he’d accidentally dragged behind the truck. The man was moaning, semiconscious—Mordecai shot him through the heart to put him out of his misery and then, grimacing, searched the raggedly bloody body and found what he was looking for—a transmitter, under the torn skin of the man’s chin. He stuck the transmitter in a pocket.
He turned away, gagging, wiping blood on his pants—the guy had truly become an exposed anatomical specimen—and he hurried back to the cab of the technical. He picked up a large rock from the steppes and jammed it on the accelerator, put the vehicle in drive, then leapt clear.
The technical roared away, not at full speed but fast enough, weaving randomly across the tundra, away from the ravine.
Then Mordecai sprinted down the steep slope into the ravine, climbed into the outrunner, and started it. But he kept it in park, waiting—and listening. Bloodwing alighted on his shoulder and bent her head, listening with him.
Soon they heard the sound of a column of technicals grinding across the tundra, following the tracks of the one he’d abandoned . . . following the driverless vehicle out into the wilderness.
Mordecai made himself wait three minutes before driving out of the ravine.
And then he headed straight for Gunsight.
“T hat was cunning of you, and resourceful, too,” Jasper admitted. “But I don’t see that you fulfilled your mission. Maybe half of it.”
“What!” Mordecai was pretty good at pretending to be outraged. “I found out his secret! He’s got a huge facility hidden under that hill—it’s an artificial hill and he’s got labs down there. A factory. He’s making mutants—those slugs, so they can mine Eridium for him. They bore holes right through the rock. And they kill people for him, too. He’s planning to sell them all over the galaxy.”
“That’s no secret—we knew that,” Jasper said, waving a hand dismissively.
They were standing in Daphne’s circular “bedroom.” The floor was tinted dark, at the moment. Somewhere below, Bigjaws stalked about, snapping and licking its giant choppers.
Daphne was sitting on the edge of the bed, legs crossed, listening impassively. But Mordecai knew her mind was working away on all the possibilities for escape.
There weren’t a lot of possibilities right now. Jasper had six heavily armed men with him, two of them covering Daphne, the others pointing their weapons at Mordecai’s head.
Mordecai and Jasper stood in the center of the room, glowering at one another.
Mordecai had used some med hypos to heal his wounds, but he still wore his camo. At some point the auto-camo had stopped working on the mission—probably when he’d been shot in the side. The nano-digitalization had shorted out. Cheap off-world junk.
Mordecai growled to himself and said, “Far as I found out, that’s all that’s going on under Reamus House. I figured that was what you wanted to know about—so I came back!”
Jasper shook his head. “Naw, there’s something else. Some kind of weapon. Something big, something really secret. Plus, I also sent you to find out how to kill Reamus . . .”
“Fine. I got this . . .” Mordecai drew the transmitter from his pocket—not much more than a computer chip with an antenna on it. “It’ll get you past the second bridge—that one’ll dump you in the acid if you don’t have one of these. Maybe it protects against the SlagSlugs, too, I dunno. And, I know a way in—there’s a blind spot around back, surveillance is weak, because he figures the Bigass Bullymong’ll protect it.”
“Got a pet Bullymong back there, does he? They can be tough all right . . . Well, you’ll just have to kill the thing, get in the back way, and kill Reamus.”
Mordecai jabbed a finger at Jasper and took a step toward him. “Now waitaminnut, I held up my end of the bargain, Jasper. I want my woman and I want my money!”
“That’s Boss Jasper to you.”
And as Jasper spoke, Mordecai felt
He turned away, gagging, wiping blood on his pants—the guy had truly become an exposed anatomical specimen—and he hurried back to the cab of the technical. He picked up a large rock from the steppes and jammed it on the accelerator, put the vehicle in drive, then leapt clear.
The technical roared away, not at full speed but fast enough, weaving randomly across the tundra, away from the ravine.
Then Mordecai sprinted down the steep slope into the ravine, climbed into the outrunner, and started it. But he kept it in park, waiting—and listening. Bloodwing alighted on his shoulder and bent her head, listening with him.
Soon they heard the sound of a column of technicals grinding across the tundra, following the tracks of the one he’d abandoned . . . following the driverless vehicle out into the wilderness.
Mordecai made himself wait three minutes before driving out of the ravine.
And then he headed straight for Gunsight.
“T hat was cunning of you, and resourceful, too,” Jasper admitted. “But I don’t see that you fulfilled your mission. Maybe half of it.”
“What!” Mordecai was pretty good at pretending to be outraged. “I found out his secret! He’s got a huge facility hidden under that hill—it’s an artificial hill and he’s got labs down there. A factory. He’s making mutants—those slugs, so they can mine Eridium for him. They bore holes right through the rock. And they kill people for him, too. He’s planning to sell them all over the galaxy.”
“That’s no secret—we knew that,” Jasper said, waving a hand dismissively.
They were standing in Daphne’s circular “bedroom.” The floor was tinted dark, at the moment. Somewhere below, Bigjaws stalked about, snapping and licking its giant choppers.
Daphne was sitting on the edge of the bed, legs crossed, listening impassively. But Mordecai knew her mind was working away on all the possibilities for escape.
There weren’t a lot of possibilities right now. Jasper had six heavily armed men with him, two of them covering Daphne, the others pointing their weapons at Mordecai’s head.
Mordecai and Jasper stood in the center of the room, glowering at one another.
Mordecai had used some med hypos to heal his wounds, but he still wore his camo. At some point the auto-camo had stopped working on the mission—probably when he’d been shot in the side. The nano-digitalization had shorted out. Cheap off-world junk.
Mordecai growled to himself and said, “Far as I found out, that’s all that’s going on under Reamus House. I figured that was what you wanted to know about—so I came back!”
Jasper shook his head. “Naw, there’s something else. Some kind of weapon. Something big, something really secret. Plus, I also sent you to find out how to kill Reamus . . .”
“Fine. I got this . . .” Mordecai drew the transmitter from his pocket—not much more than a computer chip with an antenna on it. “It’ll get you past the second bridge—that one’ll dump you in the acid if you don’t have one of these. Maybe it protects against the SlagSlugs, too, I dunno. And, I know a way in—there’s a blind spot around back, surveillance is weak, because he figures the Bigass Bullymong’ll protect it.”
“Got a pet Bullymong back there, does he? They can be tough all right . . . Well, you’ll just have to kill the thing, get in the back way, and kill Reamus.”
Mordecai jabbed a finger at Jasper and took a step toward him. “Now waitaminnut, I held up my end of the bargain, Jasper. I want my woman and I want my money!”
“That’s Boss Jasper to you.”
And as Jasper spoke, Mordecai felt
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