Zero Sum
By Shaine and Shatterclaw. Individual rating: PG for
language.
After passing the blockade, the Ravens stopped in a nearby small town. Crimson paid a local farmer for the use of his barn - and silence - and Jinks had taken Vicki in to town with her to buy some new clothing for the group.
Crimson sat on a bale of hay nursing his leg and Rai was out cold, snoring lightly. Bell sat playing with a tennis ball she'd found.
"Free falling..." she muttered in a singsong voice. Her head snapped up and she looked at Shaine. "Free falling..."
She stood up and pointed. "That's it! We'll call you Freefall!"
"Gee, thanks"
"Well, I could have called you...um...Nosedive? Tanker?"
"Niece of Satan?" Shaine snarled.
"Um...gee, I don't know. It kind of has to get out all in one breath." She grinned...and went back to bouncing the ball.
Shaine, pointedly ignoring Belladonna, began to rub at a sore spot on her back. She mentally thanked the gods that she'd never had back problems like her parents.
"What, do you want me to kiss it? 'Cause I don't do that."
"Ugh." Shaine winced.
"Man, this bites...but at least we can crash for a few hours."
"Bell, go check on the recharging," Crim said. He sat up as she went over to look at the hardsuits. "Don't let her get to you; she can be a brat at best but she's a good kid..."
"Yeah," Shaine replied glumly.
"Just don't leave money laying around...you'll do fine.."
"As long as you don't play cards, dice, or pool - or gamble - anywhere within fifteen feet of her!" Rai added.
"Rai, go back to sleep," Crimson ordered. Then he turned back to Shaine. "How far do you think they'll look for us?"
"After what we just did?"
"I assume they'll go from town to town all the way back to Chicago."
"I think I heard Carter tell him to take care of it personally while we were passing the blockade. And she mentioned me. I doubt he'll be civilized about it."
"Then at best we have until midday until some form of Genom is on top of us... Genom wants us whole. The hardsuits they can copy and resell, and they'll use us for brain wave patterns for the next crop of Boomers. Then they'll kill us. That's always been a given...what we need to know is how far and how long will Erik keep looking in these woods - or will he be smart and try to catch us while we're on the move?"
"I'd never accuse him of not being smart."
"True." Crimson frowned. "Bell!"
"Yeah, what?"
"How long?"
"Hard to say. The suits are at about half, which means we can use cloaks, but not full weapons. Maybe rails, one or two shots, but no swords and no charge dagger. Definitely no memory backup. Does this guy have 110-watt lines?"
"Doesn't matter. We'll have to move at half if we wear the suits at all."
"What? No, not again! I just broke mine in!" Shaine mentally assigned the voice to the body of Sailor Moon and had to keep herself from laughing. Waaaah! Luna, what do I do now??
Belladonna ran back over to Crimson. "Come on, we can make it if we cloak and ride hard. We're only what, an hour and a half from Site B? We could make it there, and hit the tram and be home for dinner. Right, Shaine!?" She bit her lip impatiently.
"I don't know. I keep trying to tell you that I'm no expert. I fix computers. I hack. I keep networks running on barely nothing. I just don't know about Genom. Or the Ravens."
Belladonna deflated. "But if you could find a fast way away from here you'd take it, wouldn't you?"
"Hell yes. You shouldn't have to ask."
Belladonna turned toward Crimson. "See!"
"Points taken and noted."
Saki walked into the barn carrying a large bag. "We're in luck: the locals believe in their NRA memberships. I couldn't find full autos, but we can convert what we have to use with them. And I found an Earthshaker collector..." She brought out the huge handgun. "He agreed to trade for some of the ones I have."
Rai grinned. "Woman has more weapons in her room than we have in the entire operation... Shaine, when we get back, ask her about her spike trench knives."
"We should have given him to Carter," Saki said. "He would have made her commit suicide..."
"I love you too, Xena."
"Wake me when the others get back," Crimson said. "We'll go then."
///
"We're back!" Sprocket called. "You still alive?"
"Wake Crimson," Saki told Shaine. She went to the barn door.
"Crim!"
He sat straight up and looked at her. "I'm up."
Just then Sprocket screamed. Shaine jumped up and turned toward the door, just in time to see Saki put a rather large gun away.
"Damn! I even called out this time!"
Jinks, Sprocket, and Vicki walked in with a large shopping bag. "No luck on civvies. What they have would make us stick out even farther."
"Walmart's too far away to get to," Vicki added.
"Well, then," Crimson said. "Here's the situation: our friends are going to tear this place apart looking for us. Even with satellite jamming, we'll still be tracked here. Site B is two hours away. While the farm is toasted, the tube will still run and we can get there. Call the train, and be back by nightfall. Our suits are at a little better than half power. Getting there will have to be on full cloak if we don't want to fight...we don't have enough for both. So it's a vote. Flee, or fight."
"I take it Saki found weapons that we can use?" Jinks asked.
"Yes."
"We flee. If we have weapons we can use, then we can make it to Site B."
"Flee, no. I prefer seeking higher ground, but yeah, I'm in..."
"Saki?"
"Flee."
Rai pointed to his leg. " 'Kay, I'm cargo!"
"Shaine?" Bell asked.
Shaine stared at the floor for a long time. It looked like she wanted to hold her ground and take Genom on head-to-head, but there was something else in her expression.
Fear? Doubt?
Resignation?
"Run," she whispered.
Zane came huffing in. "Good, 'cause I just heard the cops. They're on their way here, or at least headed in this direction..."
///
Shaine clung to the back of Saki's Motoslave as the group headed down a small country road. The town had closed for the night a long time ago, and there were few others awake and moving.
"This is too quiet," Saki complained.
"Welcome to country life, Xena."
The road turned to follow a river, then became a long, flat highway. There were only one or two cars visible on that stretch of the road.
"Keep your eyes peeled. State Police may be looking for us, or a bike gang. Don't fire back unless you have to, and don't hurt them. They're just doing their jobs. Shaine, anything on the airwaves?"
"Freefall, boss! She's Freefall now!"
Crimson chuckled. "Okay, what do you read, Freefall?"
"I've got an APB out on a 'biker gang' that killed ten people. Wearing black armor, on black bikes, possibly with trenchcoats. Gee, I wonder who that could be?"
Tower, this is G-126, we are expanding the search pattern to 500 miles...now coming to a highway...
"Some sort of aircraft is looking for us. They're coming to the highway!"
"Rai, what do you think?"
"Well, it's dark and there's heavy air cover. Cloudy. I say we hit offroad, and take that overpass there..."
"Okay, people. Get ready to go offroad. Be careful jumping the barriers; we don't want to let anyone know we're here unless we have to."
Saki hit the gas, and the bike went speeding forward. The crash barrier was up ahead and she went at it at about 90mph. The bike was about to hit when there was a loud snap-hiss from behind the riders, and the airborne nitro thrusters kicked in. The bike jumped into the air, sailing about nine feet off of the ground, and came back down halfway up the embankment of the overpass. Out of the corner of her eye, Shaine could see the other Motoslaves following.
Suddenly Belladonna cried out over the helmet-comm. Shaine's head whipped around as Bell's Motoslave ran into a semi, becoming embedded in the fender. The truck screeched to a stop, but still wobbled badly, dragging the Motoslave with it. Bell was hanging onto the side of the truck, her left foot pinned to the Motoslave.
"Stop! Bell's been hit!"
Saki looked back, then pulled a hair turn. Shaine was nearly thrown from the back of the Motoslave. "Get your sword ready." She gunned the bike, heading for the truck.
"Half of it got busted off my those damned Boomers."
"What?"
"On the roof of the Wing! One of the Boomers exploded and my sword was right in the middle of it when it happened."
She swore under her breath. "Use your rail gun, then. Blast the base of her boot."
Shaine fired, and the boot exploded. The Motoslave zipped past the truck.
Saki turned the bike again. "This time, I need you to grab her. I am going to do something very foolish..."
Shaine reached out as they passed the truck again. Bell jumped and made it to the back of the bike.
"Hold on!" The bike shot up into the air again, sailing for a few feet and landing not far from the other Ravens. It wobbled, forcing Saki to fight to bring it under control again. "Get off, both of you!"
Shaine and Belladonna jumped off. Saki brought the bike to a stop, then revved the engine and tore off toward the truck again. The bike began to change, with the wheels folding out and the center engulfing Saki. She jumped, landing on the side of the truck.
Saki tore the bike free, then tried to stop the truck from tipping over. By that time, a few of the others had rushed over to help her.
We've found them...
"They see us!" Shaine gasped.
One of the hardsuited figures pulled a long gun from a holster on its back, then jumped on top of the truck. "Go. I'll give them something to do..."
Saki ran toward Shaine and Bell, her Motoslave transforming back into a bike. She picked the two of them up. The others fell back, three of them likewise returning their Motoslaves to bike form.
"Can you drive?" Saki asked.
"A car, sure...one of these? The semi? I have no idea."
"Good, then it can't get any worse." She spun the bike around and gunned for the truck. The Motoslave shot upward and landed on the roof behind the Raven/robot. "Get down in the cab. Take Bell with you. Start it up and drive."
The driver's cabin was cramped, with Shaine and Belladonna still in their hardsuits and the truck's unconscious (not to mention very large) driver lying between them. It lurched forward with crunching and grinding noises as Shaine attempted to steer.
Soon it was moving...but it still tended toward the side where Belladonna's Motoslave had hit. Gunfire exploded around it as Shaine desperately tried to compensate. It was hard, but she managed to keep it going fairly straight.
A helicopter pulled up alongside it, with a chaingun pointed straight at the cabin. Belladonna tried to stand up, but fell.
"Bell, what are you doing?"
"I can't get a shot at it," she gasped. "Between my foot and the truck..."
Saki jumped to the hood of the trunk and opened fire on the gunner in the helicopter. Twin streaks of light shot from her hand. The helicopter shook, but still kept pace with the truck.
"Both of you, fire on my mark. ....Now!"
The chaingun exploded in a plume of smoke and fire. The helicopter dropped back, then overtook the truck, cutting in front of it. Belladonna aimed from her side and fired three times. The helicopter banked to the side and into an overpass, the sound of gunfire still ringing out around the truck as bullets hit.
The truck shook. One of the volleys had hit the hood.
Saki leapt to the side by Belladonna and held on to the door. Another explosion rocked the truck and Shaine could see a helicopter fly off with smoke tailing badly.
A black bike appeared in front of the truck. "I think we took care of that batch. How bad is the truck handling? Do you think you can drive it for a few more miles?"
"It's hard...but I can do it."
"All right," Crimson said. "Then pull over first, so everyone can get in."
Belladonna hopped in back with the others and the still-insensate driver, while Crimson took her place next to Shaine. The trip was mostly silent, with the occasional sound of the radio as Crimson played with it, turning it on and off.
"Over there. At that truck stop." He pointed to an overpass ahead.
The truck lurched to a stop. Crimson set the driver back in his seat, then searched him. He pulled out a wallet, a knife, some change...he opened the wallet and pulled out the man's driver's license. He looked at it for a while, then put everything back as it had been. He then repeated the procedure with the glovebox, slid five $1000 bills into the driver's front pocket, and locked the doors while leaving the window open a crack.
"The driver's alive. Mild head injury; we'll call for paramedics once we're out of here."
For the first time, Shaine could see how bad the truck was. There were bullet holes streaked across the side and back, some as large as her arm. The back door was gone; in its place were ragged edges. The others pulled five Motoslaves from the back of the truck; all were damaged.
"Gee, after all that work we had done to them...the wax, the buffing, my detailing job...I spent hours on this bike! Think I can bill someone for it?" Rai joked.
///
After riding for about twenty minutes more, the group came to an old, broken-down building. Whatever it had once been, it was now only an unrecognizable and moss-covered heap surrounded by a weed-covered field. A lean-looking man sat in front of it, a raven on his shoulder and his clothing straight out of a bad western.
Shaine and Jinks took the bikes into a broken shed next to the building while Vicki walked to the center and dusted something off. She then poked at the ground, producing a deep rumbling from underneath the building. The ground began to shake.
A large metal tube rose from the ground. It looked like a freight elevator. Rai and Belladonna were helped in, then the battered Motoslaves followed. When the elevator's doors opened again, it was onto a large subway-like platform.
At the end of the platform was a black and silver train with three cars. The first one was painted with a ravenlike face, a tongue sticking out of the beak at an angle.
"The good ol' nine-o-nine," Sprocket said fondly. "This hasn't been used in years. I wonder if Sis can still drive it!"
The Ravens seated themselves in the second car, which was filled with overstuffed seats and had a mini-bar near the far end.
Rai looked at Shaine. "Relax and have a seat," he offered. "We have an open wet bar, with out-of-date drinks. But I hear the powdered Tang may still be good."
"Sorry," Belladonna called. "Out of Tang."
"What about Gatorade?"
"Um, sorry, fresh out."
"Any antelope?"
"Huh?"
"Hippo?"
"Nope."
"So what do we have left?"
"Ten year old Coke," Bell replied proudly. "And I think some beer nuts. Or raven droppings, not sure which."
Shaine could see Crimson and Saki outside the window, standing with the oddly dressed man. Crimson seemed to ask a question, and the man shook his head. The elevator doors closed and the pair walked over to the train.
"This is your Captain speaking," Hugo called over the loudspeaker. "We will be taking off shortly and unlike our last ride we will have smooth sailing.
"One final note...please make sure all pets are safely strapped down, and we ask you at Raven's Railways not to feed the Dobermans..."