He led the way out, the girls huddled close behind him, Van Damm and Brodski bringing up the rear. At the barn's outer door he paused to look up and down the street. "Come on," he almost whispered. "Quickly."
The direction he took was not toward the dock but northeast, up toward the river-mouth. He managed to look businesslike and nonchalant, but set a fast pace. The girls pulled scarves over their heads and did their best to look invisible in the dull light of Cat's Eye-set. Brodski and Van Damm automatically paced close behind, watching the shadows.
They'd made less than fifty meters when two skulking silhouettes came scurrying toward them. The whole party tensed and crouched, reaching under folds of clothing, but the two figures practically fell on their knees in front of Makhno and hailed him in quick whispers.
"Please, please, Maitre-Capitan-Makhno." Their voices, both female, jumbled together. "Take us with you- We don't want to work for Jomo-please-we will pay-some money-whatever you want-please-we've heard how women are left alone there-please-we can work-please. ."
Makhno looked around, swore, motioned the two women into line behind him. "All right, all right," he whispered. "But keep quiet and keep together. We've got to move fast."
The women scurried to comply, and the party moved out again in the waning light of the planet above.
Brodski was in "drag" position of the little column when he heard the sound of a stunner being fired. Both of the volunteer women crumpled and lay still. Makhno and the two girls dropped flat.
Almost without thinking, Brodski drew his service automatic and nailed the origin of the sound with a 10mm slug, dropped his duffel bag, fell flat and rolled. He noted that his shot was rewarded by a ricochet sound and a yelp.
"Dammit, girl, get off my arm!" he heard Makhno snap.
The ZAP and flash of a CoDo stunner raked at the source of the last comment.
Brodski put two rounds at the spot the flash had come from, and rolled toward a low hummock in the dim light. This time a scream showed he'd made a clean hit.
There came a duck's "quack" from his left. Van Damm, he thought. "Duck." Right. Well, it looks like I get a chance to see him in action. He noticed a shadow moving from about where the quack had come from, and smiled. I'll hold this flank and let him chase them out to me. I'm a potted palm in this one.
There was movement almost dead ahead of him and slightly to the right. Their flank-man, possibly. If I wait, he might give me a better target.
Further to the left was another movement, and the quick gleam of sudden steel, but no sound. The spot he had been watching suddenly reared up and became man-sized; Brodski shot it. Van Damm wouldn't silhouette himself like that. The shadow fell.
At where he would have put the far end of the enemy position, something moved away-low and fast. Brodski considered it, but didn't shoot. The light was too uncertain and the range a bit much for the expenditure of a round.
For long seconds, nothing moved.
"Brodski" came Van Damm's voice out of the gloom. "I think I've got it cleared here."
"Okay, Owen. Coming out.". . But where the hell were Makhno and the women? "What have we got?"
"It looks like there were four of them. Three dead. One got away," said Van Damm, frisking the body in front of him.
Brodski produced a pocket light, looked down and saw a corpse, expertly killed with a knife. It took a good man to get that close in what had been turning into a fire-fight. His estimation of Van Damm went up.
A powerful flashlight lit up the area, Makhno and the two girls just visible behind it.
"Did you get them?" he panted.
"Three out of four," came Van Damm's reply. "Not bad for this sort of thing."
Makhno's lightbeam hovered over the bodies. "Hmm, they look like Jomo's boys. . I'll wager they weren't trying to ambush us; more like, they were headed the same way we were-maybe chasing the women."
Brodski put his pocket light away and reloaded his pistol.
"Look what I've found!" chirped Van Damm. "A stun-rifle! I think you broke it though, Ski."
"Take it along, Mister Van Damm," said Makhno, climbing to his feet. "We don't waste anything."
"You take the woman on the right, Owen." Brodski sighed, thinking of the painful extra weight. "I'll take the other one."
Makhno sent the older girl (Mary) to search the bodies, and the younger (Rose) to bring Brodski's bag, while he helped the men pick up the stunned women. The little procession struggled its way through the darkened streets of Castell City, past the last of the outbuildings, up to the bent shore where the northern river emptied into the lake. There Makhno hunted through the underbrush until he found the disguised Black Bitch.
"So you hid her here and walked in," Brodski noted. "How come?"
"Didn't want to be noticed by Jomo's men. There's reason to think they'd grab the Bitch if they could." Makhno pulled the concealing tarp off the zodiac and began testing her engines.
"Not to mention what they'd make of these," said Brodski, holding out the sack Makhno had set down. "You must have half the portable CB radios on Haven in there."
Makhno grabbed the sack and stuffed it aboard the Bitch. "Yeah. Better we should have 'em than Jomo."
"Hmm, any idea why those bozos jumped us?" Brodski asked. "And were they really Jomo's boys, or possibly independents?"
"Jomo's goons," snapped Makhno, not looking up. "Maybe after the Bitch, maybe wanting the women. Saw us, jumped at the chance and started shooting."
"Why the women? Why your raft?" Van Damm pushed.
"The Black Bitch is the fastest boat on the planet, and the women. ." Makhno paused. "Jomo's pulling all the whores in Docktown under his rule. These two used to be independents, who didn't like Jomo's working conditions. As for the girls. . they're Old Harp's daughters. Do I need to tell you anything more?"
"Er, no. Not a thing."
The girls handed in three sheath-knives, a revolver and ammunition from the other man that Brodski had shot. "They didn't have any money on them, Captain Makhno," Mary duly reported. "Just these things."
"That's all right, Mary. Now, everybody, get those women aboard and help push off."
They slid into the river at dead slow, without the superchargers engaged. When they made the lake proper, Makhno opened the throttles, pointed the nose of the Bitch south and relaxed to the rising whine of the superchargers. They'd reach Janesfort at just about Eye rise.
Nobody followed them.
"You are quite sure," Jomo asked coldly, "that the women are nowhere to be found in the city?"
"I assure you, mi Commandante, my men searched the city most thoroughly." DeCastro started to reach for a cigar, then thought better of it. The supply was running low.
"We even managed to search some of the buildings in Castell City proper, under pretext of looking for two women who were contagiously ill."
Jomo raised one eyebrow slightly in appreciation of that trick. It was almost impossible to get any cooperation out of the Harmonies.
"Therefore I must regretfully conclude, that the delectable Ahnli and Zilla have fled the city." DeCastro's regret was genuine, and not just for the loss of income. He had sampled Ahnli's charms last shift, and wanted more of her.
"Then where could they have gone?" Jomo glowered. "There have been no boats in dock for the past three turns, no carts or wagons for the past cycle, and I do not see those two slits going far on foot."
DeCastro shrugged elaborately. "They must have fled with the assistance of those admirers who proved so effective against our search party. The survivor of that encounter was not able to recognize the men in the poor light. They could have come from anywhere, in a concealed boat or wagon, and taken the women back with them: to an outlying farm, or to some collection of the miners and prospectors to the west, or-who knows? — perhaps to the legendary Island of Women. In any case, they have gone out of our reach."