Bengal’s armor went hard as a rock. His eyes went wide and he said one explosive curse word. I tapped the loops, which released, depositing the bag into my hand.
I looked inside the bag to verify the malleable plastic explosives were really there. Then, I coiled the bag, and without looking, tossed it to Jagger. My eyes holding Bengal’s, I said, very softly, “I’m not badder than you, Bengal, but I’m pretty smart. Now, you can make this look like a big joke, a big game, and redeem yourself in front of the men, or you can act stupid and make me challenge you, and then beat your butt in front of them. Your choice.”
“You making an enemy, Li’l Girl.”
“We’ve never been friends, Bengal. And you challengedme. You made the first move. I’m not an enemy unless you make me one. Decide. Get beat or keep your dignity?”
Suddenly he laughed. It was a real laugh, as far as I could tell, ringing down the hallways. “You yo daddy’s girl through and through. We play this game again, and I be the one winning. How you know I do this thing?”
“You’re a biker president. Deceit is axiomatic.”
“Lemme go, Li’l Girl. We not friends, but I like you moxie. We good.”
I held out a hand to Jagger. “Bag.”
He tossed it to me. I put it in Bengal’s hand. “Nobody takes from me. But I am very generous. Consider this a gift, the first of many, from Little Girl, to my maybe-someday-friend, Bengal of the Boozefighters. Jolene. Release the suit.”
Bengal’s suit relaxed, and he threw his arms around me, slapping my back hard enough to bruise, had my armor not been prepared. “Yeah. You Bill’s girl. When we gone blow this door open?”
I looked down the hallway. It ended, opening to our right to another hallway guarded by some of Bengal’s team. At our left were the sealed doors to the nest, the blast doors that Warhammer had damaged when she first opened them, leaving that crack at the bottom. I looked it over and decided by the scarring and warping, she must have used a rocket.
“Send your team to cover our six and up the stairway and down the next hallway. Then give the order to blow.” By letting Bengal give the order to our mixed teams, I was making him my current number one.
He gave the order and shouted, “Positions!”
Our people darted into safety. Bengal picked me up, which I had not expected. He carried me down the hallway, away from the door, shouting, “Fire in de hole! Fire in de hole!”
I started laughing.
The doors closing the nest off from the world exploded.
Bengal tripped. We went down.
My helmet slammed shut as the blast wave hit us.
Smoke billowed out the open doors.
“Son of a bitch, Bengal,” I shouted. “How much plastic did you use?”
I swiveled to see the cats and the Maarsies dart inside, cats low, Maarsies high.
Men dressed as soldiers and Marines and pilots came pouring out. Covered in blood. Firing combustion rounds. Everything slowed down as adrenaline shot through me like lightning.
Our made-men in biker garb died in the first onslaught. I could practically see the rounds fly and hit. Their blood in fine droplets in the air. Our suits were battle-mode hardened, us in a pile on the floor. I couldn’t adjust my hands to return fire.
It was Jacopo, Mina, Jagger, and Bengal’s armored made-man, Puta-Bella, firing from cover, with Bengal and me on the floor in a knot. Six of us in armor against men and women pouring out the exploded door, firing. And then more from the far end of the hallway. They’d had access to the cameras long enough to create a pincer move.
Jacopo directed fire toward the nest. Mina fired over Bengal’s head and mine.
My suit unlocked. Bengal’s didn’t. I shoved my hands free, but couldn’t reach my weapons. With my tool glove, I fired a drill-bit into the face of an attacking thrall. Then, two more.
But in two seconds, we were outnumbered.
Jagger dove toward us on his knees. Sliding. Yanked me away from Bengal and shoved us both into a room on the side. Jagger fell against the wall, on one knee. I ripped a flashbang from my armor, shouted, “Flash!” and threw it down the hallway.
Jagger rolled into the doorway across from us. The flashbang went off. Giving us all time to recover. Jagger fired his blaster on wide angle into the smoke. Bengal’s suit unlocked.
Bengal and I crawled to the doorway and opened fire. I opted for the blaster. Our enemies had no armor. They staggered out of the flashbang’s smoke, screaming, and fell.
