Free Borderlands: Unconquered by John Shirley Page B

“I suppose I’d better tweak the new formula just a tad.”

“N ow this,” Mordecai said, as the dawn broke and the sun speared them with new light, “is a good, peaceful campsite. I had a decent rest. We should remember this one, Roland.”
    Mordecai was sitting on a rock by the smoking remains of their campfire, which was in the center of the stony, craterlike hilltop. They’d found the campsite a few klicks southwest of the hill where the varkids had tried tomake dinner of them. The rocky rim of the hilltop gave them a little cover; there were a couple of outcroppings, too, and three big, stumpy, green growths, side by side, looking like something between trees and cacti and almost as hard as rock. The growths cast long shadows that striped across the camp in the morning sun.
    “Where’s Bloodwing?” Roland asked, as he packed his Scorpio turret intothe back of theoutrunner. They’d had the self-aiming machine gun set up, watching over them all night long.
    “Feeding somewhere,” Mordecai said, standing and stretching. “On something. Or somebody. Ah—here he comes. Uh-oh.”
    “Uh-oh what?” Roland asked, looking around for his shotgun.
    “I don’t like the way he’s flapping his wings—and the way he’s screeching.”
    “What’s he trying to say?”
    “Notsure yet.”
    Bloodwing screeched again.
    Roland snorted. “Like you can tell anything from that.”
    “Actually—” He looked around. “That sound like an outrunner engine to you?”
    Roland listened. “Some kind of engine. Where’s it coming from?”
    Mordecai pointed confidently to the south. “Way off that way. To the south. Can’t be very close.”
    But it wasn’t an outrunner, it was an outrider , a low-slunghot-rod-like vehicle with the skulls of beasts for its fenders, and it came from the north , so close it was already there, jumping the edge of the crater of the hilltop as if it was a ramp. It came down with a crash in between Mordecai and Roland. Broomy jumped off, a knife in one hand and a pistol in the other, as Cess spun the outrider in a tight circle, trying to run Mordecai down.
    Mordecaihad to leap headlong to the side to avoid being run over, sliding facedown close to his Cobra rifle. Bloodwing came screeching and diving at Cess, talons just missing her face.
    Roland saw his shotgun, several paces away, leaning on a boulder.
    Broomy rushed toward Roland, shouting, “Surrender, and you can live to serve me—or die right here!”
    Roland snarled, “Broomy, blow it out your ass!” andhalf turned to lunge for his shotgun, but Broomy was on him then, firing wildly. The rounds ricocheted from the energy field of his shield. She slashed at his face, using a knife like a half-size machete.
    Roland slipped past the blade, knocked the pistol from her left hand, grabbed the wrist of her right—and was surprised at how wirily powerful she was. She broke loose, punching him with herfisted left hand, and swung the big knife at his throat. He threw himself backward to avoid the slash, falling, but at the same time kicking out, catching Broomy solidly in the crotch. She bellowed with pain and staggered back, falling.
    Roland landed heavily on his back, the wind momentarily knocked from him. He gasped, glancing at the outrider in time to see Cess hit Bloodwing with a fist asshe braked the outrider. Mordecai’s loyal flying predator was knockedaway, cawing, wings beating at the ground as it tried to get back into the air. Cess moved to fire the outrider’s machine gun, shouting curses as she strafed a burst up the ground to Mordecai. But she was too slow, and the strafe tore up the ground behind him as he ran, Cobra in hand now, ducking behind Roland’s outrunner.
    Roland was just getting to his feet and had to throw himself to the side to avoid the strafing machine gun. The bullets almost struck Broomy too, as she scrambled to get out of the way.
    “Cess, you damn she-fool you almost shot me!” she shrieked.
    Roland got his