The Quest of the DNA Cowboys

by Mick Farren

  '. . . I found out why. The Shirik, man. Those fucking animals eat the dead! They're out there, eating the men they killed today!'

  Reave closed his eyes.

  'Jesus! You saw this? You saw it happening?'

  'I saw it, Reave. I saw it and heard them talking. It was horrible. We got to get out of here.'

  He clutched at Reave and sobbed into his jacket. Reave put an arm out and stroked Billy's hair.

  'It's all right, kid. We'll get away from this place. We did in Dogbreath, and we can do it here.'

  Billy said nothing, and for a long time they clung together in silence. A figure emerged out of the darkness.

  'What's the matter with you two? Never had you tagged as queers.'

  Reave looked up, and saw Axmann standing over him. Axmann had been in command of the lead tank.

  'My partner cracked up when he saw the Shirik eating the dead.'

  'Didn't Duck warn you what it was like?'

  'He didn't tell us they were cannibals.'

  Axmann scratched the stubble on his chin.

  'That's too bad. It must have been a shock to just stumble on to it. We all stay close to camp after a victory. Nobody wants to get close to the Shirik,'

  Billy looked up at him.

  'It's okay for you to talk. You've got used to it.'

  Axmann put a hand on Billy's shoulder.

  'Nobody gets used to that. I've been here for five years, and I never got used to it. The best you can hope for is to be able to close off your mind to it.'

  He fumbled in the pocket of his combat coat, produced a small bottle and shook some of the contents into his hand. He handed Reave two flat white pills.

  'Give him these, they'll put him out for the rest of the night.'

  Axmann turned and walked away. Reave gave Billy the pills and some water to wash them down with. A few minutes after Billy had swallowed them, he fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

  The next thing that Billy remembered was being shaken awake by Reave.

  'Come on, man, move. We're under attack.'

  There was an explosion close by, and Billy shook his head to make his brain work.

  'What's going on?'

  'The Harodin are counter attacking. There's thousands of them. I guess they want to get their own back on the Shirik.'

  There was another explosion, and Billy scrambled to his feet.

  'Get inside the machine. It'll be safer than out here in the open.'

  Billy and Reave climbed out of the trench and sprinted towards the parked machines. Bullets spattered around their feet. Bearing down on the Dur Shanzag lines was a wall of blue uniforms. The air was filled with snarls and howls as the Shirik prepared to meet the enemy.

  They reached the fighting machine, and Reave tugged open the door.

  'Quick, inside.'

  They dived inside.

  'Where's the Rainman?'

  'Dunno, I ain't seen him.'

  Reave pointed out through the observation slit.

  'There. There he is. He's coming.'

  The Rainman was ducking and weaving towards the mach­ine, attempting to dodge the crossfire from the Shirik and the Harodin. He was only ten yards from the machine when he stumbled, spun round and hit the ground. Reave looked at Billy in alarm.

  'He's been hit. He's gone down.'

  The Rainman was on his hands and knees, slowly crawling towards the machine. Reave reached for the door.

  'I'm going out to get him.'

  There was the clang of bullets hitting the side of the machine. Billy grabbed Reave by the arm.

  'Don't be a fool. You'll get killed out there.'

  'I can't leave him lying out there wounded.'

  As he spoke, more bullets hit the Rainman, he jerked con­vulsively and lay still. Reave pulled away from Billy and began opening the door.

  'I can't leave him out there.'

  Billy pushed Reave hard into his seat.

  'There's nothing you can do. He's dead.'

  'But we can't leave him out there. Those goddamn creat­ures will eat him.'

  'You can't go out and get him. You'll be killed yourself.'

  Reave slumped in his seat, and covered his face with his hands.

  'Okay, okay, I know it. I know it. Why did we ever get involved in this? Curse this fucking, absurd war.'

  Billy dropped into the driver's seat, and threw the machine into gear.

  'Get into the turret, Reave. Get yourself together. The Rainman's dead, and we've got to get out of here.'

  Reave climbed slowly into the turret, and Billy started the machine rolling. The other two machines were also on the move, cutting into the Harodin lines with their turrets spitting bolts and belching fire. Billy swung away from them, and turned sharp right. He pushed the machine as fast as it would go, running parallel to the trenches, between the attackers and the defenders. Bullets hammered against the armour and the fighting machine bucked and skidded as shells exploded near­by. Reave yelled at Billy in alarm.

  'You gone crazy? You'll get us killed. Where the fuck do you think you're going?'

  Billy clung grimly to the steering gear as a near miss rocked the machine.

  'I'm getting us out of this. Away from this insanity.'

  'But where are you heading?'

  'I don't know. I'm just getting away.'

  'If you keep running along in no man's land we're just going to get ourselves blown up.'

  'All right, all right.'

  Billy swung the machine to the left and plunged across the trenches, crushing Shirik under the spiked wheels. Soon they were running towards the rear. Confused Uruks gesticulated at them as they cut through supply columns and rolled across dugouts. The battle zone seemed to go on and on but after thirty minutes they left the last shell hole and excavation be­hind. They were in the bare, open desert. Billy brought the machine to a halt.

  'We made it. We got out of their war.'

  'It's too bad the Rainman didn't make it.'

  'Yeah. It's too bad.'

  'Where do we go from here?'

  Billy slid down in his seat.

  'Who knows? Just keep on going until we hit something. We've never known where we've been going before. Something'll turn up.'

  There was a long silence. Each of them was absorbed in his own thoughts. The quiet of the desert was strangely deafening after the roar of battle. The occasional rumble of distant gun­fire was the only reminder that it still existed. After a while, Reave took a deep breath.

  'Billy?'

  'Yeah.'

  'You got any idea what you're looking for?'

  'Not really. No more than I had back in Pleasant Gap. I just know there's something, and I'm going to keep looking for it. One thing's for sure, we can't go back.'

  Reave nodded.

  'That's true enough.'

  Billy glanced up at him.

  'You regretting this whole thing? You wishing you were back in Pleasant Gap?'

  Reave shook his head.

  'No. I don't regret nothing. I'll go along with anything. It's just . . .'

  'It's just what?'

  'It's just that I don't have your faith that there's something out there waiting for us.'

  Billy laughed.

  'Shit man, I don't have no faith. I didn't leave Pleasant Gap to find no divine destiny. The only thing to look forward to in Pleasant Gap was growing old and ending up like old Eli.'

  Reave grinned despite himself.

  'That's true enough. There doesn't seem to be anything to do except go on.'

  Billy started the engine again and dropped the machine into gear, and they moved forward across the desert. Billy halted the machine again and looked up at Reave.

  'Want to drive for a spell?'

  Reave climbed down from the turret.

  'Sure.'

  He took Billy's place behind the controls. Billy slid into the standby seat and the machine moved forward again. They rolled across the desert for another few hours. Billy had dropp
ed into a half sleep when the engine coughed and died. Reave fiddled with the controls. Billy sat up and leaned over his shoulder.

  'What's the trouble?'

  Reave banged the speed control backwards and forwards.

  'It just died on me. One minute it was going, and the next it wasn't.'

  'Move over. Let's take a look at it.'

  Billy squeezed past Reave and studied the controls. He flicked at a couple of switches and moved some of the levers.

  'Sure looks like it's dead.'

  Reave nodded.

  'Just faded out on me. What do we do now?'

  'Foot it, I guess.'

  'You mean just trek off into the desert?'

  'I don't like this any more than you do, but we can't stay here.'

  Reave took a last kick at the controls, and then opened the door.

  'I don't need walking across this fucking desert.'

  'I don't see any way round it.'

  Reave jumped down into the dust, and looked back up at Billy.

  'What are we going to take with us?'

  'I'll see what we've got and pass it down to you.'

  Billy stripped everything he could out of the fighting mach­ine and passed it out to Reave. When there was nothing left he joined Reave and looked at the stuff laid out on the ground, Reave squatted down on his heels.

  'We ain't going to be able to hump this lot on our backs. We'll have to leave most of it behind.'

  Billy looked at the mass of stuff, and scratched his head.

  'We'll just have to take essentials.'

  Reave picked up the steel water container and shook it.

  'Ain't too much water left.'

  'Pour it out into the small bottles and dump the can.'

  Reave transferred the water to two canteens and he and Billy slung one each over their shoulders.

  'We'll need the porta-pacs.'

  They clipped them on their belts.

  'And food.'

  'It's a pity we left our bags back in the bunker.'

  'We'll just have to stash as much as we can in our pockets, and eat what's left.'

  They sat in the shade of the machine and chewed their way through the surplus of flat, tasteless ration bars. When they'd finished Billy took a mouthful of water and stood up.

  'Might as well get moving. There's no use hanging round here.'

  He hitched up his gun belt, and started walking slowly away from the machine in the direction it had been going when it stopped. Reave clambered to his feet and reluctantly followed him.

  It got hotter and hotter. Billy took off his dark glasses and wiped the sweat out of his eyes. There was nothing in sight but sand and thorn bushes under a steel-coloured sky, no sign of a track or habitation. He waited for Reave to catch up, and then started walking again. The heat got worse and then, at last, the sky began to dim, and it grew dark. Billy and Reave slept huddled together on the hard ground. The nights were as cold as the days were hot. They walked on through the second day. They didn't speak to each other. They didn't even think. Life shut down until it consisted of nothing more than putting one foot in front of the other. Billy kept his eyes carefully fixed on the ground. He found if he stared at the horizon he began to hallucinate.

  He stopped and wearily pulled the top from his canteen. He put it to his lips, and nothing happened. He tilted it further. Still nothing. The canteen was empty. He turned and waited for Reave.

  'I'm out of water.'

  Reave held his canteen to his ear and shook it.

  'I don't have more than a mouthful left.'

  'We're in trouble.'

  Reave looked around.

  'There ain't nothing we can do about it except keep on walking, and hope we find something.'

  They kept on walking. Their lips dried and cracked. Their tongues became rough and parched. They began to feel sick and dizzy. Billy's feet seemed a long way away. Then his legs gave way and he crumpled to the ground. Reave stumbled to where he lay.

  'Come on, man. Try to keep going. Only a bit further. We got to find water soon.'

  'I can't. I've got to have water. I'm burning up.' 'Come on, Billy. Try and make it.'

  'It's no good, man. You'll have to go on without me.'

  Reave hauled Billy to his feet, and supported him while they staggered on for another hundred yards. Then they both collapsed and fell to the sand. Billy rolled over on to his back.

  'We've had it, Reave. This goddamn desert goes on for ever. We've had it.'

  Reave looked up, and for a long while he stared at the horizon.

  'I don't believe it!'

  Billy looked blankly at the sky.

  'It's true, man. We've had it.'

  'No, no. Look!'

  It's no good, man. If you stare at anything too long, you start to hallucinate.'

  'This isn't a hallucination. I can see it! I can really see it!'

  Billy rolled on to his side.

  'It's a mirage.'

  'It's not, Billy. There's trees and water. I can see them.'

  Billy painfully raised his head.

  'Holy shit! You're right. I can see it too.'

  Stumbling and crawling, they made their way towards the oasis. Billy expected it to disappear at any moment, but, as they fought their way forward, it remained and came closer. They were in the shade of tall spreading palms. On their knees they reached the edge of the pool of clear water. They stooped to drink. Then a voice came from behind them.

  'Hold it right there!'

  Chapter 18

  'Cease upward motion.

  'Turn fifty seven degrees'

  'Object.'

  'Object responds as solid body.'

  'Probe.'

  'Probe non-responding. Nature of body concealed.'

  'Assume protective formation.'

  She/They shimmered and slowly closed in on Her/Their self. She/They took on the protective spherical form, but once again the sphere was discoloured and dented on one side. In every form Her/Their injuries had their effect.

  'Move forward and observe.'

  'Caution.'

  'Caution is maintained.'

  She/They moved towards the object that was concealed in the blue mist. She/They halted some distance from the object.

  'Probe again. High density.'

  A round spot on the side of the sphere glowed yellow, and a thin pencil of light cut through the blue mist.

  'Partial response on probe.'

  'Organically arranged mineral construction.'

  'Structure familiar.'

  She/They moved a little closer and probed again. This time, the result of the probe struck a trigger response in Her/Their consciousness.

  'Alarm. Object conforms to data on disruption modules.'

  'Object does not conform to normal mass or dimension in­formation stored from previous encounters.'

  'Object has ceased to move.'

  'Assumption that object is small dormant disruptor.'

  'No record of such phenomenon.'

  'Lack of information does not preclude its existence'

  'Hypothesis. Small dormant disruption module will re-awaken if probing continues.'

  'Assumption that object is dead disruption module.'

  'Insufficient data.'

  'Data may be gathered by probing.'

  'Probing could activate.'

  'Close and probe. Increase caution level.'

  She/They, still in Her/Their spherical form, closed with the object. It was now visible through the blue mist. She/They probed again.

  'Object remains dormant.'

  It was definitely a disrupter, although it was much smaller than any that She/They had previously encountered. Its body, instead of the usual smooth, gleaming, metalflake skin, was a dull black, and its surface was cracked and pitted.

  'Assumption is that the disruption module has been sub­jected to damage, energy drain or burnout.'

  'Assumption would warrant further probe.'

  She/They probed
again. The disrupter showed no signs of awakening.

  'Indication of external tampering.'

  'Indication of non-functional human interference.'

  Along the side of the disrupter, in crude white letters, was the word wilbur.

  Chapter 19

  'Hold it!'

  Billy looked up in dull surprise.

  'Huh?'

  A huge albino stood behind them. He had large incongruous breasts, small pink eyes, and straight white hair that fell to his shoulders.

  'What are you two doing, making free with my water?'

  'Your water?'

  'Sure it's my water. Who told you that you could go drink­ing it?'

  Billy looked at him in disbelief. His voice was a dry croak.

  'We're dying of thirst. We just came across the goddamn desert.'

  'I can't help that. There ain't too many people come this way, I'll admit, but all the ones that do want water. If more folks started coming here I'd have no water left at all.'

  Billy pushed himself up on to his knees, and pulled out his gun.

  'Listen. I don't know who you are, or what you do here, but we've got to have water and nobody's going to stop us.'

  The albino held up his hands.

  'There's no call to take it like that. I wasn't saying you couldn't have no water. I just like to be asked first. Good manners don't cost nothing.'

  Billy sighed and dropped the gun back into its holster.

  'Could we please have some water?'

  The albino beamed.

  'Sure, fellas. Help yourselves, take all you want.'

  Billy and Reave drank deeply and splashed water over their heads and necks. When they had finally finished they turned and faced their host.

  'We're much obliged to you, mister. We were just about dying.'

  'Think nothing of it, boys. I'm always glad to oblige. By the way, what do people call you?'

  'I'm Billy, and he's Reave.'

  'Billy and Reave, hey. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm called Burt the Medicine.'

  'Hi.'

  'Maybe you'd like to come over to the shack and take the weight off your feet.'

  'Sure.'

  Billy and Reave followed Burt the Medicine towards a log shack under the palms. There were a table and some canvas chairs in front of the ramshackle building. They were shaded by a multi-coloured beach umbrella. Burt the Medicine waved a limp hand.

  'Sit yourselves down, boys. Make yourselves at home.'