'I don't know if that's wise,' said Lucas. 'Maybe we should wait until he gets into the thick of it. If he falls in the middle of the battle, it might not be as noticeable.'
'I really don't give a damn,' said Bobby.
'Don't be hasty,' Lucas said. 'There are outlaws all around us who are very pleased to see this man. Remember, he just pardoned all of them. They're not going to take it too kindly if they see you drawing a bead on him. The idea is for us to get the job done and get back alive.'
'Maybe. But it might be best just to take our chances. Finn's right. Our job is to take him out and then let the refs worry about fixing things up.'
'All right. So we'll take him out. But let's not rush it and blow the deal. Has it occurred to you that he knows we're here? Do you think he'd be so stupid as to make such an obvious target of himself?'
'What are you getting at?'
'What I'm getting at is that there's no guarantee that the guy wearing Richard's armor is really Irving. He might be one of the others and the man in Richard's armor just a decoy to enable him to get past us.'
'The man's got a point,' said Hunter. He had come up right behind them and now he beckoned them back under the cover of the trees. They went a short distance away from the drawn lines of the outlaws and found that Hunter had brought his chronoplate with him, along with some other equipment. 'Okay, I'm going to make it fast, so listen up. I just hope to hell you guys have been cleared on these weapons at some time, because I haven't got the time or the inclination to start giving lessons right now. I brought back a couple of Swedish 'K' grease guns. Lucas, you hang on to my Colt, I've brought back another. Bobby, here's a. 45 for you, too. If things get really hairy, I brought back a few pyrogel grenades, Mark Fours. Here's a bunch of magazines-'
'Are you kidding?' Bobby said. 'This stuff's prehistoric!'
'Not in the 12th century it ain't, pilgrim. Listen, I had a hell of a time just getting those grenades. What do you want, a GE/Krupp four-barrel pulser? I almost got myself fried getting my hands on these. TC ordnance isn't exactly just lying around for the taking, you know. I'm not putting my ass on the line for anybody. If you can't do the job with this stuff, you just can't do the job, so hang it up.'
'Okay, okay,' said Bobby. 'So what's the plan?'
'The plan is to move fast as hell,' said Hunter. 'Lucas is right. You don't know which of those jokers is Irving, so Bobby, old friend, you just take one of these pretty little Swedes and you open up on all of 'em.'
'If Irving's wearing nysteel, a submachine gun isn't going to do the trick. It might beat his armor all to hell, but it's going to be pretty iffy.'
'Right. But you can bet your ass it's going to knock him down,' said Hunter. 'It'll kill anybody who isn't wearing nysteel. The guy who gets back up is your man. Then you can use one of your fancy arrows on him. Right?'
'Great,' said Bobby. 'Give me that thing.' He took the grease gun and quickly checked it.
'You all still got the PRU's I gave you?' Hunter said. 'Where's Delaney?'
'He's up with the assault force,' Lucas said. 'Yeah, we've all got'em.'
'Good. They're all slaved to this unit.' He indicated the chronoplate. 'I'll stay back here and try to keep my eye on you. Like I said, I'm not going to lay my ass on the line if I can help it. If I see you're in trouble, I'll yank you right back here. Likewise, if you're in a jam, the PRU will bring you right back to this spot, so we've got a double safety, your control and mine. Any questions?'
'No,' said Bobby. 'Let's do it.'
'Get a move on. Those knights are coming on fast.'
They moved back forward, Bobby using his body to shield the 'K.' As the knights rode up to the scene of battle, the barbican fell to the outlaws and the Norman men at arms began to sally forth from the castle to defend the postern. Hunter bent over his chronoplate and, seconds later, Finn Delaney stood in front of him.
'What the hell?' Finn said.
'I used the PRU to snatch you back here,' Hunter said. He tossed Finn the other grease gun, then handed him a Browning nine-millimeter and a satchel of grenades. 'Now listen up. We could be in deep shit unless we find Irving's chronoplate. You can bet your ass he hasn't got it with him.'
'How the hell are we going to do that?' said Finn. 'We haven't got enough manpower to institute a radius search-'
''We don't have to. It's a gamble, but I think his plate is in Nottingham Castle. I scanned Hooker over there just before he died. I could still be wrong, but it's the best guess I can make right now. I'm going to clock you over there. Now there will be people in your way, but you've got them at a disadvantage now. You go through that castle and you find that damn plate. There's some plastique in that satchel. You find it and you blow it, got it? And then our friend won't be able to getaway.'
'That's assuming that you're right and the plate is there,' said Finn.
Hunter shrugged. 'You got a better idea?'
'No. Okay. Clock me out.'
'Good luck.'
Finn disappeared.
Irving rode at the rear of the formation, his nysteel armor relacquered from its original black shade to one of green. Up ahead of him, the sheriff rode at the front of the formation, wearing the three lions of Richard Plantagenet. Some of the other knights had unlacquered armor, others, who held lands, wore the colors they were known by. Irving had no doubt that if the temporal agents were to strike, they would move first against Sir Guy. He would have to remain on his guard, watching out for them. Once he had them spotted, he could move to neutralize them. He kept his hand on his PRU. As they approached the battle, suddenly there erupted from the outlaw ranks a staccato clattering and Sir Guy and the two knights immediately to either side went down. Irving looked wildly about the scene. The formation was broken up when the first three knights were hit. Three more died before Irving had the man spotted.
It wasn't hard to spot him. He stood all alone, firing a submachine gun. A submachine gun! Incredible! They must have reached total desperation. All around the man, the outlaws were drawing back in panic, fleeing from the noise and the destruction that they could never understand. Even as he watched, more men went down in front of him as the man kept firing in short, steady bursts, and then bullets were ripping into him. It had all happened so fast, he barely had time to think. He hit the ground hard, caught his breath and struggled to his feet, thankful that he had kept his grip on the PRU.
'Bingo!' said Bobby, tossing the grease gun to Lucas, who came running up beside him. 'The green knight! Cover me!' He nocked his warhead arrow and drew back his bow. 'Game's over!' Bobby said.
As Irving got up, he hit the PRU and clocked himself back to Nottingham. He reappeared inside his chambers in the castle. The temporal agents were desperate men and they had resorted to desperate tactics. Well, the game wasn't over yet. He still had his chronoplate and that was where he had them, superior firepower notwithstanding. He could still outflank them. He quickly made the necessary adjustments on the plate, then clocked himself back onto the scene of the battle, in a different location, seconds before he had clocked back to Nottingham.
Bobby had drawn his bow and was aiming at the green knight, but even as he let the arrow fly, Irving disappeared. At that same instant, Irving appeared behind him. Even as the Irving Bobby was shooting at was clocking out, the Irving who had clocked in behind him plunged a dagger into him.
'Bobby!' Lucas shouted. He swung the grease gun around and fired, but Irving was no longer there. Instantly realizing his error, Lucas spun around and only had enough time to hurl himself sideways as Irving brought his sword down in a vicious arc. The sword missed him, but just barely.
Suddenly, Lucas was on the ground at Hunter's feet. Hunter had used the PRU to yank him away.
'Son of a bitch is playing fugue games,'' Hunter said.
'I've still got the gun, give me some grenades,' said Lucas.
'Forget it, man. You don't want to go filling the air with slugs when you might be clocking right into 'em. We're just going to have to play that game ourselves. No other way.'
'I've got no armor!' Lucas said.
