Part 18 (1/2)
”Fair point. I dunno about you, but I don't want to get this far, then f.u.c.k up because of some stupid blaster,” she said, dropping it to the floor and offering a cue to the other Amazons, who had been eying the laser blasters with interest.
”Okay.” Jak grinned. ”One thing sure. Know we here now. Keep frosty, stay together.” He stopped and raised his head like a wolf on the hunt as the sounds of another firefight caught his ears. He located it, then turned to this party. ”More trouble- mebbe need our help. C'mon...”
THE WAR PARTY LED by Krysty and Tammy was now out in the open and making rapid progress. It had been a simple matter for them to outblast a sec defense party that was slow and unimaginative. A simple two-p.r.o.nged pincer movement on the sec force when the soldiers were too slow to position themselves defensively meant that the Amazons were in among them before they had a chance to position themselves for a blast at the attackers. Swinging wildly in several directions, and with no one to lead, the sec force managed to chill one of the Amazons by accident, catching her in the side with a laser blast that seared through and fried her intestines. But in the process they also chilled two of their own number by the same expedient.
For in-close fighting, where the laser blasters became unwieldy by their size, it was a simple matter for the Amazons to use their blades to carve up the sec men, preserving ammo and using the sharpened pangas and machetes to slice through material, flesh and bone with ease, leaving the soldiers to perish in a river of blood, agony and cries of pain.
Krysty joined them, using the blade she had been given by Margia. She swung the cutting edge through the air in short, jagged arcs that cut quickly and painfully, causing incapacity rather than instant chilling, but softening up the opposition so that it was easy to chill them without the risk of injury being returned.
Finally the Amazons stood in pools of blood and mangled flesh and bone.
”One group down, bring on the next,” Tammy breathed heavily, her eyes glittering with the light of battle.
”That's okay,” Krysty said carefully, ”but we should still go triple red.”
The auburn-curled Amazon looked askance at Krysty. She could see the woman's t.i.tian hair was curled close to her head, and knew what that meant.
”Hey, is that just because we're in combat, or is there something serious just around the corner?” Tammy asked in a softer tone.
Krysty licked her upper lip, listening to the rhythms and feelings inside her before answering. ”Mebbe a bit of both, but more because we're going to run into some trouble soon. An ambush, mebbe.”
”Sound advice. I'll listen to you any day, girl,” Tammy said, trusting Krysty's mutie sense. ”Guess the best thing to do is search it out before it finds us, take the f.u.c.kers by storm. So which way does your feelie sense say it's lurking for us?”
Krysty allowed herself a smile. ”It tells me that it's around that corner,” she said, indicating the junction at the farthest end of the corridor from where they now stood.
”Well, I guess it'd make more sense to head the other direction, but h.e.l.lfire and d.a.m.nation, we've got to get rid of these f.u.c.kers if they're gonna be hanging around trying to chill us. So better now than later, right?”
Without pausing, she whistled a series of commands to the warriors with her. Krysty looked puzzled for a second, then figured that it was better for Tammy to do it this way, in case they could be overheard by whoever was waiting.
Following the auburn warrior, and trusting her instincts to help her take her cue, Krysty followed the party as it spread down the corridor toward the junction. They moved swiftly, flitting in pairs from covering pillar to pillar, their pet.i.te frames using the concrete supports to the maximum as cover from any opposition fire.
Tammy was in the lead, and when she reached the last pillar she looked back at Krysty. Her eyes flickered from side to side, mutely asking which direction the danger was waiting. Krysty indicated to the left, and Tammy nodded her understanding.
The auburn-haired Amazon paused for a moment, weighing her options. The corridor ended as a T-junction, as did so many in the design of the redoubt. Across from Tammy stood another pillar. It would provide cover if she could bridge the gap swiftly enough. But the cover would only be valid if she landed on the right side, the one sheltered from enemy attack.
Krysty closed her eyes for a moment and breathed deeply. She concentrated her senses. If she made the wrong call here, she was almost certainly condemning Tammy to be chilled.
Opening her eyes wide, suddenly getting the answer she was searching for, she locked her gaze on to the auburn-haired Amazon's and flicked her eyes to the left. With the briefest of nods, Tammy turned away and flung herself across the gap so that she would land on the right-hand side of the pillar, sheltered from possible attack.
It was a beautifully executed dive and tumble that propelled the woman across the s.p.a.ce. To the rest of the attack party it seemed to take place in slow motion. Tammy hanging in the air for an interminable moment. In truth, it was over in a fraction of a second as she sailed, then hit the ground, shoulder dipped to take the impact and roll her frame up against the far wall.
She was fast, but almost not fast enough. The mode of attack was one that even Krysty couldn't have suspected. For, as Tammy rolled, she was almost clipped by the wheels of a motorcycle that suddenly roared into life and leaped across the gap. A lone rider, clad in a black one-piece suit and with a laser blaster across her back, traversed the gap too quickly for any of the stunned Gate to take a shot at her.
”What the f.u.c.k!” Tammy grated as she flattened against the wall. The problem was that she was now on the wrong side of the pillar to provide any defense, as the rider had crossed over. For a split second, the two faced each other. Tammy could see the fear and hate in the light blue eyes of the long haired blond rider. She was a large woman with a hooked nose and a strong, prominent jaw, probably a good hand-to-hand fighter. But there was no chance of her engaging in a battle of that kind, as she would waste too much time dismounting the motorcycle. Neither could she fire on Tammy, as the laser rifle was too far out of reach.
The only thing she could do was charge again. She throttled the engine, and the powerful bike rose, front wheel in the air, as the back tire screeched on the concrete and the engine noise filled the confined s.p.a.ce almost to the point of pain.
Tammy's brain raced and came up with something. If she was to be squashed against the wall, then the rider would also be chilled as she would ride full speed into the pillar. So Tammy would have to break into the open and run for it. That was obviously what the rider wanted, figuring that Tammy's fear and surprise would make her run.
The auburn-haired warrior was made of sterner stuff than that. As the bike started to race toward her, she knew instinctively that the rider would have to veer off at the last moment to avoid her own chilling. That sudden knowledge spread ice into Tammy's veins, and she stayed her ground, leveling her blaster as the bike neared. She knew she wouldn't have time to snap off a shot as the bike approached, but on the turn...
As she had thought, the rider had to veer away at the last moment, and Tammy followed the line of the turn as her blaster came up. At the point of the turn, where the rider was still for the merest fraction of a second, Tammy's blaster was at the optimum height.
The auburn-haired Amazon snapped off a shot that caught the blonde on the right temple, boring a small hole just above her hairline. The exit wound on the other side of her head was larger and messier, spreading bone, blood and brain across the corridor. As her grip loosened on the throttle, the engine of the bike stalled, and a sudden silence hit the air, broken only by the clatter of machine and rider as they tumbled sideways and bit the concrete floor.
Krysty and the rest of the attack party were already in the corridor, checking the direction in which the rider had originally come. It was empty.
”She must have been a lone scout,” Tammy said, joining them and breathing slowly and deeply to calm her racing pulse. ”A brave warrior. I hope her chilling was quick.”
”Seems so,” Krysty replied. She glanced up and down the corridor, and could feel her hair relax around her nape. ”Guess that's the immediate danger dealt with.”
”Good,” Tammy said decisively. ”We need to get on, try to link up with the others. If they're doing as we are, then the objective should be in sight.”
”Let's hope so,” Krysty said, experience lending her a note of caution.
It wasn't over until it was over.
MILDRED'S PARTY HAD MADE its way down the service stairs and out into the corridor beyond. Tapping in the sec code to open the door, Mildred was uneasy at how quiet the descent had been. Leaving cover to survey and take up defensive positions in the corridor beyond, her unease had grown to a kind of jumpiness.
”What the h.e.l.l are they doing?” one of her companions whispered. ”They must know we're here.”
”Playing the waiting game,” Mildred said simply. ”They lay right off us, drawing us farther and farther into the open and into their territory. We get more and more tense until the point where we make mistakes and then we become easy meat.”
”s.h.i.+t, but we can't just stay here.”
Mildred smiled, a grimace with no humor. ”That's why it's such a good plan, girl.”
The party began to advance, their light footfalls sounding hollow in the empty s.p.a.ce of the concrete tunnel. The walls were painted white, and the harsh fluorescent lighting up above seemed to do nothing more than starkly highlight them against the emptiness of the s.p.a.ce.
Mildred hoped that something would happen soon.
Her nerves were stretched taut, and the adrenaline coursing through her veins made her guts churn with the need for release.
There was a T-junction a few hundred feet ahead. An Amazon looked back at Mildred and gestured with her blaster at each side of the junction, indicating her belief that any ambush would lay beyond.
It seemed reasonable. Mildred moved forward until she was beside the woman.
”We need to see if there's anyone there, and on which side, to draw their fire,” Mildred whispered. ”No way can we recce without losing whoever's fool enough to volunteer.”
The Amazon, a small black woman with plaited hair like Mildred's, nodded her affirmation. ”Question is, how do we draw that fire?”
Mildred didn't answer at first, but rummaged around in the pockets of her jacket. Despite its apparent clumsiness in a firefight, she had opted to keep it with her because it contained-besides her spare ammo-some of the medical supplies she carried with her and a few things J.B. had given her.
”Now, this may just do the trick.” She smiled, producing a small canister that she held out, cradled in the palm of her hand.
”What the f.u.c.k is that?” the woman asked.