“Yeah, a good recce of the area would be real helpful.”
“Then might I try something I have in mind that I think will rid us of these muties and get us to the top of the tower without firing a shot.”
“I’m open to suggestions, Doc,” J.B. said.
Without another word, the old man took several steps toward the top of the tower. The muties backed away from him, matching his movements step for step and keeping the distance between them constant. When he reached the next landing, Doc stopped and put about a dozen pieces of fruit on the floor, then rejoined J.B., Jak and Dean.
“What now?” Jak asked.
“Patience,” Doc said. “Give them a minute.”
But seconds later the muties were coming down the stairs and tearing savagely into the fruit.
“Let us go,” Doc said, leading the way.
The friends had their blasters at the ready as they passed the feeding muties, who were so ravenous they didn’t stop eating to even look up as they passed.
In seconds the four companions were again hurrying toward the top of the tower, the sounds of hungry muties fading slowly behind them.
“What about on the way down?” J.B. asked.
“I think we shall find them rather cooperative at that point,” Doc answered.
“They’re just going to let us pass?” Dean questioned.
“No, I suspect they will all be quite fast asleep by then.”
MILDRED AND RYAN WERE led out of the barn by three sec men. Two of the white electrically powered mini-wags were waiting for them.
“Get on the back of the wag,” a sec man ordered.
The two friends climbed up onto the wag with their backs to the driver. The other two sec men got into the second wag and when the driver pulled away, they followed.
“Where do you think they’re taking us?” Mildred asked Ryan.
“Probably to work the fields with the rest of the slaves,” Ryan answered.
“What do you think they’ll do with Krysty?”
Ryan shook his head slightly. “Don’t know.”
“She’ll be all right. She can take care of herself.”
“It’s not Krysty that I’m worried about.”
“Who then?” Mildred asked.
“The baron. I’m worried Krysty will chill him before I get the chance to do it.”
They continued to roll past the trees. Ryan tried to gauge how fast they were traveling so he could get an idea how big the farm was, but he stopped trying after a while. There was no point to it. Fox Farm was a huge operation, probably growing enough fruit and vegetables to supply several eastern villes.
The wags began to slow, and Ryan craned his neck to have a look around. People were working in the trees, picking fruit under the watchful eyes of even more sec men. Others crawled over the ground on all fours pulling weeds from the earth between the trees. These people were also watched closely by sec men, and every once in a while one would get a blaster butt slammed into his back or thigh.
“Get out!” the sec men in the second wag ordered when the miniwags came to a stop.
Ryan and Mildred got off the wag and stood with their hands still bound behind them. A sec man overseeing the workers approached, pulled a knife from a scabbard on his belt and cut them both free.
“Start picking!” the sec man in charge of the work detail shouted.
Ryan and Mildred headed toward the trees that were being picked by the rest of the crew and started working themselves, trying to keep busy while they attempted to figure out how things worked out in the fields.
At the edge of the stand of trees a sec man and a woman were having what looked like a rather heated discussion. Suddenly she dropped down on her knees in front of him and for a moment it looked as if he were going to chill her with his blaster. But instead of shooting her, he shouldered his weapon and began unbuttoning his pants.
The workers had stopped picking fruit and were now watching the woman provide the man with a sexual favor.
“Keep working!” another sec man shouted.