Zig Zag by Jose Carlos Somoza

Author:Jose Carlos Somoza [Somoza, Jose Carlos]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: General, Fiction, Romance
ISBN: 9780061193736
Publisher: Harper
Published: 2008-07-01T00:00:00+00:00

"SUSAN is fine, too," Craig confirmed. "No one touched anything."

Who would have touched anything anyway? Elisa wondered distractedly. "Lee?" Carter asked.

"Nothing wrong with the backup generator, sir." Lee wiped sweat from his face with the back of his hand—or maybe that was rain, too. His uniform was unbuttoned, revealing a scrawny white chest beneath his undershirt. "There's plenty of electricity. But the main generator is kaput, completely burned out. No way to repair it."

"Why didn't the backup kick in when the main one burned out, then?" asked Blanes. Carter conveyed the question to Lee by shrugging and raising his eyebrows at the soldier.

"The ignition wires burned out, so all the backup generator could do was trigger the alarm. But I just rewired it."

"Does it make sense that the backup ignition wires get burned out by a short circuit in the main generator?" Blanes queried.

An electronic bleep interrupted them. Carter took the walkie-talkie from his belt and they heard static and indistinct words.

"York says they've made it to the lake and there's no sign of Mr. Valente," he explained, after listening to the communiqué. "But they still haven't searched the rest of the island."

"And what are we supposed to do in the meantime?"

Carter raised a hand to his thick neck and paused, though he didn't seem particularly bothered by the question. It was as though he wanted to create suspense, as though the time had come to show the know-it-alls what was what. He stood beneath the only dining-room light that was on (two of the three had been turned off to prevent another possible short, he said); all eyes were on Carter. His robust figure seemed to be saying, "Trust me." In a way, Elisa was glad there was someone like him there with them. She'd never think of going dancing with Carter, or to a French restaurant or even for a walk in the park with him. But in that situation, she liked having him around. Guys like him were good in tragic circumstances.

"This is all set out in the contracts you signed. I'm assuming command, and calling off the project until further notice; there will be no more scientific investigation, and we can all start packing our bags. By noon, the weather should have improved a little, and the choppers at our nearest base might be able to come pick us up. By tomorrow night, no one but the search team should be left on New Nelson."

The announcement was expected, maybe even wished for, but it was met with somber silence.

"The project is off...," Blanes said. Despite what had happened, Elisa understood why he sounded so distraught.

"Paragraph five, confidentiality appendix," Carter recited. " 'In any situation entailing unknown risks to personnel, the security team may call off the project indefinitely.' I think the death of one colleague and the disappearance of another qualify as unknown risks, don't you? But we're talking about a break here; this doesn't mean we're terminating the project indefinitely. What I'm worried about right now is finding Valente.

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