or someone else was shooting at mean easy target, a matte-black giant in a snowscape. Twisting the wrist control turned me camo green, then sand yellow, then I finally found a glossy white surface.
I walked as fast as I could to Main, almost slipping twice in the snow. Come on, I thought, you've operated these things on frozen portal planets a few degrees above absolute zero. But not lately.
At least Main Street had salt and sand, so I could run. Some of the traffic was on manual, and it noisily parted for me as I sprinted down the middle. A lot of them went spinning dangerously out of control. I shifted back to green, so they'd have more warning.
I picked up the pace as I became more sure of the clumsy thing's abilities and limitations. I was loping along at about twenty miles per hour when I met Marygay's bus, just outside the city limits.
She opened the driver's-side door and stepped halfway out. "Do you need power?" she shouted.
"Not yet." The readout said 0.04. "Back at the spaceport."
She spun it on its axis and slid to the outbound lane, sending a delivery van that was on auto straight out into a field of snow. The people on manual were all pulling over, evidently from some police command; it was interesting that the ones on auto took longer to comply.
They were no doubt clearing traffic to get to me. I ran after Marygay as fast as I could, but soon lost her in the white distance.
What could they send after a fighting suit? I'd find out soon enough.
Strident blue flashing lights cut through the swirling snow as I approached the spaceport. Marygay's bus was blocked at the entrance by a Security floater.
Two officers, evidently unarmed, were standing by the driver's side, yelling at her. She looked down on them pleasantly, and gave no reaction when I passed behind them.
I picked up one end of the Security floater and easily flipped it over. It went crashing down into a drainage ditch. The two officers, sensibly, ran like hell.
The lack of radio contact was a handicap. I bent down next to her window. "Park it up by the main building and I'll drain the fuel cell there."
She said okay and sped off. My power was down to 0.01 and the numerals started flashing red. That would be great, stranded a couple of hundred meters from my destination. Well, I could always open the suit manually. And run naked through the snow.
As soon as I started walking, the suit added a "beep … beep" in time with the flashing digits, I suppose as a convenience for the blind. The legs started to resist my commands, feeling as if I were walking through water, and then mud.
I did make it to the floater while the people were still unloading. Max stood there with his arms crossed, the pistol prominent.
I popped the rear utility door and clipped my emergency cables to the fuel cell's terminals, and studied the directions on the grimy plate on the side of the cell. Then I pushed the "fast discharge" button and watched my numbers start to climb.
They'd reached 0.24 when I heard the heavy thrum of a floater braking, and found out what they could send after a fighting suit.
Two fighting suits. One human; one Tauran.
If they were armed, I was nothing but a target. Either suit's weapons could vaporize me or slice me like lunchmeat. But they didn't fire; or couldn't.
The floater lurched as the Man got out, and he repeated my performance, falling on his face. I resisted the impulse to tell him that the longest journey begins with a single step.
In the floater, the Tauran suit flailed, trying to keep its balance, and tipped over backward. Neither of them had any more recent practice than I had. My hundreds of hours of training and fighting, even though mostly lost in the mists of time, might be worth more than their two-to-one advantage.
The Man had gotten up on hands and knees; I covered the distance with a graceless leap and swiveled a hard sidekick to the head. It probably didn't hurt him physically, but it sent the suit skidding and
I walked as fast as I could to Main, almost slipping twice in the snow. Come on, I thought, you've operated these things on frozen portal planets a few degrees above absolute zero. But not lately.
At least Main Street had salt and sand, so I could run. Some of the traffic was on manual, and it noisily parted for me as I sprinted down the middle. A lot of them went spinning dangerously out of control. I shifted back to green, so they'd have more warning.
I picked up the pace as I became more sure of the clumsy thing's abilities and limitations. I was loping along at about twenty miles per hour when I met Marygay's bus, just outside the city limits.
She opened the driver's-side door and stepped halfway out. "Do you need power?" she shouted.
"Not yet." The readout said 0.04. "Back at the spaceport."
She spun it on its axis and slid to the outbound lane, sending a delivery van that was on auto straight out into a field of snow. The people on manual were all pulling over, evidently from some police command; it was interesting that the ones on auto took longer to comply.
They were no doubt clearing traffic to get to me. I ran after Marygay as fast as I could, but soon lost her in the white distance.
What could they send after a fighting suit? I'd find out soon enough.
Strident blue flashing lights cut through the swirling snow as I approached the spaceport. Marygay's bus was blocked at the entrance by a Security floater.
Two officers, evidently unarmed, were standing by the driver's side, yelling at her. She looked down on them pleasantly, and gave no reaction when I passed behind them.
I picked up one end of the Security floater and easily flipped it over. It went crashing down into a drainage ditch. The two officers, sensibly, ran like hell.
The lack of radio contact was a handicap. I bent down next to her window. "Park it up by the main building and I'll drain the fuel cell there."
She said okay and sped off. My power was down to 0.01 and the numerals started flashing red. That would be great, stranded a couple of hundred meters from my destination. Well, I could always open the suit manually. And run naked through the snow.
As soon as I started walking, the suit added a "beep … beep" in time with the flashing digits, I suppose as a convenience for the blind. The legs started to resist my commands, feeling as if I were walking through water, and then mud.
I did make it to the floater while the people were still unloading. Max stood there with his arms crossed, the pistol prominent.
I popped the rear utility door and clipped my emergency cables to the fuel cell's terminals, and studied the directions on the grimy plate on the side of the cell. Then I pushed the "fast discharge" button and watched my numbers start to climb.
They'd reached 0.24 when I heard the heavy thrum of a floater braking, and found out what they could send after a fighting suit.
Two fighting suits. One human; one Tauran.
If they were armed, I was nothing but a target. Either suit's weapons could vaporize me or slice me like lunchmeat. But they didn't fire; or couldn't.
The floater lurched as the Man got out, and he repeated my performance, falling on his face. I resisted the impulse to tell him that the longest journey begins with a single step.
In the floater, the Tauran suit flailed, trying to keep its balance, and tipped over backward. Neither of them had any more recent practice than I had. My hundreds of hours of training and fighting, even though mostly lost in the mists of time, might be worth more than their two-to-one advantage.
The Man had gotten up on hands and knees; I covered the distance with a graceless leap and swiveled a hard sidekick to the head. It probably didn't hurt him physically, but it sent the suit skidding and
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