CHAPTER 11

Higgins’ Compound, Twilight, 15 Months Ago

Be glad to get on with this cuz I’m ‘bout bored outta my mind. Only excitement I had all day was almost steppin’ on that rattler. Bashed its head in, tried eatin’ some. Yuck. Must be the air here, tasted awful. Got the rattle in my pocket. Might have use for it later.

Foreman showed up round supper, just like in the brief. Didn’t stay long, just dropped off the day’s production tally, then back to Canton. Nobody else come or left since.

Not impressed with the guards, they look kinda sloppy. Watched ‘em switch off at four. The pair comin’ off duty just sloped on back to the bunkhouse, wantin’ their grub. The last pair as sloppy as these other four, should be a piece of easy.

Heinlein’ll be up soon, can start slidin’ over towards the bunk then. Need sumthin’ to use for a cosh, preferably a big one. Rock from the creek might do, but’d prefer a stout piece of wood. Might be something round the bunk I can use, pipe or suchlike.

C’mon Big H, show yer face over that ridge. Need to get movin’ around afore I freeze to the ground here.

Hera: Hide Number Two, Dawn

Damn skeeters ‘bout ate me alive last night. Where’s the frikkin’ med kit? There it is...Damn this wonder goop is great stuff. Anti-bacterial and topical anesthetic in one go.

Never could figger why they brought all these damn vermin from Earth That Was. I mean, skeeters, cockroaches? I know they wanted to make new Earths out here, but sheeit, I’d’ve left all these little sumbitches behind to fry.

Til I can get a confirm on the numbers I cain’t plan it ALL out, but I can some. Gotta neutralize the boat, that’s a priority. After I take out the two on guard there tonight, then what? Could just blow the crap out of it, but, it’s sittin’ close enough to Jeb’s for flyin’ bits to take his place down. Could just render it unflyable.

What’d be a quick & dirty to get the job done..........mmmm......core control card. Pull that and she won’t power up at all. Core scrams, goes to battery backup. Looks the same on the outside except for the lights flicker at changeover, but inside she’s deader’n hell. Beauty.

Wouldn’t mind a little help tonight, but this is all on me. I brought it here, mine to deal with.

Just had me a wicked thought........ ......nawwww......oh yes. Heyull yes! That is evil. Absotively, posilutely, frikkin, EVIL. I am such a sumbitch sometimes.

Where’s my ‘pedia ....c’mere you. Orbital charts........punch in the date, and....yes. Hera’s here, and he’ll be .....less than a day away in a fast ship, if there’s one handy. Won’t hurt to try, and if he can get here, well, the look on Barty’s face would be just gorram priceless.

That’d mean leavin’ the little git alive, though. Might happen, might not. Barty won’t get his own hands dirty when he got other folk to do it for ‘im. He’ll stay tucked outta the way durin’ the fightin’, bet on that.

Yeahhhhh.

Shiny. I got me a wave to send.