科幻之家Like I said, those lumps are soon gonna find out I'm not regulation科幻之家
issue, but even if there was some way to swing it I'm not prepared to
come with you if it means dumping Dave."

'Jodi! For chrissakes, be reasonable! We've done our best for the
guy. Most people would have put a bullet through him and left him in
the wreckage!"

'Yeah? Well, I'm not most people. You promised me no one would kill
him - that we'd work something out.

Now it sounds like you're ready to hit the Delete button.

Whose side are you on, Brickman?"

'Yours. At least I'm trying to be - but it's not easy when you keep
changing your fucking mind!"

The accusation riled her. 'Jeer! You got a nerve! You chew me out
for switching tracks but you been rewriting the programme ever since we
ran into each other back in Nebraska. First you tell me you're dressed
up like a lump-sucker just to save your hide. It then turns out you're
an undercover Fed out to kidnap some smart Mutes - and you lay that
True Blue stuff on me and how helpin' you will save the day and your
kin-sister's ass.

'Finally, at first hiccup -' when Kelso and I start having second
thoughts - you're ready to dump little sister and kiss goodbye to the
Federation! It just doesn't figure.

You're up to something, Brickman. This ain't exactly the time and
place to fall out but the fact is, I don't trust you."

'Yeah . . . ' Steve let out a long, weary sigh. 'You're right to be
suspicious, Jodi, but you're reading things the wrong way. I was
pressured into this operation by threats against Roz. And yes, I did
ask for help from the Federation. If it hadn't been for them we would
never have gotten out alive. I promised I'd help you escape from
Ne-Issan and I did. But I never intended to go back in."

'So why all the talk about me being True Blue and how we were all going
to be heroes?"

That's simple. I couldn't do it without you. But for us to escape I
had to work with the Federation and you had to agree. Sooner or later
you'd have asked where all the hardware was coming from - so I had to
appeal to your loyalty. One Lindbergh Baby to another.

'When we talked after we'd been captured by the M'Calls you were pretty
negative about the Federation so when you agreed to help I couldn't be
sure whether you'd had a permanent change of heart, or whether you were
just hitching a ride on the wagon."

Steve paused and watched the colour flood into Jodi's cheeks. 'I
didn't find out you'd been stringing me along until we were in that
inflatable on our way to Long Point."

'I didn't lie to you, Brickman. I was ready and willing to go back
in.

It was just, well. that whole set-up at Bu-faro. And that guy
Side-Winder, not just painted up but with lumps stuffed in his face!

The discovery that the Family had people working hand-in-glove with
those dinks spooked me. It suddenly made me realize we were just a
small part of a much bigger deal and I felt..."

'Expendable...? We've never been anything else, Jodi."

'Yeah, strange... I don't know why it came as such a shock."

'That's because until we broke loose and were able to give our brains
some elbow room it never occurred to us
that there might be an
alternative to what was on offer.

From the moment we were old enough to understand it's been drummed into
us that the only reason for a Tracker's existence is to die so that the
dream of the First Family can be fulfilled. The conquest of the
Blue-Sky World...

'But no one has ever questioned their right to it - or whether it's
worth the lives that have been lost, the sacrifices that have been
made, and the untold numbers that still have to die before they
repossess the overground."

'It's not just their dream,' said Jodi. 'It's something we all
share.

Well, most of us..."

Steve picked up the 'scope and moved to where he could see the western
half of the sky through the branches. The Skyhawk was now a long way
away, a tiny dot on the vast, cloudless yellow canvas that hung above
the western horizon.

He returned and crouched down facing Jodi. 'The question is - if that
dream becomes reality, what will happen to the Plainfolk?"

Jodi shrugged. 'If the Federation gets its way, I guess there won't be
any."

Steve found Roz's words on his lips. 'Don't they have a right to
exist?"

Jodi responded with a blank stare. 'I don't know what you're getting
at."

'They're people Jodi! Human beings, like us! Our ancestors were their
ancestors too!"

Jodi was unmoved. 'So what? If it's true, which I doubt, that was a
long long time ago. And even if you could prove it, who'd wanna
believe you? D'you think everyone's gonna kiss and make up after all
the sacrifices that generations of Trackers have made? Stop trying to
kid yourself, Brickman. Lump-heads and breakers don't mix. Whether
you're inside or outside the Federation, they're the enemy and always
will be. If we don't kill them, they'll kill us."

'The M'Calls didn't kill you and the other guys."

'No. They sold us down the river so the Iron Masters could stick it to
us instead!" 'Haven't you learned anything since you've been out
here?!" hissed Steve. 'Cadillac and Clearwater helped us escape! If
it wasn't for her we wouldn't be here!"

'And we helped them. But it's different now. In Ne-Issan, we had a
common enemy - the Iron Masters.

That deal fell apart the moment we reached Plainfolk territory. We're
back in their country. They're amongst their own kind. Just look at
the way Cadillac's behaving."

Steve nodded. 'He has been coming on a little strong..."

'You can say that again. A couple of weeks ago he was falling apart
and you had to glue him back together one day at a time. Now he's
behaving like an arrogant sonofabitch!" snapped Jodi. 'That may be
okay by you but he's not walking over me I' Steve appraised her
thoughtfully. 'You know what? I think all this guff you've been
laying on me about Us and Them, who did what to who, and whether you
can trust me or not is pure buffalo shit. This is really about Kelso,
isn't it? You've got it into your head that if we can get him aboard
The Lady--' 'What other chance does he have?" cried Jodi. 'C'mon!

There's a complete combat surgical team riding around in that
blood-wagon! If we could arrange for a pickup, they could get to work
within minutes of him getting there!"

Steve glanced over at Kelso. He hadn't moved.

Maybe he was dead. Some chance. Good of' Dave wasn't the kind of guy
who'd do everyone a favour by going quietly . . .

He turned back to Jodi. 'They could, but now you're kidding
yourself.

You know as well as I do they're not gonna put Kelso on the operating
table. They're gonna put three rounds into his brain. He's a
renegade, remember?"

'You're wrong. He isn't..."

Steve frowned. 'What d'you mean?"


'He's an undercover Fed. Just like you." She watched Steve trying to
grapple with this revelation. 'You don't believe me, do you?"

'How long have you known about this?"

'Since we left Long Point. D'you remember me coming back from the
beach store ahead of Dave and how we sat there with the motors running
wondering where the hell he'd got tot 'Yeah..."

'Well, while I was cursing him with every name I could think of, I
fiddled around with a few of the knobs and switches and... I
accidentally turned on the tail end of a radio transmission." 'Go on
.

. ." 'It was Dave."

'You sure about this?"

'Absolutely. He was talking to Sky Bucket Three, the same bunch your
friend with the lumps in his face got in touch with just after we
landed at Long Point."

'Did you manage to get a handle on what Kelso and this Sk/Bucket were
talking about?"
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