Part 34 (1/2)

Curt sat on the floor, the cigarette clenched in a corner of his mouth and his eyes narrowed behind a screen of smoke. He watched the little girl that he knew was no longer truly human. Tom started to pull her away from the window, but she said, ”No,” and he let her alone.

”You want me to stomp a few more bugs in the dirt, I will!” Stinger promised. ”It's up to you!”

The chase was over. Daufin knew it, and all her hiding was done. ”I'm here!” she called back, and her voice drifted through the smoke to the figure she could just barely see.

”Now that wasn't so hard, was it? You gave me a good run, I'll say that for you. Gave me the slip in that asteroid field, but you knew I'd find you. A garbage scow's not built for speed.”

”They're not built for reliability, either,” she said.

”No, I guess not. You want to come on now? It'll take awhile for my engines to warm up.”

Daufin hesitated. She could feel the walls of Rock Seven closing around her, and a torture of needles and probes awaited.

”I don't really need you anymore,” Stinger said. ”I've got your pod. That's enough to secure my bounty. When I take off, there's no way for you to get back to your planet. But I thought maybe-just maybe-you might like to trade.”

”Trade for what?”

”I've got three live bugs in my s.h.i.+p. Their names are Sarge Dennison, Miranda Jurado, and Cody Lockett.”

Curt sat very still. He stared straight ahead, and wisps of smoke curled from his nostrils. Belly-down on the floor, Zarra whispered, ”Madre de Dios.”

Daufin looked at Tom and Jessie, and they saw Stevie's features pinched with agony. Jessie felt faint; if Stinger had the pod, he had Stevie too. She lowered her head, tears beginning to creep down her cheeks.

”I'm waiting,” Stinger prompted.

Daufin drew a deep breath. Another Earth phrase, one taught her by Tank and Nasty, came to mind: up s.h.i.+t creek. The humans had done all they could for her; now she would have to do all she could for them. ”Let them go and I'll come to you,” she said.

”Right!” Stinger laughed dryly. ”I didn't get to be this old by being stupid. You come to me first, then I let them go.”

She knew Stinger would never set them free. They would bring him a bonus from the House of Fists.

”I need time to think.”

”You have no more time!” It was an angry shout. ”Either you come out right now or I take your pod and the three bugs! Understand?”

Curt smiled grimly, but his eyes were glazed. ”G.o.dd.a.m.ned Mexican standoff,” he muttered, with no apologies to Zarra.

”Yes,” Daufin answered. Her voice cracked. ”I understand.”

”Good. Now we're getting somewhere, right? Lot of bad vibes in this dump, Daufin. At least you could've crashed on a planet that smells better.”

Rhodes eased the rifle's barrel out the window, but Daufin said quietly, ”Don't,” and he took his finger off the trigger. Daufin raised her voice: ”Take them. I'm not coming.”

There was a shocked silence. Jessie pulled her knees up to her chin and began to rock like a child. Curt watched the cigarette smoke drift toward the ceiling.

”I don't think I heard you,” Stinger replied.

”Yes you did. Take them. My pod and the three humans. I'd rather die here than live in a prison.”

She felt the blood rus.h.i.+ng into her face. With it came a torrent of rage, and she leaned precariously out the window and shouted, ”Go on and take them! ”

”Well, well,” Stinger said. ”I misjudged you, didn't I? You sure that's how you want to play it out?”

”I'm sure.”

”So be it. I hope you like this place, Daufin; you're going to be here for a mighty long time. I'll think about you when I jingle my change.” The figure, which had been s.h.i.+elding its eyes with its single arm, got down off the car and strode away.

As Stinger left the parking lot, another figure rose up from between two cars over on the far left, almost to the red boulders that ended Oakley Street, and hobbled toward the fortress.

”Stevie... oh my G.o.d... Stevie,” Jessie moaned, her hands cupped to her mouth. There was stark terror in the woman's voice: an emotion that translated in any language. Daufin pivoted from the window, walked to Jessie, and knelt down in front of her. ”Listen to me!” Daufin said urgently. Looked at the others, her eyes blazing. ”All of you listen! Stinger would never let them go!

They're worth more of a bounty to him!”

”So that's it.” Rhodes let the rifle rest at his side. He felt a hundred years old. ”Stinger's won.”

53 One Way

”No!” Daufin said fiercely. ”Stinger has not won!” She peered into Jessie's eyes. ”I won't let Stinger win. Not now. Not ever.” Jessie didn't speak, but she wanted desperately to believe. Daufin stood up. ”The process of systems checks will have already begun, all regulated by machines. There'll be other duties, like the freezing of sleep tubes for his prisoners. Stinger will be busy monitoring the machines; the procedure should take between twenty to thirty Earth minutes. When the force field is turned off, the engines will start to energize. I calculate another fifteen to twenty minutes for the power system to reach lift-off capacity. So: I have roughly thirty-five to fifty minutes to breach Stinger's s.h.i.+p, find the prisoners, and get them out.”

Rhodes stared at her with utter disbelief. ”No way.”

”One way: through the tunnels. I've got to find the entrance nearest Stinger's s.h.i.+p. I presume that would be somewhere across the bridge.”

With an effort, Jessie spoke. ”Even... if you could get them out... what about Stevie? How are we going to get Stevie back?”

”Find the pod. Take it from Stinger. As I've said, I've been aboard a Stinger's s.h.i.+p twice before, and I know how the systems work. I can enter the navigational quadrants for my world into the guidance mechanism, put everything on automatic, place my pod in a sleep tube, and meld into it before the freezing process is finished. When I enter the pod, Stevie will be freed.”

”But still in the pyramid,” Tom said. ”And how are you going to find the pod and those three people inside that thing? It must be huge!”

”I know from experience where the prisoners are being held: level three, where the cages are. The pod will be close to Stinger.”

”So you find Stinger and you find the pod, is that what you mean?” Rhodes asked. He raised his eyebrows. ”Have you considered that Stinger wants you to come after them?”

”Yes. I won't disappoint.”

”That's crazy!” Rhodes insisted. ”Maybe you're some kind of firebrand on your world, but on this one you're just a little girl! First thing, you'd have to get through the tunnels-and my guess is that Stinger's got replicants in there waiting for you; and secondly, you'd have to kill Stinger to take the s.h.i.+p. How are you going to do that?”

”I don't know,” she answered. ”I've never seen a Stinger killed before.”

”Great!” Rhodes frowned and shook his head. ”We don't have a chance, folks.”

”I didn't say that Stinger couldn't be killed,” Daufin continued, and the strength of her voice revitalized Jessie's waning hope. ”Stinger must have a vulnerable spot, just like every other creature. If Stinger were invulnerable, there'd be no need for the replicants.”

”A vulnerable spot,” Rhodes repeated quietly. ”Right. Well, I wouldn't go down into those tunnels without a grenade launcher and a few dozen napalm bombs. It'd be suicide.”

”I'm willing to risk it.” Tom grasped the rifle and retrieved it from the other man. His face was pale and sweating, his lips a tight gray line. ”I'm going with Daufin.”

”And get yourself killed? Forget it!”