TimeStorm by Steve Harrison

Author:Steve Harrison [Harrison, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC028010 FICTION / Science Fiction / Adventure, FIC027090 FICTION / Romance / Time Travel, FL Science Fiction, FJ Adventure
ISBN: 9781908168542
Publisher: Elsewhen Press
Published: 2014-08-12T04:00:00+00:00

REDMOND

Pacing the floor of the cafe, Rufus Redmond felt like a trapped animal. Too many people had witnessed their progress through the streets and it was only a matter of time before the local troopers found their hiding place.

Some of the men sat in front of the picture box like children at a fairground Punch and Judy show, happily gorging themselves. Redmond had to drag himself away from this magic, a task made easier by the sighting of Cross’s image. The big convict ached for his revenge, yet there were more important decisions to be made first.

He looked to the remaining men, who were taking turns with the women. Their screams had reduced to whimpers some time ago and Redmond was amazed they were still alive. The male hostages had tried to defend them and were now lying in crumpled, bleeding heaps around the floor. Which was why Redmond allowed the men their spoils. They were crazed with lust and even the giant convict would have been wasting his time trying to stop them.

Noah Lockwood and Silas Hand had stayed alert. Hand leaned against the bench and Lockwood sat on a chair near the main door, idly following Redmond’s progress to and fro.

Redmond stopped close to him. “Think they knows theys done for?” he asked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.

“They expect you to save ’em,” answered Lockwood, smiling.

“Stupid bastards!” cursed Redmond. “I should’ve ditched ’em back when we run ashore.” He turned to look at the men. Their attention was still preoccupied by the picture box, though Mogley turned to look at the two men suspiciously.

Redmond ignored him, but spoke quietly. “Listen up, Noah. I wants you t’go outside ’n ’ave a look round. If the coast is clear, me, you ’n Silas can bugger off on our own.”

“What about them?”

“Plague can take ’em, for all I cares!” The convicts had done their job by helping him get off the Marlin, but they were no use to Redmond any more. He was sick of the sight of them, with their constant moaning and dependence. A man needed cunning to survive in this big town of glass and stone. Stuck with this lot, they would all be swinging before the sun went down. Only Mogley could adapt to this place, Redmond thought; he would find a way to live in a snake pit. But he could rot with the rest as far as Redmond was concerned. He was damned if he would have anything else to do with the little bastard.

“Alright, I’ll do it,” said Lockwood, “but I’ll be a marked man in these clothes.”

“That’s simple t’fix.” Redmond walked to a battered man lying on the floor of roughly Lockwood’s build. He wore a fine grey suit of clothes, the cut of the cloth, even to Redmond’s uneducated eye, quite magnificent. Certainly a man of higher class. A man much like the men responsible for his sentence.

The man saw Redmond approach through his one good eye; the other was swollen shut next to his broken, bloody nose.

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