they?”
“I don’t know, lover,” Krysty replied, resting her hand on his arm. He could
almost feel the tension in her fingertips. “Back, there I didn’t feel like it
was a setup. But here it’s different. Now that we’ve got the run of the place, I
don’t feel danger like they’re going to chill us…something different. More
devious. Uncle Tyas McCann used to warn us of trying to interpret people who had
a different way of looking at things. You always have to be on your guard, as
they think in a different way. Makes them more difficult to second-guess.”
“And that’s what’s happening here.” It was more of a statement than a question.
From the moment they arrived, they had been on the defensive, unable to go on
the offensive and gain freedom. Whoever was the baron or leader in this redoubt
had a mind that worked on different lines from any Ryan could remember
encountering. Until he could work out what this leader wanted, they would be at
a disadvantage.
He scanned the area in front of him, straining his ears until he could almost
hear his own circulation pumping around his body.
It was deathly silent. The background babble of activity that had accompanied
their escorted walk from the dorm and down the first corridor had ceased. Now
there was nothing.
“J.B.?”
“I’m with you,” the Armorer replied. “Withdrawn all sec men. Every damn man, by
the sound.”
“Could be trap at armory,” Jak stated.
“Only one way to find out,” Ryan said. He lifted the Heckler & Koch until its
length was parallel to his good eye. He felt the unfamiliar weight of the
blaster, adjusting his balance for what was to come. “Dead end ahead. Two blind
corners each way. Shitty odds, but all we’ve got. J.B., keep our asses covered.”
“You bet.”
“Careful, lover,” Krysty whispered. “Even more than usual. This is more than
just that…”
Without answering, the one-eyed man steeled himself and launched into the
corridor. He hunched into himself to make a smaller target and threw himself
across the breadth of the corridor, spraying covering fire first one way and
then the other, twisting with a suppleness born of many close-combat situations.
He was relying on the fact that any sec men gathered on either side of the
junction would not want to fire at random for fear of hitting their compatriots
facing them. They would want to aim carefully, and his covering fire should
cause just enough confusion to prevent that. And maybe take out a few of them at
the same time.
Ryan came to rest against the wall of the corridor, the repeated blasts of the
Heckler & Koch still reverberating in his ears, ringing through the empty
corridor.
“Fireblast!” he exclaimed under his breath. The corridor was empty on either
side for as far as he could see.
He looked across at his companions. They were staring at him with as much
bewilderment as he felt.
Ryan shrugged. “Empty. The whole redoubt seems bastard empty. What’s going on?”
“Like fighting ghosts,” Jak said, stepping into the corridor.
“Mebbe that’s the idea,” the Armorer said, bringing up the rear of the party and
not allowing his watchfulness to slacken.
“That would make sense with what I can feel.” Krysty rubbed her brow, sweeping
back the flaming hair that clung tightly to her. “They’re hanging back on
purpose, just waiting for us.”
“Why don’t they just come out with it and try to chill us?” Ryan cursed. It
occurred to him that Krysty had been right when she said that they should beware
of people who didn’t think the same way. Just what were the tactics at work
here?
Doc resheathed his sword and leaned on the stick.
“I have a supposition. It may be the ravings of a fool, but I truly believe that
they wish to keep us alive.”
“When we’ve chilled three, mebbe four of their people? Doesn’t make sense.” J.B.
shook his head.
“To us, perhaps not,” Doc said. “However, we are not cognizant of whatever
reason they may have for keeping us alive.”
Remembering the perverse habits of some of the barons they had come across, and