[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

The others murmured among themselves.
"This is a lot," Lisa demurred. "If this information falls into the hands of
the heirs, we'll be destroyed."
"You ask a lot," Krysty reminded. "We aren't fools, or suicides to charge
blindly into battle."
"And leave me the vial," Mildred said.
"No. You'll get it just before your attack," Lisa countered.
"I'm a physician, a healer," Mildred explained to their puzzled expressions.
"I might be able to analyze the formula and duplicate it. Make enough for
everybody."
Conflicting emotions played across the brunette's face.
"No," she decided. "The risk for betrayal is too great. You get the antidote
when we say so, not before."
Mildred shrugged in acceptance.
"The ville sec men have blasters," Krysty said, holstering her weapon.
"Without Leviathan, we re going to need an equalizer. Something unexpected.
Can't conduct a revolution with sticks and rocks."
"Sure can," Jak drawled, pulling up a chair. "Lose."
"Our loquacious teenaged friend is correct," Doc said, leaning on his cane.
"Without proper weaponry our efforts are for naught."
"We need a key," Ryan said thoughtfully. "J.B., what can you do with this
dynamite?"
The Armorer inspected the top stick in the wooden box. The waxed tube was
glistening with silver dewdrops. He replaced it with extreme care. "This is
really old. It's sweaty nitro.
Dangerous stuff. I can probably stabilize it into plastique. Should yield a
couple of pounds of C-
4."
"Not enough," Ryan stated, cracking his knuckles. "Any more in stock?"
"That's all we have," Lisa said. "And two men died stealing that much."
"Well, I can make lots of black powder," J.B. told them, scratching under his
hat, "if you folks can get me some sulfur. The charcoal we can make from
slow-roasting wood, and saltpeter we dig up out of latrines."
"I know the technique for turning black powder into gunpowder," Mildred said.
Page 97
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"It isn't
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20...ndora's%20Reboubt%20-%20Nick%20P
ollotta.txt (75 of 110) [12/24/2004 11:32:26 PM]
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/Axler,%20James...20(12/55)/
050%20-%20Pandora's%20Reboubt%20-%20Nick%20Pollotta.txt plastique, but it
explodes better than black powder."
"Couple of hundredweight of that and we're in business," Ryan announced.
"Nails for shrapnel," Jak said.
"Explosives from night soil?" Lisa asked, staring at the companions as if she
questioned their sanity.
"Close enough. Crystals form under deposits of waste. The older the better.
The crystals are saltpeter, one of the chemicals needed to make black powder."
This news was received with excitement.
"Unfortunately, we have no latrines," Clifford said glumly. "The night soil of
the ville is flushed into the river."
J.B. exhaled and tilted his hat backward. "Great. Well, what about silver?
Coins, cups, anything will do."
"We can get some, yes," Lisa said. "But for what purpose? Any supplies needed
we don't buy, we steal."
"Then steal me silver," J.B. ordered. "And white sugar. Lots of it. All you
can."
"There is beet sugar," Kathy said hesitantly. "But it's reserved for the
heirs, and it's much more closely guarded than ornamental metals."
"Get me enough, and I can make us explosives."
"From silver and sugar?" Troy demanded.
"And water and sunlight and old rags, yes." J.B. tapped the wooden box of
dynamite with a fingertip. "I'll use these as primers and centers. Should do
the job just fine."
David frowned. "Use them to do what?"
"Get us more plastique," Ryan told them. "Plus, grens, ammo and anything else
useful we can find."
"Never waste time trying to reinvent the wheel," Doc explained. "Why make
crude weapons, when we can steal good ones?"
"Steal." Lisa chewed on the word. "You plan on raiding the ville armory?" Her
words ended on a high note.
"Sure. Last thing anybody would expect."
"You aren't cowards," Troy admitted in spite of his reservations. "Invade the
Citadel. I
don't believe that has ever been attempted."
"Good," Ryan said. "Then security will be lax."
"Excuse me," Dean interrupted, stepping forward, "but I wanted to ask, what
happened to
Shard?"
"Who?" Lisa asked, furrowing her brows.
Krysty glanced around the tunnel room. "Shard, the prisoner who was with us.
Where is he?"
"Shard?"
"Tall skinny guy," J.B. said. "Bushy beard."
The slim brunette looked at her associates, then directly at the companions.
"I'm sorry, but we don't understand. There wasn't anybody clse in the
courtyard when we found you."
"Are you sure?" Ryan prompted with a scowl.
"Mebbe he got away, or the guards captured him." She shook her head. "Nobody."
Chapter Fifteen
Washlines heavy with laundry wove a crazed netting over the filthy street.
Marching in formation, a squad of sec men tramped through the squalid huts,
pushing aside everybody in their way with a complete lack of concern. An old
woman fell sprawling into the mud and half-naked children ran screaming for
Page 98
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
their mothers' skirts. Strong men stood silent as the armed guards went by,
many of them hiding a clenched fist behind their backs.
"This is it," a corporal said, pointing at a hovel.
The house was made from bits and pieces of plywood and sheet metal, the tar
paper roof sealed with mud. The whole thing was bleached gray from exposure to
the acid rains from the west.
One savage kick from a private and the door broke apart into kindling, pieces
of wood still clinging to the rusty hinges.
Inside, a girl was using a bare stick to stir a pot of something cooking over
a small fire of coal fragments. As the sec men entered, she dropped the stick
and folded her hands, bowing as low as possible.
"Good sirs," she spoke to the ground, not daring to look directly at them,
"command me."
"Where are the strangers!" the corporal demanded, wrenching her face upward.
"We know they're loose in Detail. Tell us where." Underneath the layers of
cooking grease and dirt, he saw
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20...ndora's%20Reboubt%20-%20Nick%20P
ollotta.txt (76 of 110) [12/24/2004 11:32:26 PM]
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/Axler,%20James...20(12/55)/
050%20-%20Pandora's%20Reboubt%20-%20Nick%20Pollotta.txt she was a beauty
indeed, and wondered why this one had never before been brought to the
barracks for a week of bed duty. Sloppy recruiting.
"Strangers, good master?" She blinked, wringing her hands.
"Outlanders, pretty one," he stated, tracing her face with a finger. Her cheek
muscles twitched, but she didn't flinch. "Mutie invaders come to kill us all."
"I haven't seen them, master. I'm a good prisoner!" the teenager pleaded. "I
obey the law."
The corporal released her and moved aside. Stepping closer, a burly sec man
slapped her across the face with the back of his gloved hand. She hit the dirt
floor, sobbing wildly.
"Liar," the corporal said, a hint of a smile crossing his face. "Where could
you get coal pieces, unless they were stolen?"
The young woman worked her lips a few times, but nothing come out. Everybody [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]