Stories Complete by Vernor Vinge

Author:Vernor Vinge [Vinge, Vernor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jerry eBooks
Published: 2021-04-22T21:00:00+00:00

Heat, sweat, dust on his face. Something was clanking and screaming in the distance. Wili lurched out of his daydreaming recollection of the previous evening. Beside him Rosas leaned close to the peephole. A splotch of light danced across his face as he tried to follow what was outside in spite of the swaying progress of the banana wagon.

“God. Look at all those Peacers,” he said quietly. “We must be right at the Pass, Wili.”

“Lemme see,” the boy said groggily. The wagons were still ascending the same gentle grade that they had been for the last hour. Ahead he could see the wagon that contained Jill. What was new was the cause of all the clanking. Peacer armor. The vehicles were yet on the horizon, coming off an interchange ahead. They were turning north toward the garrison at Mission Pass. “Must be the reinforcements from Medford.” Wili had never seen so many vehicles with his own eyes. The line stretched from the interchange for as far as they could see. They were painted in dark green colors—quite an uncamouflage in this landscape. Many of them looked like tanks he had seen in old movies. Others were more like bricks on treads.

As they approached the interchange the clanking got louder and combined with the overtones of turbines. Soon the banana wagons caught up with the military. Civilian traffic was forced over to the rightmost lane. Powered freighters and horse-drawn wagons alike were slowed to the same crawl.

It was late afternoon. There was something big and loud behind them that cast a long shadow across the two banana wagons, and brought a small amount of coolness. But the tanks to the right raised a duststorm that more than made up for the lowered temperatures.

They drove like this for more than an hour. Where were the check points? The road ahead still rose. They passed dozens of parked tanks, their crews working at mysterious tasks. Someone was fueling up. The smell of diesel oil came into the cramped hole along with the dust and the noise.

All was in shadow now. But finally Wili thought he could see part of the garrison. At least there was a building on the crest they were approaching. He remembered what things looked like from above. Most of the garrison’s buildings were on the far side of the crest. Only a few positions—for observation and direct fire—were on this side.

Wili wondered what sort of armor they had back there now, considering what he was seeing on this side.

Wili and Miguel traded time at the peephole as the spot on the horizon grew larger. The outpost sat like a huge boulder mostly submerged in the earth. There were slots cut in the armor, and he could see guns or lasers within. Wili was reminded of some of the twentieth century fantasies Bill Morales liked to watch. These last few days—and hopefully the next few as well—were like Lucas’ Lord of the Rings. Miguel Rosas had even called Mission Pass the “front door” last night.

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