James Axler – Rat King

slammed.

THEY WERE READY IN LESS.

All were glad to get into their familiar clothes, rather than the standard-issue

Army underwear they had found when they had first awakened. Doc greeted his

frock coat like an old friend, but bemoaned the lack of his walking stick.

“Not expect everything,” Jak remarked as he hunted through his patchwork jacket

for any of the leaf-bladed knives that might have been overlooked.

The sec men had been as thorough as could have been expected, once bitten.

Now they had their wrist chrons back, Ryan noted that it was almost five minutes

to the second when the door burst open, and Wallace walked into the room. He

entered without taking any precautions, and with the air of a man who was used

to his every word being obeyed. In his own kingdom he had no need to be careful.

Behind him Murphy and a troop of four sec men kept the Gen covered.

“Listen up, people,” Wallace intoned. “We need your man Dr. Theophilus Tanner to

assist us in our work, which must continue for the day when the Reds will rise

again. Make no mistake, those Russkie Reds are cunning bastards and may just be

lying low. In return for the doctor’s help, you’ll be allowed to stay here and

stay alive. There’s always a need to recycle, and you’ll all be useful sooner or

later—”

There was something about the way he said it that made Mildred shiver. Back in

the preskydark days, when she was involved in cryogenics, many of the medics and

technicians she had worked with had used such terms, and in a similar tone of

voice.

“In the meantime I want you to see the facilities we have here. Just so you

people know what you’re up against. Now follow me.”

Wallace spun on his heel and waddled out of the room. As he passed Murphy, the

sec chief gestured with the Heckler & Koch he was grasping. Sizing up the other

four soldiers, J.B. saw that two of them clutched H&Ks, and two were holding

Uzis. All five blasters were trained unwaveringly on their captives.

There was a boastful and proud quality to Wallace’s voice that fired hope in

Ryan’s heart. He was so keen to show them how strong he was that he might

unwittingly reveal a weakness. A quick glance at J.B. and an almost

imperceptible nod of the Armorer’s head showed that he had had similar thoughts.

Ryan led the way out between the sec men, who were well spaced by Murphy in

order to insure that any attack couldn’t be focused on more than one armed man.

The group fell into their normal recce pattern, with J.B. staying back while Jak

took the middle, Krysty and Dean in front of him, Mildred and Doc behind.

In front, Wallace had already embarked on a long-winded lecture about the

history of the redoubt, and how it had served as a research-and-development unit

while still fulfilling its main purpose as part of the Totality Concept. Ryan

listened with interest to this part of the lecture. Over the years he had picked

up shreds of information here and there about the Totality Concept, and also

about the various weapons and operations that had been part of it. He was also

interested in the way that Doc fit the pattern, his interest having been piqued

by the information they had discovered at Crater Lake.

In many ways, this community reminded him of Crater Lake, the old scientific

complex under an extinct volcano that had housed a community of inbred, mutated

whitecoats. Except these people were insane in a more dangerous way, and still

had a strong military discipline that would make them difficult to best.

As Wallace led them through the redoubt, both Ryan and J.B. tried to keep a

mental note of where the corridors led. It looked to be laid out in a similar

way to most of the redoubts they had visited, but there were extra sections and

more levels. They went down five levels, enduring the hostile gaze of the

redoubt inhabitants, going about their daily business, as they passed. All the

while Wallace kept up his litany of praise for the work his ancestors had