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.
That was the plan for later in the day.
For now, all he could do was wait.
Chapter Thirty-Three
"Say that again," the baron demanded.
"We were watching him in the cafeteria," sec chief Grundwold said, "and waiting for the best time to take him because we didn't want to make a scene so close to his victory over Mog."
"And then…?"
"And then a fight broke out over one of the breeders. In the confusion the one-eyed outlander got out of the building."
The baron was circling the sec chief now, like an animal going in for the kill. "Say that last part again."
Grundwold cleared his throat. "In the confusion, the outlander got away."
"You let him get away."
Grundwold said nothing.
"You let him get away," the baron repeated.
"Yes," Grundwold said, his shoulders slumping with the words.
"So now an already dangerous man has even more reason to rally the slaves against us. He's already their hero, but now he's a symbol of their own imprisonment."
Again Grundwold said nothing.
"Isn't that right?" The baron pressed home the point.
"He won't get away."
"Isn't that right?" the baron repeated, not letting the sec chief steer the conversation away from the subject of his own failing.
Grundwold lowered his head. "That's correct, Baron."
"If you were in my position, what would you do with such gross incompetence?"
Grundwold knew exactly what he'd do to a sec man who screwed up. He would demote him several ranks and give him the most menial job until he was aching to prove his worth again. But of course, that wasn't even close to the way the baron would handle such things. As a result, Grundwold said nothing, knowing it was a question he couldn't possibly answer correctly.
"You can be sure I wouldn't send you to clean toilets," the baron said. "That might be your style, but it's not mine. You see, I happen to need a sec chief at the moment, more than I've ever needed one before. But I need a competent one."
"Yes, Baron."
"I believe you are a competent sec chief, Grundwold, so I'm going to give you another chance to find the one-eyed outlander."
"Thank you, Baron."
"But not before I impose a suitable punishment."
Grundwold closed his eyes, knowing that suitable punishment from the baron could be anything from a slap on the wrist to the removal of a limb.
"On your knees, Grundwold," the baron ordered. Then he turned to Norman Bauer. "My special crop, please, Number One."
Norman Bauer, who had been standing by impassively, went to a cupboard high up on one of the walls in the office and took out the baron's "special crop." It was an electric cattle prod, thicker than his usual leather crop, and was fitted with rechargeable batteries. It could administer a powerful and painful electric shock with a single touch.
Baron Fox circled the kneeling Grundwold, then touched the prod to his shoulder.
Grundwold's body jumped as the room was suddenly bathed in the warm glow of electric blue. He groaned in pain as he tried to remain upright on his knees.
"Repeat after me… 'I will catch the outlander.' "
" 'I will catch the outlander,' " Grundwold grunted.
Baron Fox touched the prod to Grundwold's hip.
Grundwold's torso jerked sideways as all the muscles on his right side contracted.
Then, as Grundwold lay on the ground struggling to catch his breath, the baron touched the prod to his thigh and watched the sec chiefs leg twitch and convulse with electricity.
The sec chief screamed in pain.
The office smelled of ozone and burning flesh.
"Say it again," the baron said. "Louder this time, and with conviction."
Grundwold's words were lost in a scream.
The main building was quiet, except for someone screaming in pain in a distant part of the building. At this time of day there would be people and sec men walking the halls outside her room, and there would be sounds of the workday beginning outside.
But there was none of that this morni
ng.
Krysty opened the door and found that there wasn't a sec man in the hallway. The building seemed abandoned, and she sensed it had something to do with Ryan. He was somehow in mortal danger, but was at least safe for the moment.
She stepped into the hallway, closed the door to her room and set out to find Mildred. If something was going terribly wrong, they'd have a better chance of surviving if they were together.
WHEN CLARISSA REACHED the entrance to the part of the hydro-electric tunnel she called home, there were still several muties waiting outside. They seemed happy to see her, and even happier still when she opened up a bag of leftover fish and uneaten scraps for them.
"Gather the tribe," she told them as they ate.
"Series?" one of the muties asked.
He'd meant to say "serious," but it had come out wrong. Of course it was serious, but what was the best way to explain it to the triple-stupe brain-damaged muties so they would understand. "Yes," she said in the end. "Triple-big serious."
The muties seemed to respond well to her words, but she decided they needed to be even more excited about what was going to happen.
"Tonight. All you can eat."
That did the trick.
The muties cleaned up the fish scraps, then scrambled away to gather the tribe.
"I DON'T SEE ANYBODY out working the orchards," Dean said as he crouched amid a tumble of weeds. "All I see is sec men walking up and down the rows between the trees like they're looking for something."
"Someone," Jak said.
Dean looked at Jak. "You think someone escaped?"
Jak nodded. "Ryan."
"But if no one's out working, how will we get a message to my dad, Krysty or Mildred?"
"Don't know. Mebbe give signal."
"What kind of signal."
The albino shook his head. "Don't know yet."
SEC CHIEF GANLEY brought the raiders to a rest atop a rise north of the ruins of the city that had been labeled Clifton Hill. From here they were able to see the waterfalls, what had once been Niagara Falls and, more importantly, the thriving farm complex. Behind the perimeter of a wire mesh fence was the wealth of breeding men and women that Reichel ville desperately needed to survive.
"Is that the place?" someone behind the sec chief asked wearily. They had been carrying fish to offer in trade for hours over the rough terrain, and many were close to the point of exhaustion.
"Yes, it is," Ganley answered.
"It's fenced in, and there are sec men on patrol everywhere."
It seemed madness now to think they could trade their meager fish for slaves, but that had been their plan from the start and Ganley was determined to try trading first. If he succeeded, they might be able to trade for breeders on a regular basis, and if he failed, then they would return to try to take what they couldn't get in trade.
"I'll need two to come with me," Ganley said. "The rest of you can rest here until dark."
Rhonda was the first to step forward, followed by several men.
The sec chief put a hand on Rhonda's shoulder. "No women. They'd take you as a slave in a second. Besides, I need you here to lead the raid if I don't return."
Rhonda looked disappointed, but understood.
"Franz and Ruznicki," he said.
The two men stepped forward and picked up the fish they'd be offering in trade.
Ganley turned to the rest of the raiders. "If we're not back by dark… We hope we won't meet you on the last train heading west."
And then they were gone.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Emon Kauderer walked the fence to the west and north of the main building. Along with the other sec men in his squad, he'd been walking the orchards all morning, searching them tree by tree for the one-eyed outlander. But as thorough as their search had been, there'd been no sign of him. It was if he'd simply vanished into the misty morning air.
Grundwold was feeling the heat from the baron over it, too, and Kauderer hoped they found the outlander soon. If they didn't, then the sec chief would be chilled, enslaved or sold off at auction, and who knew which one of the sec men would take over. One thing was for sure, anyone who desperately wanted the job wouldn't be right for it; anyone good enough for the position knew enough about the baron not to want it For a moment Kauderer thought of putting his name in for consideration, but then thought of the fate of Grundwold hanging on the search for this one man, and thought it better just to be an ordinary sec man for a little while longer. The jack wasn't all that much, but the food was good. It wasn't all that tough a job, and he could rut as often as he liked with the skags in the sec men's lounge. It wasn't a bad life, all things considered.
Suddenly Kauderer felt a sharp burning pain in his right leg. He looked down and saw a piece of metal embedded in the muscle of his thigh.
Shouting in pain, he dropped his blaster and tore open his pant leg to get a good look at his wound. A leaf-bladed knife protruded from his flesh.
Where in the rad-blasted Deathlands had it come from? Kauderer wondered. No one was in sight. Maybe he'd been caught flat-footed by the one-eyed outlander, sneaking up on him from a stand of trees, stabbing him in the leg and retreating again, as invisible as the wind.
The blood was running freely down his leg now, and he was beginning to feel weak.
Fillinger came up behind him and grabbed Kauderer's shoulders to steady him. "What's wrong?"
"Been stabbed."
"Where?" Fillinger asked. "By who?"
"In the leg…by the outlander."
"We better get you to the nursery. The healer there's pretty good with wounds. She'll fix you up."
Fillinger summoned a few nearby sec men to take Kauderer away. Then he moved a couple of squads from the east side of the farm to the west.
They'd be sure to find the outlander now.
DEAN LAY CLOSE to the ground next to Jak about twenty yards from the fence surrounding the farm. "How can you be sure they'll know that's the sign?"
"Knife," the albino teenager said. "Know leaf blade."
"I still can't believe you got the knife through the fence, and hit the sec man in the leg."
Jak nodded. "Good throw."
"But the gap in the fencing couldn't have been more than six inches across."
"Was enough."
They remained behind long enough to see the sec man being taken away, then started back to the wag so they could make a report to J.B.
"MILDRED?" Krysty called out, entering the nursery.
The woman was nowhere to be seen.
Krysty went back out into the hall and noticed the door across the hallway was open. It was the door to the armory.
She approached the door cautiously, sensing something was amiss.
Then the door suddenly sprung open and Krysty found herself at the wrong end of a Czech-built ZKR .38-caliber target pistol aimed directly at her head by one Mildred Wyeth.
"Hello, friend!" Krysty said.
Without a word, Mildred pulled Krysty into the armory and loaded her up with the several boxes of ammunition. "Bring them into the nursery."
"What about our weapons?" Krysty asked.
Mildred removed the tape covering the lock on the door, then closed and locked the door to the armory behind her. "I've already got all our blasters back."
"Where are they?"
"Safe in the nursery, until we need them."
Just then there was a commotion on the stairs. Two sec men were carrying another who was bleeding badly from a wound on his leg.
Krysty dumped the ammo boxes into an empty bassinet and covered them with a blanket.
"Bring him to the table over there," Mildred instructed.
They carried the wounded man, now unconscious, and lifted him on the table. "He was stabbed by the one-eyed outlander," the sec man on the right of the wounded man said. "You better be able to save him."
Mildred ignored the threat and set to work, motioning for Krysty to stay in order to give her a hand.
When the sec man protested, she said, "She knows how to prepare field dressings and clean wounds. Your friend can live with her helping me, or take his chances with me working alone."
The sec man reluctantly nodded, and took a step back.
Mildred cut away what was left of the man's pant leg and gasped audibly at what she saw.
"That bad?" the sec man asked.
"No," she answered. "He'll be fine."
The sec man left the nursery a moment to inform the other sec men milling about in the hall.
Krysty tied off the man's leg with a tourniquet, and Mildred gently pulled out the leaf-bladed throwing knife. "Well," she said, "either Ryan has done the impossible and finally learned how to throw one of these knives, or a certain teenage albino has just sent us his card."
RYAN SHIVERED in the cold water of the tower. He'd been hidden for hours, listening to sec men come and go around him, most of them eager to chill him and collect the big jack being offered by the baron.
But for all their efforts, they hadn't once tried looking in the water tower. There had been a few close calls, with sec men hanging around the base of the tower awaiting new orders, but Ryan had remained still, making no sound, and eventually the sec men were sent to some far corner of the farm.
And then, twenty minutes earlier, there'd been some action. Judging by what he'd heard, Ryan figured that a sec man had been wounded on patrol. They were crediting Ryan with the deed, but that only made him smile. Ryan knew that it meant his friends were at work, either on the inside creating a diversion or on the outside preparing to break them out.
It had been quiet around the base of the water tower for the past ten minutes, and if Ryan was going to get out of the tower before dark, now was the time to do it. After the sec man had been wounded, the bulk of the sec force had hurried to the western fence looking for him, leaving only a shadow force around the main complex. If he could make it to the slaves' quarters unnoticed, then he could spend the rest of the day there in warmth and comfort waiting for dark.
Axler, James - Deathlands 61 - Skydark Spawn Page 20