37

Barlow throws his hands in the air as the force of your gunfire pitches him forwards. (Remember to deduct the relevant number of rounds from your Ammo Pouch.) He crashes to the ground and immediately tries to rise, but it is a futile effort: he has sustained a fatal wound and death is but seconds away. The clan biker moves as if he is going to dismount and help his confederate. Then, realizing that he is beyond help, he quickly changes his mind and makes a hasty escape from the plaza.

Rickenbacker and Cutter come running across the plaza and take cover with you behind the garbage cart. You tell them how you dispatched Barlow, and how you are now absolutely convinced that he was guilty.

‘You’re right,’ says Cutter, glancing across at his motionless body. ‘He must have been a clan infiltrator. I’d hazard a guess that this whole attack was an effort by the Outlaws t’ get him out o’ here.’

‘Well now they’re too late,’ you reply. ‘His sentence has already been served in full.’

From behind the metal lip of the garbage cart you survey the battle that is raging around the plaza. Most of the colonists have now armed themselves and taken cover, and they are putting up a valiant defence of the vehicles. The few clansmen you do see are either dead or attempting to escape from the town. All, that is, apart from one. He is a blond-haired thug, dressed in a studded leather vest and striped pants, who is busy hammering in the glass door panels of the DC1 school bus with the stock of his machine pistol. The sight of him senselessly attacking the door of the empty bus does not bother you unduly until you remember that there is one person who is still on board the bus—Kate—and your heart nearly stops with shock.

If you wish to open fire at the clansman before he gains entry to the bus and are able to do so, turn to 270.

If you do not wish to open fire at the clansman, or if you are unable to do so, turn to 181.