But despite the tech and despite the fact that they knew from their previous encounters that the Gate caravan was on its way, the Illuminated Ones seemed quiet. Too quiet.
There was little sign of any action within the compound except that of the Gate themselves. Gloria had dispatched a series of outriders to traverse the avenues and freeways of the compound, dodging between the buildings and checking the alleyways for any signs of life. It was a large compound, and the Gate progressed at a snail’s pace while the outriders went on their mission, quartering the areas directly ahead and combing them thoroughly. Small groups scouted even farther ahead, running preliminary checks without endangering themselves or the tribe.
Blasters were drawn, and nerves were taut.
Jak held his .357 Magnum Colt Python with the barrel down to the ground and his arm rigid, the tendons stretched as tight as his nerves. He walked beside Gloria and Ryan. The warrior queen held her Vortak grasped in both hands, barrel to her left-hand side. Her icy blue eyes darted around her, her piercing stare attempting to cut through the surrounding buildings and see any lurking danger.
The outriders returned, Tammy among them. The auburn-haired, statuesque woman approached her queen and reported.
“I don’t know how they’re doing it, but they’re up here somewhere and trying to direct us.”
Gloria held up her hand to halt the caravan, then said, “Direct us? What do you mean, sweets?”
Tammy looked back in the direction she had come, as though searching for inspiration. She grimaced, bit her lip, then shrugged. “It’s kind of hard to put into words, and it may sound really stupe, but I’m sure that there were some intersections blocked on the way back that hadn’t been when I went on the way out.”
“Are you sure?” Ryan asked.
Tammy shook her head distractedly. “Sure? What does that mean? I couldn’t swear an oath to say that it was so, but it does seem kind of odd. For instance, there’s all kind of junk littered about here, right?”
She waited for an answer. It was true that the compound was littered along the road with the remains of old vehicles. Some old armored wags, some automobiles, and the remains of motorbikes lay on the sidewalks of the compound streets. They were rotten hulks, rusted and stripped of anything that might have been of use. Many of them showed fire damage that suggested a long-ago firefight. They stood mostly on the sides of the wide streets, and hadn’t impeded the progress of the Gate caravan as it entered the compound proper.
“Okay, so there’s a shit-load of old wags around the place. And?” Gloria prompted, shrugging and smiling at the young warrior to encourage her into expounding her theory.
“And this—you see how they’re all on the sides of the streets, right?” Tammy answered, indicating the wrecks that were nearest to the caravan. When her queen assented, Tammy continued, “Okay, well, I was sure that they were all like that when I was scouting out. But when I was coming back from the far quarter—” she swept her arm back in the direction she had come “—it seemed to me that some of the wrecks had been moved so that they were across intersections, making it kind of hard for us to make our way down some of the streets.”
“That’s interesting,” Ryan murmured to Gloria. “They must have figured that we wouldn’t leave the wags behind and go on foot down some places.”
“So mebbe we should do that, to head them off?” the Gate queen queried.
Ryan grinned. “If we keep a skeleton to cover the wags, it could throw them into confusion, although—”
“I know,” Gloria interrupted him. “Do we really want to split our forces when we’re not sure how strong they are?” When Ryan nodded, she continued. “Yeah, mebbe we should just go their way and see where it takes us. Mebbe they’ll figure we won’t have tumbled to their little plan.”
“Mebbe,” the one-eyed Warrior agreed. “If not, then so much the better for us.”
“I’ll gather the outriders, and we’ll play their little game,” Gloria decided. “That way, whatever they intend we don’t get any of our people left isolated and without backup.” With which she gave a series of piercing whistles that rent the air.