Chapter 28
Paul and Gamay had cut through the park diagonally, sprinting through the snow, which got deeper near the trees. Paul had realized he could run with one eye closed and avoid the stumbling motion that made him look and feel intoxicated.
At the west end of the park they’d arrived at the main road, reaching it just as the black windowless van passed by doing thirty miles an hour. There was no way to keep chasing it on foot.
“It’s heading toward town,” Gamay pointed out.
Troms? was a fairly large outpost for a harbor town this far north.
Fishing was the main industry, but the oil fields to the west had brought more men, women, and industry to the town.
There were dozens of commercial buildings and warehouses downtown.
Not to mention scores of small shops, restaurants, and bars.
Beyond that lay apartment blocks and government buildings.
“We’ll never find a single black van once it reaches the village,” Gamay added.
“I have an idea,” Paul said. Pulling the controller from his pocket, he scrolled a side wheel that brought up a menu.
The Hawkeye Raptor had a tracking mode, designed to let it follow an animal moving out of range too fast for a human to catch up.
If he could just get the system to acquire the van like it would a snow leopard or wildebeest.
“Got it,” he said as a white box appeared around the van on the projected image in the glasses.
“Now what?” Gamay said.
“We can slow down,” Paul said, breathing hard. “The drone is on autopilot now. It’ll follow the van and broadcast the video back to us and the ship. Kurt and Joe should be able to see where it goes.”