Jak shook his head, brushing an errant ivory white curl from his eyes. “No. Don’t think knew about kid. But knew most everything else.”
Ryan bit his lip. “Tell me again what they said.”
“Wasn’t much. Just letting know what they knew about us. And why they were on the boat.”
“It sounded like a poorly veiled threat to me,” Doc said.
“Where those two are concerned, just being close by them is a serious threat,” J.B. replied.
“Tell us again,” Krysty said.
The teenager closed his eyes for a moment, putting his memory into gear. “Sec men kept blasters drawn on me. Smith amp; Wessons. Couldn’t see too well in dark. Looked like Model 586 double-action revolvers, .357s. Both had laser scope-sights. Handled them like they knew their business. Never gave a half chance.”
“Magus or Wolfram carrying?” the Armorer asked.
Jak shook his head. “Couldn’t make them. They kept to one side, out of line of sec men. Careful and professional.” He shuddered. “They’re one triple-sick pair. Magus acted almost like android. Part human. Had sort of steel gloves or nails on hands. Tapped his eyes, and it was like metal on metal.”
Ryan nodded. “Word is that the Magus is partly prosthetic. False hand or hands. Face got messed up by Trader, long years ago, somewhere in south Texas or over the border. Story was vague. Had his skull rebuilt by some old surgeon. Metal contact lenses, they say. Steel teeth. That’s how I remember him. You got anything to add, J.B.?”
“No. Long and narrow, while Wolfram was big and round.”
“Huge,” Jak said. “He did most of talking. Said how they’d known you and J.B. in old days. Kept smiling a lot. But not smiling inside. Made me want throw up. Tell truth more scared than ever been.”
Ryan nodded sympathetically. “I can believe that, Jak. Why were they on the Golden Eagle?”
“Wolfram talked a little about their plantations and mines upriver. Spoke about problems with stickies. Rebelling and escaping. Magus interrupted and said wanted strong overseers. Foremen. Run sec side and stop trouble. Asked if we’d be interested.”
Krysty shook her head, laughing. “They sure got a nerve asking that.”
Ryan looked grave. “Not funny, lover. Not at all. What I remember of them, they don’t waste words. And what they say is like the blank surface of a muddied pool. Looks placid and calm. Got all manner of evil and danger hidden just out of sight. Raw head and bloody bones.”
“What else did they say?” J.B. was leaning against the door of the cabin, cradling the Uzi. They had closed the shutters over the cabin windows, giving them a degree of privacy.
“Not much. What didn’t say was worse. Didn’t threaten chill or kidnap. Only hinted vengeance. Like you said, Ryan, all below surface. Both seemed friendly, apart from drawn blasters. Said they reckoned that we’d be seeing something of them during journey. Mebbe eat together sometime.”
“That’ll be the day, pilgrim,” the Armorer said. “Trader used to say that if you ate with Wolfram or the Magus, you used a damned long spoon.”
“I suppose that it could be just a coincidence that they’re on the same boat as us,” Mildred commented.
Ryan stood and walked to peer between the slats of the shutters. “No way, Mildred. Trader used to say that a coincidence was just a well-hidden plot. Mebbe we should leave tonight and head back overland toward the redoubt.”
“We’re having such a good time up to now, lover,” Krysty protested.
“Sure. Up to now. Up to now we didn’t know that two of the most dangerous butchers in Deathlands were traveling with us. Men who would cherish a grudge to their hearts like the coals on a winter fire.”
“Now we know that the villains are aboard, can we not keep an extra watch?” Doc stretched out on the sofa. “I confess that I am greatly relishing this trip thus far. It would be a deep sorrow if we had to abandon it.”
Jak also stood, walking nervously around the cabin, hands tangling like a nest of snakes. “Why not get in firstest with mostest?”
“Take them out?” Ryan glanced at J.B. “It’s an idea. But they’re well guarded. We don’t know how many sec men they’ve got up there.”