The car hopped forward, grounded again, and skidded to a complete stop in a cascade of dust and grit. They’d halted within five meters of the point Learoyd got the order.
Huber’d braced himself on his gun pintle when he realized what was about to happen. He swore viciously and he glanced astern to see if Flame Farter, the next car back, was going to slam into them. It didn’t, partly from the driver’s skill and partly because he angled his bow into a stand of saplings growing up in place of a giant tree that’d fallen a few years previous.
I’m the bloody fool who said “Halt in place,” Huber thought. It’s nobody’s fault but my own.
“Highball,” he resumed aloud, “keep a low profile. There’s an enemy battalion on the other side of the bluffs across the river we were going to cross. They don’t act like they know we’re here—this is just bad luck. We’ll head southwest, that’s upstream—”
His hand controller drew a line on the terrain display of his Command and Control box, transmitting it automatically to the helmets of his troopers
“—and cross—”
The C&C box provided Huber with both a graphic and a tabular description of the hostiles arriving on the other side of the river. The database identified them as an elite unit of the Solace Militia, the 1st Cavalry Squadron, fully professional and equipped with nearly a hundred air-cushion armored vehicles mounting powerguns.
Instead of driving overland, Solace command had airlifted the squadron to a landing zone in the valley paralleling the Salamanca to the northwest. The terrain made the location safe from sniping by the Slammers’ tanks, and it was as close to the fighting as a dirigible could approach.
“—seven klicks down, there’s another ford there, and we’re on our way again. Fox Three-zero leads until further notice. Six out.”
If Task Force Huber had arrived six hours sooner, they’d have been past before the Solace squadron landed; two hours later they’d have fought a meeting engagement as the hostile vehicles—which mounted twin 3-cm powerguns as well as carrying an infantry fire team in the rear compartment—came over the bluffs on the south side of the river. As it was, it just meant the Slammers had to detour and add an hour or so to their travel time.
Flame Farter lifted and started to reverse in its own length. Deseau—who was blower captain, commanding Fencing Master while Huber’s duties were for the whole task force—said over the intercom, “Turn us around, Learoyd. We’re following Three-zero up the river, now.”
Padova slapped the receiver of the right wing gun in frustration. She was a slight, dark woman and smart enough to be an officer some day if she learned to curb her impatience. Padova thought Learoyd should’ve understood Huber’s unit order as meaning he should rotate Fencing Master . . . and so he should’ve, but—
Before Huber could speak, Deseau took Padova by the arm and turned her so they were facing. Both were short, but Frenchie had an hourglass figure and the shoulders of a wrestler.
“I’ll tell you, Padova . . .” he said, shouting over the howl as the fans accelerated under load instead of using the intercom. “When you can make headshots every time at five klicks downrange, then maybe you’ll be ready to give Bert lessons on being a soldier. Got it, trooper?”
Padova glanced at Huber, perhaps expecting support. Huber gave the driver a hard grin and said, “Saves me telling you the same thing. You’re good at your job, but you’re still the newbie in this car.”
Padova forced a smile and turned her palms up; Frenchie nodded and let her go. A first-rate driver, and apparently smart enough to learn . . .
Huber went back to the display as the combat car shifted beneath him. Fencing Master was another world, one he didn’t have to worry about right at the moment.
He had plenty of other worries. Reversing the order of march put three ammunition haulers immediately behind the two combat cars in the lead. He’d interspersed F-3’s remaining three cars among the artillery vehicles, with all of F-2 in the lead to deal with trouble in the most likely direction. He could reorganize the order of march, but first they had to get away from the Solace cavalry.