Residential Bloc North Shopping Disctrict, continued...

 (4♢)They found the sergeant crouched at the top of the second floor ever-stair landing, helmed up, sighting down his longarm, which he braced against the central railing.

“What in the hells is—” the corporal began, only to be cut off by the sharp report from a sidearm, the bullet pinging off the immobile ever-stair between the first and second floor.

“Well, looks like you were telling the truth about having more companions.” A man’s voice followed the shot. “Looks like it’s going to cost even more to get out of here, now.”

The sergeant risked a glance over his shoulder, then looked again when the girl stepped out from behind the professor.

“Real inconspicuous,” was all he said, then returned his attention to the sights of his longarm.

“Leave all of your stuff, especially what you’re stealing from us, and we’ll let you walk out of here unharmed.”

“Unless one of you is maiden-sized, and likes the color of redbuds, we haven’t taken much you’ll miss,” the corporal shouted.

Another shot rang up the stairwell, the paneled side of the ever-stair sparking.

“These are our grounds, see? And everything here belongs to us. So that’s trespassing, and stealing.”

“We just needed a few things,” the sergeant called. “We’re on our way out of this place, anyway. Half a stretch, and we’ll be long gone. Nobody has to get hurt.”

“Jep’s already hurt!”

“He shot first.”

“He’s bleeding!”

“It just grazed him. He’ll be fine with some gel and a healing wrap.”


“How many of them are down there?” the corporal asked, in a harsh whisper.

“Three. Came out of the shadows across the street, rushed me.”

“Three on three is even odds. We have longarms. Sounds like they only have handhelds.”

“Plus, we have— what?” The professor’s thought was interrupted at the girl’s tug on the sleeve of his coat.

“We have the high ground,” the corporal said.

“Ever-stair landing is a choke-point,” the sergeant pointed out. “Put a man on either side of it, makes for a nice cross fire zone. They’d hit us from both sides. Same as we'd do if they come charging up here.”

The corporal frowned, then looked over at the professor. “Doc, what do you — hey, where’d the girl go?”