The Time of The Cat 26

TWENTY-SIX

DENVER TO LOVELAND

Despite the mile-high altitude of the city, Denver was about ten degrees hotter than Boot Hill and a lot more polluted. The men and I came out in the back of a hardware store. We exited the store through the open loading dock without being seen by anyone. This was going very well. Since we’d met the border patrol, we’d had nothing but good luck, and it continued.

Joe went around the corner and shortly came back driving an older Cadillac. It was somewhat rusty, with the vinyl landau top starting to peel. He said that it belonged to a drunk who had just entered a bar. He’d looked in, and the guy was ordering another drink. Joe didn’t think he’d come out for some time.

We hit the road, got to the right highway, and headed out of town, heading north, finally. It was only about sixty miles, and the road was relatively clear with sporadic, light traffic, so it looked as if we were going to be there in plenty of time.

We did have one fright when a highway patrol unit came by us under lights and siren, but he was going to an accident that we passed a few miles farther on, so we kept up our steady progress. We’d all been in this kind of situation before, and it was difficult not to speed. When trying to get away or avoid being stopped, speeding is not a great strategy. Joe tried the cruise control, but it didn’t work, so he simply kept his eye on the speedometer and cruised along at a steady sixty miles per hour.

In an hour, we’d arrived at the outskirts of Loveland. The transporter was apparently located in some structure about a mile to the east of the city limits. We cruised downtown and then turned east on a convenient street. When we hit the edge of town, we started looking, and Joe shortly saw a likely possibility located a few hundred yards from an intersection with Larimer County Road 1.

It was a stereotypical red barn, somewhat dilapidated, with the words “See Rock City” painted on the shingles. The nearby farmhouse did not look as if it was occupied, but we approached carefully nonetheless. It was a good idea that we did, too, because just as we pulled into the farmyard, a Pug came out of the house, took a look at our disreputable vehicle, and ran back inside.

We bailed out of the car with our weapons and spread out, covering the house and the barn, just in case some came from there.

The Pug suddenly appeared at the front door carrying one of the long electro-bolt launchers. He immediately fired at the Cadillac, and the shot barely missed the vehicle. I think he couldn’t decide whether to aim at the car or the group of us. As it was, I was a little too close and was scorched, but was basically alright. The Pug wasn’t. Both Colin and Joe shot him with splinter guns at the same time he shot at us. He was down and no longer a threat.

Joe went to the house and cleared the entrance. He took the time to grab the deceased Pug’s splinter gun before he entered. He popped back out in a minute and announced that the place only had two rooms, and they were empty, so we turned our attention to the barn.

We were just in time to catch a Pug who was trying to get a bead on Chandra from the open haymow door. Chandra ducked behind a tractor, and the glass splinter broke on the wheel. There were three more Pugs hiding inside the front barn door, and they were also taking potshots at us but missing. It didn’t seem like they could see us very well. It was quite bright out, and the sun was over our shoulders, so they had it in their eyes.

Another group of Pugs suddenly showed up near the corral at the back right corner of the barn, possibly having just come out of a transporter inside. Things were starting to look bad, but then Joe shot one, and Chandra got another one, and I got two, and the odds were a little more even.

Nevertheless, it looked like we were in a standoff. They’d pulled back into the barn, where it was dark, and the sun was starting to go down behind the mountains to our west. We figured that they’d be better shots in the twilight, so we kept carefully under cover and waited for a break that would give us a chance.