David Robbins - Capital Run

So much for subterfuge!

The blast of the Browning was practically deafening in the narrow confines of the hallway.

The leading Leather Knight toppled forward, shot through the chest.

Blade aimed at a second target, his finger tightening on the trigger.

A hard object rammed into the small of the Warrior’s back.

“Drop it!” a stern voice commanded. “Or you can kiss your navel good-bye!”

Blade hesitated. How had one of them managed to get behind him?

“I ain’t kidding, sucker!” snapped the speaker, a woman by the sound of her voice. “Drop it or I’ll blow you away for what you did to Terza!”

Blade released the Browning and it clattered to the ground.

The onrushing Leather Knights had slowed and were cautiously advancing toward the prisoner, their weapons trained and cocked.

“Turn around, you son of a bitch!” ordered the woman behind the Warrior.

Blade turned, his hands held over his head.

She was a heavyset blonde with a scowl on her face. “The name’s Erika, prick! And I’m gonna make sure you never forget it!”

“With a face like yours,” Blade told her, “I doubt I ever will.”

Erika’s fleshy features reddened. “I’m gonna enjoy wasting you!” She held a Ruger Security-Six revolver in her left hand.

Blade studied the “dead end.” The central portion of the wall was actually a concealed door. Beyond Erika’s squat form was a spacious chamber basking in the light from ten lanterns. Other Knights were in the chamber, standing, staring at the doorway.

Erika glanced at the mob in the corridor. “You did a good job. We’ll take him now.” She paused. “What about the other two? Lex and her lover boy?”

“We didn’t see them,” admitted a stud.

“Go look for them,” Erika said. “Search every nook and cranny. We want them found! They have to pay for what they did!”

The Leather Knights wheeled and ran down the hall. Two of them stopped and knelt alongside the man Blade had shot.

Erika poked Blade in the ribs with the Ruger Security-Six. “One false move and you’re history!” she warned. She backed through the doorway, beckoning with the revolver for him to follow.

Blade entered the chamber, his arms in the air.

There were 11 Leather Knights in the room. Like the other sections displaying evidence of recent construction, this chamber was built of brick and the floor was mere dirt. Unlike the holding chamber with the balcony, this one had a large pit in the middle of the room. The Leather Knights ringed the pit, all of them armed. Two of them stood ten feet from the door, and they riveted baleful glares on the Warrior as he appeared.

“So happy you could join us,” said Terza dryly. She wore her black leather jacket and pants. Her Llama Super Comanche V’s were belted around her waist. “We’re havin’ a little party and you’re the guest of honor.” She seemed to experience difficulty in speaking, and her jaw was slightly swollen. Her pale blue eyes glittered as she gazed at Blade.

Next to her, Cardew’s face reflected his sheer hatred. His right cheek was puffy and his right eye a narrow slit covered by a discolored, distended eyelid. Both of his lips were split and twice their normal size. A wooden splint had been applied to his left knee, and he had improvised a wooden crutch to support himself.

“I didn’t expect to see you up and around so soon,” Blade said to the stud. “I guess you have more guts than I gave you credit for. Too bad they’re all between your ears.”

Cardew went livid.

Terza motioned for the Warrior to come closer.

Blade lowered his arms and advanced to within a foot of the Leather Knight leader.

“You’re a fine one to talk about Cardew,” Terza said. “You aren’t exactly the brightest man I ever met.” She snickered. “But then, what else can you expect from a lousy man?”

“Not much,” Erika chimed in.

Terza sneered at Blade. “You blew it, handsome. You had your big chance and you plain blew it.” She lowered her voice so only Blade, Cardew, and Erika could overhear her remarks. “I wanted you, tiger. And like I told you before, I don’t get the hots for a man all that often. Who knows? If you’d been any good, I might have spared your ass. But as it is—”

Blade snickered. “I don’t think I missed much.”

Terza’s right hand gripped her right Comanche.

“You’re the vainest woman I’ve ever met,” Blade went on. “You think all you have to do is snap your fingers and any man in the world will do anything for the… honor… of bedding you.” He paused. “You’re wrong, Terza. You don’t have the right to force a man to have sex with you. Sex isn’t some mechanical function we perform for fleeting physical gratification. Sex should be an expression of our deepest love, our tenderest feelings. You denigrate it to an animalistic level. To you, sex is on the same par with eating or sleeping or any other purely physical sensation. Why don’t you try exalting sex for once? Why don’t you find someone to love, and express your love as meaningfully sexually as you know how. You never know,” he concluded. “You might learn something.”

“You dare talk to me like this?” Terza demanded.

“I’ll talk to you any way I please,” Blade countered. “I’m not one of your lackeys, your cowardly studs.”

Cardew made a growling noise.

Blade glanced at Cardew’s pulverized face. “What’s the matter with you? Does the truth hurt? When was the last time the men around here had the balls to stand up to the women? Why do you let them push you around, to control your lives the way they do? Men and women should be equal partners in adjusting to life’s responsibilities. Neither gender has the right to subjugate the other.” He raised his voice so the others in the chamber could hear. “When are the Leather Knight men going to reclaim their proper place as equals with the women? When are the men going to stand on their own two feet and refuse to be little better than slaves? When will the men—”

Terza abruptly lunged upward, slapping Blade across the mouth. “Shut up! That’s enough out of you! Who the hell do you think you are, coming in here and telling us how to live our lives? We’ve lived this way for a hundred years—”

“Does that make it right?” Blade interrupted.

“Yes!” Terza replied. “It’s no worse than the way it was before the war.”

“Before the war?”

“I’m not all that stupid,” Terza declared angrily. “I can read some, and I know how it was before the war. The men ran everything. The government they had, all the businesses, the military, everything. Oh, there were a few women at the top, but they were far out numbered by the men. The men controlled things, but they pretended the women had an equal say. The damn hypocrites! At least we’re honest about it!”

“Does that make it right?” Blade reiterated.

Terza was obviously flustered. She’d been taken off guard by Blade’s unexpected behavior. She’d expected him to either beg for his life or else clam up and take what was coming as stoically as possible. She considered him to be the “macho” type, the “strong, silent type,” the kind who habitually lorded it over women. She’d encountered outsiders before, and the men were all pretty much the same. The last reaction she’d anticipated was a verbal assault on her morals.

Blade sensed her emotional upheaval and determined to press his advantage. “Terza, we don’t need to be enemies. We can be friends instead. My people would welcome a treaty with yours. We could work together, helping you to rebuild your city and oppose the Reds. I came here on a peaceful mission. I’d like to leave in peace.”