Ghost War

“Nope.”

Letitia guided Ray from the room and down the hallway to the bedrooms. Handy slipped onto the couch where Ray had been and flicked a bloody tissue into a wastebasket. “Was that really necessary?”

“You tell me.” I narrowed my brown eyes. “Bunch of choices here: you dangled me like bait in front of a Republic Knight, or Ray is the mole the CDRF has in this cell. Could be both, or could be that Ray is just a moron. You want to sort them out for me?”

“Fascinating.” His face betrayed little of his reaction. “I asked Ray to take you on the scouting mission. I might have suggested that you might be spotted, in which case he should be cautious and observe all he could. Ray is not an intellectual giant, but deliberately sacrificing you to the other side was not my intent, nor was it suggested to him.”

I nodded slowly. “But you didn’t mind that the CDRF thinks I’m still a factor in play. They spot me, talk to me, and now have to devote resources to figuring out what I’m up to. I’m disinformation.”

“That is but one of your purposes, Mr. Donelly. Lying low here, you will cause a bit of a stir within the CDRF. While you are out of their sight, you can be trained for our new mission.”

I gave Handy a hard stare. “I know you’re not stupid, so I know you know this cell has been compromised. There is a mole, and I think Ray was it. Blondie, the PADSU girl, lets Letitia’s friends know she’s hurt, or Letitia reports to you directly. You plan a quick op, Ray tells Reis, and your forces are lucky enough to ambush his people.”

Handy smiled. “It’s better to be lucky than good.”

“Given a choice, that’s what I’d pick every time.” I shifted in my chair and leaned forward. “What I’m thinking this all means, though, is that whatever you have pla

“I can assure you…”

“No, I want to assure myself. You tell me what we’re doing and I’ll decide if I’m in. If I can make it better, we’ll both win.”

Once again Handy steepled his fingers. He rested his chin on his thumbs, then pressed his lips to his index fingers. His eyes all but closed as he thought. I waited quietly, not fidgeting at all. He was going to decide to trust me or not, and any sign of nerves on my part would kill any chance of his taking me into his confidence.

Finally he opened his eyes. “Five days from now is Overton’s Founders Day. They have a huge celebration, replete with parades. This year’s Grand Marshal is Ichabod Reis. He will be on a reviewing stand with dignitaries, perhaps even Lady Lakewood. A significant portion of the Constabulary will be in the parade, or lining the route.”

I nodded. “Lots of crowds. If you take that reviewing stand out, you stand to hurt a lot of i

“Which is exactly why we won’t. I had intended to use your cell to lead a raid which would draw the Constabulary off to the north while we hit other targets. You would point out that you’re now depleted, so you could barely muster much of an attack.”

“Something like that, but…” I gave him a sly smile. “We might be able to hit a small target and do significant damage that would be maximized in terms of negative publicity for the good commander.”

Handy canted his head to the right. “Do go on.”

“Based on the offer you made me, I guess we have a ’Mech. I know we have a hovertruck and a heavy machine gun. As the constables start to react, we hit a precinct house. We open it up, bust up a bunch of their vehicles, perhaps crack open their armory and steal weapons. Depending upon how much damage we do, we strike fear into the hearts of those who were covered by that station, and we earn the gratitude of those who feel oppressed by Reis. We will be taking the war to him.”

His brow wrinkled. “I could shift resources to let that happen. It would put another cell at the most risk, but it is possible he has another agent in the organization. Moreover, if I pull Ray from your group and use him to coordinate the other cell’s activities, we have Reis in position to pounce on them. Then we pounce.”

“Good, I’ll set it up. I’ll need to know a sector of the city I can hit and remain outside your other operations. I think Overton is broken down into a dozen precincts, so pick one and I’ll drill it—provided I have the equipment I need, that is.”

He nodded. “The equipment you described before is what you will have.”

“And Letitia will be my communications link with you?”

“If that is satisfactory.”

“It’ll work.” I gave him a quick smile. “And I’ll want a bonus if this comes off.”

“Of course you will.” His fingertips played one against the other. “I shall double your fee and cut you in for ten percent of the value of equipment recovered.”

I thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Done. You’ll also give me a red frequency that you’ll monitor during the operation. If things go badly, you’ll know instantly.”

Handy smiled. “It is so good doing business with a professional.”

“I’ll monitor that frequency, too, so I expect warnings to flow both ways.”

“Of course.” Handy stood and picked invisible lint from his coat. “I shall send for Ray, then have you all shifted to another site. There will be five of you: Letitia, your other three kidnappers and yourself. I will let them know you are in charge of this operation, and that should be good enough. Please do not incapacitate any more of my people.”

“They’re my people now.” I rose from my chair, but didn’t offer him my hand. “I’ll take very good care of them.”

True to his word, he took Ray with him. About an hour after that Letitia fielded a call and we headed back into the city and into a warehouse district. We moved into a loft conversion that was actually quite posh. I got the impression that someone who sympathized with PADSU was lending it out, doubtless getting some warm squishy feeling inside over being so bold as to harbor those who would defy the law. The food storage unit was packed with gourmet cheeses, designer waters and other exotic foods. I had little doubt that the week’s grocery bill would have fed some hinterland village for the better part of a month.

The other three members of my team arrived within two hours. Jiro, the smallest of them, and the only one to show any Asian blood from the Combine side of things, brought a datafile that contained map coordinates and a holographic breakdown of the precinct house we were supposed to hit.

Steve, a blond with blue eyes who bore a faint resemblance to Ray, helped me study the thing and he seemed pretty sharp. He was all over the data indicating shift changes. He pointed out that all the vehicles were parked beneath the building, so if we hit the west side, where the in/out ramps were located, we could completely destroy their ability to respond. “It’s a stupid coney has only one way in and out of its house.”

The third guy went by the nom de guerre of Falcon. While tall and big, he wasn’t the most handsome of men and I had the feeling he’d primarily joined things to meet women. He kept making plays for Letitia. If she’d hit me with the glare she gave him, I’d be the one whose jaw was wired shut. He told me he “crewed the heavy weapon.” I guess that was meant to assure me he was a professional.

The best information I had, however, was that the ’Mech I’d be driving was a MiningMech. It was close enough to Maria that I knew what I was getting into. The main difference was that instead of a chainsaw it had a digger arm meant to do to rock what the chainsaw did to trees. For burrowing into the precinct house, which was ferrocrete slabs with some molded decorations, it would be perfect.