A woman, blonde but apparently completely normal was laid low by an electric bolt. Then the brown haired man followed. Almaa frowned, watching the scene, and looked straight into Chaplinn's eyes. "You are a monster," she said.
"No. I do not consider myself such. Come along," Chaplinn said.
"I will not."
The rest of the damaged jeep folded in on itself and immediately was torn apart. A wall of sand swept through the group of armed assailants, and they were blown backwards. The semi slid backwards by no will of its own. Over the radio channel, Chaplinn shouted, "Honk your horns!"
Silence. Nothing but the sound of sand washing against the sides of the vehicles.
"I said honk your damn horns!"
And the night air was shrill with the trumpeting blasts of jeeps and the semi. The exposed mercenaries pressed at their horns with their feet, hands over their ears. Chaplinn huddled in the sand; his body was pounded by the vibrations and he all but succumbed to them.
Almaa's knees buckled. She stooped then fell into the sand, writhing in pain. All at once the horns stopped and a single bolt entered her body, shocking and throwing her body into a short series of convulsive spasms.
Ed Archer stood at the gate of the complex. Negotiations and discussions were not getting him inside. The Legion of Freemen was his only option. He needed a vehicle and, most importantly, an army. He had not the money for either. The best aspect of the Legion of Freemen was that they were eager to kill anything with a nuclear symbol on its shoulder. All he had to do was convince them it was worth their time.
"I tell you what," a woman said, setting the butt of her rifle on the ground and resting her weight on it. "You can get in. But if you make one wrong move, you will be pounced on like a wounded kart'rann by a pack of wendabbs. If you make two wrong moves, you will be stabbed, shot, burned, and staked right out here somewhere. You got me?"
Ed nodded at the strange warning and moved through the gate to a small shed. Here, two men sat behind a desk. Across from the men was a small area fenced off by privacy boards.
"You gonna frisk him or will I?" A tall, lanky freeman with abundant freckles asked.
"Don't know. The kid's kind of cute," the other man, also tall, but sturdily built, replied. "Still, he probably has plenty of parasites."
The lanky freeman stood from his seat and pointed to a box. "Drop your stuff in there, kid. You won't need it until you leave."
Ed followed his instructions and moved through a roughly wired EMI into the freeman compound, following a young man, little more than a boy himself. The two wound their way through numerous sheds and shacks. Ed could never imagine a battalion camping in these harsh conditions for an extended period of time. But his hopes were up as the two entered a metal door and stood before a wall of fans, annunciated by a slow, low grating sound. The boy walked up to a door amidst the fans and motioned Ed through it.
Upon entering the door and making his way down a wide staircase, Ed found himself in one of the barracks. The boy stepped in and explained that every one of the barracks was connected by a series of underground passageways. He then went on to discuss the marvels of Legion workmanship. Before he could discuss the weapons they had at their command, a large hand bowled him over with a slap to the back of his head.
"Shut up, Batess," the burly man uttered.
"Oh, yeah. Well, I was just showing this guy around."
"New recruit, huh?"
"I...wait, you a new recruit?"
Ed looked to the boy, assuming he was being spoken to now. He said, "Not yet."
The burly man sized Ed up and said, "You might be, right?" A hopeful smile lit up his face.
"Come on, wanderer, let's go." The boy pushed him through a door and shut it behind him.
Ed was staring at a man, his charcoal face contrasting sharply with white whiskers on his chin and the white buzzcut on his head. A thin smile greeted the young man but soon faded into a stern, even look. Ed noticed the badge on his right pocket that said: "Walkerr."
"What is it?"
Ed spoke plainly, "Well, I have some information you would be interested in."
"I hope so. Otherwise, you have just wasted my time. So...what is it?"
"I need a vehicle to take me to a Nuke-leer Messiah location of operations." Ed stepped sideways and looked over his shoulder at a crossbow pointed at his head.
Walkerr shrugged and waved his hand. The crossbow lowered. He said, "Funny. You forgot to tell me how you came by this information."
"The same way I knew you were living here."
"Which brings up another point, son. Who the hell do you think you are playing with?" Walkerr asked. "You expect me to let you out of here so you can lead my men into an ambush and tell your Church buddies where we are?"
A look of shock and astonishment crossed his face. He had not thought this through. "Well...well, do I look like a Churchmember?"
Walkerr lowered his head and raised an eyebrow at Ed.
"I am serious. I...I did this because people have been kidnapped by the Church. No one else can help them except...except you."
"That is a lie. You can not afford to hire anyone to help them."