down on top of him.
He was still standing like that when the Harley frame swung in from in front of him and nailed him squarely in the chest.
With a grunt of agony he fell backward into the doorway, slamming into the next Halka in line. Before they could untangle themselves I was on them, hammering at both heads and every limb I could reach with my fork club. The longer I could keep them trapped in the vestibule, where they had limited freedom of movement, the better.
But the same lack of space that hampered the Halkas also limited the amount of power I could bring to bear with my club. The Halkas shrugged off my blows with surprising ease, regained their mutual balance, and started back out at me.
'Frank!'
Bayta called. I dropped into a low crouch as a swarm of nuts and bolts came flying into the lead Halka's face. He snarled something, the snarl followed immediately by a bellow as I swung my club backhand across his knees. He fell forward, landing full-length with a resounding thud, and instantly rolled onto his side as he clutched at his knees.
One down. God only knew how many to go.
Bayta's second salvo, and my second kneecapping, took out the second Halka, dropping him on top of the first. But the third walker in line was a much smaller and quicker Juri. Instead of trying to bull his way through the doorway as the first two walkers had, he leaped up onto the suspended bike's front fender, grabbed the safety webbing rope tied to the handlebars, and swung himself onto the floor on the far side of the double heap of Halkas. I jabbed my club at him over the bike's saddle, but I was only able to deliver a glancing blow to his back before he skipped out of range.
I had just slammed my club across the face of the next Juri in line when the escapee ran around the wounded Halkas and hurled himself at me.
I ducked back, swinging furiously back and forth to try to keep him at bay. But this was a walker, and none of the normal instincts for self-defense applied. He took three punishing swipes across the head and torso before I managed to put him down for good.
But by then it was too late. My forced inattention to the doorway had allowed in three more walkers, two Halkas and a Juri.
And in that handful of seconds I was suddenly on the defensive.
'Bayta—retreat!' I shouted as I ducked into the maze of narrow passageways between the stacks. Over the clacking of Quadrail wheels I could hear the thudding of heavy Halkan feet as the walkers took off after me down the passageway. 'Rebekah, get on top of the crates and hide!' I added.
There was no reply from either of them. But then, I hadn't expected any. Rebekah was hidden away in her crate, as safe as she would be anywhere, with no reason to go anywhere else. As for Bayta, she knew perfectly well what my coded retreat order really meant. I passed a distinctive pair of stacks and braked to a sudden halt, turning around and raising my club as if I had decided to make my stand right then and there.
And as the line of walkers charged toward me, the first Halka hit the trip line that had magically snapped up to knee height between the stacks.
He hit the floor with an even more impressive crash than those of the two I'd laid out by the vestibule. The Halka immediately behind him was going way too fast to stop, and landed full-length on his companion's wide back.
The Juri behind them didn't even try to slow down, but merely charged up onto the downed Halkas' backs and leaped at me like a gymnast coming off a springboard. He got a crack across the side of his rib lattice for his trouble, and another across the back of his head as he hit the floor in front of the Halkas. I stepped to the Halkas and gave each of them a crack on the head to keep them quiet.
Bayta was still crouched by the side of one of the crates, gripping the end of the safety webbing trip line. She dropped the line and jumped to her feet as I came up to her, and together we headed off into the maze.
We had just completed the second zig of a planned three-zigzag maneuver when the Modhri nailed us.
It was a well-planned and well-executed attack. The walkers, mostly Juriani and Bellidos, came at us from three different directions, three assault lines of three aliens each, all of them charging ahead with the by-now familiar disregard for their own personal safety. Bayta and I fought them off as best we could, the confined fighting space around us becoming even more cramped with every fresh body that staggered and then fell stunned or unconscious at our feet.
Fortunately, like most of the beings the Modhri had chosen to infect with himself, these walkers were from the upper classes; rich, powerful, up in years, and not in particularly good fighting trim. Even with their numerical advantage Bayta and I held our own, keeping our attackers back as we steadily whittled them down. I managed to clear out one of the lines of attackers, opening up an exit vector, and grabbed Bayta's arm with my free hand. 'Come on,' I panted, pushing her behind me as I turned to cover our retreat.
And without warning, something slammed into me from above, bouncing the back of my head off the nearest stack of crates and shoving me to the floor.
The next few minutes were a blur of hands and bodies and movement. By the time the haze lifted from my mind, I found myself back in the relatively open area by the baggage car's forward door and the suspended Harley, sitting on the floor with my back to one of the stacks of crates. There was a Juri towering over me on either side, and a line of Halkas and Juriani and Bellidos staring silently down at me from three meters away. Halkas, Juriani, Bellidos, and one lone Human.
Braithewick.
I took a careful breath, checking out the state of my chest as I did so. There was some serious bruising down there, but it didn't feel like anything was broken. 'Well, that was fun,' I said casually, focusing on Braithewick's sagging face. 'Round One goes to you. Shall we set up for Round Two?'
'Where is the Abomination?' he asked.
'That's hard to say,' I said. 'I think I may have misplaced it.'
Braithewick cocked his head, and from my left came a muffled gasp.
I turned that direction, craning my neck to look around the Juri standing guard on that side. Bayta was two stacks down, being pressed against the safety webbing by a pair of seriously bruised Halkas. One of them was gripping her right forearm with one hand and bending her hand back at the wrist with his other. 'Leave her alone,' I growled. 'You want to torture someone, torture me.'
'I think not,' Braithewick said calmly. 'You are a strong Human, Compton. I make you the compliment that breaking your bones will not gain me anything.' He gestured toward Bayta. 'But you are not strong enough to stand by and watch the slow destruction of the Human Bayta's life. Tell me where the Abomination is, or I'll begin by pulling out her fingers.'
Bayta looked at me, her face taut but determined. 'There's no need to get melodramatic,' I told the Modhri. 'Let her go, and I'll tell you.'
'Tell me first,' Braithewick said.
'Let her go first,' I repeated.
Braithewick seemed to consider. Then, almost reluctantly, the Halka holding Bayta's arm relaxed the pressure on her wrist. 'Where is the Abomination?' Braithewick asked.
I looked consideringly at the ceiling. 'It should be right about …there,' I said, pointing upward.
Braithewick didn't speak, but Bayta suddenly gasped again in pain. 'Stop it,' I snapped. 'I'm telling the truth.'
'The Abomination is not on the roof,' Braithewick snapped back.
'I didn't say it was on the roof,' I countered. 'I said it was out there.' I pointed again.
'You lie,' Braithewick insisted. 'It is here. I can feel its presence.'
'Fine—have it your way,' I said. 'There are probably three to four hundred crates in here. Go ahead—knock yourself out.'
Braithewick eyed me, his expression turning from angry to puzzled. 'Why do you play such games, Compton? Do you truly believe I will hesitate to destroy the Human Bayta's life?' He cocked his head. 'Or is it that you fear her agonizing death less than you fear the other fate I hold within my power?'
A cold chill ran through me. Other Modhran mind segments over the years had threatened to infect Bayta and
