HENTY'S FIST 1: GAUNTLET RUN: birth of a superhero by Andre Jute, Dakota Franklin and Andrew McCoy. 60,000 words in 76 chapters.
CHAPTER 14
“That Fist. It broadcasts to the Public Safety Watcheyes on a secret frequency that ain’t no secret. A lot of bounty hunters got receivers, so if they know the general area you’re in, they just wait until you come on the air. Then they pinpoint you with RDF.”
“What’s that?”
“Radio Direction Finding.”
That would hurt. It took Henty a moment to think up the next question. “What can l do about it, short of cutting off my hand?”
The capo gave her a tight little grin. “The transmission range is only about two miles, so you got to stay away from the Watcheyes so they can’t get a general fix on you from The Caring Society.”
“You mean The Caring society tells bounty hunters where to find me?”
“Who else?”
“Any other tips to help me get to Nevada and win your bet?”
“Yah. Don’t be a hick. Don’t trust anybody.”
“I got that.”
“Kill anybody who gets in your way.”
“I couldn’t do that. I hurt when I have to kill houseflies.”
“Suit yourself if you want to be old fashioned and dead. Just remember, a whole lot of people aren’t going to wait until you’re dead to cut the Fist from vou.”
Henty shuddered. She had seen it many times on vidi, bounty hunters cutting the Fist from Runners obviously still alive; mobs tearing whole arms from still fighting Runners...
“I’ll tell you something else. That Fist’s got power.”
“The doctor who fitted it told me it’s indestructible.”
“More. To help the Runner get as far as possible, the Fist has real power. So much that they took fright and started putting it on the Runner’s left hand instead of the right just to cut back a little on the damage Runners did.”
“Why not just reduce the power? How much power?”
“Bureaucrats. Open the Fist and look at that handle.” Henty opened the Fist and looked at the handle. Then she looked at the other handle. The one held by the Fist was worn and cracked, the other one absolutely pristine.
“This glass is supposed to be indestructible,” the capo said. “You saw it taking direct hits off that exploded plane and not a mark on it. But the Fist crunches it.”
Henty dosed the Fist and watched the glass powder between her fingers until they met...
“Hey, what you want to do that for? It’s government property and I got to account for it. Show a little respect, huh?”
“Sorry. Just testing. You told me, trust no one.”
The glass cage was being lowered to a busy intersection beside which armed men stood in a circle around a parked chopper. The cage settled and the capo, his eyes rolling like marbles in their sockets to check that everything was safe, held the door.
The man from the Syndicate waited for them amid his soldiers and button men. “Good work, Joe. Delivery accepted.”
Henty realized her conversation with the capo must have been monitored in the chopper, with messages relayed to bring Mr Greenshoes here.
“You want to deal now?” Greenshoes asked her, flashing a legal-looking document. “You had a sample of our efficiency.”
“How much?”
“Standard price. Ten per cent. One million.”
“I hear the Syndicate statisticians give me all the way to Nevada,” Henty said.
“Thousand to one ANO, sure. But the price for taking your fall to us is the same.”
“What help are you offering me to get to Nevada?”
He was staggered. “Help? No help. We just guarantee not to change the odds on you before you get to Nevada, that’s all. Don’t you know the rules of the game?”
“Then I’ll make my own rules,” Henty said easily and, calling “Thanks for the ride, Joe,” over her shoulder to the capo, she trotted away.
MORE SOON! A NEW CHAPTER ALMOST EVERY DAY! Add GAUNTLET RUN to your Reading List (click “Manage” in the right hand column, then tick “Reading List” and “Done”).
• MORE ABOUT THE AUTHORS AT:
Andre Jute http://coolmainpress.com/andrejute.html Andre’s latest book is DREAMS Book 1 of COLD WAR, HOT PASSIONS http://www.amazon.com/DREAMS-COLD-WAR-PASSIONS-ebook/dp/B00A3BSJM2 Dakota Franklin http://coolmainpress.com/Dakota%20Franklin.html Dakota’s latest book is NASCAR FIRST http://www.amazon.com/NASCAR-FIRST-RUTHLESS-WIN-ebook/dp/B00A72A556 Andrew McCoy http://coolmainpress.com/andrewmccoy.html Andrew’s latest book is STIEG LARSSON Man, Myth & Mistress http://www.amazon.com/STIEG-LARSSON-Myth-Mistress-ebook/dp/B004GXAZAM
Copyright © 2012 André Jute, Dakota Franklin, Andrew McCoy. The authors have asserted their moral right. Published by CoolMain Press 2012 www.coolmainpress.com. Editor: Lisa Penington. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or performed by any means without the written permission of the publisher.
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HENTY'S FIST 1: GAUNTLET RUN by Andre Jute, Dakota Franklin, Andrew McCoy
ActionThe Gauntlet Run is the toughest race ever run by man: across America with every man’s hand turned against you from the statue of Liberty to the old US Mint in San Francisco. There the prize awaits you: $10 million and a full and free Presidential P...
