CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
The Bringer of Pain looked curiously at the gates of Mantin City, his eyes narrowed as he stared about him.
The decorations were certainly different than the last time he had seen the industrialist capital. Instead of the usual arrays of BigBro Sligs standing at all the corners, wielding their fearsome Donner Packer rifles, there were a lot of Snoozers patrolling around, their bent tripod legs lurching them around, their machine gun swiveling around nastily.
Snoozers brought back painful memories to the Bringer of Pain – what an ironic thing, pain to the one who brought it – but he did not find pain as an annoyance. He reveled in pain, particularly in others.
Still, Snoozers could be a problem. Sligs were easy to slip past because they were normally dull – despite their enhanced audio receptors – while robots were always attentive and could not be bribed or distracted from their tasks, and their sophistocated combat algorithms could be sporadically updated whenever a new strategy was implemented, and they could learn from their previous mistakes – if they ever made any.
The Bringer of Pain shook his head, and crept toward the doors.
* * *
Urchyn McAvi kept a close eye on the Stranger as they walked along. He had heard many rumors about the huge Steef – most of them good – and there had been enough bad rumors to make him wonder about Stranger’s goals. He didn’t doubt the Steef’s power; there was nothing to doubt about the huge muscles and the armed double-barreled crossbow the Steef held, but motives were something else.
According to rumor, the bounty hunter had been betrayed and had almost been killed by a client, apparently the great Sekto of Sekto Springs, and in a daring escape Stranger had changed his outlook on life. Apparently, the Steef had then helped Sekto’s enemies, leading a raid on the dam that had resulted in the complete devastation of the dam and several Clakker towns in the canyons. Stranger himself had killed the great water company leader in a fit of rage.
That was more than enough to make McAvi doubtful. A bounty hunter who would help his client’s enemies, just to get revenge, and end up causing so much damage, was very dangerous.
The Wolvark folded his arms across his chest as they walked across No Muds Land. “What are you going to do with it?”
Stranger turned, giving him a glance that would freeze any being with a conscience – which did not include McAvi. “Do…with what?”
“With the moolah.” McAvi shrugged. “Once we’ve captured Abe and collected the reward.”
“Well, let’s…keep quiet for now,” Stranger said. “After all, we have to…actually catch the guy…before we start thinking…that far ahead.”
“True.” McAvi turned his face away and kept walking.
* * *
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