"Take a good, long look, Slingshot. This town's ours now."
Nakasi stood on top of the water tower, looking out over the mauling that the town had taken. Luisa, the CSF woman beside her, smiled around her cigarette as if the devastation was a good job well done.
Nakasi saw a ruin. The center and the north were packed with lights and brute vehicles, with tables dragged out onto sidewalks piled high with looted food and trinkets. Mauves played their rough games in the intersections, while CSF fighters wandered between standing buildings. All were women; Nakasi hadn't seen the CSF male in more than a week.
To the south, things were uglier. Most of the lamps had been smashed, and most of the remaining ones had been moved to light up the mine. Mari Maldashi's farm had been put to the torch, leaving a patch of ash like a little no-man's-land. Along the perimeter of the sandy expanse, bored CSF guards stood under personal lamps, watching the mine work in silence. Behind them, Mari Maldashi's digging machines worked to tear up roads and fences, widening the patch of dead dirt.
In the center of the south quadrant, lit by two blinding work lights, the gaping maw of the mine entrance opened up, showing bare, metal-scraped rock. Around the mouth of the mine, Bonde Wakulima women bent over a crate, then filed into the mine, each one carrying a head-sized black box wrapped in an electrical cable. Whatever those boxes were, they were heavy. The women staggered under their weight. Nakasi wondered how often they had been fed. It was possible to survive on only a few handfuls of food a day-- she had done it often enough-- but to eat so little while doing hard work was another thing. Without a doubt, staying alive under those conditions was earning them great karma.
Nakasi had wanted to search the mine for Graham Senitiki's wife Susan, but there was no sneaking in. The place was too barren. Rooftops and shadowy corners were Nakasi's best tools for spying, and the mine gave her nothing to work with.
"Hey," said Luisa, "How come you're never on guard duty?"
"I volunteered to take out Sabertooth," Nakasi replied. "That's how I pull my weight."
"But you haven't done anything."
"Ever since the natives raided us and stole the plane, I've been in reserve instead."
"You mean you just sit around with that bow?" Luisa spat on the ground. "I didn't know the commander had a girlfriend."
Nakasi cracked her knuckles. "Is that a challenge?"
Luisa turned on her, smiling. "You want to take this to the square, bandit? That's your..." She stopped. "Wait a second. Did you hear that?"
"No."
Suddenly, Luisa's arm snapped to her ear radio. "Say again?" she said. "Roger. We're on our way." She gestured to the east. "We're under attack. Come on, be useful for once, and let's scatter these punks."
Nakasi tuned her ears, and she heard it too. The militia was at it again: another raid from the northeast.
She followed Luisa down the ladder in the side of the water tower, then ran behind her towards the battlefront. After checking to make sure that they were alone, she said, "Luisa, slow down!"
Luisa slowed, and before she could ask why, Nakasi drew her combat knife, grabbed Luisa around the neck and slit her throat. For Nakasi, it was as easy as cutting a vine. By the time Luisa knew what had happened, she was already bleeding out on the ground.
"I'm changing the plan," said Nakasi, kneeling down and taking Luisa's rifle. "You'll be staying here. I've got a man up for a rescue."
She sprinted off the other way, into the center of town. All around her, the CSF geared up. Armored cars shook as their engines revved. Women hefted autocannons, and snipers scrambled to their places. The Mauves were even faster, fanning out to the east in packs of four or five. The first two raids had been sucker punches. This time, the CSF and the Mauves were ready.
