“Hard to tell for sure,” J.B. mused. “I’d guess they were at least six-tonners because of the tracks. The rumble was low enough to suggest they were really digging into the ground. Could mean a lot of men—or a lot of firepower.”
“How come they’re getting through that jungle?”
The Armorer shrugged. “Could be old rail cattle grids to move the foliage. It wouldn’t be that dense under that much weight. I’ve seen it done before. But that will make them harder to attack, give them some serious armor.”
“Blind-side gren attack,” Margia said dismissively.
“If you get the blind side,” J.B. murmured.
But the blonde didn’t hear him. Her attention was taken by the sight of Jak Lauren coming out of Gloria’s tent, not fully clothed and checking his Colt Python.
“Still playing, then, Glo?” she mused.
The woman shot her sister a warning look, her blue eyes icy and piercing, even in the dim light of the camp.
“Leave it, Marg,” she husked in a low voice that carried all the more menace and authority for being quiet. “We’ll sort this between ourselves…later. Now we’ve got more important things to see to.”
“They always are,” Margia said dismissively, turning on her heel. “I’ll get the armory opened up— that’s if you can spare at least one of your little proteges…”
Petor colored at this parting shot and looked at his queen.
“Ignore the bitch. You and Jon know what to do,” Gloria said, inclining her head to indicate that he should follow the blonde.
As Petor left, Ryan and Krysty approached. They were closely followed by Doc and Mildred. The companions’ tent was near enough to Gloria’s in the new camp for them to be awakened by the exchanges, and they were already partly aware of what was happening. J.B. filled them in on the rest while Gloria dispatched Tammy to wake the other warriors and prepare them for battle.
By now the air outside the encampment was carrying the sounds of the wags as they approached. Sentries posted by Tammy called back in relay that the wags were approaching at speed now they were on the plain.
“Plan?” the one-eyed warrior asked the Gate queen. He was prepared to follow her lead until such time as they were out on the battlefield and initiative became imperative.
“Rock and a hard place,” she replied. “If we stay in here, we’re sitting targets, and if we move outside, then we’re in plain sight to be picked off. At least outside we can scatter and distract.”
“Mebbe a pincer movement with the fastest outriders to act as fire drawers,” Ryan mused.
“It’d be a suicide mission,” Gloria replied.
Ryan shrugged. “Mebbe, but not necessarily. If each group then splits and maintains a zigzagging pattern, they can draw fire into empty spaces. After all, chances are that whoever this is hasn’t had a real combat situation, unless you count coming up against their own experiments in the woods.”
Gloria considered this for a moment, then nodded decisively. “Eh-la, eh-la,” she called, once again adopting a different tone and intonation for the syllables that acted as a call to her warriors.
The roused and alert women drew close to their leader, and Gloria outlined the situation in a few words. There was no shortage of volunteers for the outriders, and the fastest were soon dispatched, while Margia, Jon and Petor passed among the warriors, handing out extra blades, blasters and ammo to those who requested them.
Ryan gathered his people around and spoke while they all checked their personal weapons and took grens passed out by J.B.
“You know the plan. It’s the only one that’s possible for any of us right now, but I don’t think any of us like it. So stay frosty, and look for ways into the wag.” He fixed his good eye on Jak. “You’ve got the best throwing aim of any of us. If you can get a gren in any gaps they may leave…”
“No need to say,” the albino muttered. “One hole, many dead…”
Ryan nodded. “Okay, let’s do it.”
NOW THAT they were both clear of the woodland and out in the open, it was possible to see that the wags were six-tonners—as J.B. had surmised—with armor plating and caterpillar tracks behind the radials of the front wheels. The front of each wag carried a large, shaped metal grid that formed into a point and was sharpened in order to cut through and disperse the foliage of the woodlands. A clear path was visible behind each wag as it sped out of the woods and onto the flat plain.