第17节

Malone was a virtual stranger. A cipher whose mind, for

the moment at least, was inaccessible. 'No. But we couldn't have

escaped without outside help - which he organized. If he turns up

again, ask him about it. All I can say is, no one's safe when he's

around."

'I'll bear that in mind,' said Malone. 'Meanwhile forget we've had

this conversation. If Brickman does rejoin us, I may decide to let

things ride for a while. If you're right, and he/s an undercover Fed

then it may be to our advantage to let him think we trust him

completely. Know what I mean?"

'I think so..."

'Good. Let's hit the trail." Malone gave Cadillac a friendly slap on

the back then ushered him over to the waiting horses. He would have

preferred to have broken the back of this snivelling piece of lumpshit

but - like Brickman - he had a job to do and a role to play.

That of big-hearted Matt Malone, friend and protector of abandoned

Mutes.

Some six hundred miles to the south of Malone's present position close

to the Platte River, Nebraska, The Lady from Louisiana wagon-train had

emerged from the repair bays and was back in what was known as 'the

roads', being readied for action in the vast underground depot at

Nixon/Fort Worth.

In June 2989, The Lady had narrowly avoided a major disaster in its

first encounter with a Plainfolk clan aided by a summoner. Caught in a

flash-flood, The Lady had managed to extricate herself virtually

undamaged but in doing so, she had lost nine out of the ten wing-men

posted aboard and their aircraft, plus over eighty linemen.

Close on double that number had been wounded.

In November 2990, when The Lady had been sent out into the snows on a

special mission, it had been even worse. The explosive charges planted

by Cadillac and Clearwater had totally destroyed the blood-wagon-and

flight car, and the tidal wave of fire that erupted from the stock of

napalm canisters and liquid methane tanks stored beneath the hanger

deck had rolled through three more cars, incinerating the crewmen in

its path.

Abandoning the five gutted cars, The Lady reformed and set course, as

directed, for Monroe/Wichita, the still-uncompleted divisional base in

Kansas, Arriving at the interface, the wounded crewmen had been

offloaded and rushed to hospital. Commander Hartmann and his team of

execs, including Trail Boss McDonnell had been placed under close

arrest and shuttled to Grand Central to await trial. The surviving

members of the crew who had escaped the same 'dereliction of duty'

charge were placed under the temporary command of an executive team

drawn from the training staff at Fort Worth. It was they who had

brought The Lady - defeated and disgraced - southwards through Oklahoma

into the relative safety of the HOme State and back down the long

incline into the depot.

The winter months - whose high point was the celebration of the New

Year - were, by tradition, spent on 'rest and refit' (R & R). A period

when TrailBlazer crews enjoyed a welcome spell of leave after eight to

nine months on the overground, and when the depot engineers began their

task of overhauling the trains, readying them for their next assault on

the blue-sky world.

The Lady was in need of more than a refit. The missing wagons had to

be replaced, fire-damage to several others had to be made good, the

crew had to be brought up to strength and their shattered morale

restored.

Bringing The Lady back to operational status was a major undertaking

but it proved easier than raising the crew's spirits. Despite the

damage and the casualties The Lady had sustained, Hartmann and his

executive team with perhaps one exception - were held in high regard by

the Trail-Blazers who served under them. The exec who failed to

inspire the troops to the same degree was Captain Baxter, the Flight

Operations Officer. He had died in the blast that ripped through the

packed hangar deck of the flight car, killing Gus White and the other

wing-men, the mechanics, deck handlers and a score of TrailBlazers.

The Lady's Trail Boss, Buck McDonnell, whose alertness and quick

reactions had saved the forward command car and its crew had been

released after two months detention. In a brief appearance before a

Board of Assessors, he was informed that all charges had been dropped

and was ordered to report for active duty at Nixon/Fort Worth. Exiting