“So,” he said. “What’s the game plan?”
It took Rona a moment to realize the question was directed at her. She was still on overwatch, after all. She grinned and leaned forward to get a better look at the map.
“Listen,” she said. “Here’s what I want you to do…”
CHAPTER 30
It was late afternoon whenthe Talionisfinally touched down on the outskirts of the village. Rona could scarcely believe it had only been three days since she’d watched the Mercs’ arrival from the curtained doorway of her little hovel.
A lot had happened since then.
Alot.
This time, she wasn’t watching from afar. She was in the cockpit, sitting in the burly copilot’s lap and looking out through the tinted windscreen at the shabby little village below. Tiny, cautious faces peered out from the windows and doors like burrowing animals getting ready to retreat at the first sign of aggression.
Rona was not going to miss this place. Not in the least. She didn’t know where she was going to go next, but she knew it would be better than here. It had to be.
Aeron set the ship down right at the edge of the village and shut off the engines. Then he turned and looked at Rona.
“You can wait here if you want.”
“Hell no,” Rona said, grinning. “I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”
By the time she and her three Mercs had disembarked, the villagers had already started making their way to the Common Hall. Rona walked among them, dressed in her jeans and tank top, which she’d had to tie up after Murdok had torn it. Now itleft her midriff exposed, a sexy alteration to her previous style. She drew wary looks from the crowd. She’d known she would have to show her face here again sooner or later, and she’d expected it to be a shameful experience. Today, however, she didn’t feel the slightest bit of shame. None at all. She kept her head held high and let the people stare. They could say or think whatever they pleased. Rona honestly didn’t give a shit.
Inside the Common Hall, the air was still hot and muggy, but the mood was much more positive than before. The village councillors must have received word of the Mercs’ arrival, because they were already gathering on the platform at the far end. Brundage was there among them, the little stinker. Rona suppressed an evil grin when she saw him.
“Greetings, gentlemen!” Brundage called as the Mercs approached the stage. “You were gone so long, we had feared you might never return.”
Rona rolled her eyes. It had only been three days.
“We Mercs do things on our own schedule,” Aeron replied. He scanned his eyes coldly over the stage before finally locking on Brundage. “Killing isn’t something you can rush. There were certain preparations required beforehand.”
Brundage smiled pleasantly.
“Of course, sir! Of course! Please do excuse my manners.” He stretched his short arms to encompass the crowd gathering before him. “I am merely eager for the mine to be reopened so that the people of my village may prosper once more.”
Rona rolled her eyes a second time. Prosper once more? Yeah right. The village had never been all that prosperous in the firstplace. The shareholders had, but not the people down in the mines doing the actual work.
“We heard some commotion this morning,” Brundage continued, “coming from the direction of the mines. I take it the job has been completed?”
“It has,” Aeron said. “The mutants are gone.”
A collective exhalation of relief rippled through the crowd. There were even a few joyful cheers.
Aeron went on: “You’ll have a bit of cleaning up to do before you can get back to work. Three of the four entrances are blocked, but you should have no trouble clearing the rubble with your machines. And of course there are the dead bodies to dispose of.”
“What of the raknids?” Brundage asked. “I hope not too many of them were harmed in the process.”
“Not a single one,” said Aeron. “Which, when you think about it, is a bit strange, no?”
Brundage’s expression faltered. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, have you actually stopped to think about what those raiders were doing in your mine in the first place? They didn’t kill any of the raknids. They didn’t gather any of the precious silk.” Aeron turned to face the gathering of miners. “Have any of you stopped to ask why? Why would a bunch of mutants take it upon themselves to raid your mine?”
Here it comes, Rona thought gleefully.
Aeron nodded to Zeth, and the young Merc took a small handheld device out of his vest. He aimed it at a section of the wall—a section that was mostly flat and devoid of rust—andpressed a button on the device. An image projected onto the metal, a video showing a man sitting behind a desk. The point of view was high, as if viewed through the eyes of a very tall man.
