California Countdown

74

You approach the milling throng of colonists who are gathered around the scene of the crime, and push your way through them towards Rex Tyler. His hands are being tied and, before you can reach him and question him about what has happened, he is taken away and locked in the cab of one of the Tucson vehicles.

Some of the Tucson colonists are preparing to bury Gorgas’ body, which they have wrapped in blankets. You get the distinct feeling that they would not look favourably on a request to examine the body, so you decide to investigate the cab of his truck instead.

Apart from some bloodstains on the driver’s seat, you see nothing unusual until you search beneath the seat itself. There you discover a Cigarette Lighter, and immediately your suspicions are aroused. Mike Gorgas did not smoke, and neither, come to think of it, does Rex Tyler.

‘What are you lookin’ for, Phoenix? Souvenirs?’ growls an angry voice. Immediately you turn around and find yourself staring at Avenal’s sneering face. Before you can reply, Cutter appears.

‘You’re the driver of this truck now, Avenal,’ he says. ‘Cal, you and Rickenbacker better get back to your roadster. We’ve gotta get moving.’

With a growl of contempt, Avenal barges his way past you and climbs into the truck’s cab. Cutter slams the door shut, and, as he starts to walk away, you decide that now would be the best time to tell him about the rockfall.

Turn to 10.

Project AonCalifornia Countdown