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already had a germ of a plan in his mind. And she suspected that she knew what
it might be.
The first of the convoy wags rolled up, with Ryan and Gloria dismounting
before the horses had even come to a halt. The Gate queen demanded a report of
Tammy, who gave it concisely.
Gloria then turned to Ryan.
"That's how it stands, then. Two sides of Crossroads, with the scum fuckers in
the middle, waiting for them to run out of ammo. Any ideas on how to stop the
wags?"
"Yeah," the one-eyed man replied with a grin on his face. "We play this right,
and we can help out Robertson and his shit useless sec, as well as getting
ourselves a way to get into the redoubt."
Gloria raised an eyebrow. "This had better be good, Ryan."
"It is," he replied, "but we really need to get our shit together and quick.
Gather everyone around."
And when the warriors had dismounted and were gathered, Ryan outlined his
plan.
Gloria laughed. "If we don't get ourselves chilled first, it might just work."
"It'll have to," Ryan answered, '"cause if it doesn't, we're
gonna run right out of time."
THE GATE CONVOY SPLIT into two sections, with the mounted recon party riding
beside them. They were well briefed on what they needed to do to get into
position, and from there they would be able to communicate on some manner. But
first they had to attain that position. Heading off in opposing directions,
the split convoy headed out to the blacktop roads that ran at right angles to
the one on which they had stood. To travel out and then loop in past the empty
sec posts, they would approach the ville from either side of the main drag,
and arrive at the rear of the bars and gaudies that lined the street and from
which the Crossroads dwellers were mounting their defense.
They knew for a fact that the Illuminated wags had approached alone, and that
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there were no scouts to let them know of reinforcements approaching. So their
only danger lay in an overzealous defense from any Crossroads sec that may be
guarding the backs of the bars and gaudy houses.
The wag with Ryan and Gloria headed one way, accompanied by the wag that
included Mildred and Doc. Dean, Jak and J.B.
still on the armory wag with Jon headed for the other side of the main drag,
with their sec outriders including Tammy and
Krysty.
There was little chance for any immediate communication as the wags and horses
ate up the distance between their original arc of travel and the outskirts of
the ville. As they entered the ville itself, it was like a ghost town. The
plowed fields and the residential dwellings were deserted, and it was only as
they approached the main drag that the sounds of activity began to assert
themselves.
As they passed the hospital, Mildred thought of Hector, and wondered how he
had been coping, and if he had succumbed to the disease himself. Come to that,
was he even there now, or was he with the others trying to protect their
ville.
"Couldn't cover a fart with a tin can," J.B. commented to Jon, unconsciously
echoing Mildred's thoughts as the armory wag approached the rear entrances to
the main drag.
On the opposite side, Ryan felt the same. "They've left the rear totally
exposed. If we'd wanted, we could have come and mopped them up before they
even knew it."
"Shit, they really do need our help," Gloria commented.
At the last, a token defense was offered. A few desultory shots rang from the
rear of some of the bars as those inside realized that they were being
approached from the rear. But the blasterfire was so spare and inaccurate that
the convoys were able to take cover with ease, and incur no casualties.
"Stop firing, you stupe bastards," Ryan yelled from cover.
"We've come to help you, dammit!"
"Ryan? That you?" Yardie waddled from the rear of one of the buildings and
came over to where the one-eyed warrior and
Gloria were sheltering. His expression as he saw the Gate queen would have
been worth a laugh under different circumstances.
"Where the fuck did you all come from?" he asked in a small voice.
"No time to explain," Ryan replied briefly.
"There's more of us on the other side. Listen, we have some weapons that may
disable those bastards, but we'll need your help to make it work."
ON THE FAR SIDE, J.B. was outlining the same plan to
Robertson, the baron leading his people by example.
"But I don't understand why you want to try and take one of the wags," the
baron said, confused. "Shit, with those blasters like theirs, surely you can
just whomp shit out of them."
J.B. shook his head. "Not that easy. For one, we can only fire at the
unprotected parts of the wags. The lasers'll just whizz off the rest of the
wag like any normal shell. You think they wouldn't protect their own wags
against weapons like theirs? And for two, we need to take one of the wags so
we can carry out the next part of Ryan's plan."
"That's what I don't get," the baron began, but the Armorer cut him short.
"Doesn't matter right now. If we don't get this bit right, then there won't be
the next bit. Are you with us?"
Robertson nodded. "Like we have a choice?"
YARDIE HADN'T even bothered to argue with Ryan's plan, and the Gate warriors
and companions were in the middle of spreading themselves along the bars and
gaudies, using the back entrances to slip in and explain the plan of action to
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the defenders while adopting offensive positions.
"Think the others are in position?" Gloria asked Ryan as they watched the
Illuminated wags sit malevolently in the street outside.
"Should be," Ryan answered. "Let's find out."
The one-eyed warrior slipped out the back way to the bar, and ran to the end
of the drag. There, beyond where the wags sat, was an alleyway. He arrived and
looked at the alleyway opposite.
It was empty.
"Shit," he muttered, and settled to wait. Within a few minutes, J.B. arrived
in the empty alleyway. He signaled to Ryan that everything was set. The
one-eyed man pointed to his wrist chron and held up five fingers.
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