried to answer. For Thad, it was like watching a train wreck in progress. “Europe is well. It’s still Europe. It’s home.” “Did Belgium go over to the euro?” Gordon shot back. What the hell was he going on about? “Your brother’s Web site,” he continued, now obviously drunk as well as stoned. “It was the first one. I’m like, wow, the guy just e-mailed me. He e-mailed me. Hey, did you tell him how many grams we have?” Thad’s teeth clenched as he glared back at Gordon. “No, I think we’re gonna get into that later. Just relax.” And he quickly made a signal to the waiter, who hurried over. Lynn reached for the check, stopping Thad before he could offer to pay. Gordon seemed to find this immensely amusing. “Wow, you’re competing now. You can always win on that one.” And that was all Thad could take. He stood, gesturing for the rest of them to do the same. Lynn put a couple of big bills down on top of the check, indicating that she didn’t need to wait for the change. And then they were all heading across the restaurant toward the front door. Lynn
suggested that Thad ride with her and Kurt, and that Rebecca and Gordon follow behind in the other car. “Yeah, that’s fine,” Thad responded, liking the idea of separating the couple from Gordon as much as possible. “Um, which room are we in again?” “We’ll meet you in the lobby,” Rebecca quickly responded. “We’re going to the Sheraton at I-4, right?” Lynn interjected. “Yes,” Rebecca said, hitting the door first. Gordon was staggering behind her, but he made it through the open doorway without losing his footing. “Wait for us in the lobby,” he called back, slurring his words, “if you get there before us.” Thad nodded, but Gordon and Rebecca were already out of the restaurant and hurrying across the parking lot toward her car. He looked at Lynn, who smiled amiably back. Kurt was already reaching for his car keys; his other hand still gripped the briefcase, which swung heavily by his left thigh as he exited through the open doorway. Somehow, its rhythmic, pendular motion helped quiet the thoughts racing through Thad’s head. Gordon was out of control—but the situation wasn’t. Actually, things seemed to be going very smoothly. One hundred thousand dollars, one short car ride away. As the woman held the door open for Thad, he smiled at her. She smiled back—but in that brief second, he noticed that she was actually glancing past him, at something in the parking lot. He quickly followed her gaze—but it was just another couple of restaurant patrons getting into their own vehicle on the other side of the lot. A man and a woman, actually, dressed pretty formally for a warm Saturday evening. And they both appeared to be in their late thirties or early forties. Odd—but Thad pushed the thought away. He told himself again, he was just being paranoid. In a few minutes, they would be back at the hotel. And then it would be just him, Rebecca—and a briefcase full of cash. After that—maybe there would be a nice, pretty beach, with plenty of palm trees to go around.
Thad did his best to conjure up the theme songs to either Mission: Impossible or James Bond as he strolled along the edge of the highway, but the notes just wouldn’t come, his mind simply couldn’t focus past the image of the restaurant parking lot—which he could already make out over a low hedge embankment a dozen yards ahead. The never-ending stream of cars whizzing by, some so close he could feel the hot wind of their exhaust against the back of his neck, didn’t help; the roar of engines mixing with the metronomic beat of his own sneakers against Florida-hot asphalt was the only score he was going to get as he made his approach. Getting dropped off two blocks from Italliani was about the only part of the newly reformatted plan that he actually liked. When Gordon had returned to the hotel room, just ten minutes ago, Thad had practically begged the two of them to let him handle the deal on his own; there was no need for them to be in the restaurant, and it seemed like such a stupid risk. His plan to protect Rebecca, no matter what, would be seriously hampered if she were caught with him, red-handed. And then there was the added loose-cannon factor, Gordon. The guy had seemed even more high when he returned from his pizza expedition, and there was no telling what he would do in the restaurant. As it was, Thad had practically ordered them to wait at least ten minutes before entering the place, and they had agreed to play the part of a couple who’d just happened to wander into the restaurant—without any connection to Thad. If things went well, and Thad felt comfortable with the Belgian’s sister-in-law and her husband, he’d call them over and together they could all return to the hotel to show the buyer the moon rocks. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do. Steeling himself—without the help of a really good theme song—Thad skirted past the low hedge
and across the crowded parking lot. As he stepped through the front entrance of the restaurant, he did his best to take in all the details at once—the kitschy, Italian decor, the red-brown curtains that obscured the glass picture windows, the low booths that lined three walls of the rectangular space, the waiters and waitresses wearing black and white, the hostess stand where a young woman stood talking to a pair of middle-aged-looking customers. It was the kind of restaurant that could have appeared in any town in America, and it seemed like the perfect public setting for a deal to go down. As Thad approached the hostess, he was pleased and surprised to see that the restaurant was extremely crowded for six P.M . Then again, it was Orlando, which even in the summer was a haven for tourists from all over the world. Hell, he might as well have set the meeting for the middle of Disney. They could have exchanged contraband for cash on the way up Space Mountain. Except, of course, there would be no exchange of contraband for cash until everyone felt comfortable with each other. Thad hadn’t brought any of the samples along with him, and he was expecting the buyer to be just as cautious. After the middle-aged couple moved out of the way, Thad walked up to the hostess and told her that he was meeting someone for dinner. He didn’t give the hostess any names, nor could he actually describe whom he was meeting. In any event, the hostess told him that he was the first to arrive, so he opted to wait at the front of the restaurant. A good five minutes went by as he watched at least a half dozen more tables get seated. The place was really bustling. Standing there, with so many people hovering around, he started to feel pretty nervous. Hell, he wasn’t even certain that the other party was going to show up. Maybe the woman had chickened out at the last minute. Maybe she had even called 911. Thad knew his own nerves were working against him, and he had the sudden urge to just turn around and walk out of there. And then he saw her, the woman as she had described herself in an e-mail, dark-haired, respectable-looking, wearing a tailored suit-skirt combination—she looked like a schoolteacher or a businesswoman, and there was a nervous smile on her youthful face.
She immediately recognized him from the outfit he had told her he’d be wearing: a black shirt and silver necklace sporting a dolphin pendant. The pendant had sentimental value—Sonya had given it to him years ago—but he wasn’t sure why he had chosen it for this moment. She shook his hand, introducing herself as Lynn Briley. Thad didn’t give any name himself, and let the woman lead him, with the help of the hostess, to a four-seater against the right side of the restaurant, right up next to one of the curtained picture windows. Thad didn’t see the woman’s husband anywhere nearby, so he assumed that she had wanted to meet him first—which made sense, since she was the American. Kurt, Axel’s brother, might not even have spoken English, for all Thad knew. Emmermann’s e-mails had always seemed to be written in that very staccato manner of foreigners who’d learned English in school, rather than on the street. After they were seated, and a waiter took their order—a random and hastily constructed list of Italian appetizers and entrées—they went right to business. Lynn had obviously noticed that Thad wasn’t carrying anything with him; he was wearing shorts, sneakers, the shirt, and the necklace. So Thad wanted to quickly set her at ease. “The samples are back at our hotel. After we’re comfortable with each other, we can go back and exchange the money there. Does that sound good?” She nodded, taking a sip of her water. She seemed as nervous as Thad felt, and that actually made him calm down a little. She was pretty, in that slightly older-woman sort of way, and he noticed that she had left the top button of her dress shirt undone, revealing the angle of her collarbone. “Okay, where’s your hotel?” “The Sheraton.” “If you’re more comfortable with that, we can do that. The Sheraton just down the street?” “The big tall one,” Thad responded. The woman was talking fast, and Thad really wanted to make her feel comfortable enough to relax. “On the left. It’s been very nice. I’m telling you, this has been the most exciting event in my entire life, I think. Heck, I’m just hoping you don’t
have a wire on you! Anyway, you know what my girlfriend said today? She’s like—they could make a life out of my movie.” Thad knew he was talking too much, but he couldn’t help himself, he was starting to enjoy this, starting to really ride the adrenaline. The woman seemed to be easing up a bit also, and she seemed amused by his obvious enthusiasm. “You sound very adventurous,” she commented, “and your girlfriend must be very adventurous, too.” “What she meant to say is, they could make a movie of her life.” It was an extremely surreal comment to make—both for Rebecca, back at the hotel, and for Thad, here in the crowded restaurant, speaking to a woman who was about to pay him a hundred thousand dollars for stolen moon rocks. Thad was starting to feel a bit more in control as he took a long sip of his own water. But there were still plenty of loose ends. He asked her about Kurt, her husband, and she explained that he was waiting nearby for her to call, to let him know that things were progressing. In return, Thad told her that his own partners were on their way to the restaurant and would be there soon. “Do you want to talk to your husband before you meet the others?” he asked, wanting to move this along. His ten-minute grace period was almost up, and he expected Rebecca and Gordon to walk in at any moment. The woman seemed to think about it for a second, then nodded. “I tell you what. The music in here is really loud. Let me step out. I’ll call my husband and get him on the way here, and while he’s on his way, you can call your friends, and we can all sit down and chitchat. Sound good?” Thad was about to answer, when he saw them—Gordon and Rebecca, strolling into the place as if they owned it, actually holding hands, although Thad suspected that Rebecca was just trying to keep Gordon from toppling over. Just as Thad had demanded, they took a table across the crowded place and called over a waiter. Gordon was talking extremely loud—so loud that Thad could hear him ordering Heinekens over the din of the other diners. Hell, the guy was really making a scene—but it didn’t seem like
anyone else noticed, so Thad turned back to the woman. “That’s fine. I’ll wait right here.” Thad realized he was sweating as he watched her go. All of his bravado from the moment before was gone, his nerves firing off, his entire being shaken by the sight of Gordon and Rebecca sitting there, across the way. He took another sip of water, trying to compose himself. … Lynn Briley—aka Special Agent Lynn Billings—waited until she’d moved out of earshot of the suspect, whom she knew only as Orb Robinson, before pulling her cell phone out of her front pocket and placing it tight against her ear. She was breathing hard, though she wasn’t particularly nervous; as an undercover agent with the FBI, she had conducted numerous missions in the past. Certainly, this was not the first time she had worn a wire, but there was always that special feeling you got when you strapped the electronics to your body— especially when you weren’t certain what sort of environment you were getting yourself into. But Orb Robinson seemed pretty harmless. Of course, that didn’t make him any less guilty. “Kurt.” She spoke rapidly into the cell phone. Even though she was out of earshot, she never broke character during a mission. “Things are going very well. His other two friends are here, um, that are involved in this as well. He does not have the samples on him right now, so they want to go to their hotel room. Which is the Sheraton just down the road by I-4. He said it’s the big tall one. So his two friends are already in the restaurant. They have not sat down at the table yet. They want to get comfortable with you, and then we’re gonna go and everything should be in the hotel room at the Sheraton; just advise— advise our friends. You know, why don’t you do that right now. Um, well, go ahead and do that. I think that might help. Okay, and, um, just come in and we’ll be waiting for you.” With that, she hung up and deftly slid the cell phone back into her suit pocket. She did a mental check, making sure the digital recording device was still well hidden beneath her clothes. Pasting a calm, collected smile back on her lips, she headed back to the table.
… The woman was already talking, before she even fully settled back into her seat. “I forgot to ask before I left,” she said, and she seemed to be more relaxed after her phone call, “if you wanted him to bring the money. So, he’s going to. Just, I figured that was the safest thing to do.” “Can we leave it in your car?” Thad didn’t like this development at all. A suitcase full of money did not belong in this restaurant, and it seemed like an unnecessary danger. After all, they were going to all have to go back to the hotel anyway, to look at the moon rocks. “You don’t want him to bring it in?” “No.” “It’s up to you; I can tell him not to.” Thad took a breath. He didn’t want to fuck this up by being too paranoid. “Okay, I don’t want to open up a briefcase full of money in here. But he can bring it in.” He wanted to keep the woman happy, and comfortable. Especially because he could really hear Gordon now, over the din of the restaurant, saying something to the waitress, something about some huge tip he’d obviously given her. Thad wasn’t sure, but he thought Gordon was on at least his third Heineken. Which was kind of a terrifying thought, considering how high the kid already was. “It doesn’t matter,” Thad quickly added. “I’ll follow him out to the car afterward, and look inside real quick—” He had barely gotten through the sentence when he saw a man approaching the table—tall, square-jawed, maybe a little too thin, wearing a somewhat stiff-looking blue blazer and a tie. Kurt Emmermann certainly looked European. And he was holding a briefcase in his left hand. As he introduced himself, shaking Thad’s hand and giving Lynn a little kiss on the cheek, Thad couldn’t keep his gaze off that briefcase. Sure, he had no intention of opening it here in the restaurant, but he knew what was inside. More money than he had ever seen in his life. More money than he could imagine in one place. Enough money to
change everything. “Unbelievable,” he said, realizing he was saying it out loud, but not really caring. “You spend so much time thinking about it. I mean, you see it in a movie in your mind, and then it happens. It’s happening right now. It’s weird. I almost feel like I’ve lived over the last two months, you know, this whole ordeal, I don’t know how to feel. I really don’t want too much more.” Both the woman and her husband were looking at him, maybe trying to decipher what he was saying, maybe just wondering what was going to happen next. The woman’s eyes still seemed kind of amused, but the man was much more about business. Thad didn’t care. He felt like he had one foot in the fantasy world he had been building for the past year, and one foot in reality. It was a wild sensation. He quickly glanced at Rebecca, catching her eye. He was glad to see that Gordon was too busy with his Heineken to notice. Rebecca separated herself from the table and headed over by herself. She had to weave between a pair of diners being led by the hostess to their table—and as she passed them, Thad noticed something for the first time, something that seemed the littlest bit peculiar. Other than the hostess, the other people in the restaurant—and there had to be at least fifty of them—all seemed to be middle-aged. No kids, no teenagers, no families. Nobody that was in their twenties, other than Thad, Rebecca, and Gordon. Well, maybe there was some sort of convention nearby. Or maybe it was just Florida. Thad filed it away in the back of his mind. He stood as Rebecca reached the table, introducing her to Lynn and Kurt. “You’re really close to what I was expecting.” Thad wasn’t sure why Rebecca had just said that, but from her voice, he could tell that she was really nervous. He gestured for her to take a seat, next to him. Kurt and Lynn were across from them. Lynn turned toward Thad. “I don’t even know your—Orb? I was going to say I don’t even know your real name, but that’s all right. You have one more friend coming, too?” Thad shrugged, because he was really hoping that Gordon would just pass out at his table. Then, without warning, Kurt broke into the
conversation for the first time, his words barely audible through a thick European accent. “Now, this is exciting. I’m betting you will think about this for the rest of your life. You guys will be off to some beach somewhere, and you’ll remember this day, this life-changing event. Very fun.” Thad glanced at Rebecca, who seemed to be put slightly at ease by the man’s happy comments. Maybe she was picturing that beach. Thad looked toward the briefcase full of money, then back at the couple across from him. A ship in a storm that seemed to be settling, he’d pitched back to some level of confidence; he was ready to move this along. “Well, we’ve talked quite a bit. I feel very comfortable. I think it’s a good idea not to open the briefcase in the restaurant. And all of the samples are in the hotel.” He was squeezing Rebecca’s hand under the table, and he felt her leaning into him, feeding off his renewed confidence. “Oh, and tell them about the Antarctic meteorite,” she burst in, her voice filled with energy. Thad felt himself smiling. Rebecca was right. Why not have some fun with this? There was nothing he loved more than an enrapt audience. “Have you heard of the ALH meteorite? It was collected in Antarctica. We have a NASA team that goes down every year. It’s a great place to find meteorites.” The woman and her Belgian husband were leaning in over the table, obviously intrigued. Thad felt like he was back at the JSC, speaking to new co-ops, always the center of attention. “Anyway, they bring them all back to NASA and start cataloging them. The first one they said, this looks so weird, so they called it 84, in the dilute form 001. They just put it in a big freezer, so it wouldn’t be contaminated. They started studying it and noticed really strange stuff on it. It looked like microfossils. So they studied it more in depth and verifiably proved it’s from Mars—” And right in the middle of his lecture, suddenly there was Gordon, leaning in over the table, his breath stinking of alcohol. Before Thad or Rebecca could say anything, he was sliding into the seat next to them, his hand shooting out toward the couple across the table.
“Gordon,” he said, by way of introduction. Kurt and Lynn shook his hand, and then he was shouting toward the waiter. “Heineken!” Thad felt his face getting red. But the couple seemed to take it all in stride, and they had already turned their attention back to him. He decided to just ignore Gordon as much as possible, and continued his story. “So everyone also agrees that the stuff is actual microfossils. The question is, since it is here, what does that mean? Anyway, needless to say, it’s one of the most famous rocks on the planet. I didn’t put that in the list originally. Quite a find, huh?” Lynn looked at her husband, then back at Thad. “Isn’t it in something to protect it, and keep it from being exposed?” Thad nodded. She really seemed interested. Maybe she’d want to buy that, too. Maybe there were more briefcases full of money to be had. And maybe he would sell it, if the price was right. Hell, he was beginning to feel loose, like anything could happen. “Yes, it’s in a vial. Oh, you’re gonna love it. This is like an extra bonus. We were very happy when we found it. At least, as a scientist, this—this one specimen is the most famous rock on the planet. Wow.” And then suddenly Gordon was butting in, his voice way too loud. “Remember, you just saw something the other day about it on TV! He shows me it—remember this? It was on TV!” Thad stared daggers at him. What the fuck was he even talking about? Gordon’s eyes were totally bloodshot, his eyelids at half-mast. He was royally fucked up. But the couple still didn’t seem to be bothered. The woman cleared her throat, drawing Thad’s attention back to her. “So, are you all mineralogists?” “I’m actually into bioengineering,” Rebecca butted in. “We go to school together. I’m biology.” “Are you really?” “Bioengineering.” “Mineralogy, well, geology,” Thad said, pointing to himself. Gordon coughed. “He’s got three degrees he’s working on. Yeah. He’s a freaking
genius.” Thad smiled thinly. “I can pick between the three.” “The Cayman Islands!” Gordon suddenly shouted, taking them all by surprise. “Isn’t that where we’re trying to get anyway, with school? Sit on the beach and enjoy it! It’s the Bible that’s worked for us!” Christ, he was really losing it. Thad glanced at Rebecca, and he could see she was thinking the same thing. They needed to wrap this up, and quickly. Thad lowered his voice, speaking directly to Lynn. “Do you wanna just go ahead and get the check?” Gordon butted in again before she could answer. “I gave that girl back there a thirty-dollar tip!” he exclaimed. Thad wished he would just shut the fuck up, but Lynn seemed amused, rather than afraid. “Are you kidding me? Dude, you’re crazy.” “It was her first, I was her first table, ever. Aw, it was her first table. I said I’m gonna make your night. Belgium, eh, how is Europe now?” This last was to Kurt. The guy seemed not quite to know what to make of Gordon, but he gamely tried to answer. For Thad, it was like watching a train wreck in progress. “Europe is well. It’s still Europe. It’s home.” “Did Belgium go over to the euro?” Gordon shot back. What the hell was he going on about? “Your brother’s Web site,” he continued, now obviously drunk as well as stoned. “It was the first one. I’m like, wow, the guy just e-mailed me. He e-mailed me. Hey, did you tell him how many grams we have?” Thad’s teeth clenched as he glared back at Gordon. “No, I think we’re gonna get into that later. Just relax.” And he quickly made a signal to the waiter, who hurried over. Lynn reached for the check, stopping Thad before he could offer to pay. Gordon seemed to find this immensely amusing. “Wow, you’re competing now. You can always win on that one.” And that was all Thad could take. He stood, gesturing for the rest of them to do the same. Lynn put a couple of big bills down on top of the check, indicating that she didn’t need to wait for the change. And then they were all heading across the restaurant toward the front door. Lynn
suggested that Thad ride with her and Kurt, and that Rebecca and Gordon follow behind in the other car. “Yeah, that’s fine,” Thad responded, liking the idea of separating the couple from Gordon as much as possible. “Um, which room are we in again?” “We’ll meet you in the lobby,” Rebecca quickly responded. “We’re going to the Sheraton at I-4, right?” Lynn interjected. “Yes,” Rebecca said, hitting the door first. Gordon was staggering behind her, but he made it through the open doorway without losing his footing. “Wait for us in the lobby,” he called back, slurring his words, “if you get there before us.” Thad nodded, but Gordon and Rebecca were already out of the restaurant and hurrying across the parking lot toward her car. He looked at Lynn, who smiled amiably back. Kurt was already reaching for his car keys; his other hand still gripped the briefcase, which swung heavily by his left thigh as he exited through the open doorway. Somehow, its rhythmic, pendular motion helped quiet the thoughts racing through Thad’s head. Gordon was out of control—but the situation wasn’t. Actually, things seemed to be going very smoothly. One hundred thousand dollars, one short car ride away. As the woman held the door open for Thad, he smiled at her. She smiled back—but in that brief second, he noticed that she was actually glancing past him, at something in the parking lot. He quickly followed her gaze—but it was just another couple of restaurant patrons getting into their own vehicle on the other side of the lot. A man and a woman, actually, dressed pretty formally for a warm Saturday evening. And they both appeared to be in their late thirties or early forties. Odd—but Thad pushed the thought away. He told himself again, he was just being paranoid. In a few minutes, they would be back at the hotel. And then it would be just him, Rebecca—and a briefcase full of cash. After that—maybe there would be a nice, pretty beach, with plenty of palm trees to go around.
Re: sex on the moon - the amazing true story
Chapter 35
Thad was still thinking about that perfect, pretty beach as they pulled into the Sheraton parking lot, Rebecca and Gordon a single car length behind them. Lynn and Kurt had been pretty talkative for most of the short drive over from the restaurant, shifting through a range of topics, from the muggy weather in Orlando to the best beer makers in Belgium —and pretty much everything in between. Thad was starting to really like them, and even found himself wondering if they’d all stay in touch after the deal was completed. He was certain that Gordon would be out of the picture as soon as he got his ten grand, but Thad and Rebecca would one day want to travel to Europe—and it would be nice to have people there to show them around. Kurt could introduce them to his brother, and Thad could finally meet the man behind all those emails. He was sure he’d have a lot in common with such a conscientious rock hound. Hell, maybe they’d all end up visiting that pristine beach together, share some laughs about the deal that had brought them together. But the minute Lynn jammed her foot on the brake, sending the car skidding to a sudden, screeching halt, Thad’s mind went absolutely blank, the imagined beach swallowed in a burst of pure and instant terror. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could find any words, Lynn and Kurt were out of the car—and then there were men racing at him from every direction, shouting and screaming and pointing— And then Thad saw that the men had guns. Dozens of them, everywhere, all over the parking lot, guns of varying sizes, pistols and automatics and even things that looked like sniper rifles, all of them drawn and aiming right at his face. Bright light exploded everywhere at once, illuminating the entire front of the hotel. Thad gasped, pressing back against the car seat, trying to disappear into the sticky, sweaty
vinyl. But then one of the men was grabbing at the car door, and suddenly there were hands all over him, yanking at his shirt and his hair and even his skin. As he was dragged out of the car—above the shouting and the screaming—he could hear the thump thump thump of a helicopter up above. The shadow of the thing passed right over him, the fierce wind from the rotors pulling at his hair—and then it was past, out over the highway. And Thad could see, beneath the copter, at least twenty police cars, lights flashing, parked behind barricades and yellow tape. They had closed International Drive; in fact, it looked like they had shut down an entire section of the city. “On your knees!” screamed a voice next to his ear. “Now!” It was Kurt, but now Kurt wasn’t talking about idyllic beaches, and he didn’t have a Belgian accent. Now Kurt was aiming a .32-caliber handgun at the back of Thad’s head. And there, just a few yards away, was Lynn, but she wasn’t asking about his adventurous girlfriend or the movie of his life. Now there was a badge affixed to her suit jacket, and she was talking to two men in police uniforms—and they were all looking at Thad, and one of them was smiling, but it wasn’t an amiable smile; it was a mean, arrogant kind of grin. And Thad knew, with every fiber of his being, that he was fucked. He felt the tip of a shoe kicking at the back of his legs, and then his knees hit the pavement. A heavy weight pressed against the small of his back, and then he was down flat, his left arm being pulled behind his back. He could hear the clink of handcuffs being readied, and in that brief moment he felt his entire life energy flowing out of him, like a cork had been pulled out of his heel and all of his dreams and accomplishments and beliefs were just running out of him, water from a pierced balloon. And he knew, right then, that this was a perfect time to die. Up until that point, that very second, everything in his life had been so incredible and exciting. He was a NASA scientist with a chance of one day becoming an astronaut. He had a beautiful girlfriend and a beautiful, though separated, wife. He could speak multiple languages and fly airplanes and cliff-dive and swim in the NBL. He had ridden in the Space Shuttle Simulator. He had everything. And now it was all gone, poof, everything he had ever worked for, everything he had ever achieved. Gone.
He knew immediately what he had to do. He glanced up, and even from that angle he could still see all those guns aiming at his head. Thirty, maybe forty of them, Christ, even though, of course, they knew he was unarmed, he was wearing shorts and a shirt and had just spent the past hour in a restaurant talking about moon rocks and Mars meteors. Forty guns, more than enough to do the job. The handcuffs weren’t locked on yet, he had a second left before it was too late—all he needed to do was roll over and start swinging. Hit one of the cops or the feds or even Kurt in the face, get them to start shooting. Thad wouldn’t even feel a thing. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the commotion across the parking lot—Gordon and Rebecca being dragged down to the pavement just like he was, another dozen or so cops swarming over them like maggots over meat. Gordon was one thing, poor sap had screwed himself by coming down to Florida—but Rebecca … Christ, Rebecca. He could just barely see her tiny form splayed out on the pavement, her wrists being pinned behind her lower back. Tears burned at the corners of his eyes. Rebecca. He had to help her. He had to make sure she got out of this okay. He had to protect her. And if he died here, in this parking lot, she’d end up in prison, maybe even hating him for the rest of her life. He couldn’t let that happen. He had to live, to make sure she continued to love him. To make sure she stayed safe. He let the last few drops of his life energy dribble out the bottom of his heel, closed his eyes—and listened for the piercing, metallic crack of the handcuffs clicking tight around his wrists.
Thad was still thinking about that perfect, pretty beach as they pulled into the Sheraton parking lot, Rebecca and Gordon a single car length behind them. Lynn and Kurt had been pretty talkative for most of the short drive over from the restaurant, shifting through a range of topics, from the muggy weather in Orlando to the best beer makers in Belgium —and pretty much everything in between. Thad was starting to really like them, and even found himself wondering if they’d all stay in touch after the deal was completed. He was certain that Gordon would be out of the picture as soon as he got his ten grand, but Thad and Rebecca would one day want to travel to Europe—and it would be nice to have people there to show them around. Kurt could introduce them to his brother, and Thad could finally meet the man behind all those emails. He was sure he’d have a lot in common with such a conscientious rock hound. Hell, maybe they’d all end up visiting that pristine beach together, share some laughs about the deal that had brought them together. But the minute Lynn jammed her foot on the brake, sending the car skidding to a sudden, screeching halt, Thad’s mind went absolutely blank, the imagined beach swallowed in a burst of pure and instant terror. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could find any words, Lynn and Kurt were out of the car—and then there were men racing at him from every direction, shouting and screaming and pointing— And then Thad saw that the men had guns. Dozens of them, everywhere, all over the parking lot, guns of varying sizes, pistols and automatics and even things that looked like sniper rifles, all of them drawn and aiming right at his face. Bright light exploded everywhere at once, illuminating the entire front of the hotel. Thad gasped, pressing back against the car seat, trying to disappear into the sticky, sweaty
vinyl. But then one of the men was grabbing at the car door, and suddenly there were hands all over him, yanking at his shirt and his hair and even his skin. As he was dragged out of the car—above the shouting and the screaming—he could hear the thump thump thump of a helicopter up above. The shadow of the thing passed right over him, the fierce wind from the rotors pulling at his hair—and then it was past, out over the highway. And Thad could see, beneath the copter, at least twenty police cars, lights flashing, parked behind barricades and yellow tape. They had closed International Drive; in fact, it looked like they had shut down an entire section of the city. “On your knees!” screamed a voice next to his ear. “Now!” It was Kurt, but now Kurt wasn’t talking about idyllic beaches, and he didn’t have a Belgian accent. Now Kurt was aiming a .32-caliber handgun at the back of Thad’s head. And there, just a few yards away, was Lynn, but she wasn’t asking about his adventurous girlfriend or the movie of his life. Now there was a badge affixed to her suit jacket, and she was talking to two men in police uniforms—and they were all looking at Thad, and one of them was smiling, but it wasn’t an amiable smile; it was a mean, arrogant kind of grin. And Thad knew, with every fiber of his being, that he was fucked. He felt the tip of a shoe kicking at the back of his legs, and then his knees hit the pavement. A heavy weight pressed against the small of his back, and then he was down flat, his left arm being pulled behind his back. He could hear the clink of handcuffs being readied, and in that brief moment he felt his entire life energy flowing out of him, like a cork had been pulled out of his heel and all of his dreams and accomplishments and beliefs were just running out of him, water from a pierced balloon. And he knew, right then, that this was a perfect time to die. Up until that point, that very second, everything in his life had been so incredible and exciting. He was a NASA scientist with a chance of one day becoming an astronaut. He had a beautiful girlfriend and a beautiful, though separated, wife. He could speak multiple languages and fly airplanes and cliff-dive and swim in the NBL. He had ridden in the Space Shuttle Simulator. He had everything. And now it was all gone, poof, everything he had ever worked for, everything he had ever achieved. Gone.
He knew immediately what he had to do. He glanced up, and even from that angle he could still see all those guns aiming at his head. Thirty, maybe forty of them, Christ, even though, of course, they knew he was unarmed, he was wearing shorts and a shirt and had just spent the past hour in a restaurant talking about moon rocks and Mars meteors. Forty guns, more than enough to do the job. The handcuffs weren’t locked on yet, he had a second left before it was too late—all he needed to do was roll over and start swinging. Hit one of the cops or the feds or even Kurt in the face, get them to start shooting. Thad wouldn’t even feel a thing. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the commotion across the parking lot—Gordon and Rebecca being dragged down to the pavement just like he was, another dozen or so cops swarming over them like maggots over meat. Gordon was one thing, poor sap had screwed himself by coming down to Florida—but Rebecca … Christ, Rebecca. He could just barely see her tiny form splayed out on the pavement, her wrists being pinned behind her lower back. Tears burned at the corners of his eyes. Rebecca. He had to help her. He had to make sure she got out of this okay. He had to protect her. And if he died here, in this parking lot, she’d end up in prison, maybe even hating him for the rest of her life. He couldn’t let that happen. He had to live, to make sure she continued to love him. To make sure she stayed safe. He let the last few drops of his life energy dribble out the bottom of his heel, closed his eyes—and listened for the piercing, metallic crack of the handcuffs clicking tight around his wrists.