James Axler – Stoneface

They clambered up the side of the valley wall and crept along its crest for a quarter of a mile. Then they lay forward beneath a small bush, propped on elbows, their blasters cocked and ready.

J.B. and Jak saw the AMAC, parked near the scene of he fight with the Sioux. There were no security lights blazing, and no sign of movement anywhere around the big armored wag. Straining their ears, they listened for any unusual sounds.

They heard a whispered conference somewhere below them, several men talking in hushed tones. Jak put his mouth close to J.B.’s ear and breathed, “Scouts. Spotted our headlights. Coming from a recce, reporting to sec boss. Don’t know it’s us.”

J.B. had no reason to question what Jak had said. The youth’s hearing was exceptionally, enviably sharp, and one question was answered, at least. Hellstrom wasn’t aware of their escape from Helskel. The Armorer heard a number of feet scurrying alongside the bank of the arroyo. A patrol was moving out to investigate the mysterious lights.

A figure appeared on the crest of the slope, about twenty yards from their position. The shaven-headed sec man walked cautiously, and he was followed by another.

J.B. felt Jak tense beside him, but they remained motionless as the men approached. The first figure was no more than six feet away, boots crunching pebbles. J.E saw him glance casually at their bush, glance away, then look back. As far as he could see, the man’s expression didn’t change.

The deep-throated boom of Jak’s Colt Python came without warning, snatching a startled curse out of J.B. The bullet knocked the sec man backward. Before he hit the ground, the Colt hammer fell again and killed the second man. Yells and screaming curses sounded from the valley floor, and feet pounded on turf.

“Damn it all!” J.B. spit in disgust.

He got to his knees and fired the Uzi into the valley, not aiming, just hosing the shots. Bedlam broke loose. Autorifles and machine pistols cracked and stuttered, echoing in the valley, spitting slugs into the rim of the arroyo. The sec men below were shooting blind, but bullets tore into the ground near Jak and J.B.’s position all the same.

Pulling his companion’s arm, J.B. urged him to his feet. The two men bent low and ran, sliding down the bank, trying to keep to the shadows.

“Think recognized us?” Jak panted.

“Who gives a shit?” J.B. retorted angrily. “They know somebody is around now. Why’d you blast the bastard?”

“Would have stepped on head, seen anyhow.”

Not bothering to argue, J.B. tried to put more speed into his pumping legs. The shooting was dying down, and he heard shouted orders coming faintly on the wind. The voice was Hellstrom’s. Then all was quiet.

They made it back to the dune buggy. Doc was at the wheel, the engine idling. When he spotted their figures rushing forward, he aimed the Le Mat over the windshield, then breathed an audible sigh of relief when he recognized them. Jak climbed in the back, squeezing next to the still-sleeping Krysty.

“Move over, Doc,” J.B. said, elbowing the man into the passenger seat.

“Was it the patriarch you saw?” Fleur asked, a strange mixture of eagerness and anger in her voice.

“Does it matter?” J.B. replied, putting the buggy into gear and turning it northeast. He didn’t switch on the lights.

Fleur sat back in the seat and stared at an invisible point beyond the windshield.

Steering the vehicle around a rock slide, J.B. said, “Got my bearings at least. The cave is in this direction.”

For several miles the trail sloped gently upward into the Black Hills, and it became necessary to turn on the headlights. The dune buggy carried them swiftly up, then down into twisting ravines. It took more than an hour to navigate the wag through and around obstacles that would have given even the Land Rover a great deal of difficulty.

The sun slowly rose behind them, tinting the sagebrush and stands of gama grass a russet red. J.B. kept pushing on, even as they shivered in the predawn chill. As the sun inched higher, the heat rose in the rocky gorges and gullies around them.