Bulletfoot One

by Marshall Rust

  "That is interesting," Jessica13 responded as she zoomed in a little closer to watch the children interact with the animals like it was the most natural thing in the world. “Those children appear to be playing with them.”

  “Indeed,” Mini said. “It appears their value extends to their ability to protect the humans as well as the fact that they are pets. They are apparently extremely loyal and affectionate and seem to regard humans as being part of their pack—which, according to this, is what comprises their social structure in the wild. I suppose you could think of it as an extended family.”

  She nodded, fascinated by the interaction she witnessed. For a moment, she almost envied the children the way they could move freely in the Outside and enjoy the company of animals she had only seen here or there in manus and instructional vids.

  "There's movement on that hill," Windchime said over the commlink and highlighted the location on their HUDs.

  They turned their attention to a smaller hill that overlooked the town. A building atop it looked impossibly old and appeared to have been put together with a mixture of old wood, using concrete slabs for a foundation. Despite the fragility of the timber used, it was tall and likely reinforced with steel like the other houses around it. A large brass bell was visible inside the structure at the top and a wooden cross rose from the pinnacle.

  Mini zoomed her view into the movement Windchime had noted and focused on a large group of people herded from the back of the building. They were harried by what looked like older versions of the Cinder 500 series of mech that toted their massive shotguns and launched bursts of flame to keep the people in order.

  Their obvious captors began to push them into the wooden building as a larger mech moved into sight. This was much larger than its companions, almost impossibly so, and stood almost a quarter as tall as the building itself. It was covered by a tattered cloak draped over its shoulders, and Jessica13 squinted in an effort to identify something at the top of the helm. Although they were too far to see what it was exactly, she knew that it would resemble an owl or another kind of bird of prey.

  Athena—she had to assume it was her—carried what appeared to be a spear that, when planted in the ground, was almost five or six times the size of the humans who were shoved and jostled into the structure.

  "What are they doing?" she asked and winced when the humans attempted to resist. Their efforts were futile and stopped quickly when a couple of them were annihilated by the Cinder shotguns.

  "I don't think you'll want to watch this," Windchime warned her.

  She had a feeling he was right but somehow couldn’t drag her gaze from the scene. The last of the people were pushed inside and the doors were sealed. The Cinders launched what seemed to be the fuel from their tanks over the building itself and, without any warning or ceremony, ignited the flamethrowers themselves.

  "Oh, prophet," Jessica13 gasped. She wanted to cover her eyes as the flames licked up the wooden frame of the building, fed by the fuel that had soaked into the old, dry boards. Smoke billowed into the cloudless sky.

  "Do you wish for me to deactivate the HUD?" Mini asked and she almost thought she could hear disgust in his voice.

  "No," she whispered although she immediately regretted it. She could only stare in horror, unable to even cover her eyes, as the building was rapidly consumed with the people inside. "Why? Why would she do that?"

  Tinker looked at her. "Because she can. Maybe to send a message to make sure none of the others in the town resist or call for help. Or perhaps simply for fun. I don't want to even try to explain the madness that would drive her to do what she's done."

  She shook her head and Windchime moved closer to place one of his mech's four hands on her Minato's shoulder. "Don't worry, Jessie. We'll take care of you and won't let anything like that happen to you or Mini ever."

  She tried to force a smile and hastily swiped away the tears that trickled down her cheeks.

  "I wish we could have said the same to the people inside that building," Tinker said. His voice had taken on a growling, gravelly quality she'd never heard from him.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The smoke continued to spiral from the burning building, but there was a limit to how much time they could give to respect and mourn the dead. Jessica13 wasn't sure what else they could do, but after a few long hours of their silent, shocked vigil, they seemed to agree that it was time to move on and begin to work on the reason why they had come all this way in the first place.

  "That was her, wasn't it?" Windchime asked and finally dragged their attention away from where dozens of people had died a horrific death. "That was Athena leading those Cinders."

  "The mech is a little more ragged-looking than I recall, but aye, that would be her all right," Tinker replied. While they talked, she kept a watch on the town below them. "The size of it is a dead giveaway, and if it weren't, the helm and the spear would be enough to seal it for me."

  "Well, I guess that should be sent back to the Beast. I'm sure Hammerhand would like to know we have visual confirmation that at least Athena's mech is here," Windchime suggested. "Although we can't tell if it's actually the woman herself or maybe someone who killed her and took her mech."

  "From the burning, I'd say it's still her riding the damn thing," the older man stated decisively. "She liked to burn the folks she didn't care for. Even back when it was only her and Hammer hunting pirates, she would set them aflame and let them burn inside their own mechs."

  "Well, in that case, what do we do about it?" his teammate asked. "The three of us would be hard-pressed to take on three Cinders on their ground, much less an Excalibur. Do we wait out here and let folks die while we twiddle our thumbs and wait for the other knights to arrive?"

  "We do what we came here to do and that's surveillance," Tinker said, his voice low and firm. It was a different type of authority than what Hammerhand used yet had a similar effect. "We get as much information as possible and report to the Beast."

  "I can probably make a run inside," Jessica13 said and looked at the two men.

  "What do you mean?" Windchime asked and she could already see Tinker shaking his head.

  "If I go in, I can see what kind of defenses they have set up. With the coloring on Mini and a few alterations, I could make myself look like a peddler, there to sell goods and spread news of the Outside. Folks like that are generally welcome and more likely than not to have people share what they know."

  "What would you peddle?" the older Knight asked reluctantly.

  "We brought supplies, didn't we? I could take in some parts we don't really need, see if anyone’s interested enough to buy but keep the prices too high for them to actually take them while I keep them talking."

  Even though she couldn't see their faces, she could tell that neither was convinced.

  "How do you think you can do that?" Tinker asked.

  She shrugged. "The peddlers were the only connection to the Outside I had at Sanctuary, and although I didn’t see all that many, I learned what they were like and how they talked when they were around. There’s nothing much to it except talking fast, not saying much, and letting the others try to one-up me with one of their own stories, right? Besides, it would let me keep hold of my own mech while I mingle at the same time."

  Tinker looked at Windchime. "I guess it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to get a view of what's going on inside the town."

  "It would be the worst thing," his teammate protested. "We can’t let her step into the maws of the fucking wolf without backup."

  "You're my backup," Jessica13 said. "I can ping you two easily enough on the comms and run quicker than either of you if I get into trouble. I'll be fine."

  The older man sighed and shook his head. "I don't like it but the lass has a point. If there was ever a chance for us to get in there, it's with her."

  Windchime still didn't appear very happy about the prospect but he seemed ready to admit that they didn't have much in the way of ch
oices at this juncture. Jessica13 circled the town to gain some idea where the people would be and where she needed to be if she wanted to get inside without attracting too much attention.

  When she eventually left the other two in their position to watch what she was doing, she made a couple of rounds near the edges of the town and scavenged smaller pieces of cloth, which she tied together in the same kind of cloak she had seen Athena wearing. The Cinders had worn something similar, and now that she thought about it, she actually remembered a handful of peddlers using the same thing as a way to keep them hidden over longer distances.

  It wasn't a perfect disguise, but after she’d mussed some of the paint on the Minato and draped the new cloak from the shoulders, it was about as good as it would get without her actually wandering the wilderness for dozens of years to acquire the authentic look of a peddler.

  The goods they had decided they were willing it possibly part with had been put on her back so there was no further reason for delay. Her heart pounded hard in her chest as she began to consider the peril she was putting herself in. She almost changed her mind but after a resolute admonition to quit being a coward, Jessica13 stepped into the town.

  "I detect an increased heart rate as well as rapid breathing, wide eyes, and a dilation of the pupils, which indicate a higher than usual amount of adrenaline in your bloodstream," Mini pointed out as they moved deeper into the town. "These are all indications that you are experiencing fear. Is that correct?"

  "Well, I am heading into a town where people are getting locked in buildings and burnt," she replied but tried not to let her nervousness show. "I would say that is as good a reason as any to feel fear, wouldn't you?"

  "I do not suggest that fear is an illogical response to your current situation," he replied, still as calm as ever. "I merely point out that the symptoms you are feeling are quite natural and justified in your current situation and should be embraced instead of repressed. Given that you are in a mech and cannot be seen, hiding the physical symptoms of your current stress would not matter but perhaps the auditory symptoms would be best kept under control should you encounter and interact with other humans?"

  "That…is a good point, thank you, Mini," she said and took a deep breath in an effort to calm herself.

  "There is no need to thank me as my survival depends on your own," he pointed out logically. They were literally in this together.

  The outer area of the town seemed almost abandoned as most of the folks living there were either inside their homes or in other sections. She had not registered how large the place was when studying it from afar, and now that she was inside, it was hard to ignore how sprawling it was.

  As she pushed further in toward the center, people began to wander the streets in greater numbers. Those who noticed her paid her little mind and it appeared mechs coming and going weren’t that rare a sight. Children stood in groups and a couple clutched large balls made from rubber and wrapped in leather. One tossed the toy he held to another who caught it in a desultory way but made no effort to throw it in return. The parents nearby gestured quickly to beckon them off the street and they complied without argument, although their expressions looked sullen and fearful.

  On the surface, the townsfolk projected an air of cheerful unconcern. One man wore brightly colored silk that shone in the sunlight over what looked like ragged leather trousers. Another had donned a rich, lush-looking fur coat over a mismatched nylon dress with a couple of holes around her legs. Like the buildings around them, it seemed like everything they wore was partly scavenged and partly made from the materials they had on hand.

  At face value—and if her heart hadn’t thumped a warning of her possible danger—Auburn seemed to represent a happy and thriving settlement, one she might have enjoyed visiting. It was completely different from the bunker that had been her home, and her natural curiosity would have found much to intrigue her. As it was, though, the jaunty façade was shadowed by a bleakness that hung over the town. It was as if the dark gloom of the smoke that issued from what was essentially the funeral pyre of some of their residents had seeped into people’s expressions and postures.

  What disquieted her the most, though, was that the people seemed determined to continue with their routines as if nothing had happened. As if by unspoken agreement, gazes remained averted from the blight on the hill while the folks went about their business with a forced brightness that seemed wholly at odds with a heavy sense of despair.

  She could even see a couple of Watson mechs out in the fields, tilling them or reaping the grains. Her fear stirred again when she realized that the people of Auburn were probably too terrified to even acknowledge what had happened. It said much for Athena’s power, and she wondered if the deaths and the burned building were merely another in a stream of atrocities that trapped the town in this hollow pretense of normality.

  It had resembled the civilization she was used to from a distance, but now that she actually walked within it, she saw both similarities and differences. Their bright clothing and the industriousness with which they had carved out their lives suggested freedom—one she had never personally experienced while in the bunker—although the more sinister undertones made a mockery of what they had once enjoyed. People were allowed to wear whatever they wanted. They worked when they needed to, and there were even little stalls where those who had made more produce than they needed sold it to others in exchange for parts they needed to fix their machines or perhaps improve them.

  Those still existed as a tragic irony. To her heightened imagination, they only made it more apparent that they were not free at all. Liberty was a memory they clung to because the reality was unbearable.

  It was an unpleasant way to live and Jessica13 didn’t envy them at all. She’d had more freedom in her regimented and confined existence in Sanctuary—and she hadn’t had to worry about being herded into a trap and burned alive.

  One of the men in the stalls looked up and offered her a smile that attempted to be welcoming. "Well, hello there, stranger. I don't believe we've ever seen you around these parts. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to Auburn, the nicest little haven in the world with food and parts aplenty for those who can pay. You…can pay, yes?"

  Jessica13 looked around and wondered for a moment if maybe the man was talking to someone else. For some reason, the fact that she was a stranger didn’t raise too many eyebrows. She was safe for the moment, it seemed. Not carrying any weapons had the advantage, at least, that they wouldn’t see her as a threat. Besides, she could easily believe that they might see her as a pleasant distraction from their predicament, especially after the events of the morning. She smiled and relaxed a little, although she didn’t lower her guard. The townsfolk were one thing, but she didn’t want to encounter any of the mechs Athena might have stationed there to keep an eye on things.

  "I have bits and pieces that I've collected on my travels if you're willing to barter," she said. "I also have the tools needed to repair almost anything that has gears and spins."

  "Well, there'll be a demand for your services around here," the man said with a chuckle as he kicked his feet onto the table of his stall and leaned back in his chair. "Some folks here are most inventive when it comes to finding ways to make things work but there’s so much that needs doing they can’t rightly keep up. Besides, if someone can do it faster, it leaves you time to worry about the next thing. If you have the skills you mentioned, you'll be well-fed and leave here more laden with goods than when you arrived. Take this converter, for instance. I know it should take from the sun and make spark but nothing I've been able to do has made it work again."

  She sensed that it was some kind of test of her abilities, and while she was more than willing to help him, she wasn't about to do it for free. That would be even more suspicious.

  A cautious glance at her surroundings confirmed no looming presence or any untoward attention. She opened the hatch and slipped out of the Minato but seated herself on its boot as she
took the part from the man's hand.

  "Oh…you’re a little one, aren't ya?" the man asked, obviously surprised.

  "They call me Jessie," she replied, and Mini moved and adjusted the pack on her back to show him that she wasn't alone, at least. "It looks like some of the wiring's off. If you wouldn't mind parting with that fuel pump you have on the table, I could get this one working for you."

  "Oh…fuel pump, you say?" the man asked. "It could have fooled me for a trinket." His gaze drifted down the road and for a moment, his expression seemed a little drawn and anxious before he replaced it with a broad smile.

  Jessica13 shrugged and took her tools out the mech. "Do we have a deal…"

  "Caysom," the man said and pushed the pump she had noticed forward on his table. "And we do have a deal."

  It was simple enough. The catalyzers were inverted, which meant the cells at the top collected solar power but there was nowhere for it to go. She quickly opened the device and inverted the wiring. Without asking, she leaned over and picked up one of the batteries that lacked charge, connected the two, and put the converter into the sun.

  A few seconds ticked past before the battery indicated that it had some charge.

  "Well, I'll be fucked." Caysom uttered a somewhat forced chuckle. "I think I could have done it myself."

  "Why didn't you?" she asked, placed both battery and the converter on the man's table, and took her fuel pump.

  "Oh…well, I didn't think to, is all," he replied, but he sounded a little distracted as if his mind wasn’t completely on the conversation. "You have a keen mind for this. Can I spread the word about your skills to see if you can't fix something for folks? Those who can pay, of course."

  "Feel free. I'm around for as long as I'm welcome," Jessica13 said with a small smile, connected the pump to the back of her Minato, and clamped it magnetically. The Beast always needed new fuel pumps, at least until Tinker could find a way to connect the dozens of reactors he had on hand to help it move. Something that large almost always needed combustion engines unless it was an Excalibur.