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Very slowly Doc Tanner turned his head, ignoring a glare from Ryan. “Hades! They look like a brace of white dolphins sporting together. My Lord, but it makes me feel young again. I recall Emily and I once, on a… But that’s yesterday and today’s today.”
Ryan also glanced behind. Lori was cautiously trying to push out of her depth, mouth open, blond hair trailing behind her. Krysty’s bright red locks seemed huddled to-gether like a tight ball of flame. The brightness of the fire didn’t reach to the shadowy pool, and it was hard to make out more than the blurred outlines of the two slim bod-ies.
Krysty brought her hands together and threw a great ball of water in the air so that the orange light caught it as it burst into a million tiny sparks of fire. It fell and streaked over her face and body, funnelling into the val-ley between her breasts.
J.B. was honing the Tekna knife against the sole of his boot in a steady, preoccupied way. Jak stood and walked quickly to the edge of the trees, throwing a muttered few words over his shoulder.
“Going to scout some.”
“Take care, Jak. Watch for muties,” Ryan called, but the boy was gone, sulking off into the darkness.
“IT was magical, lover,” Krysty said between pants as she and Lori rejoined the men around the glowing em-bers of the fire. Both girls had faces that glowed, and their hair hung damply on their shoulders. Lori knelt in front of Doc Tanner and gave him a great hug and a kiss.
“I was in water, Doc! You see me?”
“No. I mean, yes, I did. Wonderful, my dear child. Wonderful.”
“Where’s Jak?” Krysty asked.
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“Told him not to get his young meat heated by watch-ing you two in the water.”
“Oh, Ryan!” Krysty exclaimed. “He’s one of us, isn’t he?”
“Doesn’t mean he can… Oh, fireblast!” Ryan felt confused and irritated. “Anyway, he went off to scout some. It’ll do him good and we can do with help. Food’s low, and we got to find us some transport.”
“Yeah, I guess so. The smell of burning wood’s so strong from our fire I couldn’t smell anything else even if it was fifty paces off.”
“Someone’s coming,” J.B. said with a quiet urgency, grabbing his mini-Uzi and diving away from the fire into a dip in the ground. Ryan snatched up the G-12, moving in the opposite direction, hitting cover even before the Armorer. Krysty, hair flying, was at his side, the HK P7A-13 blaster in her hand. Lori stood, bewildered, by the fire, until Doc Tanner pulled her to the earth, protecting her with his own body.
The land was quiet.
Ryan squinted across the clearing, just able to see J.B. flattened behind a bank of blooming heather. The Ar-morer half turned, pointing among the trees to the west.
The logs smoldered and light gray ash trickled down onto the coals with a ceaseless, whispering sound. Ryan thought he caught the far-off noise of an owl hooting, but he couldn’t be certain.
Then he saw movement, something that flickered for a moment like a will-o’-the-wisp, visible only for a frozen heartbeat behind the trees. There was no moon, and whoever it was had the cunning to close in on them from behind the brightness of the fire, making it almost im-possible for their eyes to adjust and see him properly.
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“I see him,” Krysty whispered. “Flat-topped willow, right of fire. Crouched. Give me the G-12, and I can chill him.”
Ryan passed over the rectangular shape of the auto-matic rifle with its built-in image intensifier. “It’s on triple,” he hissed. “Won’t lift at this range. No recoil.”
The girl steadied the blaster against her shoulder, holding her breath, finger caressing the trigger.
When the attacker stood up, showing himself, his stark white hair was like a siren of light in the gloom. “Don’t shoot, Krysty! Found us a wag to ride!”
Chapter Thirteen
the vehicle was just over a mile inland. Jak led them through the scattered trees of the forest, across a winding stream and onto a narrow path.
“Saw tracks. Boots. Must have used for water. Not far. Keep double-quiet.”