re
personal ID to operate; if it was like most large fleets a single code
should be able to activate anywhere from five to a couple of decade
vehicles. And the aidvan ought to have one of the code cards in the
slot, ready to go . . .

Dave grinned in satisfaction when he got to the driver's position.
Convenience, as he'd hoped, had overcome security, something his mother
said disapprovingly even happened sometimes with Marine units; the card
was in the slot. He took it, then grabbed his supplies and hurried
into the next vehicle in line.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the card proved to activate this
vehicle as well; he might have had to go through a decade or so. Now
to see if it had . . . yeah, good. Lord Robert might be a rebel, with
creeps--well, mostly creeps, Theo was okay--for followers, but he had
good equipment. This had variable coloration, which Dave promptly set
for camouflage, as well as convertible capability, a light-enhancing
windscreen, and a low-power setting that made the whine of null-grav
engines almost inaudible. Making use of the last two, Dave took the
vehicle carefully out of the parking area. Really good equipment had
its disadvantages, too, he knew,; he'd have to get the Ranger, get out
of camp, and find a hiding place fast, before the rebels realized what
was happening and used the override the car almost had to have. He
wouldn't dare take enough time to get home, or to a town, and his camp
was out of the question.

Dave lowered the car's top as he guided it into the campfire area and
nudged the passenger side against the Ranger's legs, then he clambered
into the back and stood on the seat to reach the man's bonds. They
were rope, so he wouldn't have to risk even low-power disruptor fire;
he sawed through them, then laid the Ranger as gently as he could on
the back seat. The fabric he touched was sticky-wet; he wiped his
hands on his pants legs before he got back in the driver's seat and
began edging the car away from the camp.

He kept the car on low power, traveling slowly, until he was almost a
kilometer away, then went to normal power and sped up. This part of
the mountains was honeycombed with caves, so he decided their best bet
would probably be to find a nice one and hole up until the Marines
finally landed. Dave was confident they would; whatever had kept them
from showing up right away surely couldn't keep them from starting to
search when the Ranger didn't return