Seems pretty normal,she told darcy.
From here, yes. Lets see if we can get in closer and spot any of the sheriffs and their weapons.
OK. One minute, Ill bring Kelven in. Well update him as we go.in case anything happens and we dont get back, that way theyll have some recordbut she tried not to think that. She ordered her communication block to open a channel to the naval ELINT satellite. The unit had a bitek processor, so the conversation wouldnt be audible.
Were at Ozark village now,she told the navy commander.
Are you all right?kelven solanki asked.
Yes.
Whats your situation?
Right now were on our hands and knees about a hundred metres from the fields around the village. There are several fires burning in the village, and a lot of people moving round for this time of night. There must be three or four hundred of them outside, cant be many in the cabins. Apart from that it looks pretty ordinary.she wormed her way forward through the tangle of long grass and creepers, avoiding the bushes. Darcy was a metre to her left. It had been a long time since her last fieldcraft training session, she was moderately pleased by how little noise she was making.
Kelven, I want you to datavise a list of the sheriffs the BK133s landed at Ozark,darcy said. Well see if we can identify any of them.
Right away, here they come.
Lori pressed the twigs of a low-hanging branch to the ground, and slithered over them. There was the trunk of a large mayope four metres ahead, its roots sloping up out of the soil. Light from the fires fluoresced the bark to a lurid topaz.
The list of sheriffs streamed into her mind; facts, figures, and profiles, most importantly the holograms. Mirages of seventy men shimmered over the vapid low-light image of Ozark. Lori reached the mayope trunk and looked out over the lines of seedy cabins, trying to match the visual patterns in her mind with what she could see.
Theres one,darcy said. his mind indicated one of the men squatting in a circle of people around a fire. Some kind of animal carcass was roasting above the flames.
And another,lori indicated.
They swiftly located a further twelve sheriffs at various fires.
None of them look particularly concerned that their communications with Candace Elford have been cut off,she said.
Have they been sequestrated?kelven solanki asked.
Theres no way of knowing for sure, but my best guess is yes,darcy said. Given their current situation, their behaviour is abnormal. They should at least have posted a perimeter guard.
The bitek processor in Loris back-up communication block reported a power loss in the units electron-matrix crystal. She automatically ordered the reserve crystal to be brought on line, the thought was virtually subconscious.
I concur,lori said. I think our original primary goal of verifying Latons presence is irrelevant in these circumstances.
Seconded. Well attempt to seize one of these people and bring them back to Durringham for examination.the mimetic governor circuitry on Darcys chameleon suit indicated a databus glitch in his right leg; alternative channels were brought on line by the master processor.
Our best bet will be that cabin there, its reasonably isolated, and I saw someone go in just now.lori evinced a five-room building standing apart from the others. It was a hundred and twenty metres from the edge of the jungle, but the intervening ground was mostly allotments, providing as much cover as the trees. She took an image enhancer out of a pouch on her waist, and brought it up to her eyes. Bloody things broken. Try yours, we need to know how many are inside.
Darcys chemical/biological agent detector shut down. It hasnt broken,he said in consternation. Were in some kind of electronic warfare field!
Damn it!loris back-up communicator and target-laser-acquisition warning sensors dropped out. Kelven, did you hear that? Theyre using highly sophisticated electronic warfare systems.
Your signal strength is fading,kelven said.
Darcy felt his affinity link with his maser carbines controlling processor vanish. When he looked at the gun its LCD display panel was dead. Come on, move it! Back to the Coogan.
Darcy!
He twisted round to see five people standing in a semicircle right-behind them. One woman, four men. All of them with strange placid smiles; dressed like settlers in denim trousers and cotton shirts, the men with thick beards. Even with shock paralysing his nerves he retained enough presence of mind to glance at his own arm. Infrared showed him a faint pink outline, but low-light simply revealed long blades of grass. The chameleon circuitry was still functional.
Shit! Kelven, they can see chameleon suits. Warn your people. Kelven?the hardware units he wore round his waist were all failing in rapid succession, affinity filling his mind with processor caution warnings. They started to wink out. There was no reply from Kelven Solanki.
You must be the pair Laton called, one of the men said. He looked from Lori to Darcy. You can get up now.
The power supply to Loris chameleon suit ebbed to nothing, and the fabric reverted to its natural dull grey. She rolled to one side and stood in one smooth motion. Implant glands were feeding a gutsy brew of hormones into her blood supply, hyping her muscles. She dropped both her maser carbine and the image enhancer, freeing her hands. Five wouldnt be a problem. Where do you come from? she asked. Im talking to you thats in charge of them. Is your origin in your memory?
Youre an atheist, the woman replied. It would be kinder to spare you the answer.
Take them out,darcy said.
Lori stepped forwards, turning, arms and legs moving fast. Left ankle swinging into the mans kneecap with her full bodyweight behind itsatisfying crackle of breaking bone; right hand chopping the womans larynx, slamming her Adams apple into her vertebrae. Darcy was wreaking similar mayhem on his targets. Lori spun round on one foot, left leg kicking out again, back arching supplely, and her boots toecap caught a man just below and behind his ear, splitting his skull.
Hands gripped at her arms from behind. Lori yelped in shock. Nobody should be there. But reflexes took over, a fast back-kick which connected with a thigh, and she completed the turn with her arms locking into a defensive posture in time to see the woman staggering back. She blinked in incomprehension. The woman had blood pouring out of her mouth, her throat was severely disfigured from the first blow. As she watched, the skin inflated out, Adams apple reappearing. The gush of blood stopped.
Sweet shit, what does it take to stop them?
The two men Darcy had knocked over were regaining their feet. One had a shattered shin bone, its jagged end protruding from the flesh just below his knee; he stood on it and walked forwards.
Electrodes,darcy ordered. the first of the men was reaching for him, the side of his face caved in where Darcys boot had impacted, eyeball mashed in its socket, shedding tears of syrupy yellow fluid, but still smiling. He deliberately stepped inside the groping embrace, bringing his hands up, fingers wide, and clamping his palms on either side of the mans head. The long cords of eel-derived electroplaque cells buried in his forearms discharged through organic conductors that emerged from his fingertips in the form of tiny warts. The mans head was crowned with a blinding flare of purple-white static accompanied by a gunshot crack as the full two-thousand-volt charge slammed into his brain.