"You dimwit, you didn't even have the safety off," she yelled at him as she flicked the catch.
Elias fired again, the shot whistling past both of them at head level.
"What are you doing?" Chan yelled. "For the Lord's sake."
"Not so loud," Elias ordered. "There are still security patrols—"
He was cut short by a blast from Mildred that tore up a clod of earth to his left. Her usually deadly aim had been spoiled by the albino's movements, which she still sought to contain.
This was a stalemate, and one that couldn't continue for long. Sooner or later Elias would tire of this and just fire through Chan, or the albino would wriggle free and she would be an open target.
What she needed was a miracle. What she got was something close.
"Mildred! Duck!"
Mildred didn't think about what was happening, or where Jak had sprung from. She just threw herself to the ground.
The explosion from behind her was a signal that Jak's .357 Magnum Colt Python had been called into play. It was lucky for Chan that he had also reacted to Jak's call, as the slug would have hit him if he had stayed on his knees instead of flinging himself away from Mildred when she released her grip. The slug tore a great chunk out of the ground in front of them.
Elias had already turned and begun to run for cover. Jak sighted and loosed another shot, which took a chunk out of a tree to the left of the giant's shoulder as he ducked behind it. The wood cut into his shoulder, making him scream but doing nothing to delay his progress. Chan was close behind him, scuttling for cover as Mildred had just a short while before.
Mildred sighted with the blaster she had taken from Chan and fired. But at the last she pulled the shot and it flew wide of the intended mark. Now wasn't the time to take them out.
Jak had stopped firing. He had appeared on the far side of the shallow river and was wading across, unable to stop to take aim if he wished to reach the other side rapidly. His main concern was Mildred's safety, and that had been assured. However, he couldn't understand why she had pulled the only shot she had loosed, and asked her as much as soon as he reached her.
Mildred shook her head. "If I chilled Markos's brother, whether or not it was with Elias, then there would be a whole shitload of explaining to do, and I'm not sure that Markos would want to hear it straight off. And when we get those Bastards, I want it to be clear what they've been up to."
"You be safe till then?" Jak asked.
"I figure they'll go to ground, maybe thinking we'll go straight to Markos or Sineta. Which also means they'll have to act fast. I reckon they'll be back tonight to try to get the stuff out of the rocks and make a break for it. But what the hell are you doing here?"
Jak shrugged and smiled. "Was on errand to livestock, getting stupe measurements for crates and boats 'cause of fuckup…lucky fuckup. Saw Chan and Elias on roof. Not trust one, and seeing other with him made curious. Then blasters out. Didn't know firing on you till followed them when you picked up. Followed out here and kept tail. Didn't know how bad you injured, or if you making out unconscious—body not quite loose enough," he added with a hunter's grin. "Anyway, saw you move and figured time right."
"Sure as shit was," Mildred agreed. "I was never more pleased to see you."
She hugged the albino with sheer relief.
When she let him go, he said, "So if they come tonight, we tell sec?"
Mildred grimaced. "Can't tell them outright. I figure I should make sure Markos is out here at that time and he can stumble on it. But there'll have to be backup."
"How you get him out here?" Jak asked. It wasn't an unreasonable question, but it made Mildred feel awkward. The flare of attraction between herself and the sec boss had been secret, and she wanted it to stay that way.
"I'll figure that out," she said lamely.
If Jak was surprised by that, he didn't betray the fact. Instead he continued. "We tell Ryan, and all of us get here—surround it and ready to help if necessary."
"No," Mildred said emphatically, "I don't want that. This is a Pilatan legacy, and if it comes out because of two blacks who are stopped by outsiders—and pale outsiders at that-—then it'll divide the people when they really need to pull together. Half of them won't want to believe that either Chan or Elias are behind this, and if whites are there…"
Jak nodded. "Just me, then. That work?"
Mildred nodded. "You're an albino. You're acceptable in that sense. Yeah, I figure you and me can give Markos the backup he needs."
"Okay, but should fill others in anyway," Jak pointed out.
"Yeah, that's fair. Let's do it."
As they made their way back to the ville, Mildred realized that her doubts about both J.B.—and by implication, the rest of the companions—and Markos had been proved wrong. Both were good men in their separate ways. Chan had obviously been her initial attacker. He was of a similar build to the Armorer and had adopted J.B.'s limp to aid his disguise. Both he and Elias had used their moralistic stances to hide their real selves until revealed this day—and then only to Millie and Jak. It may prove harder than she thought to convince the sec boss and to convince Ryan that she should handle this with so little manpower.
Something that Markos and Ryan shared was their complete integrity. She knew the one-eyed man would understand why she and Jak would have to do this alone.
Chapter Eleven
"You want to what!" Ryan exclaimed when Mildred had outlined her plan.
"I want it to just be me and Jak," she reiterated. "It can't be any other way."
"But, Mildred, it's going to be—"
"Are you saying that we can't handle it?" She bristled.
Ryan sighed. "Of course I'm not saying that. You know better. But we always play the odds. That's why we're still here and the people we've had to come up against have mostly long ago bought the farm. Seven is better odds than two, that's all."
Mildred paused. "Yeah, I know that's what you're saying. And you know, most of the time I'd agree with you. But this has to be different, and I've explained why."
There was a long silence. The companions were grouped in their quarters, Mildred having dragged them away from their work—allegedly under the auspices of Sineta—in order to have this conference. They were all fully armed, having reclaimed their weapons from the armory that morning. That was why Jak had been carrying his Colt Python. The only exception was Ryan, who was incensed when Mildred and Jak revealed to him where his SIG-Sauer had found a new home. The rearming was part of final preparations as the armory was now crated ready for transportation. The loading was the task from which they had been pulled by Mildred.
The late afternoon shadows were long over the street where they were housed and without any lamps the inside of the adobe hut was dark. Jak and Dean were acting lookouts at the front and back, still keeping an ear on the proceedings.
Finally, Ryan said, "Okay, I'm with you on this, but I still don't like it that you're not playing the odds."
"Mebbe there's a way that you could stack them a little," Krysty mused thoughtfully.
"There is?" Mildred responded. "How?"
Krysty shrugged. "You're planning to stop Elias and Chan and then present it as a fait accompli to Sineta and Markos, right?" She waited for Mildred to agree, then continued, "So why don't you let them see it going down? Take them with you."
"But, Krysty, how the hell can I explain to Markos about his brother?" Mildred asked. "Sineta, I could handle. She'll understand why Barras didn't tell her, and trusted me to do it for her at this time. But Markos is too proud, too stubborn."
"So don't tell him it's his brother who's involved. Just tell him about Elias, and say you didn't get a look at the other man involved as he was masked."
"You really think he'll go for that?" Mildred asked skeptically.
"Think about how much he dislikes Elias," Krysty pointed out.
"I can understand that—look how he had us deceived," J.B. commented. "Markos was aware of how he
was, but prove it when you're that blunt and he's Mister Nice Guy all the time."
Mildred turned to the Armorer and smiled. Of course J.B. would understand Markos. "Yeah, maybe if I play on that, I won't have to let on about Chan until he can see for himself."
"Markos good fighter," Jak chipped in quietly from his position near the window. "Night make hard for two on two. Could be better bet."
"Okay," Mildred affirmed. "Let's do it."
MARKOS LOOKED PUZZLED when he entered Sineta's quarters to find Mildred and Jak waiting for him, along with the baron's daughter.
"You sent word that there was an urgent matter to be settled between ourselves," he began. "I fail to see—"
"It is," the fine-boned woman interjected, "but as of yet, I have no idea as to its substance. That is what Mildred and Jak have to tell us."
Markos sucked in his breath. "Why do I get bad feelings that the two of them are involved?" he murmured. "Particularly when I see another injury on you," he added, indicating the crease on Mildred's forehead. Although it had been dressed by Krysty, even under a bandage it suggested nothing but trouble.
"Because it's not a pretty story," she said simply before going on to outline the attempt on her life, and how Jak had saved her at the side of the river.
"There is one thing that is a mystery to me," Markos mused, interrupting her. "Why they did not chill you when they had the chance, and why they took you to the river."
"Because they wanted to hide my corpse," Mildred explained. "And as for why they took me down to the river…" She turned to the baron's daughter. "Sineta, there's something I have to tell you. Something that happened between your father and me. And I need to tell you why he did what he did."
And she began to tell her about the legend of the whitelands treasure and why the baron had entrusted her with the information. Sineta stayed silent and listened carefully, but Mildred could see that Markos was almost bursting with anger and indignation that the baron should trust Mildred and her friends and not his own people. A view he expressed when Mildred had finished.
Sineta waited for him to finish before speaking.
"Can you not see that my father was right? At such a time as this, when there is upheaval and the disparate elements that make a community have to be pulled together in both spirit and physical being, the gathering of the old treasure would be a distraction that would pull us apart. People like your brother would wish us to remain and not take this back to the ones from whom it was originally plundered. And yet, right now, they have acquiesced to the need to journey on and are working together with the rest of us. To have this treasure taken from hiding and presented once we are on the whitelands is the only way to proceed. Of course I am hurt that my father chose one other than myself to impart this knowledge, but my feelings do not matter when set against the needs of the community that I must serve. If I can live with that, cannot you?"
Markos sighed. "You are right, of course. The post I hold, and of which I am proud, dictates that the community must come first, and that is how it should be."
Let's hope that you still see it that way in a couple of hours, Mildred thought.
Jak walked toward the door.
"Dark falls. Mebbe should go."
THE WOODLANDS along the river were in darkness by the time that Mildred, Jak, Sineta and Markos reached the riverbank. The night sky above was clear, the moon illuminating the woods enough for them to be able to find their way. Jak took the front, surefooted and able to see in the gloom. He returned at intervals to report that the way ahead was clear. Although there were paths scored through the woods by the activities of the tree fellers, Mildred guided them through thicker patches, wanting to keep the party as hidden as possible. As the rest of the companions had regained their weapons just that day, so Mildred had claimed her Czech-made ZKR target pistol, which she held loosely, feeling the familiar grain of the butt against her palm. Jak had his .357 Magnum Colt Python, and Markos his H&K, which he held across his body, loose but firm in his grip. Sineta was the only one who concerned Mildred when it came to weapons. The baron's daughter carried a Glock, which was gripped tightly in her fist. The tension in her grip revealed that she was unfamiliar and ill-at-ease with blasters.
If it came to a firefight, as it undoubtedly would, could the woman look after herself? Mildred figured that she'd have to keep an eye out for the soon-to-be baron of Pilatu, otherwise she could find herself buying the farm before her father.
Jak appeared through the trees like a wraith, seemingly able to wrap himself around the shadows cast by the trunks.
"Clear ahead. No sign yet."
"Are you sure they'll be there tonight?" Sineta whispered.
Mildred affirmed. "They've got no choice, sweetie. They know I'm still alive, and they know how much I know. Even if I didn't go to you and Markos, then they'd figure that I'd get Ryan and the others to snatch the treasure tonight, before they had the opportunity to act. If they're going to get their hands on it, then they have to move tonight."
"If only we knew who the other party was," Markos mused. "Elias I can understand, and his motivation of greed. I make no secret of the fact that I have neither liked nor trusted him. But I cannot think who else would sink so low, particularly if, as you say, this is a man who is a separatist. They are motivated only by a burning sense of dignity. It just does not make sense."
"Sometimes things people do just don't, Markos," Mildred answered, feeling uneasy about how he would take the revelation when the time came. "So let's just stop talking about it and get down to the bank, try to take up a position where we can see them. Okay?"
Sineta and Markos agreed, and at an indication from Mildred, Jak led them through the trees and down to the river.
It looked so calm under the wan silver light of the crescent moon above. The water flowed sluggish and slow and the crop of rocks coming out of the riverbed rose in relief against the trees beyond. The ground on the bank in front of them—the place where she had earlier fought for her life before Jak's timely intervention—looked serene and undisturbed, as though it had never seen human intrusion.
"Not here yet, and not many places hide," Jak whispered, breaking her reverie. "I take rocks, find crevice to hide. You three stay together. Cover away from any paths. Elias not good woodsman, so take easiest path."
"Can you be sure of that?" Markos queried. "What if they stumble on us from the rear?"
"Trust him," Mildred said softly. "If Jak figures that's how Elias will come, then that's how he'll come."
"Besides," the albino added with a sly grin, "signs there of where left earlier. Triple stupe even figure come back that way."
Markos raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, I take your point. But how are you going to get out to the rocks without risking them seeing you as they approach?"
"Two things—one, I find route there that not make water ripple, two—" he added with a sly grin "—I checked. Elias and other not anywhere around yet."
Mildred uttered a short laugh. "Okay, Jak. You take up your position and we'll take up ours. Then I guess we'll just have to wait for however long it takes."
The albino set off without another word, melting into the shadows of the woods. The remaining three moved toward their position of cover in order to take up observation. Markos kept glancing toward the river, but couldn't see or hear a sign of Jak.
"Remarkable," he murmured. "I would not have thought…I suppose—"
"Don't doubt it." Mildred sighed. "Look, if Jak says he's there, then he's there. Okay?"
Markos shrugged, but said nothing further as they gained a secure position and settled down to wait.
LEAVING THE OTHERS, Jak had skipped over the root systems that treacherously lined the floor of the woods and wrapped himself around the trunks of the trees until he was at the very edge, with only the bare stretch of ground between the woods and the river to traverse. To his left there was a patch of shrub that would provide cover. Jak dropped to his be
lly and slid across, moving fast and crablike to gain the cover of the shrub. In daylight, he could be spotted, but under the much dimmer moonlight he was able to use the cover of shadows to remain unseen.
From the shrub to the water was a matter of a few feet. The real difficulty would be to gain the water without causing too much of a disturbance. At the same time, he had to make sure that his blaster stayed out of the water. Jak wrapped the Colt Python in a piece of plastic he had secreted in his pocket before they'd left, figuring that he would need to do this. He then stowed the blaster in an inside pocket of his camou jacket. He'd also thought long and hard about how he would tackle the problem of the river. To the left, just downstream, was a small clump of wood—-discarded branches and leaves overgrown with creeping vine. It would provide more shelter, especially in the gloom. He made the cover in quick time. From here he just had to slip down the bank and into the slow, sluggish current. Legs together, narrowing the angle of his body as much as possible to cause the least disturbance, he slid into the water, crouching into mud of the riverbed until only his shoulders and head were above water. Then, taking a deep breath and sighting the rocks to give him direction, Jak slipped under the water and struck out for the crop.
It took him only a few strokes to come to the base of the rocks. He found a crevice that came up out of the water and broke the surface in a narrow inlet that was deep in shadow. He exhaled and gasped in two quick breaths before looking up to see where he had arrived. He was on the reverse side of the crop to the cave entrance. It was narrow, but it was simple for him to climb up and around, keeping close and on the far side of the bank where he was certain Elias and Chan would come: here he could move freely and with speed.
As he reached the angle where he would, for a fraction of a second, be exposed before gaining the cover of the cave entrance, he paused and looked deep into the wood. Ceasing to breathe, and filtering out the familiar sounds of his own central nervous system and blood flow, he could hear nothing that would indicate their approach. He could see the slightest movement of the branches around the position where Mildred, Markos and Sineta were stationed. He could hear the occasional rasp of breath from one of them when the night sounds dipped. But he could hear nothing else apart. Chan and Elias weren't hunters, and even with their best efforts he would be able to hear them from some way off.
Axler, James - Deathlands 66 - Separation Page 18