“And now you have.”
Hunter nodded. “And the perfect setup, with you getting the blame for tonight’s disaster. ‘Cept you were too clever. Which is why I’m gonna have to chill you.”
“Go ahead. It isn’t going to help you,” Ryan said calmly.
“You’re one strange fucker, Cawdor,” Hunter remarked as he leveled his blaster.
It was then that Krysty leaped from the shadows, having made her way into a good position. She didn’t want to fire at Hunter with Ryan so close, so instead threw herself forward and took the baron from one side, driving into his ribs with her shoulder and using her incredibly strong arms to grab at his blaster hand and force it up. Hunter fired harmlessly into the air, then dropped the blaster as the nerves deadened in his fingers.
The force with which Krysty hit the baron propelled them both across the edge of the borehole for the main shaft and into the empty space.
“Fireblast!” Ryan yelled, bursting into action as he saw Krysty and Hunter disappear into the blackness of the hole. It was a bore sunk several hundred feet deep, with nothing to break a fall.
The one-eyed man reached the edge of the hole. Peering over the edge, he could see that Krysty was clinging to the edge by her fingertips, which were slipping painfully as there was little purchase, and she had Hunter clinging to her heels, even though she was trying desperately to kick him loose.
“I go, you go with me lady,” he yelled.
“Not if I can help it,” she yelled back, loosing one of her feet from his grasp and pulling it up before thrusting down hard, the heel of her boot cracking hard against the side of the baron’s head, catching him above the ear and stunning him…just enough for him to lose his grip and plunge into the depths with a wild scream.
“Hold on,” Ryan gasped as he reached down and gripped her forearms in his strong fingers, using his boots and the edge of the lipped wellhead to gain a counterforce before pulling with all his might, dragging Krysty upward as she scrabbled for a foothold to help him.
It took a few seconds, but she was finally able to pull her arms over the lipped edge of the wellhead and drag herself upward as Ryan pulled, until she was out of the borehole and lying on the derrick, gasping for breath.
Both of them were silent for a few moments as they regained their breath, before Krysty gasped, “What now…lover?”
Ryan shook his head. “We’ll take the wag and round up the others. Head out on the blacktop and hope for the best. Get J.B. to get a direction and try to head back for the redoubt, get the fuck out of here and somewhere else.”
“Try and explain to the barons?” Krysty hissed through painful breaths.
Ryan shook his head once more. “No chance…look at it.”
Krysty raised her head. There were several fires across the work site, and she could hear the scattered sounds of battle coming to a close. The well was in ruins, and there was no Baron Silas Hunter to stand accountable to the other barons. Just a bunch of outsiders that no one would trust.
She raised herself to her feet, leg muscles still trembling from the effort. Fixing the one-eyed warrior with a stare, she said, “Yeah, you’re right. No one’ll believe us. Let’s get the wag, round everyone up and get the hell out.”
Ryan grinned. Despite the situation, he couldn’t help saying it.
“Yeah—and out of hell.”