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From the moment they arrived, they had been on the defensive, unable to go on
the offensive and gain freedom. Whoever was the baron or leader in this
redoubt had a mind that worked on different lines from any Ryan could remember
encountering. Until he could work out what this leader wanted, they would be
at a disadvantage.
He scanned the area in front of him, straining his ears until he could almost
hear his own circulation pumping around his body.
It was deathly silent. The background babble of activity that had accompanied
their escorted walk from the dorm and down the first corridor had ceased. Now
there was nothing.
"J.B.?"
"I'm with you," the Armorer replied. "Withdrawn all sec men. Every damn man,
by the sound."
"Could be trap at armory," Jak stated.
"Only one way to find out," Ryan said. He lifted the Heckler & Koch until its
length was parallel to his good eye. He felt the unfamiliar weight of the
blaster, adjusting his balance for what was to come. "Dead end ahead. Two
blind corners each way. Shitty odds, but all we've got. J.B., keep our asses
covered."
"You bet."
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"Careful, lover," Krysty whispered. "Even more than usual. This is more than
just that& "
Without answering, the one-eyed man steeled himself and launched into the
corridor. He hunched into himself to make a smaller target and threw himself
across the breadth of the corridor, spraying covering fire first one way and
then the other, twisting with a suppleness born of many close-combat
situations. He was relying on the fact that any sec men gathered on either
side of the junction would not want to fire at random for fear of hitting
their compatriots facing them.
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They would want to aim carefully, and his covering fire should cause just
enough confusion to prevent that. And maybe take out a few of them at the same
time.
Ryan came to rest against the wall of the corridor, the repeated blasts of the
Heckler & Koch still reverberating in his ears, ringing through the empty
corridor.
"Fireblast!" he exclaimed under his breath. The corridor was empty on either
side for as far as he could see.
He looked across at his companions. They were staring at him with as much
bewilderment as he felt.
Ryan shrugged. "Empty. The whole redoubt seems bastard empty. What's going
on?"
"Like fighting ghosts," Jak said, stepping into the corridor.
"Mebbe that's the idea," the Armorer said, bringing up the rear of the party
and not allowing his watchfulness to slacken.
"That would make sense with what I can feel." Krysty rubbed her brow, sweeping
back the flaming hair that clung tightly to her. "They're hanging back on
purpose, just waiting for us."
"Why don't they just come out with it and try to chill us?" Ryan cursed. It
occurred to him that Krysty had been right when she said that they should
beware of people who didn't think the same way. Just what were the tactics at
work here?
Doc resheathed his sword and leaned on the stick.
"I have a supposition. It may be the ravings of a fool, but I truly believe
that they wish to keep us alive."
"When we've chilled three, mebbe four of their people? Doesn't make sense."
J.B.
shook his head.
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"To us, perhaps not," Doc said. "However, we are not cognizant of whatever
reason they may have for keeping us alive."
Remembering the perverse habits of some of the barons they had come across,
and the trade in body parts that had centered around old military
installations, it was not a thought on which to dwell.
"Stupes may not be so stupe after all," Ryan murmured. "The only thing we can
do is keep moving to the armory, then be on triple red for an ambush. Seems to
be the only place it can happen."
They advanced in line, still keeping alert. In all their travels they had yet
to come across a redoubt where the vanadium-steel sec doors could be closed in
any other way than by punching in the code on the wall-mounted panels. It
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seemed unlikely, then, that they could be trapped by their enemies sealing off
a section of corridor by remote triggering of the doors. Then again, they'd
never jumped into a redoubt that had a population that was actually
maintaining it, or seemed to have any idea how the old comp systems worked.
All the corridors were deserted. The only signs of life were the detritus of
people moving out in a hurry: a clipboard and pen that lay on the floor;
another mop and bucket similar to the one belonging to the chilled maintenance
man; a frayed and worn service cap, with a threadbare insignia.
It seemed obvious that whoever commanded the redoubt had pulled out all
personnel to some secure place without sounding an alarm. That indicated a
strong sense of discipline among that personnel.
By the time they reached the location of the armory, all of them were feeling
strung out. The complete silence was unnerving. In other redoubts it had been
normal, but here where they knew the redoubt was still a base of some kind the
silence was eerie.
The sec door to the armory was raised. From their oblique approach angle, Ryan
could see into the room. It appeared unoccupied, the ranks and boxes of
blasters, grens and ammunition undisturbed by human presence. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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