Gridlinked

'I don't believe in taking chances. Now, there are two autoguns in the carrier. Set them up in the trees and put the men either side. Between them and the trees I want weaknesses.'

'Is that a good idea?'

'We'll have Aiden and Cento in there as spotters. Anything comes through, and we'll hit it on this open ground.'

'Not much cover for us here,' said Thorn, looking speculatively at the single tilted slab behind the carrier.

'Wrong, we dig in.'

'Ah…'

Cormac nodded to the slab and the land beyond it. 'I want holes dug over there as well, but I don't want them occupied. I just want them to look like they are. You I want at that slab with your proton gun.' Thorn nodded to this and Cormac went on. 'When it's all set up, I want everyone to get some rest before nightfall.'

'And if there's no attack? We do have another mission.'

'The Maker can wait. We'll stay here for days if necessary. As I said, I want Pelter off my back.'

It took the rest of the morning for the defences to be set and foxholes to be dug. The ground was very stony, and a metre down was a layer of permafrost. They had an electric shear that could slice through almost anything, and EM blasts from a pulse rifle soon melted the permafrost, but in the end the men had to dig the holes with shovels. It was tiring work for men unused to it, and would perhaps not have been finished until nightfall had not Cento and Aiden lent a hand. The sergeant and his men rested in their tents afterwards, perhaps trying to remember if the ES recruiting officer had said anything about having to dig holes. Aiden and Cento moved into the trees.

Night descended and now there was nothing to do but wait. Cormac surveyed what he had wrought, then headed for the carrier.

As he reached it, Cormac spotted Thorn ferrying Stanton back inside. Even boosted men must empty their bladders sometime. He followed them inside and watched while Thorn tied the prisoner back in place. Then he sat on the bunk opposite, as Thorn nodded to him and left them, his proton gun tucked under one arm. Cormac looked round to see the sergeant was up near the front studying a screen flipped up from the control console. Mika he could hear moving about in the rear section somewhere.

'You know, John,' he said, 'you're culpable for just about every crime on the book.'

Stanton looked at him tiredly. 'I know that.'

'Why? Ever since I first met you, I kept wondering why. The way you operate, you didn't need to resort to crime. You could easily have made your fortune in the Polity. Was it the buzz? The danger?'

'Maybe,' said Stanton. 'But how many people do you know who made informed choices when they were young? For me, crime was a way of survival at first, then a way of life afterwards. You know what it's like beyond the Line.'

'I know.' Cormac turned away from him, then looked back. 'I don't think there's anything I can do. You've killed people and some of those people were innocent Polity citizens,' he said.

Stanton was about to reply, when Aiden spoke from Cormac's comunit, which he took from his pocket.

'What is it?'

'A message from Viridian,' came Aiden's voice. 'It may not be relevant, but a shuttle just launched from the old ring station.'

'Who's there normally?'

'Outlinkers, apparently, but Viridian tells me they don't often come down to the surface. About once every ten years… in exoskeletons… to buy supplies they cannot manufacture. It may be nothing.'

'All right, keep me informed.'

Cormac dropped the unit back in his pocket and looked questioningly at Stanton.

'Nothing to do with Pelter. No way of getting back up there,' Stanton told him.

Cormac stood up and moved to the door. At the door he hesitated, removed his unit from his pocket and turned it off. He then took out a little thin-gun he had been delighted to discover amongst the carrier's armament.

'You know, John, it'll be nothing less than total mind-wipe for you. Do you want that?'

'Are you making an offer?'

'lam.'

'I still have enough left in me not to want to die,' Stanton said. 'I just don't want to remember.' Cormac nodded, put the gun away, and opened the door. He turned his unit back on as he went out.

The night passed without event, and sunrise revealed heavy red blooms on the chequer trees. The air was filled with a perfume redolent of lavender, and the hum of adapted bees amongst the foliage. Underfoot, a light frost hoared the saplings and the lichens beyond the edge of the forest. Cormac sipped coffee and blew vapour into the clear air. He wished his mind was as clear. Three hours' sleep had revived him a little, but he knew he could do with a straight eight hours without interruption. With the coffee he swilled down a couple of wake-ups. He wasn't the only one doing this.

As he walked across to see how things were, soldier Tarm crawled from his tent, then paused, scratching his head and yawning. He saw Cormac and looked suddenly guilty. He reached back inside his tent for his pulse-rifle, dragged it out and hung it over his shoulder, and then stood up.

'Lovely morning, sir,' he said.

Cormac nodded and Tarm hurried off.

'They're much in awe of you.'

Cormac turned as Mika walked up behind him.

'I would rather you stayed in the carrier,' he said.

Mika looked around. 'You know, I miss the draco-men,' she said.

'I don't,' said Cormac. He turned towards the foxholes and watched Tarm dropping into one. The hole's previous occupant climbed out and trudged back towards the tents.

'Cormac.'

'Yes,' Cormac said to the unit in his pocket.

'We have an AGC coming in over the mountains,'

Aiden told him. 'I've only just picked it up. It's only two kilometres away.'

'Sergeant, you have it.'

'I do, sir. They're taking a juice harvest to Motford. The return signature I'm getting is of a transporter. Looks OK, sir.'

'Tell it to divert. If it flies over us, we hit it.'

Cormac began trotting back to the carrier. From his unit he heard a shout, then the sergeant telling someone to shut up. He opened the door of the carrier and stepped inside, with Mika close behind him. Stanton had his feet on the floor. He looked angry and he was pulling hard at his bonds.

'You must divert or you will be fired upon. This is my last warning,' the sergeant said.

'Fuck you, soldier boy. I got a harvest to get in. Some of us got to work for a living,' came the reply. Stanton fixed Cormac with a look. 'It's Svent,' he said.

'Oh God,' said the sergeant. 'Needles.'

'Take them down! Take them down now!' Cormac yelled.

Overhead the guns started up like an engine. Actinic light flashed through the windows.

'Mika, get out,' he said.

Mika immediately obeyed. The sergeant stood up from his console and looked round.

'You too,' said Cormac. As the sergeant passed him, Cormac ducked forwards and looked up at the gunner. The man's face was hidden behind a targeting mask as he operated the gun's controls. Hydraulics whined as the guns tracked across. Cormac moved to the control console and looked at the screen. Four traces, one moving slowly and erratically. The other three coming in fast. One of them disappeared while he watched. He gripped the edge of the console, his palms suddenly slick with sweat.

'Incoming,' he said. 'Anyone found not wearing a helmet will be on a charge.' He looked around and noted his own helmet on the bunk opposite Stanton.

'We're the target,' said Stanton.

'I know,' Cormac replied.

Only one of the fast traces remained. The slow and erratic trace had descended into the trees.

'Come on. Come on.'

It took Cormac a moment to realize when the last trace had disappeared. He looked around. Stanton met his look then sagged against his bonds.

'Right.' Cormac slapped the console, then headed quickly back. 'Good shooting,' he said to the soldier operating the gun. The man swung his mask away and gave him a sickly grin. Cormac grabbed up his helmet and exited the AGC. Even as he stepped out, there was a blinding flash above, and the turret guns on the carrier began to flash again like arc-welders. Cormac's visor took its time depolarizing.