Part 34 (2/2)
”I can't. I just lost a major node up North. I no longer have that capacity,” the President admitted sourly.
”You fool. You slow-witted imbecile. You've let them...let them...” At a loss for words, the Provost swung his staff at the President's head. A sword appeared in the President's hand. He slashed the Provost's staff in two. The Provost threw the half of the staff he held at the President and produced a sword of his own. The two went at it.
Ray awoke with the feeling of being too close to a bad brawl. Negotiation was not an option with folks who wouldn't stop fighting long enough to talk; that option was closed. Well, at least now he knew that Dancer had given them good targeting data. The threat to every human cell on the planet was gone. Feeling good about the day, Ray rolled over and went back to sleep.
SIXTEEN.
KAT CAME AWAKE at first light to find Nikki curled up to her back. They'd walked far into the night before calling it quits. Sharing the one sleeping bag and several blankets, they'd gotten little rest between s.h.i.+vers. Kat kicked herself for her poor planning. She'd a.s.sumed they'd arrive after a comfortable blimp ride and fire off the box; she hadn't really planned on roughing it. Even if she had, she reminded herself during the storms, they had dumped about everything over the blimp's side. This whole thing was one desperate gamble, thrown together at a gallop. To think, she'd argued with Lek for the honor. But the old guy would never have survived a night on the cold ground; best this one was left to the young.
Leaving the box out in the sun to warm, they inventoried what food the mechs had crammed into their pockets before they jumped. Their flight suits had a lot of pockets. Still, they were going to be hungry if they didn't get resupplied soon.
While the crew breakfasted on about one-sixth of their chow, Kat called in. ”Colonel, it's a bit colder up here than we planned and we're kind of shy on food. Any consideration you might give to running another blimp up here would be gratefully appreciated.”
”I'd love to, Kat”-she could hear regret in the Colonel's voice and knew what would come next-”but the weather's not going to let us.”
”Looked that way from here, sir,” Kat said. ”We're ready to start. I figured we might hit the guy ruining our weather. Any changes in priorities?”
”Based on a visit I had last night with the Pres and Prov, target twelve was the right one. The Pres has lost his capacity to mess with our DNA. No matter what happens now, the species lives.” That drew a feeble cheer from Kat's crew.
”Lek says Dancer would rework your priorities. Hit target nine-repeat, nine-to put the Weather Proctor out of business. The Prov is priority one through five. Take them out next. The Pres is the rest of the targets. Cut him up as you can.”
”I had a bad feeling about our priorities,” Kat growled, ”when the DNA thing was last on the list. We'll whale on the Provost today. The Pres tomorrow.”
”Good. One more thing.” The concern in the Colonel's voice sent a cold s.h.i.+ver down Kat's spine. ”Our team blowing up rock outcroppings has developed rashes from nanos. We're still looking into that. You're not drilling holes, but you might want to stick to recently eroded areas. Streams and the like.”
”Thanks for the warning, Colonel. Now if you'll excuse us, the box is warm. Let's not keep the Weather Proctor waiting.”
Kat turned to her crew. ”Shall we, folks?”
Jeff was exhausted, struggling to keep his head up as the sky lightened. They'd ridden or walked through the night. If Lil's reader was right, the mule was over the next ridge.
Jeff paused there, to let his horse rest and Annie and Lil catch up. When he looked for the mule, it wasn't there. There was lumps where it should have been. ”What's wrong?” Annie asked as Jeff's stomach went into free fall. He pointed.
”Sweet Mother of G.o.d,” Annie breathed.
”Oh, s.h.i.+t, not Zed, not the boy!” Lil shouted, racing down the hill Jeff ran after her, threw her to the ground.
”We don't know what's down there. We've got to go slow.”
They did, once Annie brought the horses down. Halfway there, Jeff stopped. ”One of us has to talk to the Colonel.” He handed his commlink to Annie. ”You punch that b.u.t.ton to talk.”
”What do you mean?”
”You're staying a good quarter mile behind us,” he told her. ”We'll get close enough to see. We tell you, you tell him. No arguments now, Annie. You know I'm right.”
”Why me?”
”Because I say so. Right, Lil?”
”Sometimes you listen to a guy, honey.”
Lil and Jeff stepped off, leaving the horses with Annie. ”What do you think happened?” Jeff whispered when they were far enough away from Annie.
”The nanos got 'em. That Provost b.a.s.t.a.r.d is a fast learner.”
”You feeling any itching, any rash from last night?”
”No. I wish to h.e.l.l I'd thought about that idea sooner. I should have started thinking when Zed first said he itched,” she said bitterly. As they got closer, they saw that the ceramic and cloth portions of the mule were untouched. Anything that had metal in it was gone.
”I don't see any bodies,” Jeff called. ”There's not enough metal in us that the nanos would have taken everything.”
Lil pointed to a stream. A hank of hair covered a shrunken skull. ”That's Zed. I guess he tried to wash them off.”
They edged around the mule. The trailer looked unharmed. Harry and Ned must have pushed it away from the mule, away from themselves before the nanos could attack it. Where were they? Run off when the agony drove them crazy with the pain? Jeff searched the early twilight but saw nothing.
”Jeff, you wait here.” Lil stepped gingerly to the back of the trailer, pulled the tarp up. ”Yeah, gear's here.” She tapped her commlink, told Annie to come in but keep her distance. ”The nanos have tried us humans' metal. Let's see that they don't develop a taste for us. Me, I like being at the top of the food chain.”
Jeff retrieved his commlink from Annie, keeping her from getting too close. Since Lil didn't seem to think it was a private's job to bring the Colonel bad news first thing in the morning, Jeff made the call.
”You sure it's nanos?” the Colonel asked.
”No, sir. None of us is qualified to made a professional a.s.sessment on something no one's ever seen. And I ain't got any special test gear, sir,” Jeff snapped. Tired, he knew he was losing his temper. d.a.m.n, what did the man expect?
There was silence on the net. ”I'm sorry,” the Colonel gently said as he began again. ”I know Ned and Harry were good friends of yours. Last night I thought I had the two computers fighting each other,” the Colonel sighed. ”Guess they were able to pull off a few other things as well. The box is working up North, but that's about all that went right with that task force. The blimp crashed, and they lost most of their supplies. Kat's doing what she can.”
”Sorry, sir.” Jeff felt chagrined fussing at a man who was carrying them all. He found himself trying to cheer the colonel up. ”Harry and Ned shoved the trailer away from the mule before they died. We've got explosives and batteries to keep the drills going. If you've got more targets, we'll do 'em,” Jeff offered without thinking and with immediate regret.
”None at the moment. Stay clear of the nanos.”
Jeff heartily agreed with that sentiment. Then he remembered. ”Sir, Lil came up with an idea last night that let us take out our last hill without getting bit.” Jeff quickly explained. ”Those computers aren't the only ones that can adjust.”
”Outstanding. Lil's one tough trooper, tell her that for me. I'll get back when I've got a target for you.”
Jeff pa.s.sed the word to Lil; she smiled weakly at the praise. They packed the horses with the remaining explosives and batteries. Jeff slung a laser drill over one shoulder, his rifle over the other. ”Shall we head for the base?”
”Retreat, h.e.l.l,” Lil spat. ”I'm just getting started. If they need us, it ain't back there.” She turned to face the east. ”The enemy's that way. I got a score to settle for Zed. But you two, you can go on back.”
Jeff s.h.i.+vered. Scared, really scared for the first time. The thought of Ned and Harry reduced to husks somewhere out there haunted him. All yesterday's excitement and courage was down the toilet. He eyed Annie without looking her in the face, wanting to take her home, ashamed to let Lil tackle the computer alone. Annie looked in both directions, then took one horse from Lil and headed east. With a s.h.i.+ver of fear, Jeff followed them.
Five minutes later, the morning break in the weather ended, slamming wind and rain in their faces.
Ray didn't bother with a staff meeting. Mary was living on the wall; he went there. They found a quiet place out of the way of the troops for their talk.
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