"I'm not sure you understand me, but I'd like to try starting the engine
now," Randy said. Then, when the other did not move or reply, he said, "I'll
do it."
Randy moved around the man, looked into the car. The key was still in
the ignition. He slid inside and tried it. A moment later, the engine caught.
He turned it off and climbed out again. He smiled back at the old man and
nodded.
"There you are."
The man suddenly lunged forward and embraced him in a bear hug. He was
surprisingly strong, and his breath came very hot.
"Name, your name, good man?" he said.
"Randy. I'm Randy--Dorakeen," he replied, extricating himself.
"Dorakeen. Good name," said the other.
Leila had circled the vehicle and now stood behind them. The old woman
had followed her.
"They'll be okay," she said. "Come on. We must go now--to the last exit
to Babylon."
She hissed something at the man, who nodded. She embraced the old woman
for a long moment, then pulled herself away and started back toward the car.
Randy followed quickly. When he glanced back, the couple had already entered
their vehicle. He heard the engine turn over. Then the car pulled out onto the
Road and was gone. At that moment, the sun came up and he noticed that Leila
was crying. He looked the other way and had strange feelings.
One
Red Dorakeen was on a quiet section of the Road, straight and still as
death and faintly sparkling. A pair of futuristic vehicles has passed him
several hours earlier, moving at fantastic speeds, and he had later overtaken
a coach-and-four and then a solitary horseman. He kept his blue Dodge pickup
in the right-hand lane and maintained a steady 65 mph. He chewed his cigar and
hummed.
The sky was a very pale blue with a heavy bright line running from east
to west across it. There was no noticeable dust, and no insects splattered
against the windshield.
He drove with the window down, his left hand clasping the top of the
doorframe. He wore a faded baseball cap, its bill drawn low over his forehead;
his head was tilted slightly back to accommodate it, his green eyes half-
lidded in its shadow. His ruddy beard might have been slightly darker than his
hair.
A tiny spot appeared far ahead. It grew rapidly, resolving into a
battered black Volkswagen. As they passed, the other vehicle's horn began to
sound. It drew off onto the shoulder of the Road and came to a halt.
Red glanced into his side mirror, hit his breakes, and drifted to his
right. As he slowed, the sky began to pulse--blue, gray, blue, gray--its
bright stripe vanishing with each fading stroke.
When he came to a complete stop, a clear evening hung about him.
Crickets sounded somewhere in the distance, and a cool breeze passed. He
opened the door and climbed down from the cab, yanking his ignition keys and
pocketing them as he descended. He wore Levi's and combat boots, a brown ski
vest over his khaki work shirt, and a wide belt with an elaborate buckle. He
reversed his cap and paused to light his cigar before he turned and hiked back
along the shoulder.
There was no way to cross the Road without risking almost certain
destruction. For this reason, he moved to a spot directly across from the
Volkswagen. As he did, the car's door opened and a short man with a small