Empire (Empire 1)

“Bullshit,” said Drew. “They’ll kill anybody they want and blame it on you. And they’ll mean it, too, because it’s your fault for getting away.”

“So what do I do?”

“Babe is heading toward you. I’m with Cat now, and he’s calling him to tell him to hurry.”

“Only if he’s armed to deal with anti-tank weapons. Here’s the turn for Falls Road. If I can make this turn without slowing down enough for them to blow me up . . .”

He made the turn. And immediately regretted it. Heading straight toward him, filling Falls Road from one side to the other, were six of the two-legged mechanicals they had fought in New York City yesterday.

“They’ve got mechs ahead of me,” said Cole. Then he pocketed the phone and made a U-turn going way too fast.

In the movies these always looked cool. In real life, cars usually flipped and rolled. The Corvette acted like it was definitely considering the flip-and-roll. But American engineering was good enough this time that Cole didn’t end up smeared on the asphalt.

Now he was headed straight back at the cycles, which were just rounding the turn from MacArthur. Cole deliberately wove back and forth so nobody could aim at him properly. Instead, they swung off the pavement. Didn’t bother them at all. Hovercycles didn’t need a paved surface. They only slowed down so they could turn around and follow him.

When he got to the MacArthur turnoff, he could have turned left, but soon enough he would run into the inbound traffic and not only would he probably die, several civilians would likely die with him.

Besides, he was getting a glimmer of another plan. A stupid, dangerous one. But that seemed to be the kind that was needed right now.

This was Great Falls Park. He remembered seeing it from the Virginia side. From the observation points on that side, he could see an observation point on the Maryland side. He picked up the phone as he went with all deliberate speed into the park.

“Drew, I’m back on MacArthur heading into the park.”

“It’s a dead end!”

“I’m going to cross the river at the park.”

“You can’t cross the river!”

“We’ll find out, won’t we?”

“People drown there. Not just some of them. Everybody who tries to hop the rocks.”

“But I’m Ranger trained,” said Cole.

“I don’t care if you’re a damned SEAL,” said Drew.

“I’m a dead man if I stay in this car and on those roads,” said Cole. “So this is my best chance.”

“Then your chances suck, man.”

“I’ll deal with the river if you guys can lay down suppressing fire.”

“Damn. It’ll cost five bucks a car to get into the park.”

“Shut up,” said Cole. He ended the call and concentrated on driving.

The park entry booth loomed ahead. There was a car at the booth chatting up the ranger. Cole approached at top speed. The ranger saw him coming and ran out of the booth, yelling for him to stop. Cole didn’t. He went around the booth on the other side. He didn’t need the rearview mirror to know that the ranger was on the phone instantly, calling for whatever backup rangers called for. That was good. Because in a moment he would use that phone connection to tell whoever it was about mechs and hovercycles blowing through in hot pursuit.

For a crazy moment he thought about those two soldiers who had been left beside the Connecticut Avenue freeway onramp. That was the luckiest move of their lives, getting out of that humvee.

Cole didn’t worry about parking nicely. He did take the Mollie vest and the M-240 because even though it was useless against the mechs, it would do fine against anybody who got out of a hovercycle.

He headed for the woods, at first on the path, but soon getting off it. He didn’t want to get trapped at the observation point. And he wanted to improve his odds a little.

Sure enough, the bad guys tried to stay on their hovercycles along the path to the observation point. Only when they found he wasn’t there did they stop, settle down to the ground, and get out. The mechs were probably still lumbering up the road. So it was Cole, his M-240, and now, b

y actual count, eight guys. Unless there were two others who had stayed behind and were now approaching on foot. Because his initial count had been ten. Had to remember the possibility that there were bad guys behind him.