Part 5: Strange
Fortune
"Good?" Smith repeated, trying to look over his shoulder to see who was behind them…and then falling back against the seat as their velocity increased, the Audi's tires squealing in protest as they shot forward. "You wanted us to be followed?" he asked, turning back towards their driver.
Collins didn't answer; her attention was entirely focused elsewhere. "Check the plates."
"I already have," Evans replied. "They're not on file."
"Fake license plates, and following us," the lead agent said, still smiling slightly, and Smith recognized the look of anticipation in her eyes as the same one she'd had when challenged by Seraph. "How far until the next stretch of open ground?"
"Two point eight miles."
"Good," she said again, and pushed the accelerator all the way down.
Smith glanced in the rearview mirror, and saw a silver Jaguar with tinted windows coming up behind them. They had to be doing over eighty miles an hour to have caught up so quickly. "You're leading them into a trap," he stated, wishing he could see through the darkened glass to the person or persons inside the other car.
"Yes," replied Collins.
"Who's waiting at the other end of it?"
The agent raised an eyebrow, as she'd done when perplexed by Smith's apparent need to participate in human greeting rituals. "No-one."
Smith exhaled sharply, reminding himself to be patient with the newly-activated AI's. "Then who will catch them, once the trap is sprung?" he asked.
"Us," she pronounced firmly, and wrenched the wheel all the way to the left…