CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Lord Fragg woke from sleep at the sound of a gun being cocked all too close to his head.
Immediately the Glukkon whirled around in his fold-up cot, ignoring his brief flash of fear as he grabbed at the place where he kept his last-ditch Burnout laser pistol.
Only to have that flash of fear transform into full-out fear. The pistol wasn’t where he’d left it.
“You don’t think I’d be as careless as all that,” said a voice that was certainly a Mudokon.
Fragg rolled over and looked up. It was a blue-skinned Mudokon, with an old-model Snuzi pistol with its barrel so close that Fragg could look right up to the firing chamber, and the bullet inside it.
“Abe,” Fragg whispered. “How?”
“Oh, just some of my personal brilliance,” Abe chuckled quietly. “I bet you thought I couldn’t do anything with just four Mudokons as my companions, but I’ve defeated your whole army.”
Fragg narrowed his eyes. “You couldn’t have beaten my whole army.”
As he spoke, he began inching his arm down toward the comlink at his side. If he could get to it, and find a way to get the gun out of his face…
“This will probably sound like gloating,” Abe chuckled, “but it was brilliant. All I had to do was use Grunn to distract the south guards, while Lowrn and Ferg took care of the east. I just had to knock out your tent guards and get in here.”
Fragg licked the edges of his mouth, as he moved his hand slowly toward the device. “My soldiers could use more training.”
“Yes, they could.” Abe reached down and picked up the comlink, tossing it idly in his free hand. Fragg swore under his breath at the loss of his hope. “Oh, don’t think this would have done you any good,” the Mudokon said, as he tossed it away. “I’ve already taken the precaution of turning it off.”
Fragg clenched his fists. “What do you want from me, Mudokon?”
“I want you to turn off the deadman interlocks on the Mudokon slaves on their way to Mantin City,” Abe spat. “Now.”
“Why would I do that?” Fragg growled. He cast his gaze madly around the room, but there didn’t appear to be anything useful around.
Abe smiled, holding the gun back up to Fragg’s head. “I don’t think you want to die yet.”
“No…” Fragg bowed his head. “Bring me an Information Pad, and –”
“You can tell me the code now,” Abe interrupted. “I don’t trust you; that’s why I have this gun.”
“Right.” Fragg suddenly had an idea, and realized that, even if he told the hero the interlock’s deactivation codes, it wouldn’t matter, because Abe would be dead. “The code…the code is 89102.”
Abe smiled. “Thanks for telling me.”
The Mudokon closed his eyes for a moment. “89102…”
And in that moment, Fragg rolled forward, swinging out one mechanically-enhanced leg to kick the Mudokon terrorist in the stomach. Abe buckled, finger depressing the trigger to blow a hole through the tent wall. Fragg got to his feet, delivering a sharp punch to Abe’s face as he shouted, “Guards! Get in here now!”
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