It wasn't anything from the ship that they had. They just built it from what they learned. I never saw it. I don't know what it looks like, how big it is, or anything about it except that it was built in the labs out back and Vishnar said it worked. He was going to show it off to the New Eden brass next week. Big test."
"Makes sense," Rondell said. "They used the carnival to infiltrate, and they cut the timing so close they minimized the chance of any run-in with the law and registrations. They had to act now, because it would be moved under army security to an area near Flux any time now and they'd have had to fight an army to get it. Longer and it'd be out of here and being mass-produced by the New Eden brass."
"Suzl—you said they were still here. Did you see them?" Matson asked.
She nodded. "Some. They all looked like Fluxgirls in the dark. Is that possible ?"
"It's how they did it. Now—this is important. Did you see them get away?"
"No. I only heard them. There's a separate road over there and the view's blocked by trees. Whatever it was it was big and made a powerful amount of machine noise."
Matson stroked his beard. "A lorry."
"A what?"
"Lorry. We have to keep up with things in New Eden or the Guild will be at a bad disadvantage. There aren't too many built yet, but it's like a big wagon only it has an engine instead of horses. They run them off some kind of alcohol they distill from corn, if you can believe it. They're big and noisy and not very practical, but they can carry tons of stuff. I guess it was here to help move the gadget or whatever it was, and they used it for just that—before the guard was on. Damned if I know how they managed to drive it, though, or even turn it on. It's a complicated contraption. It's something they got from the old engineering books. It's not anything in any program you can call up in Flux."
"Maybe they had practice—or help," Rondell replied.
"Some folks had to be in on this in advance—planning and finding out the schedules and everything."
Matson nodded. "Might have been as simple as four or five Fluxgirls down south where they have several of these lorries overwhelming a mechanic with sexy charm. Ooooh! Neat! Will you take us for a ride? Please? Huh? Oh, you steer it like that. Can I squeeze over and try? Then she's sitting in his lap and he's got ass and boobs and he's all turned on and all he wants to do is show off some more since he's the expert on this. Works elsewhere. Works here, too. Better here, since they just wouldn't think of a squealing little Fluxgirl as having a devious mind and ulterior motives."
"This—lorry. It's gonna stand out like a sore thumb," Suzl nodded. "How do they expect to get away?"
"Honey, those things with a full load can do thirty kilometers an hour, and the powers that be still don't know it's gone. Give 'em an hour-and-a-half start, and a predetermined route, and they'll be driving right into Flux in a matter of twenty or thirty minutes."
"You gonna tell 'em?" Suzl asked.
"Well, I think we'll try and find those children first, dead or alive. Then we'll decide on a course of action for the future." He frowned. "There should have been a lot of kids from the looks of that place, not just ours."
"Thirty or forty at least," Suzl agreed. "They couldn't have taken them all with them!" She had a thought. "I couldn't see very well, but there's no adult bodies, either. There were nannies and caretakers with the kids." She had a note of hope. "You don't think maybe they got wind of what was going on and got the kids out?"
"Damn it, I want to look for the kids, too—but don't you think one of us should tell somebody? I mean, that gang of cut-throats is getting away with the most powerful machine now around this world!"
Matson looked at him. "We got a bunch of very dangerous people with a real bad machine in Flux. In wizard and stringer territory. On the run, at that. One thing they can't yet know is just how to use it. It weighs a
"Makes sense," Rondell said. "They used the carnival to infiltrate, and they cut the timing so close they minimized the chance of any run-in with the law and registrations. They had to act now, because it would be moved under army security to an area near Flux any time now and they'd have had to fight an army to get it. Longer and it'd be out of here and being mass-produced by the New Eden brass."
"Suzl—you said they were still here. Did you see them?" Matson asked.
She nodded. "Some. They all looked like Fluxgirls in the dark. Is that possible ?"
"It's how they did it. Now—this is important. Did you see them get away?"
"No. I only heard them. There's a separate road over there and the view's blocked by trees. Whatever it was it was big and made a powerful amount of machine noise."
Matson stroked his beard. "A lorry."
"A what?"
"Lorry. We have to keep up with things in New Eden or the Guild will be at a bad disadvantage. There aren't too many built yet, but it's like a big wagon only it has an engine instead of horses. They run them off some kind of alcohol they distill from corn, if you can believe it. They're big and noisy and not very practical, but they can carry tons of stuff. I guess it was here to help move the gadget or whatever it was, and they used it for just that—before the guard was on. Damned if I know how they managed to drive it, though, or even turn it on. It's a complicated contraption. It's something they got from the old engineering books. It's not anything in any program you can call up in Flux."
"Maybe they had practice—or help," Rondell replied.
"Some folks had to be in on this in advance—planning and finding out the schedules and everything."
Matson nodded. "Might have been as simple as four or five Fluxgirls down south where they have several of these lorries overwhelming a mechanic with sexy charm. Ooooh! Neat! Will you take us for a ride? Please? Huh? Oh, you steer it like that. Can I squeeze over and try? Then she's sitting in his lap and he's got ass and boobs and he's all turned on and all he wants to do is show off some more since he's the expert on this. Works elsewhere. Works here, too. Better here, since they just wouldn't think of a squealing little Fluxgirl as having a devious mind and ulterior motives."
"This—lorry. It's gonna stand out like a sore thumb," Suzl nodded. "How do they expect to get away?"
"Honey, those things with a full load can do thirty kilometers an hour, and the powers that be still don't know it's gone. Give 'em an hour-and-a-half start, and a predetermined route, and they'll be driving right into Flux in a matter of twenty or thirty minutes."
"You gonna tell 'em?" Suzl asked.
"Well, I think we'll try and find those children first, dead or alive. Then we'll decide on a course of action for the future." He frowned. "There should have been a lot of kids from the looks of that place, not just ours."
"Thirty or forty at least," Suzl agreed. "They couldn't have taken them all with them!" She had a thought. "I couldn't see very well, but there's no adult bodies, either. There were nannies and caretakers with the kids." She had a note of hope. "You don't think maybe they got wind of what was going on and got the kids out?"
"Damn it, I want to look for the kids, too—but don't you think one of us should tell somebody? I mean, that gang of cut-throats is getting away with the most powerful machine now around this world!"
Matson looked at him. "We got a bunch of very dangerous people with a real bad machine in Flux. In wizard and stringer territory. On the run, at that. One thing they can't yet know is just how to use it. It weighs a
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