Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (15 page)

CHAPTER
9

The
inside
of
the
armored
car
was
crowded,
and
Bleys,
Dahno
and Toni,
all
wearing
bulky
blast
protection
jackets,
were
confined
to the
vehicle's
central
well.
The
two
tall
men
had
to
stand,
crouching under
the
hatch
that
opened
to
the
car's
topside.
Toni
had
been given
a
padded
helmet,
but
there
were
none
large
enough
for
the heads
of
the
two
men.
Dahno's
protective
jacket
would
not
close over
his
chest.

The
six
wounded
soldiers
had
taken
up
so
much
space
that
the car's
driver
and
one
gunner
were
the
only
healthy
soldiers
who could
be
fitted
in.
The
driver
was
carrying
out
his
orders
to
move
as fast
as
he
could,
with
the
result
that
everyone
was
tossed
about,
the conscious
among
the
wounded
crying
out
involuntarily
at
the
worst bounces.

The
speed
did
them
no
good.
They
had
gotten
less
than
a
mile when
an
explosion
tore
up
the
front
of
the
armored
car,
bringing
it to
a
sudden
halt
that
threw
everyone
around,
and
leaving
it
tilted sharply
down
toward
the
front.

Toni,
who
had
been
sitting
awkwardly
on
the
coated
polyfiber floor
at
Bleys'
feet,
was
pitched
sideways
into
his
legs,
and
he
fell over
her,
taking
a
blow
on
the
side
of
his
head
from
the
edge
of
the central
well;
but
he
managed
to
get
his
arms
down
as
he
fell,
taking most
of
his
weight
on
them
rather
than
on
her.
The
car
began
to
fill with
smoke.

Bleeding
from
a
cut
on
the
side
of
his
head,
Bleys
regained
his balance
and
pulled
himself
over
Toni
and
between
two
of
the wounded
soldiers,
who
appeared
to
be
unconscious.
Reaching
the hatch
at
the
rear
of
the
armored
car,
he
threw
it
open
and
scrambled out,
turning
to
help
Toni,
who
had
crawled
right
behind
him
and,

lying
on
her
stomach
partially
out
of
the
car,
was
scrabbling
to
pull herself
through
the
tilted
hatchway.
He
set
her
on
her
feet
and reached
back
to
give
Dahno
a
hand
as
he
dragged
an
unconscious soldier
to
the
opening.

"What
about
the
rest
of
them?"
Bleys
asked.

"The
driver's
dead,"
Dahno
replied,
stooping
forward
to
get
his head
out
into
the
cleaner
air.
"And
most
of
the
others
were
closer
to the
driver's
compartment
and
took
more
of
the
blast
than
we
did
...
I
think
there
can't
be
more
than
one
or
two
still
alive—"
At
that moment
a
secondary
explosion
rocked
the
vehicle
again,
pitching Dahno
out
the
hatch
onto
Bleys,
who,
hampered
by
his
hold
on
the wounded
man,
was
knocked
down
again.
A
fresh
wave
of
toxic smoke
poured
from
the
hatch.

"Forget
it!"
Dahno
yelled
now,
struggling
to
his
feet.
"I
think some
ammunition
went
off,
and
between
that
and
the
smoke,
no one
can
be
alive
in
there
anymore."

"Over
here!"
Bleys
heard
Toni
call.
He
needed
a
moment
to
locate
her.

She
had
found
a
cluster
of
low,
flat
rocks
and
was
crouching
in
an opening
between
two
of
the
largest
of
them,
waving
at
them.
Bleys and
Dahno
scrambled
over
the
rough
ground
in
her
direction,
struggling
to
carry
the
dead
weight
of
the
unconscious
man
between them;
and
threw
themselves
down
into
whatever
low
spots
they could
find
among
the
rocks,
just
as
cone
rifle
fire
opened
up
from beyond
the
smoking
ruin
of
the
armored
car.

"We're
in
trouble
now!"
Dahno
gasped.
Incredibly,
he
sounded almost
cheerful
about
it.
Even
as
he
spoke
there
was
a
new
burst
of firing—this
time
from
power
weapons.
They
ducked
as
low
as
they could
and
kept
quiet,
but
Bleys
was
unable
to
keep
himself
from trying
to
look
in
the
direction
from
which
the
firing
had
come.

In
a
few
minutes
he
was
rewarded
by
the
sight
of
soldiers
led
by the
young
lieutenant.
They
came
on
rapidly
in
a
skirmish
line
that swept
to
and
beyond
the
ruined
vehicle,
spreading
out
in
a
great
arc about
Bleys'
position.
The
lieutenant
turned
and
began
to
trot
in Bleys'
direction;
but
when
he
saw
Bleys
looking
at
him,
he
stopped and
waved
for
them
to
move
toward
him,
half-turning
to
point
in
the
direction
in
which
their
vehicle
had
been
heading,
at
a
small ridge
that
made
the
horizon
seem
startlingly
near.

"There's
a
trench
and
a
bunker
just
over
that
rise,"
he
yelled
as Bleys
stood
up.
The
young
officer
had
lost
his
helmet
and
his
face was
smeared
and
dirty,
as
if
he
had
been
thrown
into
the
dirt
repeatedly.
The
whites
of
his
eyes
stood
out
against
the
dirt,
seeming to
be
wide-open
and
glaring.
He
turned
to
trot
in
the
direction
he had
indicated.

"Come
on!"
Bleys
said,
turning
to
look
for
Toni.
She
was
already up,
and
Dahno
was
rising,
trying
to
pull
the
wounded
soldier
up
with him.
Bleys
stepped
over
to
help,
and
found
himself
interrupted
as several
more
soldiers
showed
up,
rounding
the
rocks
to
both
sides
of the
civilians.

"Thank
you,
but
we'll
take
care
of
him,"
one
of
the
soldiers,
a
corporal,
said.
"Head
for
the
lieutenant,
there.
We'll
be
behind
you."

"Thank
you,"
Toni
said;
and
for
a
short
instant
Bleys
marveled
at the
politeness
everyone
was
displaying.
Toni
pulled
at
his
arm,
and he
found
himself
running
beside
her.
Turning
his
head,
he
saw Dahno—not
exactly
running,
but
moving
at
a
fast
walking
pace
that managed
to
cover
ground
effectively.
He
seemed
to
be
breathing hard.
The
small
group
of
soldiers
behind
them
were
also
in
motion, but
more
slowly.

The
lieutenant
and
several
of
his
men
had
stopped,
crouching
cautiously
at
the
top
of
the
rise
and
apparently
trying
to
ascertain
what might
be
on
the
other
side.
As
Bleys
ran
he
saw
three
of
the
soldiers get
up,
trot
over
the
top
of
the
rise,
and
disappear.
Their
officer waited,
looking
back
as
his
three
civilian
charges
neared,
puffing.

"Just
wait
here
for
a
moment,"
the
lieutenant
said.
"My
men
are checking
out
the
bunker
ahead."