The Debt Collectors War

Chapter 56

They drove back over the field, the way they had come. Ellie got out again to open and close the gate. They drove down the road, back towards the militia compound.

“Not too fast,” Ellie said to Joe. “Don’t draw attention.”

Joe nodded, and kept their speed slow.

Ellie’s plan wasn’t complicated. It was pretty much exactly as she’d said. Going and ringing the doorbell, if there was one, and otherwise just banging on the gate. Knocking on the front door, anyway, and saying hello, and then pushing their way in and shooting whoever they had to shoot to get inside.

“All right,” Ellie said to Joe, when they were a kilometre from the compound. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Act normal when we get there. Just drive up and stop at the gate, all slow and calm, just like we’re just visiting or something, and let Sameh and I get out.”

Joe nodded.

“And try and look boring,” Ellie said. “As much as you can, anyway. Drive slow and don’t brake too hard. Drive like nothing interesting is going on.”

“Okay,” Joe said, but he still seemed nervous.

Ellie looked at him for a moment. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Everything’ll be okay,” Ellie said. “We’ll be okay. Don’t worry about this.”

“You know what I think.”

“I know. But we’ll be fine. And anyway, if anything terrible happens, it won’t be happening to you.”

Joe looked over at her. “At least, not until after you’re dead.”

Ellie thought about that. “How do you mean?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“No,” Ellie said. “Tell me.”

“Just that I’m not safe really, am I? If they kill you, they’re going to come outside and look at the car you arrived in.”

“Oh,” Ellie said. “Yeah, I suppose.”

“I’m not complaining. I can look after myself. I just meant that this isn’t completely safe for me, either.”

Ellie looked at him for a moment, then tapped her comm. “Are you there?” she said to the operations centre.

“Yes ma’am.”

“If at any point our biosensors show that I and my partner are both dead, would you please let our driver know immediately so he can get away.”

“Of course ma’am,” the operations centre said.

“You have his phone number?”

“We do.”

“Is your phone on,” Ellie said to Joe.

Joe looked at her, as if she was joking.

“Is it?” she said.

Joe checked. “Yes.”

“Is there a signal here?”

Joe looked again and nodded.

“His phone’s on,” Ellie said to the operations centre. “Please make certain you tell him if anything happens.”

“We will, ma’am.”

“Thank you,” Ellie said, and broke the connection. “Happy?” she said to Joe.

“I didn’t mean…”

“I know. But it’s a good point. It’s fair enough. Drive off and leave us if anything goes wrong.”

“No.”

“Don’t argue.”

“I’m not. But I’m not leaving you two behind.”

“We’ll be dead. We won’t care.”

“You might only be injured.”

“Not if the biosensors are showing us dead.”

“The sensors might just be damaged. Or the signals shielded or blocked somehow.”

Ellie shook her head. “Then there’d be no signal at all. Not an end-of-life signal.”

“Oh,” Joe said, sounding unsure, almost confused, as if he’d forgotten that.

Ellie looked at him, curious. She seemed to remember these were a newer model of biosensor, but she wasn’t sure how new. She supposed the equipment must have been different when Joe was in the MidEast, but didn’t want to embarrass him by pointing out just how long he had been stuck in Měi-guó.

“I want you to leave if our sensors say we’re dead,” Ellie said.

Joe didn’t answer.

“Tell me you will, or I’ll call the ops centre back and have them cancel your contract right now.”

Joe looked at her, then shrugged. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll leave.”

“You will?”

Joe nodded. “I will.”

“Good boy,” Ellie said, grinning, teasing him. She was feeling a bit silly and edgily overexcited because she was about to go into combat. She was feeling silly, but not so much that she didn’t notice Joe was still looking at her rather than the road. “Um, look out,” she said mildly.

They were a hundred metres from the compound and getting closer fast.

“Fuck,” Joe said as he noticed too, and then he started to slow down.