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Sitting in the breakfast nook in Skipper's kitchen, Patti was stunned when Skipper filled her in about recent developments. Memories came flooding back and she felt like she was drowning. She and Skipper had talked through everything they knew about Pak and Dr. Roach's machine and she'd been to see a counselor in Newport Beach three times a week since their return but she didn't feel ready for it to start up again.

"I thought it was all over -- that all I had to do was put the pieces back together and try to go on with my life," she said softly. Looking up at Skipper she realized he needed her help, needed her to be strong, at least for a little while. With an effort she pulled herself back together. "I'm okay, Skipper. I'll be packed and on my way in ten minutes. Will Mary be ready to go that quickly?" Patti asked, referring to Mary's habitual tardiness.

"I think Bert'll give her the word to come close to the time schedule," Skipper said.

"Mary, I don't have time to explain all this to you right now so trust me. Okay?" Bert was on Skipper's phone in the living room. His use of the "trust me" line was a code they'd agreed on long ago telling her that her life may depend on her doing exactly what she was told without question. Just do. He would explain later. Bert had never pressured her to do anything so this was indeed special.

"You're going on vacation with Patti White. She'll pick you up in about two hours or so. Be ready to go when she gets there. The two of you are going up to their cabin in the Eastern High Sierras for a few days. Please don't argue or tell ANYONE you're going." Bert put enough emphasis on the word "anyone" to jolt Mary with it.

"This has to do with the case Skipper and I were working on a month ago. We don't think you two are in any danger but we aren't going to take any chances either.

"Pack clothes for snow, take the gun in the headboard and I'll call you up there soon. Don't call anyone or tell ANYONE," he repeated. "Do you understand?"

"Yes Bert. I understand. What's this all about?"

"I don't have time to explain it now, honey but I will as soon as I see you again. Listen to Patti and do EXACTLY as she says because I'm depending on you to stay safe and that means everything to me. Okay?"

"All right, Bert, I will."

Bert hung up the phone. Picking up his coffee he started to take a sip but stopped again and looked at the mug. "You're the last thing I need right now! If I shake any more my clothes'll fall off!" He tossed the coffee into the sink and rinsed the cup.

Skipper returned from changing clothes in time to see Bert toss the coffee. He didn't say anything but Skipper smiled to himself. Bert was totally cleaning up his act, including working out again and Skipper was glad. He'd been concerned for his best friend's health for a while now.

Skipper led Bert back out to the garage where he grabbed all the keys for the different vehicles off the key rack and shoved them into a small safe. All except the keys to the Jeep Cherokee. He left those hanging and shut off the power to Patti's personal garage door. Even if she forgot which vehicle he'd told her to take she would get the message. She would know the roads to the cabin might be impassable at this time of year by anything but four-wheel drive.

Skipper and Bert left in Bert's personal BMW with Skipper taking the wheel without comment from Bert. He often deferred to Skipper's greater expertise at the wheel of a car or a fixed-wing aircraft -- but, behind the controls of a helicopter Bert was in a class by himself. Skipper readily deferred to Bert's uncanny ability to get the most out of rotary-wing aircraft -- they simply did anything he asked of them.

This wasn't to say Bert wasn't very good at other things. He was. Most people considered him to be outstanding, both physically (when he was in shape) and mentally. It's just that Skipper was in that elite class of people who excelled at nearly everything they put their minds to. Skipper loved to drive fast (he was in fact an accomplished race driver who'd even co-driven in the 24 hours of Le Mans several times) and loved to fly fixed wing high performance aircraft. He didn't share Bert's love for helicopters, though. He'd forced himself to learn to fly them but having previously survived several chopper crashes as a passenger in the military rather soured him on rotary wing aircraft. He loved to tell people that God hadn't made birds wings spin on top of their heads.

"Okay, where does Roach live?"

"In Lomita. I just sent a man over there. Take I-5 north."

Dr. Roach's apartment was in complete disarray. Most of the clothes were gone from the closet, the dresser drawers were either out on the floor or standing open and Roach's untouched TV dinner was still on the small table in the dining area next to the tiny kitchen. Obviously, Dr. Roach left--or was taken--in a hurry.

"Holy cow," Bert whispered, surveying the damage and its implications; flashing back to Patti's abduction.

Skipper looked around the apartment, noting the condition of the broken door jamb and what items of clothing appeared to be missing from what might have filled drawers and the empty hangers on the floor.

"Okay, no need to wait for fingerprint reports. Let's go." Skipper was thinking four steps ahead now and moving faster mentally than most people with an IQ under 165 (which his was) could comprehend. Bert told the security man to stand by until the police were done then get the door repaired and be sure the apartment was secure before he left.

In the car Bert looked at Skipper. "I've got to go by Intertech, Skipper. I'm gonna take the Roacherian Effect file and dump it out of the computers. I don't care about the job anymore. This has gone too far. Skip, this device is a gigantic bomb waiting to end life as we know it on this planet. Do you think for one minute this thing wouldn't corrupt even the most honorable politician? Even if you COULD find one that was honorable? Not to mention a few crooked dictators in this world? We've got to stop this thing now, forever; and the only way we can do that is to destroy those plans."

"Can you do it?"

"Yes."

"Good. Like I said, we're going to Intertech. You get the paper files on those plans, all of them. Dump everything on that project that might be in the computers. Then come outside with the plans and we're outta here."

"What about Weston? And Roach? They know everything that's in the plans."

"What about them? We'll do whatever we have to do." Skipper had become the "Iceman" again, hiding behind the unemotional game face that protected him when the going got rough. If Roach and Weston couldn't be effectively hidden away they'd have to die along with their secret. He steeled himself against the possibility. Hopefully he would find another way. He would have to think it over carefully and a lot would depend on what Weston and Roach said and did when he found them.

When they reached Intertech Bert had no difficulty withdrawing the entire Roacherian Effect file from the vault room. Norma raised her eyebrows at him but as a Senior Executive with the company he had complete access and there was nothing she could say.

Bert entered the computer section and chased everyone out. Using his security password he called up the Roacherian Effect files, erased everything, then called up a utility program which would rearrange everything on the hard disk while effectively writing over the area from which he had deleted the files. Once they were overwritten they could no longer be recalled by a good hacker as they could otherwise. Bert grinned. The other Senior Executives's in this company would really sweat if they knew some of the e-mail and other files he'd read - sometimes months after they'd been "deleted." That done he straightened up everything and left. He hoped Dr. Roach hadn't copied the file somewhere else or put some trick into the computer so it couldn't be erased. There was no way to know for now.

As Bert climbed into the BMW beside Skipper he looked sad.

"Cheer up, Bert. When this is over I plan to revamp and expand my company and I want you to run it for me. I think you'll be happy with the pay."

"If we live through this, I'll seriously consider it." Bert looked at Skipper and forced a feeble smile.

Skipper put the BMW in gear and they headed for the mountains of Big Bear.

Patti had been traveling more than seven hours, stopping only once in Mojave for gas and to use the rest rooms. She and Mary were now nearing Mammoth, having just passed Sherwin Summit, elevation over 7,000 feet. It was snowing and fairly dark outside even though it was only a little after three in the afternoon. Patti drove easily, filling Mary in on what to do and how to act in the event strangers showed up while they are at the cabin.

They had grabbed whatever fresh food was on hand before leaving LA. Although Skipper's cabin was always left completely stocked with non-perishables Patti didn't know what was in store for them and besides, she hated powdered eggs. Mary had been trying to concentrate and follow what Patti was telling her but it was painfully evident she was expending most of her energy worrying about Bert and what was going on behind them in LA.

"Mary, I understand your concern for Bert. I'm worried about Skipper, too. But right now we have our own part to play."

"What part?"

"By staying safe ourselves we help them stay safe."

"I don't understand that kind of thinking. Since we've been married I've never really been away from Bert. I know he was in combat and was a Green Beret before we were married but I didn't know him then. Now it seems as though the world is coming to an end and he has to run away from me and be macho when he should be at home to help me through it. It isn't fair!" Mary's tears were flowing by the time she finished and she dabbed at her eyes with a dainty handkerchief. She knew she was being selfish but she didn't know how to be anything else right now.

"Nobody said life is fair, Mary. It isn't now, nor will it ever be. The way I see it, life is life, and it treats me however it treats me. I have to take it head on and make it work for me. I'm the one who makes my life good or bad by my attitude, by the way I think about the things that happen around and to me.

"As for Bert, he isn't running away from you. He's pushing you toward safety. He and Skipper are doing the best they can to save us and the rest of the world from something none of us could fight if it got into the wrong hands. They'll be back, but they need our help right now, not more problems.

"Look at it this way: Bert and Skipper have a very important job to do right now but if they have to expend part of their mental energy worrying about whether we're safe or have been kidnapped," Patti shuddered involuntarily, "they can't be putting their whole concentration into the job at hand and that means they could make dangerous mistakes."

"I can't promise to stop worrying, Patti," Mary said with a faint smile, "but I'll try not to let it get in the way."

"That's the way! Good girl. We're going to have a good time in these beautiful mountains, stay low and not give Bert or Skipper anything to worry about."

"Okay."

"Great!" Patti watched Mary out of the corner of her eye. She'd have to keep close tabs on her. Mary was mouthing the right words but there wasn't any conviction in her voice. She just wasn't the strong woman she passed herself off to be back in LA. Back home her major problems were dealing with LA traffic to get to the beauty parlor on time to have her nails done or having to call the plumber when the sink stopped up. This ordeal was unnerving her and Patti was afraid she would have to deal with any problems that came up by herself; with Mary's insecurity to compound the issue.

Patti shifted into four-wheel-drive as the snow fell harder and the roads began to get slick. The tires on the Jeep were aggressive new Goodyear Wrangler snow treads. She didn't think she'd have to get out and put chains on. She certainly hoped not - the thermometer on the outside mirror indicated a very chilly five degrees above zero!

Patti pushed the preset station button on the radio switching from KIBS country music in Bishop over to KMMT pop rock in Mammoth. Both stations gave regular weather and road reports and she needed to keep abreast of the rapidly changing conditions.