septum up and into the frontal lobes of the guard’s brain.
Consciousness ceased almost immediately. His motor functions were a little
behind, and as the guard went down, his trigger finger twitched. A spray of
shells left the Uzi, scattering in an erratic arc as his dead arm was jerked
around by the recoil of the blaster.
“What the fu—?”
Murphy never finished the curse. Blind instinct told him to hit the deck as the
spray of fire flew across the room. As he went down, he cracked his head on an
iron bedstead. Perhaps he would have considered it unlucky to have hit the very
spot that Ryan’s weighted scarf had injured earlier, but he should have
considered it good luck. If he hadn’t been rendered unconscious, he would most
certainly have been chilled.
Leaving him in an attempt to save time was something that Ryan thought he might
later regret, but at that moment, the one-eyed warrior was concerned only with
getting his people armed and out.
“Good throw, Jak,” Dean called admiringly as J.B. retrieved the Heckler & Koch,
checking the downed sec chief for spare ammo.
“Teach you sometime,” grunted the albino as he tossed the Uzi to Ryan with one
hand while searching the dead guard for additional ammunition and weapons.
Doc stuck his head over the edge of the bed. When the shooting began, he had
immediately ceased his agonized groaning and thrown himself over the side of the
bed, taking cover beneath.
“I would assume it is safe to come into the open?” he asked innocently before
baring his gleaming white teeth in a wry grin. “By the by, was my performance of
an acceptable standard?”
“Oscar winning, Doc,” Mildred replied. Then, noticing Doc’s inquiring look, she
dismissed the comment. “Before and after your time at the same time, Doc.”
The old man nodded solemnly. “A temporal reference, I have no doubt.”
“Stop talking in riddles, you two,” Krysty said as she joined Ryan. “Any other
weapons on the coldheart bastard?”
Together they surveyed the paltry sum of J.B. and Jak’s trawl through the
pockets of the sec men—Murphy’s blue 9 mm Beretta and a pocketknife from the sec
chief, and a Glock 17 from the dead guard.
J.B. examined it with interest. “Not usually a predark sec blaster,” he mused,
rapt in his subject. “Mebbe another heirloom, like the blue Beretta. Kept in
good condition. Which one would you prefer, Millie?”
“I’ll go for the Beretta,” Mildred said decisively, taking the blaster and
judging the weight in her palm. “Much more accurate over a longer distance,” she
added.
“You take this.” Ryan took the Glock and handed it to Krysty. She sighted along
the snubby barrel in order to gauge the weapon.
Jak picked up the pocketknife and examined the blades and attachments before
flicking out the one that he could inflict the most damage with. “Hope get
better stuff soon,” he said.
It left both Dean and Doc without weapons. Ryan would rather that all his team
be armed, but in the circumstances the available weapons had been distributed as
well as they could be. He and J.B. switched the H&K and Uzi as each preferred
the other’s blaster. Mildred had been a champion shootist in her prefreezie
existence, and Krysty was no slouch.
They had gone about the task of distributing the available arms in an unhurried
manner, but all the while they were aware of the camera, unblinking, that
watched over the scenario as it was played out.
Only seconds had passed, but each second was valuable.
“Let’s move out,” Ryan ordered curtly. “I’ll take point. We’re heading for the
armory. If we’ve got any chance of getting out of here, then we need to be
armed. Mebbe get our own weapons back.”
Chapter Eight
They moved out into the corridor, which was deathly quiet. There was no alarm,
and no signs of life.
“Same as before,” Mildred breathed gently, almost afraid to break the silence.
“Seems to be Wallace’s favorite tactic,” Ryan commented. “Try to give us enough
rope for a lynching.”
“To hang ourselves,” Krysty murmured, unconsciously correcting the one-eyed
warrior whilst suppressing a shudder.
Ryan could feel the tension in her as she followed directly behind him.