“Here’s where it gets tricky, my old bud,” Cat said to Doc as they hit open land. “There’s not a lot of cover, and we’re only a mile or so from the entrance to the redoubt. So it’s got to be triple red from here.”
Doc nodded slowly. “I appreciate that—and I do also appreciate that my comparative age and the fact that I am not one of your good selves does make things a trifle more complex than would be usual.”
Cat grinned. “You do like your own voice, don’t you?”
Doc shrugged and returned the smile.
“Come on, then,” she said, punching him playfully on the arm. “Let’s get moving.”
The territory was sparsely covered, and if the Illuminated Ones had sec vids surveying the area, then the chances were that they would be spotted—especially with Doc in tow. However, Dette, always going on ahead, chose a route that maximized the potential of the cover, and they made it to the edge of the land without any apparent detection. From the brow on which they stood, the earth fell away into a small valley, much like the one that the companions had found themselves in when leaving their own redoubt some weeks before.
“Down there, hidden into the side of the earth, that’s where the entrance is,” Nita explained.
“I figure he could have worked that out himself,” Cat prodded.
The blonde looked at Cat with a fiery anger, and Doc feared that they were about to start a fight at the most inopportune time. However, a whispered imprecation from Dette halted them.
“Shut it—movement.”
The four explorers stayed silent and watched as the sound of a sec door rising came from beneath them, followed by the low rumble of a wag, which then came into view.
“Usual?” Doc whispered.
” ‘Bout every fourth time they’re recced,” Cat replied with a shake of her head.
Doc kept his eyes fixed on the wag. It didn’t go far—about five hundred yards before coming to a halt. The doors opened, and three Illuminated Ones left the interior. While one kept watch with a laser blaster, the other two proceeded to take samples of the air and the soil, marking the containers before getting back into the wag, the watcher taking point.
The wag rolled off into the distance. The land was flat, and the light still good. The wag traveled in a straight line for about two miles, and was still visible when it halted again and the same procedure was repeated. Still the Gate patrol stayed silent and still, observing. The wag started up again and disappeared into the distance.
Doc looked toward the women. Dette met his eye and shook her head. Doc assented his comprehension and settled down to wait.
The dusk was falling as the wag returned to the redoubt. The Gate warriors waited until the doors had ground shut and into silence before moving.
“That’s the action for today,” Cat said softly.
“They probably won’t break cover again for a few days.”
“But what the fuck are they doing?” Dette said, almost to herself.
“Taking samples,” Doc replied in a flat tone. “They wish to see how far their pernicious poison has spread. May we leave? They make me feel a little ill…”
DOC’S REPORT on the activities of the Illuminated Ones gave both Ryan and Gloria pause for thought.
“Those triple-sick bastards,” the Gate queen spit. “We should go and blast the fuckers into infinity.”
“Yeah, I agree,” Ryan said a little more calmly. “But we’re so close, it would be a waste to blow it. Not after we’ve waited so long.”
“But sweetie, you were the one who was pressing me to fight,” Gloria said, a little confused by what appeared to be a sudden change of mind.
“And I still am,” the one-eyed man assured her. “Thing is, that redoubt will be a bastard to get into, and just the act of busting in will give them time to get their defense ready. We need to hit them when they’re on their way back from one of these missions. Hit them as they enter and the way is free. That way we can stream in and take them out before they have a chance to hit back.”