Krysty swore loudly, knowing that she had failed. No one would blame her, as it was a slim chance at most. But it had been the only one, and she felt that she had blown it.
So what was before the war party now?
“I’VE JUST GOT THIS REAL nasty feeling that we’re not in charge here,” Gloria muttered as the war party made its way through the central corridor of the redoubt, winding down farther and farther into the earth.
“That’s because we’re not,” Ryan returned. “We’re going exactly where they want us.”
“And that is?”
“Mebbe where they had us in the other redoubt— rerun that and then get rid of us through the mat-trans,” Ryan mused. “I don’t know. Usually you can try and second guess strategy, but these guys… The way they think is not like anything I’ve come across.”
“Me, neither,” Gloria said sourly. “Stupidworks bastards who want to get rid of everyone so that they can run the show without anyone else around. Why? What the fuck does that achieve? And what would getting rid of us through a mat-trans do?”
“Spread the pox even further, when we got aboveground,” Ryan pointed out.
Gloria snorted and shook her head. The Gate queen was ready for a firefight, and felt irritated beyond words by being both denied her fight and also manipulated.
“The only thing we can do is keep trying the sec doors and keep out of the big mat-trans chambers, if that’s what they’re trying to do,” Ryan said. “We’ve got to keep it calm, here. That’s our only hope.”
However, the one-eyed warrior felt nowhere near as cool as he tried to sound. Inside, he was boiling over with frustration. They were being herded toward an objective that was totally on the agenda of their opponents, and they were being given not the slightest opportunity to fight back. Their own objective was also being denied to them by the tactics of their opponents. And there was nothing they could do except play the waiting game.
The danger inherent in that was that when the action exploded, the pent-up frustration and rage would lead them into error. That was something that Ryan was aware of, and why he was stressing the need to stay calm.
And yet, when the action came, it was unexpected and explosive.
Strung out, the units of the war party were moving at a slow pace, hoping for a break. Suddenly, all logic seemed to be denied as the sec door in the main corridor ahead came down.
“What the fuck is that about?” Gloria whispered.
“I don’t know, but I really don’t like it,” Ryan whispered. “If they want us to go back, then why didn’t they do it before? And if they want to guide us to the mat-trans, then why do it at all? Unless…”
Ryan’s brain raced. There was little reason he could see, unless it was a move to hold them until the Illuminated Ones had positioned soldiers to— His thoughts were sharply curtailed by the door beginning to rise. Ryan’s hackles rose, and the adrenaline pumped up his reflexes.
“Cover, now!” he yelled, throwing himself to one side of the corridor and pushing Gloria toward the other.
The war party as a whole had no hesitation in following this command, their reflexes as honed by the adrenaline rush as those of Ryan.
Before the door was even halfway up, the group of soldiers behind the door had begun to fire, spraying the area with laser fire. From their cover, the war party began to return fire. Two soldiers went down immediately, and the others began to draw back, taking refuge behind the buttresses and then laying down covering fire as they retreated in pairs.
“Stupe bastards, we’ve got them,” Gloria yelled exultantly, coming out from cover and leading the charge.
For a moment, it did seem as though the Illuminated Ones had made a serious miscalculation, the war party moving forward in waves as they pulled back. But a worry nagged at Ryan, and it was reinforced by Krysty, who reached him through the onrushing army. Her hair was tightly coiled around her head and neck.