Hooker stared at him. He became aware of the fact that he was in a cold sweat. His knees were starting to shake.
'Do you really think you can resist torture, Mr. Hooker?'
Hooker swallowed hard. 'Other men have.'
'Only because the interrogators were inept. You're already in a great deal of pain, aren't you? You're afraid. I can see it in your face. So far, this has all been relatively simple, even pleasant. Don't force me to have to hurt you.'
'Go to hell, Goldblum.'
Irving sighed. 'Very well, then. You leave me no choice. I'm really very sorry about this.'
He walked over to the racks and picked up a thumbscrew. It would do for a beginning.
11
'How are you feeling?' Hunter said.
Lucas sat up in bed. 'I've been better, but I guess I'm okay.'
'Glad to hear that,' Hunter said. 'Feel up to some traveling?'
Lucas took a deep breath. 'Where am I going?'
'We.'
'I don't understand.'
'We're going, you and I. Or have you given up on Irving?'
'You mean you're going to help me?'
'Well, now what the hell did you expect me to do, pilgrim?' Hunter said.
Lucas made a wry face and started to get up. 'Frankly, I felt sure that you were going to take advantage of my somewhat weakened condition to clock me out somewhere. I haven't got an implant anymore and you could've sent me just about anywhere with no hope of my ever being found.'
Hunter stared at him. 'Now why would I want to do a thing like that?'
'I may be digging my own grave,' said Lucas, 'but I didn't think that you could afford to let me go. What's to prevent me from reporting you?'
'Nothing,' Hunter said. 'So?'
'So?'
'Come on, now, they didn't hit you all that hard,' said Hunter, chuckling. 'So what if you reported me? What good would that do? They can't trace me and I've got my own plate. At worst, I'd have to give up this cozy little cabin, but that's no big deal. I could find another place. Hell, I can go anywhere I want to and there ain't an awful lot anyone can do about it, is there?'
Lucas smiled. 'You've got a point. I suppose I simply wasn't thinking. But why should you want to get involved?'
'All sorts of reasons,' Hunter said. 'Things have been pretty quiet around here lately. I wouldn't mind a chance to raise some Cain and take on a rogue referee. Sounds interesting. There's also the fact that, without me, you just don't stand a chance unless you get damned lucky. And not the least of my reasons is the fact that I've got to protect my own interests. This guy Irving is vandalizing my playground. He's fooling around with the timestream and that could put me in a sticky situation if I decided to clock out ahead of where he's been mucking about. I'd have no idea of what I'd be getting into. See, I don't want any changes. I like things just the way they are. That way, I've got my edge.'
'So what do you propose?'
'We may as well write off your nysteel gear,' said Hunter. 'It's not really a major loss now that you've got me and I am not without some equipment of my own. The way it stands right now, we're in pretty good shape, since the opposition is completely in the dark about yours truly. He's got no idea you now have access to a chronoplate and he won't know that I can supply you with special gear. I'm not as conservative as your mission commander in that respect. What's more, he can't trace you anymore without your implant.'
Lucas glanced at him sharply. 'What are you talking about?'
Hunter sighed. 'Oh, boy. They really sent out a bunch of suckers on this one, didn't they?'
'I thought only S amp;R had tracer gear.'
'Yeah, well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you weren't briefed,' said Hunter. 'You've never been cleared for duty that would have you assigned to a plate, that much is obvious. S amp;R does have some specialized equipment, but the fact is that any chronoplate can read an implant signal.'
'Jesus Christ,' said Lucas, sitting back and exhaling heavily. 'That means Irving knew about us all along! He knows where we are at any given time!'
'Well, yes and no,' said Hunter. 'I mean, I can see why they didn't make a point of briefing you. Besides, chrono-plates are restricted ordnance. The folks who get to play with them don't usually fraternize with the regular troops and they tend to be a bit closemouthed about them, anyway. Orders, you know. It's a safe bet Irving always had a fairly good idea where you were, but he'd be limited unless he had S amp;R gear, which I don't think he's got. If he did, this whole thing would have been over long ago. Maybe. There are variables involved.'
'I don't get it.'
'Okay, put yourself in his place. You've got access to a plate, but you don't have the Search and Retrieve Personnel Tracking System. You might have been able to get your hands on one, but a PTS probably wouldn't serve your purpose. It's designed for team use, so it's not as portable and it would be a hell of a lot more obvious. You'd want to be in a position where you could transport your equipment fairly inconspicuously. S amp;R wouldn't have your particular problems.
'So,' he said, reaching for the bourbon bottle and taking a long pull, 'you've got yourself a standard issue plate without the fancy PTS back-up system. Still gives you a lot to play with. For one thing, it gives you complete mobility. S amp;R generally works from a field base with scouting units. We'll assume some versatility, with a safety field and a PRU remote, we're still talking about an easily concealable kit. Now the standard gear allows you to scan for implant signals, but you only have a limited degree of accuracy without the PTS. You can't pin an implant down as well. That means Irving knows what I know. I read two implants west of us, smack dab in the middle of Locksley's territory. That will be your Johnson and Delaney. I can find their camp if I have to, but that's about as close as I can get. I could be standing in the middle of a group of ten or twenty people, say, and I wouldn't be able to tell which of them had implants unless I pulled my gear out there and then and took some time about it, which would hardly prove practical for Irving, right? So he can track you, but he can't nail you down absolutely without exposing himself to danger.'
'I still don't see what kept him from moving in on us,' said Lucas.
'A couple of things. First off, he wouldn't know exactly where you were or who you were. Not unless he was right on top of you and scanning. That still puts him in a good position to take you out, but what happens then? Remember, put yourself in his place. Suppose he takes you prisoner. The other ref still reads you. He can get a rough reading on you and figure a fairly close location with a little time. He might figure out that you were taken. If Irving wastes you, your implant sends a KIA signal. If your signal winks out, that means a probable KIA with implant damage. See, that's why they didn't bother to brief you. They knew Irving could read you, but they had to read you, too, because if the adjustment team fails, what happens then?'
'They try to get another team,' said Lucas, dryly.
'Right. Insurgents are easier to neutralize if you can identify and isolate them. So long as you're not a direct threat to Irving and he's got some idea where you are, he leaves you alone and the scenario progresses in a roughly linear fashion. Irving's either got to try and effect a change that's radical enough to throw the mission out or he's got to get to your mission commander.'
'So what happens now?' said Lucas.
'Now, he probably figures you got killed somehow. These are dangerous times, after all. What we do is rendezvous with Johnson and Delaney and put our heads together. The outlaws might prove useful, too.'
'I've got to pick up Hooker,' Lucas said.
'I'm afraid that's not going, to happen,' Hunter said. He passed Lucas the bottle. 'I had him scanned in
