With tires in place, it was J.B. and Dean’s responsibility to check that no damage had been done to the systems, and to this end Mildred was in the wag, operating the drive and braking systems, the engine whining and roaring as the wheels rotated, turning on their axles as she turned the wag left and right and put it into reverse.
It would seem that the alliance of Crossroads, companions and Gate were in luck. All the essential drive systems of the wag were in working order. The wiring that had fired and fused was involved with the comp systems alone. The wag had cut out because the onboard comps appeared to act as a pilot, with a course plotting program—to judge from the maps Mildred had found—that would assist the driver. However, there was a fail safe device on the dash that enabled the driver to switch over to manual, which was perhaps how the wag had fired up again during battle.
What it meant, more importantly, was that the wag could be fully operational as transport without using the comps. The sec devices on the wag wouldn’t be of any use, but as there were notably few other wags in the Deathlands that had anything even approaching such a sophisticated system, this was hardly something that would bother the attack party. The important thing was that the wag worked, and could be used as the decoy to gain access to the redoubt.
Especially as the braking and drive systems were in full working order. J.B. and Dean had now ascertained this, and were quickly checking the casings beneath for any other damage, as a safety check lest the vehicle suddenly give out on the way to the redoubt.
“Everything’s A-OK here,” Dean yelled over the engine noise.
“Yeah, same here,” J.B. gritted, sweat spangling his brow. “Let’s get out from under here.”
Even though he spoke almost too softly to be heard over the roar of the engine, Dean was able to ascertain his meaning, and was as swift as the Armorer in scrambling out from underneath the wag.
“Kill the engine, Millie,” J.B. yelled, wondering if it would be possible for Mildred to hear him over the wag noise.
Obviously, it was possible for her to hear him. Mildred turned off the wag’s ignition, and the vehicle shuddered on its jack supports so violently that the wag shifted, the weight redistribution proving too much for the rusty jacks to support. With a creak, and the sharp snap of breaking metal, the jacks gave way under the wag—first two at diagonal corners, then the other two rapidly following as they found themselves unable to adjust to the sudden sharp increase in weight that they were forced to bear. With a crash that made the wag vibrate violently and raised clouds of dirt and tarmac riddled dust, the vehicle crashed to the road.
“Hot pipe, that could have been us under there,” Dean breathed.
“Good thing it wasn’t,” J.B. returned, “but Millie’s still inside.”
Without waiting for an answer from the younger Cawdor, the Armorer rushed toward the wag. He reached it as the side exit door opened, and a visibly shaken Mildred climbed out.
“You okay?” J.B. asked anxiously, grabbing her as she stumbled and nearly fell.
“Yeah, I think so, John,” she replied slowly. “I think I might have picked up a little whiplash, as I wasn’t ready for that, but otherwise…I feel like I ache all over.”
“It wasn’t that bad a crash,” Dean said, approaching her.
Mildred looked at him and laughed. “Could have put that a little better, but you’re right. Normally I could have ridden that without blinking. But I’m getting weaker all the time. Jak and Doc must be, as well. It’s this damn disease. The sooner we get after the redoubt the better.”
Ryan and Yardie had heard the crash as they left the baron’s house, and came running.
“Fireblast! You okay, Mildred?” Ryan asked.
“Sure. What did Robertson have to say?” she returned, not wanting to dwell on her own problems and keen to make progress with the objective.
Ryan filled them in as Yardie arrived, puffing and blowing hard. The sec man agreed with Ryan that his people would help in whatever way they could, although he was quick to point out that the Gate and the companions were far better equipped for the task. It may have seemed like cowardice on first hearing, but there was little doubt that the sec chief was correct. The Crossroads dwellers had spent too long living a relatively danger free life to really have any grasp of serious combat.