James Axler – Stoneface

Ryan stood there in baffled rage, fists balled, teeth clenched. “What kind of lousy deal is this, Lars?”

Hellstrom steepled his fingers at his chin. “The only deal is that there is no deal. We reached no agreements, came to no terms.”

The corner of his mouth lifted in a disdainful smile. “Did you truly expect me to trust you? You had to be coerced to accept the honor I bestowed upon you. Even without a psi-scan, I knew you were only playing along, waiting for your chance to escape. In any event, I wouldn’t allow all of you to get inside the Anthill. You know too much about us and could make your own deal with the Commander.”

“I still could,” Ryan bit out.

Hellstrom shook his head. “No, I think you’d rather do anything than put the lives of the friends you leave behind in jeopardy.”

“And what if we’re captured or killed? What happens to them?”

“Then we’ll turn them over to the freezies upon demand. I’ll state I heard of the plan to breach their stronghold and imprisoned them.”

“They won’t buy that,” J.B. snapped. “Not if they learn that two us were smuggled inside their complex by hiding in merchandise boxes.”

“I’ll have a Family patsy ready,” Hellstrom replied smoothly. “Fleur is a good choicedisenfranchised, stripped of her rank, embittered. She’ll be the perfect scapegoat to pin it all on.”

“Plausible deniability,” Mildred muttered.

“What if they still won’t believe you?” Krysty asked.

“I’m not under the delusion that they won’t be suspicious, but as long as some culprits are caught and punished, they’ll be too worried about losing their organ shipments to cut off their trade entirely.”

“Got all figured out,” Jak said bitterly. “Big plans for big man. No matter how big, you can still die.”

“Of course,” said Hellstrom with a patronizing smile. “I trust you are aware of the reverse.”

Turning toward Ryan, he said, “We leave tomorrow morning at first light. You have until then to choose with whom of your gallant crew you wish to share the dangers.”

Hellstrom pointed toward the door. “Be ready tomorrow at dawn. Don’t make me come looking for you.”

The six people marched back to the saloon in such a fury that no one dared speak to them. None of them reacted with much surprise when they reached their rooms and found their blasters missing. They assumed the heavy weapons they had stowed inside the Land Rover had also been confiscated, such as Ryan’s Steyr SSG-70 rifle and J.B.’s M-4000 shotgun.

Ryan sat on the windowsill and surveyed his five friends. “Guess I waited too long to find that ace on the line.”

“That’s because Hellstrom is holding them all,” Krysty said gloomily. “We should have expected a double cross.”

“Not that it matters,” Doc said, “but I certainly did. However, let us not dwell on past ‘should haves.’ Ryan, my dear fellow, I volunteer to accompany you into the lion’s den, even though Daniel had only his faith to sustain him. I am, after all, your greatest liability and therefore the most expendable.”

“You?” J.B.’s tone was incredulous. “Sure you’re up to a challenge like that?”

Before Doc could retort, Ryan said, “J.B.’s right, Doc. This smells like a fireblasted hellground, and I’m afraid the pace will be too intense for you. I appreciate the offer, though.”

Squaring his shoulders beneath his frock coat, Doc said stiffly, “You forget that I have knowledge of the technology in use.”

“Superficial layman’s knowledge, not hands-on experience,” Mildred reminded him. “Whoever goes with Ryan will need a grounding in cryonic science.”

She pasted a false shy smile on her face and batted her long eyelashes. “I wonder who, out of the five of us, has those qualifications?”

“Noway, Millie!” J.B. exclaimed hotly.

“I agree,” Krysty said. “I can sense danger, and that’s more of a necessity than knowing about predark freezie tech.”

As an aside to Mildred, she added, “No offense.”

That was the cue for a general bickering session to commence, with everyone talking and arguing at once. Ryan inserted two fingers into his mouth and produced an ear-splitting whistle. When everyone fell silent, he said calmly, “This is too critical, too important for me to make a snap decision. Give me some time to think, all right?”