Midas was like the rest of the towns Angela had been in, a collection of ramshackle buildings cobbled together from whatever material that could be scavenged. She hated these population centers at the best of times, and now that DEVA agents might be looking for her and Dingo, she really didn't like it. Dingo had insisted, saying they had to find out if anyone knew what the agents wanted, and that he knew a guy in Midas that would be one of the first to know, a man named Peter. Now she stood in the back of the hot, dank room listening to Dingo and Peter discuss the situation with no understanding of what they were saying as they exchanged rapidly in the surface language. When she was with DEVA, her operator would have translated it for her, but now she was at Dingo's mercy.
Dingo shook hands with Peter and turned back to Angela, he didn't look like he had heard good news. With a slight nod of his head, he walked past her and out into the narrow alleyway. Angela moved in behind him wishing he would just tell her what the guy had said, but he never seemed to talk to her where other people could hear. Most likely because of her age she imagined, of course he wouldn't want people to think he was working with a kid.
"It's not good," he leaned heavily against a wall, pulled his hat off and wiped his brow.
"So, what did you find out?" Angela crossed her arms.
"DEVA has started picking up a signal from the surface," he put his hat back on.
"Another hack?"
"No, some kind of communication that is being bounced off their satellites to extend the range down here. They think Frontier Setter never left."
"But we saw him shutdown when he took over the Genesis Ark."
"That's not all, Angela," he straightened up and looked at her through narrow eyes, "they think Frontier Setter is trying to contact you. The agents were sent down here not only to see if Frontier Setter is still here, but to eliminate you before they return, and me if they get the chance."
"I was so stupid," she snatched the red cap off her head, "I should have known they wouldn't have left me alone."
"I guess not," Dingo sighed, "Six DEVA agents and three surface agents. He said they were in Brighton about two days ago asking around. Then they split up into three teams and he hasn't heard anything about them since."
"Brighton?" Angela had a look of recollection, "Wasn't that where you were to get the parts?" Dingo just nodded. "And with ARHANs they could be anywhere. What are we going to do?"
"Well, if Frontier Setter is still here, we need to find him before they do."
"Do you think he's at the launch site?" her voice was heavy with concern.
"Not likely," Dingo shook his head. "I think we need to try to intercept that communication and see if it his him. Peter told me of an old broadcasting station about three days north of here. If we can get it online, we might be able to figure out what is going on. Our first priority is to get out of town though. We don't need any more people knowing we were here than already do."
"Do you think Peter would identify you?" putting her cap back on as they started to walk.
"Money talks, Angela," Dingo said grimly. "Especially with people like Peter. No," he shook his head gently, "we can assume that he would sell us out if the offer was right."
When Angela had last faced off with DEVA agents, she was in a state-of-the-art ARHAN with Frontier Setter giving her tactical support and Dingo providing much needed back up. Now, it was just two material bodies against six well trained, armed, and armored agents. Most like Third Officers, or worse, SpecOps. The thought scared her, she had known one of the SpecOps girls at DEVA, and she was scary. No, she didn't want to see one of those black ARHANs anytime soon.
Dingo had picked up the pace as they headed back toward the truck, glancing around as if looking for something. He grabbed her by the arm and lead her into one of the lean-tos that served as a shop. At first, she thought he had seen something on the street that he didn't like and was trying to hide, but when her eyes adjusted to the gloom inside she realized that the shop is what he was looking for.
There was a single glass case against the back wall of the small building with a short, skinny man with long dirty hair seated on a stool behind it. The case contained various handguns and the wall held a number of rifles and shelves filled with boxes that must have contained ammunition. Dingo nodded to the man as he looked up to see who had entered his shop.
"Whatcha, friend?" he said as he came to his feet with an unfriendly smile.
"Looking for something for my friend here," Dingo motioned to Angela.
"Little young for a shooter ain't she, mate?"
"She can handle herself," Dingo produced a roll of nanokarats. By the look on the man's face, Angela could tell it must have been an impressive amount.
"Right-O," he motioned, "What's your fancy, love?"
Angela had never owned a gun, and had only fired personal weapons to prove to Dingo that if she could handle the ballistic and energy weapons on an ARHAN, these primitive things were no match for her. She understood the reason though, if they ran into the DEVA agents suddenly, she would need a firearm, at least. A miracle at most.
She looked over the case and examined what was inside. They were all shapes and sizes, some cylinder feed, some magazine feed. She tested one or two as Dingo stood by the door watching the street. The man behind the counter didn't miss the behavior and he watched Dingo more than Angela. She finally settled on one of the bigger revolvers with a long black scope, liking its weight and the lack of reliance on magazines to reload, even if it was a bit slower.
"This one," she turned to Dingo who looked over.
"Ah, fine yes, proper shooter that one is," the man turned his attention back to her.
"We'll take it," Dingo moved back to the counter, "with that holster right there, the belt and all the ammunition you have for it. Also, I'll take that rifle as well." He motioned to a rifle much like the one he already owned.
"Sure thing, mate. That'll be," he paused in mock consideration as he took the items off the wall and loaded them onto the counter, "four thousand nanokarats."
Dingo didn't even look at the man as he examined the rifle, "Two thousand."
"Taking the Mickey, are you?" he reached for the rifle which Dingo pulled away from him. "That doesn't even cover the bleedin guns, let alone the rest of it!"
Dingo thought for a moment, "I tell you what," he reached into his pocket again, "Three thousand, and you help me get this stuff to my buggy." He dropped the cash on the counter.
"Fine," the man didn't want to argue, it was more money than he had made all month. "Right then, let's go."
They said their goodbyes to the shopkeeper after he finished helping them load up. Dingo pulled off and headed back to the truck. Angela sat beside him wondering about Frontier Setter. How could he really still be here? If he wasn't, then who was using DEVA to rely signals and why? Who had DEVA sent to the surface to hunt her down. She pulled the pistol out of its holster and began to load it. Was this little gun going to be enough when six fully armed ARHANs showed up?
