Turning on his heel in a manner that suggested conversation was now over, Correll moved off, trailing his party and the companions in his wake.
As they walked on, J.B. turned it over in his mind. Correll and his people had the knowledge to keep some of the plant working, and working well. They would also, presumably, be able to maintain the wags that were stored on the second level. J.B. hadn’t noticed any on their way up, but then the wag bays were always kept apart from the rest of the redoubt because of the hazards of fuel storage. If the wags had been in as good a condition as the rest of the redoubt seemed to be, then they would have good transport, and plenty of fuel. From the way in which the party initially opposing them had been armed, it was an obvious conclusion that the armory had been well equipped, and—taking a surreptitious glance at the party around him—they knew well enough how to look after their blasters. He had no doubt that the med lab was well equipped, as Millie would have made her feelings known on the matter to the man Lonnie, and Correll would have felt the rough edge of Millie’s tongue secondhand.
All in all, they had a good base from which to wage a war, and the equipment with which to win it. Redoubts this well equipped and maintained were rare, and anyone who stumbled across them had just gotten lucky.
Thing was, what did Correll and his people want to do with it? J.B. had a creeping feeling, tingling at the back of his neck, that Correll was spoiling for a fight with someone, and the companions had just stumbled into the beginnings of a private war, with the search for old tech and the arrival of an outside interest just the excuse and impetus he needed.
Coincidentally, much the same set of thoughts were running through Ryan’s head as they walked on.
Mebbe, the one-eyed man mused, they would learn something later that night.
THE COMPANIONS WERE given their own sleeping and living space, with bedding and a change of clothes taken from the supplies that still existed. The space was an old office that had just had the office furniture removed, and was noticeably free from much in the way of old tech.
“You can shower if you’re willing to take a chance,” Correll said as his parting shot. “Ain’t usually a problem, just be ready to move fast if you feel those tremors.”
When he and the accompanying party had left them alone, Krysty said, “I don’t know about you, lover, but it doesn’t all add up yet.”
Ryan shook his head. “Mebbe we’ll discover more when we eat—mebbe get to meet the rest properly.”
“Yeah, I don’t think this is that big a community,” added Mildred, who had joined them when Correll had shown them their quarters. “Should be fairly easy to keep tabs on them all, get the feel of what’s going on.”
“Should be…” J.B. said quietly. “Reckon they’ve got enough here to start a small war, and that’s what they’re after.”
Ryan agreed. “But why?”
“Dunno yet, but I guess we can’t hurry it up—so if it’s okay with everyone, I’ll take my chances with the showers,” Dean interjected. “May as well face it clean and fresh.” He grinned.
“Sound good,” Jak added, running a hand through his stringy white hair. “Good cold water make sharper.”
“Yeah, I could go for that,” Ryan agreed. “We’ll take it in shifts, stand lookout for any mutie trouble.”
They started to go, but Ryan noticed that Doc was still standing against the wall, looking pensive. As the others left, Ryan broke away and went over to Doc.
“What is it?”
Doc, lost in reverie, grunted and looked up at Ryan. For a moment, it seemed as though the old man’s eyes were a million miles and thousand of years from that room. The distance and desolation in them was enough to make Ryan—for all that he had seen—start back. Then the mists cleared for Doc, and he was once again back with the one-eyed warrior.
“I’m sorry, my dear boy, but for a moment I felt as though I was standing outside of myself, outside of everything.”