"It'll be daylight soon," I said. "We'll feel pretty asinine about
this little trip after the sun comes up, but don't worry, I won't tell
anybody----"
"We've got to keep moving," Foster said. "At the next town, I'll
telephone for seats on a flight out of Miami."
"Hold on," I said. "You're raving. What about your house? We didn't
even stick around long enough to make sure the TV was turned off. And
what about passports, and money, and luggage? And what makes you think
I'm going with you?"
"I've kept myself in readiness for this emergency," Foster said. "There
are disposition instructions for the house on file with a legal firm
in Jacksonville. There is nothing to connect me with my former life,
once I've changed my name and disappeared. As for the rest--we can buy
luggage in the morning. My passport is in the car; perhaps we'd better
go first to Puerto Rico, until we can arrange for one for you."
"Look," I said. "I got spooked in the dark, that's all. Why not just
admit we made fools of ourselves?"
Foster shook his head. "The inherent inertia of the human mind," he
said. "How it fights to resist new ideas."
"The kind of new ideas you're talking about could get both of us locked
up in the chuckle ward," I said.
"Legion," Foster said, "I think you'd better write down what I'm going
to tell you. It's important--vitally important. I won't waste time with
preliminaries. The notebook I showed you--it's in my jacket. You must
read the English portion of it. Afterwards, what I'm about to say may
make more sense."
"I hope you don't feel your last will and testament coming on, Mr.
Foster," I said. "Not before you tell me what that was we were both so
eager to get away from."
"I'll be frank with you," Foster said flatly. "I don't know."
* * * * *
Foster wheeled into the dark drive of a silent service station, eased
to a stop, set the brake and slumped back in the seat.
"Do you mind driving for a while, Legion?" he said. "I'm not feeling
very well."
"Sure I'll drive," I said. I opened the door and got out and went
around to his side. Foster sat limply, eyes closed, his face drawn and
strained. He looked older than he had last night--years older. The
night's experiences hadn't taken anything off my age, either.
Foster opened his eyes, looked at me blankly. He seemed to gather
himself with an effort. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm not myself."
He moved over and I got in the driver's seat. "If you're sick," I said,
"we'd better find a doctor."
"No, it's all right," he said blurrily. "Just keep going...."
"We're a hundred and fifty miles from Mayport now," I said.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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