Bingo!
Wide glass doors were on the other side of a spacious reception area. A woman at an oaken desk was frantically punching buttons on an instrument of some kind.
Hickok was abreast of her desk before he recalled the name of the contraption she was using: a telephone. They had used them before the Big Blast for communications purposes.
The woman started yelling into the receiver.
Hickok gripped the barrel of the AK-47 and swung it like a club, striking the receptionist on the left side of her head.
She slid from her chair to the floor, the telephone plopping alongside her.
Move!
Hickok ran to the glass doors. He paused, confused. The dang things didn’t have any doorknobs! How was he supposed to—
The doors unexpectedly parted with a pronounced hiss.
What the—
Hickok raced outside. Never look a gift horse in the mouth! he always said. He scanned the scenery before him. From the position of the sun, he knew he was heading due south. In front, a park with trees and grass and couples strolling arm-in-arm and kids playing with puppies. To the right, a parking lot filled with vehicles. To the left, a sidewalk and a hedgerow.
Which way?
Hickok bore to the left, making for the hedge. He could hide and take a breather while he-Four soldiers pounded into view, coming his way, jogging around the hedgerow on the sidewalk.
Someone in the park had seen the gunman and was shouting at the top of his lungs.
In the parking lot, three troopers hopped from a jeep and raced toward him.
Behind him, the glass doors hissed open, disgorging three more soldiers in hot pursuit.
Hickok crouched and raised the AK-47.
So much for subterfuge!
Chapter Fourteen
The blast of the Browning was practically deafening in the narrow confines of the hallway.
The leading Leather Knight toppled forward, shot through the chest.
Blade aimed at a second target, his finger tightening on the trigger.
A hard object rammed into the small of the Warrior’s back.
“Drop it!” a stern voice commanded. “Or you can kiss your navel good-bye!”
Blade hesitated. How had one of them managed to get behind him?
“I ain’t kidding, sucker!” snapped the speaker, a woman by the sound of her voice. “Drop it or I’ll blow you away for what you did to Terza!”
Blade released the Browning and it clattered to the ground.
The onrushing Leather Knights had slowed and were cautiously advancing toward the prisoner, their weapons trained and cocked.
“Turn around, you son of a bitch!” ordered the woman behind the Warrior.
Blade turned, his hands held over his head.
She was a heavyset blonde with a scowl on her face. “The name’s Erika, prick! And I’m gonna make sure you never forget it!”
“With a face like yours,” Blade told her, “I doubt I ever will.”
Erika’s fleshy features reddened. “I’m gonna enjoy wasting you!” She held a Ruger Security-Six revolver in her left hand.
Blade studied the “dead end.” The central portion of the wall was actually a concealed door. Beyond Erika’s squat form was a spacious chamber basking in the light from ten lanterns. Other Knights were in the chamber, standing, staring at the doorway.
Erika glanced at the mob in the corridor. “You did a good job. We’ll take him now.” She paused. “What about the other two? Lex and her lover boy?”
“We didn’t see them,” admitted a stud.
“Go look for them,” Erika said. “Search every nook and cranny. We want them found! They have to pay for what they did!”
The Leather Knights wheeled and ran down the hall. Two of them stopped and knelt alongside the man Blade had shot.
Erika poked Blade in the ribs with the Ruger Security-Six. “One false move and you’re history!” she warned. She backed through the doorway, beckoning with the revolver for him to follow.
Blade entered the chamber, his arms in the air.
There were 11 Leather Knights in the room. Like the other sections displaying evidence of recent construction, this chamber was built of brick and the floor was mere dirt. Unlike the holding chamber with the balcony, this one had a large pit in the middle of the room. The Leather Knights ringed the pit, all of them armed. Two of them stood ten feet from the door, and they riveted baleful glares on the Warrior as he appeared.
“So happy you could join us,” said Terza dryly. She wore her black leather jacket and pants. Her Llama Super Comanche V’s were belted around her waist. “We’re havin’ a little party and you’re the guest of honor.” She seemed to experience difficulty in speaking, and her jaw was slightly swollen. Her pale blue eyes glittered as she gazed at Blade.
Next to her, Cardew’s face reflected his sheer hatred. His right cheek was puffy and his right eye a narrow slit covered by a discolored, distended eyelid. Both of his lips were split and twice their normal size. A wooden splint had been applied to his left knee, and he had improvised a wooden crutch to support himself.
“I didn’t expect to see you up and around so soon,” Blade said to the stud. “I guess you have more guts than I gave you credit for. Too bad they’re all between your ears.”
Cardew went livid.
Terza motioned for the Warrior to come closer.
Blade lowered his arms and advanced to within a foot of the Leather Knight leader.
“You’re a fine one to talk about Cardew,” Terza said. “You aren’t exactly the brightest man I ever met.” She snickered. “But then, what else can you expect from a lousy man?”
“Not much,” Erika chimed in.
Terza sneered at Blade. “You blew it, handsome. You had your big chance and you plain blew it.” She lowered her voice so only Blade, Cardew, and Erika could overhear her remarks. “I wanted you, tiger. And like I told you before, I don’t get the hots for a man all that often. Who knows? If you’d been any good, I might have spared your ass. But as it is—”
Blade snickered. “I don’t think I missed much.”
Terza’s right hand gripped her right Comanche.
“You’re the vainest woman I’ve ever met,” Blade went on. “You think all you have to do is snap your fingers and any man in the world will do anything for the… honor… of bedding you.” He paused. “You’re wrong, Terza. You don’t have the right to force a man to have sex with you. Sex isn’t some mechanical function we perform for fleeting physical gratification. Sex should be an expression of our deepest love, our tenderest feelings. You denigrate it to an animalistic level. To you, sex is on the same par with eating or sleeping or any other purely physical sensation. Why don’t you try exalting sex for once? Why don’t you find someone to love, and express your love as meaningfully sexually as you know how. You never know,” he concluded. “You might learn something.”
“You dare talk to me like this?” Terza demanded.
“I’ll talk to you any way I please,” Blade countered. “I’m not one of your lackeys, your cowardly studs.”
Cardew made a growling noise.
Blade glanced at Cardew’s pulverized face. “What’s the matter with you? Does the truth hurt? When was the last time the men around here had the balls to stand up to the women? Why do you let them push you around, to control your lives the way they do? Men and women should be equal partners in adjusting to life’s responsibilities. Neither gender has the right to subjugate the other.” He raised his voice so the others in the chamber could hear. “When are the Leather Knight men going to reclaim their proper place as equals with the women? When are the men going to stand on their own two feet and refuse to be little better than slaves? When will the men—”