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But the presence of so many soldiers and military vehicl and the wan-faced
townsfolk evacuating their horn, ensured that the little enclave of the
transfigured forest - i comparison the remairider of the Everglades basin
seemed drab accumulation of peat, muck and marls - would soon I
obliterated, the crystal trees dismembered and carried aw to a hundred
antiseptic laboratories.
At the front of the landing craft the first passengers beg to debark. A hand
touched my arm, and the white-suit man, apparently aware of my mood, pointed
with a smile the sleeve of his suit, as if encouraging me. To my astonis ment
a faint multicoloured dappling still remained, despi the shadows of the people
getting to their feet around us, if the light from the forest had contaminated
the fabric an set off the process anew. 'What on - ? Wait!' I calle'
'Your suit I'
But before I could speak to him he stood up and hurri down the gangway, the
last pale shimmer from his su disappearing along the crowded quay.
Our party was divided into several smaller groups, eat accompanied by two N
COs, and we moved off past tX
queue of cars and trucks loaded with the townsfolk's posse sions. The families
waited their turn patiently, flagged on I
the local police, eyeing us without interest. The streets we:
almost deserted, and these were .}he last people to go - ti houses were empty,
shutters seal'd across the windows, an soldiers paced in pairs past the
dosed.banks and stores. T
sidestreets were packed with abandoned cars, confirming th the river was the
only route of escape from the town.
As we walked along the main street, the glowing jungl visible two hundred
yards away down the intersections on ou left, a police car swerved into the
street and came to a halt i front of us. Two men stepped out, a tall
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blond-haired poli(
captain and a Presbyterian minister carrying a small suitca2
and a parcel of books. The latter was about thirty-five, with high scholar's
forehead and tired eyes. He seemed uncertai
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.txt which way to go, and waited as the pOlice captain strode briskly around
the car.
'You'll need your embarkation card, Dr Thomas.' The captain handed a coloured
ticket to the minister, and then fished a set of keys attached to a mahogany
peg from his pocket. 'I took these from the door. You must have left them in
the lock.'
The priest hesitated, uncertain whether to take the keys.
'I left them there deliberately, captain. Someone may want to take refuge in
the church.'
'I doubt it, Doctor. Wouldn't help them, anyway.' The captain waved briefly.
'See you in Miami.'
Acknowledging the salute, the priest stared at the keys in his palm, then
slipped them reluctantly into his cassock. As he walked past us towards the
wharf his moist eyes searched our faces with a troubled gaze, as if he
suspected that a member of his congregation might be hiding in our midst.
The police captain appeared equally fatigued, and began a sharp dialogue with
the officer in charge of our parties. His words were lost in the general
conversation, but he pointed impatiently beyond the roof-tops with a wide
sweep of one arm, as if indicating the approach of a storm. Although of strong
physique, there was something weak and self-centred about his long fleshy face
and pale blue eyes, and obviously his one remaining ambition, having emptied
the town of its inhabitants, was to clear out at the first opportunity.
I turned to the corporal lounging by a fire hydrant and pointed to the glowing
vegetation which seemed to follow us, skirting the perimeter of the town. 'Why
is everyone leaving, corporal? Surely it's not infectious - there's no danger
from close contact ?'
The corporal glanced laconically over his shoulder at the crystalline foliage
glittering in the meridian sunlight. 'It's not infectious. Unless you stay in
there too long. When it cut the road both sides of town I guess most people
decided it was time to pull out.'
'Both sides ?' George Schneider echoed. 'How big is the affected area,
corporal? We were told three or four acres.'
The soldier shook his head dourly. 'More like three or four
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