Sooner Dead (Gamma World) - Mel Odom [60]
“I need you to promise me that, Stampede. Tonight was harder to get back than it has been before. And I just can’t stop thinking about the hive mind controlling those dead ’Chine. So promise me.”
Instead Stampede wrapped her in his arms again, and she felt swallowed up in parental love. She didn’t know who her parents were or if she’d even had them, but she knew who’d loved her and raised her.
“You got my promise, Red, but I promise you this too: there’ll be a lot of dead people before I let that happen.”
By the time Hella finished changing into fresh clothing and returned to the camp, Stampede stood bathed in firelight from the cook fire. Pardot paced angrily in front of him, shaking his head vociferously.
Hella had taken time to clean her other clothes as best as she was able, soaking the jeans, blouse, and underthings with cold water so the blood wouldn’t set into the fabric, and finally washing them with hydrogen peroxide that she and Stampede carried for that purpose. There were too many things in the Redblight that could track potential prey even by the scent of old bloodstains.
“—and letting them get away with it is out of the question.” Pardot stared at Riley as if everything were his fault.
“Dr. Pardot, those …” Riley’s voice failed him. “Those ’Chine are incredibly dangerous. We were lucky to escape with our lives.”
“They ambushed you, Captain Riley. I understand that. But I—we—didn’t come all this way to lose that device now.” Pardot swiveled his attention back to Stampede. “There were only three of you.”
“And all of us lucky to be alive now.” Stampede stood relaxed, one hand wrapped around the barrel of his rifle while the butt rested on the ground.
Colleen Trammell sat cross-legged on the ground. She wouldn’t meet Hella’s gaze and didn’t respond to Hella’s thinking about her. Not that Hella wanted any mental contact with the woman. Having the nanobots buzzing around inside her head earlier was enough.
“Surely we can catch those things and retrieve that device.” With the firelight flickering over Pardot and the exo encasing him, Hella thought he looked a lot like one of the ’Chine. She wondered if they would think so as well.
Stampede shook his head. “They move fast and at night they see as well as we do in the day. Chasing after them in the dark would be suicidal.”
“In the morning, then. If you think we can make up the lead they get tonight.”
“Dr. Pardot.” Stampede kept his voice polite with effort. “Even in the daylight, those things are dangerous.”
“You say they communicate through a common radio frequency.”
“Some kind of frequency.”
“What if I said we have a low-yield EMP device that will knock that system off-line? At least for a time. Do you think we would have a chance then?”
That surprised Hella. She knew what electromagnetic pulse devices were from discussions at trade camps, but she’d never heard of one small enough to be used in a localized area.
Stampede shifted his attention to Riley. “You have something like that?”
Riley gave a tight nod. “We do.”
That would definitely tilt the odds, but Hella still didn’t relish the idea of clashing with the mechanical zombies again.
“Questioning what I tell you is disrespectful.” Pardot clanked over in front of Stampede.
Snorting in disgust, Stampede pinned Pardot with his hot gaze. “Risking my partner and my neck is my business. Getting dead lasts a whole lot longer than getting disrespected. Are we clear on that?”
Pardot trembled with rage, and the body movement translated to the support exo, causing the servos to whine in distress as they tried to interpret the reaction. “We’re clear.” He paused. “I can offer a bonus at this point. A successful recovery of the device will net you twice what we’d agreed upon.”
Stampede kept his broad face impassive, but Hella knew he was just as taken aback as she was. It was more money than they’d ever had at one time.
Please. Hella heard Colleen’s desperate plea inside her head an instant before an image of the woman