Runaway 2/4

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The policemen walked all through the house, tracking mud on the carpets and fingerprints on the walls. They poked at the pile of clothes, and rifled through young Anica's desk, but there was nothing to say where the child had gone.

&quot;You said she's chipped for tracking?&quot; asked a policeman as he bent to examine the inside of a closet.

&quot;Yes,&quot; said Anica's mother. &quot;I don't understand why you can't see where she is right now. We paid a lot of money for it.&quot;

&quot;It takes time,&quot; said the policeman. He gestured vaguely up in the air. &quot;The traffic up there, nowadays.&quot; Anica's mother flushed red, and the man quickly added, &quot;Should be up in a few minutes. We're working as fast as we can. Your daughter will be fine.&quot;

Other men began to arrive: insurance men, coworkers of Anica's mother, curious neighbors. A man from the automaton factory was there as well in a freshly pressed shirt and fine silk tie.

&quot;Patrice will protect her, right?&quot; asked Anica's father. &quot;She knows how to do that.&quot;

&quot;Absolutely,&quot; said the man in the tie. &quot;All of them do, right down to our smallest model, and you bought top of the line with all the trimmings. It has all the newest algorithms. Your daughter is safe as a lamb.&quot; The man had very white teeth. Anica's father asked the question again ten minutes later, and the man's answer was the same.

&quot;Safe as a lamb, sir.&quot;

—

&quot;It's a particle cloud!&quot; whispered little Anica. &quot;If we cross through it, we can hide from the Navy on the other side!&quot;

Patrice knelt next to Anica, and brushed the moss from the girl's arms.

&quot;It is a stream,&quot; said Patrice. &quot;You are not a strong swimming, Anica. And there is a high probability of bacteria in the water.&quot;

&quot;Call me Captain,&quot; said Anica.

&quot;It is critical that we return home,&quot; said Patrice. &quot;We have passed the threshold your parents defined and I have begun transmitting an emergency beacon, but the signal is not strong here in the woods.&quot;

&quot;Captaaaaaaain,&quot; said Anica.

&quot;It is critical that we return home, Captain.&quot; said Patrice. &quot;Or the asteroid natives will capture us and cook us in their space soup.&quot;

&quot;Oh no!&quot; shouted Anica. &quot;But if we go home, the Navy would get us for sure. Onward!&quot;

Anica skipped down the banks and began leaping from stone to stone across the stream. The water was deep but not very fast moving. It rippled around Patrice's torso as she followed the girl.

When Anica eventually slipped and her head went under, Patrice was there to pull her back up. The girl spluttered and laughed and ordered Patrice to carry her to the far shore.