I hit the edge of town and ran into the forest without breaking stride. I didn't know what tracking options they'd have. I could lower my body temperature, once I stop generating heat from exertion. I could turn off my scent - I perform the action as soon as I thought of it. I couldn't camouflage myself, not like the drones, but I could blend in with the forest when I stopped moving. I was, after all, brown.
I had to make my way to the station, but I didn't have to take the direct route. Did the Quinlans know or suspect that I couldn't go by water? If not, they'd have to guard the river and stream approaches as well. But I couldn't afford to stop moving near the town. If they formed a search cordon, they'd flush me out. And going into hiding wasn't to my advantage. I had to get out of Heaven's River.
I kept up the pace as long as I could, but eventually my heads-up started flashing warnings about overheating. It was okay though, I was several miles out of town by this point, and the Quinlans would take twice the time to catch up with me, even if they knew exactly where I was.
I sat down, took the tranq gun out of my mouth, and began taking deep lungfuls of air. I didn't need the oxygen, but each breath carried away some waste heat. After a bit of fiddling, I found I could jam the gun into a webbing pocket on the side of the backpack. It wasn’t an ideal, but I didn't care at this point if someone saw that I was carrying a Crew weapon.
Time to take stock.
“Hugh, what's your situation?”
“They've put me in manacles, and commandeered a wagon. The hounds were groggy, but not unconscious. They're bellowing up a storm of protest, but doing what they're told.”
“Where are you heading?”
“Looks like the Eastern station. I imagine I'll be going for a ride to meet someone.”
“Okay, keep me updated.”
He would keep for a while.
“Bill, what's the situation?”
“Just ended a moot. We had a talk with Starfleet. It was unsatisfying, let's say. Resolved nothing.”
“Wow, that must've been interesting. Sorry I missed it.”
“You can read the transcripts. Meanwhile, I've been bringing myself up to date on your blog. Bender still okay?”
“His matrix is still in one piece, as far as I know. I just don't know how much jostling these things can take. It's not really part of the specs, you know.”
“Yeah, got it, buddy.”
“Well take it easy. Hopefully we’ll be able to talk later with a little less stress.”
And that was that. I didn't have an excuse to call Will or Howard, or even Marvin or Luke. With an internal sigh, I glanced at my heads-up. Temps were down to something reasonable, although not yet baseline, but I could travel as long as I was relaxed about it. Time to go.
The rest of the trip to the station was uneventful. I did half-expect Quinlans to jump out from behind trees, especially as I got close, but Quinlans weren't forest creatures by nature. I imagined that being in the trees and away from water would make them nervous.
Finally, I could see the transit station through a gap in the forest. With freedom this close, I had to fight an urge to just break into a run. In any case, I wouldn't be going into the front door, or the maintenance door. Fortunately, I had the hatch that Gandalf had…
Uh-oh. A squad of Quinlan stood around the area of the hatch, holding shovels and discussing. Our secret entrance had been found. This was just getting worse and worse. I was literally a stone's throw from getting out, and every damned Quinlan on the planet had decided to show up here. But maybe they’d left the maintenance door open? Or maybe I could sneak in somehow. I didn't see any alternatives.
Taking care to avoid rustling the foliage. I snuck around to the other side of the station. I arrived just as a Quinlan pressed her card against the reader and walked in through the maintenance door. I was too far to grab it before it closed, and anyway, that would be bad strategy until I knew more. But Quinlans were coming and going, and they had security cards. One way or another, I was going to make that work for me.
I watched carefully, waiting for a moment, when no one was in sight. I untangled the tranq gun from my pack, then crept up to the maintenance door. There was no discernible sound from the inside, but the wall construction was pretty thick. I might be able to peer through the front windows to see if anyone was in the lobby, and maybe, just maybe, I had enough fleas left to jimmy the lock.
Without warning, the door burst open and a gaggle of Quinlans poured, out tranq guns drawn. I stared at the guns pointed in my direction. Crew or Resistance, at this point it didn't matter. Both groups were after me. This bunch was standing between me and the way out, and I decided I had just about had it. This was the time for a brute force response. I could take flechettes in the chest without critical damage. Bender's matrix was shielded by my body, and I had a full magazine. I was simply going to keep shooting them until I was the last man standing.
I straightened up tranq gun held out before me and advanced on the group. This caused some consternation as several of them glanced backward with one eye to see if they were being snuck up on, and the rest settled into firing positions. Then one of
