The Way Forward
by Baker Lutgens
Part 7 of 12
As promised, the capsule landing was much gentler than the landings Vila and Avon had during the Andromedan War. No broken arms, burns, or concussions this time. As soon as it settled, Task popped the hatch open and began pulling companions and equipment out as quickly as possible. Then he and Vila shouldered the knapsacks, and they all started walking in the general direction of Blake's base.
They had walked for about half an hour before they had to stop and let Avon rest. Vila hated to see him pushing so hard, but they had to get as far away from the life capsule as possible. Even though they'd disabled the automatic beacon, someone might have seen it come down. Vila's previous experience with Gauda Prime was that anyone who'd seen it come down would probably want to kill him. In fact, in his previous experience, everyone had wanted to kill him.
"Can we try the pocket comps now, Avon? Isn't it time to send a pulse to Dayna?" he pleaded. Avon hadn't wanted to use anything with a signal until they were far away from the capsule.
"I guess we're far enough away to risk it." He took his pocket comp out and turned it on. After a few moments, it displayed a map with symbols on it. "Get the others out and let's compare them."
Task and Vila got their comps out and turned them on. When they had the maps, they compared them to Avon's. They matched. Avon pointed at the symbols. "The white circle is the comp. The green circle is the base. These three red dots are other capsules from the ship. The two blue squares are towns. They both serve mines." He indicated the distance scale at the side. "Here's the bad news: I estimate it will take us at least two days to get to the nearest town at our present rate—at my present rate," he amended. Task figured it would take longer, but didn't speak.
"Why the town, Avon?" Vila asked.
"Because it would take two weeks for me to get to the base. We'll need transportation."
Vila was thinking of several different arguments at once. He decided to start with the most important one, to him at least. "Do we have to get Orac, Avon? Maybe this is the time to cut our losses and run." He tried not to sound like he was whining.
Unexpectedly, Avon was patient. "Yes, Vila, we have to get Orac. Remember what I said about the Federation using it to hunt us? They could certainly do that. And even if they never found it, we need it more than ever now."
Vila looked puzzled.
"How long did you think we could stay on Horizon, Vila? It's already compromised. The sabotaged guns prove that. Do you want to spend your life tagging along with Avalon's people from base to base, always moving when it gets compromised? How long do you think you'd live? Five years? Two? I'm sorry, Task, but Avalon's current operating philosophy is flawed. It feels good, but it can't work."
"I know, Avon," Task admitted. "And it did feel good, but you're right. I still want to be a part of the Rebellion, but that was my third base with Avalon. I was beginning to lose confidence in the method. Frankly, I never saw any real signs of progress. She'd organize and arm a small group here and there, but there were never enough of them to make a difference. Maybe I should have been thinking in terms of decades, instead of years. Maybe Avalon is, I don't know. But there's little point trying to go back to a base that may not even be there next week. I'll have to find another way to make my contribution."
Avon nodded and turned to Vila. "Your next objection? I know you have at least one more, Vila."
"All right. Why don't we go ahead and signal Dayna now? She'll need to get Jenna to take her off the base and start looking for us. It could take them days to get here."
"I imagine Jenna's already taken Dayna off the base. She was due to arrive the same day we left."
"No, she wasn't. She wasn't expected until today or tomorrow," Vila corrected.
"She was coming in early. They were attacked somewhere along the route. She sent a text message back to the computer at the base using her covert frequency. It read, 'Our backs are scorched. See you in two days.' It was signed, 'Gan.' I imagine by now she's cut ties, at least temporarily, with Avalon and may even be on her way here. And before you say it, I don't want her having to come in here before we get Orac. I want to be well away from that base before we contact her. Better still, I'd rather contact her from a town. She's a freetrader, Vila. She can legitimately land on Gauda Prime and pick up passengers." He smiled. "That's why there are false identity cards in our supplies."
"You never planned to return to Horizon, did you!" Vila accused.
"No, I didn't. I'm sorry, Task. I know that left your needs out of it, but I wasn't really expecting you'd be coming along when I made the plans." Task nodded.
Avon stood. "So now, gentlemen, I suggest we look for a place to spend the night. Some place that doesn't look like a shelter to any remaining bounty hunters. No heat sources at night. Remember, that's how the bounty hunters track their victims.
Vila woke up stiff and sore. The rocky floor of the cave they'd squeezed into hadn't made a very good mattress, and he was sure his back was permanently damaged. There had been skittering noises during the night, and he had no idea if something lethal had moved in with them. He had concentrated on staying still so he wouldn't antagonise whatever it might be. And he was grateful for the camo suit to wear over his regular clothes during the night. It wasn't very warm on Gauda Prime at night, even with the survival blanket.
He and Task had taken turns standing watch—crouching watch—during the night. The person on watch would wrap himself in his survival blanket and wedge himself against the small opening to the cave. It helped to keep some heat in the cave, and the blanket shielded body heat from any searchers outside. Vila had no illusions about finding a cave on subsequent nights. This was probably the equivalent of a luxury hotel as far as they were concerned.
Rolling over onto his stomach, Vila propped himself up on his elbows high enough to get a drink from his water bottle, nearly bashing his head against the low ceiling of the cave as he did so. He stoppered the bottle and reached over to where he thought Avon was. He couldn't see Avon in the dark, but he knew about where he should be.
"I'm awake, Vila. You don't have to poke me in the eye to make sure."
"Sorry, Avon. How do you feel?"
"Stiff, cold, sore, and tired."
Task's voice came from the cave opening, "You'll feel better once we get moving. And I suggest we get started soon. It's getting quite light out there. We can eat while we walk." He shifted and let light into the cave. Vila looked around nervously for the skittering visitor, but didn't see anything.
Avon had rolled onto his side and was folding up his blanket as best he could. He gave it to Vila to stuff into a knapsack and took an awkward drink from his water bottle, handing that to Vila too. "Just take that, would you?"
Vila squirmed around so his head was to the cave opening and pushed the knapsack ahead of him. When Task was able to reach inside and pull it out, Vila looked back at Avon. "Do you need us to pull you out, Avon?" They had persuaded Avon to lie with his head pointing towards the opening in case they needed to do that.
"No, I can crawl out." Using mostly his arms, he pulled himself through the low cave and out the opening. Vila and Task pulled him upright.
"How do you feel?" Task asked.
"Surprisingly good." He sounded a little surprised too. He stood flexing and twisting slightly to work out the kinks. Vila and Task already had the knapsacks on and were waiting for him. "Let's go," he said. Reaching into Vila's knapsack, he pulled out some concentrate cube packages and handed them to the others as they walked.
They settled into a routine: half an hour of slow walking, and ten minutes of rest. At midday they would stop and let Avon rest for about an hour and start again. That was the plan, anyway. Gauda Prime undoubtedly had other plans.
Avon had been checking his pocket comp frequently to make sure they were still on course. He stopped suddenly. "We're getting close to a capsule signal. The question is: how far around it should we go?"
Vila asked, "Shouldn't we try to find it? Maybe the others stayed with it. Safety in numbers, you know."
"I doubt there's any safety in these numbers, Vila," Task countered. "I don't have a lot of confidence in any of Wrell's people to handle this situation well, much less any of the ship's crew. I think we're better off on our own." He swung off his knapsack and dropped it on the ground. "Avon, you slide in under the edge of that fallen trunk over there. We'll put one knapsack in with you. Vila, you climb up that tree, and I'll hand you the other knapsack. I'll go take a look and be back here in an hour." He smiled as he tucked the knapsack in beside Avon. "This is your midday rest period, Avon. Make the most of it." He boosted Vila up to a tree branch and passed the other knapsack to him. Then he slipped quietly away through the trees.
Task approached the capsule cautiously. He hadn't seen any movement or heard anything, but that didn't mean there wasn't a watcher. Hunkering down beside a large trunk he watched and listened for a quarter of an hour. If there was anyone inside, they were asleep. There seemed to be debris on the ground on the other side of the capsule, but he couldn't tell what it was.
He moved sideways through the trees, skirting the small open area to get a better look at the debris. Not debris, then. Bodies. Three of them beside the remains of a fire. He doubted it was a suicide pact. There was no point in going closer; the capsule would be stripped on anything worthwhile. Carefully he eased back into the trees and made his way back to Avon and Vila.
Task got Vila out of the tree first. Avon was sound asleep. "Wake up, Avon, we're leaving," Task prodded quietly.
Avon came awake instantly, hand upraised to strike. "Sorry," he apologised. "Habit." He slid out from under the trunk. "Do we skirt the capsule?"
"Yes, there's nothing there for us. The capsule's stripped and the crew are dead. They'd lit a fire." He pulled Avon upright. "No doubt some former bounty hunters are making a living any way they can now. We may be lucky. It might mean enough order has been restored that they don't dare go near the towns."
"Let's hope so," Avon agreed.
Task and Vila shouldered the knapsacks and they all moved off in the direction of the capsule, planning to give it a wide berth and still have time to find shelter for the night. Once again they followed the routine of half an hour of walking and ten minutes of rest. Avon was able to pick up his pace a little after the noon rest, so they made better time than they had in the morning. They concentrated on keeping as quiet as possible and strained their ears for any sound not out of nature. Encountering a small stream late in the day, they filled their water bottles and quietly discussed the advisability of finding shelter near the stream. Vila wanted to stay near it, but Task was worried it would have the same appeal for hunters, human or otherwise. They hadn't seen anything that looked like game trails but didn't know if that truly indicated the absence of dangerous animals. Avon settled the issue when he stood up and resumed their original heading. Vila and Task shrugged their shoulders at each other and followed.
About an hour later it was clear they wouldn't find any convenient caves for shelter, so they ranged about looking for convenient tree falls instead. They found one big enough for two people and the knapsacks. Vila and Avon wedged themselves under it with the knapsacks and shared one blanket. Task spread the second blanket along the trunk and down to the ground making a sort of lean to, anchoring it with rocks. They hoped it would reduce their heat signatures enough to appear as only a small animal on any scans. Then Task climbed up into a tree and wrapped the third blanket around him, taking the first watch.
Unusually, Wrell was on his way to talk to Avalon in her office, not his. And he was dreading it. Something had gone wrong, and it was his responsibility. They were his people and his plans after all.
Riece looked a little surprised to see him. Avalon hadn't asked him to contact Wrell. "General Wrell, how can I help you?"
"Would you be so kind as to tell Avalon that I need to see her?"
"Right away." He pressed the intercom button. "Avalon, General Wrell is here to see you," he announced.
He's got some problem with the base evacuation priorities, she thought tiredly. "Thank you, Riece. Send him in please."
Wrell palmed the opener and went in.
"Avalon, we've lost contact with the ship," he said simply.
"When?"
"They came under attack as they were entering Gauda Prime airspace. They reported the order to abandon ship, and that was the last we heard."
"So the mission failed before it even started," Avalon stated with resignation.
"Not necessarily. My people probably made planetfall and linked up. They could still go on with their mission. Even if they were split up, they all had the necessary equipment and maps. They'll find the computer. And when they do, we'll send another ship for them."
"And Avon?"
"What about him?"
Avalon regarded him for a moment. "What orders did you give concerning him?"
Wrell realized he'd made a serious error, at least so far as Avalon was concerned. He equivocated, "I gave no specific orders regarding Kerr Avon."
"Semantics, General. What did your people understand to be their priority?"
"The computer, of course."
"They won't be looking for Avon, will they?"
"No."
"I told you that Kerr Avon is of more value to us than Orac."
"With respect, Avalon, you are wrong. That computer can give us information about troop movements, military intelligence—"
Avalon cut him off, "And what did you propose to do with that information, General? Send our fleet of two ships to fight the Federation fleets? Assuming, of course, that the ship you send to rescuethat machine isn't destroyed at Gauda Prime too?"
"Any military information we can get—"
"Is of little importance, General. We don't have an army or a fleet to make use of it! Kerr Avon is probably the foremost computer genius in the Known Worlds. He can design secure codes, improved communications, better weapons; he can innovate! A computer cannot." Avalon was furious. "When was the last contact?"
"Yesterday, not quite twenty-four hours ago."
"That long ago?" Outrage showed on Avalon's face. "You knew this when I was telling you about the evacuation, and you said nothing?"
After a lengthy silence, he ventured, "What do you want me to do, Avalon?"
"Nothing. There's nothing we can do right now. We're going to wait as long as we can and see if Avon may have survived. Then I'll decide what to do."
Wrell waited a few moments. When Avalon refused to look at him, he left quietly.
"Carnell, we've lost contact with the Gauda Prime mission," Avalon said.
"Are you surprised?" he asked.
"I guess not, no. The ship was apparently destroyed when it entered Gauda Prime airspace."
"Of course it was. When your people went in before, how did they do it?"
Avalon stared at him and answered slowly, "As passengers on commercial ships."
"And how did they bring out Kerr Avon's group?"
"On a merchant ship," she answered, disgusted at having missed the importance of that distinction. "Anything not a commercial ship had no chance, did it?"
"Not with disabled weapons, and that has to be why the dockworkers were killed. Avalon, it's a wide open planet trying to reform itself. Only Federation ships and commercial ships are welcome there."
"Why did Wrell send in a military ship?"
"Wrell is no more than a barely competent officer. He rose through the ranks in posts that were chiefly administrative, and he only survived as long as he did because he was oblivious to the constant scheming and plotting endemic in the Federation military. And I would know: I generated much of it. But he wasn't bright enough to notice what was happening around him. The only field commands he ever had were over supply lines. When it became apparent to him that he was not particularly useful to Command anymore, he sought to join the Rebellion. He probably believed he had a great destiny to fulfill."
"And how do I get Kerr Avon back?"
"Even if he survives a second experience with Gauda Prime, you shouldn't count on seeing him again. I told you he's not a rebel. He may continue to provide assistance from time to time, but you'll never control him. He may work with you, but he'll never work for you. I imagine he's already arranged his own salvation. Jenna Stannis is probably on her way to Gauda Prime right now."
"I've lost her too then."
"And Tarrant and Mellanby," he added.
Avalon looked startled for a moment. Then her eyes narrowed. "You're right. I haven't seen Dayna since before Jenna Stannis left." She sighed, "Well, I guess it's time to cut my losses there."
Carnell leaned forward on his desk, "The part I really regret is that I had so looked forward to talking with Avon. I'm sure he could provide a great deal of insight about Servalan," Carnell finished.
"His Supreme Highness Ro will see you now, Madame. Please enter." The courtier swung open the wide door to the audience chamber. Avalon walked the length of the room briskly.
Ro stepped down from the dais, smiling. "Avalon, a pleasure. How can we help you today?"
"I'm afraid that's exactly why I'm here, Your Highness. I need help," Avalon responded.
"It's something serious then. What has happened?" He indicated a low bench near the throne.
Seating herself, Avalon began, "Something happened on the base that leads me to believe it's compromised. My people are going to have to leave."
"You're certain?"
"I'm afraid so. We don't know exactly when it may have happened, but we found the evidence today. We're making preparations for leaving as we speak."
"I see. We had hoped Horizon could be a permanent base for the Rebellion, Avalon. Your people have been very helpful in training Silmarenoans to fly our confiscated Federation ships, but they are not yet fully trained."
"I know, and I'm sorry. I'm not asking for the use of your ships, Your Highness. And I will ask my people if any of them are willing to stay and continue your pilots' training. But I do need to ask your help in another way."
"If we can grant that, we shall. What is the help you need?"
"We have only two ships—"
"We had thought there were three."
Avalon explained, "There were. We believe one has been lost on a mission. We've had not communication with it for two days. It's possible the mission was compromised as well as the base. And if that is the case, there could already be ships on their way to Horizon to destroy the base."
"But surely the barrier will keep them out?"
"Not if they know to degauss their hulls before passing through the shield. We have tried to keep that a secret, but you know how fleeting secrets are, Your Highness."
"You cannot evacuate all your people with only two ships. You will have to leave some people here until you can come back for them."
"Yes, Your Highness. That is the help I'm asking. I would like permission to leave some of them elsewhere on Horizon until we can make arrangements for them. I can't leave them on the base; that is the first place that would suffer attack. And I can't leave them in your cities, for the safety of your subjects. But there are uninhabited areas where they could wait temporarily, with your permission."
Ro considered the problem for a few moments. "Of course you may leave some of your people here. But I wonder, could you persuade any of the merchant ships you have contact with to transport your people?"
"I may be able to persuade some, but they need to make their livings transporting cargo for money. And I have little to spare."
"Go ahead and make arrangements for some of your people to stay on Horizon temporarily. When you can make contact with the merchant ships, tell them they can take on some monopasium cargos in addition to your people. That will pay for their journeys."
Avalon's spirits began to lift a little. "That is very generous, Your Highness."
"We have made it clear to the Federation that they are not welcome here, and we wish to remain allied with others of like mind. It is an alliance that can do all of us only good. We will not ask where you intend to move your people, but perhaps they will be able to return here someday, Avalon."
"I hope so, Your Highness."
Ro stood, signalling an end to the interview. "My chamberlain will make arrangements for monopasium cargoes and accommodations for any of your pilots willing to remain for training. Please let him know if he can help you further. We look forward to another time when we can be neighbours again, Avalon."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
It was shortly before sunrise, Vila's watch, that he heard the speeder. It sounded like it was slowing to a stop nearby. As quietly as possible, he climbed down from the tree and crept over to where Task and Avon lay hidden under a fallen trunk.
"Task," he breathed.
"We heard," a whispered reply. Task crawled out from under the survival blanket almost noiselessly. He retrieved his gun and leaned close to Vila's ear. "We're going to get that speeder."
Vila's eyes opened wide in silent alarm. By now they could hear low voices approaching them. Task quickly slung the strap of his gun over his shoulder and boosted Vila up into the tree. Then he took cover behind another fallen trunk.
The voices came closer. The higher voice was saying, "It's still showing a heat source about a quarter of a kilometre in front of us."
The deeper voice answered, "And I say the lousy thing's faulty. No-one would be out here; no-one ever farmed around here."
High Voice argued, "Well, it's worth checking. Anyone we find out here is profit. If they haven't got a bounty, we can sell them to the slavers on Domo. And if they're not worth sending to Domo, we shoot them. End of story. Now get quiet."
Slavers! If Vila had felt unhappy about shooting someone before, he had no quarrel with it now. He raised his gun carefully and tracked the nearest man as he came into view. Incredibly, the slavers kept going, right past Avon's hiding place, still looking at their scanner. Last chance. Vila pulled the trigger almost simultaneously with Task.
Task's target went down immediately, but Vila's was only wounded. A third shot, from Avon's hiding place, finished him. Vila jumped out of the tree and ran to Avon. "Are you all right in there?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Really, Vila, you're going to have to practice," Avon answered, disgusted.
"You know I don't like guns, Avon."
"That's why you need to practice."
Task was emptying the men's pockets. Vila pulled Avon out from under the trunk, and they went to sift through the contents. There wasn't anything useful to them, but Vila spotted the handheld scanner. He stamped on it, crushing it. "Lousy thing was faulty, wasn't it?" he pronounced angrily. Then he went back to Avon's shelter and pulled out the knapsacks. "Well, come on, let's get on with it," he snapped and began walking to where he'd heard the speeder land.
Task picked up his knapsack and the blankets and commented to Avon, "I guess he really doesn't like guns, does he?"
"He likes knives even less."
They followed Vila to the speeder. He already had the hatch unlocked and was searching inside. "I didn't see anything that looked like a transmitter, but you'd better make sure, Avon." He began throwing dirty bits of blankets, empty food containers, and other debris out of the open hatch.
Avon pulled out one of the pocket comps and fiddled with the buttons. "No transmissions." He pocketed the comp and bent to look under the control panel. Pulling out a component, he explained, "But this would have begun transmitting as soon as we started up." He dropped it on the ground and crushed it.
"Come on back here, Avon." Vila had found a not-too-filthy sleeping pad and spread it in the back. He put one of the survival blankets over it out of deference to Avon's sensitivities. "Get some more rest while we decide what to do next." He moved aside for Avon and took the knapsacks from Task as he handed them in.
Task got in and shut the hatch. Taking some concentrates out of a knapsack he passed them around and asked, "Do you still want to make for that town, Avon, or miss it since we've got a speeder now?"
Vila offered his opinion, "Let's go to the town, Avon. I want a bath and some decent food. A bed might be in order too."
Paying no attention to Vila, Avon began reasoning out loud, "It's a mining town, so it's likely to be pretty rough—"
"On second thought, let's skip the town, Avon," Vila begged.
"—which means we probably wouldn't draw as much attention as elsewhere. I can change the identity codes on this speeder so we wouldn't likely get caught if it's stolen, which it almost certainly was at some time. We could all do with some decent rest and food, and some of us could certainly do with a bath," he directed at Vila.
"I'm for the town," Task agreed. "Besides the amenities, we could pick up some extra supplies and equipment. Since you want us to get to a town before contacting Jenna Stannis, Avon, we should have a look around and see if this would be a good place to wait for pickup."
"That's what we'll do then," Avon decided. "We'll stop near the town and observe it first. If it looks safe to go in, we'll go. One of us should stay hidden in the speeder while the other two arrange accommodations. That will be you, Vila. They're not likely to offer a room for three, and we don't want to be split up. That will be an advantage. Anyone looking to rob two people will be surprised to find a third. After we've got a room arranged, we can slip you inside. One of us can stay in the room, and the other two can hunt up some extra supplies or pick up information."
Task took the operator's seat and Vila sat beside him, holding a pocket comp with the map displayed on it. Avon lay in the back. Task kept the speeder below the treetops, and Vila soon learned to keep his eyes straight ahead or fixed on the pocket comp. The trees whizzing by beside him were making him distinctly queasy, as if just being on Gauda Prime wasn't enough.
When they judged they were a kilometre away from the town, Task and Vila left Avon tinkering with the speeder's identity codes while they approached the town on foot, keeping in cover as much as possible. They found a good place to watch a main thoroughfare and observed for nearly an hour.
Both ground effect vehicles and speeders were common, and there wasn't anyone stopping and checking them. Traffic seemed to be picking up as the day turned into late afternoon, and vehicles often had three or more people in them. They looked like mine workers either living in the town or going there for entertainment. There was very little foot traffic going in and none going out. They didn't see any Federation troops, and the local constabulary were wearing uniforms and were easy to pick out. The town had once been walled, but the wall was in disrepair in several places. No-one seemed to be watching those areas, so Vila judged it would be easy to slip in or out through the wall under cover of darkness if need be.
They made their way back to the speeder and were surprised by Avon stepping out from behind a tree, carrying one of the guns.
"Trouble?" Vila asked nervously, looking around.
"No trouble. I just didn't want to be caught unaware. What did you see?"
Task reported, "We can get in easily. No-one seems to care who goes in or out. Other speeders looked much like this one, so we shouldn't draw attention that way. We'll look like mine personnel. The town is large enough that we can stay in the speeder while we scout out accommodations and not be noticed. I suggest you hide in the speeder while Vila and I arrange the accommodations." He smiled, "Your head-to-toe black is great for the 'Avenger of Gauda Prime,' but would be more noticeable than our clothes. Once we're in town, Vila and I will get you some different clothes, something nondescript. We'll hide the camo suits in the knapsacks. If you like, once we've got the clothes, Vila or I can find a local tavern and listen to the local chat."
"It will be you. Vila would drink the town dry and forget to listen."
"Oh, now wait, Avon. You know I wouldn't do that," Vila protested.
Avon looked at him purposefully and said two words: "Space City." He started pulling off his camo suit, and the others followed. Getting in the back of the speeder, he pulled a blanket over himself, just in case someone got close enough to look in. "The hatch code is now seven five. Wait a moment, and enter it a second time. If you enter the wrong code or try to bypass the system, it'll give you a shock that will stun you," he told them.
They entered the town largely unnoticed and spent some time locating eating establishments, taverns, and merchants. They stayed away from the more solid-looking area of town, where families were living in better constructed buildings and would be more inclined to notice strangers. By now it was nearly dark, so they scouted the local hotels and found one whose customers weren't too rough looking.
Leaving the speeder locked in front, Task arranged a double room, paying for it with a credit chit and using one of Avon's false identity cards. Vila wandered around the lobby, noting the exits and the dining facilities. He spent some time looking at the evacuation floor plan. Task asked for a room on the first floor at the back, citing traffic noise. The desk clerk didn't note anything unusual about their using knapsacks for baggage. Indeed, the desk clerk hardly seemed to notice them at all, which suited Vila. He handed them two card keys and tiredly listed the amenities available. It was a short list.
Task turned to Vila and suggested, "Why don't you move the speeder around to the parking area at the back? I'll take our things up to the room." He easily hoisted both knapsacks and started for the lifts.
Vila went out and keyed open the hatch on the speeder. "We got a room on the first floor at the back," he told Avon. "I'll park the speeder in the back and take you up the evac stairs then come down and cross the lobby to the lifts so I'll be seen. It's room 106, and Task will be waiting to let you in."
He guided the speeder to the back of the building and hesitated as though he was looking for a convenient parking slip. He watched the security cam focussed on the guests' vehicles. When it swung away, he opened the hatch and instructed, "Get into that shadow near the door."
Avon glided into the shadow and pressed up against the wall. Vila chose a slip for the speeder and strolled towards the guest entrance, the picture of innocence. He timed his walk so the camera had swung away again when he reached the door, and Avon joined him. Vila checked quickly through the transparent door, inserted his key card, and swung it open, pointing at the door to the evac stairs. It took him all of five seconds to open the lock, and they slipped through.
Once on the stairs, they were fairly safe. People were lazy. Why use stairs when there was a lift? The only reason the door on the ground floor was locked was so the guests couldn't slip extra amenities into their rooms without management getting a cut. As they reached the first floor door, that theory was illustrated. They heard giggling in the corridor and waited until they heard a door open and close, cutting off the giggling.
The door to room 106 was cracked, and Avon walked briskly and quietly to it. Task let him in and closed it again. Vila hurried back down the stairs, listened at the stairway door, and slipped through. Waiting at the lift was a tired looking woman in shabby, cheap finery. She barely glanced at Vila as they rode up together.
Task and Avon had been busy examining the room. They found no cameras, and they hadn't expected to. There was nothing worth stealing that cost as much as a camera would. The beds were bolted to the floor, as was the dresser. Too bad; they wouldn't be able to push it across the door if they got nervous. The bed linens were disposable, as were the towels in the tiny washroom. Good; maid service was unlikely. The chair wasn't bolted down, and they could put that in front of the door. Fortunately the chair was fairly heavy. Management didn't want it thrown through a window too easily.
Avon had examined the visbox. It was of the cheapest variety, so it wouldn't support any optical pickups. It also wasn't rigged to record what the guests were watching and when. Apparently viscast service was free, as was advertised on the channel listing plastiqued to the top of the box. He picked up the remote control and sat on the foot of the bed nearest to the visbox and started clicking through the channels. Almost none of them matched the channel listing.
Task sat on the other bed. "There's no place to hide in here, so if you want us to stay here very long, I suggest we get you back outside and let you check in, once we've gotten you some local attire. Then you would be more free to move around. I think we should still stay together in one room for safety. We can rob the towels and soap from the other room."
Avon considered, "All right. You and Vila get us some clothes, and Vila can put the camo suits through the autovalet when you get back." In answer to their questioning looks, "We'll be needing to wear them again soon enough. They might as well be clean." They left him reclining on the bed, clicking through viscasts.
The town was more civilised than Vila expected. Of course he hadn't been to a town when he was there before, just in the woods, nearly being killed by bounty hunters, or on Blake's base, nearly being killed by Federation troopers and rebels alike.
But he was comforted by seeing a few groundcabs about and even some public transportation. Occasionally the streets ran round small open squares with trees and benches where people could sit and watch their children playing. Vila wanted to stop and watch the children, but Task hurried him along. There were a variety of shops and even a large store that appeared to carry everything the self-respecting citizen could need for the home. He saw tiny cafes and restaurants much nicer than his apparel would permit. To his disgust, Task wouldn't let him go in any of the numerous taverns.
They found a resale store and quickly chose some slightly flash, night-on-the-town jackets and vests of the sort they'd seen the taverns' patrons wearing. Then they picked out a nondescript shirt, jacket, and trousers for Avon. They stopped at another store and got socks and underwear. A third stop got them a cheap, thin duffel for Avon, which they folded tightly, stuffing all their purchases into two shopping bags. Vila couldn't resist lifting three pairs of eyeshades—as if the sun often shone brightly enough on Gauda Prime to need them—and Task didn't make him put them back for fear of being caught. They hurried back to the hotel and past the unseeing clerk—a different one this time—and into the lift.
When they entered the room, Avon quickly switched off the viscast he'd been watching with the sound off, and started emptying the bags. He pulled out the "ordinary" clothes they bought for him and started shedding his own. "Give me five minutes to check in, and then go down to the dining room. Make sure you get a table big enough for all of us. I'll come down and 'happen' to see you. We work together at the mines. That way hotel personnel won't think it strange if they see any of us together." He paused to look dubiously at the tasteless vest.
Unnoticed by Avon and Task, Vila flicked the visbox on and off quickly, noting the channel setting. Then he checked the listing on the top of the box. Uh-huh. Of course, the listing could be wrong . . .
As he pulled his trouser legs down over his boots, Avon continued, "We'll decide to go out on the town together, then you'll get me up the stairs and into the room, Vila. I don't want to leave our gear unguarded. From what I've been able to pick up from viscasts, we may have to stay in town for a while tomorrow if we're to continue to look like mining personnel." He stuffed his "Avenger" clothes into the cheap duffel and said, "Let's go."
Vila rose slightly from his chair and motioned at Avon, who was looking around the tiny dining room. Avon joined him and Task at the table and looked at the stained menu card with disgust. "Does someone come and take the food order?"
Task put down his coffee, "No, you punch it in over there and wait a few moments. It'll come out on a tray from there," he pointed. "I can't recommend the stew. It hasn't got any identifiable meat in it."
Avon replaced the menu card in its stand on the table and went over to the order machine. In a few moments, the delivery slot signalled. He wrinkled his nose slightly as he inspected his order for errors. Not that he would have been able to tell: everything was wrapped in tissue displaying the legend "Fine Food," and "Tastes Well Brands." Placing his tray on the table, he glanced at the other customers. They all seemed delighted with their choices. They must have really bad food at the mine dormitories, he thought. He unwrapped his purchases and pretended to enjoy them. Vila was certainly enjoying his, he noted.
Keeping his voice down, he asked, "Vila, can you fix that stairwell door so our key cards will open it?"
"Already done. And there's a side entrance for guests that will be less noticeable than the one from the parking area. You can use the service corridor to get to the stairs. It goes past service rooms and stays out of sight of the lobby. Any personnel using that area are undoubtedly well practised in ignoring guests. The security camera is frozen pointing to one side, so you can get in without being seen."
"In your travels, did you see anyplace selling food concentrates?"
"No, why?"
"I think we should take advantage of civilisation to increase our supply of concentrates."
"How can you use 'civilisation 'and 'concentrates' in the same sentence?"
Ignoring Vila, Avon asked, "Task, can you think of anything you'd like to add to our supplies?"
"Just some more purification tablets. We've probably got plenty, but we don't really know how long we'll be out there. If possible, I'd like to get a one-man shelter. It'll accommodate two in a pinch and shield their body heat. It'll also allow us to use a small, smokeless heat source."
Avon put down the remains of his "chicken" sandwich. Vila asked quickly, "Are you going to eat the rest of that?"
"No, be my guest."
Task collected his tray and took it to the disposal slot. Avon did the same. He waited impatiently for Vila to gulp down the remains of his food and follow.
Stepping out into the street, they paused briefly to watch the passersby. No-one appeared interested in them, so they walked along the front of the hotel to the end with the side door for guests. Avon ducked along the side and inserted his card in the slot. He entered with a confident walk, but didn't encounter anyone else.
Back in the "common" room, he reclined on the bed and turned on the visbox.
"Two more Terran ales, please," Vila held out the credit chit. He collected the flagons and took them back to the table, setting one in front of Task. "Learn anything useful?"
Task was straining to hear the visbox hanging over the bar. It appeared to be a newscast. "Only that the government authorities have been arresting undesirables in fairly large numbers, at least around the towns. I take it the undesirables are bounty hunters. They probably pick them up when they enter towns for supplies. It may not be safe for us to try and buy more supplies—it could mark us as potential 'undesirables'."
"I wasn't really looking forward to concentrates anyway. We'll have to get some other packaged foods. We've got transportation now, so the weight shouldn't matter. Still, I was looking forward to that shelter."
"We may be able to get it. We'll have to wait and see. The smokeless heat source will be easy. People use those in their homes all the time. As you said, we'll have transportation, so we can buy bottled status water instead of using up the purification tablets."
They sipped their drinks in silence, listening to the conversation around them. A flashily dressed young woman was smiling at Vila. She lifted her eyebrows slightly. Vila nodded towards Task. The woman looked bored and turned away.
"You know, this would be fun if we weren't working," Vila grumbled.
They returned to the room around midnight. Avon turned off the visbox and sat up. "Did you find out anything useful?"
"Not really," Vila replied, picking up the visbox control and turning it on. He watched for a moment. "I didn't know you could do that."
Avon swiped the control from his hand and turned it off. "I'll go out and 'return' to the hotel now. I'll go to the other room first, muss it up a little, get the towels, and come back here. Then we can work out what to do tomorrow."
Task was listening to a local newscast when Avon returned. He turned off the visbox and said, "It looks like we are going to need to stay in town all day tomorrow if we're to look like genuine mine personnel. Apparently they carouse for two nights, catch about three hours sleep, and then head back to the mine in the wee hours of the morning, just in time to go on shift. The gods only know how accident ridden that first shift must be."
"First shift and last shift of any work period are always the most accident prone," Avon answered, handing the extra towels and soap to Vila. "Just put that in the washroom, would you?" He waited for Vila to join them. "We can spend the day tomorrow adding to our supplies and sleeping. Then we can have our night out and get a couple more hours of sleep before we have to leave. If we join the string of speeders headed back to the mine, we should be able to find a spot where we can leave the line and head out into the woods for a while. Maybe later we can get back to the road, assuming there is one, and go to the town near Blake's base. If we can stick near the road, we'll probably be safer. Local law enforcement may be patrolling it now that Gauda Prime is rounding up the bounty hunters."
"Sounds good to me," Task agreed. He held up the visbox remote. "Who's on watch first?"
Vila snatched the remote. "I'll go first," he offered and dragged the chair over in front of the visbox. Task and Avon stretched out on the beds, and Avon reached toward the light switch.
As Vila flicked the visbox on, Avon said, "They're showing the same one over and over. It only lasts about forty minutes." He turned off the light.
