Mildred avoided his gaze for a second, then decided that she couldn’t opt out in this way. She met the Armorer’s eye with a level gaze.
“I’m staying here, John. That’s part of the deal.”
“Guess that mebbe answers my question,” he said, looking away as he joined the others.
“And maybe it’s just not that simple,” Mildred murmured as they left.
DAWN BROKE with a clear sky and a light breeze that was chill but refreshing. Certainly refreshing enough for Ryan and Krysty to be out before many of the ville’s inhabitants were awake. However, those who were up greeted the appearance of the couple as they walked through the streets with a mixture of curiosity and outright hostility.
“Remind me again why we’re doing this?” Krysty whispered to Ryan as they passed a sec man who made a point of sliding the catch on his blaster, either as a totem or a reminder not to step out of line.
“Because we need to take a look around ourselves before we get assigned our work tasks,” Ryan replied. “When Mildred and Sineta were talking about the ville and where it’s situated on the island, they mentioned an inlet.”
“Yeah and they also made a point of saying how it would be real hard to get down there unobserved,” Krysty pointed out.
“True enough, but I’d just as soon check it out for myself. If Mildred reckons it’s a no go, then normally I’d trust her—”
“Normally?” Krysty queried.
“Ninety-nine percent,” Ryan answered. “Trouble is, this is that one percent. This ain’t easy for her, but I sure as shit do not want to be trapped here at the mercy of a people that may turn against us.”
“That shouldn’t happen,” Krysty said.
“Yeah, operative word being shouldn’t,” Ryan replied. “But this isn’t a normal situation for Mildred, or for us. We’ve already talked about this, and last night did nothing to change my view on it. I don’t blame Mildred—figure I’d feel the same if I was her. But I’m not.”
By this time they had left the ville and were walking down a path, beaten smooth by constant use over the years. A path that led to a sandy strip of beach that marked the small bay formed by the inlet.
“Yeah, this would be fireblasted difficult to run an escape from right now, especially as we don’t have any blasters,” Ryan speculated as he turned and looked back up the hillside toward the ville. “Even more so as we’ve been followed.”
“I thought as much,” Krysty mused, turning to follow his gaze. Her hair coiled around her in warning, as she squinted up into the trees to see a sec man lurking among the undergrowth. His stance was nonaggressive, but he had obviously been deputed to keep watch on them. “Wait, there’s someone coming,” she added. They could hear Mildred before they saw her. She appeared at a bend in the path, coming toward them. Even at a distance, they could tell from her body language that she felt uncomfortable.
“Ryan, Krysty, what are you doing?” she asked as she approached across the sand.
“Stupe question, Mildred. You know what we’re doing,” Ryan replied.
“I had hoped that asking you not to escape but to help me, and help Sineta, would be enough,” Mildred stated.
The one-eyed man shook his head sadly. “Come on, what did you really expect? Most of the people here are going to be suspicious, some hostile, and a few might just decide to deal with us. We’ve got no blasters and only the word of your new ally that we’d be okay. If you were me, what would you do?” He waited, but Mildred didn’t answer. Ryan continued. “You were right. If this is the only way to insure getting safely out to sea, then it’ll be too difficult for us to crack without a major firefight. And I don’t want it to come to that any more than you do. But I’ve got to check it out, have a backup plan if it all fucks up. After all, while you’re helping Sineta we’re going to be weaponless—”
“Only our blasters,” Mildred countered. “You, John and Jak still have knives.”