The Pilatan sec men kept firing at the retreating wag, even as Markos and others from the sec posts and main camp reached the scene. Breathlessly, the patrol leader told the sec boss what had occurred.
Markos nodded solemnly. “I did not think that any ville would send scouts this far out. I fear that we will have to adapt sooner than we expected to the ways of the mainland.”
“But we defeated them, sir. That is all that matters,” the sec patrol leader said with a barely concealed note of triumph in his voice.
It was a feeling echoed by the others. What Markos had to say to them, Jak didn’t wait to hear. He had something else worrying him and he swiftly traversed the distances between the compass point posts, gathering the companions with a few words of explanation as he went. While he journeyed to the next post, the companion keeping guard returned to the main camp.
Traveling counterclockwise, Jak met J.B. last of all. The two men returned to the main Pilatan camp to find an upbeat mood pervading those who had been told of the skirmish by returning sec men and considered that they had made a good show of strength. The companions, on the other hand, were more subdued…particularly Mildred.
“Dark night! I knew we should have mentioned this to Mildred,” J.B. muttered to Jak.
The albino shrugged. “Too late worry now. She should know more important things worry about.”
As they approached the gathered companions, Mildred was about to speak when Jak cut her short.
“Earlier not matter now. We’ve got big trouble.”
“In what way?” Mildred asked.
“Wag from a ville, four sec…regular patrol by look of it. Now know we’re here and in firefight. Be back in daylight, with more sec, find out what fuck’s going on.”
“So is that a problem? It’s what you’d expect,” Mildred replied.
“Yeah, what we’d expect,” J.B. said pointedly. “Trouble is, Jak’s heard them talking to Markos. He’s cautious, but he seems to be the only one. And take a look around you. They think they’ve won and that it stops here. They sure as shit won’t listen if you tell them it never ends, so it’s up to us to keep alert till the morning.”
Mildred nodded. “Guess you were right to shadow them, then. I just wish you’d told me.”
“Couldn’t.” Ryan shook his head. “You were with Sineta and Markos when we had to go for it. There was no way we could safely tell you. Believe me, that’s all it was.”
Mildred pondered that for a moment. “Okay, it’s easy to forget that these people have got a lot to learn and they’ve got to learn it the hard way. I just hope there’s enough of us to cover their asses and ours when the shit hits the wall.”
THE PILATAN SEC POSTS had been remanned and the patrol had returned to the central camp full of their victory. Despite the best efforts of the sec chief, the people of the camp had celebrated their “victory” over the outsiders and were still sleeping when the sound of wags could be heard roaring across the plain.
Markos was instantly awake and found that the only ones prepared to meet the intruders were the companions, all of whom were awake and fully armed. Rearming his H&K, he hurried across to them, kicking awake Pilatans as he passed.
“You knew this would happen,” he said to Mildred. When she nodded, he added, “You never made the point.”
“How could I?” she countered. “I heard you try to make the same point, and no one was listening. So why do you think they were going to listen to me?”
He conceded the point with a shrug. “No matter now. It sounds like a heavy force, many wags…but I doubt they’ll be able to get them through to here.”
Ryan shook his head. “Probably just for transport. The ville seems to be a long way off. But then they’ll pour through the woods, and they could be coming from all angles. And remember, they know this area probably better than we do. I think I’d have preferred it if they could have driven right up to us. At least we’d know where they were.”