Its been a very long day, been steaming up the central valley -- quite literally -- all the way from Fresno. Some fighting there, nothing much. Most of it is unsanctioned, kind of a free-for-all. Nobody knows what the hell is going on there. Everybody just sort of picks a side and shells towards the direction of that day's "enemy". The only people who really seem to be losing are the good people of Fresno, were there any left there. Instead their property takes the wallop and that's one of those things that nobody will care much about now but in the near future accounting will be taken.

Who is to pay for this mess we've made is, of course, anybody's ball game.

I'm glad to have it behind me when I finally reach Sacramento. The goal is just a short way beyond -- home, bed, shower, snog the wife. The usual.

Some redneck is busted out in the breakdown lane. He's driving an old pickup truck -- looks converted from the way the tank rides but I bet he's still burning petrol and just doesn't want anybody to know from a distance. He looks kind of like a deserter and in any case, his vehicle is not authorized out here at this hour.

Really, the scanners pick him up before I do and the only thing I'm good for at that point is wetware ID of the situation and shoot-to-kill authorization. Its goodamned hot in the valley today and I've been sucking cool water from the teat until I fear the waste water resevoir will start sloshing, though its showing depressingly empty. The coolmax suit is doing its job pretty well and the integrated cooling coils have been keeping me plenty mellow, but the dry air still hits you, dig? Its not the best for mental processing even with all the gizmos and its been a long day.

"Hose 'em, Pedro" I tell the machine like a half dozen times already toaday.

The turret springs up from the top of the 'patrol and uzis out leaden death in the direction of the redneck. Hell, he's more fo a suburban type but if Pedro says he's in violation, my ass is covered and there's something comforting about ending up with nothing but the safety reserve in the chamber, more or less, so lets go.

The TB-RADAR does its trick and the pixels representing my fire path connecting with his vehicle trace across the display. Large chunks of steel and plastic go caroming of the vehicle in a way that always reminds me of geysers. Bingo -- turns out that veg oil tank was a prop after all. Now I know my ass is covered.

I don't know if I actually got the driver and don't much care. I actually hope he made it because as much of a deterent as his carcass would have been, the carcass of the vehicle is worth at least as much and at the end of the day he gets to go home and tell everybody how you've got to walk right in Sacramento.

Man, its good to be home