Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (13 page)

The
carrier
hit
bottom
almost
on
its
side,
but
Bleys
managed
to hang
on
to
his
strap,
to
avoid
falling
across
the
width
of
the
vehicle's interior,
while
swinging
out
an
arm
to
help
Toni
keep
her
seat
on
his left
side.
Across
the
vehicle,
Dahno
had
been
thrown
back
against the
wall,
entangled
with
soldiers
who
were
thrown
at
the
wall
in
the same
moment.

The
gyros
whined,
righting
the
carrier
enough
that
the
fans
could level
it
out,
and
the
vehicle
began
to
move
forward
down
the
length of
the
gulley.
But
almost
immediately
a
series
of
bolts
slammed
into its
front,
opening
the
driver's
compartment
and
shredding
its
interior,
and
its
crew,
back
to
the
firewall
that
protected
the
passenger compartment.
All
power
went
off,
and
the
vehicle
settled
to
the
dirt floor
of
the
gulley
even
as
it
nosed
into
the
bank
on
their
right
side.

Dahno
pushed
a
body
away
and
lunged
for
the
hatch's
manual controls,
but
Bleys
grabbed
his
shoulder,
trying
to
hold
him
back.

"I
don't
think
it's
a
good
idea
to
go
out
there,"
Bleys
said.

"We
have
to,"
his
brother
shouted.
"We're
sitting
ducks
in
here!"

"At
least
in
here
we
have
some
armor,"
Bleys
said.
He
was
trying to
keep
his
voice
low
so
as
to
defuse
the
emotions
they
were
all
feeling
now.

"That
won't
last
long,"
Dahno
said,
more
quietly.
"There's
only one
exit
left
here,
and
if
it's
not
already
covered
it
soon
will
be.
Outside,
we
might
be
able
to
make
it
to
some
cover."

Before
Bleys
could
respond
there
was
a
sudden
burst
of
firing from
above
them.
"That's
coming
from
where
we
fell
over
the
side," Toni
said.

"Yes,"
Bleys
said.
"And
it
doesn't
seem
to
be
directed
at
us."

"It's
the
other
armored
car,"
one
of
the
young
soldiers
said.
He was
looking
out
now
through
one
of
the
weapons
apertures
from which
their
vehicle,
although
now
disabled,
could
normally
be
defended.
With
the
power
off,
the
video
screens
were
no
longer
working,
but
there
was
light
both
from
the
emergency
lighting
system and
a
narrow
opening
where
a
seam
in
the
distorted
roof
had
pulled apart.

As
the
soldier
ceased
speaking
they
could
hear
a
rapid
series
of ticking
noises,
like
an
irregular
drumroll
on
the
side
of
their
vehicle. The
soldier
ducked
down,
turning
to
look
for
instructions,
or
perhaps
reassurance;
the
corporal
in
charge
of
their
detail
had
struck his
head
in
the
fall,
and
was
just
starting
to
regain
consciousness.

"Cone
rifle
fire,"
Bleys
said;
and
Dahno
sat
back
down.

"It
can't
possibly
penetrate
our
armor,"
Bleys
said
reassuringly;
and
at
that
moment
they
heard
a
renewed
series
of
bolts
from
the power
cannon
of
the
armored
car.
The
cone
rifles
went
silent.

In
a
moment
there
came
a
loud
rapping
on
the
hatch
of
their
vehicle.
Bleys
reached
for
the
manual
override.

"It'd
better
be
our
guys,"
Dahno
muttered.

Bleys
chose
not
to
respond
as
the
hatch
unsealed,
then
popped forward
in
its
track
and
slid
to
the
side.

"Are
you
all
right,
sir?"
It
was
the
young
lieutenant
who
had been
refusing
to
speak
with
them,
now
looking
in
at
them
from
the brightly
sunlit
gulley
floor.

"Yes,
Lieutenant,
I
think
so,"
Bleys
replied.
"What's
the
situation,
please?"

"We've
been
attacked,"
the
young
man
replied.
Then
he
blushed.

"Of
course
you
knew
that
...
I'm
sorry."
He
seemed,
Bleys thought,
to
have
loosened
up
with
the
action.

"Don't
be,"
Toni
said.
"We're
very
glad
you
got
to
us
before those
people
managed
to
open
us
up."

"Is
anyone
hurt
in
your
carrier?"
the
young
officer
asked.

"I
don't
know
about
the
people
up
front,"
Bleys
said,
"but
your soldiers
were
tossed
around,
and
the
corporal's
just
coming
to—"

"I'm
fine,
sir,"
the
corporal
said
from
somewhere
behind
Bleys.

"I'll
take
a
report
in
a
minute,"
the
lieutenant
said;
and
turned his
gaze
back
to
Bleys.

"I
think
this
vehicle
isn't
going
to
be
moving
for
a
long
time," Bleys
said.
"We
need
to
transfer
to
another
vehicle
and
get
away
from here,
unless
you're
confident
you've
driven
off
whoever
attacked
us."

"That's
not
going
to
be
easy,"
the
young
officer
said.
He
seemed
to have
recovered
his
composure.
"Our
communications
are
jammed, and
the
only
vehicle
we
have
left
is
my
armored
car,
which
can't
hold all
of
us."