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.The black metal throwing star turned in the air and struck the man between the eyes.One point of the five pointed star driving deep into the man's brain.Dropping his gun, the pirate raised both hands to his face as he fell to his knees.A look of surprise was in his eyes as he pitched forward into the grass.Gaylon stared for a second and then returned to digging.Between the two of them the hole was soon deep enough and Kate crawled on her back under the wire while Gaylon held it up as high as possible.Turning, Gaylon motioned to the others in the enclosure to follow.As the last of them made it to the tree line, Gaylon and Kate quickly followed.Dawn was several hours old when Gaylon and his party reached the safety of the town.The journey from the pirate camp had been strangely quiet, but Gaylon welcomed the return with a grateful prayer of thanks and smiled at Kate as they walked up the steps into Samuels Headquarters.Captain Samuels gave Kate a bear hug and patted Gaylon on the back."Damn, it's good to see you two.The patrol got back hours ago and said that they hadn't heard anything from you after you left them.Kate, are you, ok? Did they hurt you, because if they did I'll make them pay!""No, I'm, ok.Nothing that a little soap and water can't fix." Kate answered."Good! Now what the hell do you think you were doing!" Samuels roared."Just trying to help.""Bullshit, you put people’s lives in danger by walking around like that and you know it.Damn it, Kate, you fucked up.No more side trips all by yourself, is that clear?!""Yes, father."Samuels frowned and stared at Kate, then his eyes started to twinkle and a smile started to appear."Yes, father, my ass." With that they all lost it and Samuels motioned Kate out the door."Go to your room, you're grounded!""Yes, father."Samuels wiped tears from his eyes as he walked over to the wall map and pointed to the location of the pirate camp."I just had a team report about an hour ago, the pirates bugged out and from the signs it was a pretty quick move.They left some of their trucks, supplies, etc., and high tailed to the interstate as near as they could tell.Your little jail break must have set them off before I could drop some 105's on them.All my patrols are now carrying TAC sets with them.If we find them again I'm going to blow them off the face of the earth.""Yeah, sorry about losing them again, but I had to get Kate and the others out.The ones we bought in were in pretty bad shape as it was." Gaylon explained, "But, we’ll find them again whether we like it or not.""Right, so listen, go get some sleep and some chow and we'll talk more later.We've come up with something that might help cut them down to size."Gaylon lay and listened to the sound of people in the hall outside his and Kate's room.The long hours of sleep had only slightly restored him and Gaylon felt that they would be short of peace and quiet in the months ahead.The size and number of the pirates had surprised him and the trucks and motorcycles meant that the pirates could move with great mobility.That was something that the town of Redway could not do with all the gasoline needed on the farms and what few armored vehicles that still worked.Gaylon reached over and shook Kate on the on the shoulder to wake her up, then reached for his clothes and guns from the nightstand by the bed.Sally had a big smile for Kate as she walked into the mess hall with Gaylon and she piled their plates high with fresh venison and potatoes.Captain Samuels waved them over to a table and began to tell them about the work at the local Technical College.The College had a large number of Agriculture students and the ones who had no homes to return to after the bombings had started to use the school plows to turn the big grassy areas around the school so they could grow crops.And by the time they were done they had turned it into a very productive farm.Months back it seems that Samuels had talked to the head of the school and asked him for their help in stopping the pirates.The science people stopped farming long enough to explain that Chlorine gas was the easiest thing that could be made with what was at hand and that could be used to kill large numbers quickly.Gaylon only nodded his head from time to time and asked about how it would be delivered and what protection the paramilitary would have.From his years in the US Military, Gaylon knew all about gas and gas attacks.He remembered his own hours in the hot chemical warfare suit and shuddered.But, it was now a war of survival and emotions had to be pushed aside if they were survive the coming struggle.Samuels had been able to get all the gas masks they needed from the local Army Surplus store and local reserve units and the school was filling grenades, artillery shells, and pressure bottles with the chlorine gas.All Kate could think about was that the pirates were in for a hell of a surprise.Captain Samuels began pulling out maps as Gaylon and Kate walked into the headquarters after they had all finished eating at the mess hall.For the first time Gaylon could see a light in Samuels eyes and he started to hope too.But even with the gas they would need more men and from what he was being told it looked to him that he was being volunteered for the job of contacting the nearby towns for help.The town of Austin was twenty miles away and Gaylon would have to travel quickly if he was to get the help the town needed and Gaylon was used to long hikes and told Samuels that he would be ready in the morning.After the escape from the pirates he was not going to let Kate out of his sight after the last time and he thought that he might as well stop fighting it.Plus on such a long trip, it would be easier to watch out for pirates with an extra pair of eyes.Kate kissed Gaylon on the side of the neck and told him that he was finally getting the idea at last.Kate walked back to the mess hall and left Gaylon and Samuels with the details of the trip to Austin.She had been to Austin a few times with her family, but that was about all she could remember about the town other than it was larger then Redway and the county seat.As the cold wind blew leaves and bit of paper between her legs, Kate pulled her coat closer around her neck.The weather was turning much colder then it had been last year at the same time and as she looked at the fast moving clouds she wondered what the coming winter would bring with it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]