"Stigi, release!" she commanded. With a clank and a clatter, the dragon reluctantly dropped its much-mangled new toy so Karin could retrieve her arrow.
By this time Mick had gotten enough breath back to stand up and look around. Off in the distance he could see plumes of dust rising into the burning sky. Karin was staring intently at the flaming mass that had been the tank.
"Come on!" Gilligan grabbed her arm.
"But my arrow!"
"We don’t have time," he panted. "Let’s get the hell out of here before reinforcements arrive."
She nodded and they set off, Karin at a fast walk, Gilligan at an exhausted shamble and Stigi, prancing from pride, bringing up the rear.
After about a half a mile, they stopped for a moment to get their bearings and let Mick catch his breath.
"Were those more of your people’s creations?" Karin asked.
"The only place I’ve seen stuff like that is on Saturday morning cartoons." He caught her puzzled look. "No, we don’t have anything like that."
"The enemy then."
"Whatever they were before it’s a safe bet they are our enemies now." He looked out at the dust clouds in the distance.
"I’ll bet they are not alone either."
"Probably not," Karin said in a small voice. Then she put her head up. "We must go more carefully and quietly," she added more firmly.
"What we must do," Mick told her, "is get the hell out of here while we still have the opportunity."
"You are free to go."
"Look, we dodged the bullet this time, but only barely. What do we do if we meet a bigger force? And another thing. That unit is going to be missed. This place has about as much cover as a billiard table and when they start looking we’re going to stand out like bugs on a plate."
"We must find out more," Karin said stubbornly.
Mick threw up his hands.
"All right, but if we’re going to commit suicide, let’s at least do it intelligently. Let’s find some cover and rest while we work out the best approach."
Finding cover turned out to be easier said than done. Finally they discovered a deep wash that offered some protection from ground level observation. Stigi hunkered down against the bank and made like a rock and Karin and Mick sat in the shade near his head.
"We had best move only at night from now on," Karin said as she dropped down next to Gilligan. "That way they cannot see us."
"Don’t bet on it. There’s a real good chance at least some of that equipment has infrared sensors. At night we will stand out even better."
"What do you suggest then? Aside from turning back?"
"I think we’d better look for cover. The land’s been getting drier ever since we left our old campsite, so I don’t think we’re going to find any forests. But its also been rising. I’d be willing to bet that there are places not far from here that are cut up by arroyos and canyons. That’s not as good as trees but it will give us some cover."
Karin nodded. "Since the land rises off to the east, that is the way we should go then."
She stopped and frowned. "What is that sound?"
Gilligan’s hearing was damaged from years around jet engines, but he heard it too, a low, hissing whine. Unlike Karin he knew what it was.
"Get down!" he shouted.
The black bat shape glided over the gully without stopping or turning. There was no time to hide. Mick and Karin froze where they were. Stigi opened an eye and for an awful moment Mick was afraid the dragon would stick his head up to see what was going on, but there were no interesting smells or sounds so the dragon decided it wasn’t worth the effort.
Eventually the flier meandered off to the south and finally over the horizon. They stayed frozen a long minute more and then relaxed.
"A scout?" Karin said shakily.
"Probably. Trying to find those things we knocked out."
"Then we had best move quickly. Perhaps we can reach those hills you spoke of by nightfall."
She signalled Stigi to his feet and Gilligan shouldered his pack.
"What the hell is that?" Mikey demanded. He had taken his time coming in answer to Craig’s urgent summons and he obviously wasn’t happy about being called to give a second opinion on a piece of metal.
"I think it’s an arrow. We found it sticking in the hull of a burned-out tank on the edge of the wargame area," Craig told him. "I don’t know how it works yet, but it’s magic somehow."
"And all metal, too. What have you got out there? Robot Indians?"
"Whatever it is did a number on one of my Troll class tanks and three Springer Warbots. One of them was all messed up, like it had been run over by a bulldozer."
"So what do you want me to do?"
"I just figured you should know about it."
"All right, I know. What are you going to do?"
"I’m going to send some more patrols down that way. And mount more sensors on the stuff I’m testing." He paused. "Oh yeah, I’m going to send drones out to map and scout this whole fucking island. Maybe there’s something out there we ought to know about."
He looked at Mikey. "I thought maybe you had some magic or technology or something that could help," he said hesitantly.
"Shit," Mikey said informatively.
"Huh."
"I said shit. S-h-i-t. Shit. That’s what all this robot stuff is. It’s shit."
"How are we going to fight without weapons?" Craig demanded.
"And you call those weapons?" Mikey sneered. "Things that can be wiped out by arrows."
He came around the table and moved close to Craig. "Listen to me, little man. The ones who brought us here have got power you can’t imagine. They gave us the ability to create fucking anything and what do you do? You waste your time with comic book toys."
"They’re not toys!" Craig yelled. "They’re the most powerful weapons man has yet devised!"
"Man has yet devised," Mikey mimicked. "That’s how limited your thinking is. This hasn’t got anything to do with man. We’re beyond man." He stepped back and grew calmer. "You were a mistake, do you know that? Instead of spending your time really learning about how to dominate worlds, you hide down here with your toys. Why don’t you come up to the real world and let the Ur-elves show you what power is?"
"I don’t like them," Craig mumbled. "They make me uncomfortable."
"And because you’re uncomfortable you won’t take advantage of what we’re offered. Christ Jesus! Play with your toys. You’re too fucking pathetic to do anything else!" With that he turned and stomped off.