A heavy Colt Python was safely fastened down on one leg. There was no need to have the weapon cocked and ready. The mental and physical condition of everyone after a jump prevented the use of any weapons. Even if they were to jump into the midst of a blaster battle—which was doubtful, since as a rule the gateway chambers were always hidden away— they couldn’t lift a finger to fight back until they’d recovered from the physical toll the mat-trans experience extracted.
As usual before a mat-trans jump, Jak had nothing to say—unlike the thin man beside him, who kept up an ongoing discussion with either anyone who would listen or, when that option was out, with himself.
Next to Jak’s eerie whiteness was the ancient, weathered face of Dr. Theophilus Algernon Tanner. Doc appeared calm, his lips whistling a silent tune only he could hear, but Ryan noted how tightly he was gripping his ebony swordstick. The silver lion’s-head handle of the stick seemed to wink at Ryan in the shifting light of the chamber, as if in acknowledgment of the hidden blade inside as Doc worked it nervously through his hands.
Ryan took note of the unusual handblaster holstered at the man’s hip. It was an ornate Le Mat, a weapon dating back to the early days of the Civil War. The weapon was almost as much of an antique as Doc himself, but as Mildred Wyeth had once gleefully pointed out in a particularly ribald bout of teasing, an antique in much better condition and able to fire at will when the trigger was pulled.
Engraved and decorated with twenty-four-carat gold as a commemorative tribute to the great Confederate soldier James Ewell Brown Stuart—or Jeb Stuart, as his friends and folks in Virginia referred to him—the massive hand cannon weighed in at over three and half pounds. The gun had two barrels and an adjustable hammer, firing a single .63-caliber round like a shotgun, and nine .44-caliber rounds in revolver mode.
‘”Once more unto the breach, dear friends…'” Doc muttered, more to himself than to his companions. His comment invited a retort, but received no response. Everyone knew what Doc meant.
The circle of companions was completed by John Barrymore Dix, Ryan’s longtime friend, known also as the Armorer, and Dr. Mildred Wyeth. The title of Armorer was one of respect for Dix’s encyclopedic knowledge of all forms of weaponry and how they were used. From hand blasters to tank blasters, J.B. Dix had studied and learned the secrets of any kind of offensive weapon.
Although they kept their relationship restrained and private, Ryan couldn’t help but notice the comforting arm J.B. had placed around Mildred’s shoulders. She leaned back into his side gratefully. Out of all the companions, Mildred came closest to actually understanding the hellish process they were about to endure—but that didn’t mean she particularly enjoyed it.
J.B. was ready. Ryan saw that his friend had already removed his spectacles and tucked them safely away inside the front pocket of his worn leather jacket. J.B.’s other hand tightly gripped his Smith & Wesson M-4000 scattergun, reminding the one-eyed man to check his own weaponry. He caught the Armorer’s eye, and the man nodded, tilting his fedora at an angle over his eyes.
Ryan did a quick inventory of his own arsenal. The 9 mm SIG-Sauer P-226 blaster was at his side like an old friend, the baffle silencer digging reassuringly into his hip. Looped over one shoulder was his walnut-stocked Steyr SSG-70 bolt-action rifle.
Then the mist of the chamber crept into his brain, interrupting his mental checklist. The tendrils of pale smoke worked their scientific magic, and the jump began. The band of travelers had traversed most of what remained of the United States and even visited other continents during travels via the gateways.
But no matter where they eventually ended up, the one constant in traveling via the mat-trans units was the headlong rush into the unknown. Their destination was always yet another gateway chamber with thick armaglass walls. Despite cosmetic changes of color and size, the gateways were always the same. The mystery was in surviving what lay outside the gateway chamber.