They had camped in a factory compound, an easily defensible position if the expected counter attack came. The morning brought something completely unexpected. There was a welcoming committee outside the gate. Shop keepers offered food from their stock, families had come to cheer and youths of both sexes wanted to join up- and if they couldn’t join up many still wanted to offer their bodies to the cause.

Sheel, Gimm and Bobb used the confusion to slip away from the force. They couldn’t escape Jayn, but she had a uniform that commanded respect from the liberated. She asked for a street map and was instantly obliged. The old man running the paper stall drew on the locations of all the known occupation bases and the supposed location of the seat of the Resistance- on the other side of the fjord.

A vehicle came around the corner at speed, screeching to a halt as it saw the crowd down the road. It was a three axled softskin loaded with occupation troops. A few in the rear spotted Jayn’s uniform, even closer at hand. Their weapons were close by, they thought about going for them. Sheel’s gun arm was locked and ready, but they wouldn’t have understood the significance. One by one they raised their hands in surrender.

With the troops disembarked from the softskin, Jayn gave the old man an autogun, and a lesson in how to use it, and entrusted the prisoners to him. With a grin he began marching them toward the factory. Gimm studied the controls of the softskin. There were two levers, one for forward and reverse and the other for five gear ratios. Gimm only took two false starts to get moving.

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