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.Bree and Grudge led the way, she with her twin lever-action shotguns, he with his colossal autocannon.It was big enough to be mounted on an aircraft, but in his hands it seemed about the right size.'You're not going to break up the gunfight?' Malvery asked, as the sounds of dying men diminished behind them.'Not our problem,' rumbled Grudge.'Not your problem?' Malvery was faintly appalled.'Then what is?''Our problem is back in the refinery,' said Samandra.'That's where we're going now?' Frey asked.'Yep,' she replied.That suited Frey.If the miners were to be believed, Almore Roke was there.He drew his cutlass as they hurried through the narrow back ways of Endurance.It made him feel a little better.They'd left all their guns on the ground when they fled, and he felt uncomfortably vulnerable without them.'I shouldn't worry,' said Samandra.'The miners might be riled, but they ought to stop short of firing on the Archduke's Knights.''Ought to?' Frey asked.Samandra shrugged.'Guess you never can tell.'The snow was coming down thicker now, and settling.Frey glanced over at Trinica, who was sticking close to Silo.The Murthian had pulled her out of the crossfire earlier.He'd done a better job of protecting her than Frey had.Frey suppressed a surge of jealousy.Just be glad no one got hurt.No one important, anyway.'I should thank you,' he said to Samandra.'For coming to collect us.Didn't expect an escort.''We saw you coming in.Recognised the craft.I wouldn't soon forget the Ketty Jay.Not after the shit you pulled at Mortengrace.'Frey grinned.'And you just couldn't resist.''Actually, it was more 'cause I want to pick your brains about Grist.' She winked.'And because it'd just break my heart to see that handsome face shot off.''Mine, too,' Frey admitted.He checked on Trinica again.Samandra spotted him.'She's new,' she said.'Pretty, too.What's the story?' She nudged him in the ribs.'Her? Passenger,' said Frey.He hoped that he was offhand enough to discourage her interest.Trinica was under sentence of death for treason, and if the Century Knights realised who she was, it'd all be over for her.Luckily, she was all but unrecognisable without her make-up.Samandra gave him an insinuating smile, but she didn't pursue the matter.They came out of the alleys and on to narrow streets.There was more evidence of combat here: bullet holes in the walls, fallen bodies being slowly buried by the snow.Bree and Grudge slipped from corner to corner, covering the angles, each supporting the other.Frey had to admire the seamless way they worked together.They spotted a group of blue-uniformed mercs ahead, who came sallying out of a side street.They raised their weapons at the sight of the rag-tag group coming their way, but lowered them again as they identified Bree and Grudge.The Knights and their companions were left to pass unhindered.Now that the distant gunfire had stopped, silence returned to Endurance.The only sound was their boots whispering through the snow, and the clank of Grudge's body armour.Frey found it all a bit eerie.'Where is everybody?' he said.'That's what worries me,' said Samandra.'Most of the town disappeared when the trouble began, before we got here.There are little roaming groups fighting skirmishes with the mercs; as to the rest, we ain't got half an idea where they are.But you can be sure they're about somewhere.Probably been rounded up by the Underground, getting ready to make their move.''The Underground?'Samandra indicated a sign daubed in red paint on a nearby wall.An underlined U.Frey had noticed several others on their way, but hadn't thought much of them.'The Underground.Bunch of militants who say they fight for worker's rights, votes for all freemen, that kind of thing.They've been stirring the locals up good.This place was a powderkeg.Only a matter of time before something set 'em off.''So whose side are you on?''The Archduke's,' she said.'Like always.' She peered round a corner and waved them on.'Look, I ain't happy about it.I know how they treat the miners in these parts.I'd rather Roke and his lot were shot.But we're Century Knights.We keep the Archduke's peace.And we can't have businessmen getting offed every time the workers get a bit shirty
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