Genosha - Stemming The Tide: What Next?

[xp_daytripper]

The next morning, the plan is revisited and options discussed. Jayresh has a suggestion, for a price.



Lorna was sitting at the fire and drinking a really bad cup of coffee from a tiny tin cup, it would have to do for now. "I made some coffee,"  she said, looking around at the group taking another sip from the tin cup. "Have we come up with a plan? I don't think it would be wise if we stay here any longer than it is necessary." 
 
Wade was sore and pissed off but hiding both well - at least from people who couldn't read minds. So he'd been doing a lot of thinking about waves and sunsets and wind blowing through trees in an effort to give Emma a break from the sheer rage he kept so carefully hidden from everyone else. "I don't know about official plans yet, but I'm also in favor of moving as soon as possible." And killing as many Magistrates as he could between stops, but that tidbit wasn't useful for general consumption. 
 
Emma frowned slightly at Wade’s words and the intensely simmering rage that danced at the edges of his thoughts, but she didn’t raise her eyes from her tin cup, her focus turned outwards as she swept yet again over the camp, patrolling the edges of the Astral Plane for stray thoughts heading out or concentrated probes heading in. She hadn’t encountered any probes yet, but her long-distance sweeps couldn’t help but notice that the Genoshan forces were gathering. “I agree,” she said. “We’re too close to what they laughingly choose to call civilisation in this country. Some more distance would lower the risk of patrols reaching us.” She finished her current sweep and raised her eyes to the group. “The Genoshans have plans for us. I can’t get enough details but the troop movements make it obvious that they don’t intend to leave us alone. Distance will give us time and that will let us make plans.” Her gaze went out beyond the fire for a moment, to where Molly and Matt sat together, and then travelled back to meet Wade’s eyes. “Life and death decisions,” she added. 
 
"On top of whatever their original plans were for us," Wanda commented from where she knelt next to the fire, getting her own cup of coffee, "we are the ones that managed to slip through their original traps.  Not only are they going to be determined to recapture us all but the ones controlling the armies coming for us are going to be rather angry at us.  I doubt they'll mourn if some of their men get carried away enough that a few of us do not make it back with the others."  Morbid thoughts for so early in the morning but they had no choice.  What was behind them was probably a mixture of a manhunt and a witch hunt, except where burning torches used to be, they had automatic weapons and powers. 
 
"They're also likely to have more hostages to attempt to curb whatever retaliation we might have planned. We have to assume they've captured more of us, and that they're like to take out - or threaten to take out - anything we do on the people they have. And right now, we can't be sure who they do or don't have." Warren was nursing a cup of Lorna's coffee, sipping at it without much thought to what he was drinking. 
 
"You'll be found soon enough here. The GDF will have patrols, satellite images; bushrangers like me aren't worth the trouble, but if they want you bad, this island is too small to hide easily." Jayresh pointed out, with the affaible nature of one who wasn't being hunted. 
 
Pointedly not asking questions about any of the people who had been captured after the first rescue attempt, Wade straightened his spine and took a slow breath. Ribs were tender, but not sharply painful any longer. He'd take what he could get. "No amount of shielding, no matter how well done," he tipped an imaginary hat in Emma's direction, "is going to keep them from locating us with satellites." Bending forward, he he scratched a rough image of the island in the dirt. "Hammer Bay's here," he said, drawing an X in generally the correct location. "I'm guessing we're roughly here." Glancing up, he quirked an eyebrow at the bushman. "Is that about right?" First rule of survival? Make use of what resources you had - and Jayresh knew the area a hell of a lot better than any of them. 
 
"Roughly." The older man crouched down, and made a sweep with his index finger. "And this is the area you need to be in if you want to hide. Deeper jungle crowded around the Ridgeback range. They could send every Magistrate on the island walking through those woods and still need months to find you." 
 
Lorna looked over at the makeshift map that Wade created and watched Jayresh point to an area. "How long of a hike is that going to take to get there?" The idea that satellites would soon be looking for them, if they weren't already made her feel a little vulnerable. She took a sip of her coffee to calm her nerves. 
 
"For you? A week. There's a lot of open ground, and then scrublands in the Krolik foothills." Jayrash said, letting his fingertips rest lightly on the ground. "I could get you there in two days. Safely. But there are other considerations involved." 
 
Wade's immediate thought was to suggest they travel by night, but that wouldn't exactly work for the kids and presented a host of different problems. "Such as? Beyond the fact that we've got a group of children with us?" He quirked an eyebrow. "Do you know the grid patterns they're likely to use to search for us? The sizes of their patrols, the frequency of their circuits, the areas where they're most likely to set up communications and base camps?" 
 
"Do I look like Tam Anderson to you? My job is primarily avoiding the odd Ranger sweep and very occasional patrols. Save for a few cops and the odd environmentalist nut, no one cares about me. Which is why there are considerations." He said. "You're not the only mutants to have ever been on the run from Genoshan forces. After the Commission set up their grand bargain, even before it started to get twisted, there were always a few mutants that didn't want to be told what their next forty years on the job would be. For lots of different reasons, they'd run into the wilds. Now there's a little gypsy community of them which is so neatly hidden and supplied that it would be the safest place for these kids. But... they've never had an army looking for them either. If Genosha really wants you back, this might lead them to the others if I bring you there. Those are my considerations." 
 
"We understand your considerations," Warren replied calmly. "They're perfectly reasonable." But ultimately frustrating. A safe haven, where the kids would be safe while the rest of them worked to find and/or rescue the others. 
 
Wanda's interest had already been captured but her focus narrowed sharply to Jayrash when he mentioned others.  "Trust me when I say that we do not want to embroil anyone else in this mess or bring down the wrath of the army on them.  But I think that us meeting them might be necessary."  She rubbed a hand over her face as she continued, "Because what happens if the army manages to find them before they find us or before we can reach them?  Without knowing that something like that might be coming, they could be completely overrun before they knew what was going on.  At least if we can speak with them, we can warn them enough to go to ground before that happens." 
 
"The Magistrates are looking for you. Best thing I could do to do to protect them is send you in the opposite direction." He paused, looking over at the edges of the camp, where the others sat. "I told myself, don't go to the helicoptor crash. The babua fish are running right now. The prissy chef at the White Sands will pay a mint for each one. Go make some easy money. Did I listen?" He lit another cigarette. 

"I'm sure you're aware of the fact that you can still make easy money from some of us," Emma replied. "I can ensure you get adequately compensated for your pains."

Lorna was looking down at the map as the rest talked. "If the jungle is as thick as he is saying it is then we might be able to buy some time getting through. We will use the jungle to our advantage. The one problem I see is that we stand out, we need to get into clothing that match our surroundings. Is there a way through the range?" Lorna asked. Turning back to look at the kids. "And we only take what we need, leave everything else. The hike is going to be long enough and if it will take us two days we need all the speed we can get." 


"These people have helped me before. They trust me. Bringing people the whole of the island are hunting isn't necessarily the way to repay them." He said, bristling slightly. "So what will you do for them?"

What did they have to offer?  That was the hard part.  They were exhausted and being hunted with all of them lucky enough to have their lives but god knows they had little else.  "What do they need?" Wanda asked.  "Depending on what they need, we can certainly help them - take a look at their security, hunt, see to any injuries, that we can do.  More, too, when we leave the island but I do not wish to make promises when even the next few days will be perilous."  

She spread her hands slightly.  "We need this help, we need you and them but we understand the danger.  We will certainly hold back from the camp while you speak with them - if they feel the risk is too high, we will move on, no hard feelings.  But we need to try."

Jayresh stubbed out his cigarette on to the ground. "If you get clear of Genosha, you take whoever wants to leave with you. Help set them up somewhere else." He got to his feet smoothly. "As for my fee, we can discuss it on the move. There's a lot of ground to cover over the next while."

Nodding, Wade looked over the map, then swiped his palm over the ground to erase it. "Let's move, then."