The sec man looked out at the orchards just beyond the open door.
“Don’t just stand there,” Grundwold fumed. “Go after him. All of you! And electrify the fence, no intervals.”
The sec chief took a deep breath then, knowing it was going to be a very long day.
Fillinger came up beside Grundwold and looked down over the half empty cafeteria. “What will we do with the other slaves?”
Grundwold slung his longblaster over his shoulder and turned to the sec man. “Get them all into their cabins and lock them down, then get every available man out in the orchards looking for the one-eye. Do whatever you have to do to make sure he’ll be chilled on sight.”
Fillinger looked confused. “It sounds like you’re putting me in charge.”
“I am, for now.”
“What are you going to be doing?”
“Someone has to tell the baron what’s happened.”
Fillinger looked grave. There was a chance he would never see the sec chief again. “Good luck.”
“Just find the son of a gaudy slut and chill him for me.”
“Yes, sir.”
MILDRED HEARD the rumble of boots outside the nursery and stuck her head out the door to find out what was going on.
A pair of sec men was coming down the stairs in a big hurry.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“Your friend the one-eye killed a couple of sec men during the night, and now he’s making a break for it,” the lead sec man said as he unlocked the door to the armory.
Mildred didn’t believe it. It didn’t sound like Ryan to do something like that without letting her or Krysty know about it first. “He’s no friend of mine. We just traveled together. I’m happy enough here. You sure he chilled them?”
The sec man nodded. “Fillinger told me.” He started selecting longblasters from one of the racks inside the weapons room, handing one of them to the sec man behind him.
“Where’s the coldheart now?” Mildred asked, trying to befriend the sec man with the hopes of catching him with his guard down.
“He’s out in the orchards.” The sec man put one longblaster back on the rack and selected another.
As he did, Mildred pulled a length of adhesive tape from the roll on her belt and stuck it over the bolt that locked the door to the armory. “Well, good luck finding him,” she said.
“Plenty of jack for the one who chills him,” he said, closing the armory door and locking it behind him.
“I bet you’re gonna be the man to do it.” Mildred smiled, giving him the thumbs-up.
“Thanks,” the sec man said and was gone.
“Don’t mention it,” she muttered, opening the door to the armory and slipping inside.
ONCE RYAN WAS out of the main building, he was on the run. There seemed to be plenty of commotion going on behind him, and with any luck the sec men in the cafeteria would have their hands full breaking up the fight.
When he heard a crack of blasterfire come from inside the building, Ryan knew that someone had been chilled, giving up their life so he could have the chance to slip away. Ryan swore that someone would pay. Stretched out before him were acres and acres of orchards and gardens. There were countless rows of trees that all looked the same and provided enough leaves to create hundreds of hiding places above the ground. But the sec men would methodically check each tree until he was found.
It was better to hide closer to the main building and the complex’s cabins and barn. There were just as many places to hide. And so, instead of running into the orchards, Ryan doubled back toward the complex, climbed the ladder to the farm’s water tower and slipped inside. Later on he would climb out of the tower and head for one of the slave cabins. They’d certainly be checked that morning, which would make them a safe place to hide in the afternoon. From there he might be able to get in touch with Mildred or Krysty, and figure out a plan of escape or learn if there’d been any word from J.B.