Eclipse at Noon Laurence James(1)

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Axler, James - Deathlands 33 - Eclipse at Noon
around it, arms ready, looking out through the brightly-lit wire into the forest beyond.
"Those lights could be a mistake," Ryan said thoughtfully. "Makes it almost impossible
for them to spot us out here. Because of the downward glare. But we can see them easy
as turds in a bowl of vanilla ice cream."
"Only problem is how to get in through the gates. Once we manage that, we can likely
take out all the lights. You blow the gas. I'll whack the sec guards and release the others.
And away we all go."
"Sounds about as easy as falling off a log." Ryan grinned and punched J.B. lightly on the
shoulder.
"Trader used to say that most plans sounded terrific when you made them. And most
plans looked terrible after you'd tried to carry them out."
"Can't argue with what Trader said." Ryan stood and wiped his hands on his pants. "Fact
is, most of his plans seemed to work out all right. In the end."
"Yeah. But there was that time way up in the high plains country, with the cesspool filled
with dead horses when " The Armorer stopped talking and put his head on one side,
listening. "You hear what& ?"
"Another wag?"
"Think so."
"Coming this way. Could be the chance we want to get inside. Got to work this out real
fast. Soon as the wag stops in front of the gates& "
THE SENIOR SEC MAN in charge of the entrance gates to the camp was Balliol
Davichaux, a tall, skinny cajun with most of his left hand missing, the result of a tangle in
the bayous with a mutie gator.
Both the fat man and Steel Eyes the Warlock had drilled into every man in the fortress
what would happen to anyone who captured either of the men who were out in the
woods, trying to spring the redhead and the other three out landers.
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Axler, James - Deathlands 33 - Eclipse at Noon
And what would happen to anyone who neglected his duty and got lazy or careless.
Balliol Davichaux had worked long enough for Wolfram to be certain he didn't want the
second choice. Gert Wolfram and the Magus were both capable of taking punishment and
torture to unimaginable deeps.
There was enough light spilling from the towers to reach about fifty yards down the
narrow track. The wag was now in sight, about two hundred paces away. Like its
predecessor, it carried replacement parts for some of the mining equipment wrecked by
the rampaging stickies before they'd upped and abandoned the camp, leaving a dozen
corpses behind them.
"Ready the gates!" he called, walking out, his M-16 under his right arm, eyes darting
around the fence and into the darkness beyond.
Six men were with him, each knowing his duty, each someone that Davichaux knew that
he could depend on if the chips went down.
"Eyes triple-open!"
The wag was less than fifty yards away, slowing, grinding through the gears. The lights
reflected off the shield, making it impossible to see who was driving. Davichaux
expected it to be the taciturn Kentuckian, Nate Ruell, behind the wheel, with a couple of
sec men riding shotgun.
Since the trouble blew up with the stickies, the route through the woods in the armored
wags had become a great deal more dangerous. Three vehicles had been terminally taken
out in the past four weeks.
Just as the wag stopped and the gates swung open, there was a burst of shooting from
among the trees.
Davichaux spun, leveling the carbine at where he thought the shots had originated. Two
men were down, yelping and clutching at bullet wounds in the lower legs. It looked as if
whoever had done the firing wasn't all that good a shot and had aimed too low.
"Drag them out of the way!" the sec boss called, backing off, his eyes focused on the
shadows beyond the circle of light.
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Axler, James - Deathlands 33 - Eclipse at Noon
There was no more shooting.
Both wounded men were hustled away by their colleagues, and Davichaux walked
alongside the wag, gesturing to Nate Ruell to roll down his window. "Sons of bitches out
yonder shooting in at us."
"Sure it's not stickies readying a big attack? Saw a dozen or more of them out on the
track. One tried to jump us, but he fell under the fuckin' wheels. They're out there, all
right. Only a mile or so off."
Davichaux shook his head. "Stickies don't use automatic blasters. Not that I heard."
Ruell sniffed and spit in the dirt. "Mebbe. Want her fueling now?"
Before Davichaux could reply, another couple of shots clattered out, the bullets
ricocheting off the metal roof of one of the huts, whining away into the high branches of
the trees beyond.
"Best get under cover," the sec boss said. "One of you go tell Wolfram we got us some
company out there."
All the sec men disappeared behind walls and huts, leaving the camp surveillance to their
colleagues in the high towers, though all of them had their attention directed beyond the
fence, into the darkness. They waited and watched for more shooting.
On the flatbed, between the wooden crates, Ryan Cawdor lay still and waited.
PEERING OUT FROM COVER, it was possible to take in most of the layout of the
camp, including the tethered balloon that swayed gently against the trees on the far side
of the fortress. The titanium-steel security mesh that protected the delicate membrane
glittered coldly in the spotlights that ringed the entire camp.
Ryan waited, hearing the voices of the guards close by, unable to see any of them
because of the rough wooden crates that surrounded him. His right hand held the
patterned grip of the SIG-Sauer, which was cocked and ready to fire.
These were the crucial few minutes of their hastily reworked plan.
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Axler, James - Deathlands 33 - Eclipse at Noon [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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