第116节

the first time in a

long time he felt truly happy.

Some thirty minutes after the two Sky-Riders had left the strip at Long

Point, a second pair came skimming in over the water from the south.

They landed without making a circuit of the strip, and rolled to a stop

close by the three immobilised mexicans.

The first pilot to reach them was carrying a special MX first-aid

case.

Opening it up, he took out a pack of pre-filled hypodermic syringes and

gave each man an injection. It was the antidote to the crippling

effects of the nerve gas and enabled a victim to recover fully within

half an hour.

Eventually, Side-Winder and the two men tagged as BLACKWELL, B. and

RITCHIE, K. were helped to their feet and, after a lot of coughing and

spitting, took in healing draughts of fresh air.

'Boy,' breathed Side-Winder. 'That stuff,s a real killer."

He reached inside his tunic and found the empty sake flask. Ho,

ho...

Big joke. He tossed it away. What the runaways didn't know was that

AMEXICO would have the last laugh.

The second pilot returned to his machine and spoke over an open UHF

link to an orbiting signals aircraft.

'Sky-Bucket Three to Cloud-Cover. Message for Mother.