Sooner Dead (Gamma World) - Mel Odom [117]
“They’re going to miss the area where Ocastya says Trammell and Trazall are holding Scatter.”
“Yeah.”
“That means they haven’t sniffed out Trazall’s true trail. He’s probably got a small group staying out in front of the expedition, putting down false sign. Since Trazall can’t just overpower and kill Pardot’s little hunting party, he’s going to lose them in the swamp and let nature take its course.” Stampede was silent for a moment. “Not a bad plan, actually.”
Although she wouldn’t say it, Hella didn’t like the idea of Riley’s getting killed out in the wilderness. She couldn’t explain that reluctance even to herself.
“That’s probably what would happen. If we let it.”
Hella stared at Riley through the binocs. “You’re not going to try to join up with them again.”
“No. They’d probably shoot us on sight. But we’re not going to lose them either. We’re seriously outmanned here, Red. We’re going to create advantages and use them. Pardot and Trazall are enemies. We all want the same thing, but we can’t afford to take Trazall on head-to-head. We’re going to let them engage each other. If that helps us.”
“We’re going to guide Riley back to the lab where Trammell is?”
“If it suits us. C’mon. Let’s head back. We need to get up early and find this lab then figure out if having Riley and Pardot on hand there is going to help us.”
Hella put her binocs away then faded back into the darkness with Stampede.
CHAPTER 31
That was a mil-site that was off the grid even back before the collider blew up the world.”
Hella trained her binocs on the installation, taking in all the straight lines of it that were revealed through the overlapping brush and trees. At first glance, the building blended into the surroundings, but upon further study, she saw how it had pushed up from the ground like bones breaking through a decaying corpse. The engineers had built it to outlast the stone around it, to weather attacks and breaches, and the steel-reinforced concrete still stood. One day, when the earth around it ground down into dust, the building would stand fully revealed.
Someone had put considerable effort into keeping the complex disguised. If Ocastya hadn’t led her and Stampede to the area, Hella doubted she would have seen it.
She lay among the rocks of an adjacent mountain and studied the complex through her binocs. Morning hadn’t yet burned away, and long shadows lay over the ground from the nearby trees and the tall mountains.
Ocastya sat beside her and regarded Hella curiously. “Why do you use that device?”
“Because I can’t see the building from this distance.”
“Of course you can.”
“I think I would know.”
“You simply have to alter your eyes to compensate for the distance. It is an easy adjustment. Let me show you.”
Hella waved the fractoid’s hand away before she made contact with her head. “No. Don’t.”
Ocastya withdrew her hand and looked hurt. “I apologize.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
“I offended you. It is only logical that I apologize.”
“You tried to help. I appreciate that. But I can’t adapt to many changes like what you’re suggesting.”
“I do not understand.”
“The things you and Scatter do, they’re not normal for me.”
“Of course they are. Your nanobot assembly is capable of many things.”
“Let me rephrase that. Those things you do aren’t normal to me.” Hella took a moment to assemble her thoughts. “When I first discovered I could morph my hands into guns and process metal and chemicals through my body, I went into total swampmelt.”
“ ‘Swampmelt’? That term is unknown to me.”
“It’s when something unusual happens. It’s like your brain locks up. Like when a section of the swamp suddenly bubbles up and sucks down whatever is above it.”
“You mean you were surprised.”
Hella glanced at her. “How did you feel when you discovered you were in freefall in this world and one second away from becoming a comet?”
“Oh. I see.”
“Yeah. Like that.”
“But appearing in another world, falling