Perception Fault (23 page)

“All right, I’ll do what I can. But our part in this is only to get you all to the table. Anything that happens afterward is up to you.”

“Fair enough. No time like the present to get started.”

“That’s what I always say,” Ryan replied, mimicking the food administrator’s tone perfectly. He suspected
the man knew he was being mocked, and he saw the man glare at him as he got up to leave the room. However, at the moment, he didn’t much care.

Of course, Ryan didn’t let his help go unrewarded. Within short order he’d gotten all of his friends into their own suite of rooms, with separate but adjoining bedrooms, and their own bathroom and shower.

Once everyone had cleaned up, Ryan called them together in Krysty and his room, shaking his head as they assembled. “Fireblast, this looks familiar. Didn’t we just do this exact same thing a few days ago?”

“Fer pretty much same fuckin’ reason,” Jak said from the corner. He’d been happy to see the rest of the group, but had stayed quiet ever since they’d all been reunited. Even his hair, normally a wild mane sticking up in all directions, now fell lank and subdued around his face. “Seems like all been doin’ since leavin’ redoubt is comin’ and goin’. When we get fuck out here?”

“Soon enough, Jak, that’s a promise.” Ryan quickly filled in everyone on the agreement he had reached with the Bunker overseers, eliciting a variety of surprised looks, with Doc even bolting to his feet in shock.

“Ryan, I thought you knew better. You cannot trust these whitecoats for a single moment! Even you said someone broke into your room and threatened Krysty and Mildred—”

Ryan raised his hands and motioned for Doc to sit back down. “Whoa, whoa, Doc, just hold on. First, no one came out and ‘threatened’ Krysty and Mildred.
They just warned us that people in the lab here might be after any women they found. But if that were true, then, as J.B. said earlier, they certainly wouldn’t have kept him or me around—or you two, either.” His gaze included Jak and Doc. “We’d all be buzzard food on the plains this very minute.”

“So they plan to keep us for the Lord knows what kind of experimentation. We cannot wait for them to come and find us, cowering and helpless—”

“Doc! You aren’t helping anything right now. Sit back down and listen, okay?” Pulling out a chair from the desk, Ryan sat. “They do have a task for us, and that’s to bring the two sides together for a meeting with them so everyone can work out some kind of treaty.”

Doc threw up his hands in helpless anger and got up to pace the room, muttering, “I would rather die than have to work alongside those steel-hearted whitecoats. They cause nothing but pain and suffering under their so-called ‘science to aid humanity.’ A pox on all their houses!”

Ryan stood again, jabbing a finger at the skinny, white-haired man. “Doc, if you don’t shut that lip of yours, I’m going to have to shut it for you!”

“Please accept my humblest apologies, my dear Ryan, I did not mean to offend….” Doc retreated to another corner of the room and sat on the bed, his wide eyes wandering back and forth between the rest of the group and the walls themselves.

“Sorry about that. I guess we’re all a bit on edge from being shut up in here. I don’t like it any more than any of you, but it’s the best way to get us all out of here in one piece. That’s the deal I made—we get them all to the table, and our obligation is done. The sooner we blow out of here, the better. Between Carrington, Tellen
and the sec boys in here, that meet’s gonna be a bastard powder keg any way you look at it.”

“Any chance we can get a head start before the lead starts flying?” J.B. asked.

“Doubtful. Carr’ll be looking to me to make the introductions, but there’s no telling what either of those crazy SOBs’ll do when I present the idea in the first place. Granted, I’m not telling either one the other’s going to be there, but I’m sure they’ll all come packing serious hardware. All it’ll take is one twitchy trigger finger, and we’ll be in the middle of an all-out war.”

“Yeah, and one of those a week is enough already,” Krysty remarked drily. Ryan threw her a stern look, but she didn’t give an inch, just thrust out her chin in defiance.

“So, we don’t have anything to lose except our freedom, and mebbe what’s left of Doc’s sanity. And if we help out these whitecoats, they’re gonna send us on our way with a wag, gas and food, and just wave goodbye as we drive off into the sunset?” J.B. snorted. “I’ve heard plans with a better chance of succeeding out of hardcore jolt addicts. You sure this is the way you want to play it?”

Ryan shook his head. “No, but unless you got a plan that involves defeating these mag-locks with your fingernails, and making it more than five steps down a corridor before begin gassed to the floor, I don’t see any other way.”

Krysty lowered her voice. “You said they were lookin’ for women. We could use that to get a guard down, take his clothes and sec gear and ‘escort’ us to the surface.”

“Yeah, except none of us know any way out of here. It’d be pretty suspicious to see a guard with no idea
where he’s going.” Ryan jerked a thumb at the camera in the corner. “Besides, I haven’t seen a room in here yet that didn’t have extra eyeballs. Where you going to do this and not be seen?”

“Just a thought, lover, that’s all. If this is the way you say to go, I’ll back you every step.”

Ryan looked at Krysty a moment, feeling that surge of love, and simply nodded. “All right, then.”

Mildred’s expression turned dreamy. “Man, I sure would have liked to see their medical facilities. Any place that can heal a person as fast as they did Ryan has got to have some incredible equipment.” She shook her head. “Ah, well, maybe next time we pass through. I’m in.”

Krysty said nothing, but simply nodded again, with Jak right behind her.

His mouth set in a thin line, J.B.’s head bobbed curtly, leaving only one. Walking over to Doc, Ryan knelt next to him. “Doc, we’ve all got to be in this together, you understand? I know you’ve got a powerful hate for the whitecoats, but just this once, let’s give it a try and work with them. What do you say?”

The old man turned his rheumy, reddened eyes to Ryan. “You know that I am always your faithful man, come hell or high water, sir.”

Ryan nodded. “Okay, Doc’s in. Let’s get this bastard thing set up and over with so we can all get the hell out of here.”

Ryan stood under the shade of a large, tan canopy, its sides open to let the hot plains wind push the sweat around on the back of his neck. He scanned the horizon and hills all around with a pair of powerful binoculars, looking for the slightest movement, anything larger than a jackrabbit, but seeing nothing.

“While I appreciate your vigilance, Mr. Cawdor, I wouldn’t be too concerned with any trap either side may attempt to spring on us. I assure you, we’re well prepared to handle any contingency.” Administrator Carr was dressed in plain fatigues and a t-shirt under his constant white lab coat, which was slowly being speckled a light brown by the dusty wind swirling around them. Yellow-tinted aviator sunglasses protected his eyes, and he held a metal canister filled with cold water that he sipped from every few minutes.

Ryan had to admit the other man might have a good point. There were four heavily armed and armored guards, one at each corner of the canopy. More were posted at the corner of the second large canopy where the rest of his friends, including Rachel and Sergeant Caddeus, sat or stood. Behind them were three armored personnel carriers the likes of which Ryan had never seen before—squat, wide-bodied vehicles with huge tires that lifted the body at least five feet off the ground. The entire body was made of some kind of dull gray
metal, with bulbous, closed pods on the top and sides that held a variety of weapons, including missiles and at least one chain gun, and no exposed windows. Waltrop had told him everyone inside saw out using cameras. Each vehicle held twenty men, half of which were arrayed in neat lines in front of each APC, the other half of which were manning stations inside the wag itself. While Ryan would have loved to get a look at the innards—J.B. even more so—he hadn’t expressed a whit of interest in it, but had simply nodded.

He also knew that the Bunker had sent its wondrous drone aircraft aloft since the time and location of the meeting had been set, in order to keep tabs on the surrounding area and make sure that nothing out of the ordinary happened at the site. No doubt he also had reserves he could call on in an emergency, too, probably waiting at the base or a mile away, ready to rush in if needed. All in all, it looked like they had the place sewn up tighter than a gnat’s ass just before it hit a windshield.

As for Ryan and his companions, they’d been given their weapons, but not the clothes they’d been captured in. Compared to the firepower around them, his group was toting the equivalent of slingshots, but Ryan knew just how much damage one shot in the right place could do.

Despite all the precautions, Ryan couldn’t help poking the administrator a bit. “Just like your guys were able to take care of that Indian problem you had before we showed up.”

Carr choked on the sip of water he had taken, and tapped his chest to ease it away. “That was fighting a guerrilla insurgency. This is gaining the upper hand through a show of formidable strength.”

“Well, having been around these kinds of folks all my life, I wouldn’t put too much stock into your little show here. People like Carrington and Tellen don’t get to where they are by spooking easy.”

“I don’t wish for them to ‘spook,’ as you so quaintly put it, I wish for them to recognize that a superior force has entered the equation, and that they should adjust their plans accordingly. They should realize how that changes things, and be willing to come to the table to discuss how we might be all able to work toward a common goal.”

It was these last words that had Ryan a bit worried. It was all well and good for Carr to want to make a place of safety in the Deathlands, he just wasn’t sure how the other two would react to the idea, particularly since, if taken wrong, it could smack of “let us help you fix your problems,” only to find that the “helpers” were suddenly running the show before you knew it.

And in the Deathlands, the surest way to stop this progression was to cut it off before it really got started—preferably with a lot of bullets.

Waltrop raised a hand to his headset. “Sir, we have a dust trail from due west coming toward us, fast. Drone reads heat signatures of four vehicles. Image coming onscreen now.” He hit a button on the portable monitor, which flickered into life to reveal an overhead view of a four-vehicle convoy, two Hummers, one at the front and one behind two large olive-green trucks, their framed cargo areas concealed by heavy canvas tarps.

“Looks like someone else had the same idea you have,” Ryan said. He still couldn’t believe that both men had agreed to meet with Carr in the first place. Of course, the fact that each one didn’t know the other was attending probably had something to do with it. No
doubt both Carrington and Tellen each had the same idea—enlist the new group to wipe out their enemy.

Someone’s gonna be very surprised when this all goes down—the only problem is, I haven no bastard idea who that’s gonna be, Ryan thought, his eye glued to the screen.

“Commander Waltrop, please send out a vehicle to escort our guests into the perimeter.”

The sec man spoke into his mouthpiece, and one of the APCs roared into life, accelerating away in a spurt of dust.

Once it was gone, Ryan nodded at the other tent. “Before they get here, I want to check on my friends, make sure they’re doing all right in this heat.”

“By all means.” Carr dismissed him with a wave of his hand as he sipped water and regarded the screen. Ryan left the comparative comfort of the canopy, feeling the heat beat down on him for the few steps between the tents, and entered the shadow of the second one, smiling tightly at the group. His people feigned being relaxed very well, with Jak and J.B. sitting against different tent poles, Krysty conversing with Doc, and Mildred watching the dust cloud grow larger as it approached.

Rachel and Caddeus were another matter. Carrington’s daughter, wearing a frown, had earned her very own personal sec man. Caddeus was right at her side, looking none the worse for wear, considering the injury he’d suffered three days ago.

“How’s everyone doing?” Ryan asked as he walked under the protective covering.

A ragged chorus of replies greeted him, but Ryan made sure that all his people’s eyes were on him when he made the brief signal that told them when the shooting started, to get out any way they could. He saw
the understanding in everyone’s eyes or a brief nod of assent, then went to Caddeus and Rachel, plopping down beside them and rubbing his right foot. “How are you guys holding up?”

“What the hell is going on, Cawdor? Have you and the runt over there—” she pointed at Carr with her chin “—made a deal to sell me to Tellen?”

“Fireblast, you just don’t let up, do you?” Ryan shook his head. “I’m actually trying to prevent a bloodbath out here. Carr wants to meet with your father and Tellen and make them agree to a truce so they can all begin working together.”

She stared at him, incredulous, then chuckled, the bitter laugh escaping through clenched teeth. “Surely you told him that would be impossible, especially after what Tellen tried on me.”

Ryan leaned close to her and lowered his voice. “Actually, I never told them who you were. I assume you didn’t, either.”

“Hell, no. I’m not about to give them that kind of bargaining tool. But thanks for not telling them, either.”

Ryan’s eyebrow quirked at the unexpected gratitude, but he immediately regained his composure. “You’re welcome. Would you speak for the idea? You know, try to convince your father.”

“It wouldn’t do any good. Carr there thinks he’s so bastard smart. He has no idea just how much of a hornet’s nest he’s about to stir up.”

Ryan nodded. “Yeah, I was afraid something like that might happen.” He rubbed his foot more, wincing. “Hey, there’s something you could do for me.”

“What?”

Ryan pointed at the table of water bottles and covered platters of food on the other side of the tent. “Damn
sprain is acting up from when I fell in that fireblasted pit. Could you get me a bottle of water? I’m parched.”

She stared at him, her brows lowering, and Ryan swore he saw the wheels turning in her head as she tried to figure out his angle. But he just licked his dry lips and stared at her until she rose to her feet and stalked across the dirt floor.

“Not the smoothest move I ever saw, but it did the trick.” Ryan turned to see Caddeus regarding him, the black man’s face expressionless. “I bet your foot suddenly heals very nicely once we’re done talking.”

“Only got a few seconds, so listen up. You know what’s happening here?” Ryan barely waited for the other man’s nod before continuing. “You need to stick with her like stink on shit, understand? Get her out of here and back to the city in one piece.”

“Already one step ahead of you.” Caddeus shrugged his jumpsuit leg up to reveal the end of what looked like a pipe hidden inside, along with the smooth metal and plastic of a prosthetic leg where it went down into his boot. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll make it out all right.”

“Okay. How’s the new foot?”

Now Caddeus grinned. “Better than my old one. It’s only been three days, but I’m walking on it like it was my own flesh and blood.”

A shadow fell across him, and Ryan looked up to see Rachel holding out a container of water just as Carr called out to him.

“Ryan, we need you!”

“Thanks, Rachel.” Ryan stood and accepted the water, pouring half of it down his throat in one long, satisfying gulp. He looked at the plastic cover she held in her other hand, then took it and screwed it on the
top. He hefted the metal cylinder in his hand, feeling the liquid inside slosh back and forth, then walked back over to Carr and Waltrop under the tent.

“Looks like Tellen’s the first to arrive,” Carr said, still watching the overhead view from the drone. Ryan wasn’t surprised at that, although he’d tried to get Carrington on-site first, figuring him for the slightly more sane of the two—he’d expected Tellen to show up as soon as he could. He watched as the convoy was brought in and stopped about a hundred yards away from the Bunker’s people. The two trucks came to a halt, still in a line, and the mil wag began driving toward the tent, covering about twenty yards before the APC flanking it sprouted a half dozen weapons as missiles and machine guns appeared from the various pods on its roof and sides, all aimed at the wag, which quickly came to a stop. A door opened, and several sec men spilled out in uniform precision, taking up positions in a semicircle around the stopped off-roader.

“That certainly got his attention.” A thin smile played around Carr’s lips. “Waltrop, bring them to me.”

A strange noise, like a sandy hiss, caught Ryan’s attention as he watched the squad escort the men out of the Hummer, relieving them of weapons and patting them all down. He looked around, but nothing had changed—only a puff of dust from the rear wheel of the large APC, as if the tire had broken through a sinkhole or something. With a frown, he turned back to the group now entering the tent.

Tellen was dressed immaculately in clean, but not pressed fatigues. His blond crew cut stuck straight up, giving him the barest hint of another inch on his small frame. His men had been relieved of their weapons, but
flanked him protectively, as if they were still armed. Tellen’s gaze picked out Ryan first, then went to Administrator Carr, who was still watching the monitor, and finally passed over Waltrop dismissively.

“Ryan, you’ve done all I expected and more. Care to make the introductions?”

Ryan bared his teeth in what could loosely be called a smile. “You got the ‘and more’ part right.” Before Tellen could ask what he meant, Ryan charged on. “This is Administrator Carr, who helps to run the Bunker, the compound located underneath the Denver Airport. He’s the one who suggested this little meeting.” Ryan glanced at Carr. “We’re just waiting for the last person to arrive.”

Carr nodded, his eyes flicking to the monitor. “He’s approaching now.” He finally looked up at Tellen. “An old friend of yours, I believe.”

The shot was perfect. Tellen’s mask of composure slipped just enough as he grabbed the monitor, causing all four guards at the corners of the canopy to turn and aim their drawn sidearms at him, regardless of the bodyguards that interposed themselves between the sec men and their leader.

Tellen was oblivious to the threat, his icy-blue eyes locked on the monitor, which showed an overhead view of another convoy heading their way, this one composed of four mil wags, each one armed with a man in a turret. Another APC came at them from the east, stopping in front of them and signaling the small procession to follow it.

When Tellen looked up again, his face was composed, and he even sketched a mocking bow toward the whitecoat. “Well played, sir. It would seem that I have underestimated you.”

“Oh, I can’t take all the credit. After all, it was Ryan’s idea not to tell each of you that the other was coming.” Carr turned to Waltrop, leaving Ryan and Tellen to exchange pointed glares. “Bring the girl and her escort to us, please.”

“You wanted in, well, here’s your chance,” Ryan said.

“Like I said, you did all I expected and more.” Tellen’s smile as he pulled out a chair and sat was equally discomfiting, like he knew something no one else did. Again Ryan looked around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. His gaze met Krysty’s in the other tent, and even across the distance the question was asked.

Trouble?

His brief nod was all she needed. A nudge to J.B., and they were immediately deep in whispered conversation. Meanwhile, Ryan glanced past the diminutive would-be dictator to his mil wag, which was still being guarded by two of his men, and ten of the Bunker’s security force.

A commotion from the other side accompanied Rachel and Caddeus’s arrival, making the space under the canopy even more crowded. “You!” Rachel spit upon seeing Tellen, who flourished his hand at her.

“The same. Don’t tell me you’re also trying to work out some kind of deal here?”

“I’d rather eat glass and throw it up in your face than have anything to do with you, traitor!”

Tellen turned to the other men with an injured look. “And this is who the Free City of Denver is pinning their hopes for the future on?”