Slither Read Free Page A

Fortunately, the
dreaded Backfire turned out to be the biggest claptrap
hunk of junk the Soviet Union ever put in the air, and
now there's not even a Soviet Union anymore so we
don't need them anyway."

    Annabelle seemed alarmed. "You mean there are nuclear missiles on this island?"
    "No, no, the Nikes here were never armed with nuclear payloads. The army took them all out of here by
'eighty-five."
    The blonde sighed in relief. "Oh, wow, for a minute I
thought you were going to tell us that there were radioactive things on the island."
    Nora couldn't have been less interested, but by accident she noticed a strange pause in Trent's monologue,
as if he were taken aback. "Nope. The Nike was strictly
defensive, and we don't need them now. Now we've got
the Patriots that take care of the whole ball of wax."
    "Not much of a beach," Loren commented of the island's shoreline. Black boulders the size of compact
cars seemed to ring the key. "Just a bunch of rocks."
    "Yeah, big rocks," Annabelle said.
    Almost as big as the ones in your head, Nora
thought.
    Annabelle hitched at her aqua-blue bikini top. "I was
hoping to get a tan in between shoots, but how can I?
There's no beach!"
    Nora shook her head. Oh no! Dollface can't get a
tan! Poor, poor struggling Dollface!
    "There's a strip of beach on the other side," Trent
told them. "It's blocked up by more rocks but there's
enough room to lie out. But before we do that-a word
to the wise." He passed everyone an OD-green aerosol
can as well as a neon-green rubberized repellent
bracelet. "This island is Bug City. Let's spray ourselves
with repellent every chance we get. And put on your
bracelet. They don't smell that great but they work."
    "Oh, great. Mosquitoes, you mean?" Annabelle
looked like she had a mouthful of lemon juice as she
sprayed her arms and legs and put the bracelet on her
wrist.

    "The mosquitoes aren't that bad," Trent went on,
"but there are ticks and chiggers."
    "Even worse. I want to get a tan, not Lyme disease."
    You're so pompous and annoying, Nora thought, the
ticks won't come near you. When she was done spraying herself off and donning her own bracelet, she
asked, "We're only a couple of miles off the coast. Why
go to the expense of the helicopter trip when we
could've taken a quick boat ride?"
    Trent pointed to the boulders. "Those rocks encircle
the island, it's very hard to get a boat ashore, and the
current's so quick if you anchor out there and swim in,
you might lose your boat. Sure, every now and then
some kids get on, use the place to camp out and party.
The only reason I know anything about Pritchard's
Key at all is 'cause I have to fly out here and check it
once a month. Make sure no one's gotten on and done
damage."
    Nora and Loren traded a glance. What the hell does
the army care about a missile site that doesn't have
missiles anymore? Nora had to wonder. The only authority interested in vandalism would be Florida Natural Resources.
    The WO and pilots frowned as they carried boxes of
supplies off the helicopter.
    "Where will we be sleeping, Lieutenant?" Loren inquired.
    "Bivouac tents, of course," Trent told them. "And
we'll be eating C rats."
    "Rats!" Annabelle almost shrieked. "What are you
talking about!"
    "Rats as in rations. You'll be surprised how good
they are. And we do have a field shower, so no one will
be getting too stinky."
    "There's a domestic water line running out to the island?" Nora questioned.

    "No, no, the old missile station has a good old army
water purifier and desalinator," Trent explained. "And
a generator too, so we'll have some lights."
    So we won't be living out here like total aborigines,
Nora realized. "Loren and I would like to set up a field
lab somewhere so we can catalogue worm samples for
the college. We have to use a tent for that?"
    "There are fifteen empty head shacks," Trent said.
"You can use one of those. It's got lights, electricity for
your laptops, whatever you