— 15 —
"Follow me to my tank, Smyth," Bull said to his second-in-command. Bull clambered onto the huge tank with the grace of a mountain lion going up a cliff. His meaty hundred kilos did nothing to alter the rock-steady hovertank as it dusted the ground with its four huge fans. To Lewis he shouted, "Get all the platoon leaders here!"
"Right, sir!" Lewis shouted over his shoulder as he trotted to the rest of the vehicles.
Lewis was soon engulfed in a hive of activity as tankers and pongoes strove to get their gear on and their ammo loaded under the harsh encouragement of the granite-jawed Sergeant Major Ogren. Behind the hovertanks and skimmers, Bull saw masses of fragile wheeled vehicles—the softskinneds that would carry much needed supplies to the survivors.
Corporal Ennis, second in command of Bromley's tank, stuck his head out of a hatch on the turret of Lariat Two Six. He swiveled the navigational display up in the track commander's cupola so that Bromley could point out the terrain they had to traverse to the massing officers. For the first time Bromley got a decent picture of his choices. He could see immediately the three main routes to the wreck. There were also several chances to switch from one route to another along the way.
If Bull takes the central northwest road, turn to section 16.
If Bull starts out on the north road, turn to section 17.
If Bull chooses the route going west, then north, turn to section 18.