Hellbenders

Ayesha led the way to the front of the old building, checking that the sec man on duty was paying little attention to the side, and then beckoned the two youths to follow her as she slipped onto the thoroughfare which, although by no means crowded, was busy enough for them to get lost in quite easily.

“That wasn’t at all bad,” Danny sniffed dismissively.

“Bad nothing, you stupe bastard,” Ayesha snapped back. “I’d like to see you do better. That method you had of getting in—you went by the old tunnel, right?—is so frigging dangerous. Second time I tried it I nearly got caught, and I vowed that I’d find a better way then.”

“So how the hell did you find that the window barrier was loose in that position?” Dean asked, unable to contain his curiosity any longer.

She shrugged. “It let in light where it wasn’t tight anymore. Saw it one day when I was trying to get in—trying to avoid the sec by going your way,” she added with a grin directed at Danny. “Just had to take a look at the outside, see where the window came out. It was perfect.”

“You’re pretty damn smart,” Dean remarked.

“For a girl?” she snapped back, with anger flashing in her eyes.

Dean pulled a pained expression. “Hot pipe, Baron Al must have given you some shit for being a girl. That wasn’t what I meant at all. Fact is, you’re pretty damn smart for anyone, I’d figure.”

“That’s okay, then,” she said, calming slightly. By now, they had moved away from the old industrial area and back into the main residential and barter sector of the ville. As they passed by, there were a few glances shot their way by people who had recognized Ayesha as the baron’s daughter. But such was the fear they had of Al Jourgensen that they dare not approach her.

“Is it me, or is this getting a little uncomfortable?” Dean commented.

Danny was busy looking at Ayesha, who was returning his admiration. “No, I don’t reckon so,” he answered.

“That’s because you haven’t been paying attention to the people around us,” Dean snapped. “Listen, Ayesha, you’re going to land us right in shit with the sec, because we need to blend in with the background until we get back to the rendezvous point, and you’re really making us stand out.”

“Tough,” she answered with a pout. “Look, I just want to get some reassurance from the others in your party that the deals on.”

“I’ve said so, haven’t I?” Danny said.

“No offense, but you’re not exactly in charge, are you?” Ayesha pointed out bluntly. “And neither are you,” she added to Dean.

“Fair enough,” the younger Cawdor commented. “I can understand that—but you’re gonna get us into trouble before we reach the rendezvous at this rate.”

“Okay, tell me where the rendezvous point is,” she said testily, and when Dean had informed her, she continued, “I can get us there without anyone seeing, so stop moaning, stupe.”

Dean shrugged. Looking at the way Danny was staring at Ayesha, and her determination to relay her terms to the rest of the recce party, there was little he could do. He agreed with ill grace, and let her lead the way.

Ayesha took them away from the main drag of the ville, circumventing the crowded center, and around quieter areas that were not occupied during the day, as the inhabitants of Charity went about their daily business in the centers of commerce and trade. They were able to make rapid and unseen progress, and were soon at the edge of the ville.

“We’ve just got to wait for the sec patrol to pass, and then we can make the distance,” she whispered as they waited by a low adobe wall, sheltered from the track around the outer edges of the ville that was used by the motorbike sec patrol. There was no sign of their companions by the outcrop that they had used as shelter, but then, they wouldn’t expect it any other way.

The minutes seemed to crawl by until the sec patrol roared into view, coming from opposite directions. Despite this, they all knew that there wouldn’t have been enough time to make the distance without being spotted; and so they waited impatiently for the bikers to cross, cursing every word they paused to mutter to each other in their boredom, unaware that their perimeters had been breached.

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