Endangered Species by Nevada Barr Page B

at the back of Rick's legs to get his
    attention ." Back," he and Anna yelled in unison; then they turned and
    ran.
    HE EXPLOSION, when it came, was not so much heard as felt.  A lheavy and
    unseen hand slammed into Anna's back, lifting her off her feet. 'Fime
    slowed, a break in the space-time continuum, and, for that instant, it
    was as if she hung suspended in the air.  To her right she could see
    Dijon, hands outstretched like a young black Superman, hanging in space.
    His face was set, determined, as if he flew toward a brick wall
    intending to smash through.
    Anna noticed her left hand stretched in front of her clutching the
    Pulaski.  Afraid she'd fall on one of the blades, she let it go .
    There was time, in that stopwatch moment, to see her fingers ullcurl
    from the handle and the two-edged tool fall away.
    lime caught up with itself.  Dijon, the trees blurred and Anna hurtled
    to the ground.  the forest floor scraped the goggles from her face,
    shoved prickling needles down the collar of her shirt and dust up her
    nose.  Something plowed into her booted feet and she thought a chunk of
    burning metal had crippled her till it began clawing its way up and she
    knew it was Rick.
    "Everybody okay?  Are you okay, Anna?" An obnoxious finger rapped
    against the plastic of her hard hat.  She rolled one eye clear of the
    dirt to see Guy standing over her.
    " I'm not done falling," she complained.
    "Learn to bounce," he said unsympathetically.  He was on to Rick and
    Dijon as Anna pushed herself warily to her knees, not yet sure
    everything still worked.
    " Up and at 'em," Marshall said.
    Dijon, disgustingly young and resilient, was already on his feet and
    running back toward the plane.  Rick had made it to his knees .
    Lest she be last, Anna dragged herself up before AI Magnus cleared the
    ground, and followed Guy and the others back toward the line.
    The explosion had extinguished more fire than it set.  Within minutes
    Rick and Dijon had the flames contained.  Though it still burned it was
    no longer in danger of spreading.
    The task of salvaging what they could from the plane's cabin fell to
    Anna and Guy.  The blast had torn most of the remaining stub off the
    right wing, leaving a black stain on the side of the aircraft just
    below, or-as the fuselage was inverted-now above where the passenger
    sat.  Anna crouched down to assess the best way of getting at the
    cockpit.  Behind her she could hear Guy on the radio.
    The downed plane was a twin-engine Beechcraft owned and operated by a
    man named Slattery Hammond.  Hammond worked as a freelance drug
    interdiction and/or resource management plane, hiring his services out
    to various government agencies.  Cumberland Island National Seashore was
    sharing him with the United States Forest Service in an effort to curb
    the marijuana-growing industry along the coast.
    Hammond had flown off the island that morning to make a lowlevel sweep
    of St.  Simons, jekyll Island, and Cumberland, looking for contraband
    crops.  Norman Hull, Cumberland's chief ranger, was slated to accompany
    him.
    Lynette's voice, deepened now by professional responsibility, came on to
    say a medevac helicopter had been requested from jacksonville, Florida.
    Lynette was attempting to contact the district ranger, Todd Belfore, to
    meet the medevac unit and lead them to the burn as soon as she had an
    estimated time of arrival.
    Wheels were turning, the Incident Command System was gearing up.  Soon
    Anna, Guy, Dijon, AI, and Rick would settle back into their relatively
    insignificant cog roles as the Interagency Incident Command machine took
    over.  There was great comfort in that .
    Nothing, not even the U.S.  military, could mobilize as quickly and
    efficiently.
    After this last transmission Guy replaced his radio on his belt .
    "The pilot wasn't alone.  Chief Ranger Hull was with him.  There'll be
    two .  .  .  ah .  .  .  men in there , he said.  The hesitation tool,
    place