A dead man sat behind the wheel of the first car. His neck wasobviously broken. The smashed watch on his wrist said 2:24. Therewere three personsчtwo women and a young manчlying about forty feetaway. They had been run down as they tried to flee from theirassaulted vehicles.
Murdock moved on, inspected the others. All six cars wereupright. Most of the damage was to their bodies. The tires andwheels had been removed from all of them, as well as essentialportions of their engines; the gas tanks stood open, siphoned empty;the spare tires were gone from the sprung trunks. There were noliving passengers.
Jenny pulled up beside him and her door opened.
"Sam," she said, "pull the brain leads on that blue car, the thirdone back. It's still drawing some energy from an ancillary battery,and I can hear it broadcasting."
"Okay."
Murdock went back and tore the leads free. He returned to Jennyand climbed into the driver's seat.
"Did you find anything?"
"Some traces, heading northwest."
"Follow them."
The door slammed and Jenny turned in that direction.
They drove for about five minutes in silence. Then Jenny said"There were eight cars in that convoy."
"What?"
"I just heard it on the news. Apparently two of the carscommunicated with the wild ones on an off-band. They threw in withthem. They gave away their location and turned on the others at thetime of the attack."
"What about their passengers?"
"They probably monoed them before they joined the pack."
Murdock lit a cigarette, his hands shaking.
"Jenny, what makes a car run wild?" he asked. "Never knowing whenit will get its next fuelingчor being sure of finding spare parts forits auto-repair unit? Why do they do it?"
"I do not know, Sam. I have never thought about it."