Prologue

A Dragon from the Stars

Tara gasped in horror behind the armored plex of Augusta Starport’s command center, stunned at the scene outside. The night sky was burning like the face of a sun, an awful rippling luminous dome of fire, almost as if a star was colliding with the planet. An impossible flaming sky writhed, flashed and rippled overhead. Terrifying bolts of lightning ripped and crashed through the flames, leaving long jagged tracks burnt onto her retina. She thought it the most thrilling sight she had seen in her short, immortal life. It was the end of the worldArmageddon, for us all.

Augusta 6, she thought. Is this where I’m going to die? A hot electric vibration ran through the cenite walls, coursed up the soles of her boots and into her A-suit. And suddenly she saw them, right in the middle of it all, falling almost straight down from the sky like meteors, blazing white-hot sparks, leaving glittering phosphorescent red wakes, burning their way slowly, almost leisurely, down through that hellish sky. It was the O’s.

A thrill of terror shot through her veins. It was quite a sight, but she had no time to appreciate it. A blinding white hot flash lit up the plex and the polarization snapped to full. A titanic crash rippled through the port. The walls and deck shook.

“Antimat! They’re landingright here!” The voice sounded in her ears. She scrambled away from the plex reflexively, dislodging a blizzard of plastic instruction manuals. A single phospho streak still visible through the darkened plex drifted down as she watched in awe. Then it hit, another awful white-hot burst and the crack of doom, rattling the base like a great bell. The internal lights abruptly popped off, leaving only the terrible glare from the plex, the reflection revealing Tara and her two companions in sinister black armor and ruby red faceplates, E’s at their chestplates, crashing through an abandoned post, in a hell of a hurry.

“Get to E-levels! What did I tell you? What did I tell you?” Elektra Four exclaimed.

Tara hurtled through a doorway with Elektra Four and Elektra Six, plunging into a steep internal stairway, rocketing down the handholds, avoiding the steps. “Alpha, Port, sitrep!” she gasped. “Nova, Nova, all units abandon position, we’re over-run!” She collided with Elektra Four and they went down in a screech of armor.

Elektra Six seized Tara from behind and yanked her upright. They were at D-levels but the installation was in darkness and completely deserted. The floodlights activated on their A-suits, momentarily dazzling their eyes, cutting the abandoned hall into slices of blazing light and inky shadows.

“Where the hell

“

“Scut, they’ve launched!” Another terrifying crash shook the port.

“GALACTIC NOVA! THIS IS AUGUSTA 6! REPEAT, WE ARE UNDER HEAVY ATTACK BY OMNI FORCES! AUGUSTA STARPORT IS NOW UNDER SIEGE! OMNI FORCES HAVE LANDED WITHIN OUR PERIMETER. WE ARE ABANDONING OUR POSITIONS AND REQUEST NOVA EVAC! REPEAT, GALACTIC NOVA

” The autonova was still going out, all of ConFree would hear it, the Legion would launch instantly, but Tara knew it would do them no good. By the time anyone got here they’d be long dead or, worse yet, captives of the O’s.

“Come on!” Elektra Six grabbed her arm and they ran down a darkened corridor, stumbling over piles of loose equipment. Tara was in command, but she was not about to argue with Sixlet him do his male thing. She was not feeling particularly decisive at that moment.

“Alpha, Port, sitrep!” she demanded again. Her faceplate glowed with data, soft green screens full of info, but Alpha was nowhere to be found.

They skidded to a stop by a massive blast door, firmly shut, glowing a faint pink.

“Oh no!”

“Damn it!”

“Open it!” Tara demanded.

“The damned thing is too hot! It shouldn’t be that hot! Something’s wrong! The readout’s gonegone!”

“Open it! Use the manual controls! It’s our only chance!” Icy sweat trickled down the pale brown skin of Tara’s brow. Her heart pounded wildly.

They cranked the emergency override and as the edges cracked open, the fires of hell blasted them, a volcanic wind spitting glowing globules of molten cenite to ricochet off the walls. They forced the door closed hastily.

“It’s the shuttlecooked!”

“Man, they’ve had it!”

“So have we!”

“Alpha, Port, Nova, Nova, Nova, what’s your status, over?”

“ATTENTION! Gate Three has been breached! Prep to repel boarders or abandon the port! ATTENTION! Omni intruders have entered Augusta Port through Gate Three! O’s in the port! O’s in the port!”

“What do we do?” Four gasped.

“We’ve got to get out!” Tara replied. “Maybe we can make it to the tracking station!”

“Don’t be stupid!” Six snapped. “They’ll take that, too!”

“Alpha, Alpha, Port, respond! Nova, Nova, respond!” But there was no response to Four’s desperate appeal.

“Move it!” Tara ordered. “Let’s go!” They plunged through another doorway and along a darkened corridor. Red Elights flickered erratically along the ceiling but were not fully on. Suddenly the psybloc on their helmets activated, casting an eerie incandescent glow.

“Oh no!”

“Attention!” Tara’s Persist warned. “Omnis approaching! Two O’s in G corridor, closing fast! Recommend immediate retreat!”

“

get the hell outta here!” Four clawed at Tara’s A-suit to get past her. Tara slammed an arm around his neck and they stumbled into a tangle of armor.

“G corridorthat’s us!” Six added, raising his E, pulling Four away from Tara.

“Hold it!” Tara hissed. “Deceptors, psybloc grenades, canisters and xmax! Then we run”

“O’s approaching!” the Persist added. “Recommend

“

“Deadman!” The three troopers shouldered their E’s, blocking the passageway. Tara’s blood pumped wildly. She tasted adrenalin on her tongue. Her limbs began to shake, but she struggled to keep the E pointed down corridor. The O’s were coming to snuff them out as if they had never even existed. She prayed to the Legion for deliverance. Her companions were at her side, armor to armor, and they were not running any more. They stood like rocks in the path of the O’s, their psybloc burning brightly. Tara almost felt like crying, for it all to end this way, but she knew, on another level, that it was good. Cintana Tamaling would go out in a flash, a burst of starmass, fighting for the Legion, for humanity, and she would be remembered forever.

Down corridor, an evil violet glow was crackling. Tara had seen an O force field before. A dragon from the stars, she thought, come to burn us to cinders with its awful, unholy breath. But we aren’t going out without a fight. Nowlet the Gods decide!

“Fire,” Tara ordered. “Deceptors.” Triple explosions burst down corridor and three blazing stars lit up like novas, dazzling their eyes. The readouts on their faceplates all went blank.

“Psybloc grenades!” Another ragged volley, another three glittering stars. Down corridor glowed like a volcano.

“Canisters!” Tara’s E shrieked and bucked like a wounded beast as she held down the trigger convulsively. A deadly hail of supersonic darts buzzed like a swarm of killer bees as the three troopers let loose at once. It set a chill to Tara’s flesh. Eat that, O’s!

“Xma” she began. The corridor exploded as a massive fist of evil gas burst into a raging torrent of fire, filling the corridor, an incandescent, irresistible, violent river of blinding flame, sweeping her off her feet and along the deck like a piece of loose debris, the E forgotten, molten lava eating at her faceplate, her Persist shouting warnings, and Tara knew it was the breath of the stars, and they were cooked.

“Armor is reaching critical tolerances! Failure approaching! Recommend immediate retreat!” Tara scrambled to her feet, shaking and helpless, lost in the starmass. In despair, she ran and suddenly the starmass faded and she was staggering along a corridor lit only by her own white-hot armor and a trickle of blazing starmass licking along the deck. She crashed into a wall and stumbledher A-suit was glowing red-hot, her armor generating so much smoke and heat that the clouds rapidly filled the corridor. Her tacmod was all trash, completely unreadable.

Movement! She snatched at her E in a blind panic. It was still there, secured to her chestplate by the autorecovery mechanism. She snapped the stock to her shoulder and Elektra Four staggered out of the starmass just as Tara’s finger was tightening on the trigger. His armor was gleaming like liquid goldthey build ‘em tough in the Legion!

“Out,” he gasped. “The loading dockone level down!”

“Where’s Six?”

“Attention! O’s pursuing! Recommend

” Four ripped open a massive cenite blast door, seemingly by brute force. As they dove into it, Six materialized behind them, a human smoke grenade, leaping into the doorway.

“Scut! They’re right back there!”

“Out!” They ran through a cavernous storage facility piled high with dropboxes, lit only by flickering red Elights on the ceiling and the reflections of their own white-hot armor. Tara snatched up a full combat fieldpak, snapped open a weapons locker, and seized a Manlink.

“No time!” Six danced past her.

“Grab what you can!” Tara shouted. “Medkits, canteens, fieldpaks!”

“Alert! O approaching! Recommend immediate retreat!”

“Deto!”

They sprinted down a ramp to a lower level and powered open the massive loading doors and a scene from Hell greeted them. A junkyard of aircars and airsleds burnt brightly under an evil sky. They burst out of the port with E’s up and scanning.

“Now what?”

“Just get the hell away from heresplit up! Head for the”

“I’ve got a better idea. Let’s stick together!”

“Our chances are better

” the sky glowed with antimat debris, glittering, flickering, laced with lovely lightning tracks, and the thunder of the Gods overwhelmed them. Tara knew the chances were excellent the O’s would spot them soon and swat them like bugs.

They ran like rats, away from the port. A hot radioactive rain fell all around them.

“Alpha, Port, scut, we’re on foot, the port is taken, don’t land, Nova, Nova, respond, respond!”

“Port, Alpha, stand by.” The transmission was shot through with deceptor static. Stand by! Tara’s heart leaped. Alpha was out there! Elektra Four let out a whoop.

And there she wasa lovely black aircar, an evil, armored Legion bat, sleek and deadly, a swift cenite hound from Hell riding flaming clouds, darting rapidly down to the deck, closing on them. The Legion, coming after its own. Salvation! Tara’s heart almost burst with joy, it was so wonderful.

The aircar exploded abruptly, a sudden crack, a dazzling white hot core and a sky full of phospho tracers, burning debris ricocheting all around them, smoking wreckage bouncing off the ground and twisting wildly through the air.

“Oh noAlpha!”

“Alert! O’s exiting port! Recommend immediate retreat!”

“What the hell do we do? Where do we go?”

“Run!” Tara replied. “Run like hell!”

And they ran, in despair, under that awful sky.

Chapter 1

The Goddess from Hell

I awoke slowly from a lovely dream, letting my mind drift freely back into reality. It was still dark. Stars burned softly overhead, a magnificent sky full of stars, and the scent of incense hung in the still night air. Moontouch had flung one slim arm around my neck, and Priestess had her head on my chest and an arm draped lazily over my waist. They were both still asleep, breathing deeply. We were lying in a tangle of silken blankets and pillows, on a terrace high atop Stonehall’s royal palace, on Andrion 2.

As I lay there I wondered how any human could be as fortunate as I. It was a delightfully cool night, and we were naked under the blankets. Moontouch’s enchanting face was mils from mine. Her long silky black hair drifted over the pillows, and one slim leg was hooked over mine. She was the most exotic, captivating creature I had ever met. She was the Delegate from the Past, the Voice of the Dead, and she had given me a lovely son who was the hope of the future for Southmark and the Taka, for the whole world of Andrion 2. She was a sorceress and a princess and my love and my future. And on my other side PriestessBeta Ninewas wrapped around me in a warm embrace, her lips against my chest, her delicate features almost angelic in slumbera child’s face, untouched by cosmetics, pale smooth skin and a gleaming mop of silky black hair cut off below the ears. She was as slim and supple as a biogen love doll, and she was my eternal love. I had told her I would kill myself if she left me, and she knew I meant every word, and she had stayed.

Happiness. It was mine at last, after all the suffering, after all the hate and strife, after all the killings and the sacrifices, and all our dead, after my own insane, agonizing odyssey carried me from nowhere, from not even knowing who I was, to the far side of the galaxy, into the future, into alternate worlds, and then into the past. I had fought my way back to Moontouch twice, past impossible obstacles, and lost her again each time. I had snatched my lovely Priestess from the very jaws of death; I had ripped her right out of the past and vowed to never leave her again. And then the System had disintegrated and the Lost Command had reintegrated with the Legion, and I had returned a third time to Andrion, in triumph, to Moontouch and Stormdawn, my son, with Priestess at my side.

We had all looked the Angel of Death in the face a score of times, and survived. Didn’t we deserve a little peace and quiet?

A few candles softly glimmered in the dark. It was a sweet, cool, perfect night. Priestess moved slightly in my arms, and Moontouch breathed peacefully in my ear. I had thought it would be impossible, for the two of them to get along. It didn’t bother me, but I knew it bothered Priestess, at first, to have to share me with Moontouch. But Moontouch didn’t mind, and I guess that was what had made it work. Moontouch had gone out of her way to win Priestess over. Now they were both as content as cats, and the three of us slept together and made love together, and sometimes I would catch Priestess and Moontouch holding hands like schoolchildren. I sure didn’t mind. Who was I to be jealous? Anything that brought them closer together was fine with me.

After all we had been through it was like a wonderful dream. Sometimes I thought it was more like a fantasy. Sometimes I even felt guilty, but I tried to make those thoughts go away quickly. We deserve it, I thought, after all we’ve been through, we certainly deserve a little happiness.

Priestess blinked sleepy eyes up at me. She yawned silently, just like a cat, and looked over at Moontouch. Moontouch did not stir. Priestess gave me a contented smile and licked my chest lazily. It was a sign she wanted to play. Her hand moved under the covers, the fingers walking down my chest like a ghostly crab, finding their way between my legs and then closing like a vice over her favorite part of my body. It was a little game we playedto see if two of us could make love without waking the third. Priestess slid her head under the blankets and I closed my eyes. We certainly deserve it, I thought. This is what life should be. The past was a nightmaresomething to forget!

***

“Dox?” Priestess paused on her way to the drink mod. I popped the top on my breakfast tray and looked up at her.

“Please,” I said. We were in Alpha Station’s cafeteria, ready for another day. The place was fairly quiet. The Andrion System was just barely within the Outvac, almost off the starcharts, but it was nowhere near the Gassies, and the Gassies was where all the action was. We were a backwater, and that was fine with me. Andrion 2 was the closest to a home I’d ever had, and I kind of liked it the way it was. Priestess and I considered quitting the Legion, especially after Tara and I had been sentenced to two years at hard labor for insubordination and reckless disregard, but the Legion changed our minds for us. Tara and I hadn’t actually done more than a year breaking rocks, and I got my Andrion 2 assignment as soon as the Lost Command was reunited with ConFree. Two Two One, Pointman, the Lost Command’s maximum leader, had promised me that. We thought the Legion would execute him for leading a mutiny, but they spared his life. They had to force him into retirement, of course, but that didn’t matter. After all he had been right, ConFree had been wrong; and without the Lost Command, ConFree might have lost the struggle with the System. And his hallowed 22nd Legion had not been dishonored or disbanded. It was still the backbone of the Outvac, and the Lost Command was now history. ConFree and the Legion were united again, strong and free, just as Two Two One had wanted, and Two Two One’s nemesis, Kenton Cotter-Arc, had fled to the System.

The Legion needed people like Tara and me, and who cared about reckless d, anyway? Any Legion trooper worth his salt took risks, and if you’d never been charged with reckless disregard, you were probably not doing your job.

I pulled a mini dscreen out of a tunic pocket, placed it behind my tray, and powered it on. The news flashed on as I picked at my breakfast. A fresh-faced Legion girl confidently summarized the sit.

“

have confirmed the second direct attack on a ConFree world by the Omni horde. Heavy fighting continues downside on Marala 5 as the battle for the vac rages throughout the system. The 22nd Legion has released the following images, from an unidentified combat unit downside on Marala 5. Please note these shots are not suitable for children.”

The screen shifted abruptly to a blackened sky, flickering eerily with deceptors and flares. Tacstars shrieked in the background. A phospho tacmap glowed lower left plate, but it was all scrambled. They were getting the image from a Legion trooper’s helmeta scary view, one I knew well. I could hear the trooper’s labored breathing. The view suddenly shifted, jagged rocks lurched past, mud splattering over the faceplate, then the trooper was down, crawling between two boulders, his E thrust out ahead of him, icy bursts of laser snapping over his head.

“Four, do you see him? Four

“

“I see him, I see him.”

“I can’t move! Get

” the grating blast of a Manlink drowned out everything else. Then the screen erupted in light and sound. The trooper was firing auto xmax. Something crackled up ahead, a violet haze. I dropped my fork, stunned by the images. An O, it was an Ofire, canisters, for God’s sake, fire!

The image spat and shrieked, then faded. The female announcer reappeared, several shades paler. “That was the latest release from Marala 5. That trooper died for you. Please support the Legion. We need volunteers for the fighting front. See your Super. No one will be denied. The situation is critical

” The dscreen snapped off abruptly.

Priestess removed her finger from the switch. She stood there, our dox on the table, looking down at me. I gaped at her, stunned.

“Let it go, Thinker,” she said softly. “Just let it go. Please.”

***

We were still in the Legion, but it was almost as if we weren’t. Tara had found me a nice quiet desk job in Galactic Information on Andrion, sorting sitreps. It was similar to what I had done on Dindabai for the Lost Command, but this particular position was a lot less important. The truth was, I could have fallen asleep for a week and nobody would have noticed the difference. Remember, I was an ex-con and had a reputation as a wild man. Nobody wanted to take a chance with me. Well, that was fine with me. I was right where I wanted to be, scanning dscreens in a blast-proof bunker, then riding home with Priestess in the aircar every evening for dinner with Moontouch and Stormdawn. It was a fine life. It wasn’t the Legion I knew, but that was fine with me, too.

Priestess worked in the Body Shop in Alpha Station as a nurse. She was happy. We were both happy. I wore my blacks all day, nicely creased, and never broke into a sweat. Priestess wore her whites. And when we returned to Stonehall every evening, it was a different world. It was certainly an idyllic existence.

The only trouble with doing sitreps is that sometimes you have to read them. It was not a happy ending on Marala 5. The O’s took downside and held their own in the vac. When it became apparent that the system was lost, the Legion did exactly what it had said it would do in that event. It induced a nova in Marala’s star. A notable first. The resulting catastrophe annihilated the planet and everyone on it. The O’s were on notice now. They were not going to inherit any more ConFree worlds, and the Legion’s determination must have been terrifyingly obvious, even to the O’s. ConFree was hoping to persuade the O’s to turn their attention back to the System, where the stakes were not quite as high for us. But the next move was up to the O’s.

***

“Look, Daddy! Look at my kite!” We were on a terrace atop the palace, awash in sunlight, and Stormdawn had just taken the kite string from Deadeye. It was a beautiful, multicolored kite, high, high above us, dancing in the breeze, darting under fluffy clouds. Stormdawn ran along the terrace pulling at the string, eyes on the kite. He was almost eight Andrion summers now, all legs and arms and long silky, fine brown hair and a face as lovely as a girl’s, and skin that was exactly halfway between my own pale Outworlder cast and Moontouch’s lovely light copper. What a wonderful child. He was everything that Moontouch and I had hoped, and he was Andrion’s future king.

“Your prince is happy, Slayer. He wears out your warriors!” Deadeye joined me by the battlements, a light sweat beading his brow. Deadeye was chief of Moontouch’s palace guard, a formidable Taka warrior with shoulder-length hair and a necklace of exoseg teeth proclaiming his courage. He was small-framed but tough. I knewwe had fought exos together and fought the Cult of the Dead as well, and cast down the Sign of the Beast and raised the crown and the skull of the Book over the portals of the dead city of Stonehall. But now Stonehall was largely rebuilt, and the future was ours. Deadeye had guarded Moontouch and Stormdawn throughout the dark days of the ConFree occupation of Andrion 2, when I had been with the Lost Command on Dindabai. They had lived like rats underground for years, but now all that had changed.

Moontouch was by my side, enjoying the sunlight, letting it dry her long glossy hair, still wet from a wash. She was dressed in fine silks, Andrion tree-silk, glimmering gold in the sunshine. Her exotic, slightly slanted eyes glanced up at the sky. Her skin was flawless, a pale brown. She was a vision of languid beauty. Stormdawn charged along backwards on one edge of the terrace, under an overhanging ledge.

“Storm!” Moontouch called out abruptly. “Come back this way!”

“You don’t know anything about kites, Mommy!”

“He’s all right,” I said. “Don’t worry. He can’t get hurt up here.” Moontouch was like any mother. If it was up to mothers, kids would never even get out of the house.

“Hello!” Priestess appeared out of a doorway, clad in minipants and a ragged cut-off top, a towel draped over one shoulder and a little plexy bottle clutched in one hand. She was stunningly lovely, long silky legs and slender arms and gleaming black hair. “I’m off for a sunbath. Who’s helping?”

“You need help to sunbathe?” I asked. This was a new one.

“Well, sure. Somebody’s got to take off my clothes and rub in the tanning lotionI’m still trying to beat Moontouch’s tan. Come on, Thinkerit’s fun!” She flashed me a delightful white smile.

“Daddy, you promised you’d play with me! Why is the kite going down?”

“I’ll be right there, Storm.” Priestess’s offer was tempting, but Stormdawn was having a crisis with his kite.

“No takers?” Priestess asked. “Hmm

maybe I should ask Moontouch.” Moontouch gave her a secret smile.

“I’ll help you, Priestess,” I said. “I’ll be right there. Just let me resolve this kite thing first.” I turned and looked out at the view. What a day! Our palace shone white in the sunlight, topping a massive fortress that dominated a central hill rising from a vast forest. Other hills rose around us, covered with the ruins of the old Stonehall, massive stone blocks disintegrating in the relentless grasp of the forest. Restoration efforts were underway on the nearest hills. Stonehall was rising. The Grand Canal gleamed like a ribbon of gold far below. Several barges floated in the little port, unloading a shipment of stone blocks for the new Stonehall. The Taka were proud of their restoration. On the horizon, I could see the Garden of God.

“Daddy, you saidyou’d play with me! Don’t you care about me? Don’t you love me?”

“All right, all right, what are you doing with that kite? Don’t you know how to fly a kite? Give me that!” I seized the string and staggered off with it, pulling at the kite. It kept fluttering down.

“You’re doing it all wrong, Daddy! Weren’t you ever a kid?”

No, I thought. I was never a kid. I missed that part. I had joined the Legion instead.

***

I started having trouble sleeping. We still slept outdoors, up on the terrace under a silken awning, as it seldom rained in the summer. I would get up silently, disengage myself from the girls, pad over to the battlements, and look up at the stars.

High summer on Andrion 2. I could smell the scent of the forest; I could smell the flowers, even way up there. The stars were magnificent, a dark field of milky jewels. I knew exactly where Marala was. I could see it clearly, up there in the silver dust. It looked just like any other star, but to me it was a lot more. Of course, I knew what I was seeing was a lie. Marala was hundreds of light years away from Andrion, so we wouldn’t get to see the nova for hundreds of years. But I knew it was there, a massive, chilling, deadly eruption, rippling outwards, a mighty apocalypse. A whole planet full of humans and O’s had died thereand I knew there was a good chance there would be more of those Legion stars burning in the heavens before our war with the O’s was over. A sky full of novas, burning our defiance into the vac for the whole galaxy to see. A chilling vision of destruction, and a fitting Armageddon for the Legion. No, we couldn’t see Marala’s nova with our eyesbut it was there. I could see it with my mind. Every time I looked up at the stars, my eyes went right there. It was like a curse. It was hanging there in the sky. How could I ignore it?

I knew the Legion was out there. And a lot of people were dying, for me.

I thought about the decisionto detonate the star. Millions of ConFree citizens had died for the futurefor us. I wondered what it was like to make a decision like that. Does one person take responsibility? Or do they fix it so nobody is to blame? I wondered if they had explained it to all the people who were stuck downside, before they did it. Or did they decide it would be better not to tell anyone? Deadman. Only the Legion could make decisions like that. It was insane.

Would we really dare do it again?

***

I snatched the sheet up from the doc tray as soon as it materialized. I was at my desk in Andrion Info, eagerly fingering the flimsy doc. A personal notefrom Beta Eight. Dragon! I respected him more than anyone else in the galaxy, except maybe for Snow Leopard, our old Beta One. A pers note was very unusual. Soldiers of the Legion didn’t normally have time to keep up on their correspondence. They were focused on staying alive. The note had to mean bad news. I was sweating already, a thin sheen forming on my brow as my eyes took in the note. Dragon had written it manually with a light pen on a Legion E-pad that he must have liberated from his Hqs. A Legion cross topped the document, followed by the unit designation. The handwriting was hard to make out.

22nd LegionThe Rimguard

Headquarters, Strategic Reconnaissance Command

Location: [-CENSORED-] Date: 322/04/12

Chief

Thought I’d take a couple of fracs to update you on the sit out here. Where ‘here’ is I can’t say, but I can assure you, you don’t want to know. I’ve got my own squad herethey call me ‘One’ now. The SRC is a real kickit’s where they put the crazies. We get all the ‘choice’ assignments, usually in bad guy country. Right here it’s so cold that I can barely move my fingers.

Psycho is my second. He’s still a major pain in the butt, but he’s a good second. He keeps the kids in line. Snow Leopard is in the SRC now, he’s in my Hqs. And Redhawk is our driver! He’s just as crazy as ever.

Valkyrie’s got her own squad too (you remember Valkyrie!). She’s in the SRC too, and Scrapper is her Two. Snow Leopard has been watching over us all. Twister is on his staff at Hqs. We’re all tenners except I got hit on the last mission and lost my hip. They gave me a new one though, I’m fine.

I hear you and Priestess got your dream assignment to Andrion. Let me tell you, Three, so long as we know there are normal, happy people out there living normal lives, it makes it all worthwhile. When things get bad out here I think about you and Priestess and Moontouch and your kid and I think, that’s what we’re fighting for, and maybe one of these days it will be me.

Threeyou know how the Legion is. I don’t know if you heard or not, but I thought I should tell you. Tara was on Augusta 6 when the O’s took it. She’s missing. I just thought you’d want to know.

Three, you just stay right where you are. Don’t you do anything stupid. You’ve done enough for the Legion already. I don’t want to add you to my collection of dead people, I’ve got enough already. You hear me? You just stay right there!

LaterDragon.

Taramissing! I was stunned. No, I had not known. Nobody had told me. We were mindless robots, a swarming hive, focused on the future of our race. Who the hell would miss a single individual?

Augusta 6. It was the first ConFree planet the O’s had struck, after we had cleverly stopped their offensive into Systie vac. They had used new tactics, and seized the planet before we could resist.

We had not even had time to detonate the star.

I was tied to Tara for lifejust as if we had been born twins. I knew it by then. The two of us had been through too much together. I had told her to give it up, to quit the Legion, to settle down and raise her adopted son, Willard. She said she was going to do it. I knew she was lying, even then. I lost track of her, after they let us out of the stockade. But here was the confirmation. Tara, on Augusta 6. You crazy bitchyou’ll kill me before you’re through. I know you will. Tara, my evil, dark angel. I prayed she was dead. It was a lot better than living as a slave of the O’s. I prayed for her soul, and my own. Why hadn’t she just given it up? Why?

***

We had a personal arms locker down in the basement of the palace. It was delightfully cool down there, with shiny marble walls and mirrored marble floors. I hadn’t been to the locker in months. It wasn’t locked, of course. Nobody would steal anything from us on Andrion 2.

I touched the catch gingerly and the double metal doors slid open, triggering a faint light inside. And it was all there, a sudden nightmare from the past. My A-suit and Priestess’s, standing there side by side, awful black cenite armor crisscrossed with hundreds of deep white scars, peppered with tiny gouges and cuts, riddled with hits. The faceplates of the helmets were closed, unreadable, deep dark ruby red, also spiderwebbed with a fine, almost invisible tracery of scars. The sight was so startling, so powerful, that my adrenalin gave me a jolt. It was almost as if the two A-suits were alive, it was almost as if two Legion soldiers were standing there in the locker, standing for a hundred years, Legion immortals, waiting for the signal to emerge, horrors from the Age of Chaos, infernal killing machines, ready for another war.

The armor was sweating. Little beads of moisture, trickling slowly down. Right in A corridor, in Alpha Station, they had propped up an A-suit just like these. It was almost obscene, in that bright, airy place. There was a huge sign on the wall that said, simply: THEY COME IN ALL SIZES. I had to walk past that damned thing every day. Everybody in the Legion was a volunteer. All you had to do was raise your hand, and you’d be at the front.

My E was right next to my A-suit. Waiting. It was an E Mark 3the best the Legion ever made. I had carried that one into the Mound, on Uldo. A rush of emotion shot through my veins as I gazed at her lovely lines. You beautiful, nasty, sweet black bitchI remember you! I remember every chip in your armorite stock, I know every scar on your cenite skin. You were in my arms, in the valley of the shadow of death, and you kept me alive. You slept with me, and me alone, you were faithful, all those years, to me. You’ve got scars from Coldmark, and Andrion 3, from Mongera and Uldo. You tasted starmass in the Moundyou ate it for breakfast! You annihilated all my enemies, humans and O’s alike, everywhere I’ve been, with your superhuman eyes and ears. You’re a cursed holy bitch, you’re a Goddess from Hell, and we’re married for life. You’re my slave, and I’m yours.

I reached out my hand to caress her. My fingers were trembling, my heart was pounding. The overhead light snapped on. Priestess stood on the steps, her face as pale as death.

“What are you doing?” she demanded. I snatched my hand away, guiltily.

“I was just

looking,” I said lamely.

“Close it!” Priestess snapped. “Close it! You don’t need to look in there! There’s nothing there!” She was very upset. I can’t say I blamed her.

***

The Summer Solstice water festival on Andrion 2 is delightful. For four days everything stops and the Taka spend all their time outdoors, picnicking and frolicking in the forests during the day and dousing each other with water for luck. Every evening they gather around the lakes and the rivers and the Grand Canal, and launch little boats constructed of leaves and carrying miniature candles and offerings of candies and sweetcakesfood for the Gods. And the black waters are transformed, winking with hundreds of little candles drifting along under the stars, with the shores lined with whispering Taka, and the children diving in to liberate the candy and sweetcakes from the Gods.

We strolled along the lakeshore under a canopy of great trees. The black hulk of Stonehall rose behind us against the starry sky. Priestess was by the lake with the crowd, helping Stormdawn launch a boat. Priestess and I had taken leave. It had been a lazy, carefree day, and it was to be a lazy, carefree night. Moontouch was by my side and Deadeye followed us lazily, a stabbing spear over his shoulder. There was really no need for a guard. The Taka had never been happier. Southmark was united, the exosegs were all but exterminated, the priests of the Cult of the Dead were long gone, and Kenton Cotter-Arc’s gang had been driven out by the Legion. Southmark was strong and free once againjust like ConFree.

“Let’s sit here, Moontouch.” A stone slab, from the old Stonehall, set under a tree. It offered a good view of the lake, a black pool sparkling with a galaxy of little golden candles, a lake of stars, flickering faintly. A burst of laughter from the shore. Deadeye vanished into the shadows.

Moontouch was silent, her liquid eyes focused on the lake. She had been very silent, lately. I knew her well enough to be worried about it.

“Tell me, Moontouch.”

“I cannot, my Master. Your slave cannot obey you.”

“I know you can see the future, Moontouch. I’ve never wanted to see it beforeso I never asked you. But I want to see it now.”

“Why do you want to see the future, Slayer?”

“I want to know what to do, Moontouch. I don’t know what to do, right now.”

“Do nothing! Why must you do something? Do nothing! Stay herewith your family!”

I was startled by the vehemence of her reaction. I had told her nothing about the struggle that was raging inside me. Her eyes blazedstill staring at the lake.

“I only want to know a little. Just enough to guide me. So I can make the right choices.”

“There are no choices to make. You must stay here, for the sake of your family.”

“I don’t want to leave my family, Moontouch. That’s the last thing I want to do. You, and Stormdawn, and Priestessyou are everything to me. I want to stay here the rest of my life. But I am very uneasy, right now. I feel

guilty, being so happy, when my comrades are out there, fighting the O’s, for me. For us. All I want is a little reassurance

that I’m doing the right thing.”

“The future is dangerous and deceptive, my love. Nobody can predict your future. You make it yourself. Read your own heartthen walk your own road. I cannot help you.”

“But you can read the futureI know you can!”

Moontouch stood up abruptly, gazing down at me imperiously, her face cold and set. I stood up as well, and she spoke.

“Hear me then, Slayer of my Foes, immortal Godkiller from out of the Great Dark. I speak from the Realm of the Dead. You will abandon me, and your son, again, leaving us to face our enemies alone. I see a White Death, invincible, wasting mighty empires. And innocents, trusting in you, betrayed and abandonedby you! I see an endless war, and your people exhausted, in despair. I see men without minds, killing without remorse, and children without hope, waving the flags of an evil God. I see two madmen, leaders of the forces of light and darkness, locked in a struggle to the death for the future of humanity. You will follow the one, and fight the other, and never know which God you serve. I see you

leaving your mortal flesh, to walk among the dead. All this I see, if you abandon us. All this can be avoided, if you stay. The Dead have spoken! I can say no more.” And Moontouch collapsed into my arms.

***

From the terrace atop Alpha Station’s Rec Center there is a terrific view of the starport. I would sometimes go there after work to think, standing by the railing as the sky slowly darkened. Thinking was not good for you, but I did a lot of it anyway. And somehow it was easier, with the entire port spread out before me, the aircars gliding in gracefully on invisible roads in the sky, blinking their lights, the floodlights of the port slowly coming to life, and the music of the stars in my head, crawling over my skin. It was always an awesome spectacle, and it always calmed me.

A few days after the Water Festival, I stood there pondering my fate. Massive blue-black thunderclouds piled up on the horizon, higher and higher, and the sky darkened fast. I smelled rain in the air. A storm was good news for the Taka. It meant that the Gods were answering their prayers, and the Water Festival had been a success.

A few flickers of distant lightning ran through the clouds. The lights of the starport were building, a great orchestra of light, responding to the Gods. It was inspiring, I guess. The starport always put things into perspective for me.

“Hello, Thinker.” She had come up behind me, silently, a phantom in white.

“Priestess

hi.” The wind picked up, playing with her silky hair. She joined me at the railing, looking out at the port and the darkening sky. She seemed completely relaxed, blinking dark brown liquid eyes. She was slender and lovelyan angel, fallen to earth. I certainly didn’t deserve her. I had vowed I would love her forever, and never leave her

just like Moontouch.

A deep rumble of thunder sounded. More lightning. A few raindrops spattered around us. A flight of leathery birds shot past, screeching.

“I can’t take this much more, Thinker.”

“What do you mean?” I turned to her in surprise.

“You’re so gloomy. We used to be happy. You don’t ever smile any more. Why can’t we be happythe way we used to be.”

I turned back to the port. “I’m sorry, Priestess. I’d like to be happy. It’s all I wanta happy life. I want everyone to be happy.”

“You’re not trying very hard.”

“I got a pers note from Dragon. He was wounded. Tara’s missing.”

Dark clouds raced overhead, spitting a fine rain. A great roar arose from the port. A shuttle lifted, rising into the sky at a steep angle, leaving a hot phospho wake. We could feel the power from there.

“Is Dragon all right?”

“He says he’s fine.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want you to worry.”

“What happened to Tara?”

“The O’s got her. Augusta 6.”

Lightning flashed, seemingly right over the port. Thunder cracked. A light rain fell on us. It was already pouring over the starport.

“Thinker

” Priestess turned to me and brought her hands up to my shoulders. “Please

forget about all that. There’s nothing we can do.” She looked into my eyes. “We’re here. They’re there. Let it be. We’ve done it. It’s over. We’ve given the Legion everything we have, and we’ve lost

too much. We’ve lost almost everything. It’s time for us now. Where is our baby? You promised me we’d have a baby!” Throwing herself at meI could never resist her.

“Yeswe will. Of course we will, Priestess. But we agreed we deserve a little time by ourselves, first.” I cupped her head in my hands, falling right into those magical eyes.

“We haven’t exactly been alone, Thinker. And don’t give me silly excuses like that. You want to go back, don’t you? You want to go back to the front. Are you insane? You must be insane!”

I closed my eyes, clutching her, almost in despair. It was raining harder; we were getting wet. “We’re all insane, Priestess. They’re dying, for us. Is it right for us to stay here, hiding from reality? Is it?”

“Is it right for you to choose death, over life?” she countered.

“I don’t know,” I said wearily. “I know

it’s insane. I shouldn’t even think it.”

“Beta Three, look at me.” I looked into her eyestrapped, again. A sweet typhoon of love rushed over me. She suddenly seemed very calm. “I made my choice long ago,” she said. “I’ll live or die by your side. You just tell me what you want to do and I’ll be there, whatever it is. Insane or not, I’ll stand by you till the end.” It was so unexpected it took my breath away. A bolt of lightning shattered the sky. I kissed her, losing myself in her sweet mouth. It was pouring. We were getting soaked.

“Priestess

you’re wonderful. I’m going to love you forever. I promise.”

“Good. Can you do one thing for me?”

“Anything!”

“Let’s get out of the rain.”

***

On a lovely sunlit morning, we were having a picnic feast in the shade of several huge overhanging trees lining the South Pool. The South Pool used to be Stonehall’s reservoir, in the distant past. It was a huge expanse of water, girt by massive stone blocs and lined by the jungle. Now it had been cleaned up and rebuilt as a public recreation area.

“Have some wine,” Priestess urged me. Her hair was all wet. She had been swimming, in a sleeveless top and minis.

“No thanks.”

“Come on, trooperrelax! Live a little.” She poured some Andrion Blood into my cup. It was raw stuff, but good.

“Enjoy life, my love,” Moontouch said. “Taste Andrion’s life blood. It is your own.” Moontouch always spoke in riddles, but it never bothered me. Stormdawn shouted, down by the pool, splashing around with friends. A sunny, perfect morning, but my heart was like ice. I sipped at the winewarm, burning its way down my throat.

It is your own. Yes, Andrion was mine. It was where I belonged. I had finally found a home, with Moontouch and Priestess and Stormdawn. A home in a hostile galaxy. A family to love, a family to love me, and the hell with the rest of the universe. I loved Moontouch and Priestess and Stormdawnwhat else was there to worry about? What did I care about the Legion? I’d put in my time in Hell, and the bastards had sentenced me to two years for my trouble. I didn’t owe them anything! Was I crazy? I should feel guilty, because I wasn’t dead?

Maybe Priestess was right. Maybe I was insane.

Stormdawn came charging out of the pool, spraying water all over his mom.

“Mommy, can I have some water? I have to ting! Daddy, can you play with me?”

“Slow down, Storm,” I said. “Have a drink first.” Moontouch poured him some water into a little cup.

“Daddy, Mommy said you’re going away. Is it true?”

“No, Storm, Daddy is not going away.” My heart was frozen. Moontouch didn’t even blink. She carefully topped off Stormdawn’s cup.

“Daddy, I want you to promise me you won’t ever leave us again.” Stormdawn took the cup from Moontouch and gulped down his water thirstily. What a beautiful childso like his mother.

“I’m not going anywhere, Storm,” I replied.

“Promise! Cross your heart and hope to die!”

“I promise, Storm,” I said. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Go ting behind the trees, Storm,” Moontouch said.

“I don’t need to ting!”

“Go ting!”

“All right! Don’t yell at me!”

Cross my heart and hope to die, I thought. All rightfine. I stay. Right here. With those I love. And the Legion can burn in Hell.

***

“GOOD MORNING SOLDIERS!” Andrion One stood before us, up on stage in a blazing spotlight, as the lights in the rest of the great auditorium dimmed. He was in his blacks, radiating confidence like a tacstar, and each word was a stake slamming into my heart. As he spoke, a glowing vision arose on the dscreen behind hima ruddy planet girt with hazy clouds, circled by sparkling rings of silvery dust. It was truly beautiful. Most of Alpha Station was jammed into the auditorium. We knew it was bad news.

“YOU WILL ALL BE PLEASED TO LEARN,” he continued, at deafening volume, “that Starcom has just announced the Omnis have attacked another ConFree planet! Camelora 7 is located in the Outvac, not far from the Neutral Zone! It is heavily populated, by ConFree citizens! And the Outvac is our AO, as you all know! The 22nd Legion has announced that Camelora 7 will be held, at all costs!” Andrion One paused, head up, looking us over. I knew his history. He was Legion. A Legion immortal, carrying our history in his head, a delegate from the past. Most of his body was artificial by now. Maybe even his mind. I often thought eventually we’d all become artificial, and then we could stop worrying about love and regret and heartache, and other mortal maladies. We’d all be perfect soldiers. But that was my problem. I was always thinking.

“What this means for us,” he shouted, “is a historic opportunity to serve the Legion, and to serve humanity! Our comrades are dying, right now, for us, while we’re riding desks and sipping dox and catching the rays in this backwater country club! Soldiers, as a result of this latest Omni attack, Starcom has announced adjusted strength levels for the front! All rear echelon commands have been required to contribute as necessary! You will all be pleased to learn that Andrion Command has been ordered to contribute 5,500 volunteers! Soldiers, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am certainly going where the Legion needs me, so there are now only 5,499 opportunities left for the rest of you! We expect to have these slots filled by tomorrow, so don’t put off your decisionsee your Super right now! The Legion thanks you! ConFree thanks you! Your descendants thank you! One last thing! For those of you who may not quite understand, what the Legion means when it says the planet will be held at all costs, is that we are to kill all the O’s on Camelora 7, or they are to kill all of us! There are no other options! Soldiers of the Legion, do your duty! To the death!”

“DEATH!” We roared out the response, but to me it sounded more scared than scary. 5,500 volunteers! That was most of Andrion Command!

***

“We don’t have to volunteer!” Priestess declared, pale and shaken. We were in my tiny office cube with the door closed. Normally, office doors were never closed, but there were a lot of intense private discussions going on at that very moment, all over Alpha Station.

“No,” I replied, “We don’t have to volunteer. We can stay right here, running Alpha Station, with whoever else doesn’t want to volunteer. We’ll probably get along with them fine.” We were standing face to face beside my desk. It was dead quiet.

“We don’t owe the Legion anything!”

“Except your life. And mine. And everyone else in Beta. Without the Legion, Beta would have died on Uldo.”

“We would have, if Tara and you hadn’t disobeyed orders! The Legion would have left us!”

“We never could have done it without the Legion!”

“They killed Two and Four and Six and Seven! How many more dead do you want? Let’s stay out of it!”

“Two and Four were killed by the Systies, and Six and Seven were killed by the O’snot by the Legion.”

“It’s the same thing! It’s suicide! The Legion is the finest instrument ever devised for the killing of young Outworlders! It’s a suicide corps!”

“You always used to believe in the Legion, Priestess. You carved a Legion cross into the walls of that Omni base on Andrion 3. Remember? You’ve changed.”

“Why are you defending them? They put you away for two years!”

“We deserved it. I accept my fate. Then, as now.”

“I’m sick of accepting fate! Let’s make our own fate!”

“What do you want to do? Stay here?”

“Yes, stay here! Otherwise, we die! Otherwise, it’s suicide! We’ve just found ourselves, after all the killing! We love each other! Can’t we live together, happily? Can’t we have a baby?” There was cold sweat on her forehead. I think she knew how hopeless it was.

“Stay here. Fine. We certainly deserve it. You’re right.”

“Let somebody else fight the battles!”

“All right. Fine.”

“We’ve done our part!”

“Yes. That’s true. Tara’s probably dead anyway. I mean, chances are high she’s dead. Kind of like when Beta had disappeared in the Mound. Chances were very high you were all dead. It was kind of crazy for Tara and me to come looking for you, the way we did. Expending all that effortwith all that backing from the Legion. Billions of Credits, with the total support of the Lost Command. All the resources we needed.”

Priestess was pale and silent, looking into my eyes.

“It’s not as if we know for sure nobody’s going to make an effort to find her,” I continued. “I mean, chances are high she’s dead, and the Legion’s certainly kind of busy, but

well, we’ve done our part, right? Somebody else can find Tara.”

“That’s not fair, Thinker.”

“No. It’s not. But listen, Priestess, I’m perfectly serious. I’ll do whatever you want. If you tell me you want to stay here, I’ll leap at the chance. Every fiber of my being wants to stay here, where I belong. I know what it’s like out there, in an A-suitI’ve been there! But you’ve got to realize, if we stay, we’re going to be thinking about Tara, and One and Dragon and Valkyrie and everyone else from Beta. They’re out there still, fighting just like before. And we’re going to wake up in the night, thinking about them. I already am! And every time we look up at the stars, we’re going to see all those Legion troopers out there, suffering and dying, for us. And we’re going to be asking ourselves if we’re doing the right thing.”

“Oh, Thinker!” She collapsed against my chest, flinging her arms around my waist. I embraced her tenderly, losing myself in her sweet scent. She was crying. Fateit was Fate. How the hell do you fight Fate?

***

It was almost like a ceremony when we opened the arms locker again. I sure hadn’t planned it that way, but we had to load the A-suits and weapons into the aircar, and Moontouch and Stormdawn and Deadeye had accompanied Priestess and me into the basement, to watch.

It was deathly quiet when the locker doors hissed open, revealing the two A-suits standing there in all their awful glory. I think it was only then, at that very moment, standing in shock before those two obscene, holy specters, that Priestess realized what it really meant. She gasped and moved closer to me, as if for protection. I’ll admit it was a chilling sightlike witnessing our own deaths.

“You promised me, Daddy. You promised!”

“Your father is a great warrior, Storm,” Moontouch replied. “His people have called him. He cannot refuse.” She knew, better than I, about personal sacrifice.

“But he promised!”

“Pray for us, Moontouch,” Priestess whispered.

“It is your enemies who should pray,” Deadeye responded. “They will be scattered like autumn leaves before a mighty wind. Death to all your foes, Slayer! Death to them all!”

The two A-suits were mute, icy black armor and dead dark ruby faceplates, peppered with awful white scars, testimony to the horrors we had both endured. We would have to bring the suits to the Armor Shop and have them replated. The Legion would make them stronger, but the scars would not disappear. Replating just made them more obvious. Some troopers had A-suits that were so scarred up that the original black was almost all gone. White ghosts, they called them, people who had cheated death so many times there was some question about their humanity. Priestess and I were on our way nowwell on our way. And I had really thought I had escaped. Fool! The only escape from the Legion is death.

“The dead will walk by your side, Slayer,” Moontouch said, “All of the power of those who have gone before will be yours to wield. The dead call out to you, my love. I will pray to the dead, every day and every night, for your life, and Priestess’s, and death to all your foes. The future is dark, my love. I cannot read it, but one thing is clear. You will make your own road into the future and into the past. I can only promise we will be awaiting you, my love, should Fate return you to us. I will cry a river of tears, and count every hour until you return, though it takes a thousand years.” Moontouch was pale and distant, filled with an icy resolve.

“Please don’t go, Daddy! Stay with us! Don’t you love us?” Tears streamed down Stormdawn’s cheeks. I reached out for the E and picked it up and a hot thrill raced through my fingers and up my arms. I grasped the weapon in both hands and examined it closely. The E Mark 3. She was one nasty, tough, deadly bitchindestructible! Gas, flame, vac, X, laser, canister, biobloc, biodee, stunstar

everything we needed to confound our foes and keep us alive. A holy icon, a talisman of death and life, a mistress from the dark, my secret lover, mine once again. I could feel the power of the Legion running through the weapon, running through my body. Yes, she was a Goddess from Hell, and I was a soldier from Hell, once again, and I needed her just as much as she needed me.

“You promised!” I went to my knees and embraced Stormdawn with one arm, still cradling the E with the other. He threw his fragile arms around my neck. Would I ever see my lovely child again?

“We must be insane!” Priestess gasped in horror, in Moontouch’s embrace.

“We always were,” I responded quietly. “Nothing’s changed. Nothing’s changed at all.”

Chapter 2

Trooper Zero

The Confederation cruiser Spawn was a tiny chip of life, tumbling through the awesome empty infinity of the Outvac. Its precise location, course and mission would always remain highly classified. Priestess and I had no idea where we were going, only that we were to be delivered up to the 22nd Legion’s Strategic Reconnaissance Command like fresh sacrifices to the Gods of War. We had, of course, asked for the SRC. The Legion let you choose your own death whenever possible.

“Trooper Zero, reporting as ordered, sir!”

“Trooper Zero, reporting as ordered, sir!”

Priestess and I stood before a young Outworlder manning a bank of dscreens behind an info desk. It was a Legion tradition for new bodies to report in as Trooper Zero. Presumably this designation reminded them of their insignificance in the grand scheme of things. We were clad in our blacks, carrying all our worldly possessions in little nitex belt packs. Soldiers of the Legion travel light. Our only real luggage was the A-suits and the E’s, and the Legion was taking care of that.

“ID’s.” The trooper didn’t even look up. We dropped our Legion ID’s on his desk. He waved them at a dscreen and read the result.

“You haven’t been here five marks, and you’re in trouble already. Report to Chief Ops, see the ship for the zero. NOW, bodies! Why are you still standing there?”

“Sir!”

“Sir!” We snatched back our ID’s and hustled out into the corridor, almost colliding with a squad of fully armed and armored troopers, staggering along in their black A-suits, shouting at each other, scraping along the walls, armor shrieking against armor.

“OUT OF THE WAY, FLESH!” We tried to merge with the corridor walls as the troopers crowded past us. Their suits stank of slick and grit and an awful scorched scent that I knew well. I could smell the E’s too, a savage, choking musk, the stink of battle, a sickening gel from the exhaust gasses of flame and X and canister. Damn! We were back, all right.

We had no trouble finding Chief Ops. We knew the Spawn well. She had been one of Atom’s Road’s cruisers. She carried us to Coldmark and Andrion 3 and later delivered us to the Maiden, on our fatal mission to Mongera. The Spawn was an old friend.

“Trooper Zero, reporting as ordered, sir!”

“Trooper Zero, reporting as

“

“Yeah, yeah, go on in, he’s there.” A harried aide gestured towards a closed door while scanning a dscreen.

The door snapped open as we marched in, then slid shut behind us. It was a small darkened comcenter cube, glowing with dscreens. A shadowy figure turned from a large wall screen, lit by the green reflections from a sitmap. He emerged from the shadows, a young trooper, glaring at us with hot pink eyes burning like coals in a face so pale we could see the blue veins throbbing at his temples. His thin bloodless lips were set firmly and a lock of white-blond hair hung loosely over one side of his face. Snow LeopardBeta One, our old squad leader. He stood there for an instant, frozen, taking us in.

“You crazy bastards,” he finally said. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Hello, One,” I said. “You’re looking good.”

“Come here,” he said. He reached out and seized one of my hands in a grip of iron and flung an arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him and we just stood there for a moment in silence, embracing. And it was almost as if all of Beta was there, watching usthe dead and the living, ghosts all, ghosts from the past. I could feel them, swirling around us in the dark. Then Snow Leopard broke away, seemingly embarrassed, and turned to Priestess.

She came to him like a lover, throwing her arms around him, and they stood there for a few moments, lost in the past. And I thought, we are truly lost. We had it all and we threw it away, but it doesn’t matter. This is where we really belong. We’re back with Beta, back on Atom’s Road, right where we began.

“Have a seat, gang,” Snow Leopard said, sweeping a big stack of plastic printouts off a desk onto the deck to make room for us. “Welcome to Recon. What the hell happened? We heard you got your assignment, Thinkeryou and Priestess, on Andrion 2. It’s what you always wanted. You dreamed about that for years. So why are you here?”

I looked at Priestess, and she looked at me. Impossible to answer.

“We enjoyed it as long as we could, One,” I replied. “It was wonderfulit was paradise. But we couldn’t continue. Not with the war. Not with all of Beta out here.”

“You’re both crazy,” Snow Leopard declared. “Priestess, couldn’t you talk any sense into him?”

Priestess shook her head glumly. “Sorry, One. There’s no sense involved. We’re herethat’s all.”

“Crazy. More crazies. Stupid and crazy.” Snow Leopard sounded angry. “All rightfine. We can use you. You’ll have lots of company here. I’ve assigned you both to Dragon’s squad. You’ll replace his dead. I’d advise you to update your wills. Life spans are short in Recon. If you want to die, you’ve come to the right place. Dragon will brief you, but in general we get the missions that nobody else dares tackle. Dragon’s on an op right now, along with Valkyrie. They’re overdue. If they don’t show, you can help with the funeral arrangements.” Snow Leopard was breathing hard. I could tell he was upset.

“How are you doing, One?” I asked. “What’s it like, being Chief Ops? It’s a big career move, right?”

Snow Leopard sighed, and brought one hand to his brow. “I sit here in perfect safety, surrounded by dscreens and printouts, and listen to my troopers die. This is not for me, gang. I may be joining you soon.” Beta One had been the perfect squad leader, the ultimate warrior, leading from the front, always.

“One, don’t be foolish,” I ventured. “You don’t want to

“

“You of all people have got no right to dispense advise about not being foolish, Thinker. How’s your family? Moontouch and the kid? Were they happy about your leaving?”

“No, they

“

“Get outta my sight! You shouldn’t be here! You’re going to die for nothing!” Snow Leopard glared at me, his pink eyes almost spitting sparks. Priestess and I got up cautiously and retreated to the door as Snow Leopard sat there, pale and furious.

“Thinker! Priestess!” We paused at the door. “Be careful out there,” One added quietly. “Dragon will keep you alive, if anyone can. He’s the best we’ve got. You stick close to Dragon, you’ll be all right. My exec will show you your quarters. We’ll have lunch latermaybe tomorrow.”

“Thank you, One,” I said with great relief. I had been really upset, seeing One so angry with me. I respected him more than anyone else in the galaxy.

As the door to Snow Leopard’s cube slid shut behind us, a tall young girl stood before us in the outer office, blocking our waya gangling, awkward colt of a girl with a mop of curly red hair and a pale face full of freckles.

She threw herself into my arms with a gasp, flinging her bony arms around me convulsively.

“Twister!” I choked. “Beta Thirteen!” I tore her away from me to look into her childish face. She was beaming and misty-eyed.

“Twister!” Priestess shouted. They embraced, and Twister was sniffling like a baby.

“Can you take it out in the hall, please?” One’s aide requested. “You’ll have me crying next.”

***

“Your bunks will be in here somewhere,” Twister said, ducking her head to avoid an open wall bed. There wasn’t a lot of room on a Fleetcom cruiser, and the Recon troopers were housed in a long narrow chamber near engineering, lined with bunks that folded down out of the walls. It was dark and silent and incredibly cluttered. Nobody was home. Only a few faint emergency lights illuminated the gloomy scene. Open bunks hung down everywhere, draped with clothing and disorderly bedding. The deck was littered with boots and nitex bags and dropboxes and loose gear. A knee-high console of personal lockers ran along the narrow aisle. Dead socks and girls’ undies lay next to half-finished foodpaks and empty dox cups. Silent dscreens and mute music systems were scattered everywhere. I almost stumbled over a case of contac grenades. Hard-core sex holos and printouts covered every empty space on the wallsnaked males and females, coupling in every conceivable position. There seemed to be a lot of girl-on-girl scenes. It smelled like a gym.

“Don’t these people ever bathe?” I asked. I regretted it as soon as I said it. How the hell could I forget, so soon?

“Only when they have time,” Twister said. “They’re pretty busy. We let them do what they want. We treat them right.”

“Good. Well, where do we bunk?”

“I don’t know. Choose any place. You can discuss it with them after they come back.”

“Say, Twisterwhat’s all this fem stuff?” I gestured at the holos.

“Oh, that’s Val and her gang. They’re a little strange, butwell, you know Valkyrie.”

Yes, I thoughtI certainly know Valkyrie.

“Well, you must be tired,” Twister said. “I’d better get back to One. He really depends on me. Welcome to Recon, guys. It’s wonderful to see you again.” She gave us a shy smile. We had gone through Uldo together. Everyone in Beta was bonded for life, that was certain.

“Thanks, Twister. See you later. We’re going to turn off for awhile.”

Twister left us and I settled back on a bunk and discovered an E, hidden in a messy tangle of blankets and pillows.

“This one sleeps with an E,” I said, propping the weapon against the wall. Priestess cautiously examined the next bunk, arranging the bedding, then bumped her head against the open top bunk and sat down hard, silent.

“You all right?”

“Fine,” she said, eyes closed, resting her head on one hand. It was warm and dark and oppressive. A high pressure pipe whined eerily somewhere nearby. It did not sound like it was going to stop anytime soon. I had almost forgotten how crowded it got on a cruiser. I removed a dead, wet towel from the bunk and dropped it onto the deck.

“Well, here the hell we are,” I said.

“Your idea,” Priestess replied.

“Yeah. I guess so. Let’s see if we can get some sleep.”

***

I slept uneasily, drifting in and out of consciousness, hot and sweaty, tormented by visions of Moontouch and Stormdawn calling out to me. Finally I faded away into a prickly, feverish sleep, to be startled awake by a horrific racket. Spotlights flashed all around us, great black shadows leaped over the walls and ceiling, and a shattering metallic drum screeched and blasted away. For one terrifying instant, I had no idea where I was. An eruption of shouting and screaming echoed through the narrow chamber and a confusing babble of voices followed. A disorderly gang of A-suited troopers crashed carelessly through the room, leaving chaos in their wake, howling like wolves, shrieking like the inmates of an insane asylum.

“Alert! There’s a girl in my bed!” a female trooper hooted in a hoarse voice.

“What! Who does she think she is! Let’s strip her and toss her out in the hall!” another girl shouted.

“Don’t be so hastyI’ll take her!” a male voice cut in.

“What the hell! There’s a man in my bed!” another girl exclaimed. A giant A-suit hovered over me, blinding me with a spotlight.

“That’s a waste! You couldn’t

“

“We didn’t give anyone permission

“

“Let’s rape him!” The girl in the A-suit tore me out of her bed. I knew there was no sense in trying to fight an A-suit. I just concentrated on trying to avoid getting damaged as she slammed me up against a wall.

“Who the hell are these people? Hey, dead meat, you just made a bad move! We eat pussy for breakfast!”

“Say, the honey’s really cute!”

“Finders keepers!”

“Take her clothes off and let’s take a look!”

“Aw right, break it up! Who are you people!” An icy female voice cracked like a whip. I recognized that voiceno doubt about it.

“Hello, Valkyrie,” I said. She snapped off her helmet and dropped it to the deck and stepped forward, peering at me in the glare of a spotlight. Valkyrie was the former Beta Eleven, golden hair chopped short, icy emerald eyes, pale pink lips, and a black Legion cross burnt onto her forehead. Valkyrie, my lost love, my obsession. She reached out her cenite arms and yanked me off my feet and slammed me up against her chestplate and slid one armored hand behind my head and gave me a wet, sloppy kiss, forcing her tongue deep into my mouth. Then she howled with delight, just like a wolf, and fell backwards to the deck, carrying me with her and bringing down a tangle of other A-suited troopers.

“Three! It’s Beta Three!” she shrieked.

“Who the hell is Beta Three?”

“Priestess! It’s PriestessBeta Nine! Gitcha hands off hershe’s mine!” I recognized Scrapper’s hoarse voice. She had been Gamma Five, and later Beta Twelve. Somebody hit the lights and I got to watch everyone struggling up from the deck.

Scrapper had her helmet off, revealing a thick tangle of tawny hair, clear grey eyes, and a Legion cross burnt onto her forehead just like Valkyrie. She was beaming at Priestess, cradled in her arms like a fragile porcelain statuette. Priestess, like me, was covering her face with her arms, wary of all the armor.

“How ya been, Thinker?” Valkyrie just lay there on the deck as the others got up. She sounded exhausted.

“Can’t complain,” I replied, sitting up to straddle Valkyrie’s armored waist. “How about you?” Valkyrie’s squadies were unlinkingdropping their helmets, flinging chestplates onto the bunks, kicking u-belts full of equipment along the deck, shouting and chattering, carelessly bumping into each other, the armor making a terrific racket, the incident of the uninvited guests seemingly forgotten. Most of them were girls.

“What the hell is the problem now? Don’t you mammary types ever shut down?” A hard, aggressive male voice. Another A-suit approached, hauling an E, helmet off. It was a young male trooper with sweaty black hair, glittering, deep-set eyes, distinct chiselled features and a firm, thin mouth set in a determined jaw. It was Beta EightDragon , the warrior’s warrior. I couldn’t stop the foolish grin that was forming.

“Three!” He stopped dead, taking me in sitting on top of Valkyrie. “Well damn, you don’t waste any time, do you? I’d advise taking off her A-suit before proceeding further.”

I got off Valkyrie and slammed my hand into Dragon’s cenite palm. His face was sticky with sweat but he was looking good. Damn, it was good to see him again! I was so choked up I couldn’t say a word.

“I told you not to come here, Thinker. What happened?”

“I’m stupid, all right? It’s good to see you, Dragon.”

“Hi, Dragon.” Priestess had detached herself from Scrapper and stood before Dragon primly, stifling a grin. Dragon held out an arm and pulled her to him carefully, looking down into her eyes, just like a father greeting a daughter.

“Welcome to Recon, guys,” Dragon said. “We heard you were coming. We can’t promise to keep you alive, but we can promise we’ll do our best. And if anything happens to you, our enemies are going to regret it. We can promise that.”

A banshee howl interrupted us. A short blond male with wild blue eyes and a pale, sweaty face was poised before Priestess, his gleaming black cenite arms outstretched, his mouth open in shock. He abruptly seized Priestess, snatching her right off her feet, and ran off with her into the gloom like some kind of demented, armored dwarf ogre, anxious to consume its catch in private.

“Psycho, bring that back! Aw, he gives me more trouble

” Dragon said.

“Priestess can handle him,” I said. “Don’t worry.” Psycho had always had a crush on Priestess. His behavior was not surprising. It was obvious he had not changed at all. I looked down at the deck. Valkyrie was asleep.

“I guess she wasn’t as excited to see me as I thought,” I said.

“It was a rough mission,” Dragon said. “We’re all tired. You might want to wash that blood off.” I looked down at my u-shirt. It was soaked in blood. So was Valkyrie’s chestplate.

“We had wounded, but no dead,” Dragon explained. “Don’t worry. If we can quiet the rest of these females down, maybe we can get some sleep. We’ll talk later.”

***

“I’m in heaven,” Psycho said with his mouth full, scooping up another slab of cherry jam for his biscuit. We were in the Spawn’s Open Mess, lingering over our breakfast. The place was crowded, full of Recon troopers in camfax and Fleetcom vacheads in black. Five was gorging himself.

“They feed us good,” Dragon confirmed. “We’re the top of the food chain. The Spawn is a good home.” He glowered over his dox. He was the type of person you’d be afraid to approach unless you knew him already. Little blue tattoos covered his ears and neck, indecipherable runes from lost worlds. His knuckles and hands were decorated with the faces of the deadsome of them well-known to me. Dragon never talked about his past, but it was always with him.

“You’re gonna love it here, Thinker,” Valkyrie said. “It’s nuts. You’ll fit in perfectly.” She was absolutely lovely, totally relaxed and all cleaned up, fluffy blond hair framing her perfect face. I tried to avoid her eyes, those bewitching emerald eyes. I knew I could fall right in there with no trouble at all. She knew me better than anyone else, better even than Priestess or Moontouch. I would have to be careful, with Valkyrie.

“How about me?” Priestess asked quietly. She was also looking good, fresh and clean and glowing with beauty.

“You’ll do fine, Priestess. Don’t worry,” Scrapper cut in. She was Valkyrie’s fem lover, a survivor from Squad Gamma’s catastrophe on Andrion 3. Scrapper was sitting next to Valkyrie, wearing a thin pullover that emphasized her heavy breasts. When I knew her, she did not have a Legion cross burnt onto her forehead. Valkyrie’s squad was all around us and I saw they were all female, and they were all branded with that hellish cross. It was the mark of death, worn only by the craziest of Legion immortals, whose life span was normally shorter than your average mortal. Immortality and deaththat was what the Legion offered.

“We’ll keep you busy, Priestess,” Dragon said. “You and Thinker will bring us up to full strength. We already have a medic but we can always use another. You’re the backup. You’ll carry a full medkit but until we need you as a medic you’ll be just another trooper.”

“You want to lose that hand?” There was a flurry of activity a little further down the table. One of Valkyrie’s branded crazies was wielding a hot knife, threatening a young trooper from Dragon’s squad who was glaring at her, the blue glow from the knife lighting up his boyish features.

“Put it away, Ragdoll,” Valkyrie ordered. The girl deactivated the weapon, reluctantly.

“Greedy bitch,” the male said.

“Turn that off, Flash,” Dragon ordered. “There’s enough food for everybody.”

“

kick her butt

” somebody muttered.

I went back to my dox. It was hot and sweetsuper!

“Valkyriewhat’s with the cross?” Priestess asked. “Why is everyone in your squad wearing one? Is it a requirement?”

Valkyrie smiled sadly and sipped at her dox. “No, it’s not a requirement. It’s more of a commitment. We’ve turned off the future. We live for the moment. Our salary payments go to the Legion Benevolent Association. No, it’s not a requirement.”

“If you decide you don’t like the Pits, come over to us. We’ll convert you,” one of Valkyrie’s girls said to Priestess.

“What’s the Pits?” Priestess asked.

“That’s us,” Dragon answered. “We don’t have alpha designations here. They let us name ourselves. My squad is officially named the Jox, their’s is the Cross. We use the unofficial names most of the time, though. We’re the ArmpitsPits for short. They’re the MammariesMams on the net. You see, we each got to name the other.”

“I liked the first names we came up with,” Psycho said.

“Never mind the first names. They caused too many hard feelings.”

“You made it! I can hardly believe it!” The speaker was a wild-eyed young male with a tangled mass of shoulder-length reddish hair, a pale splotchy face and a sparse, scruffy beard, approaching our table. Golden rings dangled from both ears. His fatigue shirt was open to the waist, revealing a pale, sweaty chest. “Thinker! Priestess! How the hell are ya?” It was Redhawk, Beta Ten, our lunatic aircar driver. The car was his first love. He slept with it.

He gave me a hard, sweaty embrace, and then squeezed Priestess until she squealed.

“We’re fine, Redhawk,” I said. “You’re looking good!”

“You’ll love it here, Thinker! It’s really exciting! Scut, we almost didn’t come back yesterday! It’s like the old days, Threelike the old days with Beta! Just one long adrenalin rush. No down time! Welcome to Recon, guys! We’re on point. The O’s hate us!”

“Well, Priestess and I are both with

um, Pits, so I guess you’ll be our driver again.”

Redhawk threw his head back and laughed. “That’s great! Perfect! Well, don’t you worry about transport, guys, we’ll give you a real smooth ride, and we’ll be there when you need us. That’s a promise!”

“Yes, I remember your smooth rides, Ten. I think I’ve still got the bruises.”

“I was still learning then! I’ve got it down now, Threeyou’ll love it! Wait’ll you see the new bird. She’s white-hot!”

I sat down and concentrated on my dox. SoValkyrie and her squad gave all their salaries to the Legion. Get a life! But that was it. They knew they were all going to die. And it certainly wasn’t any crazier than what I had done in coming here, or what Priestess had done in following me.

“Say, Thinker,” Psycho exclaimed. “Remember, I’m the Two now. When I say ‘jump’ you ask ‘how high’? Get it?” Psycho used to take orders from me, and probably viewed with great amusement my reassignment to his squad as a common trooper.

“That’ll be the day, Psycho,” I replied. “By the way, when are you planning on paying back that hundred credits you owe me?”

“I owe you? What? No, no, I believe it was you who owed me a hundred credits, wasn’t it?”

“No, it wasn’t. It was you, Five.”

“If you’re talking about Beta Five, that was ancient history, Thinker. My name is Jox Two. I’m not responsible for what that fellow Beta Five did. He was an irresponsible chap, always on the run, living on the edge. I’m not surprised he owes you money. You ain’t the only one! Why I recall

“

I let it fade. Squad Joxthe Armpits. Thinker and Priestess. A new lifefine. The Gods compel me to do it, I do it. But after this, Priestess and I are quitting the Legiongetting out permanently and going back to Andrion 2. A clean break was obviously the only way to do it. But meanwhilewe go with it. We ride with the Gods of War across the Outvac, under deceptor skies, clad in Legion armor, fighting for the unbornuntil the Gods get off my back and let me go home. I could do it. I knew I could. I’d done it before.

“I’ve got a new girl friend,” Redhawk whispered in my ear. “Want to meet her?”

***

“She’s beautiful,” I whispered. Redhawk and I were alone with her, in dim light and a deep silence. I had never seen anything more lovely. She was stunning.

“She’s perfect,” Redhawk replied, running his hands gently over her satin skin. “She’s an angel from Hell. I’ve fallen in love with her. I’ll never love another.” I could see it in his eyes as he gazed, hypnotized, at that unearthly, deadly, exquisite creature.

We were in the launch deck of the Spawn, and the object of his affection was poised above us, a great, chilling black cenite bat, with skin as smooth and featureless as a pool of velvet ink, and lines that never seemed to end, but just faded back into the body like some kind of eerie Mobius strip. I ran my fingers along the skin again. It was ice cold and seemed to move around my fingertips like liquid metal. The thing was huge, I realized. It dwarfed an aircar.

“This is our bird, Thinker. Her name is Kiss, because I kiss her awake every morning. She’s magic, Thinkerevil magic. She’s got everything the lab rats could cook up. Everything the Legion has is in this lovely bird. Aircars? Forget about aircars. Recon doesn’t use aircars any more. This baby is so secret she doesn’t even have a designation. Recon Mission Support Vehicle, they called her at one point. The Spawn has four of themone for each Recon squad. We call them Phantoms. Kiss, Little Miss Miss, Hiss and Sis.”

“What does she do?” I asked quietly. Delta-shaped wings, I sawbut the shape was hard to visualize. It kept

merging.

“She does everything.” Redhawk looked up at her worshipfully. “She’s a long-range shuttle. She’s completely cloaked. It’s state of the art, Thinker. You can fly this honey over a Legion starport and warn them she’s coming and nobody will spot her. I’ve done it! The damned thing is invisible!”

I touched her again. A cold thrill ran along my flesh. Magnificent!

“We can approach the target planet undetected, drop right into the at, and proceed to the insertion point to drop off the squad. Then I’ll serve as fighter backup if necessary or cruise in the at or hide downside, waiting for evac. Then I pick up the squad and it’s back to the vac. There’s no need for aircars. This doll does it all. And anyone foolish enough to take her on will vanish in a haze of antimats. She’s got a bad temper. You don’t want to make her angry.”

“So this is your new girlfriend.”

“My secret lover. Don’t tell Whit! I know she’d be jealous.”

“How is Whit doing?”

“She’s

pretty broken up about Tara. She’s busier than ever, managing Tara’s affairs. She refuses to believe Tara’s dead.” We crouched under one wing. Redhawk wasn’t meeting my eyes.

“I guess it’s hopeless?”

“The O’s took the planet. If she’s not dead, she’s as good as dead. Worse, if she’s still alive. You know what they do to human captives.”

Yes, I knew what they did to their captives. They would drain her blood, if she was lucky. Or maybe they would eat her alive. We knew they did that as well. Millions of humans had been trapped downside on Augusta 6. They all faced the same grisly fate.

“Nobody can stop Kiss, Thinker. She’ll keep us alive in the heart of Hell.” He grinned up at his lover, shaking back his long, greasy hair. I raised my fingers again and touched her icy cenite skin. A new loverfor us all.

***

“Good morning, troopers!” Snow Leopard stood ramrod-straight on the briefing dais before a huge dark screen. His pale face and white-blond hair contrasted sharply with the inky black uniform. His hot pink eyes were alive, darting over us all. They called him Ops One here, but to me he would always be Beta One. Two squads were packed into the briefing roomJox and Cross, twenty troopers, still in camfax fatigues, anxious for a glimpse of the future. Whatever it was, both squads would be involved.

The wall screen behind Snow Leopard came alight to reveal a massive planet glowing a cold silver against a black velvet background. I could see the thin film of atmosphere, faintly visible against the vac. And I thought the same thing I always thought when viewing a new planetwhat a beautiful world! They were all beautiful, every one of them, even the complete hellholes. When viewed from space they were all galactic jewels, precious havens for our aggressive, expanding, land-hungry species.

“Troopers, your target is Augusta 6.” A shocked silence followed. And all I could do was stare at Snow Leopard, and at that heavenly vision behind him. Everything seemed to just fade away all around me, and there was only Snow Leopard, standing before Augusta 6 like a mighty Legion God. And my skin was crawling. I knew the Gods were right there with us, right in that room. I could have stayed on Andrion 2and look what I would have missed! Deadman was rolling his dice, and she was right there, with every beat of my heartTara, Tara, Tara

I knew it, I knew it! And I didn’t care about the odds! Nobody but the Gods could have arranged it. I took a deep breath, and tried to concentrate on what Snow Leopard was saying.

“

at regular intervals. The Novas were technically perfect. They appear to have been set off by Legion troopers. Galactic distress Novas, from a Legion unit on Augusta 6.”

The room was deathly quiet.

“The planet is totally controlled by the O’s. We can’t even get near the system without engaging major Omni fleet units in the vac. All downside Legion activity ceased on the day the O’s took the planetalmost four stellar months ago.”

“So how could a Legion unit set off a Nova?” Dragon asked quietly.

“Good question, Dragon. We don’t know. You’d think anyone setting off a Nova on an Omni-controlled world would be spotted and swatted instantly. And whoever this is has set off four Novas, at four separate locations.”

“As mandated in Legion regs for off-planet rescues.”

“Exactly.”

“It’s obviously a trap,” Valkyrie said. “The O’s control all surviving humans there. They can make them do anything they want, with psypower. Of course it would be technically perfect. They read minds! They want to lure in a Legion rescue force, to kill us.”

“There is a high probability that you are correct, Val. As a matter of fact, the Spawn believes chances are eight in ten that this is an Omni deception op. In which case we could, of course, ignore the Nova. Shall we do so?”

Silence, from both squads. Ignore a Nova? Nothe Legion doesn’t do that. We don’t ignore Novas from Legion troopers trapped in enemy territory.

“I take it we’re not going to ignore the Nova,” Snow Leopard continued. “Now let me tell you a few other things that may affect our planning. There are some rather unusual events occurring on Augusta 6. Events we don’t understand. For starters, major Omni fleet units were diverted from other sectors to orbit Augusta 6about two months after the O’s captured the place. Our probes also detected abnormally high shuttle traffic between downside and orbit. Thenrecentlythe traffic ceased. There’s hardly any shuttle activity now, and many of the O ships have departed. Our probes don’t survive long, so they can’t clarify the sit. But Starcom very much wants an explanation.”

Another long silence. There was not even enough data to prompt a question.

“We think these events may have something to do with the Novas. Maybe the O’s have got more important things to do than hunt down some Legion survivors. Starcom mentioned that as a possibility.”

Snow Leopard stood there, head back, looking us over. “The primary mission is to rescue the Legion unit on Augusta 6. A secondary mission is to report on the stratsit on Augusta 6. The secondary mission is important, but is not to interfere with the first. Squads Jox and Cross are to do covert insertions to the target area, activate rescue bursts if necessary, and stand by for further Novas. Both Phantoms are to stand by to respond to any O reaction and extract all troopers when necessary. Planning brief begins immediately. Squad Ones and Twos, in the capcom. The rest of you, see the ship for data on the target.”

Chapter 3

Angels of the Lord

We approached Augusta 6 like space junk, cruising silently along with an asteroid cloud that was passing near the system. We were surely invisible to any sensors, but it never hurts to have a backup. Even if the O’s were somehow able to get a reading on us, our two ships would appear to be just a couple of metallic rocks, hurtling along in formation with the rest of the debris. It was a slow way to travel, but we didn’t mindthe Spawn had gotten us close enough.

“Man, this is like a vacation cruise!” Psycho exclaimed, leaning back in his padded seat, propping his armored boots up against the back of the seat in front of him. We were in A-suits, helmets off, relaxing in our seats, quite comfortable, catching up on our sleep, sipping dox, gazing vacantly at dscreens. It was silent and dark, soft indirect lighting faintly illuminating the cabin. It was moderately roomy, two rows of six seats each divided by an aisle that was a few steps below seating level. The seats were greatcomfy enough to stretch out our armored legs and drift away. It was total luxury, for the Legion. Priestess climbed down to the aisle and headed for the spotless toilets in the rear. The Legion was certainly pampering us.

“Oh, miss,” Psycho said, “could I have another cup of dox, please?” Priestess said something rude and continued down the aisle.

“Stewardesses are a bit hostile,” Psycho remarked. “Otherwise, I can’t complain.”

“What do you think, Three?” Dragon asked. “It’s not like the old days, is it? I’m not sure all this luxury is such a good idea. In an aircar, you knew you were headed for trouble. Here, who knows? We could be going on vacation.”

“It’s certainly a big change,” I admitted. “I’m hoping the most significant change is that nobody’s going to be shooting at us when we approach the target.”

“They haven’t seen us yet, Thinker. Not while we’re in the Kiss.”

“We’re invisible, gang,” Redhawk added from the cockpit. “No worries. We’ll be pulling away from the asteroid cloud soon, for the run to the planet. There’s plenty of Omni traffic in orbit, but they won’t see us. Don’t worrywe’re invisible!”

Invisible, I thoughtfine. But once the Kiss drops us off on the surface we won’t be invisible any more. The odds will be even then, just like in the old days. We’ll all be specks of cenite metal in the mud, dodging tacstars. I looked around at our squad. Dragon and PsychoI knew them well. Both were dependable and fearless. Dragon was the perfect leader. We were in good hands. And Redhawk was the best driver we’d ever had. Priestess would risk certain death to aid her comrades. I’d seen it. But the others were unknown to me. Dragon said they’d all been tested in combat. I was uneasy. I had known everyone in Beta, but Beta was no more. Our regiment, the 12th, had been annihilated by the O’s on Uldo.

Five unknowns. Young males, allPriestess was the only female in the squad. Five kids, on their way to Hell. The Manlink master was a tall, rawboned youth called Trigger. He stared into space, clutching a dox cup in two large hands. His hair was short, a military cut. Dragon said he was fast and accurate, and that’s what you need with a Manlink. The Medic was a quiet young Assidic they called Doctor Doom. He had long straight black hair that hung down over his dark slanted eyes. He didn’t talk much, Dragon said, but he was there when you needed him. Good enough. That’s all anyone could ask of a medic. Flash was dozing in his seat. He was the trooper who had had the hot knife confrontation with one of Valkyrie’s crazies over breakfast. He looked like he should still be in school. Sweats was another school kid, short blond hair and pale blue eyes. He was watching a cartoon show on a little dscreen, laughing to himself. Wonderful. The last one was Tourist, a mop of brown hair, a heavy tan, dozing in his seat.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to get to know them better, yet I was sure I would. And I knew it would hurt, all the worse, when anyone was killed.

“Pits, Mams, what’s the story?” The message crackled from the cockpit. Little Miss Miss was with us, another Phantom bird hurtling through the vac, invisible and silent.

“Mams, Pits, all quiet,” Redhawk responded. “Prep for autoruncoming up.” Our approach transmissions were LOS/VSRline of sight/very short range. Nobody could pick them up.

“Pits, tell DD that Scrapper yearns for his healing fingers.”

“Tell her I said ‘any time’,” Doctor Doom replied warily. He evidently had a crush on Scrapper and had foolishly let her know about it. She liked girls better than boys but enjoyed harassing the Doc from time to time.

“Valkyrie,” I interrupted.

“Yes

Thinker,” she responded.

“Stay alert, all right?”

“Tell it to the O’s, Thinker. Don’t worry about us. Oh, andThinker?”

“Yes?”

“Stay alert.”

I smiled. “Tenners, Mams. Pits out.”

We broke away from the asteroid cloud and fell towards Augusta 6, two tiny invisible armored bats, full of microscopic life forms, inexplicably hurtling along the pathways of the Gods, speeding through infinity, cheating the vac, bound for an unseen world. It was visible on screen, but not yet out the plex.

Dragon moved up to the copilot’s seat. We were surrounded by a brilliant, starry realm, a magnificent view of the Outvac and the greater universe beyond. We could see the Gassies, a glowing field of phospho dust. We were warm and comfy in the Kiss, but it was pretty scary when I thought about it, looking out to that hostile, inky vac. The Gods were totally indifferent to our fate. Whether we lived or died would make absolutely no difference to these stars, to these worlds. We could all die in a microfracall humanity could die, in a cosmic instantand it would make no difference at all to the galaxy. The evidence of our presence would crumble and blow away in the wind, on all our worlds, in a few million yearsand no one would ever know we had been there at all. Looking into infinity, I heard the music of the stars in my head. It was the music of the gods, the natural sounds of the universe, ice cold and spooky and terrifying, but I loved it. I still had it recorded on my tacnet, but I no longer needed any help hearing it. The stars were with me, always.

“Check out all that traffic,” Dragon said. “There’s plenty of O ships in orbit. Looks normal to me.”

“Starcom was probably getting all excited about nothing,” Redhawk said. “So they diverted some ships hereso what? Maybe they had a lot of captives they wanted to transport.”

“We’ll probably find out soon enough.”

As we entered the system, we passed a massive gas giant, swirling in phospho blue splendor, ringed by hundreds of sparkling moonlets. And a few hours later Augusta 6 appeareda cold silvery dot, a microscopic speck in the infinite, gaping hole in the vac that was the Outvac. An island in the vac, I thought, for any species that can take it and hold it without being exterminated by something stronger and faster.

I knew exactly what was going to happen, as I watched the planet’s image on the screen. I had done this before. I didn’t want to look but couldn’t turn away. It grewlarger and largerand it was deathly quiet in the ship as we watched. There was only a faint chirping and humming from our sensors. And soon Augusta 6 was a blinding, silvery sphere, reflecting sunlight, an orb of ice, seemingly rushing at us like a comet. I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Now it was taking up half the sky, girt with glittering, icy clouds, and we were falling, lost and hopeless, out of control, right into it, falling to our doom. I felt like a microbe.

“Listen to all that traffic! Look at those tracks! There’s a whole O fleet out there!”

My adrenalin was at max. I could hear the O transmissions, screeching on our screens. They didn’t talk, of course, they were telepaths, but they used the electromagnetic spectrum as heavily as we did, for many purposes, and the Kiss was sucking it all in, recording everything for the Legion. I could see all the O ships on the screens, ringing the planet. Not one of them came after us. It was truewe were invisible! The O’s had the entire system wired, and we slid right through.

“Soft drop, guysentering the at!” We were gliding in now. The wings were starting to glow. There was no need for a hot drop, it seemed. If they couldn’t detect you, you could take your time.

The ship began to shake. I closed my eyes. Could I hear the music of the stars again, or was I only imagining it? I was encased in armor, and we were falling onto the target, a world totally controlled by the O’s. Strangely, I was perfectly calm. I glanced over at the armor covering my left arm. I had lasered a pix of Moontouch and Stormdawn into the cenite. They gazed at me, faintly luminous, just like a pair of angels.

“Nine,” I whispered into my comset. “How you doing?”

“I’ve been better.” Priestess was back in her seat, and evidently not in a good mood.

“Something wrong?”

“Oh, everything’s just fine, Thinker. Listen, you stay close to me downside, all right?”

“As ever, Priestess. I’m not going anywhere.”

“No heroics. I want to live through this one!”

“Heroics? You’ve got the wrong guy. I’m out to surviveand nothing else.”

“Good. Let’s keep it that way.”

“Deal.”

The craft shook and vibrated wildly; the skin was white-hot. We dropped in at a steep angle. It looked like a hot drop to me, but what did I know? Redhawk was humming to himself, seemingly completely relaxed. Well, if the pilot wasn’t worried, why should I be? We dropped, white-hot and invisible, into the future.

***

“Everybody still alive? Stand by. We’re approaching the zero.” That was Psycho’s idea of humorbut the news that someoneor somethingreplied to our rescue burst had set my adrenalin off, and it was still going. I lay on my armored back in the charred remnants of what had been a great, ancient forest of very tall trees. Now it was a horrific wasteland of awful charcoal titans, burnt black, withered branches scratching at the sky in silent protest. The whole forest had been incinerated. There had been quite a fight here, before the O’s took the place.

It was raining, a slow, miserable drizzle that showed no signs of letting up. The sky was dark with ugly clouds, and angry bursts of thunder rumbled overhead, a terrible din, rattling my armor. The dead forest rose from rocky ground, and harsh metallic stones jutted out of the muddy earth all around me. I lay there, E at the ready, camfax cloth wrapped around me like a shroud, the rain pattering on my faceplate, all readouts clear, the tacmap showing the whole squad all around me. We were well dispersed. I was uneasy about that. We were supposedly invisible in the Kiss, so why not stay in the craft until we ID’d the target? But noLegion doctrine was to starburst from the aircar, to avoid losing the whole squad in the event of a hit on the car. Well, we didn’t have aircars any more, but now the starburst was done and each of us was presumably visible to whoever had the technology to spot us.

We had already been downside almost an hour and nothing had come after us. The response to our hello had come from a site labelled on our tacmaps as a middle school. It was uncomfortably close to Augusta Starport, too close to suit me. The port was crawling with activity. I felt our time was running out fast. I kept looking up into the sky, watching the rain fall. Whatever was going to come after us would strike from the sky.

“Stay alert, Sweety,” I cautioned my Persist.

“All quiet, Three. Analysis of the covert Nova’s encryption concludes the message is genuine.” Her calm voice always soothed me. The four previous Novas had been completely overtas if they were afraid of nothing. Now they do a covert one. Anything to delay us. I felt every instant counted. And here we were, dispersed, scattered all over the damned place.

“It’s crap, Thinker,” Valkyrie whispered in my ears on private. “They’re sucking us in.” She was sharing her doubts with me, then barking out quick, confident orders to her squad. They were several K away. Another roll of thunder sounded overhead. It was still raining.

“Maybe, maybe not,” I replied. “We try. We have no choice.”

“All right, Pits, move out,” Dragon said calmly. “We’re doing the recovery. Recon formation, on me. Mams, stand by to screen us. Kiss, Miss, I don’t want anything coming at us. See the screen, gang.” I was up and moving through that monstrous chargrilled forest, nervously scanning the rainy sky, the images flickering on my faceplate. I could read the Nova now. It was in the school, a series of low, partially destroyed buildings, an aircar lot, a solar unit, a sports fieldthe designation rippled over the image: Cold Run Midschool.

“You get that Manlink warmed up, Trigger,” Psycho ordered quietly.

“She’s cookin’, Psycho.” I could tell the rest of the squad wasn’t feeling any better about the op than I was. I could see them on my tacmap all around me, filtering through the forest, moving eerily from tree to tree, all but invisible. But the ‘all but’ part, I knew, could get us killed. The school was only a few K away now. I couldn’t believe a Legion trooper would set off a rescue Nova in a public building, on a world totally controlled by the O’s. It was crazy!

“O ship launching from the port,” Little Miss Miss reported. I could hear it, a deep thunder, a phospho dot rising on my tacmap. It was raining harder now. I couldn’t see much around me except black, blistered trees.

“Intruder! Omni aircar! Mams, Kissit’s approaching your position. Permission to fire!”

“Miss, acquiring target.”

“Negative, Kiss, Miss,” Dragon ordered. “Don’t fire unless it moves to attackprep to fire! Pits, Mams, freeze!”

“O on scopelocked on. If he sneezes, he’s dead.” Redhawk was maxed out, I could tell, ready to blast the Omni aircar to atoms. I had dropped into the mud, wrapping my camfax cloak around me, clutching my E. I watched the aircar on the tacmap, gliding towards Mams’ position as straight as an arrowthen serenely floating over them and on to the port, oblivious to the alien intruders hidden in the forest below. Over the port, the Omni starship was still rising.

“All right, that’s it. Pits, let’s go. Mams, work out that perimeter.”

“Tenners.” I got up, my cloak soaked in muddy ash. It was raining hard. Lightning flashed overhead, lighting up the grim scene briefly. The thunder sounded like artillery. I moved, forward, my mind raging.

“Thinker” Priestess was on private to me. “What do you think?”

“Stay alert, Priestess. Stay alert!”

“This is crazy!”

“That’s a ten!”

***

“That’s an O,” Dragon said. I raised my E and the scope brought it right to me but the image was blurred and misty behind all that rain, blocked from time to time by the dead trees around me. I could barely make it outa tall, hulking yet spidery creature, moving leisurelywalking? My finger caressed the trigger.

“There’s two of them,” Psycho added. “Not shieldedno armor. Scut, they’re not even armed! Let’s blast ‘em!” Our psybloc units throbbed on our helmets. Psycho had a point. Psybloc was critical, but it had given away Legion units more than once. Every instant that passed increased the danger that we’d be spotted. We were still dispersed but nearing the tree line.

“Negative, no movement, stand by, Phantoms,” Dragon countered. I strained to make out the other Omnithere he was! Two of them. They were almost staggering along in the distance, now side by side, two great tall Omnis. I knew the creatures better than I cared to. They had killed over two billion humans, and they had almost killed me as well. They were extremely dangerous, and regarded us as annoying vermin. I felt nothing but fear and hatred for them.

“Looks like they’re headed for the port.”

“Fine, let them go. Don’t interfere.” They were headed away from the school, to my great relief.

“All right, Pitson me.” Dragon was off again. I moved cautiously from tree to tree. We were nearing the school, and my adrenalin level was edging upwards. The rain eased slightly but I was still wet and miserable.

***

“Dragon, on me,” I whispered. I was pretty shook up. I had the thing centered in my sights, but it was clearly not a threat. The trouble was, it was so terrifying that I was starting to shake.

It lay flat on swampy ground, and it was shaped like a human, but had no features. It was a pulpy, human-shaped mass, a wet, yellowish-grey growth, almost like a decaying human vegetable, utterly rotten, sopping in the rain. It almost looked like some primitive’s attempt to manufacture a human out of mud and clay. If there had ever been a human in there, it was now clearly dead, but so featureless I could not tell if it was lying on its belly or its back. Its arms were flung out to the sides. I had never seen anything like this before.

“What the hell is that?” Dragon covered it with his E.

“I don’t know.” I was glad Dragon was there. Let him take care of it.

“DD, get over here,” Dragon ordered.

“It’s human,” Doctor Doom said, squatting by the corpse, reading his medprobe. “A human corpse, covered by

some kind of fungoid growth. Medprobe says it’s a fungus, unidentified variety, unknown origin. It appears to have spread over the entire body.” DD stood up, ignoring the corpse, still focusing on the medprobe. “That’s funny. The probe says the corpse is only a few hours old. I don’t see how that could be.”

“All right, let’s get outta here. Take a sample, Doc. Pits, resume advance.”

We splashed forward, nearing the edge of the fossil forest, glad to leave the horrid corpse behind. The school was right up ahead, in an open field. A range of mountains dominated the horizon.

“Movement! I’ve got

“

“Human, unarmored, unarmed, zeroed.” Sweety highlighted the image. I knelt by a scorched tree and brought my E up. The scope showed what looked like a female, falling abruptly to her knees in a dark grassy field between our tree line and the school. I did not like the look of it.

“No life in the school. No other life in the vicinity. Sky is clear.”

“Thank you, Sweety.” No life in the schooldeto! That was where the Nova had come from. Yes, it was a young female, moving her arms, rocking back and forth on her knees.

“Psycho, on me,” Dragon ordered. “We investigate. Cover me. Pits, cover us.”

“Tenners.”

We broke out of the cover of the dead forest and approached her, striding through scorched grass. It was still raining lightly. My skin crawled. We were totally exposed out in the field. I kept her covered with my E as Dragon advanced on her. She was a slim young midschooler with shoulder-length brown hair, clad in a thin sleeveless pullover, shorts, and liteshoes. She did not even appear to be aware of us. She was examining her arms. Then she snapped her head up, spotted us, and froze.

“We’re the Legion,” Dragon said. “Don’t be afraid. You’ll be all right now. Are there any other humans in the vicinity?” She stared at him like a bird facing a snake. Then she suddenly began to tremble, raising her shaking arms convulsively. Her face and arms were covered with scratches. Her mouth opened and emitted an agonized whimper. She began scratching frantically at her forearms, moaning wordlessly. Then she presented them for us to see. Her twitching arms were covered with scratches and welts.

“What’s the matter?” Dragon asked, lowering his E. “What’s wrong with you?” She burst into tears, balled her hands into fists, and screamed, an unearthly shriek of horror. She resumed scratching desperately at her arms, drawing blood, ripping long deep scars in her flesh with broken fingernails.

“Stop it,” Dragon said, seizing her by one arm. “What’s wrong? We can help youDD, on me!” She screamed, fighting to escape Dragon’s grasp, tearing at her face, thrashing around in the grass. Doctor Doom came running and I helped Dragon hold the girl down as Doom examined her. She screamed, hysterical, struggling frantically to escape.

DD gave her a sedative and she slowly calmed down but still rolled her head around, moaning in agony.

“What’s wrong with her, Doc?”

“Look at this, Dragon,” DD said, examining one of the girl’s arms. I bent closer to see it. The arm was covered with little greenish-white spots. As we watched, more of them began to appear. The girl shrieked again. She was in agony.

“Deadman! What is that crud?” I gasped. Priestess appeared, shouldering me aside, ripping open her medkit.

“Fungus!” DD exclaimed, reading his medprobe. “It’s the same thing! She’s in shock.”

“Zeomax and cyro,” Priestess suggested. “Anti-infection and anti-shock. No choice!”

“Yes,” Doom replied. “Do it!” Priestess zapped the girl with a fast field injection. It resulted in another horrifying scream. The girl’s body arched up and began trembling violently.

“My Godlook. Look!” DD had ahold of her arm. The fungus spread even as we watched, crawling over her twitching body with astonishing speed, the white spots joining, reaching out for each other, merging, thickening, advancingover her flesh. We held her tightlyher screams were freezing my heart.

“Deadman! Can’t you do anything!” Dragon exclaimed. DD hit her with another sedative. It had no effect. She continued screaming, totally out of control, thrashing violently in our arms. The stuff was appearing all over her body nowarms, legs, faceit was multiplying with astonishing speed.

“There’s no cure,” DD said grimly. “This is brand new. The probe can’t even identify the fungus! We can’t do better than zeomax for massive infectionit’s extremely powerful!”

Priestess brushed some of the stuff off the girl’s arm with her armored fingers and slapped on a medgel padit made no difference. The fungus continued growing under the pad. All four of us held her down. The stuff sprouted all over her face. Her eyes were frantic. She shrieked, in total agony. My heart was racing.

“Is she going to die?” Dragon asked.

“Yes,” Doctor Doom replied. “Definitely.”

“Yes,” Priestess said. “I’m afraid so.”

“Stand back.” We released the girl, and Dragon shot her in the head with a single round of xmin. She twitched once, and a shocked silence settled over us. We stood back. The fungus was consuming her utterly, completely covering her body. She didn’t even look human any more. The fungus was thickening, building into an awful, pulpy mass, splattering as the rain hit it.

“Scut,” Dragon said. “All right, Pits, we take the school. I want everyone to be 100 percent alert!”

“That’s a ten!” I was almost in shock myself, backing away from that horrifying corpse. The damned thing was still growing, larger and larger. I moved on the school compound, 100 percent alert, my blood like ice, all sensors on max. The rain slowed to a miserable drizzle. The sky was a soupy mess.

We assaulted the school in textbook form, blasting the doors open with vac, Trigger standing by with the manlink, Mams back there watching the perimeter, Kiss and Little Miss Miss floating somewhere off in the distance, guarding the sky. The school was a wreck but the structure was tough and most of the buildings were still standing.

“Psycho, take a look,” Tourist said. He peered around a corner, looking out at a walkway running between two buildings. Psycho moved up, and I covered them, straining to see it. A corpseno, two corpsesfungus cases, both of them, swollen grotesquely, rotting in the drizzle. One of them was very small. It could have been a child.

“Leave them alone,” Psycho ordered. Then the largest corpse exploded violently with a dull plop, spraying fungus everywhere like shrapnel, filling the air with millions of tiny fragments of fungus, floating gently down to the gravel.

“Deto!” Tourist exclaimed. His armor was covered with the stuff. “Get it off me!”

“Stand by!” I raised my E and hit him with flame and a horrendous burst of burning gas exploded violently on his A-suit. When his armor began to glow red, I eased off on the trigger.

“That’ll do it,” I said.

“Thanks! Man, that was scary! What the hell did that?”

“According to my tacmod, the Nova is in the basement,” Dragon said from inside the nearest building, “and there’s no life down there.”

“Do you think they’re dead?” Psycho asked.

“Don’t know. Val, Dragon, sitrep.”

“Dragon, Valkyrie, all quiet out here.”

“All right, we’re going down. Thinker, Flash, Sweats, on me. Psycho, secure our rear and don’t let anything near the school.”

“Don’t worry about your rear,” Psycho said. And a little chill shot through my veins. I could see him in the Mound, one leg shot off, sitting with an E behind a pile of contac grenades. ‘Don’t worry about your rear,’ he had said. We had almost lost him there.

The signal led us into a basement corridor, completely blacked out. Our darklights activated and it was all bathed in cool greena corridor littered with fungus-covered corpses, five of them. As I took it in, I realized it was a scene of considerable violence. The tile walls were smeared with blood and marred with scratchesfingernails, I realized. Two of the people had died in each other’s arms, clutching each other for solace as the awful growth took hold.

“Keep away from them,” Dragon warned us.

We stopped when we came to the sixth corpse. It was an O, just as dead as the humans. A giant, spidery frame, huge arms thrown out in front of it, all covered with rotting, pale white-green fungus.

“Redhawk, you getting all this?” Dragon asked.

“It’s clear, Dragon. We’re getting all your transmissions. Scut!”

I kicked in a door and it was a storage room, full of supplies. The Nova was on the floor, still active.

“That’s probably them out there in the corridor,” Dragon said, looking around the room.

“Probably,” I said. “I guess we just missed them.” To have come all this way and to miss them, possibly by moments. What a shame. I thought briefly about Tara. She had disappeared somewhere on this world. I should have known. The chances of running into her were about a million to one. I was a fool to have even dared to hope it.

“All right, let’s go. We’re here, and they’re not,” Dragon said. “We’ve done our part.”

“Alert! Alert! Intruder, Omni aircraft, as marked!”

“Kiss is on it!”

“Miss has it zeroed, moving to attack! It’s an airtank!”

“Ahh, scut!”

“Zeta Unit Area Superiority Heavy Armor Shuttle in mobile fortress mode, altitude twenty two mikes.” Sweety flashed a diagram of the airtank on my faceplate. It was a massive, brutal roughly saucer-shaped shuttle that was designed to roll along at low altitude, annihilating anything that moved to impose instant area superiority in the designated target zone. It was very effective. Once it targeted you, you were gone.

“Mams has it on scope, prep to fire!”

“I’ve got the bastard zeroed,” Trigger said. “Lockon!”

“Don’t fire unless it goes after us, guys,” Dragon gasped. We sprinted up the steps from the basement. We were up in moments, skidding along the upper corridor and bursting out the doorway into the rain. I shouldered my E and set it for canister. I knew canister wouldn’t hurt a Zeta heavy airtank but if it discharged a squad of O’s I was going to give them something to think about. Adrenalin pumped wildly in my veins. The Zeta was highlighted on my tacmap, a phospho pink glow.

“It’s turning, coming our way.”

“It’s headed right for the school.”

“I confirm it’s

“

“Probing! It’s probing the area!”

“Kiss, Miss, Dragon. Fire,” Dragon said quietly.

There was an instant’s silence, only the patter of rain on my faceplate. Then an awful, multiple shrieking erupted. It sounded like the very fabric of reality was being violently ripped open. A titanic explosion followed, a blinding flash that lit up the sky for an instant like a bolt of lightning, followed by a deafening crack and a shock wave that rattled my armor.

“Look out!” A thunderous roar hit us and the sky was suddenly full of flaming wreckage, massive chunks of fiercely burning junk leaving long smoking phospho trails against the sky. It impacted all around us. I dived into the mud against a wall for protection. Wreckage ricocheted everywhere, crashing into the school buildings. Thank Deadman for the Phantoms! Without them, we would have been almost helpless against a Zeta unit.

“Is everybody all right? Pits, count off!” We did a count, and everyone was there. Flames crept up the walls. The school had been hit and was starting to burn.

“Enemy intruder eliminated,” Redhawk reported. “I’d guess somebody has noticed this.”

“Kiss, evac Pits,” Dragon ordered. “Miss, Mams, cover us. Then Miss evacs Mams while we cover you.”

“All right, I’m landingon my zero!” Redhawk snapped.

We left the school warily, heading for Kiss’s zero. The beacon showed he was hovering over an open area just past a little grove of trees.

“Legion! Legion unit, hold your evac! Nova, Nova, we’re survivors from Augusta Station! We’re on the way, Legion! Please pick us up!”

“Legion armor! Transmission zeroed! Three Legion A-suits, approaching from zero nine eight.” Survivors! They were suddenly on my tacmap, three red dots, moving toward the school from out of the foothills below the mountains.

“Pits, Dragon, on me, engage targets, do not fire,” Dragon ordered. “Kiss, hold your position. Miss, cover us. Legion survivorsnegative on pickup. Maintain your course. You come to us!”

“We’re on the way!” It sounded as if they were running. We hustled to cover Dragon. We took up positions to one side of the school. I found a fiercely burning section of wreckage from the Zeta unit and dropped prone in the energy field from the flamescomfy! It would be harder to spot me there. I acquired the targets right away. They were hustling over a grassy plain that stretched from the foothills to the school. It was totally open. I switched to xmax. A jagged bolt of lightning lit up the sky over the mountains. It was still lightly raining.

“Pits, Miss. I’ve got an O Type 4 air effects car that’s changed coursehold it. It’s discharging

discharging O troops, armor & arms, fields ondeto! Six of them, they’re starbursting, looks like

heading your way.”

“It’s a setup!” Valkyrie exclaimed.

“Fast reaction,” Dragon replied. “I see them. The car is leaving?”

“It’s gone. They learn quick. Six Omni troopers, advancing on your position.”

“Pits, Mams, don’t worry. They’ll have to get through us first!”

“Survivors, are those O’s friends of yours?”

“Negative, negative, please pick us upwe’re not going to make it!”

“That’s a twelve, survivors. Drop your weapons.”

“But the O’s are almost on us!”

“Drop your weapons or there’ll be no evac for you!” We were not a trusting bunch. Chances were high the Legion troopers were in the power of the O’s. I watched all three of them toss their E’s away. I knew how that must hurt, especially with a squad of O’s on the way.

“Orders?” Ten asked from the Kiss.

“Kiss, maintain your position. Miss, hunt down those O’s and blast ‘em! Mams, kill any surviving O’s.”

“Tenners.”

“Ten.”

“Ten.”

“Psycho, Thinker, we disarm and cuff these Legion troopers. Now!” I moved out of the flames and advanced on the three targets. They were sprinting towards us, frantic to escape.

“Be careful, Three!” Priestess cried out to me on private.

“Far enough!” Dragon barked. “Hands on your heads! Freeze!” The grating shriek of chainlink canister interrupted, followed by a horrifying multiple crack. A blinding series of tacstars rose from beyond the school, four swirling phospho fireballs, spraying luminous shrapnel. Little Miss Miss was going after the O’s.

“Don’t move!” I was on the Legion survivors, aiming my E at the closest one. Dragon and Psycho covered all three of them as I frisked them. They kept their hands up, speechless and seemingly exhausted. I ripped off grenade paks and ampaks, flinging them away, and roughly cuffed their arms behind their backs.

“All right, move! On us!”

I looked up, surprised, from the ground as dirt and shrapnel rained down on me. My ears were ringing. I was on my back and a blazing tacstar was rising above us. Deto!

“Any casualties?” Dragon was amazingly calm. I struggled to my feetall in one piece! The O tacstar had thrown us all to the ground. It was writhing in the air above us, a glittering fireball, spraying brilliant tracers that were still hissing down into the dirt. A series of blinding flashes burst off to one side, followed by a multiple bang and a shock wave buffeting our armor Little Miss Miss was hard at work! Psycho raised his E and fired a burst of canister. Trigger let lose a barrage of tacstars, ripping the air open, the stars shrieking wildly on their way to the targets. The three Legion survivors were up and moving with us as we headed for the Kiss. I could hear Mams, blasting away at the O’s.

“That did it!”

“Twelve, that’s a twelve, do another pass, Miss!”

“There’s two of them in the trees

“

“Claws, go after those

“

“They’re still moving!”

“Canisters! Pour it on!”

“Come on, Miss!” Something whistled eerily overhead, the air rustled, then the charred forest erupted again, bursting into flames.

“Ah, damn

” One of the Legion survivors was down, collapsing face first into a little gully, lying there stunned, arms cuffed behind his back. I straddled the gully, covering him with my E.

“Get up, trooper! Get up or we leave you! I’m not gonna carry you!” I reached down and got a grip on one arm and pulled. A sweaty, exhausted, emaciated, and obviously female face looked up at me from behind the faceplatepale brown skin, slanted Assidic eyes, high cheekbones over hollow cheeks, a wide mouth. I froze, stunned. Deadman’s death! My skin was suddenly crawling, and I knew the Angels of the Lord were right there, hovering over us. I could hear the beating of their glorious wings, shielding us, protecting us from all harm.

“Tara!” It was all I could say. I was stunned. She looked up with glazed eyes, too tired to talk. Then I could see the light dawning. It was beautiful to watch.

“Wester!” she croaked. “Is it really you?”

“Bet your ass! Get up, Tara. Get on my back, if you can’t walk. I’ll carry you! I’ll carry you a hundred K if I have to! Let’s go!”

She got up and a gigantic O came right out of that burning forest, violet force field crackling, wreathed in flames like some kind of creature from Hell, unloosing a wild volley of X. It impacted all around us, spraying us with shrapnel. I felt a big piece bang onto my armor, and I snapped my E to my shoulder and fired a mighty barrage of canister. The evil little darts buzzed like supersonic bees, chilling my blood, lighting up his force field. The field flickered, weakening. The whole squad fired at it, an evil highway of canister darts, xmax and laser. I fired x and the force field burst open, flicking off. The O went down. It shriekeda lovely sound! I seized Tara by one arm and we ran wildly to the evac point.

We all arrived at the same time. It was a wide field with knee-high grass that was swirling wildly from some unearthly breeze, but the Kiss was not there. Nothing was there! I ran into the field, looking up into the skynothing!

I slammed into something violently and went down hard. I looked up in a daze and the Kiss was hovering above me. I had run right into one wing. I had forgotten the damned thing was invisible until you were right on it.

“Get in!”

“Get up, Thinker! We’ll set up a flashing arrow for you next time!”

We leaped into the assault locks and the doors slammed shut behind us as the Kiss lifted off. If any surviving O’s were watching, they were probably wondering where we had gone. I was ecstatic, collapsing against the wall bench, looking around the crowded compartment, now tangled with a whole squad of troopers and equipment, a chaotic scene. Tara was right beside me, gasping in exhaustion.

“Priestess, it’s Tara!” I shouted.

“Kiss, cover our evac,” Valkyrie ordered.

“That’s a ten, commence evac, I’ve got the targets, we’re going after them.” The car lurched as we began our firing run.

“Is this an airlock?” One of the Legion survivors knelt before me, his hands still cuffed behind him. He was sweating and filthy and bearded but his eyes were blazing. He obviously had something to say.

“Tenners,” I replied, “This is a shuttle, we assault from the airlock.”

“Keep it closed! Don’t contaminate the ship! Keep it closed! Keep the helmets on! Don’t unlink! Take us into the vac and purge the airlock! If you let it loose, we all die! Do you understand?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “Yeah, I do. Redhawk, keep the inner airlock sealed. Repeat that to Miss Miss. After they board, do not open the inner door until you hear from us, keep the troops in the airlock, confirm.”

“Big ten, Thinker.”

“Dragon, Thinker,” I said. “Did you hear that?”

We were luckyextremely lucky.

Chapter 4

Tracks in the Dust of Time

“We were in A-suits almost a month,” Tara said. “I can’t recommend it.” She was in an airbed in the body shop of the Spawn, floating on a thick current of air, head supported by a large, snowy-white pillow. She was looking considerably better, although still pale and hollow-cheeked. The thin layer of slime was gone, and her auburn hair was clean. We were all gathered around her, everyone who had known her in BetaPriestess and me, Dragon, Psycho, Valkyrie, Scrapper, Redhawk and Twister. Even Snow Leopard was there, leaning against the bulkhead. We all owed her our livessome of us more than once.

“At first we hid out down in the mines, and ditched the A-suits. We were afraid we’d be spotted. But we’d go out for recons. Then when we saw what was happening, we suited up and stayed that way.” She sighed, and looked up at the overhead. A strange, fragile beauty, even now, wasted and emaciated, she still possessed that awful, unearthly beauty. It was almost as if she were a separate species, a little closer to Heaven than the rest of humanity.

“Any idea how it started?” Valkyrie asked.

“No idea. But we saw it spread. We saw people die. We saw O’s die. We had to assume it was transmitted through the air. I thought I was going to go insane, after a week in the suit. I started to choke. I wanted to die, I wanted to rip the helmet off and take a breath. I stuck it out. Elektra Four and Six helped. We all helped each other. None of us could have survived alone.”

“You weren’t afraid you’d alert the O’s with your Novas?” I asked.

“Of course we knew we’d alert them. But at that point we didn’t care. We knew they had bigger problems to deal with, and we knew we couldn’t take much longer in the A-suits. We figured it was worth the risk.”

“Why weren’t you at the school with the Nova?”

“Are you kidding? We wanted to see who would show up. We were afraid your rescue burst came from the O’s.”

“One month in an A-suit!” Psycho laughed. “That’s got to be a record!”

“I can tell you the plumbing could be improved upon. As a matter of fact, if I ever get my hands on the retard who designed the solid waste elimination unit, I’ll cheerfully strangle him!”

“Make some suggestions,” Snow Leopard said. “Input is always welcome.”

“I can solve this problem in exactly two months,” Tara responded. “First, you get ahold of the slug who designed the current system. Then you seal him into an A-suit for one month and feed him e-rats. Then, when he gets out, you inform him that he gets to do it again in exactly one month; and that if he has designed a better system by then, he may use it the second month. That way, even if he fails, I’ll feel good about it.”

“My my,” Psycho said, in evident admiration. “Remind me not to get on this young lady’s shit list.”

“Why should she be any different from everybody else, Psycho?” I couldn’t resist adding.

“Well, DD has handed the sample of the fungus to Lab, and they are being very, very careful with it,” Dragon said. We had all sat in the vac for quite some time in the Kiss’s airlock. DD said the stuff couldn’t survive in the vac. He had stored his own sample in a sealed medtubestandard medical procedure for possibly dangerous substances.

“If they’re not careful,” Tara added, “everyone on board will die a horrible death.”

“They’ll be careful,” Snow Leopard said. “The sample is going to Starcom as soon as we can link up with Atom.”

“This is heavenly,” Tara said, “just being able to lie here like this, and drink what I want and eat what I want. I love this stuff.” She sipped at a frosted glass of fruit blossom, pressing the glass against her cheek from time to time, almost in ecstasy. “It’s the simple things in life that become important after you come that close to death.”

Priestess and I were still there, but the others had left. It was getting late.

“What were you doing on Augusta 6 anyway?” I asked. Tara gave me a dreamy smile.

“I was redeeming myself.”

“What does that mean? Are you still working for Galactic Information?”

“I can’t tell you what I was doing on Augusta 6, Wester. Suffice it to say that it didn’t work out.”

“I should have thought the Information folks would have written you off after the Mound. You’re still dealing with them, aren’t you? Wasn’t the rock pile enough to convince you to stay away from them?”

“I blame the Legion for nothing, Wester.” She looked off into space. “We’re all the Legion. The Legion is us. The Legion does what it has to do, and we do what we have to do. If our paths sometimes diverge, nobody’s to blame. Where would we be without the Legion? We’d be Systies. We’d be sheep. But I shouldn’t have to explain this to you. Now tell mewhat are the two of you doing here? The last I heard you were both safe and happy, at last, on Andrion 2.”

I looked at Priestess and she looked at me, silent. “I guess it had something to do with you, Tara,” I said. “It was becoming increasingly difficult to stay there. The war was becoming harder and harder to ignore. Then I got a note from Dragon, and he told me you were missing. And

well, you had come after Priestess, and the others, in the Mound. It didn’t seem right

to stay home. Even though I didn’t think there was a chance in hell that you could be alive.”

She just looked at me, not even blinking. Then she slowly raised one hand, and held it up. I grasped it. It seemed very cold. Priestess added her hand to ours.

“Thanks, gang,” Tara said.

“It’s nothing,” I said.

“Yes, it is. It’s a whole hell of a lot. It’s your whole life. But I guess I should have expected it. I never thought it would last for you, Wester. Safe and happyI knew you wouldn’t be able to deal with that. You belong out here with the rest of the crazies. You too, Priestess. You’ve got too much stardust between your teeth. You’re not the little domestic housecat you pretend to be. You’re just as nuts as your mate.”

“Maybe,” Priestess said grimly, “but I’d trade it in a frac for a quiet life.”

“At moments like this, I think the same thing. But the moments don’t last. Time rolls on, the stars wheel in the sky, and new worlds come right at you. New worldsLord, I’m tired! I believe I’ll take a little nap now. Good night, gang.”

“Good night, Tara. Sleep well.”

“Bet your ass!”

***

I ducked as another titanic explosion lit up the dusk over the milbase, sending a glowing orange cloud skyward. The shock wave buffeted my A-suit. I had a terrific view, up on the top floor of the Civic Center. The great picture window had already been blown out and swirling, greasy clouds of black smoke rolled in from the burning milbase, dirtying up the governor’s palatial office. I kept scanning, but the DefCorps had pulled out, leaving plenty of bodies behind. Kiss was hard to counter, and she was still going after them. They were going crazy trying to spot her. Meantime Little Miss Miss was finishing off the milport. The DefCorps transmissions were sheer chaos. They had no idea what was happening.

“You could have avoided a lot of trouble,” Dragon told the governor, “if you had handed over the sub when we first asked for him.”

“STRATCOM refused,” the governor replied. He was sitting at his desk, a tall powerful Mocain, bald head and no eyebrows, faintly green skin, golden earrings dangling, clad in DefCorps khaki. “We asked, and they refused. They said the Legion had no business interfering in the internal affairs of a System world.”

“Your fleet is space junk, your milbase is burning, and the 12th DefCorps is going to need a lot of replacements for Calgoran 2 when we’re through. Maybe even a new governor.” Dragon stood by the desk in full armor, his E aimed at the governor. The governor appeared angry, but not afraid. Mocains were tough bastards. We knew we had to be a lot tougher than them to get what we wanted.

“DefCorps units retreating from last positions. Looks like heavy casualties,” Redhawk reported. We could hear tacstars going off, a horrific series of ripping, crackling blasts.

“Keep after ‘em, Redhawk,” Psycho urged him.

“If he doesn’t show up soon,” Dragon reminded the governor, “we’ll destroy the starport and everything in it. STRATCOM won’t like that. They may even blame you.”

The governor picked up a handcom and spoke into it in an alien tongue. Then he addressed Dragon, in Inter. “They’ve located and detained him. They’re on the way in an aircarbut they are reluctant to approach this area.”

“Describe the car. We’ll let it in.”

“Everything all right up there, Thinker?” Priestess asked me on the net.

“We’re fine, Priestess. You just keep a sharp lookout down there,” I replied. Priestess was on ground level, covering the approach to the building. The whole city was frozen in shock, stunned by the ferocity of our unexpected attack. We were only two squads, and we normally didn’t do this type of work, but we had been available when the decision had been made that something was to be done. So we were it, and Calgoran 2 was going to remember us, no matter how it ended.

“You’re all insane! It’s only a minor criminal! Let the courts handle it! You have no right to interfere!” The speaker was a squat little Orman, hogtied on the dirty carpet, looking around wildly, sweat on his brow.

“Shut down, Pig,” Valkyrie came to life, moving away from her post at the door. “The courts freed him. We’ve already seen the courts in action!”

“The police made a procedural error in the arrest!” The Orman’s eyes were wild and his face was speckled with little cuts from flying glass. “The law says he goes free! That’s the law! We’re a society of laws here, Legion!”

“The sub confessed!” Valkyrie shouted.

“It doesn’t matter!” The Orman snapped, glaring up at her from the carpet. “That doesn’t matter! Only the law matters!”

Valkyrie snarled and went for him, seizing him in her armored hands, yanking him off his feet, striding over to the ledge where the picture window had been, dangling him over the edge.

“Let me kill him!” she exclaimed.

“Go ahead,” I said. I personally suspected the Ormans were responsible for most of humanity’s problems.

“No,” Dragon said. “That’s enough, Val. Put him back.”

She hurled him back onto the carpet with a curse. He lay there gasping. Several sharp booms echoed overhead.

“Two DefCorps fighters are reconning the city,” Little Miss Miss’s pilot reported. “I’m going after them.”

“Have fun,” Redhawk said. “I’ll orbit the site.”

“Pads, Valkyrie. How’s Hotpants?”

“She’s stable, Val. Don’t worryI’m on it!” Hotpants had been hit during our assault on the Civic Center. Pads, Valkyrie’s medic, was watching over her downstairs.

“If she dies, your Orman lawyer dies also, Greenie!” Valkyrie snarled to the governor.

“They’re here,” Priestess reported. “One aircar, approaching very slowly down Civic Avenue.”

“All right, watch them but no firing. Psycho, escort them in.”

“Tenners. I’ll try to restrain myself.”

“Don’t hurt him, Psycho. We’ve got some special plans for this sub.”

“I’ll bet.”

The System had made a bad mistake on Calgoran 2. Two ConFree citizens, sisters, had been visiting friends on the planet. Both were documented as ConFree nationals, which normally ensured the local officials would not harass them. Private travel between the System and ConFree was now possible, but not recommended by ConFree. Nevertheless, if someone wanted to go, they could.

They should have stayed home. ConFree citizens don’t know about crime, and tend not to believe it even when they’re warned. The two sisters were drugged, abducted from their hotel cube, and then raped and murdered. All their belongings had shown up on the black market. The bodies were discovered, and revealed they had been tortured as well. Torture was the sport of choice for Calgoran 2’s criminal class.

The murderer, a career criminal, was tracked down, arrested, and confessed. He was promptly set freebecause of a legal technicality. It was the usual result under Systie laws. He then started marketing a recording of the week-long rape and torture session of the two sisters, which he had meticulously documented. It was a big seller, and he was kept busy producing extra copies.

ConFree sent a Ministry of Interstellar Relations team to Calgoran 2, to investigate the crime and demand custody of the killer. They were sent away, with the explanation that the case had already been resolved in court. They brought a copy of the sub’s documentary with them when they returned. It certainly sealed his doom. That’s when the Legion was called in.

“One subhuman, as ordered.” Psycho said. “It’s him. We checked the genetics.” The sub was escorted in by two very nervous Systie cops, disarmed, wearing police A-vests and semi comtops. The sub had his wrists manacled together in front. He was tall and lanky, a great head of oily, matted shoulder-length hair, an ugly, scarred and pock-marked face, dark brown skin seemingly covered with a thin layer of slime, a scraggly beard. He looked puzzled and

uneasy.

Psycho kicked his feet out from under him and the sub fell face first onto the dirty carpet.

“Thank you, gentlemen,” Dragon said to the policemen. “You may leave now. Psycho, see they get their weapons backoutside.”

“Tenners.”

Valkyrie reached down and grasped the sub by his glistening hair, pulling him to his knees, looking into his savage face.

“Would you like to try raping me?” she asked pleasantly.

“I’d love it, bitch,” the sub leered, revealing misshapen teeth. “I’d make you beg for mercy!” He apparently had no idea with whom he was dealing. Valkyrie raised the butt of her E and smashed his face, shattering the nose, cheeks and teeth with one blow, transforming the face instantly into a bloody, oozing pulp.

The sub croaked once and fell onto his back, spraying blood and teeth all over the governor’s carpet.

“Did anyone record that?” Valkyrie asked.

“That’s a ten, Val,” Tourist said.

“Good. The ConFree terrorism and public relations boys are going to make a feature-length documentary on this sub’s arrest and punishment, and release it right here on Calgoran 2. They expect it to out-sell the rape-torture story.”

“Criminal!” the Orman squeaked from the floor. “You’re torturing an innocent! That’s clearly illegal! It was found innocent! You’re all criminals!”

“It’s all right,” I responded calmly. “A recent Calgoran court decision concluded that it was all right for criminals to torture innocents. So don’t get so upset.”

“A lot of your troopers have died because of this subhuman,” Dragon said to the governor. “Next time ConFree asks for custody of a criminal, advise the System to comply. We’ll be going now. Thanks for your assistance, sir.”

“Does it really think the System is going to ignore this arrogant attack on its sovereignty?” the governor asked, flashing Dragon a haughty look. “Doesn’t it realize this could spark another galactic war?”

“I’m just a soldier, sir,” Dragon said, smiling. “I just follow orders. War or peace, it makes no difference to me.”

The sub rolled around on the carpet, moaning, stunned by the enormity of what was happening to him. He had undoubtedly never been struck by anyone representing the interests of his victims.

“We’re going to castrate you publicly, sub,” Valkyrie told him, planting one boot firmly on his throat. “We’re going to neuter you. Then we’re going to cut off your arms. And that’s just for starters! Any more smart comments?”

The sub could only croak, squirming on the carpet.

“You can’t mean it!” the Orman objected in shock. “He’s got rights! He’s a citizen of the United System Alliance! He’s just as good as you are!”

I raised my E and shot the Orman, blowing his head apart with a single round of x. The echo rattled around the room. The governor sat frozen behind his desk, stunned, splattered with the Orman’s blood.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Thinker,” Dragon chided me.

“Sorry

no. No, I’m not sorry.”

“Bring the sub. And don’t touch him, Thinker. Nobody hurts him. That comes later. Let’s go.”

I moved. I was almost frozen with rage

as good as you are! We were going to torture him to death all right, but there was one big difference. He deserved it, and his victims didn’t. Systie goodlibs could never make that distinction. Moral judgments were beyond them. The Legion didn’t give a damn for laws. We were concerned with justice.

We took the stairs. Tourist took charge of the sub. I didn’t want to be anywhere near him, for fear of what I might do to him.

“Three, did you hear the news about Aran?” Priestess’s voice echoed in my helmet.

“I’ve been kind of busy, Priestess. What news?”

“The fungusit’s shown up on Aran. They can’t stop it, it’s spreading like crazy. They’re considering evacuation of the whole planet.”

“The fungus!” Aran was a Legion world, on the fringes of the Crista Cluster. The Cluster! I wondered how the fungus had found its way there.

“Kiss, Pits. We’re ready for evac. Mission accomplished. Miss, cover us.”

“Tenners.”

“Ten.”

Aranthat was odd. How was the thing spreading?

***

“First, Augusta 6,” Doctor Doom said, “an Outvac ConFree world just seized by the O’s.” We were sprawled on the deck between the bunks and the lockers in Recon quarters, sipping dox and trying to relax after a harrowing mission to confirm an Omni presence on a supposedly deserted asteroid. We had stirred up a swarmer’s nest and retreated hurriedly under fire, mission successful.

“Next,” DD continued, “Aran, a Legion outpost in the Crista Cluster, sparsely inhabited. Then Veronica 2, a heavily populated ConFree planet, in the heart of the Crista Cluster. And this last one is a true tragedythe population is over 300 million, and the disease is spreading fast.” DD brushed back a strand of long black hair and squinted his Assidic eyes. “Meantime, we’re getting reports that two more Omni worlds have been infectedmajor O population centers. And they’re not having any better luck countering the spores than we are.” A burst of sonic lektra echoed off the cenite walls. Somebody was always playing the music too loud.

“What do we know so far about the fungus?” Priestess asked. She was in a sleeveless top and tight shorts. Her lovely legs were on display. She had just showered and appeared fresh and relaxed.

“It’s unique,” DD replied. “It’s a parasitic aerobic fungus that thrives in an oxygen environment but needs a host to reproduce. Although it can survive in several higher animal species, humans and O’s seem to offer it the most favorable environment. It starts life as a microscopic organism that floats through the air as a spore. If it lands on flesh, it burrows into the body immediately. If it’s ingested, so much the better. It rides the bloodstream throughout the body, establishing colonies everywhere it goes, just under the skin. Once it’s in the host, it extracts all it needs from the host, without harming it. Then something triggers it to bore outwards and appear on the exterior of the skin. Upon exposure to oxygen in the air, it begins reproducing wildly. The rate of reproduction at this stage is faster than anything our lifies have ever seen. At this stage it starts producing a mycotoxin that is fatal to the host. The fungus spreads rapidly over the exterior of the body, the host goes into shock and dies, and the fungus spreads further in a mad orgy of reproduction. Then it traps the gases from the decomposing host and eventually produces a gaseous eruption that fills the air with sporesthus continuing the life cycle.”

“That’s pretty scary,” I said. That damned sonic lektra was still blasting away.

“What’s scarier,” Priestess added, “is that there’s no cure. Once you’re infected, you die. The lifies are helpless. This is the scariest, nastiest, toughest creature they’ve ever seen. Once it’s on you or in you, you’re finished. There’s nothing the Legion can do.”

“Can somebody turn up the music,” a lone voice objected. “I can’t sleep when it’s that low.”

“That’s right,” DD said. “The incubation time is normally eight standard days. By the time it appears on your skin, you have only moments to live. On Veronica 2, they started calling it the White Death, and now even the lifies are using that term.”

“And nobody knows where it comes from?” I asked. The White Death, I thought. I’ve heard that before. Moontouch! A White Death, invincible, wasting mighty empires. Deadman! How could she know?

“No,” DD replied. “We don’t have a clue. The only way to kill it that we know of is to deprive it of oxygen. Unfortunately that kills the host as well.”

“And it only targets humans and O’s?”

“Primarily. It’s almost as if it was designed to do so.”

“So these things live forever?”

“No, the organism has a natural life cycle of only sixteen hours without a host. If it can’t find a host by that time, it can’t reproduce, and it dies.”

“So the solution is to prevent it from reaching a host.” A burst of laughter erupted from several bunks over.

“Easier said than done. Once it gets started, there are trillions of microscopic spores released into the air. Breathe it and you die. Let it land on your skin and you die.”

“Surely our lifies will come up with a vaccineor some way to kill it.”

“It’s currently ConFree’s most important research project. They’re throwing billions at this problem. No result so far.”

“Have any System worlds been hit yet?”

“Not yet. But it may be only a matter of time.”

“Well, if the stuff can’t survive in the vac, and the life cycle is only

how long did you say

sixteen hours? How is it leaping from planet to planet?”

“Good question. We don’t know.”

“What are they going to do about Veronica 2?”

“Don’t know that either. Nobody’s ever evaced a planet of 300 million before.”

“If I was on Veronica 2,” Priestess said dreamily, “I’d be planning an off-world vacation about now.”

“The same thought occurred to all 200 million inhabitants of Veronica 2, at about the same time. It’s caused some problems for the transportation folks.”

“Hey, DD, alert!” Ricochet, one of Valkyrie’s amazons, was leaning out of Mams’ squad bay. “Mams is having a wet top contest and Scrapper wants you to check her out!”

“It’s a trick, DD!” Sweats said. “They just want to humiliate you again! Ignore the bitch!”

“He’s busy!” Trigger shouted back. “He’s cutting his toenails.”

“Don’t you go, DD! Maintain the honor of the squad!” Flash demanded.

“Scrapper said she’ll let you peel off her top if you do it ree-al slow!” Ricochet added.

“It’s a sleazy trick!” Trigger said. “Remember what happened last time!”

“He’s weakening!” Tourist exclaimed. DD was getting up from the floor.

“No balls!’ Psycho said. “She’s teasing you, dummy! Don’t fall for it!”

“I’m just going to the head,” Doctor Doom said.

“Oh right! We believe you!”

“No squad solidarity! You deserve whatever grief they give you!”

“Don’t expect us to bail you out!”

“Hey, Pits!” It was Ragdoll, peering out of Mams’ squad bay. “You subs are all invited. We want some male input on who’s going to be Miss Mams for this month.”

“All right! Outta my way!”

“Stand back! I am the expert on this subject!” People dropped out of their bunks wildly, crashing down to the deck.

“Do you think they mean it?”

“Who cares? What’s to lose?”

“Outta the way, DD!”

“Don’t you dare get up!” Priestess threatened me.

“But don’t you want to see the wet top contest?”

“No! I want to be alone with you.”

“Oh. Hmm. Wellall right. I meanI didn’t want to go anyway.”

“How often do we get a chance to be alone?”

“Ahyes. I see what you mean.”

“They’re gone. And I’m still fully clothed. Can you explain that?”

“Uhh

because I haven’t taken your clothes off yet?”

“That’s it!” She stood up abruptly and began pulling her top over her head. Her lovely breasts popped out, bobbing back and forth in a tantalizing dance. The scars from her earlier xmax wounds were barely visible.

“Do I have to do it all myself?” she asked, dropping the top to the deck.

“Let me help,” I said, fumbling with the catches on her shorts. She was so slender, so lovelyand those legsDeadman! My hands trembled.

“But

what if

somebody comes back?” I whispered, glancing furtively at the entrance to Mams’ squad bay while sliding Priestess’s shorts down her long silken legs.

“They’ll have to find somebody else! I’m not sharing you this time!”

***

“This is truly a historical moment,” Snow Leopard said. “It may even prove to be a turning point in historyone of those moments that define the future.” Dragon and Psycho and Priestess and I were in Snow Leopard’s personal cube, watching a large dscreen on the bulkhead. Snow Leopard was captivated by the flickering colored images up on the screen. His pink eyes were alive, and a loose strand of white-blond hair hung ignored over his forehead. We sipped dox, at One’s invitation, to watch the latest dispatch from Starcom.

“That’s the O delegate. We don’t know his designation, of course, but he’s obviously the main man.” The screen showed a large, bare room, with a single, plain round table set in the center. Half of the room was full of Legion troopers, A & Aarmored and armed, ready for anything. The other half was full of Omnis, also fully armored and armed, their force fields merging, glittering violet, a poisonous aurora crackling and swirling around the O’s, lighting up the room. One of the O’s stood forth from the others. He held something in his hands, a little metal container. He gingerly placed it on the table, and carefully stepped back. One of the Legion troopers then stepped forward and placed a similar device upon the table. The two looked at each other for a moment, then each picked up the other’s device.

“That’s the first time I know of that O’s and ConFree reps have met in a non-adversarial situation for an exchange of knowledge,” Snow Leopard said. “Normally we exchange bullets. There’s no telling what this could lead to.”

“So what did they tell us?” Dragon asked.

“Starcom says they provided a lot of scientific data on the White Death. It’s very, very difficult to exchange information with the O’s because we still can’t comprehend their written languageif it is a language. But genetic diagrams are perfectly clear. And the O’s went to a lot of trouble to illustrate what they wanted to tell us. It was almost like they were drawing pictures for retards like us who can’t even communicate with our minds. The fungus that’s attacked their worlds is genetically the same as ours. It originated from the same ancestor. They evidently aren’t having any better luck at countering it than we are. Take a look.” The view flashed to a genetic chart of the fungus. It didn’t mean anything to me.

“Interesting,” I said. “Did they tell us anything new?”

“Yes. They did. Enough to keep the lifiesand historiansbusy for quite awhile. They told us some fascinating stuff. It seems this isn’t the first time this stuff has showed up.”

“Really.”

“Really. If our interpretation of the O information is correct, it made one previous appearance, over a hundred thousand stellar years ago, in the Sagitta Spiral, out in the Nulls. Nobody has ever been out that far, from our civilization, but according to the O’s there were a lot of inhabited worlds out there in those days. The O’s had made a home there. It looks like they settled a series of planets in that sector. There were humans out there too, it seemsand this is evidence that the original wave of migration from the Wanderers reached a lot further than anyone ever suspected.”

“Damn! That’s amazing!”

“It sure is. It seems there wasn’t much conflict between humans and O’s in those days. Maybe we can learn something from that. Anyway, the White Death came, out of nowhere. It devastated those worlds, human and O.”

“It couldn’t be countered?” Dragon asked.

“No. Humans and O’s died by the millions. It appears the O’s evaced their worlds, and left the whole sector behind. It was inherited by something called the Mind.”

“The Mind?”

“Yes. If we are interpreting the O’s data correctly, it seems the fungus is intelligent. Once all opposition is eliminated, the fungus metamorphoses, grows together and begins expanding, eventually forming a world-wide forest of fungusbut it’s really one great individual.”

“But I thought they needed human or O hosts to reproduce!” Priestess objected.

“They do. At least at first. But then, it seems, they change. The O’s have given us before and after genetic charts of the fungus, from the original infection. It seems neither is completely identical with the current species that’s attacking us both.”

“They’re not identical?”

“They’re not from the same ancestor. It looks like this latest fungus is not going to transform itself,” Snow Leopard said.

“Are you sure? No smart fungus for us to shoot?” Psycho asked.

“We’re really not certain. The O’s told us that you can’t fight the Mind. Their ancestors tried. No matter how much of it you burn or poison, the rest keeps growing. And it can produce those nasty little people-eating spores, apparently at will. The O’s finally abandoned their worlds there, and came looking for someplace a bit more friendly.”

“And that’s where they met the Legion.”

“Over a hundred thousand years lateryeah.”

“How about the human settlements out there?”

“Wiped out of history. No further trace. The O’s information indicates the White Death planets are probably still out there, rotting in the grip of the Mind. As far as the O’s know, the Mind is still alive. Apparently all it wants is to be left alone.”

“Sounds kind of pushy, for a plant,” Psycho said. “How did it get from world to world?”

“The O’s believe humans and O’s carried the infection from world to world before they even knew there was a problem. The same thing could be happening with us.”

“That’s a scary thought.”

Snow Leopard switched off the dscreen. “One other thing,” he said. “As the O’s pulled out of the area they left behind one human planeta place the O’s called Chuditin the path of the White Death. It was a bit out of the mainstream and had not yet been infected when the O’s left. Well, when an O recon team visited the area about ten years later, they reported that the plague had appeared on Chudit, but then

faded away.”

“Faded away?”

“Yesthe human population was fine, and the fungus was gone.”

“That’s incredibly important! What else?”

“Nothing elseregrettably. That’s all there is. There is absolutely no further information about what happened. The O’s don’t even know Chudit’s location now. Don’t forget, this was over a hundred thousand stellar years ago.”

“They don’t even know where it is?”

“No. The area of Sagitta in question is full of possible candidates, but the O’s can’t find it on the charts. They’ve even lost some of their own former worlds out that way.”

“I wonder if they’re looking.”

“I’ll bet they are.”

“We’ve never been out that far?”

“Not yet.”

“But we’re goingaren’t we?”

“What do you think?”

I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair. Priestess’s fingers locked around my hand. The Legion would be planning the expedition, even now. I had been in the Legion long enough to know exactly how we reacted to crises. Knowledge, a hundred thousand years old, to counter the White Death. A part of the galaxy so remote it hadn’t even been mapped. Faint tracks, in the dust of time. A whisper, from the past. A slim, almost impossible chance we might find something. But if we did

incalculable benefits. Hundreds of millions would live, who would otherwise die. Innocents, calling out to the Legion, even now. I could hear the music of the stars, in my head. My skin was tingling. Challenging the Gods of space and time, for the unborn, for the futurethis was what the Legion did. This was what we did.

Chapter 5

Deadman’s Dogs

“This is wonderful!” Priestess said, strolling with me along the corridors of Atom’s Road. “I’d forgotten how luxurious Atom was

so much space! Our own cubes! Our own toilets! This is the way to live!” The Spawn was back with momma, and the techs were swarming over her, refurbishing and restocking her for whatever faced her in the future. Her inhabitants had been allowed to sample Atom’s wonders.

“It beats a cruiser,” I said. We were both dressed in our blacks, wandering like tourists through our mother ship. She was an old friend. She had taken us to Andrion 2 on our first Legion action. I sure had a warm spot in my heart for Atom’s Road, but she brought back some sad memories as well. At every familiar spot I could see the faces of those young troopers who had not made it to the presentCool Hand, Merlin, Warhound, Ironmanmy blood brothers. Their faces were right there on my knuckles, looking out at a world they had never seen.

“This is Ops,” Priestess said. The door hissed open to reveal an armored airlock manned by a young female clerk behind an info desk and a young male trooper in a comtop and litesuit, standing to one side with an E strapped to his A-vest.

“We have an appointment with Captain Antara Tarantos-Hanna of Galactic Information,” I said to the girl. “Is this the right place?”

“ID’s please.” She recorded our ID’s and the trooper escorted us down a staircase to a second blast-proof fortress, leaving us facing another two gatekeepers behind a narrow counter under a wall of glowing dscreens. A sign on the wall proclaimed:

OUTVAC SECTOR COMMAND

GALACTIC INFORMATION

“Sign these, please.” A slender, sensual blonde honey in Legion black slid two documents over to us. I glanced through the text. It basically promised eternal persecution and a horrible, lingering death if we revealed to anyone any of the information that was about to be disclosed to us. I signed confidently. Death didn’t scare me any more. Priestess signed with a flourish, smiled at the blonde, and linked an arm with minethe blonde had been running her eyes over my body. She turned away with a wry look, and an armed Info trooper escorted us through another blast door and along a narrow corridor lined with sealed doors. Near the end of the corridor, he hit one of the larger doors and it slid open and he disappeared as we entered. Tara rose from behind a large conference desk under walls covered with dscreens.

“Wester! Priestess! Come on in! How are you?” She looked terrific, beaming with life, gleaming auburn hair cut short, dark tanned skin, flashing eyes, pearly white teeth, clad in legion black, silver insignia on her collar.

“Hi, Tara! You are definitely looking good!” I said.

“Hello, Tara. It’s wonderful to see you!” Priestess had always been just a teensy bit jealous of Tara, but she had eventually accepted the truth about our long-term but depressingly platonic relationship.

“Pleasehave a seatrelax.” We settled down at the conference desk and she took a chair opposite us. “Did you have a good trip?”

“Sure,” I said, looking around the cube. “Nice office, Tara. I see you’ve got your old rank back. Don’t you ever get tired of this nonsense? You once told me you wanted a quiet life. You said you were going to get out of the Legion. Whatever happened to that?”

Tara smiled in delight, a flash of white. “Look who’s talking! Isn’t this the fellow who finally found happiness on Andrion 2?”

“The very same,” Priestess said.

“But Tarawhat about Willard? You said you were going to raise him up rightand make sure he avoids the Legion. How’s he doing?”

“He’s doing fine, Wester. And he still claims he’s bound for the Legion. How’s your boy?”

“He’s with his mother. He’s finethey’re both fine. I don’t get it, Tara. They sentence you to hard labor, then give you your old rank back. It’s like working in an insane asylum.”

“The Legion works with what it has. They recognize I have certain

talents. Before his forced retirement, Pointman made arrangements for me to continue with Galactic Information. We all owe him, Westeryou, too.”

“YesI know. Well, what’s your latest project? Why have you called Priestess and me here? Let’s not postpone the agony. Go ahead and tell us.”

“So impatient!” Tara smiled again, dazzling me. “Slow down, Wester. All in good time.” She stood up. “So tell me. How do I look?” She walked out from behind the desk and struck a pose, like a model on a catwalk. It was so unlike her I fumbled for words.

“Well

uh

you look great, Tara. A lot better than when we last saw you. I meana whole lot better!”

“Yes,” Priestess added. “You’ve gained some weight back. You’re truly beautiful. Thinker would say that if I wasn’t here.”

“Thanks, Priestess. Do you see anything

different?”

I looked Tara over carefully. She was slim and elegant, absolutely lovely. “You cut your hair,” I said.

“Besides that.”

“Your skin,” Priestess said. “Looks like you’re using some kind of lotion.”

“Women are always more observant than men,” Tara said. “Very good. Anything else?” She stood there, smiling at us.

“You’re more concerned about your appearance than you used to be,” I said. “Come on Tara, what is this?”

She laughed and resumed her seat. “All right. I’ll show you. Wester, you’re a typical male. You’re probably very confident you could beat me in a fist fight, aren’t you?”

I looked at her and laughed. “What?”

“You probably think you’re physically stronger than meright, Wester?”

“Right,” I said. “All right, I’ll play. Yes, Tara, I think I am physically stronger than you.”

Tara smiled at Priestess, and put an elbow on the desk.

“I’ll arm-wrestle you, Wester. Come on.”

I looked over at Priestess. She was completely mystified.

“Come on, Wester. You’re not scared, are you? Scared I’ll humiliate you in front of your girl?”

“Tarawhat are you doing?”

“Chicken! Cluck-cluck-cluck

come on, Wester!”

I put my elbow on the table and we locked hands. Her arm was so slim, so delicate, I was worried about hurting her.

“Look Tara, I don’t

“

“Hush, Wester. Now listen, I want you to try your best to win. I promise, I’m stronger than I look. Just pin my arm to the desk and I promise I’ll shut down. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, I would.”

“Priestess, say one, two, three. We go on the count of three. Rememberyour best, Wester!”

Priestess began the count. “One

two

three!” Tara smashed my arm to the desk with such violence that I fell out of my chair and bounced off the floor. Priestess shrieked and went after me. I pushed her away, stunned and angry. My arm was aching.

“Very funny!” I snarled, regaining my seat shakily. “You been topping off on mags or what?”

Tara was on her feet, pale and concerned. “Are you all right, Wester?”

“I’m fine! Let’s try that one more time!” I placed my aching elbow on the desk again. I hoped the arm was not broken; it sure felt like it was.

“No more, Westeronce is enough!” She remained standing.

“You feel better now?” I asked, somewhat bitterly. She avoided my eyes.

“Just one more thing, Wester, and you’ll understand.” She opened a drawer in the desk and took out a large, black knife and dropped it noisily onto the desk. It was a standard issue Legion cold knife, a massive, brutally utilitarian black cenite blade, razor sharp, perfectly balanced, and virtually indestructible.

“Pick it up, Wester.”

I complied, using my left hand.

“What is it, Wester?”

“It’s a Legion cold knife, Mark 1. As you well know.”

“Priestess?”

Priestess took it from me, and examined it. “That’s what it is, all right.”

Tara held out a hand, and Priestess passed the weapon back to her, hilt first. I watched Tara angrily. “What now, Tara,” I asked. “Are you going to stab me with that thing?” She’s finally gone over the edge, I thought. It’s the workit’d drive anyone nuts. We’ll have to call the medics. She’ll finally get that long rest, in a padded cellwhere we all belong!

“Sharp, isn’t it?” She turned the blade over in her hands, looking at it. Little warnings were going off in the back of my mind. Off the edge! I could see Priestess tensing up as well.

“This blade would go right through my body,” Tara said dreamily. She was still standing on the other side of the conference desk, now turning the blade toward her chest. I’ll leap right over the desk, I decided, and tackle her. I could tell Priestess was going to do the same.

Just as I vaulted over the desk Tara slammed the black knife right into her chest with a little gasp, and disappeared with a shattering bang. I landed right where she had been, clawing at the air. Priestess fell onto me, screaming, thrashing her arms.

“What the hell!” I shouted from the floor, struggling to untangle my limbs from Priestess’s. The knife lay on the floor where it had fallen. Tara was gonetotally gone! There was no bloodno bodynothing! Only the echo of that awful bang.

“Where is she?” Priestess shouted. “Tara! Tara!” Priestess held the knife, stricken. “Where did she go?” We were both on our feet, frantic, looking around the office wildly.

A door slid open and Tara stood there, pale and shaken. “I’m sorry!” she stammered. “I’m all right. I’m sorry, gang!”

“Tara!” I ran over to her and seized her, running my hands over her body. She was fine. No wound, not even a rip in her tunicwhat the hell! I had seen her plunge that knife right into her chest!

“Are you all right, Tara? Are you hurt?” Priestess patted her down frantically, looking for the wound. Tara stood there compliantly, looking somewhat shocked.

“I’m all right. I’m sorry. I’m such a fool.”

“Thank God you’re all right!” I embraced her, thankful only for the moment. My heart was still pounding. Priestess held her tightly. When I finally broke away, Tara was blinking away the tears. That wasn’t like her at all. I tried to calm down.

“I

I didn’t think it would be this way,” she stammered.

“We both love you, Tara. We’re very pleased you’re not hurt. Now

could you please tell us what the hell this is all about?”

“I was being stupid

and arrogant,” she said. “I wanted to demonstrate something to you. I thought it would be more effective if I surprised you. I’m sorry.”

“Just a frac,” I said. “Do you meanyou weren’t in any danger, back there?”

“Nonot at all.” She avoided my eyes.

“So you meanthis was just some kind of

game.”

“Not exactly, Wester.”

“A game. You were playing with us. People who love you. And we were only worried about you!”

“I’m sorry, Wester.”

“You bitch.”

“Thinker

” Priestess interrupted.

“You absolute bitch! Well, now you know just how much we care for you! Both of us! Are you happy?”

“WesterPriestess. Please accept my profound apologies. I can see I was a fool. What I did was wrong. I had no idea it would be so

traumatic. I

I’m sorry.”

I did not reply. Priestess still had her arms around Tara. She was trembling.

***

“Please

have some dox,” Tara said, popping the tops on our cups. “We’ve got to calm down. I’ve got something wonderful to show you. And this time I promise there’ll be no surprises!” We were in her personal cube, sitting at a good-sized wall table by a snackmod. It was quite a cubethe largest I’d ever seen on a starship, equipped with dscreens and comgear and starlinks that made the place look more like an office than a bedroom. Priestess and I sipped at the dox, silent, watching her.

“I’ll cut it short. That wasn’t me back there. It was a holo.”

I looked at her without comment.

“Admit it, Wester. You’ve never seen a holo that good. You never even suspected, right?”

“Not until you disappeared.”

“That’s what I wanted to show youour new holos! They can do anything we can. They can do it better! They’re undetectable! You couldn’t tell the difference, could you, Wester? Priestess noticed the skinwe’re working on that. But that didn’t give it away, did it, Priestess?”

“No. I had no idea.”

“I was in the ES, the whole time,” Tara said. “It’s scary, Wester! It’s just like being there! When I turned that knife on myself, I was almost too scared to do it, it was so realisticfor me, too! When something penetrates the image, it shatters, and the air rushes into the vac. It takes a lot to penetrate the image, Wester! X, or shrapnel, or a battle blade. The holo is very tough! As I demonstrated when we arm-wrestled. There’s no way anyone can fight one of these babiesso don’t feel bad. You couldn’t possibly have won. We took vac technology and improved on it. The Star taught us how, Wester. It came from Gildron, and the Star, before they both

left us. You remember those vac-active holos the O’s used against us on the Star of Dindabai?”

“I’m not likely to forget them.” The O’s had seized our ship and captured us all, using holos that focused vac to affect material objects. ConFree and the System could project holos, but those holos were just light images. They could not affect their surroundings. And holosboth human and Owere not likely to be mistaken for living creatures.

“We used that as a starting point,” Tara continued. “We reversed the vac, we used its power to compress the air, to the point where we had terrific forcea force field. We call it the Holo-X project. It’s so realistic it’s scary!”

“That’s a ten.”

“Come on Wester, Priestesslet me show you! It’s wonderful!”

***

“All right, Wester. We’re ready. Priestess and I are going to go back to my office, but your holo is going to get there before we do. Now remember. This is very realistic. Just stay calm.”

“Sure,” I said. I stood in the center of a featureless E-sim room, a circular white dome overhead, a seamless floor underneath. The dome and floor were covered with tiny vac and image projectors. We had used E-sim in the Star of Dindabai to prep for the attack on the Mound. The technology was incredibly realistic. However, Tara claimed this latest system was much, much better. We’d soon see. Tara and Priestess stood in the open doorway to the ES room. A tech was monitoring the system in the control room.

“All right, Wester, we’re off. No surprises, I promise!” The door slid shut, leaving me alone in the room. My surroundings blurred and then snapped into sharp focus. I froze, startled. I was standing by Tara’s conference desk in her office. It was so realistic it was astounding. I took a step and brought my hand down on the desktop. I could feel the smooth surface with my fingertips. The cold knife was there on the desk, right where Priestess had dropped it. I picked it up gingerly. My fingers caressed the tiny crosshatches on the hilt. I ran a thumb over the saw teeth on the false edge. It was exactly like holding a real cold knife. I put it down carefully.

I looked down at my hands, my armsit was me. I was there. I breathed. But I knew it was not this room’s air I was breathing.

The door to Tara’s office cube slid open. Tara and Priestess stood there, watching me in fascination.

“Wellhow do I look?” I asked.

“It’s amazing,” Priestess said. “It’s you!” She reached out a hand. I pressed my palm against hers. Flesh to fleshI could feel her warmth! Was I imagining it?

“Good lord!” I said. “This is incredible!”

“Feels like you’re right here, doesn’t it, Wester?” Tara asked proudly.

“Yeah. Wanna arm wrestle?”

“No thanks. Now remember, Westeryou’re not here! You’re standing in an E-sim room, and our technology is projecting everything you see in this cube into the ES room, using the same vac techniques we use to produce your holo. Meantime, we see your holo in here. The closer you get to something, the more realistic its image becomes to you. But as for your holo image, here, it’s close to perfect, at all times.”

I gently pulled Priestess to me, and touched her lips with my tongue. Wetit was wet! I cupped her head in my hands and gave her a deep, probing kiss, and it was hot and wet. We stood there, swaying, as the room slowly spun around us.

“Gang

if I could interrupt? Does the realism suit your expectations?”

“This is terrific, Tara! Could you leave the room for a little while?”

“Sorry

you’re getting a little ahead of us. But you agree, it’s realistic?”

“Come here.” I reached out for Tara. I ran my fingers over her face, through her hair, down her arms. She giggled and shuddered, helpless in my grasp.

“Amazing!” I exclaimed.

“No need for the taste test with Tara,” Priestess said, a trifle uneasily. “I can vouch it works fine!”

I looked around the room. It was hard to believe I wasn’t there. Tara had really done it this time!

***

“You asked earlier why I had asked you to come,” Tara said. We were at the observation deck, breathing in the dark and the silence, leaning on the railing, looking out at the starsbillions of glorious jewels burning in a hushed black velvet night, an infinite night of glowing nebulae, a cold silky road in the vac. It was a silent, stirring symphony, a magnificent panorama, a vision to die for, crawling slowly over my skin. I knew it was Atom’s Road, and we were only atoms, plunging into the void.

“Wester?”

“Ohsorry.” The viewport was so realistic it was scary. It looked as if there was a hole in Atom’s skin; it looked totally transparent. There were only the three of us on the deck. I knew why we were there. She wanted something from meand the stars were going to help her. She knew me too well.

“What do you think of my holos?”

“They’re very good, Tara.”

“They’re better than that, Wester. They’re perfect!”

“Once the price drops, I’m sure every family in the galaxy will want one.”

“Wester. The Legion didn’t come up with this technology so you can kiss somebody long-distance. This is the ultimate weapon.”

“Really.”

“Really! Don’t you see it? We can project these holos anywhere. We can set up the holo projectors on our cruisers, far overhead of the battlefield. We project the holos downside and airdrop weapons to them, and you’ll have an indestructible army. Nobody dies! Your whole squad can move around in the E-sim rooms, safe and sound, recover the airdropped weapons downside and blast away at the enemy. And if you’re hit, your holo disappears. Then we re-set your coordinates, project you back there, and you’re picking up your weapon again! They can’t counter you! Remember how the O holos kicked our butts on the Star of Dindabai? All they had was vac! We’ll have everythingx, tacstars, lasers, canisters, chainlinkseverything! An army of Legion soldiers that can’t be killed, carrying every known weaponindestructible! Shoot them, and they reappear! Meantime, the enemy is dying! It’s the future, Wester! It’s the future of the Legion, the future of warfare. Remember, after O-Rock, I vowed we’d counter the O’s holos? Well, I’ve done it!” She was positively glowing.

“Your vision of the future

” I paused, choosing my words carefully, “

has always been kind of scary, Tara. If you had dedicated your life to healing the sick, or bringing sight to the blind, or something like that, I think you would have accomplished

miracles. But you seem to be focused exclusively on coming up with more efficient methods of slaughtering your fellow man.”

“Don’t you preach at me, Wester! How many people have you killed? And how many of your comrades have died in your arms? You’re not listening to me! There’ll be no more casualties, Wester! At least not on our side. No more wounded, no more dead! We won’t need medics any morePriestess can retire! Now tell me about saving lives, Wester. How many lives have I just saved?”

I looked out at the stars. Nothing was going to stop her, I knewnothing.

“It’s the ultimate weapon, Wester.” She was almost whispering it to me. Priestess was listening in horror, but Tara was ignoring her. “An invincible armysoldiers of the Legion: true immortals! Indestructible! The System is finished, Wester. The O’s are finished. ConFree will triumph. Slavery will be banished from the Galaxy. A rebirth of freedom. Everything we’ve ever dreamed of, everything we’ve been fighting for, all these years. And I did it! The Legion will be triumphant, Westervictory, at last. Justice, at last. My life’s work! The galaxy in our

armored

fists!” She held up a fist and shook it, staring wildly out into space. “Justice, Wester. They’re all going to die. And we’re going to see it!”

I sighed. It was pointless to argue with her. “All right, Tara. Let’s get to the point. Why are you telling us all this? “

She turned to me abruptly, and flashed me a dazzling smile. “It’s a brand-new weapons system. It hasn’t been field-tested yet. Not a real test, in combat. The highest levels of Starcom are very interested in the success of this system. I’ve chosen the best unit I could find to test the concept. I’ve chosen 22nd Recon, squads Jox and Cross. That’s as close to Beta as I could get. You’re going to field-test our system, Wester!”

“I see. Well, we’ll do whatever we’re ordered to do, Tara. Butagainwhy are you telling me? Have you told Beta One, Snow Leopard, our Chief Ops, or Dragon, or Valkyrie, our squad leaders?”

“I want you to lead this effort, Wester. You’ll be Mission Commander.”

“No. I don’t want it.”

“Why do we always have to argue, Wester? LookI trust you more than anyone I know. You were magnificent on the Omni ship, on O-Rock, and in the Moundboth times! We would never have made it without you. I would have never made it without youI’ll admit it! You got me through the ship; you got me through O-Rock. And the Mound was all your idea. It was brilliant, it was insane, and it worked! You’re tough, and flexible, and you never give up! I want you, Wester, for this effort.”

“No. I won’t do it.”

“Westeryou refused the Star of Dindabai too, at first. But you went, later, and it’s good you did!”

“Tara. I approve of your idea. It’s terrific. I know it will work. But I’m not the man for this one. Two reasons. First, Snow Leopard and Dragon are both better than I am. Snow Leopard is a brilliant planner. He’s perfect for Mission Commander. And Dragon is the ultimate squad leader, the natural tac man. It’s his squad, Tara, not mine. He knows the squad. I don’t. The same for Valkyrie. Second reasonI don’t trust myself any more. I recently killed a man

because I was angry over something he said. He was tied up and helpless, Tara. And I shot him in the head.”

“I know. I read the report. It doesn’t matter, Wester.”

“It matters to me.”

“All right. Fine. Snow Leopard is Mission Commander, Dragon and Valkyrie are squad leaders. And you’ll be a Starcom observer.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’ll be a special representative of Galactic Information, functioning solely in an observer capacity, and reporting back to mewhenever you want.”

“I’m not going to counter orders given by One or Dragon or Valkyrie.”

“That’s fine, Wester. I just want your input. I just want to know you’re there, for me. And you’ll report your impressions to me. During the mission or afterwards. I’ll certainly want a full after-action report.”

“I stay with the squadas a regular trooper.”

“That’s fine! No problems, Wester.”

I turned to Priestess. “What do you think, Priestess? Am I missing anything?”

“It sounds reasonable to me.”

“All right, Tara. I’ll do it.” I held out my hand, and she struck it lightly with her fist.

“Death,” she said.

“Yeah,” I replied.

***

I stood in the gateway to Hell, clad in black armor, pointing my E into the smoking dark, my spotlight lighting up those awful, alien corridors. A grotesque, obscene pile of tangled, shattered Omni corpses lay scattered at my feet. We had blasted our way right into their base with tacstars, and slaughtered every O we found. They had thrown themselves at us, hitting us with everything they had. It was terrifying. My holo kept winking out, riddled with shrapnel, but Control just kept putting me back there, and I’d pick up my smoking E and go back to killing O’s. And now they were just alien body parts, sizzling on the ground, and I was standing there, shaking, sweating, terrified and horrified and ecstatic.

This world was truly cursed. As if the Omni attack and the Legion counterattack wasn’t enough, the White Death had also recently appeared here. There was now a growing variety of awful ways to die, on Camelora 7. We had been tracking down an entire elementary school that had been snapped up by the O’s. They were coming out nowall those we had been able to save from the O’s death camp. Psycho was hurrying them along. They blinked in the spotlight from my E. Women and childrena whole lot of them. They were still clothed, so they must have been recent arrivals.

“That way.” I pointed to the exit. A swirling mass of children crowded around the adult females. They were pale and silent.

“Any men?” someone asked.

“Negative.”

“All right, that’s it. No more humans registering inside. Let’s take out this mess.”

“Opstar charge is set.”

“Evac the site! Evac the civilians.”

“Pits on the way.”

“Pits, Mams, keep your heads down.”

We followed the women and children out the glowing hole we had punched through the massive cenite gates with our tacstars. A blue-black sky rolled overhead. Off to the south, titanic phospho clouds of poisonous antimat debris flashed and glittered. The earth shook and a deep thunder rumbled through the sky.

“Keep the civilians moving! Let’s go! The shuttle is on the way.”

We urged the civilians along over a smoky treeless plain we had blasted to ash. There were hundreds of kids. The O’s had scooped up whole schoolsand now we were taking them back, teachers and students both.

“Thinker, Dragon, cover us from there.”

“Tenners.” I stopped and turned, facing that great burning skyour sky, I knew. Kiss and Miss were wheeling and diving over any surviving O units. The pilots weren’t holos, like us. They were real, Redhawk and Claws. The Legion wasn’t yet ready to risk our Phantoms with holo pilots.

The whole sky was burning, swirling up to the cosmos, as brilliant as a sun. It was truly beautiful.

“Bless you!” It was one of the lady teachers, staggering past. “Thank you! May God protect you!”

“Legion! Legion!” Some of the children shouting it out, waving as they hurried past. “Thanks! We won’t forget you!”

“Thank you, Legion!”

“We love you, Legion!”

“We’re all going to join the Legion!”

I turned my head away. I didn’t need this. I could see Priestess, right in the path of the civilians, standing like a rock, E on her hip, on the lookout for O’s. One of the children had somehow plucked a flower from out of our holocaust, and presented it to Priestess.

A little blond boy fell almost at my feet, spilling a schoolbag full of papers into the dirt. He scrambled to collect them as they swirled around in a hot wind.

“What have you got there?” I asked.

“It’s my homework,” he said, looking up at me gravely. “Mr. Ash said I have to do my homework. But Mr. Ash isn’t here any more.”

I helped him collect the papers. As he left with the others he turned back to me. “I’m going to do my homework, like Mr. Ash said. And when I grow up, I’m going to join the Legion.”

I turned back to face that heavy sky, and another child broke away from the group and ran up to me and touched my armoronly thatand then ran back into line. It stretched as far as I could see, all the way to the pickup point. And as they marched on, the children were singing. Singing! I knew the tune. The words came to me faintly. It sounded eerie, coming from those children.

“I am a soldier of the Legion

I believe in Evil

The survival of the strong

And the death of the weak.

I am the Guardian.

I am the sword of light

In the dark of the night.

I will deliver us from Evil!”

Don’t tell me I wasn’t there. I was standing right there, in the face of that hot wind, just waiting for some O to show himself, watching those women and children heading for salvationcourtesy of the Legion. They were the future, and that was all we lived for. I was nothing, I was a hired gun, I just carried an E, but damn, it was for a good cause. It was for women and children and the future of the race. No, I wasn’t in some E-sim room. I was right there, with those holy civilians, on Camelora 7. And I felt so good my skin was crawling.

The shuttle glided over me, coming down to land, and I knew Kissand Little Miss Miss were watching over it, invisible angels.

“Wester, Tara, what does it look like?” I had a special comchannel to Tara. She was watching the operation closely.

“It looks terrific, Tara. Deadman, it’s beautiful. It’s just beautiful. You’re a genius!”

“What’s happening?”

“Your mission has been successful, Tara. We’ve rescued all those who were still alivethe women and children. They had already disposed of the adult males.”

“Bless you, Wester.”

“No, bless you, Tara. I’m sorry about what I said

earlier. You were rightas usual. All these people owe you their lives. We could never have done it without the holos. I was hit, three

no, four times.”

“You have to be strong, Wester, to triumph over evil. You have to be stronger than the evil!”

“YesI know.”

“Omni movement, as marked!” Sweety interrupted. “I have six O’s, advancingnote the zeros. Recommend airstrike.”

“I’m on it.” Little Miss Miss responded.

“Keep loading those civilians, guys,” Priestess said. “No O’s are getting past us.”

I stood there, indestructible, immortal, waiting for the O’s. I thought about when I had joined the Legion. It seemed like a million years ago. I had been a young fool, out for adventure, out to lose my past. And now I was a foot soldier for the Lord, a priest of violence, one of Deadman’s Dogs, standing between our civilization and everything that would destroy it.

The Omni base erupted, a blinding flash, and a glowing fireball rose up to the dark sky. Our opstar had gone off. It was a poisonous blossom, glittering gold, spraying tracersanother Legion star, for our enemies. And as I watched it swirling madly overhead, I thought that I had never seen anything so beautiful.

***

Close to an hour later, we were still there, the shuttle was still on the ground, and I could see on my zoom that the civilians were still massed around the shuttle.

“Dragon, Thinker. What’s the damned problem?”

“Stand by, Thinker.” Stand by! That’s all they’d been telling us. I looked back at the horizon. It was a glowing holocaust. Antimats were crackling and swirling, the very earth was shaking. The O’s were getting closer, and there were more of them.

“Prep to engage O’s.”

“Tenners!” I had a good position by a large boulder. Any O who came within range of my E was going to die.

“Valkyrie, Thinker. What’s the story on the shuttle? Why aren’t they loading the civilians?”

“Don’t know, Thinker,” Valkyrie responded. “One won’t tell us a thing. Just keep your scope on the O’s!”

“We can’t hold ‘em off forever! They should be loading those civilians!” I raised my E and looked through the scope to the shuttle. There was a lot of movement around the shipat last! They were moving the civilians away to one side, lining them up. It was hard to tell what was happening.

The shuttle lifted. A great dust storm and it was off, gliding gracefully away, over the civilians, up, gaining speed, turning in the sky, then darting away, heading for the vac.

I left my post, stumbling forward, staring at the shuttle as it grew smaller and smaller.

“Tara, Wester. What the hell is going on!”

“Wester

we have some problems.”

“Problems! Screw your problems! Why don’t you load those refugees! The O’s are almost on us! We’re only two squads!”

“Stand by, Wester.”

“Don’t tell me to stand by, God damn it! You tell me what the hell is going on!”

“We’re working on resolving the problem, Wester. Please return to your position, and hold off those O’s!”

One of the female teachers came running up to me, exhausted. “Make it come back!” she gasped. “Please! The children are frightened! They want to know why the ship left! Why did the ship leave? Please!” She sank to her knees, physically and emotionally exhausted.

“I’m trying to find out,” I said. “It’s coming back. We’ll get it back! Tara! Tara, God damn you to hell, you send that shuttle back right now, and load those civilians!”

“I’m sorry, Wester.”

“You’re sorry! Send the ship back, Tara. Are you crazy? Is the Legion crazy? Send it back!”

“We can’t do it, Wester.”

“Tara, if you don’t send that shuttle back here right now, I am going to hunt you down and strangle you to death with my bare hands. Do you hear me?”

“Wester. There’s nothing we can do. They’re all infected.”

“What?”

“The White Death, Wester. The civilians are all infected. All of them. Our med crew tested them all. It was a requirement, because the plague is here. Everyone we tested is infected. They’re all going to die, possibly in a matter of hours. A horrible death. And there’s nothing we can do.”

I was stunned and speechless.

“We can’t let them on the ship, Wester. They’d infect the shipand everyone on it. We’d carry the White Death everywhere we went. And it’s pointless. They’re all going to die, very soon.”

“Is the ship coming back?” the teacher asked me. A tacstar erupted not far away, spraying us with earth. The teacher screamed and fell to the ground.

“O’s are attacking,” Scrapper reported. “Looks like a major strike; is that ship coming back or what?”

“Stay down,” I told the teacher. I turned to face the O’s. I raised the stock of the E to my shoulder. They were going to dieall of them. The teachers, the kidsand there was nothing at all I could do about it.

“Tarathe O’s are coming. What do you want us to do?”

“Kill O’s, Wester. We’re taking steps to

resolve the situation. Kiss, Miss, evac the area. Return to the Spawn.”

“What?”

“Follow your ordersnow! Acknowledge!”

“Tenners.”

“Ten.”

The Phantoms were leaving. We were alone with the civiliansand the O’s. I was in shocktoo stunned to realize what was happening.

“Thinker!” It was Priestess. “Lookoverhead.” I looked up. A thin, glowing streak was entering the atmosphere. Coming straight down, right at us.

“Antimat!” Sweety warned us. “Antimat warhead, set to detonate on impact, fracs to impact twenty-two, twenty-one, twenty

recommend evac the area immediately!”

I staggered away from my position, the O’s forgotten, watching the antimat missile approach us.

“No,” I whispered. “NO!” I screamed. “TARA, NO!”

“

nine

eight

seven

six

“

“NO! TARA, FOR GOD’S SAKE

“

And it all ended in a mighty, blinding flash. I screamed, hysterical and supercharged with adrenalin. I crashed through the door of the ES room and they needed four troopers in A-suits to restrain me and pump a sedative into my system. I was crying, shrieking, moaningtotally gone. I remember looking into the faceplate of one of the troopers who was restraining memy armored fingers were twitching and I was trying to get my hands around his arm so I could break it. He looked scared. I sure don’t blame him.

Chapter 6

God’s Work

“I agree completely, Tara,” I said. “You took the correct course of action. There was nothing else that could be done.” Tara’s image glowed on the dscreen in Snow Leopard’s office. He sat nearby, watching me closely.

“Exposing more people pointlessly was not the solution,” she continued.

“You don’t have to convince me, Tara. I agree.”

“The choice was threefold, Wester. Do we let them die of the diseasewhich is a horrible way to goor die of the disease as a captive of the O’swhich is even worseor do we deliver a quick, clean and painless alternative?”

“I understand.”

“It wasn’t easy, Wester, deciding to do it. But it was the right thing to do. The right thing to do is never easy. And we couldn’t very well tell them, could we, Wester? Excuse me, Miss, could you please tell the children they’re all going to die in five marks? I don’t think so.”

“No, of course not.”

“It’s a shame, Wester. It’s a tragedy. We came so close. Recon was wonderful. I can understand your reaction.”

I was silent.

“We did the right thing, Wester. And I can promise you, we’re going to beat the White Death. The Legion is putting all its resources into this problem.”

“Good. Well, thank you, Tara.” I cut the connection and sat there, in the quiet.

“That’s what I do nowadays, Three,” Snow Leopard said. “I participate in decisions like that one. I preferred leading a squad.”

“I preferred the old days too. Just carrying an E. It was simple.”

“Although the patient died, the Legion considers the Camelora 7 field test a total success for the Holo-X concept.”

“That’s nice.”

“More units are to be equipped with Holo-X. As soon as the Legion can do it. Elite units at first, then they’ll try it on a line outfit.””

“Wonderful.”

“It certainly is a wondrous concept. You’ve admitted that. We’ve made history again, Thinker.”

“I guess so. Do me a favor, One. If Tara calls back for me, tell her I’m busy, all right?”

“Sure. What shall I say you’re doing?”

“Tell her I’m

cutting my toenails. Yeah.”

***

“High society,” Priestess said. “Check out the Greenies.” We were in our blacks, in a fairly large crowd of troopers and distinguished guests, in a large hanger of the C.S. Armageddon. All of Recon had been ordered to attend, possibly to expose the visiting Systie dips to some real live Legion soldiers. I was not too happy about it. I had spent my short and violent career with the Legion fighting Systies, not attending receptions with them. However, we had been told it was important to make a favorable impression on the diplomats. Apparently our earlier raid on Calgoran 2 had not made a favorable impression. It had not led to war, but it certainly had not made a favorable impression. I guess it kept the Interstellar Relations people pretty busy.

“Let’s just stay here against the wall,” I said. “I have no desire to meet any Mocains.” There were several Mocains there, along with Ormans and Outworlders. The black-clad Legion crowd was sprinkled with the System’s colorful uniformsAlliance silver, USICOM blue, USDA gold, DefCorps khaki, Starfleet whites, and a few reds and greens from STRATCOM. I had long ago been forced to memorize the colors. The Systie Outworlders all had shaved heads to proclaim their allegiance to the System and their opposition to Outworlder solidarity. I hated Mocains and had only contempt for Outworlders who would betray their own race to serve alien masters. I knew the Mocains were human stock but I always thought of them as aliens. Maybe it was that good Legion conditioning.

“Look out, Thinkerone of them is coming this way,” Priestess said.

“Oh scut,” I hissed through clenched teeth, looking around for an escape route. A large Mocain in khaki was heading right for us, and the only way out was to fight my way through a tightly packed group of Fleetcom vacheads in an intense discussion about something importantsex, probably.

“Recon!” The Mocain warrior stopped directly in front of us, his hooded eyes gleaming excitedly at our silver insignia. “It’s both with Recon!” He was completely bald, like all Mocain males, and his skin was pale and faintly green. He had no eyebrows, but his forehead was covered with mysterious little tattoos. A dozen golden earrings dangled from his ears. His left chest was covered with campaign ribbons and two silver stars decorated each collar of his khaki uniform. A general! I snapped to attention, despite myself. So did Priestess.

“Sir!” I said, regretting it immediately. Well, he is a general, I thought, almost in panic.

“Congratulations on the Calgoran 2 raid,” he said. “That was brilliant! How did it get through our defenses?”

“Uhh

with great difficulty, sir!”

He laughed, delighted. “Goodgood! We’re General Stonehammer of DEFCOM. Thanks for inviting usan impressive ship! The Legion never ceases to amaze us. And its designation

?”

“Uh

sir! Thinker, sir!”

“Sir, Priestess, sir!

“Thinker and Priestess! Wonderful. Were we both on the Calgoran 2 raid?”

“Yes sir,” I said. “We both were.”

A little Orman dressed in USICOM blue bumped up against the general. “Recon troopers, sir,” he informed him.

“We’re way ahead of it, Shep. Say hello to Thinker and Priestess, veterans of Calgoran 2.” The little Orman’s eyes lit up. He had an intense expression, a hot beady gaze and lips that were locked tight. He appeared to be a short, tight, wiry little bundle of energy.

“Pleased,” the Orman intoned silkily. “How did it get past our planetary defenses on Calgoran 2?”

“They’re not talking, Shep,” the general smiled. “Go mingle. I’ll talk with Recon.” The Orman gave the general a poisonous look and departed, ignoring Priestess and me.

“Ormansthey’re annoying, but necessary,” the general explained. “They give us good advice, we must admit. We Mocains are by nature warriors, not diplomats. We’ve been fighting the Legion all our life, but have always felt a strange kinship for the Legion. Has it killed any DefCorps troopers?”

“Yes sir.”

“How many?”

“Too many, sir.”

“Yes

yes. And I have killed a great many Legion troopers. Brave men all. It seems such a pity. If we could only join forceswhat an army that would be! And what did it feel for those DefCorps troopers it killed?”

“Admiration, sir.”

“Admiration. And why was that?”

“They died facing me, sir. They were brave soldiers.”

“Yes. We see.” The Mocain general gazed off into space, seemingly lost in thought. “And what would it take for the Legion to join forces with the DefCorps?”

“Do away with slavery,” Priestess cut in sharply, “and dismantle your corrupt, totalitarian regime.”

The Mocain’s gaze snapped over to Priestess. Finally he nodded sadly. “We are all creatures of history,” he said, “trapped by the past.”

“Well wellLegion troopers.” A bald Outworlder female had drifted over to our group, clad in a form-fitting powder-blue USICOM uniform. She was quite attractive, even with no haira shapely body, long legs and large breasts. Her nipples were clearly visible against the cloth. “Have they killed any babies today?” she asked.

“Still spreading ill-will, dear?” the general asked. “We’d prefer it if it would hold its tongue for now. These are Recon troopersThinker and Priestess. They are brave soldiers. And they don’t want to hear its speech.”

“Too bad,” the girl replied, spilling part of a drink she held carelessly in one hand. “We don’t always get what we want. Tell us

Legion

doesn’t it feel dirty, serving as mad dog mercenaries for a genocidal, racist, totalitarian, cowardly criminal conspiracy to enslave the galaxy? How many children has it raped? Who does it pray to at nightSatan?” Drunken hatred burnt in her eyes.

Strange, I thought, gazing at her calmly. Ancient Earth’s religions are long gone, but Satan, angels and demons still survive, in our minds. And the cross, of course.

“Shut down, bitch,” Priestess said quietly, “or I’ll cut off your disgusting fake tits and leave you bleeding right here on the deck!” Priestess’s hand was grasping the hilt of her ceremonial cold knife. Her face was pale with rage.

“That’s enough, Stefers!” the general said. “Conrad, escort it back to our quarters.” The USICOM girl had staggered backwards in the face of Priestess’s verbal attack, seemingly stunned. Another khaki uniform appeared out of nowhere and guided her away.

“Our apologies,” the general said. “A little too much adult beverages, it seems.”

“I’m sorry,” Priestess said. “I lost my temper.”

“Quite all right,” the general said. “Perhaps our companion will moderate its behavior in the future. We’ve known it a long time and are quite fond of it. However it does sometimes tend to be overbearing. Ah, speaking of overbearing

” Tara appeared out of the crowd, heading confidently for the general, hitting him with her wide, pearly smile.

“General! Thinker, Priestess, how are you? Hope the General has not extracted any secrets from you yet?”

“Not yet,” the general replied. “They’re both quite good.”

Tara attached herself firmly to the general, latching on to one of his elbows and thrusting a breast carelessly into the crook of his arm. “Hope you survive the downfall of the System,” Tara said. “You’re one of the few Systies I can stomach. We’re going to exterminate all the bureaucrats and lawyers, but we’ll leave the soldiers alone after the fighting’s over. That’s a promise.”

“Is it that confident of victory, dear Tara?”

“We are going to annihilate your empire, Stone, from the pages of galactic history. And once it falls, it’s going to blow away in the wind, just like dust, and no one will miss it at allno one! Your slaves are going to face the future as free citizens of an expanded Confederation of Free Worldsif they want it. If they don’t, we don’t care. They can do as they want. But the System is coming down, like a house of cards. That’s certain.”

“There’s the little matter of the DefCorps standing between you and the System, dear.”

“Join us! Don’t serve the past any longer!”

“I serve my people.”

“The Mocains should abandon the System! It’s hopeless. Nobody wants to serve the System any more.”

“It’s our power base.”

“Get a new one! The Mocain Confederation

whatever

ditch those Ormans! Forget USICOM! The whole thing folds without Mocain resolve. Get out in front of history. Change it, before it changes you! We’ve always admired your people. Free the slaves, dissolve the System, get out, start something new!”

“It makes it sound so easy.”

“We’re coming, with fire and storm. We’re going to extinguish the System from history, forcibly. The System is evil, and we fight evil! That’s what we do. That’s all we do! Millions are going to diemaybe billions! How many dead will depend on how long you continue to resist us. We’re never going to stop! You can depend on that!”

“Uhh

nice talking with you, sir,” I said. Priestess and I made our escape. I don’t think they even noticed.

***

“That was fun,” I said to Priestess, as we regrouped around a punch bowl.

“I saw you gaping at her udders,” Priestess said sullenly, filling a cup from the autopour.

“Sorry.”

“You’re Thinker,” someone said, “of Recon Squad Jox, SRC, 22nd Legion.” The speaker was a young Legion male I had never before seen.

“Yes,” I admitted, “but I didn’t do it.”

He smiled, and stuck out a hand. “One-Six,” he said. “I’m with Galactic Information.” I struck his hand lightly. The mention of Galactic Information put me on guard instantly.

“You work for Tara,” I said.

“Yesbut I didn’t volunteer,” he replied. I couldn’t help smiling in return. “There’s someone who wants to meet you,” he said. “And I’ve been asked to take you there.”

“I just saw Tarashe’s over there.”

“It’s not Tarait’s

well. I’ll let him tell you. You have a few fracs?”

“I guess I could tear myself away.”

“I’ll find some way of amusing myself,” Priestess said. “You go ahead, Thinker. Just don’t sign anything on my behalf.”

“Right. Keep your knife sheathed.”

“We’ll do our best.”

***

“Have a seat.” He was a tall, bony young Outworlder with extra-long hair that hung down in front of his face. He had to keep brushing it back out of his eyes. He was looking at me intentlya pale, stricken face, icy cold blue eyes. This fellow was far over the edge, I could tell instantly. Definitely one of Tara’s employees. One-Six had delivered me here and disappeared. We were inside another secure area. I had signed my life away by then. It was a small, darkened room. The walls were covered with dscreens and mysterious instrumentation. I had no idea what it was.

“Tara told me you’d appreciate this,” he almost whispered. “I hope so. I hate people who

well, I dislike people with no imagination. I think this is marvelous! I’d stay here all day and night if I could. She’s a genius. She really is.” He shook his head. He looked as if he was about to collapse from sheer exhaustion.

“Well, I hope I don’t disappoint you,” I said. “Tara’s projects are usually

interesting. What has she done this time?” I settled into a softly yielding airchair, facing a large dscreen. He was right beside me in another chair, facing an identical screen. It was so dark it was hard to see. The screens were off. Only a few lights glowed on the console.

“Tara says it’s not herbut that’s crap,” he said. “It all flows from Tara. All of it.” He brushed back his hair again. He was probably not even conscious of doing it.

I was silent.

“When astronomers first started looking into the night sky,” he said, “they found they could take starlight and examine the spectrum and discover what materials the star was made of. I guess it seemed really amazing at the time. Photons, travelling through the vac for millions of yearstelling you the secrets of that far-off star.” He gazed blankly into the dark screen. “Yes

amazing. Well, we’ve carried it a little further.”

He reached out a spidery finger and touched a tab. Our screens lit up, and quickly came into focus. A green field, a grove of trees, a little silvery stream. We were looking down, from overhead. A group of boys and girls dressed in shorts and sleeveless shirts were running barefoot through the field kicking a leathery ball. The focus was perfect. The picture was perfectly soundless. We could see everything. It must have been late afternoon. The children cast long shadows.

“I’ve been watching them for hours,” he said, “It’s as if

I don’t want to miss any of it. They’re having a great time. Great kids.” He shook his head again.

“So what’s the score?” I asked.

“Don’t know,” he whispered. He was sitting there paralyzed, his long hair covering his face completely. Where the hell does she find them, I wondered.

The kids were taking a break, clowning around, chasing each other in circles. Some of them clustered around an older lady who was ladling a pink liquid into cups. She was also barefoot, in shorts. They all had brown skin and brown hair. The picture flickered, faded, then returned.

“It does that every once in awhile,” he said, “but it always comes back. Yes, it’s amazing, what we can do, now, with photons, and quantum effects. Starlight, falling on a planet, reflecting off into space. Nothing is lostnothing at all. Each world shines like a floodlight, and the light rolls into the vac, and it goes on forever, at the speed of light. A tiny speck of lightbut all the secrets of the planet are there, everything from the dawn of time is there, every single day, and all you have to do is show up at the right place to receive whatever interests you. It’s all there! History is not lost. It’s rolling through the vac, right now, everything that’s ever happened on every single world, galactic history, rolling through space forever. We can unlock that light now, we can manipulate it, we can break it down, we can zoom in on everything. All the secrets are right there. Every

single

world.”

“Where’s this?” I pointed to the screen.

“Don’t ask where. Ask when. Two thousand, two hundred eighteen light years ago, this image started its journey. A flickering spark of light from an obscure planet, lost in the galactic void, not even visible to the human eye. But it can’t hide from us. I can view the entire surface of this planet, on this particular sunny day. A fine day for a game of football! A fine day! Of course, the players are long deadlong forgotten. Except by me!”

The kids started playing again. I leaned forward, watching the game with renewed interest. I could even see their faces!

“Good Lord,” I whispered. My skin was crawling.

“You and I are the only witnessesin the entire galaxyto this football game,” he continued. “I consider it a great privilege. Those kids had to wait a long, long time for somebody to appreciate their game.”

I was silent.

“The observatory is not here,” he continued. “They’re just relaying the images to us. But I can control it all from here. It’s a starshipthe C.S. Cyclops. Even the name is secret. Don’t ever repeat it.”

“So

history is not lost,” I repeated. The full magnitude of this thing was beginning to dawn on me.

“It’s all out there. Everything that’s ever happened. Every lost empire, every doomed world, every tragic, brilliant, fatally flawed civilization, everything humanity has ever done on a planet’s surface. All our successes, all our failures, all of our genius and stupidity and atrocitiesall of it. Civilizations that have vanished in the sands of time, kingdoms that have disintegrated to dust, leaving not a single document, worlds that turned to slag when their star went novait’s all there. There’s so much we cannot possibly read it all, even if we build a hundred ships like the Cyclops. Somehow

that makes it even more tragic. All the secrets of history are flashing past us, at the speed of light. But what can you do? I’m watching a football game. It’s a fine game!” He shook his head again. I could only stare at those long-dead children, charging along that bright green field.

“This particular world is out in Sagitta,” he said. “It’s called Odura by the O’s. No ConFree or Systie ship has ever been that far out in the Nulls. But you might as well fam yourself with the place. Tara is sending you there.”

***

“I just wanted to say goodbyeand thank you,” Tara explained. She had invited Priestess and me to the Commander’s Mess. It was an intimate little place, low lights and snowy white tablecloths and heavy cutlery and lovely little waitresses, serving us expertly. It reminded me of the executive dining room at the Lost Command’s Hqs on Dindabai. The Legion’s upper crust evidently was developing a taste for a little quiet luxury. I didn’t blame them. I sure wouldn’t want all that responsibility. And if I had it, I might want a chance to relax.

“Thank us for what?” I asked. We sipped dox over dessert. There were only the three of us. It all seemed so artificial to mesomething that was just flashing past my eyes before my return to the real world. I felt that Priestess and I were already on our way back to Atom’s Road, falling, helpless and doomed, into a hopeless future where the sky was a mighty dark cloud of antimat debris and we would wait, as the earth shook, with little pieces of shrapnel pinging off our armor, watching the O’s walk out of the cloud, glittering violet. I could almost see it as Tara replied.

“For your cooperation. I know you sometimes question my motives, Wester. Motivation is a very complex process. But for this one, there’s no mystery. This one is for God, Wester. This one is for Deadman. I prayed for you, Wester, last night, on my knees, for you and Priestess and your whole squad. I don’t do that often, Wester, but I meant it sincerely. The White Death is spreading in geometric progression. All of ConFree is paralyzed, and the same is happening to the O’s. Transportation and communication are grinding to a halt. The System is next. It’s getting closer. They’re taking extraordinary measures to avoid it, but it’s probably hopeless. There’s no vaccine, Wester. It eats our fungicides like candy. The death count is approaching a million in ConFree alone. Society is unraveling on infected worlds. Not even the Legion can fight this, Wester. At least not yet.”

“And you really think we’re going to resolve it?” Priestess asked.

“Chances are very low that you will succeed. The events we’re talking about happened over a hundred thousand years ago. One planetand only one planetsurvived after being infected. A planet the O’s called Chudit. Your mission is to find it, Wester. I’ve put you on it because I know you’re a mad dog, once you set out to do something you regard as important. I’ve seen you in action, Wester. You’re one scary guy. And I think you know how important this is. You’ve got to find Chudit, Wester. We have only a very general idea of where it wasbut of the worlds that are there, the O’s can’t identify any as Chudit. You’ve got to find it! The longer it takes you, the more ConFree nationals die. Chudit holds the secret to countering the White Death. Our finest scientists are helpless, Wester. So are the O’s. They would never have come to us if they could have handled it themselves.” Her Assidic eyes were blazing. She was truly beautiful, but I detected a great weariness. All the weight of the galaxy was on her shoulders. I didn’t envy her.

“You make it sound as if our chances of accomplishing this are very remote,” I said.

“They are! But we’ve got to try! More than a hundred thousand stellar years ago, the planet Odura was the hub of a mighty human civilization that had developed into a regional center of civilization and culture in Sagitta. But it was far enough from the infection that the White Death never reached it. The O’s knew a great deal about Odura, a hundred thousand years ago. They’ve passed on some of that knowledge to us. They’ve identified Odura, Wester. And we’ve found it. You’ve seen the images yourselffrom over two thousand years ago. The Odurans were historians, Wester. They had temples and libraries devoted to the study of galactic history. The secret of Chudit should be there, Wester.”

“Chudit was a hundred thousand years ago, Tara. There’ll be nothing left but dust.”

“Yes

I know. That’s likely. All we have are images, from a few thousand years ago. Practically yesterday. And it doesn’t look like there’s much left on Odura from the old days. Nevertheless

we’ve got to try. Don’t you agree?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Find it, Wester. Visit Odura, and find Chudit. And remember

every moment’s delay costs a human life.”

“Of course.”

“We can only spare you one squadJox. You will be Mission Commander and my direct representative. Dragon will remain squad leader but he will report to you. We can’t give you the Spawn, either. There’s too much for Recon to do. But we’ll get you there. You’ll get your Phantom, too. One squad, Wester. Make it count!”

“If there’s anything to find there, we’ll find it, Tara.”

“Find Chudit! That’s all I want. Find it! We’ll do the rest!”

“Your dox is getting cold, Tara. You know

I’ve recently decided that you’re God’s personal representative, at this particular moment in history. You once told me you had to be strong, to triumph over evil. You were absolutely right. I’m not going to quit trying until I’m dead, Tara. And I know it’s the same with you. Don’t worry about being tired. We’re all tired. Isn’t that right, Priestess?”

“I’m ready to drop. But I’ve got to keep an eye on you, Thinker. I’ll keep you alive.”

“Miss? Some more dox, please.”

Chapter 7

Odura

“Looks pretty bleak,” Dragon said. We gathered around the illuminated map table. It was glowing a faint red, displaying the latest images from our probes. Bleak was an understatement. Odura appeared to be mostly desert, wind-blown sand and faded weatherworn rocks and dried out stream beds and scruffy, sparse vegetation.

I didn’t care. I was totally consumed by the mission. Find Chudit! It was branded on my brain. I was convinced that the secret of Chudit was down there somewhere, hidden in the sands. And I was going to find it!

We were on the Confederation tacship Die Young, and we were so far out in Sagitta by then that I no longer even felt human. I felt dead. I felt I had transcended humanity, that I had entered into some kind of special zone where my humanity was no longer a factor.

Nobody had been this far out before, at least not on this side of the galaxy. It had been one long, scary ride, into the eye of the hole, into the land of not quite there, into the out and out to the in, riding a magical quantum antimat bullet through alternate worlds, with the pressure of the entire universe on your skin and icy cold fear in your heart and you know it is the vac, teasing you.

I think we all felt the same. Nobody said anything, but I could tell. We had ridden that antimat bullet. We had powered our way right into this impossibly distant realm. We were delegates from Deadman, aliens from the dark side, totally mindless, totally merciless, and totally focused, and we had only one missionChudit.

“Those city-states that were here two thousand years ago seem to be gone,” Priestess said.

“Yeah. Things have definitely gone downhill. See all those little shacks? It’s like the whole society has disintegrated. Nobody’s building anything anymore, except shacks.” Dragon trailed a finger over the illuminated surface of the fotomap.

“It’s a natural process,” Psycho said. “From order to disorder. If you stop fighting it, you lose.”

“You should know, Psycho,” Tourist said. “The area around your bunk is a perfect example.”

“Shut down, Tourist. If the sight offends you, feel free to clean it up. I’m too busy to do housework.”

“No, thanks. That underwear has got things living in it. I’ve seen it moving.”

“This is the temple area?” I asked. The chit-chat stopped abruptly.

“That’s it,” Dragon replied. “You can barely make it out.” A massive, dead stone city, buried in the sands, disintegrating to dust. It was almost invisible from above. It had been a mighty fortress-city, countless generations ago. Now it was nothing.

The rest of the squad was silent, as I leaned over the fotomap. I had slowly come to realize that they were afraid of me. Not Dragon and Psycho and Priestess and Redhawk, of course, but the others. It had come as a great surprise to me. It had evidently started when I shot that Orman during the Calgoran 2 raid. I’m not sure why it surprised me, that they were afraid of me. I had felt the same way about BoudiccaGamma Onewhen she shot that priest on Coldmark with no provocation. I thought at the time that she was insane. Now, however, several long years later, I was not so sure.

“There are whole cities buried under those sands,” Redhawk said. “All over the planet. How are we going to know what to go after?”

“We’re going to need help,” I said. “The locals are going to help us.”

A rustred desert, blowing in the wind. A dead civilization. Primitives, living in crude huts. And Squad Jox, the Armpits, standing around the light table. Young troopers, anxious, serious, eager, ready for the next drop.

“And how’s our lady?” Dragon asked.

“She’s hot,” Redhawk replied. “Hot and heavywe’re loaded. All set.” The Kiss was to be our only hope if anything went wrong. The Die Young would launch us in the Kiss, somewhere outside the Odura System, and then would set off on the long return star-run to ConFree vac. We would not see her again for close to a month. We were to be on our own, on the far side of the galaxy, just us and the Kiss. Tara had given us one month to accomplish our mission. Every starship was vital to Fleetcom. They could not spare a tacship to orbit the Odura system for a month, waiting for us. Tacships were needed elsewhere.

We were going in live this time. We were not expecting any opposition, and the Legion had to save the Holo-x units for more dangerous projects.

“All right, you’ve all read the mission orders and the tacplan,” Dragon said. “What it amounts to is, we’re going to make it up as we go along. But the bottom line mission is, we are to uncover information that will lead the Legion to the location of the planet Chudit. And any way we do that is fine.” He glared at everybody. He was certainly the finest squad leader in the galaxyI had no doubts at all about that.

I knew the future of ConFree could well depend on the success of our mission.

***

Talk about lonelywe were all together, all ten of us, in the Kiss, approaching Odura, but I’d never felt lonelier. The Die Young had spit us out like an unwanted grape seed, leaving us all alone, out in Sagitta, on the far side of the galaxy, uncountable light years from everything we had ever known. Even the stars were different herevery different. As we sat there in our A-suits on the long ride in, I watched the screens and thought I could hear the mournful howl of distant stars, the sound of infinity, echoing inside the Kiss, crawling over my skin.

“What do you think happened to them, Psycho?” DD asked.

“Don’t know. We’ll find out soon enough,” Psycho replied. The planet was ringed with orbiting debrisold satellites, weird dead space stations, bizarre derelict ships. Not one was inhabited or functional. We had already probed. Redhawk was going to look them over later. We did not really care what had happened to Odura. They had evidently given up star travel. We figured the secret of Chudit was downside, hidden in the historical records of the distant past, if any were left. Supposedly history had been important in this world. Surely something would be left!

“Here’s your new home, girls! Comin’ at ya!” The Kiss turned smoothly toward our target, and Odura glided into view on the dscreens, a ruddy, dull, mottled orb, streaked with white. It glowed like a poisonous fruit against a black velvet sky. I could see the thin film of atmosphere against the vac. Another magical world, another miraculous gift from God. Mankind had taken a different road here. This branch of humanity had nothing whatever to do with us, except perhaps for the same remote ancestors. But some things remained the same. I could still remember those wonderful children, kicking that ball through a beautiful green field. I got a thrill whenever I thought about it. Children, running through a field. Stormdawn! The future of the galaxy!

And soon Odura filled the vac, a terrifying presence looming before us, dwarfing us, overpowering us like an awesome God. We fell into the future, into the maw of that awful orb, my blood frozen in fear. We were such a tiny, insignificant presencelike intruding bacteria. I did not think it would take much effort at all for that mighty planet to snuff us out of existence in a blinding flash.

I prayed to Deadman. I prayed for the strength to persevere, and triumph. Only victory would be acceptable, I knewonly success. If we failed, the desert winds would bleach our bones and that fine red sand would quietly erase all evidence of our existence, and the Die Young would return and orbit a few times, calling out for us, and then leave.

We fell into the at. The wings of the Kiss began to glow. I was determined to accomplish the missionsucceed or die! Moontouch and Stormdawn gazed at me, their images burnt onto my armor. Psycho snapped on the Drop Song, max volume, and it reverberated through the cabin.

“The past is dead and gone,

The scent of flowers in a tomb

A half remembered tune,

From a half-remembered time.

Open your eyes, cast off old dreams!

A new world awaits you

A new world to love you

Drop, drop, drop!

The past is dead and gone!”

***

“All clear, Redhawk. Launch the E-sled.” I stood in a swirling cloud of dust as the Kiss hovered behind me. We were ringing the Phantom, A & A, armored & armed. Our ZA was out in the middle of nowhere, a vast desert of rocks and sand and scrub. Our sensors told us there was no life in the vicinity. That’s the kind of ZA you want.

The E-sled hissed out of the belly of the Kiss, raising more dust. It was late afternoon. We stirred up quite a cloud, but there was nobody there to see it except us. Sweats piloted the sled and Trigger set up his Manlink in front next to the driver. E-sleds were neat. They were really E-carsair effects carsbut the Legion called them E-sleds. The Kiss couldn’t carry an aircar, but the cargo hold had just enough room for a fully loaded sled, and that was all we needed for transportation on Odura. E-sleds don’t get any altitude, they just skim over the surface like an E-car, but this one could transport the whole squad and all our equipment.

“How’s the at, Priestess?” Dragon asked.

“Nothing nasty,” Priestess replied, reading her instruments. “Breathable. No White Death spores, no fungusno bacteria we can’t handle.”

The E-sled glided past me gently in a hazy swirl of sand and dust. Sweats whooped with enthusiasm. Trigger grinned through his faceplate. E-sleds were fun. I moved my limbs. The grav was not bad. A small but brilliant sun shone white-hot in the faint blue sky. A tiny blue sun hung on the other side of the sky, sparkling like a jewel but not generating much light.

“All right, board the sled,” Dragon ordered. “Redhawk, back to the vac and hang there. If we need you, we’ll call.”

“Don’t hesitate. I’ll drop right in. Nothing I like better than a party!” The Kiss faded in and out of visibility, even at this close range. Her cloaking was truly miraculous. However, we were so far from home we had no intention of risking the Kiss downside any longer than necessary. She was going back into orbit where she’d be safe, and ready to evac us if we needed it. Whatever was to happen, Redhawk was to miss most of it.

“Get outta here,” Psycho said, “and stay alert!”

“You need any butts kicked, just call. Be careful, guys!”

“Tenners! See ya, Redhawk!” The Kiss glided away in a huge cloud of dust and instantly vanished, tearing up through the at, bound for the vac.

The E-sled floated past me and I grabbed a handhold and leaped aboard. The top was open, giving us all a free field of fire. I settled into my seat. Everyone clambered on. Everything we needed was in that sledsupplies for a whole month.

We slithered away from the Kiss’s lingering dust cloud at a leisurely speed, heading away from the white sun, over a frightening, barren landscape of red sands and faded yellow rocks and shrunken, dying shrubs. Dragon and Psycho consulted a colored fold-out tacmap. The breeze rushed past my helmet, keening in my ears. The E-sled’s ride was silky smooth.

“I got to go wee-wee.”

“Shut down, will ya?”

“All we need is a public library, right?”

“Wonder what the local dollies are like?”

“Bet they got hair under their arms.”

“Am I the only one who’s hungry?”

“Eat this.”

“You wish!”

***

“They’re moving in on those shacks.” We were all flat on our armored bellies in a dune drift under camfax cloaks, peering through field spotters and E-scopes at the activity on the horizon. Past a blinding white salt plain, a ragged line of scruffy vegetation grew along the bottom of a series of jagged, dry hills. Several crude shacks were strung out through the greenery.

“They’re armed. Looks like x-guns.” I zoomed in. A small, deeply tanned man with long greasy hair and filthy leather clothing was advancing on the shacks, carrying what looked like a long-barreled firearm.

“What’s with those

look outside the huts.”

I panned past several advancing mentough grizzled characters, burnt by the sun, dressed in ragged clothing, all carrying weapons. One of the shacks appeared. A shelter seemingly made out of wooden trash, totally sealed. Not a single window was visible. Out front, a long-legged, wild-eyed girl knelt in the dirt, looking fearfully at the approaching intruders. She was quite young, I realized. As she shifted position, she revealed a chain around one ankle. It led to a large, rusted metal structure that appeared to be an abandoned farm implement.

“There’s more of them. Each shack has got a girl chained in front.”

“Well I’ll be damned. What do you

“

“Yeah, that’s a G-car. They came in a groundcar. There’s a couple of guys around the car. They don’t appear to have any other security out.” I shifted my scope to the ground car, a bombed-out wreck fluttering with flags and pennants.

“No worries for them.”

“He’s going to rape her.”

“What?”

“He’s stripping hersee?” I snapped back to the first girl. The intruder in leather was ripping her clothes off, laughing. He had dropped his weapon to the ground. She was crying, thrashing around in the dirt, helpless. He placed a knee on her back and started tearing at her panties.

“Kill him,” Dragon said.

“Dibs,” Priestess said. She slapped the E snugly against her shoulder and faceplate and caressed the trigger. I watched through the scope. His head exploded, spraying blood and brains, and he toppled over onto his victim.

“Kill them all,” Dragon ordered. We all firedjust one shot each. They moved fast, once they realized something was wrong, but they weren’t fast enough. I tracked a long-limbed kid and hit him in the head with x-min. He was dead before he hit the ground.

“Nine dead,” Psycho reported. “Survivors heading for the G-car. Three, four

” A volley of shots snapped over our heads. “Believe they’ve spotted us. Sounds like x.”`

The sands erupted around us.

“Autofire. Hmmground car moving. They’re attacking!”

“That’s not too smart.”

“They may not be used to opposition,” Dragon said. “Trigger, do the car. Tacstar.”

I watched as the groundcar bounced wildly over the rocky plain, coming right at us. Looked like five of them in the car, shouting and firing. X impacted all around us. Then Trigger’s Manlink shrieked, freezing my blood, and the car erupted in a blinding flash, phospho tracers arcing up, a dazzling nuclear blossom. A whole sky full of flaming junk rained down. A smoking tire bounced past us, wobbling.

“That’s the last time he exceeds the speed limit.”

***

We walked through the settlement. There were twelve shacks, built along a little stream. Trash and garbage littered the site. The girls were still chained outside. I pulled the dead rapist off the first girl. She was twitching with terror. Priestess kneeled beside her, trying to calm her, but our A-suits probably scared her more than the rapists. I kicked in the door to the shack and stuck in my E and flicked on the spotlight to max and crept in. A man, a woman, cringing under furniture and blankets. I looked at them, then backed out.

“What’s in there?” Priestess asked. She had burnt the girl’s chains off.

“Parents,” I said. “The girls are put out there so the gang doesn’t loot the shack, I’d guess. Nice, huh?”

“You’d think they’d resist,” Tourist said.

“Probably goodlibs. Disarmed and helpless. People like that deserve to be slaves.”

“Take the girl,” Dragon ordered. “First step is to learn the language. She owes us. Priestess, she’s yours.”

“Fine. All right, Legs, get up. You’re not hurt. Dragon, she’s filthy. When we camp, I’m going to give her a bathand drown about a million of those creepy little worms.”

“Feel free.”

“Can I help?” Psycho asked.

“I knew you were going to say that,” Priestess said wearily.

***

“Her name is Kesan,” Priestess said. It was sunset on Odura. The white sun was fading fast, leaving only the tiny blue. Night fell fast on Odura. The horizon would glow blood red for awhile in the wake of the white, and then the sky would flicker, and glow an eerie violet, almost like blacklight, with that far-off blue star sparking in the cold. The temperature would drop too, right through the scales.

We camped around the E-sled. We had popped three sleepmods. They slept three each, although we kept two troopers on watch at all times.

“Kesan, huh? What have we got so far on the language?” Dragon asked. He was in a litesuit. Only the watch wore armor, in camp. We were all tired after a day’s patrolling.

“The scanner is still working on the data,” Priestess replied. “Don’t worry. It takes awhile, but it works. It’s amazing. I’ve seen it.” We had slipped a psyscan over Kesan’s head, after winning her trust. The thing was programmed to construct her language from what it found in her memory circuits. We would have been lost without it. We had no idea about the language, and no time to take the long course. Right then the psyscan was in the E-sled, deciphering what it had seen, and Kesan was chewing on E-rats, gobbling down everything we offered. She was famished.

She was a nice looking girl, dark eyes blinking, gazing curiously at the squad as she wolfed down our rations. The guys had gathered around her, grinning. She was snuggled up in one of our spare coldcoats. It was bitter cold.

“She’s fallen for me already,” Tourist said confidently. “Can’t you see the way she’s looking at me? Stop bothering the lady, all right?”

“You’re hallucinating, Tourist,” Flash said. “I told you, this is true love. I’m finally in love! Look at that angelic smile. She loves me!”

“It’s the E-rats she loves, kid,” Trigger said. “And she’s been making goo-goo eyes at me, not you. I was just about to make my move when you clowns came crowding around. Disperse, will you? Respect our privacy. Kesan wants to be alone with a real man, not a buncha school kids.”

“You rejects keep your clammy hands off my girl!” Sweats called out from his sentry position.

“Stop breathing on her!” Psycho objected. “This prize of war belongs to your Second, so don’t get grabby.”

“Give her a little space, guys,” Priestess said.

“I love you, Kesan!”

“Gimme a kiss. Priestess, how do you say ‘kiss’ in Oduran?”

“We’ll know that in several hours, with luck.”

“Leave her alone with me for five marks and I’ll find out that and a lot more as well.”

“You think this language thing is going to work?” I asked Dragon. He gazed out into the dark, a faint violet glow from that strange blue star. His deep set eyes glittered, cold and hard.

“It’s supposed to.” He was not happy, I could tell. It was so cold we could see our breath in the air.

“What’s next?” I asked.

“Redhawk’s scanned the planet. The whole civilization has collapsed. It’s all armed gangs, fighting each other, and helpless civilians, living like pigs, running like rats. There doesn’t appear to be a single surviving center of civilization left. The cities are all looted and abandoned.”

“And this was supposed to be a center of culture and learning and history.”

“Things change.”

“Right. What do you think?”

“The language is critical. Once we get that, we move. We pick people at random, if we must.”

“Somebody must know something,” I said.

“Yes. You’d think so.” There was a burst of laughter from the vicinity of the sled. Kesan was teasing the troops.

“I told you she loved me!”

“She’s laughing at you, dummy! Can’t you

“

“Stand backI’m going to show her some muscles.”

“What a show off! Who’d fall for a goon like you?”

“Isn’t it past your bedtime?”

“We won’t need the A-suits any more,” I said quietly. “Tell everybody to stow them in the storage bins. We’ll go with litesuits and A-vests and comtops. That’s all we need, for these people.”

“Fine. Glad to hear it.”

“We’ve got to do this, Dragon.”

“Yes. I agree.”

“I’m not leaving here without Chudit.”

“Neither am I.”

“If we have to dig, with our bare hands, into these temples, we’ll do it.”

“That’s a ten.”

“Chudit. It’s like a curse.”

“Chudit. We’re going to find it.”

“That’s affirmative.”

***

“Scope this out.” Sweats was driving the E-sled. He dropped it into a sudden stop and we hovered there in a swirling cloud of dust, looking down to the drama unfolding in a dry rock-strewn gully. There was a man down there, an Oduran, dressed in ragged skins, surrounded by a pack of hungry repwolvesabout ten of them. These nasty scaled carnivores hunted in packs. They were fast and deadly, with powerful legs, long tails, long necks and sharp teeth. We had run into them a few times already. They were set to make a meal of this fellow, but he was not making it easy. Two of the creatures were already writhing in the dust, and some of the others had turned on them. They were making a tremendous racket, baying and squealing and yelping. I was out of the car, shouldering my E. A few more of the repwolves darted in to attack the Oduran. He slashed at them with what looked like a knife, and they yelped, dancing around him.

“Kill a few of the lizards,” Dragon said. I took down one big repwolf with a round of xmin. Four others were hit as well, as the rest of the squad opened up. They went down with agonized squeals and for a frac it looked as if the others were going to attack them. Then the survivors broke and ran, leaving seven dead behind.

We approached him on foot. He had collapsed to the sands, but as we drew closer he staggered to his feet, wielding a bloody knife. His brown hair was long and ragged, and piercing dark slit eyes looked out at us from a haggard face. He was small-framed but tough. His skin was smooth but dirty and he had a sparse mustache and beard. He was covered with bleeding wounds. He kept his free hand pressed to his ribs but the blood was oozing out through his fingers. He glared at us and kept his knife raised.

Psycho laughed, dropped his E, drew his cold knife, and advanced on the Oduran, his icy blue eyes reflecting nothing at all.

“Put that away, Psycho,” I said. “Dragon, disarm him. DD, see to his wounds.”

Dragon shot the knife out of the Oduran’s hand with a vac bolt and cuffed him. He was exhausted, unable to resist further. Quite a guy, I thoughta survivor.

***

“He’s a thief,” Kesan said. “That’s the guild sign, that tattoo on his arm. He’s one of thema packrat!” She was speaking Oduran, but the translation mod we had hung around her neck gave it to us in Inter, nice and clear. The psyscan had worked perfectly. One point for the techs, I had to admit.

“Tell the woman to shut her mouth,” the Oduran said. “When I want to mate with her, I’ll let her know. Until then she should shut up.” He was also wearing one of our T-mods. He ripped at our E-rats with sharp teeth, famished, dark slit eyes looking out at us furtively behind a tangle of long greasy hair. We had removed the cuffs. He knew there was no getting away from us. Night had crashed again, it was freezing, and that one faint electric-blue star cast us all in its eerie glow. The desert was almost luminous, but the sense of desolation was total. A faint wind moaned. We were chowing down, gathered around a heat flare that crackled merrily, illuminating us in a flickering golden haze.

“Ask him what he was doing on his own,” Kesan said. “They must have cast him out. Even the rats didn’t want him! Ask him his name.”

“What’s your name?” Dragon asked. His T-mod interpreted the question into Oduran: ‘Koto zampan?’

“Zampan Tibliomy name is Fingers.”

“Fingers. That’s a nice name. What does it mean?”

“It means he’s a thief!” Kesan said. “He’s dangerous! You should shoot him!”

“Tell the woman I’m not going to sleep with her until she shuts up,” Fingers said. “She’s giving me a headache. Your food is great! Could I have some more of that hot drink?” We had given him a coldcoat as well. DD had patched his wounds. He was being pampered. I handed him another dox. We were hopeful he would know something. Kesan had not known anything other than how to manufacture lipstick and attract boys.

“It sounds like you’re a man with no friends,” I said. “And this looks like a dangerous place for a man with no friends. Is that right?”

“I am unappreciated by my peers. Until recently we were one happy family, living in harmony with our neighbors, redistributing their wealth in the most equitable manner possible. Then there was a disagreement, and I had to leave. It’s true, I am temporarily without allies.”

“He stole from his own gang, and had to run for his life,” Kesan explained.

“Can anyone shut her up?” Fingers asked. “Is it her time of month or what? Is she always so cranky? Where I come from, girls do as they’re told.”

“We need some advice, Fingers,” I said. “Good advice. If you can help us out, you can stay with us for awhile, and prosper. We don’t know the area, you see. We have a lot of

questions. The only thing is, the answers are very important to us, and we don’t have much time. So if you lie to us, or waste our time, we’re going to kill you. Understand?”

“You have my attention. And you’ve got the right man! I’ve been working this area for years. I know everything! I’ll be glad to help you! Where are you fellows from? Are you from Rayahati? You’ve got some mighty fancy equipment.”

“No. We’re not from Rayahati. We’re from a long, long way away. We’re interested in history.”

“History?”

“Yes. We want to know about the past.”

“The past. You mean, the Era of the Warring States?”

“Before that.”

“Before that was the Commonwealth of Nations.”

“No. Before that.”

“Before that? Well

that was the Thousand Year War.”

“And before the Thousand Year War?”

“Before that was Imperial Padanthe Dynasties. And before that, I have no idea. I’m a thief, not a historian. You want a historianbut they’re all dead.”

“Imperial Padan,” Dragon said. “Didn’t they keep track of the past? We’ve heard they had temples and libraries devoted to the study of history. Is that right?”

“Yeah, I heard the same,” Fingers said, savoring his dox. “Crazy waste of time. Who cares what a lot of dead people did?”

“No historians left?” I asked. “No centers of learning? Universities? Libraries? Learned men?”

“No. People around here are focused on getting enough to eat. We don’t have time to worry about the past. All that paper was burnt for fuel a long time ago.”

“How about other areas? Aren’t there any outposts of civilization left at all? Any place where we might find a historian? Somebody who knows about the past, or maintains historical records?”

“None that I know about. Civilization

ha. That’s gone. Civilization is a full stomach, that’s what we say.” His dox steamed in the cold. I zipped my coldcoat tighter. It was getting even colder.

“So,” Dragon said, “Imperial Padan kept records of the past.”

“They taught us all about it, in school, before we burnt down the school,” Fingers said. “Always harping about Padan. Space flight, galactic commercelots of crap. Lots of history.”

“And where do we find Imperial Padan?”

“It’s all around us. The ruins are everywhere. Dig down, it’s there.”

“All right, Fingers,” I said. “Pay attention. This is an important question. Say you wanted to know about the past. With all these dead temples, some of them must have old records in thembooks, disks, datapakshistory. Where would you go? Where would you look? Which area? Which ruin?”

Finger’s cold black eyes glittered behind his tangled, greasy hair. He held the dox cup near his lips, but was not drinking. The reflection from the flare rippled over his body and it was almost as if he was radiating a golden light. A faint breeze touched us with unbearable cold. Then he laughed, but it was a sad kind of laugh, almost one of resignation.

“I can see where this is going,” he said. “Maybe I should have let those repwolves eat me. But I guess it’s impossible to avoid your fate. The place you want is the Lost Realm of Galantor. Galantor was the last capital of the last dynasty of Imperial Padan. The rot came from there, you see, the rot that led to the fall of Padan, and the Thousand Year War. We’ve never recovered from it. That’s what they taught us in school. It’s not really lost. I know exactly where it is. But it’s no place anyone would want to go. Nobody sane, anyway.” He shuddered, made a gesture with his fingers over his face, took a quick sip of dox, and continued. “You people will go, though. I can tell that much.”

“Why would anyone not want to go there?” I asked. “Are the natives unfriendly?”

“There are no natives. Nobody alive, anyway. Galantor is inhabited only by the deadghosts of the past. The place is cursed. If you go there, you die. Plenty of people have tried, looking for the treasure of Padan. But not many come back. Those few that have were driven insane by the experience. They call it the Portals of Doom. Nobody goes there any morenot even the bravest of the brave. It’s guarded by mighty wizards.”

“Wizards? What are they guarding?”

“The treasure, of course. Padan ruled the worldand Galantor was where the God-Kings held their wealth. Riches beyond imagining. The God-Kings took it with them, to the grave. And they still guard it, with the wisdom of the ages. Mighty wizards. Phantoms, from the past. Dead, but more powerful than we can imagine. Tread once on the sacred ground of the Realm of Galantor, and you die. There are fields of flowers there, they call them bloodblossoms. They’re bright red, and they grow nowhere else. They say they’re the souls of all the people who have died looking for Galantor’s secrets. And there are lovely girls, dressed in black, floating over the sands. When they see you, they open their cloaks. Touch them and you die. They’re dead, they’re vampires, they’ll drive you mad and drink your blood. I’m going to die there. That’s what the soothsayer said. I’ve always avoided the place. But that’s all right. I’ll go with you. I’m tired of running from Fate.” He laughed carelessly. “I don’t mind facing God.”

“Galantor, huh?”

“The Portals of Doom.”

“Sounds like my kind of place,” Psycho grinned.

“All right. Where is this Galantor?”

“It’s in the far north. I can get you there, if you’re determined to die. Why didn’t you just tell me you were interested in the treasure?”

“We don’t care about the treasure. We’re after something more important.”

“What could be more important than getting obscenely rich?”

“Knowledge.”

“Knowledge? Ha! You people are strange. Can I keep the treasure, if we find it?”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Keep it. We don’t want it.”

“You’ll kill me after we find it.”

“We’re not going to be looking for the treasure. We’re looking for history. But if we find the treasure, you can have it.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“I don’t mind sharing.”

“We’re not interested. All you have to do is get us to Galantortomorrow morning.”

“One more night of life. All rightfine. By the way. What should I call you?”

“My name is Thinker,” I replied.

“I see,” he said. “Maybe that explains it. Say, could I keep this? It’s really neatwhat does it do?” He was examining my comset.

“No! Give that back! Where did you get that?”

“Ohsorry. It was clipped to your collar. Sorryforce of habit.” He handed it back to me sheepishly.

Chapter 8

The Portals of Doom

“Welcome to the Portals of Doom,” Fingers said, making that gesture again over his face. We glided effortlessly on our E-sled into the lost realm of Galantor. It was a bright cold day, with both suns overhead. Galantor was a bleak desert of rosy sand dunes stretching to the horizon and beyond like mighty ocean waves. And peeking through those sandy waves, everywhere, was Galantor, a lost city submerged in the sands. Only the tips of the highest structures showed above the surface. It was spectacular, but our attention was focused on the soldiers that were guarding the city.

There were hundreds of them, everywhere we lookedskeletons, propped up on wooden poles, clad in ancient, rusting armor, battered helmets with fearsome horns, chain mail chestplates of rusting iron, massive peeling shields with mysterious symbols cut into the metal, armed with fragile spears and great steel swords and massive axes. Skeletons, ghost soldiers, still standing guard for forgotten kings. Standing against the wind, empty eye sockets staring into eternity.

We decarred and wandered around like tourists. It was dead quiet except for the sighing of the wind.

I stopped before one of the soldiers. His bones were so old they were turning black. A fragile skull, mouth open, speaking to me through the ages. His bony fingers clutched the disintegrating grip of a rusty sword. A round shield marked with an ancient rune hung from one shoulder, boldly proclaiming his allegiance to the dead. Standing, still, against the ages. Standing, still, defiant. Does it really matter what he fought for, I thought. Perhaps not. Perhaps it only matters that he fought, that he stood there and fought, and stopped only when he was dead. I made the sign of the Legion over his skull, and turned away. I’m not sure why I did thatbut I felt a strange kinship for that soldier.

“Thinkerover here!” Priestess called out. I wandered her way, sliding down a great dune. She stood with Dragon and DD and Fingers and Kesan, looking up at a massive column of red stone poking through the sands, topped by a great block of carved stone.

“Can you imagine how big this thing is?”

“This is just the toplook at the diameter! The building must be gigantic!”

“I feel like an insect!”

“There are many buildings like this,” Fingers said. “The sands have covered them all. Trying to get in is very difficult. Many people have died trying. The sands are alive. Just be a little careless, and the sands will get you.”

“Thinker! Priestess! Over here!” Tourist called. We slogged through the sands, and stopped abruptly when we saw it. It was a gigantic stone face carved from ruby red rock, looking out from a gargantuan sand dunea female face. It was the largest carving I had ever seen and yet it had been rendered with such exquisite care and grace that she looked totally real. She was young and beautiful. The sands had protected the statue from the ravages of time. The artist had been a genius. The lips were plump and vulnerable, the skin appeared tender and yielding, the features delicate and fragile despite the massive size of the face. Wavy hair, a few strands brushing against one cheek. Strange, elaborate headgearwas that a crown? She was holding something. We could barely make out her fingers.

There was something else about her, somethingscary. It was not just the size. It was the eyesterrifying, empty eyes, sucking out my very soul. And that unearthly beauty.

“She looks a lot like you, Priestess.”

“No, she doesn’t,” I said. “That’s one scary lady.” Empress of Galantor, I thought. I could almost hear her mighty stone heartbeat, across the centuries. How many millions of brave, hopeless soldiers had diedwillinglyfor this lovely, pitiless bitch? How many men had died calling out her name?

I’m going to rip your secrets right out of your heart, bitch!

“They are mighty Gods, Thinker,” Fingers said.

“No, they’re not,” I said. “They’re all dead. They’re just pieces of stone. Our Gods are more powerful. Our Gods are dead too, but they’re much more powerful. Does this one scare you? Who the hell is she? Dead stone bitch!” I spat at her, convulsed with hatred. “She’s nothing. Nothing!” I shouted. The rest of the squad stood frozen, watching me. I don’t suppose I was doing much for my image. Fingers and Kesan appeared paralyzed with terror.

“Take it easy, Thinker,” Psycho said.

“Yeah. Sure.” I turned away from the face, trying to control my emotions. All those soldiers! Generations of soldiers, marching into eternityfor what?

I was on sentry duty that night. Another freezing Oduran night. The planet spun so fast on its axis the days were less than half the length of those on Andrion. That tiny blue star glittered like an electric jewel, starkly illuminating the dead sands of Galantor. And every night we failed to complete the mission, more ConFree nationals died.

“There they go again, Dragon,” I said. “More movement. There’s two of them moving around out there.” I could see them in the scope on darksightblurry heat figures, almost on the horizon.

“Psycho, front and center,” I said. “I’m getting a bit curious.”

Psycho and I set out on foot toward our prey. We noted they had a tendency to disappear quickly when threatened, so the E-sled was out. I wore a comtop and A-vest over my litesuit. I set the E to vac. It was a clear cold night and the dunes were like great frozen waves, glowing electric blue. We kept to the deepest shadows between the dunes. We could only hear our own soft footsteps in the sandand another set, following us. We sank into the dark, raised our E’s, and watched him on the tacmap.

“Wait for me!” Fingers hissed. “I want to come with you!”

“You’re not too quiet, for a thief.”

“I wanted you to hear me! If I hadn’t wanted you to hear me, you wouldn’t have heard me!”

“Why do you want to come with us?”

“I’m here,” he said, “and I want to face it.”

I looked over to Psycho. He shrugged.

“All right, Fingersquietly now.”

“Look who’s talking. Are you trying to scare them off, or what?”

We paused from time to time, and I lay on my belly scoping out the target. Still just a lightman, but we were getting closer. There were a lot of ruins near the target. One of the two figures disappeared, but one was still there, still moving around.

We passed some more dead soldiers, fearsome skeleton warriors, standing under the stars, laughing at eternity. Galantor’s last stand. Who could not feel for these fearless immortals? We padded past them silently. Soldiers of the Legion, I thoughtimmortals.

An awful moaning arose. It drifted past us on an icy breeze, faded, then began again. It was a mournful howl, now from the left, now behind us, now from ahead. It was most peculiar. I scoped the area thoroughly. Our target was ahead. Sweety couldn’t get a grip on anything else.

“It’s the wizard!” Fingers whispered. His face was deathly pale.

We movedforward. Psycho split off to outflank the target. We were closing on him.

An agonizing cry, a death rattle, a moan of agony, close at handright over the dune. It was a little frame of wooden slats, propped up in the sands on a wooden pole, catching the wind to produce the fearsome noise.

I pushed it over with my E and it collapsed into the sands silently.

“Your wizard,” I said to Fingers. He did not reply.

“Comin’ at ya,” Psycho said in my ears. I ran down the dune with Fingers close beside me. The target appeared atop another dune, standing right under that tiny glittering icy blue star. She was a lovely female, dark waist-length hair floating in the breeze, a long black cloak muffling her figure. She paused, looking down haughtily at us with hungry, evil eyes. Then she slipped the cloak off her shoulders and it slid to the sands abruptly, leaving her completely naked, slim and lovely, perfect young breasts, long shapely legs. I was so stunned that I stopped. Her flesh seemed to be faintly wet. Psycho appeared from behind her.

“My,” he said. “Such enthusiasm!”

“Don’t touch her!” Fingers shrieked. “She’s death! She’ll kill you! Touch her and you die! She’ll take your mind, she’ll drink your blood! It’s real! It’s real! I told you! She guards Galantor, and if you touch her you die!”

The girl strolled down the dune toward me, her empty eyes focused on nothing. She was certainly lovelya stunning, beautiful creature. I raised my E and shot her with a vac bolt.

***

“Clever,” DD said, peeling off his gloves. He had examined our captive, back in camp. She was safely cuffed and temporarily huddled under a blanket. “It’s a hallucinogenic compoundreally powerful, and spread all over her body. Take a lick of that lollipop and you’ll float away to ding-dong land and maybe never come back. One taste and you’re hers. She can do anything with you. The stuff makes you very compliant. It’s really kind of scary.”

I wondered how many intruders had died in her tender arms.

***

The road to Time was dry and cold. That’s what she called itTime. Just that one word. We tried to understand it, but it didn’t seem to translate. The sunlight slowly faded as we crept deeper into the crevice. It was a narrow, steep passageway, an almost vertical sandslide between two grim stone walls of a massive prehistoric megalith buried in the sands. The sand fell down on our heads, hissing, a faint dust from the world above. The sky was a narrow niche, already fading. It looked like certain death, but there we were. The witch was on point, and I was right behind her. One false move and I’d kill her. I do believe she knew it. She was helpless in our hands. Dr. Doom had pumped her full of our own witchcraft, and she was going to do exactly what we wanted and nothing else.

Dry and cold. The dust of eternity was all around us. She paused at a jagged crack in the wall, looking back at me. It was just a crawl space. She wanted to go in. Perfect. I was not surprised, I was fully expecting it. Her eyes were empty. She was truly lovely. She wore her black cloak but I knew what was under there. Had I been alone, back then, I would surely have succumbedand died.

“Time,” she said in Oduran. I looked in, triggering the flash on my E. A perfectly flat stone ceiling, less than a mark from the floor. My tacmod mapped out the route. A checkerboard approachthe ceiling was constructed of massive stone blocks. Some of them appeared to have fallen down to the floor, blocking the way.

The witch was crying silently, pale and frightened. I didn’t like it much. I snapped a cuff around one of her ankles and attached a line.

“If we die, you die,” I said. She nodded, her cheeks streaked with tears. She recovered a primitive torch from out of the crack, oil-soaked rags tipping an iron rod. She chipped away with flint and steel, trying to produce a spark. I flamed it for her with my E.

Dragon peering in, glowering. “This looks interesting. What do you think, Three?”

“There’s a large chamber up ahead. But we’ve got to crawl through that maze first. The ceilingI kind of worry about it.”

“This pattern

” Dragon pondered his tacmap. “It almost looks as if those stone blocks fall down from the ceilingat random.”

“Speak, witch.” I poked her with my E. “Is it dangerous in there? Will we die if we go on?”

“Perhaps.” She gazed at me blankly. “Many have died there. We may, too.”

“And who is going to kill us?”

“Time. Time kills us all.”

“That’s enough nonsense,” I said. “Dragon, Trigger, DD, we go in. Psycho, stand by with the others and secure our rear. Give us a few hours before you start worrying.”

“Tenners. Hey, Thinker, this would be the perfect time to renegotiate that 100C you claim I owe you.”

“I wish to come!” Fingers said in Oduran. “I can give you advice. I’ll be your adviser!”

“If you take him, take me as well,” Kesan said. “I can warn you when he starts to betray you.”

I laughed. “All right, fine. But keep it quiet and don’t get in the way.”

“Note the part about keeping quiet,” Fingers said to Kesan.

“You’re terrified, aren’t you? Why don’t you stay behind? You’re not impressing anybody.”

“Do we have to take her?”

“Let’s go, Thinker,” Dragon said. “Come on, you want to live forever? The witch goes firstdon’t let her get away.”

“That’s a ten,” I replied. The witch squirmed into the passageway, hitching her robe up around her waist. Lovely long legs. I followed her in, keeping the line tight. She reminded me of Moontouchanother princess of the dark.

Megatons of rock hung over us as we crawled slowly over gritty stone. It was cold and dry and dark, but I was hot and sweaty. We were worming our way somewhere underneath a great stone building buried in the sands. From time to time we ran up against a wall, and had to turn aside. The tacmap told the story. If one of those gargantuan blocks fell on us, we’d be squashed like bugs. I kept a tight rein on our young lady. Her torch cast eerie shadows and oily smoke swirled around me. Sweety said the oxygen level in the tunnel was fine. Something came tumbling past the witch’s legs. A human skull, crushed, gaping at me with sightless eyes, outlined harshly in my spotlight. We crawled through his bones.

“Suggest we speed this up, gang,” I said. “The last visitor

didn’t make it.”

“We’re following you, Thinker.”

“Move it, girl!” I snapped. She stopped, trembling and sobbing. I jammed the E into her ribs, terrified. “Move or I’ll kill you!”

An awful, grinding vibration suddenly struck like an earthquake, freezing my heart. Then a deafening blast shook our world. The stone floor shook beneath me, and a choking cloud of dust swirled past us. A frightening silence followed. I was still alivebut it sounded as if the whole building had collapsed.

“Count off!” Dragon snarled.

“Deadman! The damned ceiling fell in! It just missed me!”

“Count off!”

“Thinker.”

“Trigger!”

“DD. Fingers and Kesan are all right.” All there! My heart hammered.

“Kill the bitch!”

“Move,” I hissed. She resumed crawling forward. We were almost out. A massive block of stone had fallen right next to us, but we had escaped destruction by mils.

We emerged into a large, dark circular chamber that appeared to be cluttered with rubbish. The witch’s torch cast spooky shadows over dark stone walls and our helmet lights lit up the scene mercilessly with a brilliant white radiance.

“You guys all right?” the tacnet crackled.

“Nothing to report,” I replied. There were little recesses lining the walls like monk’s cells, with desks built into the walls and chairs facing inwards. Mute doc readers and piles of books and paper spilled over each desk down to the floor. A ledge just above desk level ran around the room, crowded with the remains of thousands of dead candles. Dirty mounds of encrusted candle wax had oozed down to the floor, and blackened candle stubs littered the floor along with piles of ancient books and papers and what looked like datacards.

I reached down and picked up a book. The characters on the cover were unknown to me. I opened it. It was still in good shape. We’d be able to read it!

“Fingerswhat’s this one about?”

He peered at it in the brilliant white light of my spot.

“Sorry, Thinkerthat’s Yahwen. My education was cut short, you’ll recall.”

“I can read it,” the witch volunteered. She drifted over to me and took the book in her slender fingers. “‘Death of the Past.’ This book mourns the vanished kingdom of Lanai. It’s all that’s leftjust this book. Lanai was

luminous. It blossomed, like a lovely flower, for a brief period. Then it was extinguished, by greed and stupidity. Their race is gone now. It’s just a memory.”

The witch sighed, and carefully placed the book on a shelf. Then she began touching her torch to a series of primitive oil lamps set in the wall. They lit up fitfully. Dragon looked around the room, totally alert. Trigger stood near the wall, his Manlink up and scanning. Doctor Doom examined a pile of dusty books with Kesan, who glanced at the witch nervously. Fingers was also looking through the books, probably searching for a clue to the location of the treasure.

A deafening boom shook us all violently and I almost jumped out of my skin. The floor trembled. A great cloud of dust shot out of our tunnel and filled the room. Something huge had fallen. Dragon cursed.

“We’re cut off,” he confirmed. “We won’t be going back that way, that’s sure.”

“It’s all right,” DD said. “I didn’t much like that route anyway.”

“She says we’re going to die here,” Kesan said. The witch was by her sideshe had discarded her torch.

“Ask her who’s going to kill us,” I said.

“Time. She says Father Time is going to kill us.”

“Tell her we’re immortals. We’re not afraid of Father Time. And tell herif anyone dies, she’s going to be the first.”

“She knows that.”

“Good.”

The witch sank to her knees on the hard stone floor and began chanting quietly to herself.

“She’s praying,” Kesan said, “for an easy death.”

“Guess what,” Dragon said. “There’s no way out of here.”

“Are you serious?”

“Look at your tacmap. There are no exits from this room. The walls are solid stone. You’ll notice the comsets are dead. This place appears to be comsealed. That’s interesting. It wasn’t before. Bring that woman over here.”

She stood before him, gazing bravely into his burning eyes.

“What is this room?” Dragon asked.

“It is a reading room. It is also a cleansing room. It is where we kill persistent intruders.”

“Is there a way out?”

“Only Father Time can release us. The crawlway has never before been blocked. I do not understand it.”

“She can’t lie to us,” DD said. “It doesn’t look good.”

“We don’t have time for this,” I said quietly.

“Time is all we have,” the Witch replied, looking around gloomily.

“And are we going to get to meet Father Time?” Dragon asked.

“Yes. He will surely come, and then you will all die.”

“When will he come?”

“Soon. Perhaps a hundred winters. Perhaps sooner.”

“Take five, guys.” Dragon was always confident. The fellow sometimes amazed me.

I sat on one of the creaky old desk chairs, sipping water from my canteen. We had comtops on, but our visors were open. The witch was back on her knees, mumbling to herself. She certainly did remind me of Moontouch, but this one was a lot youngerjust a kid. She was incredibly beautifulsmooth flawless skin, gleaming waist-length hair. Only her eyes hinted of the nightmares within.

Kesan was right beside her, watching her suspiciously, whispering to her every once in awhile. Fingers ignored them both, continuing his sporadic search through the crumbling ancient books for a clue to the treasure. Trigger was up against the wall, his Manlink balanced on one hip. He looked like he was just waiting for someone to shoot. DD was trying to get one of those ancient readers to work, but it did not look promising. Dragon was in another chair, totally relaxed, his E across his knees. He always reminded me of a bloodcat, watching the world through predator’s eyes, coiled to pounce at the slightest provocation.

We weren’t trapped there, of course. With the Manlink alone, we could blast our way out of therebut Dragon had decided to wait. It was fine with me. I knew his patience was limited, and for the witch’s sake I hoped whatever he was waiting for would put in an appearance soon.

It did. There was a sputtering cough, and one section of the wall started to spit out a smoky haze. The witch did not move.

“Comtops! Cut the spots!” Our visors slammed shut. My E was at my shoulder. Trigger was ready to cut loose. I jumped as the flickering oil lamps on the wall exploded violentlyDragon snuffed them out with vac blasts, almost deafening us and instantly plunging the room into a total darkness. My darksight cut in, lighting up everything for me in a pale green. Fingers, Kesan and the witch were now blind, but the rest of us could see just fine.

“Chem smoke,” DD reported. “It’s a smoke grenade. Nothing lethal.” A great cloud of blue smoke hissed into the room, obscuring one wallexcept that our darksight could see right through the smoke. The room shuddered. A sharp crack, then a dull grinding. A narrow vertical slit appeared in the wall. A great stone door was openingno. It stopped, partially open. A tall figure appeared from within, struggling to squeeze through the narrow opening.

“Hold your fire,” I ordered. The creature forced itself through the opening awkwardly, pausing in the smoke, drawing itself up to an imposing height, a floor-length black cloak swirling around it. I had it right in my sights, and my E was set for auto x-min. One bad move and he’d be shredded meat.

“It is time,” the Witch said fearfully.

“Who enters the Domain of the Dead,” a powerful voice boomed forth, “and what do ye seek?” It was only a man, I could see, standing tall, cloaked from head to foota forbidding figure.

“We seek knowledge,” I shouted. “We seek the past.”

“You have found the past,” the phantom replied, “but lost the future. You have entered a forbidden realmthe Portals of Doom. The Godkings of Padan stir in their graves. You disturb their sleep. Time touches your weary limbs, now. Time brings an end to all things.” He raised a spidery arm and gestured grandly.

The smoke hung in the air. It was totally silent. One wrong move and he’s history.

“We welcome you,” he said, “to the Land of the Lost. Pray to your dark Gods, for you join them now.” He gestured again, vigorously, his robes flapping around him. The smoke was fading. The phantom continued standing there, grand and tall.

“Where is the dust?” the witch hissed in Oduran.

The phantom sighed, and seemed to lose a few mils in height. “The dispenser no longer works, child. Just like the door. And the stone blocks. It’s all too old. I press the control to release one block, and another falls. It’s no use. Nothing works any more. We have lost, my darling. We have lost, at last. I knew this day would come. I pray for your soul.”

“Please don’t kill him!” the witch shrieked. “He’s my father! Please! He’s a good man!”

Chapter 9

Father Time

We had dox with Father Time and his lovely daughter. We had no desire to kill him, even if he had done his best to kill us. He was exactly what we were looking for. And who could blame him for defending his realm? We all do what we must do. Hidden demons whisper in our ears, and we are helpless to oppose them. We relit the oil lamps, and popped open the dox and sat on the floor around a disintegrating trunk of books we confiscated for a table.

“That’s very good,” Father Time said quietly, setting his dox carefully back on the trunk. He was old, I could see. Very old. A mortal, fading away, lines all over his face, his hair all white, his body slowly shutting down, the parts ceasing to renew themselves. How ironic, that Galantor’s last guardian, its last, all-powerful wizard, was an old tired mortal, slowly dying of the primitive, terrifying disease of untreated age.

“I am the Guardian,” he responded to my question, “and this is my daughter, Blossom.”

“And what do you do here, in this building?” Dragon asked. “What is your mission?” Dragon thought in terms of missions. I guess we all did. We were all slaves, of someone. We were all on a mission, seeking death like moths hurling ourselves into an irresistible flame.

“I guard the past. I guard the archives of Imperial Padan. I guard the lost realm of Galantor. The inheritance of the God-Kings is here. The secrets of the ages are here. The knowledge of all the dynasties is here. Everything we have learned since the dawn of time.”

“The inheritance!” Fingers broke in. “The treasure! I knew it! Can you take us to the treasure?”

“The inheritance of the dynasties is all around usand below us,” the old man said. “The knowledge of the ages. The history of the world. Everything humans have fought and died and dreamed for. It’s all here.”

“No, no, I mean the treasure! Gold! Jewels! Diamonds!”

“Treasure?” The Guardian smiled sadly. “Knowledge is our only treasure. Gold? Jewels? NoI don’t think so.”

“No treasure?” Fingers was stricken.

“Oh, there may be some of that around here somewhere, too,” the Guardian added carelessly. “I think I saw a room full of gold oncebut I can’t remember where. I was not paying attention.”

“A room full of gold!” Fingers squealed.

“Guardian, we are not here for gold,” I said. “We are here for knowledge. We seek the truth. Have you read this knowledge of the ages you guard? Can you tell us about the past?”

The Guardian smileda thin, bitter smile. “Yes, soldier, I can tell you about the Past. The Past is all I have. It is all I have ever had, except for my daughter, Blossom. For ages I have readabout the past. My heart grieves, for all those who went before us, for those brave explorers who cut their way out of the past with the sword of resolve or the torch of knowledge and light. YesI know about the past!” He stared straight ahead, focused on nothing. Dragon passed a hand in front of the Guardian’s face.

“You’re blind,” Dragon said.

“Yes.” The Guardian smiled again. “A lifetime of reading, by candlelight. Yes, the Guardian is blind. The steward of the past, the world’s last reader, is blind. Blossom is my eyes. She reads for me now. I will die soon, and she will inherit the past. Then the weight of the ages will be on her. Perhaps I should burn it all before I go. What good is all this knowledge? No one reads itonly us. Why should I let my lovely daughter inherit this monstrous curse?”

“I will guard it to my death,” Blossom said quietly.

“Don’t question the value of this knowledge,” I said. “We seek information that will save the lives of millionsmaybe billions. We’ve come from half way across the galaxy on our quest.”

“Star travellers!” the old man exclaimed. “Remarkable. We have not been visited

in countless generations. Where do you come from?”

“We are from ConFreethe Confederation of Free Worlds.”

“Con Free. Free worlds! I won’t ask what they are free from. And what is it you want to know?”

“Over a hundred thousand of your years ago,” I said, “there was an age when your planetOdurahad contacts with civilizations on other worlds. Even then, your historians were recording everything. Isn’t that true?”

“That was the First Dynasty. It was founded by star travellers fleeing the Empire of the Black Sun. They were mighty warriors. They made their stand here, allied with the K’tak and other worlds, and drove the Empire from the Sector. The Empire was never to return. Yesthey founded a world state. Their star fleets explored the Cosmos, and their historians recorded it all.”

“The Empire of the Black Sun. Who were they?”

“Humans. A great galactic empire. Brilliant, fierce, giftedthey ruled the entire known galaxy.”

“What happened to them?”

“Gone. Vanished. Dissolved in the dusts of time.”

“And the K’tac. Who were they?”

“Aliens. Psychics of enormous power. Irresistible. Fleeing some nameless disaster, they paused here, briefly, then moved on. And out of history.”

“The O’s!” I exclaimed. My skin crawled. We were getting closer. I could feel it!

“We’re looking for a world,” I continued. “It was in this Sector. The K’tac called it Chudit. We’re looking for any information at all you have on this world.”

“Why don’t you go there, rather than here?”

“We don’t know where it is. We’re trying to find it.”

The Guardian smiled. “You’ve lost a world! How careless. Well, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve got lost cities, vanished empires, doomed dynasties, failed civilizations, lost planetswhatever you want. We’ve got it all.”

“Chudit. Have you heard of Chudit?”

His brow wrinkled. His blind eyes stared into nothingness. “Chudit

Chudit. Doesn’t ring any bells. But planets had many names. We probably used another name, at the time. If you can describe the place, if you have a general idea of where it is, we’ll find it. We’ll find it on the star charts. Remember the star charts, Blossom?”

“No, Father. I don’t.”

“We’ll find it. Millions of lives to save, you say. And you’re star travellers, from across the galaxy. Seeking knowledge, here. That’s wonderful! Did you hear that, Blossom? We have customersafter all these years! My God, isn’t that lovely! Get the cards, childthe cards!”

“The cards?”

“The cards! On the shelf over number threequick, child!”

She returned with a handful of dusty little parchment cards, covered with strange characters. The Guardian handed me one with trembling fingers, and forced a writing implement into my hand.

“Sign at the bottom,” he said. I signed the card.

“Keep it,” he said. “It’s your library card. Welcome to the Library of Imperial Padan. All the knowledge of the ages is right here. We’ll find your world. Don’t you worry about that!”

***

“Watch your step!” I stumbled on the stairs, gaping at the wonders around us. The library was a titanic hollow cylinder seemingly cut into the bedrock of the planet, far below the surface. We were creeping down a spiral metal staircase that wound around a central cylindrical core. From the staircase, metal footbridges led outwards to the different levels. The huge building was mostly dark. From the stairs I peeked downwards into an abyssa void, leading ever deeper. Feeble little lights twinkled far below on the different levels, but I could not see the bottom. Blossom carried a candle lantern, glass panels shielding the flame. We had our visor lights. The Guardian didn’t need light. He knew the way by now.

“Deadman, what a place!”

“Each level is an era,” the Guardian said. “Each level contains the knowledge of that era. The metal is stariteindestructible and fireproof. The archives are housed in individual starite cubicles. We worry a lot about fire. It’s very dry here.” Dry and cold. I could see my breath in the air.

“Could we look at some of the books?” I paused by one of the bridges.

“Certainly. Follow me.” The wizard led us over the footbridge to one of the levels. We found ourselves in a circular corridor that ran all the way around the outside of the hollow cylinder. Individual cubicles faced usmassive metal doors, partially open, marked each cubicle. We entered one. Shelves of books and documents faded away into the distance. There must have been millions of them. One shelf was full of little metal cubes and lined with boxy little readers with small screens.

“What are these?”

“Don’t know. It’s entitled ‘Voyages of the Starship Prometheus’. We’ve never been able to get the readers to work, so I don’t know what’s in the cubes. I’ve often wondered where they went, and what wonders they saw. It’s very unusual. Star travel was almost unknown in the Era of the Warring States. There are no other records of the starship Prometheus.”

“How about this?” DD interrupted, holding a large, leather-bound book.

The Guardian ran his fingers over the cover and sighed. “‘Campaign in Eldorath.’ Yesthis is a stirring history of the great struggle for the future of the world. An unforgettable tribute to the common soldier. Two great armies grapple with each other for years. Incredible suffering, privation, hardship. Unbelievable heroism, savagery, sacrifice, and casualties, on both sides. The author is the sole survivor of his original regiment after three years of constant warfare. He says he wrote the book so that the world will never forget the sacrifices made by his heroic comrades, for their civilization. And yet, his side lost, his civilization was extinguished, and the world has long ago forgotten the epic struggle in Eldorath. Only I remember.” He carefully placed the volume back on the bookshelf. “Let us move on,” he said. “We have a long way to go. The Dissolution lies ahead of us. Then the Commonwealth of Nations. And before that, the Thousand Years War that flowed from the final collapse of Imperial Padan. Then Dynasties, rolling into the past almost as far as you can imagine, to the Foundation. Giants once walked on this planet. But now it is inhabited by pygmies.”

We returned to the spiral staircase, and headed further down, into the dark, into the past. It was dead quiet on the bottom level. It looked as if no one had been here for a very long time. I looked up into the void. Little lights twinkled up there like stars.

“All right,” the Guardian said, adjusting his robes. “This is ground zerothe First Dynasty, the Foundation127,696 years ago. Most of the records from this era have been destroyed by age and war and looting and natural disasters. But there’s a lot still here. Including the star charts. Generations of scholars have done their best to piece this age together. I hope we can find some good information on your planet. Follow me, star travellers. We’re headed into the past.”

We wandered through pitch-black corridors lined with shelves full of books and paper, our visor lights and Blossom’s candle lamp casting fearful shadows over the metal ceilings. The old man’s words echoed in my mind. The star charts! I was salivating, already.

***

“Whitestar Alliance Navy,” Blossom said aloud. “Star Fleet Commandstellar secret.” We gathered around a large table covered with stacks of crumbling star charts and rolled-up sector charts.

“Yes, yes, child, that’s it. Let me feel it.” His fingers trembled over the chart. DD had mounted a brilliant white E-light up on one wall and the room was glowing. The walls were covered with shelves full of datapaks and readers and infocards, and the ceiling was lined with dead light panels.

“Warning. Sensitive stellar-secret information. Disclosure of this information will cause grave damage to the Whitestar Alliance and

“

“Skip that part! Go on, go on, what else does it say?” The old man quivered with anticipation.

“StarchartOperationalSector WhiteKalalan.”

“That’s it! Kalalanthat’s our world. You call it Oduraand this is the local sector. Your world will be in there. This is what you are seeking. Let’s open up this onecareful!” It was part of a large, bulky book of star charts. Little pieces of plasticized paper chipped off and fell away as we cautiously exposed the chart.

“That’s itthat’s it. We need the cover chart for Sector White. Is that it?”

“Yes, Father‘Sector WhiteKalalanNavchartOperationalPorts and Routesdistances in Stellar Years

’”

“Yes! Now look at this starchart. All inhabited worlds are marked by the notations next to their stars. All downside starports are also listed. Just see the key. If your info is good, your world is thereguaranteed. Here, hold down that edge.” One edge of the map was curling up on us. The Guardian moved something over to hold it down. Fingers began making a strange gurgling sound. He pointed shakily at the map, croaking, but no words came out.

“What’s the matter with you?” I asked. We all stared at him.

He picked up the thing that the Guardian had moved over to hold down the edge of the chart. It was a solid gold brick, gleaming richly now in the spotlight.

“Gold,” he gasped at last. “Gold!”

“Oh, you can keep that if you like it,” the Guardian said. “It’s really a bit too heavy for use as a paperweight.” Fingers carefully backed into the shadows with his prize.

“I knew you could do it!” Kesan said from his side. Her eyes gleamed.

“Stick with me, kid, and we’ll rule the world!”

We went back to the starchart. There were millions of stars in the sector, and thousands of inhabited worlds. I ripped my tacmod off my belt and pointed the eye at the starchart. “Find Chudit, Sweety.”

“Fourteen candidates, Three,” Sweety responded immediately. She listed them. “All fourteen have the second planet in the life zone, as required. Only two are inhabited, according to the chart.”

“That’s it then!” I said excitedly. “It’s one of those two! Names!”

“According to the starchart,” Sweety responded, “Rana 2 and Rima 2 are both listed as Alliance worlds. Rana 2’s starport is listed as Port Promise; Rima 2’s starport is called Paradise Found.”

“Guardian,” I said, “Rana 2 and Rima 2. Do you have anything further on these planets? We can explore both if necessary. But it would be faster to pin it down now. One of these worlds must have been known as ‘Chudit’ to the K’tac. That’s how the K’tac translated it for us in our language. Which one?”

“Nothing could be easier. Blossom, go to the ‘contents’ section in the front. I believe there’ll be a listing for ‘index of alternate star names’, or something like that.”

“Yeshere it is, Father. Index of Alternate Stellar Designations. Let me find it.”

“There’ll be an alpha list of stars on the left. Look for Rana. Then on the right will be a list of alternate namesEmpire, alternate historical, astronomical, and so on. It should include a listing for K’tac names as well.”

I waited, almost trembling in impatience, as Blossom carefully turned the pages. Almost there! And we are going to save millions of ConFree nationals from a grisly death! Women and childrenthe future of the race!

“Here it is

Rana

the K’tac designation is Toran.”

“Toran?”

“Toran.”

“Go to Rima,” I said.

“Hmm

Rima. Rima. Here we are. K’tac designation is

G’dat.”

“G’dat?”

“G’dat.”

“G’dat. Chudit, Kudit, Gudit, Gudat, G’dat! That’s it! G’dat is Chudit! We’ve found it!” I leaped back, overjoyed. My skin was crawling. Victory!

“Negative, Three.” Sweety whispered in my ears again.

“What?”

“I have compared the Rima System on this chart to all systems in Odura Sector that I mapped during our approach. The planet Rima 2, alt designation G’dat, alt designation Chudit, the second planet of a six-planet system, does not appear on my star charts at the location given on the chart of Sector Kalalan alt designation Sector White, alt designation Sector Odura.”

“What do you mean it does not appear? How the hell can it not appear? Come on, Sweety, is this chart all nonsense or what? What have you got at that location?” Panicblind panic. I could feel it.

“The Whitestar Alliance Navy starchart is exceptionally accurate in all other respects, Three. However, the Rima System has evidently changed since this starchart was compiled.”

“How has it changed?” I whispered it. I had a bad feeling about what Sweety was sayingan increasingly bad feeling.

“I can confirm that the Rima System is now a five-planet system, Three. Two inners, one gas giant, two outers. The former Rima 2 is no longer there. There is a very heavy asteroid belt in the orbit it used to occupy. Rima 2 has been destroyed, Three. It’s gone.”

***

“That’s it,” the Guardian said. “I knew the name Rima 2 meant something.” We were in a reading room, clustered around a massive table. Blossom was looking through a large book with metallic covers.

“Encyclopedia GalacticaImperial Information Systems. This is from the Eighth Dynasty, Father. Let’s see

Rima 2. It gives the starcord. Founded circa 300 PFthat means ‘Prior Foundation’” she looked up at us and smiled“by human pioneers originally from Sector Exile of the Empire of the Black Sun (EBS). Source: Volume 1, History of the Foundation. Allied with Foundation Alliance forces to counter EBS, and fought in the War of Stellar Liberation to repulse the Empire. Same source. Engaged in interstellar commerce. Source: 2nd Dynasty, official Ministry of Trade Records on interstellar trade. Vacation destination for prosperous Volturan citizens. Source: VolturaA Handbook, Galactic Travel Solutions, 4th Dynasty. Planet totally destroyed in catastrophic collision with the rogue asteroid Gargantua, in 988 AFthat is, After Foundation. Estimated 950 million dead. Source: Astronomical Companion, 6th Dynasty. That’s it. There’s nothing further on Rima 2.”

“That’s it? A whole planet, dismissed in a few sentences?”

“By the Sixth Dynasty,” the Guardian said, “we were cut off from the rest of the Galaxy. Star travel was only a memory then. You can see they were piecing the info together from the few available sources. Also

nobody cared.”

“The asteroid Gargantua.”

“We can look it up.”

“Yeslet’s do that,” I said. “And one other subject to research. A galactic plague that hit the far reaches of the sector sometime prior to Rima 2’s demise. It got as far as Rima 2.”

“A galactic plague,” the Guardian repeated.

“A galactic plague. Think back

to anything you’ve ever read

about a galactic plague.”

“I’m thinking.”

Nine hundred and fifty million dead. A blood-red sky. A titanic bangand everything they did, all of it, blown away in a blinding flash. The end of the world, Judgment Day, for Rima 2. And what had they left behind, for all their struggles, for all their dreams? A few lines in a book? Is that all they’re going to say about us? Children of the dust, I thought. We are all children of the dust.

***

“We wish to thank you,” I said.

“It’s nothing,” the Guardian replied. We stood by a huge starite vault door that led to the outer world. The entire library was a closed environment, sealed off from the outsideexcept when the Guardian wanted to open it. He had shown us the recycling system, primitive but effective, still working after several centuries.

“We’ll be back, probably tomorrow,” I said. “It’ll be awhile before our ship picks us up.”

“I’ll continue researching the subjects you asked about.”

“We’ll bring more of those renewable canteens, and dox, and some cases of E-rats.”

“We thank you.”

“And thanks for this!” Fingers said, raising his gold bar. “If you find any more that are getting in your way, I’ll be happy to take them off your hands.” Kesan was by his side, gazing up at her hero in rapt adoration.

The Guardian smiled, and pulled at the lever that controlled the vault door. Air hissed around the edges. Our comsets shrieked at us.

“Thinker, Psycho! Recording! Omni ship has landed! Unloaded one Ohe’s in our sights! Permission to blast him! Call me as soon as you reestab commo! Scut!”

“Thinker, Redhawk! Recording! Permission to attack! The O ship is back in orbit and I’m set to fire! Give me the word, it’s space junk!”

“Psycho, Redhawk, Thinker,” I called out as we burst out the door and into bright sunlight. “Hold your fire! Sitrep! Psycho first!” My tacmap filled with data. We slogged up a hill of sand. The door to the library was hidden in the wreckage of a collapsed stone temple. I could see the O now on my tacmap, a glowing red dot. The psybloc on my comtop was flashing. I slipped the safety off my E, set it to canister, and snapped my visor down. No armordeto!

“Thinker, Psycho! It’s about time! The O’s messing around near the place you entered. See the zero. Just one O! It knows damn well we’re here! No psypower so far! Permission to fire. He’s in our sights!”

“Negative, hold your fire! Redhawk, report!”

“I’ve got the O ship zeroed. It’s in low combat orbit. No indication it’s aware of my presence. Just one ship, permission to fire!”

“Negative, that’s a Twelve, Redhawk, do not fire! Nobody fires unless I give the wordacknowledge!”

“Tenners. Deadman!”

“Ten. Don’t wait too long!”

“I’ve got the O zeroed,” Trigger said. His Manlink was at his shoulder.

“Keep it zeroed, Trigger, but don’t fire. Dragonit’s over there. Do you see it?”

“I see it.” A glowing red dot on my tacmap, reflected on my visor, icy terror flooding my veins. My whole being was rushing right into that pulsating, bloody dot.

“We’re going to have to face it, Dragon.” I was having a little trouble breathing.

“Ah

how about we just kill it?”

“No. Don’t tempt me. Face to face. You know why it’s here.”

“Deadman. After you.” Dead. We were dead, I was convinced. The O was wandering in the ruins of a gigantic colonnaded building sunk in the sands, not far from the entrance to the library. It seemed to have the word on where to look.

“Trigger, if the O fires at us, blow him apart. Use a tacstar if you have to. Drop it right on top of us.”

“Tenners.”

“We’ve got it zeroed, Thinker!” Psycho hissed. I knew he was salivating to kill that O.

We slogged up a mountainous sand dune and down the other side and the O stopped moving.

“It sees us!”

“Wonderful.”

The O came in sight from behind a line of massive, ruined columnsan evil violet glow, the force field masking a tall, skeletal figure in burnished dark armor, all blurry behind the field, long spidery arms with joints in the wrong places, holding a weapon across its concave chest. I tried not to look at the split head. Even in armor, it was just too scary. My heart was thumping.

“All right

” I said. “Close enough. Dragon, put down your E.”

“Could you repeat that?”

“You heard me. It’s not firing. Put the E down.” Dragon carefully placed his E on the sand by his boots. I lowered mine as well.

The O looked at us for a frac, then bent over slowly and placed its own weapon on the sands by its feet.

“Psybloc off,” I ordered, powering mine off, cringing as I did so. Dragon followed. We were totally in its power now.

The O’s force field flickered, faded, and popped off. I could only look at it, stunned.

“Hold your fire,” I said. We began walking forward to meet the O. What the hell else could we do? I wanted to turn and runbut I didn’t.

We paused, almost within arm’s length of the creature. It was frighteningly tall, looming over us ominously, clad in dull black armor. Thank God that massive helmet was covering its awful face.

“Dragon, pass him the printout of that old sector navchart, and our own sector chart. And pass him the print of that entry on Rima 2.”

“Tenners.” Dragon dug the three documents out of his beltpak and held them out in his gloved fingers. The O reached out one long arm and snatched them up. I could see only death, lurking behind its blackened, split faceplate.

“All right, that’s it. Back offslowly,” I said.

“Good idea,” Dragon whispered. I was sweating profusely. I could feel the drops, sliding down my temples, dripping off the tip of my nose. The O watched us as we backed away, but made no move to follow. When we recovered our weapons we did not power on the psybloc, and the O kept his field down. When we put the sand dune between us again I breathed a giant sigh of relief. Thank God for Dragon! I certainly couldn’t have done that alone. The fellow has ice water in his veins.

“Thanks, Thinker,” Dragon said. “That was a little scary. I’m not sure I would have done that without you.”

Chapter 10

On the Cross

“That’s all of it?” Tara put down the mission report. She was as lovely as ever, but she seemed weary, speaking sparingly and moving slowly. A disorderly collection of printouts littered the conference table before her.

“That’s it,” I replied. Snow Leopard, Dragon and I faced Tara and another Starcom officer across the table in a small conference room in the CS Atom’s Road. I did not know the officer. He looked young, but everybody looked young in the Legion. Tara had not introduced us so it was unclear if he was her super or sub. Starcom officers did not normally wear rank insignia. Unopened dox cups were set in front of each of us. We were too nervous to pop them.

“I take full responsibility,” Snow Leopard said. “I can assure you Squad Jox uncovered all the information on Rima 2 that could be found in the library of Imperial Padan. The Guardian was most cooperative and was able to come up with quite a lot in addition to the original entry in that encyclopedia. Unfortunately there was only that one reference to the White Deaththe list of human and O worlds that had been stricken by the fungus, and an estimated death count on each world. However, Rima 2 was not listed, as the list had been compiled before the plague reached it. And by that time Odura was pretty much cut off from the rest of the galaxy.”

“Nothing else?” Tara’s companion asked. A pale face, prominent bones, dark eyes.

“That’s it. Our pilot sent probes into every dead ship in orbit while he was up there waiting for the squad. Nothing. Upon completion of the mission, the Die Young orbited Volturathe closest world stricken by the White Death. Much of the planet was covered by the fungus. The remnants of human civilization lay in ruins, and the only higher life form was the fungus. We didn’t have time to chat with the Mind, but the stuff is certainly alive. We recovered samples of the substance, and it’s undergoing analysis by the lifies.”

“The O,” Tara interrupted. “Did you pass all of the information to him?”

“We passed everything,” I said. “We had three contacts. All it gave us was that one cube we passed you earlier.”

“I see,” Tara replied, then fell silent. She appeared to be deep in thought.

“It’s gone, Tara,” I said. “Rima 2 is gone. We failed.” I liked to put things in perspective.

“Squad Jox did not fail,” Snow Leopard interrupted, glaring at me. “They did all that was possible. The target world had been destroyed. But they identified its former location, and learned all that could be learned. Squad Jox performed its mission flawlessly. If there is to be any blame assigned here, I demand full responsibility.”

Tara looked up in annoyance. “Stop talking about responsibility. The mission was successful. The information you’ve brought us is invaluable. We’re just going to have to

change our plans.”

“Has there been any progress in countering the White Death?” I asked.

Tara sighed, and looked down at the table. “No. The lifies are still helpless. Last week there was a riot at the starport on Veronica 2. The Legion was evacuating women and children, but only limited numbers could go. The women were fighting for their children, Wester. It degenerated into a riot, then a stampede. Hundreds were injured. Scores of children were killedtrampled and crushedbefore the Legion could restore order with vac. It was terrible, Westerterrible. A Legion world, falling into chaos. The Legion, having to fire vac at women and children. It’s a tragedy, Wester. We’ve got to counter this plague! If we don’t, it will destroy ConFree, the System, even the O’s

it will destroy humanity. Our worlds will look just like Voltura.”

“What can we do?”

“For the momentnothing. Return to Recon. We’re going to do all we can to unlock the secrets of the White Death. Perhaps the samples you brought back will help. In the meantime, we’ll keep Recon busy. Thanks for the mission, guys. Don’t despair. We’ll never stop trying. As for me, I’m being reassigned. Wester, I’ll keep in touch with you.”

“Where are you being reassigned, Tara?” I asked.

“Quaba 7. Starcom seems to need me there.”

“We’ll have to tell him about the result,” Tara’s companion remarked.

“I’ll tell him,” she responded. “Thank you, Snow Leopard, Dragon, Thinker. Dismissed.” We got up and left. I wondered who ‘him’ was, and how he would react to our report.

***

I pressed at the door chime, again. The notice on the door flashed red at me: Please Do Not Disturb. Finally the recording came on.

“Captain Antara Tarantos-Hanna wishes not to be disturbed. Please leave a message at the tone.”

“Tara, it’s Wester. Open the door. I’m not leaving until I see you.”

I waited a bit longer. It was very late at nightprobably why she did not want to be disturbed. The door clicked and slid open. It was dark inside. I stepped in. The door slid shut behind me. All the lights were out. A faint, fresh perfume was in the air. It was cool and quiet. I stood there as my eyes adjusted to the dark. Finally I could make out Tara. She was sitting on the floor, long legs folded beneath her, hands in her lap, clad in shorts and a sleeveless top. Her eyes were closed.

I knelt before her, silently. In the dark her face looked almost holy. All the weariness was gone. But I knew there was no escape for her, ever.

“Hello, Wester.” It was a whisper. Her eyes remained closed.

“Tara.” I hesitated. “I failed you, Tara.”

“On the contrary. You’ve given me exactly what I need. You found Chudit.”

“But it’s not there any more, Tara.”

“A momentary setback, Wester.” Still a whisper, eyes closed. As if she was in another world. “Deadman is testing us. We shall not be found wanting. The secret of the White Death is to be found on Chuditon Rima 2. And we’re going to uncover that secret. No matter what the obstacles.” She was almost glowing. Little drops of sweat beaded her brow. A tiny speck of hope came alive within me.

“You’ve rebuilt the Star of Dindabai,” I whispered. The Star of Dindabai was humanity’s first time-drive starship. Using the secrets of the Star, it had torn us a hole in the cosmos, plunging us into an alternate universe, and into the past. Most of Beta owed their lives to that technology, but the Star of Dindabai had been subsequently vaporized in a battle with rogue ConFree elements. And the Star, source of all that knowledge, had been destroyed by Gildron, Tara’s eternal love, when he had died for us all.

“No, Wester. We certainly considered it. But it was determined building a clone was not justified.”

“But you’ve got the D-neg! You told me you had the D-neg!” The D-negexotic matter from Plane Primegave us the power to cheat time. Without it, true time travel, into the past, was not possible.

“Yes, Wester. We have the D-neg. But we’ve learned some things since our return voyage to Uldo. We’ve done some experimenting. We have learned there are some very

rigid

physical limits

on transporting a living being into the past.” Tara sighed, and a peaceful smile appeared. Her eyes were still closed. She looked serene.

“What limits, Tara?” My blood was ice-cold.

“Two hundred years is pushing it. More than that, and your internal organs start to rupture. Don’t ask how we found that out. We were lucky with Uldo. It was only a few years back, so it didn’t matter that we didn’t know about the limits. It seems you can go as far as you want into the future, but only a limited distance into the past. I believe it’s Mother Nature’s way of telling us we’re doing something wrong. Chudit was a hundred thousand years ago. Well beyond the limits.”

“So there’s no hope.”

She continued with that unearthly smile. “As long as my heart continues beating in my body, there is hope. Come closer.”

I leaned forward. She reached out to me and her slim fingers wrapped around my hand convulsively and her exotic Assidic eyes snapped open. They were hot and smokyburning like a volcano.

“If you think this is going to stop me, you still don’t know me. I’m not going to stop until the White Death is vanquished, or I’m dead. You once said you were my attack dog. Well, you still are, Wester. And I need you. The Legion is going to stop the plague. And I am the Legion. So are you. Once I’m ready, I’ll call you. I’m going to need my attack dog when that day comes. And I know you’re not going to rest either, until this is done. I bless you, Wester. In Deadman’s name, I bless you.” And she made the sign of the Legion, over my face. I knew better than to ask any more questions. Tara was on it. That’s all I had to know. I got up and said goodbye.

***

“Pits, Mams, we’ve secured the target. Should be moving shortly. No response yet from Starguard. Li’l Miss Miss is standing by.” The report crackled in my ears. We were downside on Pherdos, A & A, on our way to the rendezvous with Kiss. And behind us, a Pherdan town was burning. It was early morning. The velvet sky was full of lovely stars but the town was aflame, lighting up the horizon in a ruddy glow, outlining the skeletons of shattered buildings in stark black relief. The Pherdan base was right on the edge of town and we had taken it out along with the spaceport.

“Dragon, Redhawk, I’m on the way.”

“Tenners, we’ll be there.” A yellow flash lit up the night, followed by a heavy boom from the town. The base was still going off.

“Thinker, Priestess, Dragonyou’re rear security. Maintain your zero.”

“Tenners.”

“Ten.” I was in knee-deep swampland by the side of the road. The roadway was slightly elevated from the swamp. It was full of Fleetcom vacheads, males and females, a long line of them, unarmored, visible only as shadows now, headed for evac, courtesy of Recon. They were the crew of the supply ship C.S. Genie. The Genie had been detained by a Pherdan tacship on some vague chargeprobably as a pretext to seize the cargo. The System was disintegrating and the brand-new Pherdan Federation was becoming increasingly erratic. Detaining a ConFree starship was insane, and guaranteed a Legion response. Mams and Li’l Miss Miss had just successfully seized the Genie in orbit while Pits and Kiss had annihilated the downside garrison and liberated the crew.

I stood there in the early morning dark, secure in my A-suit, my E on my hip. Sweety scanned the tacmap for more opposition. We didn’t use Holo-X for Systiesthat was reserved for the O’s. There were not enough units so we had to choose our targets carefully. I didn’t care. The mission was proceeding nicely. Lots of dead Pherdans and no Legion casualties. They were clearly unprepared for the consequences of their actions.

As I watched the burning glow on the horizon, the system’s double stars began to rise from right behind the burning town, staining the skies an electric greenish-white, a magnificent symphony of color. Off to one side stood a gaunt stone ruin that looked like a cathedral. I recalled reading in the target study that the inhabitants had worshipped a deity before the Systies imposed control many years ago. A lovely skeletal black cathedral was outlined in pink by that glowing horizon. The crew of the Genie continued along the road, still only shadow figures. A faint wind moaned lightly.

“Priestesslook.”

“I see.” She was on the other side of the road, looking back at the holocaust. “It’s beautiful.”

A ghostly flutter passed over us. It was the Kiss, gliding in to the rendezvous. I thanked Deadman for that glorious dawn and thought, again, of the deadly plague sweeping the galaxy. Months had passed since my last talk with Tara. The White Death had hit the System with a vengeance. Chaos ruled everywhere the fungus appeared, System or ConFree. The Legion was dealing with iteven if it only meant dealing with death. A religious revival was sweeping infected ConFree worlds. But for us, it should not have mattered. Recon was kept quite busy doing Deadman’s work. What we were doing was good. Tara had said it. The crew of the Genie was now free again. But a whole lot of Pherdans were dead. Good seemed to flow from evil, somehow. To free a slave, to rescue a child, to liberate a comrade, you had to kill somebody else. That was the equation. And we were first-class killers.

“Dragon, Redhawk. Commencing loading. We’ll be making several tripsLi’l Miss Miss has got to cover Genie.”

“Redhawk, Dragon. Tenners. Just do it. We’ll cover you.”

I settled down in the mud next to the roadway. The double suns were visible now, a brilliant white, an electric green, right behind that old cathedral. Lord, what a view. It was heavenly.

“Priestess, Thinker.”

“Yes, Three.”

“I’m never going to leave you.”

“On the cross, Three. On the cross.”

“Tenners.” I listened to the music of the stars in my helmet as those two suns rose up. It was truly lovely. But none of it could banish that cold knot in my stomach. We had failed, on Odura. I had failed. Chudit was gone, and Chudit held the secret of the White Death. Millions were dying, millions more were sure to die, of the plague. We were only marking time here, I knew. If the plague could not be stopped, nothing else would matter.

It was like a curse. And it was not going to go away unless we did something.

***

“I have an appointment with Captain Tarantos-Hanna of Galactic Information.” I was at what I hoped was the last door between myself and Tara in the inner portals of Hqs, 22nd Legion, on Quaba 7. It had been a long trip, I was just off the ship, and I was tired.

“ID please?” I handed over my ID. He was a very large, exceptionally alert trooper in an A-vest with a handgun at his waist. I knew the E would be under the counter, within easy reach. He waved my ID at a screen, and handed it back. “What’s it about?” he asked.

“I have an appointment.”

“What’s it about?”

“I have no idea. Perhaps you could ask Captain Tarantos-Hanna, if you’re so curious.” I was in no mood for nonsense.

“She’s not a captain,” he said, triggering the door. It slid open, and I walked into Tara’s inner sanctum. It was a large, airy office, brightened by a full-length armorplex window with a terrific view of the Hqs building and the starport beyond. The sky was darkening. It might rain. A group of people broke away from Tara’s conference desk, heading for the door as Tara approached me. She was as lovely as ever, slim and alluring, but she was not smiling.

“Who’s the goon?” I asked, as the others disappeared.

“You mean Delta Two. He was assigned to me. He’s kind of a

bodyguard.”

“You should teach him some manners.”

“That’s not important, Wester. How are you?” She stood before me, almost at attention.

“I’m fine. And how are you, Tara?”

“Not so good. But that’s not important either. Are you ready for a new mission?”

“What mission is that, Tara?”

“The mission we talked about before, Wester. The mission to Chudit. The only mission of any real importance for the survival of humanity.”

“Chudit isn’t there any more, is it?”

“That doesn’t matter, Wester.”

“You told me time travel is not possible, to a destination a hundred thousand years in the pastlike Chuditunless you want to arrive there dead.”

“That’s true.”

“You also told me the Legion decided not to build another copy of the Star of Dindabai.”

“Also true. But none of that matters, Wester. I’ve solved the problem. And you’re going to help me. Now. Will you do it?” Her eyes blazed. I knew every word she was saying was true. The Star was still in her, still doing its unholy work, boring holes in her brain, wreaking its awful magic. Gildron may have killed the Star, but he could not kill what was already in her. She had to cope with that by herself.

“Of course I’ll do it,” I said. There was no way I could have refused this onenot even if they had told me the chances for my survival were zero. I remembered a previous pledge I had made to myselfnever to get involved with Tara again. Don’t even waste your time thinking about it, I thought. We don’t do what we want. We have no choice at all. We are microbes on the breath of God.

“He’s ready,” a female voice said from Tara’s comset.

“All right, Lori. Is the shuttle set?”

“Standing by.”

“Tell them we’re on the way. Come on, Wester, we’ve got to hurry.” She grabbed me by an elbow and hustled me out of her office and into a corridor full of office flunkies bustling to and fro. Some of them appeared to be rather high-ranking.

We took an elevator up to topsides and emerged into an outer alcove where we were quickly carded and cleared. The door slid open to reveal an office even larger than Tara’s, with a spectacular view of the entire Legion-Fleetcom complex and the starport beyond. The opposite wall was covered with dscreens, most of them active. A starmap table was off to one side. We passed about a squad of high-ranking Fleetcom officers heading for the door. One man remained, clad in Legion black, standing behind the desk. He looked young, slim and fit, average height, with short, neatly clipped brown hair, a pale, fine-boned face, and eyes that burned with an unholy light. All our leaders had those eyes. It seemed to be some kind of requirement.

“One, this is Thinker of Recon,” Tara said. “Thinker, Two Two One.” I snapped to attention and fired off a salute. This was the new Commander of the 22nd Legion, the Rimguard. He was the successor to Pointman, LC One, the sainted former leader of the Lost Command. Tara was certainly moving in rarified circles.

He returned my salute slowly, taking me in with his eyes. “At ease, trooper.” I snapped to at ease. “Sothis is Thinker. Is he as good as you say, Tara?”

“Better!”

“Trooper” he said, glaring at me, “I have examined Galactic Information’s ops plan and concluded it is feasible. However, it’s going to be up to you to make it work.”

“Yes sir!”

“Can you do it?”

“Yes sir!”

“Good. The future of the human race may very well be decided by the outcome. That’s a grave responsibility. Tara tells me you’re up to it. Total success is the only acceptable result. Are you willing to accept those limits?”

“Yes sir!”

“Good.” A buzzer sounded on his desk. “Yes.”

“The Capella people are here, sir.”

“Show them in. Thinker, Tarareport back to me upon successful completion of the mission.”

“Yes sir,” Tara said quietly.

“Yes sir!” I snapped off another salute. He returned it listlessly. As we reached the door he called after me.

“Thinker.”

“Yes sir?” I paused in the doorway.

“Good luck.”

“Yes sir!”

Tara rushed me back into the elevator, down to ground level and into an aircar for a fast ride to the starport, where we were hustled into a shuttle. I settled into a seat beside Tara and the shuttle began rolling almost immediately, then lifted, wheeling over the port, gaining speed. Raindrops streaked past the plex of the passenger windows. The nuclear roar faded away as we broke through the sound barrier, heading for the vac. The flight was almost desertedjust Tara and me and a few others. I spotted Delta Two, sitting several rows behind us.

“Doesn’t he ever leave you alone?” I asked.

“It’s his job.”

“What would he do if I molested you?”

“Wester

“

I put an arm around her and pulled her close and gave her a wet sloppy kiss on the ear. She giggled and blushed and put a hand on my knee.

“Stop it, Wester! That was a long time ago. Too long. A million years agoback when we were both human. But we’re not now. We are both

slaves of the Legion. And we’ve got a mission to fulfill. There’s no time to play.”

I sighed, and released her. “All right. Why don’t you tell me about it. Especially since I so enthusiastically told Two Two One I would do it or die. Exactly what have I agreed to?”

“You were perfect back there, Wester.”

“Yeahnothing to it. All you have to do with people like that is say ‘yes sir’ nine or ten times. It requires no thought and they love it. Next time please brief me on the mission before I discuss it with your superior, not after.”

“Sorry, Wester. There was no time. Well, we’ll be in orbit soon. I believe they’re stopping at Quaba Fleet Dock first, and dropping off some cargo and passengers. Then we’ll be moving off to our destination.”

“Which is?”

“It’s in distant orbitnot too far. I’ll explain everything once we’re there. You’ll see.”

“You never change, Tara. What’s your new job, anyway? That’s a nice office you’ve got back there.”

“Didn’t anybody tell you? I’m Chief of Galactic Information for the Outvac. I’m a commander now. It’s an important position, Wester. But for the moment there’s only one piece of information the Legion wants from me. And that’s the data on the White Death. If I can’t give them that, I’m history. That data is located on Chudit, Westerand you’re going to get it for me. I’m sending you to Chudit.”

Chief of Galactic Information for the Outvac! Tara’s rehabilitation was complete. Only a few years ago she was breaking rocks with me in a Legion stockade. And now she was hobnobbing with the Chief of the 22nd Legion. Quite a comeback!

“Well that’s fine, Tara. Congratulations. Let me know when you’re ready to tell me how I’m going to get this information for youand how I’m going to visit a world that’s no longer there. What are we going to do? Search every asteroid in Chudit’s former orbit? That shouldn’t take longer than a couple of thousand years. Humanity might be dead by then, at the rate we’re going.”

“No, Wester. We’re not going to do that. Just relax. I’ll tell you everything once we arrive. Now I’d like a few moments of peace and quiet.” And she pushed her seat back and closed her eyes and was asleep in moments.

***

“Permission to come aboard,” Tara said.

“Granted. Welcome aboard, Commander.” The boarding officer gave us a sharp salute and a recording piped us aboard. According to the inscription on the bulkhead of the boarding dock, we were entering the Confederate transport Lifeline. It was spotless and evidently brand new. I had not heard the name before. A brace of Fleetcom vacheads accompanied us along a bright, gleaming corridor, led by a Fleetcom Commander. He seemed to know Tara. That was odda transport did not rate a flag officer.

“We’re going to the launch bay, Wester,” Tara said. “What I want to show you is there.”

“Whatever you say.”

“Wester, this is Commander Sento Alran. His sole mission is to support you.”

“That’s right, Thinker,” the commander said. “We’re here to make your mission a success. Anything you need, you come see me.” He was in Fleetcom black, a tall trooper with short blond hair and icy blue eyes.

“Yes sir,” I said. “Thank you.”

The launch bay hatches hissed open and we found ourselves on a walkway that ran around the bay. The great bay was dark except for the creature inside. It was a massive ship, dead black but glowing a pale violet in the spotlights. I could see instantly that the launch bay was built especially for this ship, and that the C.S. Lifeline itself must have been special-built as a launching platform for this exotic bird. She was perhaps four times the size of one of our Phantoms. Her lines were different. The shape was vaguely delta, but it did not look like it was built for the at. Also I could see no cockpit or viewports. It appeared to be sealed. An awesome, lovely thing, a cruel Legion lady, a deadly dark bat from the bowels of Hellthat much was evident in a single glance. Then I followed her lines to the front and I understood. A long, thick boom led to a bulbous, oval nose.

I closed my eyes as my fingers gripped the cold railing of the walkway. Tara was at my side, silent, letting me soak it up. Finally she spoke.

“What do you think, Wester? Isn’t she beautiful?”

“This is a D-neg time-drive starship, Tara.”

“That’s right, Wester. You’re looking at the Confederate Ship Salvation. She’s a drone. There’s no crew. We control her from here.”

“How is this going to help us?”

“I’m about to tell you.”

“I thought you said the Legion had decided against building any more D-neg time drive starships.”

“I didn’t say that, Wester. You’ve got to listen. I said we had decided against rebuilding a copy of the Star of Dindabaiin light of what we had learned about the physics of time travel.”

“I see.”

“We’ve built

more than one

of these little ladies.”

“Drones.”

“Drones.”

“What good does that do us? Observation?”

“Better than that. Do you remember the realtime starlink I used to communicate with you after we found you washing dishes on Nimbos? The one you refused to believe?”

“Yes. I refused to believe it because it would have meant faster than light transmissionsand that’s impossible.”

“But it worked, didn’t it?”

“Sometimes.”

She laughed. “Teething problems. It worked, Wester. And it works better now. Do you recall what made it work?”

“Something to do with quantum effects.”

“That’s rightquantum entanglement. As Whit told you at the time, we did not violate the speed of light. We simply avoided it. We went somewhere it doesn’t apply. If you separate quantum particles that were once together you have a quantum connection. Once you’re in the quantum world, things change. You can use the quantum particles to send signals via that connectioninstantaneouslyeven from a hundred light years away. Or a thousand. The quantum connection always applies, no matter what the distance. It’s not really superluminal, but in effect it is. We used it for instantaneous text signalling, for instantaneous voice signalling, for instantaneous vid signalling, and then

well, I’ll show you. Follow me.”

***

A young tech in a lab coat rose to greet us as we entered the installation. I recognized it immediately. It was a Holo-X control room, but it appeared a bit larger and more complex than the last one I’d seen.

“Wester, this is Jason. Jason, Wester. His war name is Thinker. Get to know each other. You’re going to be spending a lot of time together.”

“Glad to meet you at last!” Jason said. “Everything’s ready.” He was a slender, intense youth with straight longish hair, wearing a single Legion cross earring, and he grinned at me in unrestrained delight.

“You know how the Holo-X concept works, Wester,” Tara said. “You’ve used it in combat successfully. You’ll be using it on this mission as well. With a few changes. This is how we do it: All the outputyour image and all the data to form your holo at the target siteis channeled into a quantum duplicator, rather than being focused directly onto the target. The quantum duplicator then transfers all that informationinstantaneouslyto its sister unit in the C.S. Salvation. The Salvation is equipped with a descrambler that takes those quantum signals and switches them back to Holo-X images. The images are then transmitted downside to the target from the Salvation, through a regular Holo-X transmission, and your image forms thereinstantaneously. The Holo-X receiver sensors copy the local environment and flash it back to the Salvation via the holo link. It is then fed into the quantum duplicator and transferred via the quantum connection to its sister unit in our ship. The unit descrambles it, transmits it to the Holo-X receiver, and the Holo-X unit forms the local environment around you, in your E-sim chamber, here on board. Again, instantaneous. We’ve tried it, Wester. It worksperfectly. We can’t visit the far past personally, but we can now do it via Holo-X. We’re sending the C.S. Salvation to Chudit, in the very distant past. The quantum connection is just as instantaneous from the far past to the present as it is from site to site in the present. We’re sending you there, Wester. You’re going to visit Chudit. You’re going to walk around there as a holo, and find out how those people beat the plague. The Legion has put a fortune into this technology. Now it’s up to you.”

“This is incredible, Tara.” I looked around the control center as the impact of what she was saying slowly sank in. “You’ve opened up the entire past to time travel. And we’re not even going to have to leave this room!”

“That’s right. And this technology is cosmic secret. You can’t tell anyone who’s not clearednot even Priestess.”

“I’ve never understood this, Tara. You’re going to aim the Salvation at

the orbit where Chudit used to be. But

a hundred thousand years ago, Chudit was nowhere near here. It was probably on the other side of the Galaxy, and the Galaxy was unimaginably distant from where it is now. How do you

“

“God works in strange ways, Wester. The mathematics of the cosmos is

elegant. Beautiful. Miraculous. We could hardly believe it, when we discovered it. It’s the Galactic Field. That’s what we named it. It’s one of the most powerful forces in our universe. Once you penetrate the time warp, you are riding the Galactic Field, right into the past. It’s like a quantum leap, bypassing everything that has happened since your target date. You’re trapped in the Field, until you power your way out. You’re right there in the past, wherever it was. It’s almost impossible to describe. But it’s truly

miraculous.”

“Well, you’ve done it again, Tara. Deadman, this is amazing!”

“It’s all going to be meaningless unless you are successful, Wester. We’ve had one ship out there for close to a month, observing. But observing won’t do it. The C.S. Lifeline is getting underway to the operational area as soon as I depart ship. The C.S. Salvation will then be launched, to replace the current time ship, which is strictly a recon craft. And when the Salvation arrives at the target, your mission begins. We’ve got a lot of info for you to absorb. Your briefings start immediately. Are you ready?”

“Yes, I’m ready. You must be tired, Tara.”

“YesI’m ready to drop. But I can’t stop until we are successful. Don’t fail me, Wester.”

“I’ll get what we need.”

“Goodbye, Wester. It’s up to you now. Good luck! Jasonwhatever he wants! Wester

“

“Yes?”

She traced a Legion cross over my face.

“Go with God.”

Chapter 11

Millie the Mole

“Thereperfect!” Alpha Six gave my hair one last dab with the hotcomb and stepped back to admire her work. She was a shapely blonde with very short hair and striking grey eyes. Her warname was Apples. I looked into the mirror. My naturally wavy hair was now straight and considerably thicker, done in a curious bowl cut, the sideburns chopped off, the back of my neck all shaved. My skin was several shades darker. I certainly looked different.

“All right!” Jason exclaimed. “You look just like one of those school kids in the recon shots!”

I got out of the chair and examined my image in the mirror critically. I was wearing a loose grey smock that fell almost to my knees, with sleeves that cut off some distance above the wrists, tight black trousers with slits at the ankles, and chunky, silvery airweight plastic shoes. I did indeed look a lot like many of the young layabouts we had seen in the shots. The humans of Sagitta were physically similar to us, and Chudit’s culture seemed remarkably laid-back and quiet. No fanatic religious zealots, no mad power-hungry politicals, no crazy dress codes. The place was fascinating.

Our recon ship, hovering above Chudit in the distant past, had collected millions of remarkable images of the planet. None of the images gave us even a hint of the White Death, or how the authorities had countered it. We did not know exactly when the plague had struck Chuditor Rima 2, as the natives called itbut we did have a general idea. We were targeting an estimated hundred years or so after the eventslightly before the fateful day in 988 AF when Chudit intersected the orbit of the rogue asteroid Gargantua.

The images of Chudit were by then burnt into my brain. So was the language. The probe had been listening as well as observing. I was readyas ready as anyone could be to plunge into the past. The Salvation was poised above the planet, invisible and fully operational. The Legion had put everything into this one. The fate of humanity might very well be determined by the results of this mission.

It had been over a month since I had seen Taraa month with very little sleep. And even when I was asleep, the psymon was on and Control was whispering the language into my ears, into my brain. I was ready. I was burning with determination.

I knew I must not fail.

“All set?” Jason was at the controls. Several spectators hovered behind an observation portCommander Alran and a few others. It was time. I looked over to the open doorway of the E-Sim Holo-X chamber.

“Let’s do it.” I walked in and took up my position, standing in the exact center of the ES chamber. A featureless white dome loomed overhead. The door sealed itself behind me.

“Commo check,” Jason whispered in my ears.

“Ten high,” I responded.

“Ten high,” Jason confirmed. “All links report ready status. Target acquired. Quantum links live; Holo-X live. Initiating circuit.”

The dome flickered and flashed and vanished. I was suddenly in a thick forest, and I almost fell as my shoes hit a wet mossy carpet of rotted leaves. Great dark trees rose all around me. I reached out for one of them to regain my balance. I could feel the texture of the bark. Sunlight shone through the leafy canopy above me. It was slightly cooldelightfully cool, I decided. The Holo-X adjusted itself to reflect it. The entry coordinates rippled across my vision in red. A drop of water hit my temple and dribbled down my face. A thrill crept over my flesh. I was more than a hundred thousand stellar years in the past, and walking the surface of a long-dead worlda world that no longer even existed. And I was suddenly terrified. Last chance, I thought. I was not afraid for me. No one could have been more invulnerable than I, at that point. But I was afraid of what might happen if I should fail. It was unthinkable. I must not fail!

“Thinker, Jason, commo test.”

“Jason, Thinker, ten high. Nothing to report. Let’s knock off the call signs, all right? There’s nobody on this channel but us.”

He shut down. I got my bearings and began walking. The insertion point was well inside the forest. It was going to be a moderately long walk, but I didn’t mind. I needed the time to adjust to the new environment. Rima 2Chudit. Our targetthe ultimate target! The secret of the White Death was hidden on this world, and I was going to find it! The grav was fine, the cool, pale grey sky was delightful. I came to a foot path and followed it out of the forest to a little dirt road that ran through bright green fields to a wide, dusty highway of packed red earth. This was it. I began walking the grassy edge of the road, passing cultivated fields full of an unidentifiable crop. More forest, a stream, another type of cultivated vegetation, a crude brown earth dwelling set off in the distance, a thin wisp of smoke leaking from a chimney, no people visible.

A vehicle whizzed past me, trailing a plume of dustan E-car, hissing over the surface of the road on a thick cushion of air. Fracs later, another one rocketed past. They were heading the same direction as I. A road sign materialized out of the dust cloud. I could not read it, but Jason could. Red letters formed in the air, just before meLAKESIDE, 12 ZM.

“What’s a zim?” I asked.

“Sorry,” Jason responded immediately. “MeasurementsdistanceZM. One Xenom equal to 1.7 K. All right, so that’s about 15.4 K.”

“Thanksout.” I did not want to chat, except when absolutely necessary. 15 Kas planned. But it was quite a walk. We could certainly insert closer to the target next time. We were being too damned cautious.

Another car blasted past me in a burst of raucous music, then slid to a halt in a massive dust cloud. As it cleared, I saw it was a shiny yellow E-car with an autoroof in the down position. The driver leaned back over his seat, a young male with long blond hair, grinning at me.

“S’na lyto?” The translation appeared before my eyes in brilliant red letters: WANT A LIFT?

THANKS/GA’TO. NO THANKS/TANO GA’TO. More red letters. They were mils from my eyes, in the ES chamber, but nobody could see them on this world except me.

“Ga’to,” I said, desperately trying to figure out how the door opened. He solved the problem by triggering it open himself. I slipped in beside him. He sat in the center driver’s seatthere were passenger seats on either side of him. We took off in a rush, the music still blasting away. A cool breeze flowed all around us. The driver smiled, bobbing his head in time with the music, his hair floating in the breeze. He wore a loose smock like mine.

“Zemba Ti-sa masi?” HEADED FOR LAKESIDE CITY?

YES/ZED. NO/TANO. “Zed.”

We continued the conversation in this way, with several long pauses from me as I read the answers. I had taken the crash psych language course and was anxious to try it out myself, but I was grateful for the autoread on his comments.

“You’re not from around here, are you?”

“No.”

“Where are you from?”

“Peta Jaya.”

“Peta Jaya! Whoa! That’s the other side of the world! They don’t even speak Trib there, do they?”

“No. A little.”

“That’s really exciting! Have you ever seen any Man-ghuls there?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Man-ghulssnow beasts. They eat people.”

“No.”

“No?” He seemed disappointed. “Peta Jaya! That’s something! Well, you’ll find Lakeside a little quiet, after where you’re from. Very quiet.”

“Quiet?”

“Boring. Boring, man! I go there for the bunnies. There’s no action there but it’s so quiet they’re lined up waiting for Mister Good Lovin’ to take them away, and here I am, man.”

“Bunnies?”

“Girls! Man, you’ve been away awhile, haven’t you? It’s vacation. School’s out! Permanently for me, man, I’ve got a guild locked inha ha. Locksmith, man. Over in Hishamon City. Security. No worries. Not what I’d planned for my life. I wanted a little excitementbut there’s not much of that available here. Lookthere’s Lakeside.”

The city appeared as a line of distant low-rise white stone structures along the shores of a lake glittering in sunlight. A single tall tower with a top like a flower bud dominated the skyline. The dirt road suddenly turned into white gravel, and we passed under an arch of pale, delicately carved stone.

“Welcome to Lakeside!” the driver said. “That arch celebrates the founding of the city. Peace and Prosperity, it says, over the sign of the mailed fist. The last federal tax collector that showed up here was stripped and painted blue and marched back out that arch by the whole city. I still remember that.”

“You lived here?”

“Yeah. I went to school here. Nice placebut boring? Whoa! It’s quiet, clean, safe. The last real criminal was executed publicly in the stadium. Slime deserved it. I saw that, too. Yeah, it’s quiet.” We glided past a series of monumental public buildings constructed of white stone, blinding in the sunlight. The lake was somewhere up ahead, hidden now by a line of trees. Everything appeared new, clean, and orderly. A few pedestrians strolled along the sidewalk. More E-cars glided past us lazily.

“Very beautiful,” I ventured.

“Oh, it’s nice. A good vacation spot. That’s the museum on the left, and the library on the right. The Park Road runs around the lake. Shall I drop you off here? This is the center of town.”

“Yes. Thanks.” He pulled over next to the library.

“Well, keep score. Say, here’s my comcard. Rex Two Lammafam, at your service. Give me a call, we’ll hoist a cold one. Need a guide, a translator, I’m your man. What’s your name, buddy?”

“West One Outfam, at yours,” I said, stepping out of the car. I had memorized the phrase. “Thanks. We are friends.”

Another handy phrase. He beamed, raised an arm in farewell, and blasted off in a burst of music. I glanced at his comcard. It featured a head and shoulders holo that made him look vaguely like a god. I slipped it into a pocket. One contact. He might come in handy.

I stood on the sidewalk in the shadow of the imposing library building, carved in delicate filigree work from that marble-like white stone. The library faced the lake. Another wide gravel road circled around the shoreline, lined with shade trees. Park Road, Rex had called it. My side of the street was lined with neat little shops decorated with colorful signs and flags. Another impressive public building loomed in the distance. I decided the library could wait. I had to learn a lot more about the environment before tackling the library. Not to mention that my reading skills were very weak. I was definitely going to need some help.

I crossed the street, avoiding the few slow-moving E-cars, entering the shady park that lined the shore. The lake was suddenly visible. A dazzling sheen of sunlight reflected off the water. The lake was dotted with little pedal-boats, families and lovers out for a leisurely float. There was a lovely water fountain some distance off shore. From time to time it would shoot up to a spectacular height, spraying water over the boaters. Their laughter drifted in the air. In the park people sat lazily on benches in the shade, looking out over the lake. A family had spread out a meal on a tablecloth on the grass. Little kids ran around.

I strolled along the shore towards the tower. It was really impressive, a massive stone stem leading up to the structure that looked like a flower bud. There were windows up there with tiny people looking out. It must be quite a view, I thought.

I paused by a large crowd of kids and adults. They clustered around a long series of metal slots set up on the wide sidewalk. Little toy cars rocketed along inside the slots. Every once in awhile one would come hurtling out to crash into the spectators, to the delighted screams of the kids, who would recover them quickly and put them back in the slots. Adults stood around with the toddlers, watching. Older punks hovered in the background, shaking their hair back and pretending to be uninterested in the proceedings, glancing over from time to time at a gang of girls who were studiously ignoring them.

And I was suddenly overwhelmed with sadness. This was what life should bea walk in a sunlit park by a lake of liquid gold. Families, holding hands. Children, laughing. But it was the impossibly distant past, on a doomed world. I thought of Moontouch and Stormdawn. I thought of Priestess. We were trapped, in a lunatic struggle that was not going to end until we were all dead. A doomed world? We were all doomed.

I shuffled away from that joyful scene, full of despair. I followed the tacmap hovering in the air before me, away from the lake, past the shops, along a footpath into another park. This one had a lot of plastic tables and chairs set in the shade, most of them occupied by couples or groups chatting over snacks. It looked like lunch time. Two large, monumental stone buildings fronted the park. Several walkways and stairways led up into the buildings. People were coming and going. Control translated the inscriptions cut into the stoneLAKESIDE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL on one and LAKESIDE COLLEGE OF MEDICAL SCIENCE on the other. This was where we had decided to start.

I paused under a tree, looking over the crowd. Some of them were wearing pale blue or green smocks. Probably from the hospital, I thought, or maybe from some lab in the college. Most of these people were probably affiliated with one or the other of these two buildings. Couplesgroups.

I noticed a girl sitting alone, nibbling at what looked like a sandwich while peering at a little book. She wore a pale pink smock, but she did not look old enough to be out of midschool. She was tall and thin with short dark brown hair, somewhat ragged, cut in an odd, unattractive style. Heavy, oversized spectacles kept sliding down her nose while she was eating. From time to time she would push them back, but they’d slide right down again. Nice body, I thought, maybe a bit too skinny but slim and fit, nice long legs, possibly a virgin but with a little training she’d be terrific in bed. Those glasses will have to go. That’s how I summarized her, brutally, in my mind.

I decided to approach her. I needed a cooperative information sourcesomeone with a link to medical science. She was young, presumably inexperienced in the ways of the world, and hopefully impressionable. I was a bit older, cunning and ruthless. She’d be putty in my hands. Unless she criedor unbuttoned her blouse. Then I’d be the putty. I tried to think up a good pickup line, and suddenly realized that I’d never picked anyone up in midschool. Tara had picked me up, and that summarized my entire social life on Galgos. I flashed back to Andrion. My son Stormdawn, a precocious playschooler, was romping in the park with me when he spotted two little girls strolling past us. One of them was an especially pretty little blonde doll. Storm stared at her, fascinated. Then he abruptly walked over to her. Oh no, I thought, he’s going to pick her up. How do you do that, when you’re only in playschool?

‘Wanna see a spider?’ he asked. She went for it. March right up! A frontal assault might be bold but I didn’t seem to have much choice. However, the spider line was not going to do it here. I left the shelter of the tree, heading her way. I could feel my adrenalin surging. I had charged Systie positions under fire, with less trepidation than this.

“Greetings,” I said, smiling. “May I sit here? There are no other seats.” She looked up at me, startled, her glasses threatening to fall off her nose again, the pages of her book fluttering loose in a light breeze. She had just taken a bite of her sandwich so she was in no position to answer. I sat down across the table from her, still smiling.

“Sorry,” I said. “My Trib is not good.” She got her mouthful of food under control, put down the sandwich and turned her attention back to her book, trying to ignore me, only to discover she had lost her place. She was beginning to blush. She pushed her glasses back in place, evidently in a panic over my intrusion.

“Are you a nurse?” I was desperate to get her talking. Put that damned book away, girl! She stole a quick, almost frightened glance at me.

“Zed,” she said, almost in a whisper. All right! Spiders!

“You look very young,” I said in my fractured Trib. “You must be smart, to be a nurse. Have you finished school?” What a stupid line! I was still smiling, trying to appear relaxed, looking around the park. She was looking at me now, possibly trying to decide if I was making fun of her.

“Where are you from?” she asked suspiciously.

“I am from Peta Jaya,” I said. “I am visiting Lakeside. It is beautiful! I am very happy to see your city. You are lucky to live here.”

She smiled, and appeared to relax a bit. She had categorized mea foreignerpresumably harmless. All right! Thank you, Deadman. Now it’s up to me.

“Thanks,” she said. “It’s very quiet.”

“Do you work in the college?”

“No. I’m a trainee nurse in the hospital. It’s part-time work. I’m still in midschool, but I want to be a nurse.”

“That’s good. To help peopleit is important.”

She smiled again, a little sadly. Her book was forgotten. “Are you really from Peta Jaya?”

“Yes.”

“Have you seen any Man-ghuls?” Her eyes were wide.

“Yes. Very scary! Sorrymy Trib.”

She was looking at me directly now, through thick glasses, no longer stealing furtive glances. She pushed the glasses higher on her nose. She had fine features and wore no makeup. Very nice!

“What are you reading?”

She blushed immediately, and closed the book, hiding the title with one hand. I had already seen the cover arta young lady swooning in the arms of a dashing lover.

“Nothing,” she said. “Just a novel.”

“It is a nice day,” I said. “What is that tall tower at the lake?”

“Memorial Tower?” She seemed happy to change the subject. “You don’t know about Memorial Tower?”

“No. I am new here.”

“I thought everyone knew about Memorial Tower.”

“I wish to invite you to visit the tower with me. I am alone, and do not know the city.” I had memorized that last line.

She blushed scarlet, paralyzed with surprise, fumbling with her glasses again. “I

I cannot

“

“I am so happy to find someone to talk to. I do not know anyone here. You are very nice to talk with me.”

She smiled a little but was no longer looking at me. Her hands went back to her book. Come on, girllive a little! Take a chance!

“It’s the Mole! How’s my girl?” It was a booming voice from a large young punk approaching our table. He was one big kid, regulation bowl haircut, a tent-like smock, a fleshy face, fat loose lips, squinty little eyes, swaggering confidently. Two smaller satellite punks accompanied him, one little dark ferret-like sleazer with greasy hair, and one hard-looking blond thug with a ruddy complexion.

“Go away, Mega,” she sighed, opening her book again. The fat boy approached her, hovering over the table, ignoring me. The other two stood in the background smirking.

“What’s this?” Fat boy asked theatrically, spreading his arms in surprise. “Has the Mole finally got a boyfriend? Guy’s vision must be worse than yours. Maybe I should take your glasses again and give them to him. Ah ha ha! You reading more medical crap? What’s this?” He snatched the book from her hands. I was trying to read the running translation of his comments, hanging in the air before my eyes, but I was now getting upset. This goon was wrecking everything! Good lord! I stared at him in fascination. I could have sworn this fellow’s brother used to beat up on me in elementary school. The creep had tormented me for years. But that was a hundred thousand years in the future. Does God produce throw-backs like this in every civilization, just to keep the race alert?

“Aw haw haw! Take a look at this! Yesterday’s Love!” He tossed the book to the ferret. “She’s dreaming about me! Sorry, Mole, I’m no longer available. You missed your chance! Although I might reconsider if” I stood before him, almost nose to nose. I wanted to say something insulting and witty, like ‘shut your ugly yap,’ but due to the language barrier it didn’t come out exactly the way I intended.

“You stop talking now,” I said. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Then he laughed, delighted, and snatched at my smock with both fat hands, just below my neck. This gave me an excellent opportunity to reach over his grip with my right and apply a rear wristbreaker, grasping the fleshy part of his right palm with a nice firm grip, tearing the other side of his hand away to break his hold while forcing his arm up and over, snapping it suddenly to the right and down and jamming his hand back against his wrist. This is a rather painful hold, even when your opponent is not a Holo-X, and if done with a step-through it results in the bad guy being twisted around and thrown off balance immediately. I did it correctly, locking his arm straight and walking into him hard, keeping his wrist bent and his arm straight, driving him all the way down to the ground. He wound up with his nose digging a furrow in the grass, his right arm locked in place, and my left foot planted firmly on his shoulder. He didn’t like that at all, screaming his objections through a mouthful of dirt. I explained with a right kick to the face. I was seeing red and thinking about that creep back in midschool, so I didn’t hold back. I knew the kick would end it.

As I released my hold on his hand a fist came out of nowhere and glanced off my left cheek. The blond goon grimaced in shock and stared at his damaged hand in disbelief. You don’t want to hit a Holo-X. I swung at him with a right to the face and he dropped like he’d been shot in the head, his nose smashed and gushing blood. You don’t want to get hit by a Holo-X, either. The ferret kept his distance, staring goggle-eyed at the carnage. The rest of the lunch-time crowd gasped at the unexpected drama. I walked over to the ferret, snatched the book from his hand, and returned it to the girl, who had been watching in stunned disbelief.

“You come now,” I said, urging her up. She snatched up the remains of her sandwich, stuffed it with the book into a little shoulder bag, and came with me, pale and almost in shock. We left behind the ferret bending over his two companions, and a lot of curious people, watching our departure.

“Sorry,” I said as we headed out of the park towards the lake. “I do not want trouble. He was bad. Bad to you.” My vocabulary limited what I could say. I probably sounded like a retard.

“Where are we going?” she asked. We had just passed the row of shops on Park Road and entered the park by the lake. We paused in the shade.

“Can you show me the tower?” I asked, smiling.

“Are you hurt?” Her slim fingers went to my face in concern. “Jocko hit you.”

“No. I am good.”

She adjusted her glasses again, looking up at me. We had stopped walking. “Why did you do that?”

“You were good to me,” I replied, “and he was bad to you. I was

angry.”

She continued staring up at me, almost in amazement, almost in shock, almost as if she had just been struck by lightning.

“Who are you?” she whispered.

“I am your friend. My name is West-One Outfam. I am pleased to meet you. And your name?”

Her eyes filled with tears. She fumbled with her purse, ripped out some tissues, and dabbed at her eyes.

“What is wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing!” she gasped. She trembled, looking up at me through the tears. “My name is Millie. Millie S-Fam. And I thank you.”

“Why did he call you the Mole?” I asked. We resumed walking, headed towards the tower.

“Millie the Mole! Because I can’t see without these glasses. I never saw anyone hit Mega before. He’s such a bully.”

“I wish to invite you to the tower. Will you come with me?”

She looked up at me through those awful goggles, delighted. “Of course!”

I smiled back. “I want to see the view.”

“Excuse me, kids.” A young cop stood there on the path, blocking our way. He was trim and sharp, good build, nice tan uniform, sunglasses, boots, shiny buckles, electric nightstick, probable vac gun in a holster, comset. He looked right at me. I could tell that, even with the sunglasses. “Are you the fellow who decked the Mega and Jocko?” he asked. Another cop appeared out of the park, headed our way. Backup. Damncomplications!

“Yes sir,” I said. I knew damned well he already knew.

“Nice one!” he said with a giant grin, and turned away. “That’s not him!” he shouted to his partner. “Keep looking!”

We resumed our walk. “Why did he do that?” I asked.

“Because Mega is a troublemaker. The police don’t like him. Nobody likes him.”

“I will not let him come near you again.”

She looked up at me again, but did not say anything.

***

The view from the observation platform on the top of the tower was spectacular. We could see the entire city, glowing white in the sunlight, sprawling all around a lake of molten gold dotted with pleasure craft. The library and museum were prominent landmarks. Millie pointed out City Hall, her midschool, a couple of public swimming pools, the stadium, and the residential areas out in the suburbs.

People milled around us. School was out, and kids were everywhere. We stood on the outside balcony, breathing in fresh air. It seemed cooler up there, although it was a fine bright day.

“I never had anyone fight for me before,” Millie said.

“I am sorry he was bad to you.”

“You are the strangest person I have ever met,” she said. “Are all the boys from Peta Jaya like you?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Why did you sit at my table?”

“I saw you. Alone. I was lonely.”

“Lonely? You were lonely?”

“Yes. I wanted to talk with you.”

“You wanted to

” She broke out the tissues again. “Good lord!”

“You are pretty and I wanted to talk with you.”

“Pretty! Stop it! I am not pretty!” She glared at me through her goggles.

“I think you are very pretty. I

“

“Stop it! People are not supposed to say that!” She tore off her glasses, dabbing at her eyes with the tissue.

“I say it. I am lonely. You are pretty. I say greetings. I am sorry my Trib is very bad.” I sighed, and looked out at the view.

“Do you think you can just come out of nowhere and

” She jammed her glasses back on.

“May I hold your hand?”

“What?”

I gently touched her palm with mine, and folded my fingers over her hand. She looked into my eyes with unconcealed amazement. And I thought, I am holding hands with a girl who lived and died thousands of years ago. I’m romancing a ghost. Only she’s not a ghost, she’s real, a real live person, and I am an intruderan alien. I’m the ghost.

She made no effort to pull her hand away. She just continued to stare at me, seemingly in fascination. And I vowed, to myself, that I was not going to hurt Millie S-Fam. I would use her to get what I needed, if I could, but I was not going to hurt her.

We stood there, hand in hand, for some time, not saying a word. Then I gently guided her back to the railing.

“Where do you live?” I asked her.

“Over there,” she pointed it out, “in the S-Fams.”

“What is an S-Fam?”

“It means I don’t have a family. It’s a home for orphans.”

“What happened to your family?”

“My mother and father died when I was very young. Lakeside takes care of me. I will study to be a nurse, to repay the communityto help people.”

“I am also alone,” I said.

“Are you still in midschool?”

“No.”

“What do you do?”

“Nothing. I will

decide.”

“Everyone must do something.”

“A policeman. I will be a policeman. To help people.”

“Yes.” She gaped at me again, through those awful goggles. “You would be a good policeman.”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

She blushed scarlet, shaking her head. “You are so direct! Is everyone from Peta Jaya so direct?”

“I am alone. I walk my road. If I want, I ask.”

“We are not so direct in Lakeside. People do not say what they think.”

“I say what I think.”

“You frighten me, West-One Outfam. What is it you want from me?”

I backed away from her, slowly. “I want to be your friend, Millie S-Fam. Sorry. Sorry you are

afraid. I leave. I thank you. I am pleased to meet you. Farewell.”

I gave her a little bow, and headed for the elevator.

“Wait. Wait! Don’t go!” She was stricken, ripping her tissue to shreds. “Oh

don’t go!”

I smiled, and returned. “I stay,” I said. “Do not fear me, Millie S-Fam.”

“You are so direct! I am not used to it!”

“You do not have a boyfriend?”

“No. No

I have no one.”

“You do. You do have someone. West One Outfam, at your service. I am your sword and your shield. No one will hurt you with me at your side.” It was a phrase the probes had picked up in Peta Jaya, and I had memorized it.

Applause. A little crowd had gathered around us to witness the drama. They clapped and smiled. Millie blushed scarlet again, snatched at my arm and pulled me towards the elevator. I could see her eyes were again filling with tears. She was a very emotional girl.

***

The library had everything I neededa desk, paper, pen. My needs were simple. Jason projected the design onto the paper, and I traced it with the pen. The problem was I needed money. A Holo-X is only an artificial image, even though it looks and feels very real. I couldn’t carry anything real with me, like gold. And if anything artificial became separated from my image it would disappear once it was out of range. We had already decided we were not going to do anything to attract the attention of the authorities, so armed robbery was out. All I had was knowledgebut we figured that was enough.

When I was through, I tried one of the library vidphones in a soundproof booth, and slipped Rex’s comcard into the slot. He answered immediately, peering down at the screen from above. It looked like a handcom set. There was a swirl of movement around him in a darkened room, with music in the background.

“Yeah?”

“RexI am West One Outfam. Do you remember me?”

“West Onewell I’ll be

how ya doin’, buddy?” A female form slid in front of the screen and dropped out of view with a giggle. “Watch it, honey. Westo! What’s doin’?”

“I wish to meet you. I have something for you.”

“Something for me? You want to meet? Well, where are ya, buddy?”

“I am at the library.”

“This is my new buddy from Peta Jaya,” he explained to someone. “You’ll love him. Well sure, Westo, you hang there at the library steps and I’ll come and get you, how’s that?”

“I thank you!”

***

The yellow E-car pulled up to the curb blasting music, the top still down, revealing Rex Two Lammafam in all his glory, blond locks flowing in the breeze, one girl sitting to his left, two more in back. The door slid open and I hopped into the vacant seat up front.

“Westo! Buddy! Great to see ya!” We struck palms. “Lala, Stana, Titi, this is Westo. Lala’s taken, Westo; Stana and Titi are up for grabs.”

“Pleased to meet you,” I smiled to the girls as we took off, gliding smoothly along Park Road. The orange sun was going down, and the lake glowed like lava. It was really beautiful.

“I must talk with you,” I said urgently to Rex.

“Sure, we’re heading for my crash padLala’s place, actually. We can hoist a few and talk there.”

“Good.”

“You’re really yummy,” Titi said to me dreamily. “Where have you been hiding all my life?”

“Ah

Peta Jaya,” I replied carefully.

Rex laughed. “Take your time, Titi. He’s still learning the language.”

***

Rex looked the diagram over carefully. We were at the kitchen table in Lala’s little cube, and the girls had been cleared out of the room.

“Where did you get this?” Rex asked.

“I wrote it. It is my design. It is a magnetic lock. It is very strong. It cannot be opened, unless you use the key card. If not, you must disassemble the lock. But with the master code, you can change the number code whenever you want. Every day, if you want.”

“Why are you showing this to me?”

“You are a locksmith. I told you. I met a girl, but I have no money. I want to take her to dinner. I need money. So I will sell this design to you.”

“But I must check with my guildmaster first. We have to build it, we have to test it, to see if it works. Then we’ll know how much it’s worth.”

“I need money now. You give me a small advance. You check the design later. You pay the rest when you see it works. If it does not work, I give you back the advance. But it will work.” I was reading it word for word from the text that was dancing before my eyes.

“But if this worksI’ve never seen anything like this. It could be worth a lot!”

“I only need enough now to take a girl to dinner at a nice place. How much would that be?”

“Well

maybe fifty credits. At a really nice place.”

“Give me a hundred credits advance. I sell the design to you. You decide the price and pay me later.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“This must be some bunny!”

“Yes.”

“Are you a locksmith?”

“I am an inventor. Will you give me an advance?”

“Yes. Yeah, sure, buddy, hell, I can spare a hundred credits from the till. Well, this sure is a surprise. I mean, I know something about locks. This design is brilliant! It sure looks like it would work. You’re something. Hold onhere’s a hundred.” He handed me a credit card. “Must be some bunny! Titi’s going to be disappointed. She was all set to take a big bite out of you.”

“I thank you. We are friends!”

“How do I get ahold of you, buddy?”

“Leave a message at the library reading room. I will check it every day.”

“You didn’t touch your brew.”

“Next time. Thanks! I must see my girl!” I was on my way out the door.

“I’d like to meet her sometime!”

“Yescan! Goodbye!”

***

The place Millie took me was quite nicean open-air snack bar, on a pier jutting into the lake. It was a cool night, the clear sky was full of alien stars and the city was a magical wonderland of soft lights reflected in the lake. The pier was decorated festively and the tables were full of young people. I had wanted to take her out to an expensive place. I had suggested a restaurant I had seen on the top of Memorial Tower, but she said it was too expensive. I had never actually taken a girl to an expensive restaurant, not even when I had been young and desperate, but I knew you were supposed to do it because Tara had once complained that I never took her to anyplace nice. When I had finally tried to do so, Tara had said my choice was too expensive, and she had taken me to a snack bar. And here we were again. It looked like things had not changed much, over the ages.

“You’re not eating!” Millie objected.

“Ah

I am not hungry. I am happy

to look at you.” Eating was a problem for a Holo-X. The holo would vaporize food or drink, but there was a limit to how much it could take before a wet little puddle appeared at your feet. Taking a girl to dinner was not the top of the line recommended recreational activity for a Holo-X, but I knew if you were going to romance a girl you had to take her to dinner. Tara had told me so.

“Stop it! You’re flattering me again. Why would you want to look at me?”

“You are beautiful.”

“Oh stop it! I am not!” She blushed again, but smiled in delight. She actually did look lovely. She was wearing a short sleeveless black dress that emphasized her slim arms, long legs, and shapely firm breasts. Her short dark hair was soft and full. It didn’t look as ragged as before. I reached over and gently removed her glasses. She blinked. Fine, delicate facial features. Dark liquid eyes, soft full lips. Couldn’t she see her own beauty? She was lovely. All girls were lovely. They were angels, fallen from above, gifts from the Gods for brutes like us, shuffling through the dark.

“I can’t see.”

“You should not say you are not beautiful. You are beautiful. I say so.”

“I’m Millie the Mole. I’m nobody. Everyone says that.”

“Then they are fools! Heretake these glasses back. When you get home, look at yourself in the mirror. Really look! There is an angel in there! How can you be so foolish, to believe those fools!” I was getting angry. She was lovely, and she couldn’t see it!

“You are the strangest person I have ever met.”

“Believe in yourself, Millie S-Fam! Stand up and hit the world right in the face!”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“You are a princess!”

“Stop it. You’re the good-looking one. My room-mates are seething with jealousy. They saw you out the window, when you were waiting under the streetlight for me to come out. They couldn’t believe Millie the Mole finally had a dateand they almost fell down when they saw you!”

“They are not important.”

“I told them how you destroyed Mega and Jocko. They had so many questions!”

“Do not answer them. You and I

one and one.” I touched her hand. She gazed at me wordlessly. I wasn’t acting. Millie S-Famgood Lord! So long ago, impossibly long ago! I could almost feel her heartbeat. How many billions of poor, lonely Millie S-Fams had lived and died since then, crippled by their own imagined shortcomings? I wanted to rip the veil from her eyes, I wanted to worship her like a Goddess, I wanted to peel that little black dress off and cover her lovely flesh with hot kissesbut I didn’t. I held back, sitting there in the cool night across from her, watching her smile. What had Tara said, before the Odura mission? Every moment’s delay costs a human life. Wellmaybe so. But that was God’s affair. My only concern was to discover how the people on this world had whipped the White Death. If I could do that, we’d counter it too, and all the dying would stop. Millionsmaybe billionswould breathe free againand the Legion would have done it. I would have done it. But I was going to do it right. Millie S-Fam was going to help me, if she could, but it was not going to be tonight. Tonight belonged to Millie, and I was going to let nothing at all spoil it.

The bill was only 12 credits. It had been a vegetarian mealsome kind of wheat and tuber mixture. The natives had given up on meat. I don’t eat animals, either. I get all the energy I need from Legion rats.

We strolled through the park along the shore and found a bench, looking out over the lake, a shimmering black lagoon shot through with liquid lights. It was quietnot like we were even in a city. Quiet and peaceful and calm, under a velvet sky full of brilliant stars. We could hear children laughing faintly, and a hushed murmur of conversation.

“West Lake,” Millie said. “They call it the lover’s lake. But I’ve never been here with a boy. I’ve never had a boyfriend, did I tell you that? It’s funny, I feel I can tell you anything. Nobody wanted to go out with Millie the Mole. Everyone laughs at me in school. They say I’m a bookworm. You know, I decided it doesn’t matter. I decided I’m going to be a nurse. I’m going to heal the sick. That’s what I’m going to do with my life. Nobody can criticize me for that. And if they do, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter at all.”

I removed her glasses, again, and cupped her face in my hands and kissed her, gently. And then harder, as she responded, eagerly. We kissed like a couple of school kids just discovering each other, and soon hot tears were streaming down her cheeks and her nails were digging into my back. The Holo-X is truly remarkable, I’ll say that. I could feel her heartbeat pounding against my chest, I could almost taste those salty tears and feel my tongue thrusting into her hot wet mouth. She was switching me on and I suddenly realized she had died a hundred thousand years ago, but I decided it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter at all.

***

We said goodnight outside her cube bloc. I did not want to go in because she said you had to register, so we said goodnight outside. One last kiss. I felt like a school kid again, lost in the wonder of a first love. Her neck was covered with love bites. Hers didn’t register on my holo neck. She seemed giddy with love, trembling with emotion. So was I. I just hid it better.

“Call me!”

“Tomorrow!”

“Love you!”

I raised a hand. She went inside. I turned away.

Chapter 12

Superboy

When the image cracked off in the ES chamber and the door snapped open, I staggered out and collapsed into an airchair. Apples handed me a glass of ice water and I downed it in one gulp as she hooked me up to the medprobe. Jason came over as soon as he had shut down the system.

“You’d better get some sleep,” he said.

“Yeah. Busy day tomorrow.”

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Apples grinned, “taking advantage of that poor girl. ‘I am lonely. You are pretty.’ Ha! You haven’t done this in awhile, have you?”

“I don’t know. I kind of enjoyed it.”

“You’re fine,” Apples said, unhooking the medprobe. “Get some rest.”

“Tenners.” She bustled away to make her report to the lab.

I sprawled in the chair, exhausted. Jason glided over in his airchair and sat there, watching me.

“What do you think of her?” he asked.

“She’s a nurse. She should know something about the plagueor be able to find out.”

“Yes. I suppose so.”

“I didn’t want to hit her with it the first day.”

“No. Of course not.”

“I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

“Good.”

“I think she’ll be a good source.”

Jason nodded. He kept looking at me.

“So what do you think of her?” he asked again.

“She’s a very nice person.”

“Kind of

isolated.”

“Unhappy. Obviously.”

“She seems a lot happier now,” he said.

“Yes. Well

yes.”

“We’re kind of

playing with her.”

“Yes. I guess. Well, these things happen. I mean, there she was. She was the obvious target.”

“Her feelings

are certainly of no consequence, considering the importance of the mission.”

“Yes. Certainly. You’re right,” I said.

“But there’s no reason to hurt her.”

“No. I’m not going to hurt her.”

“Promise. All right? I don’t know whybut I feel kind of bad about this. She seems sonice. And trusting.”

“I feel the same way. Don’t worry. We’ll treat her right.”

“All right. Good. Wellyou’d better get some sleep. I’ll prep the report.”

“Keep it short and simple, all right?”

“Sure. The less you tell these people, the less they’ll interfereI know that.”

***

“Want a lick?” Millie held out her iced fruit cone for me. I took a lick. It was faintly sour, according to the readout. We were hand in hand, strolling through the botanical gardens, totally relaxed. She was in shorts and a sleeveless top, her hair decorated with flowers. I had a new smock on. It was a lovely day, sharp hot sunlight, a cool breeze, an alien jungle of luxuriant trees whispering all around us, overhanging a walking trail running through endless flower beds. The Botanical Gardens was on the western outskirts of town. We had taken a public airbus. There were not too many visitors in the gardens. We practically had the place to ourselves.

“Can I take a picture?” Millie asked, pulling a little holscan from her shoulder bag.

“Sure.”

“I want to take the two of us. But I need a place to put the holscan so it will take the picture on automatic.”

We found an info sign telling us about the nearest tree, and set the camera on top of it. Millie set it to auto, and hurried back to get in the picture. We smiled. It cracked.

When the pix came out, it was not badthe two of us, me cradling her protectively in my arms. She looked up at me through her big goggles, blinking, smiling, and slipped the holo into her bag.

“I feel so different since I met you,” she confessed. “The whole world looks different. Do you feel the same?”

“Yes. It is

trouble.”

“Trouble? It is trouble?” She was stunned. “You’re married!”

I smiled. “No, I am not married,” I lied. “We sit here.” A wooden bench, by the side of the trail. I put an arm around her shoulder. She gazed at me through the goggles, almost pleading.

“I feel love for you,” I said, looking into her eyes. She grasped my hand and squeezed. “This is trouble for me,” I continued. “Big trouble.”

“Why?” She whispered it.

“I am not from Peta Jaya.”

“Where are you from?”

“I cannot tell you. It is very far away. Very far.”

“Farther than Peta Jaya?”

“Farther.”

“But Peta Jayathat’s the end of the world.”

“We’re beyond Peta Jayafar beyond. I was sent here, on an important mission.” I read the words in the text, mils from my eyes.

“A mission?”

“I was on my way into the college when I saw you. I was supposed to go into the research department, or the library, if there was one, to talk to someone there and get some information. But I saw you, instead. And I

walked away from the mission. I could not help it. But now I must continue the mission. It is very important.”

“What is it you have to do?”

“My

community

is very isolated. We keep our existence a secret. The rest of the world does not know we are there. We chose that road many years ago. But it means we are

cut off. Now we need information, to survive. I must get that information, without revealing our existence.”

“What is it you have to know?”

“About a hundred of your

uh, about a hundred years ago, a deadly plague appeared here. It was a fungus-based disease. Very deadly. Infection meant death. But it was brought under control quickly. That disease has now appeared in our community. We don’t know how to fight it. We must learn howor we will all die. And I have to do this without telling anyone about our community. We must remain hidden.”

She blinked, behind her glasses. I had no idea what she was thinking. “How many of you are there?” she asked.

“Over a million.”

“Over a million! Over a million, hiding from the world?”

“Yes. The diseasethe plaguekills everyone who is infected.”

“Your doctors?”

“We have good doctors, butwe are

alone. We have no information about this disease.”

“Over a million! And you stopped, to talk with a girl?”

“Yes.”

“You took me to dinnerwhile people were dying?”

“I am sorry. I could not help it. I

told myself I would do the research the next day.”

She gripped my hands tighter. “We are sitting in the park, while this disease is raging?”

“It is wrong, I know. I wanted to tell you

and ask you not to reveal my secret.”

“What is this disease? What is it called?”

“We don’t know.”

“You don’t know? How can you not know? Why are you people hiding from the world?”

“I cannot tell you. We fear the rest of the world. We hide our community. We do not wish to mix with strangers.”

A family strolled past ushusband, wife, two kids. Millie stood up.

“Why are you sitting there?” she asked me. “People are dying! Or is that just a story too, like Peta Jaya?” She jammed her glasses back to the bridge of her nose. “West One Outfam, you are more of a mystery than ever to me. But it doesn’t matter. If you want to learn about a disease, I can certainly help you. That’s what I do. I’m a nurse. I help people with medical problems. And I dispense medical knowledge, if anyone wants to know. Let’s go. We’re going to the college’s research library. You can’t do it by yourself. You can’t even read a menu! I’ll help you, West One Outfam, if that’s really your name, or even if it isn’t. I’ll tell you everything you want to know. I’ll be right by your side. And when you bring back this knowledgewhen they ask where you got it, you tell them it was from Millie the Mole!” Her eyes burned with resolve behind those glasses.

I got up. I thanked the Gods.

***

“You have not heard of this disease?” I asked Millie. We were in the research library, sitting at a table piled high with massive volumes of medical lore.

“No,” she said, scanning down a page. “Your information may be wrong. It could not have been significant, or I’d have heard of it. I’ve studied medical history. There were five great plagues: the Black Fever of years 10-12, caused by an airborne virus, the Blood Pox of 150-155, also caused by a virus, the great influenza epidemics that raged during the 3rd, 4th and 5th centuriesbacteria based. Then the Swamp Rot Fever of the 800’s, caused by a mutant virus, and the immuno-virus, which devastated the homosexual community in the 11th Century. That’s it. A hundred years ago would be circa 1186. I don’t remember any fungus-based plagues at all, and certainly not a mere hundred years ago. But if it occurred, it will be here somewhere.”

“Let us find it.”

“Hand me that volume over there. We’re going to go over every fungus-based disease that has ever plagued mankind. There’s quite a fewbut none as deadly as you’ve described.”

***

Hours later, she closed the last book with a dull thud. “That’s it. I’ve described them all. None of those diseases are what you’re looking for?”

“No. It is not there.”

“Wellperhaps you’re facing something new.”

“No. We know this disease was here beforeabout a hundred years ago.”

“These histories couldn’t have missed something that significant, a hundred years ago. Your information must be wrong. Perhaps we’re going about this all wrong. Describe the symptoms to mein detail. So far all you’ve said is it’s an airborne fungal parasite and that infection causes sudden and certain death. I think our doctors would have noticed something like that!”

“Yes. The fungus spreads itself by airborne spores.” I was reading from the text that Jason had prepared in Trib. “The spores are ingested orally or settle on the skin. The fungus then burrows down into the nearest blood vessel, and spreads throughout the body. It is a parasite. It requires oxygen and a host. It reproduces in the blood stream. When conditions are right it migrates back to the skin. It appears as a small pale spot on the exterior of the skin. Upon exposure to the outside air, it begins reproducing wildly. It very quickly covers the skin of the hostso fast you can see it spread. The host goes into convulsions and dies. It continues growing, covering and consuming the corpse. When conditions are right, it uses gases from the decaying body to expel its spores into the air, renewing the life cycle.”

“You should have told me that before,” Millie said. “I know that one. I can’t remember the name butyou’re right, it was about a hundred years ago. Only the hosts were animals. It didn’t bother humans at all. Perfectly harmless to humans. That’s why it’s not listed in these books. This is all human medicine. Veterinary medicine is covered separately. Yes, I remember now. I never studied veterinary medicine but I remember reading about it somewhere.”

“Perfectly harmless!”

“To humans. It was devastating to animals. It took awhile to get it under control, I believe.”

“Why was it harmless to humans?” I was almost in shock. Had this variety been a strain that did not harm humans? Would the mission fail, again? I decided it did not matter. I must collect all the information available on the disease.

She pushed her glasses back to the bridge of her nose. “I remember reading there was great concern, because so many animal species were infected and dying. They launched a major scientific research project. It turned out that many humans in the concerned areas had also been infected, but the fungus did not replicate itself in humans. It died. It took a lot of detective work to find out how to fight the disease in animals. I can’t remember what it was, but there was something

they found a fungicide that worked against the disease.”

“What was it?” A little bell sounded twice, interrupting us.

“The library is closing,” she said. “We’ll continue tomorrow. I’ll get what you need on this disease. Don’t worry.”

“Can’t we stay anyway? Just an hour?”

“No, they’ll toss us out. I’ve tried it before. They’ll be open tomorrow.”

“All right. Tomorrow.”

“Your Trib has improved miraculously, Westo. You must be a very fast learner.” I tried not to squirm under her gaze. She certainly knew there was a lot more I hadn’t told her.

***

“I put our holo on my mirror,” Millie said. “My roomies are so jealous.” We were in a quiet little xeno house by lakeside, sitting at a little table with a candle on it. It was early evening. The room was illuminated only by candles. The place was packed, but the conversation was a low murmur. Someone was playing a double stringed instrument on a little stage, wailing away sadly. Xeno was evidently a bit like dox, a mild narcotic, consumed hot, but of course I couldn’t taste it.

“They seem to treat me with a new respect,” Millie continued. “I was nobody before. Now I’m somebody. They’re so shallow!”

I took her hand. She really was very attractive, even with those stupid goggles and the silly haircut.

“Are they your friends?” I asked.

“No. I have no friends. Once people started to laugh at me for studying, everyone avoided me.”

“You have no family?”

“No one. I am alone.”

“You are not alone now.” I meant it. I had vowed not to hurt her. How the hell was I going to manage that?

“You’ve been so direct, West-One Outfam. Perhaps I should be direct as well.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve never been happier than these last two days.”

“Yes. Me, too.”

“Are you going to leave me?”

“I must return to my peoplewith the information you give to me.”

“Will you come back?”

I hesitated. Will I come back? Once I had what I needed I would be gone, across the mystical gulf of timeinto the far future. But if what she gave me worked, our entire civilization would owe this girleverything. And the Legion pays its debts. Would I be back? Billions of credits per trip. Incalculable resources dedicated to the mission. What would Tara say? I knew damned well what she’d say.

“Yes,” I said. The message appeared immediately, hovering in the air before me: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

“I promise you,” I said, “I will come back to see you.” She squeezed my hand. Then she broke out the tissues again.

I THOUGHT WE WEREN’T GOING TO HURT HER.

Shut down, Jason, I thought. Just shut the hell down. I was furious with myself. All right, calm down, I thought. First, we do the mission. We can worry about the consequences later.

I smiled. She pulled something out of her shoulder bag and slid it over the table to me. It was a miniature holoa head shot of her. She looked like an angel. She had written on the bottom: ‘To Westo, with Love, from Millie. Don’t ever forget me.’

I’ve been in the Legion too long, I thought. Once those words might have meant little to mebut now, after all the killing and deaths, after all the hatred and all the love, and all the struggle, after Mongera and Uldo, those were incredibly powerful words. ‘

with Love. Don’t ever forget me.’ It put a chill to my flesh. I knew exactly what those words meant. Love was the most powerful emotion, I thought. The great motivator. It could rip your heart out, it could drive you anywhere, it could send you rocketing all over the galaxy, into alternate universes, into the pastall for love. I picked up the holo and slipped it into a pocket.

“I will never forget you,” I said. It was only the truth.

***

“Good night, my love,” she said. We were under the trees, outside the S-Fam dorms.

“Tomorrow,” I said, “at six.” I removed her glasses and cupped her head in my hands. We kissed, and the world swam gently around us. I could feel her heartbeat.

I looked up from the ground, surprised, my vision snapping and poppingwhat thethe kiss? I tried to get up. There was a whining in my ears. My eyesight suddenly snapped back. The weasel stood over me, gasping, bristling, drawing back a long metal nightstick for another blow. Millie screamed, sprawled at the feet of that fat slug Mega. A large white bandage covered much of his swollen purple face, and his right arm was in a sling, but his left grasped a large blackjack. He slammed one large booted foot onto Millie’s neck and laughed.

“Maybe we’ll rape her, hotshot. You want to watch?”

The blond goon, Jocko, stepped out from behind a tree. He looked like some kind of demented Mega twin, for his face was also swollen with purple bruises, his nose was hidden by a fat white bandage and his right hand was bandaged. His left held an electric stun baton. It was live, crackling, and his eyes were full of hatred.

“Strip her, Mega,” he said. “I want to watch him squirm.”

I started to get up and the ferret swung the nightstick again, a vicious strike at my head. I stopped the blow with my left hand and snatched the stick from his grasp. His jaw dropped. I wrapped both hands around the nightstick and bent it double. It squealed as it bent. I glared at him as I tossed the stick away. His eyes almost popped out of his head. He bolted. I turned to the Mega and Jocko. They both gaped at me like newly-landed fish. Mega still had one boot on Millie’s neck. I charged him, enraged, and bowled him over. We rolled in the grass and I pulled him to his feet and grasped his smock and threw him bodily against the wall of the cube bloc. You can do that when you’re a Holo-X, even with a fat slob like Mega. He hit hard, whimpered, and slid down the wall. Jocko made one good hit with the electric baton, and the arc crackled over my holo but of course had no effect. I snatched it away and sent it ricocheting off into the dark. He whipped out a knife with his left and came at me. Potentially serioushe couldn’t hurt me, but he could penetrate the holo and that could complicate things. He made two thrusts and I countered each with rising left side kicks to his forearm, connecting both times, but he held onto the knife. Then I grabbed a handful of earth with my right and threw it at his face. Blinded, he slashed wildly. I came up with a good high right roundhouse kick to his head and he dropped to his knees, stunned. I screamed and did a straight punch to his face. He rocked back, spewing blood. I did another, with all I had. He twitched and collapsed.

I staggered over to Millie. She was crying, trying to get up. I helped her stand.

“My glasses

” I looked around quickly and found them on the grass. She put them back on shakily and looked me over in shock. “Are you hurt?” She was trembling.

“I am fine. Did he hurt you?”

“I

“

“What’s going on there?” A male voice. Four strangers, three males and a female, peered at us cautiously from the sidewalk.

“Millie, I must go. You are not hurt. Go home. Tomorrow morning at six!”

“Yes! I love you!” I darted into the shadows.

“Is the holo all right?” Jason’s voice, in my ears.

“Think so. He hit me over the head with a metal nightstick. The shock must have short circuited something.”

“We’ll do diagnostics as soon as you’re back.”

“Where the hell were you?”

“I thought I’d give you a little privacy. Bad idea.”

“Yeah. Take me back now.” I paused, in deep shadows, surrounded by trees.

“There’s still some people in the vicinity.”

“Nobody can see me here. Do it!”

The scene flickered and popped, and I was suddenly in the ES chamber. The door hissed open. I collapsed into the airchair.

***

0600 local time. I stepped out of the trees by Millie’s cube bloc. The sun was rising. It was a fine morning. There was no sign of last night’s unpleasantness. The tacmap showed several pedestrians in the vicinityearly morning strollers? I was paying more attention to the tacmap now.

Millie came out of the dorm dressed in a silky pantsuit. Her face was pale and strained. She looked around fearfully.

“Jocko’s dead,” she hissed. “You killed him! The police are looking for you. They questioned me. I said you were from Peta Jayathat’s all. I didn’t

“

“Armed locals approaching!” Jason’s voice, ringing in my ears.

“Police! Hands in the air! Stand away from the girl!” I whirled around. Four, six of them, plainclothes, handguns and badges, coming at me from all sides. Deto! I backed away from Millie.

“Put ‘em where we can see ‘em!”

“On your knees! Hands high!”

“Do it! We’ll shoot!”

I kneeled. I could have run, but they’d have fired and I’d have disappeared with a bang. I didn’t want that. The mission was not over and I didn’t want to spook Millie.

They kicked me to a prone position and cuffed my hands behind me. Millie was crying. I could hear her.

***

“Want to tell me what happened?” The detective sat on the other side of the table in the interrogation room, puffing on a noxious cigarette. I was on a little stool, my hands still cuffed behind me. He was in plainclothes, clean shavencops look the same everywhere. So do interrogation rooms. The little table lamp was pointed right at my face.

“Yes. The three goons attacked me. The

ferret

hit me with a nightstick. Mega said he was going to rape Millie.” I was reading Jason’s script, word for word. “I threw him against a wall. Jocko came at me with an electric baton. I took it away from him and he drew a knife. I kicked him once and punched him twice. He went down.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“And what about Sharkeythe ferret, you called him.”

“He ran.”

“Doesn’t sound like him. Why did he run?”

“You should ask him.”

The detective blew a cloud of smoke into my face. It smelled like xeno. He put the weed down in an ashtray, reached over to a shelf, and dropped the metal nightstick noisily onto the table. It was bent almost double.

“Could this have something to do with it?”

“Maybe.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

“It is an old strongman’s trick. Once you get it started, it is not so hard if you keep up the pressure.”

“And you’re a strongman.”

“I lift weights.”

“Were you trying to scare Sharkey?”

“Yes. I did not want to fight them.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. I did not want to hurt them.”

“You hurt Jocko. You killed him.”

“He attacked mefirst with the electric baton, then with the knife. I was defending myselfand Millie. I did not mean to kill him.”

“Self defense.”

“Yes sir.”

The detective dropped something else onto the table. A little holo, Millie’s holo ‘

with Love. Don’t ever forget me.’

“Why didn’t you take this with you?”

“I do not understand.”

“Sharkey says he saw you disappear last nightwith a bang. Into thin air. And you left this holo behind.”

“Sharky is

hysterical. The holo fell from my pocket during the fight.” Deto! Jason had warned me about people in the vicinity, when I had requested return. I had forgotten all about the pix. Naturally, it could not go with me.

“We didn’t find it at the fight scene. We found it where Sharkey said you disappeared. Why do you think Sharkey would say something like that?”

“I do not know, sir.”

“We also found a credit cardand a comcard. Why didn’t you take those with you?”

“I must have dropped them, sir.” Deto! I normally left them in the library. Yesterday was not a good day.

“Where are you from, boy?”

“Peta Jaya.”

“What’s Sa’no?”

“I do not understand.”

“You’re from Peta Jaya and you never heard of Sa’no?”

“No sir.”

“You’re not from Peta Jaya. What is your name?”

“West-One Outfam.”

“You’re lying. There’s no West-One Outfam in all of Peta Jaya. We checked. Why don’t you have any ID?”

“I lost my ID, sir.”

“Lies. More lies. Where are you from? What’s your real name? You might as well tell us. We’re going to find out. Self defense is not against the law. You might even get out of the murder charge. But it’s a serious offense to lie to the police. And if we don’t even know who you are, you’re not going anywhere.”

“Yes sir.”

“Tough guy, huh? Well, we’ll see about that. What’s your interest in Millie S-Fam?”

“She is a friend.”

“She doesn’t seem

quite your type. How long have you known her?”

“Three days.”

“Three days, and she’s willing to lie for youand deceive the police. A nice girl like that. Nice work.”

“She is

innocent. She knows nothing.”

“About what?”

“About me.”

“Yes. About you. A mystery man, who bends steel bars with his hands. Mega said Sharkey hit you right on the head with the nightstick. Where’s the bruise?”

“It hit my shoulder. Not the head.”

He pulled my smock back, roughly examining my shoulders. “No bruises. That’s funny. Do you have any explanation?”

“It was a glancing blow.” I read from Jason’s text, but I knew it was hopeless. This cop wasn’t buying it.

“You a boxer?”

“I can defend myself.”

“What’s your relationship with Rex Two Lammafam?” He fingered Rex’s comcard.

“He gave me a ride into town. He gave me his card. That is all.”

“Except for the lock design you sold to him. What about that?”

“It was my design.”

“He said it was brilliant. Innovative.”

“Is that against the law?”

He took another puff on his cigarette and blew the smoke into my face. “Listen, punk. You’ve probably heard about the hard man-soft man routine? We do it here. I’d just like you to knowI’m the soft man. But if you continue wising off like that, I’m going to turn you over to the hard man. You don’t want to meet the hard man. I’d advise you to be nice and polite to me.”

“Yes sir. I did not mean to be

impolite.”

“Good. All right, Superboy, I’d like to start with your childhood. Tell me where you were born, who your parents are, ID your brothers and sisters, tell me where you went to school, what you studied, what your native language is, why your Trib is so bad

just basic bio. Stuff that everybody knows. Let’s hear it.”

***

My talk with the detective did not go well. I had no answers for him. It was so hopeless he did not even bother to turn me over to the hard man. I went straight to the lockup, to ponder my sins. They stripped me and issued me a phospho orange prison jump suit and sandals, and shoved me into an isolation cell. Just me, a hole-in-the-floor toilet, and a steel bunk with a thin blanket and musty pillow. I sat on the bed.

I didn’t feel bad. It certainly wasn’t our fault. We had a very limited time to study the planet, and our resources had to focus on learning the language. There was no way we could have picked up enough knowledge, in the time available, for me to convincingly pass as a native. And we certainly couldn’t fool the police. I considered it a miracle that I had even been able to fool Millie. After all, they were on the other side of the galaxy and were only technically human. I wasn’t a miracle workerbut I thought I had done pretty good, considering the obstacles we were facing.

I’LL TRY TO KEEP THE CLOTHING POWERED UP AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, Jason told me. That was a worry. We did not want my holo clothing dissolving as they were handling it. They would certainly examine it for clues to its origin. Jason could keep a separate lock on it, but not forever. Eventually, it was going to disappear.

I looked around the cell. I’d bet there was a camera, on the ceiling, behind that grill. They were watching me.

“Jason,” I whispered. “Wait until lights out. If they do it. Believe I’m under observation.”

CONFIRM WE WAIT UNTIL LIGHTS OUT, THEN POWER DOWN. JUST GIVE ME THE WORD.

I settled back on the bunk. I guess I was the galaxy’s most fortunate jailbird. All I had to do was give the word, and I’d be gone, instantly. Unfortunately I’d be leaving a lot of questions behind me. I was certainly going to become Lakeside’s most wanted fugitive. This was not the kind of profile I had hoped for. And all because of those stupid thugs. Deto!

I disappeared with a flash and bang, shortly after lights out, leaving my prison garb behind. My holo clothing disappeared from the crime lab at the same instant. My quiet little clandestine mission was now big news.

Chapter 13

Production

“Put me right into her room,” I said, examining the printout tacmaps of the interior of Millie’s cube bloc. I had a glass of ice water in one hand and I was so charged I was spilling it over the tacmap. I was out of ES less than two hours ago, clad in a robe thoughtfully provided by Apples.

“We’ll have to,” Jason said. “The probes confirm the S-Fam is under heavy surveillance. They’re already all over the place, outside. And more are arriving every momentquietly. Shouldn’t we wait until tomorrow?”

“No! We do it now. There’s no more time to waste. I’ve got to tell her to go back to the library and get that info!”

“All rightbut there’s no more sense in being subtle. If they close in, I’m going to disappear you.”

“Fine. Try not to let Millie see it.”

“Camfax?” Apples asked me, tossing a fresh pack onto a desk.

“Fine. You’re right, there’s no more point in being subtle.” I ripped the pack open and started slipping into the camfax.

“No undies?”

“Shut down and get me some boots. I don’t have time!”

“I’ll get your undies.”

“All right, all right. Deto! Hurry!”

***

I reappeared in a corner of Millie’s bedroom, silently, clad in Legion camfax and boots. The room was dark. Millie was in bed, asleep. There was a window, curtained. A desk with mirror, chair, and desk lamp. A bedside table with a lamp.

Carpet. Closet, bureau. Our holo was on the mirror.

I knelt beside her. She was out, her mouth slightly open. She looked exhausted. I slipped a hand over her mouth.

“Millie. Wake up. It’s Westo.”

She came awake instantly, adrenalized and terrified, and it’s lucky I had a hand over her mouth. When she realized it was me, she threw her arms around me and squeezed. I gave her a few fracs to calm down. She was wearing a thick long nightgown that looked like it had been designed for somebody’s grandmother, but I could feel her breasts against my chest. I tried not to think about that.

“Millie. I told you I’d come back.”

“Westo! The police were here again! They say you broke out of jail! They said you’re extremely dangerous!”

“I am only dangerous to your enemies. Millie. I must have that information. You must go back to the library and

“

“I’ve already got it! It’s right here! I know how important it is to you.”

“Bless you! You will save millions of lives! Where? Show me!”

She scrambled out of bed, found her glasses, opened the desk drawer, pulled out a stack of loose documents and placed them on the desk top. I pulled up the chair as she stood over me.

“That’s everything I could find about the Plague. Mycotoxico Paracitica Volcanospora, it’s called. Everything’s in there. Including all the genetic information on the disease.”

“But what about the fungicide?”

“I should have remembered. It was a mild hallucinogenic acid, Glycocellinus. It’s harmless to humans, but lethal to this variety of fungus. It’s

“

“Millie! What’s

” the door was flung open. One of Millie’s roomies stood there, a cute blonde in a short silky night gown. “Oh my God!” she gasped, and backed up against the wall upon spotting me, her face suddenly chalky white.

“All right, what’s the ruckus?” Another girl wandered in, yawning, long black hair, sexy black nightgown and a pale face, now going considerably paler. Millie was on them like a bloodcat, backing them both against the wall, wagging a finger at them.

“Laura, Sheena, you just shut your mouths and stand there and don’t move! This is my boyfriend, West-One, and he is very busy right now. Don’t interrupt! West-One has a bad temper and if you move a muscle you will be very, very sorry! Do you understand?”

They both nodded, terrified, frozen against the wall like a couple of statues. I glared at them once, then went back to the papers.

“The fungicide!” I demanded.

“It’s present in xeno. Xeno is a staple, everyone in the world drinks or eats or smokes xeno. Don’t you?”

“Jason, are you getting this?”

“It would be easier if you turn on a light and start turning the pages!” Jason replied. I clicked on the desk lamp, gazing nervously at the window. Can’t be helped! I started on the docs, giving Jason about two fracs per page. It was all he needed to copy it.

“Who are you talking to?” Millie asked me. “Don’t move, Sheena! I warn you!” They froze, again. I had a feeling Millie was going to get a lot more respect in the future from her roomies, if they dared stay with her. “Westodon’t your people consume xeno?”

“Nowe don’t! Do you have xeno’s genetic code in here? Or the code of the active elementwhat was itGlyco-something?”

“Well

no. I thought you’d surely know what that was.”

“We don’t. I need it.” Xeno? I had no idea what it was in our language. The Legion might not know, either. It might not even exist in our time!

“I can

“

“Open the door!” A faint banging.

“Police have entered the cube bloc,” Jason announced. “They’re at the door to your cube.”

“All right, I’m on the last few pages. Millie, where’s the bathroom?”

“Bathroom? Now?”

“Finished. Bathroom!” I slapped the last page aside and stood up.

“In the hallright out the door. Don’t you want these papers?”

“Get me the genetic code for the fungicide, and for xeno.”

“Yes.”

I kissed her, deeply, standing in the door. Her roomies watched wide-eyed.

“I’ll be back, Millie

that’s a promise!” Someone was working on a door with a battering ram. It sounded like it would give soon. I found the bathroom and stepped in, slamming the door shut behind me.

“Do it, Jason,” I said. I disappeared with a bang.

***

“She’s evidently under arrest,” I explained patiently, “or at least under detention. Our probes say she’s in the local Police Hqs.”

“The information you provided is invaluable,” Tara said. Her image was icy clear in the Q-link. “But we need more. We have no idea what xeno is. We must have the genetic code of the active elementthe fungicide.”

“I know that, Tara.”

“We need it as soon as possible.”

“I know that too, Tara.”

“I am under tremendous pressure, Wester.”

“Tara. You tell those people to shut the hell down! I will provide that information just as soon as I can obtain itand not before!”

“But how are you going to do it, with your source under arrest?”

“She’s probably just being questioned. Maybe accused of non-cooperation. She’s a smart girl. She’ll get out, probably in a few days at most. And she knows exactly what I want. They can’t stop her from going to the research library. She’s a student nurse, she has free access.”

“Every hour more people die, Wester.”

“You don’t have to tell me that! I know that!”

“Isn’t there another way you can get this data? Must it

“

“No! I can’t find it by myself. I’m probably the most wanted man on the planet by now. Rex Lammafam can’t help me, they’ll be sitting on him as well. Only Millie can do it, wants to do it, will do it!”

“Wester

“

“Don’t you Wester me! You tell those bastards to get off my back! You tell them I am going to get that information! This mission is going to be totally successful! Those were the parameters that I was given and that’s what I am going to producetotal success! I don’t want any interference, from you or anyone else! It’s my mission! I am going to give you victory, Tara. Tell them that! Tell them your attack dog is on it! And don’t call me back! I’ll call you!”

“When?”

“When I can report the mission is successful! Goodbye, Tara.” I snapped the link off.

***

I prayed, alone in my cube, kneeling on the cold cenite deck until my knees ached. I prayed to the Legion’s dark Gods, for victory. Never had I had a more important mission. If I failed

the souls of millions of dead would howl at me for the rest of my immortal life. I didn’t even want to think about it. I prayed.

Jason and I sipped bitter dox together in the control room, waiting for word from the probes. It’s funnyyou become very close to people when you’re together on an important mission. Millie, Jason, Apples and I

we were as close as four people could get, even though Millie had never met Jason or Apples. I think Jason was falling for Millie as bad as I was.

Apples joined us and we locked the rest of the ship out of the control room, and brooded over dark schemes, each wilder and more improbable than the other.

I was just about ready to pay a visit to Millie in her cell when the probes shot us a heavenly vision. Millie S-Fam, walking out of Police Hqs, unescorted. We whooped, we screamed, we did a little dance. Then we calmed down and sat before the screens to watch, and wait.

The probe, invisible, followed her all the way home. It was almost sunset. She would surely go to work tomorrowand visit the library.

Her cube bloc was surrounded by plainclothes cops. It was senseless to try the cube again. They were probably inside, waiting. They were ready for me. I feared it would be the same at the hospital, tomorrow.

“Get some sleep, Thinker. You’re going to need it.”

“Right. I’ll do that. See you in the morning.”

***

“They’re all over her.”

“Deto!”

It was the following morning on Chudit, a bright, clear day. Millie S-Fam was in the research library of the Lakeside College of Medical Science, evidently collecting information. She sat at a desk in a large room with about eight other people reading and studying. We could see it all from the probe, watching over her from up on the ceiling. From time to time she would go over to the stacks and select a book or a datapak to feed into the small reader on her desk.

Two of the occupants of the room, a young man and a young woman, were armed. The probes outlined the weapons clearly, under their clothing. They were both in good positions to watch Millie. Outside it was the same. The place was swarming with plainclothes types. Lakeside’s government had evidently decided something seriously strange was occurring. They were right.

“You’re not going to be able to do it,” Jason said.

“All I need is a few fracs, to let you record the data. Just a few fracs.”

“They’re not going to give you a few fracs. You’ll never get close to her. You show your face, they’ll leap on you. Instantly.”

“There’ll be a chance. Somewhere.”

“Where? They’re on her inside, they’re on her outside. You show up, they’re on you.”

“I know she’s got the info by now! I’ve got to get it!”

“No, you don’t. I’ve got an idea.”

“What?”

Jason pressed the intercom. “Alpha Six, Jason. On me.”

***

We projected Jason’s Holo-X right into the little corridor that led to the restrooms, once the probe confirmed the coast was clear. Apples had given him a modified bowl cut and a white lab coat with no ID. We figured it would do, for what we needed. He wandered into the library, visited the stacks, piled up some books on his desk and tried to look busy. His back was to Millie. The two cops looked at him, but did nothing.

I was sweating bullets at the controls. It was fool-proof, Jason had told me. It had better be, I had replied. The very brief instructions he had given me had not filled me with confidence. Apples was right beside me, visibly perspiring. She knew we were breaking every rule in the bookand she didn’t know any more about the controls than I did. Nothing can go wrong, Jason had said. It’s not as if you’re going to lose me in the past. I’ll be right in the next room! The worst that can happen is some dead people who lived a couple hundred thousand years ago are going to get a big surprise if I disappear into thin air. So relax!

Easy for him to say! Millie was gathering up her books. It looked like she was getting set to leaveoh no!

“She’s getting set to go!” I shouted. “Get over to the stacks! She’s got to return the reference books!” Apples and I watched the scene breathlessly from the ES sensors above them. Jason got up slowly and headed for the stacks, one book in hand. Millie headed for another part of the stacks, carrying several books. Once she stepped between the tall book shelves, the cops could not see her. There was an aisle that ran between the wall and the end of each stack. Jason hurried along there, largely hidden from the cops. He stopped at the aisle between the two shelves where Millie was returning her books. Both cops were alert, looking her way, but probably not worried because they had both exits covered.

Jason stood there at the end of the aisle, staring at Millie. She glanced his way. He met her eyes. He conspicuously took out a white plastic card and placed the edge carefully between two books. He pointed at Millie, then to the card, then backed away and strolled back to his desk.

Millie walked over to the card, almost as if she was in a daze, took it, and read it. It was written in Trib. We sure hoped there were no errors.

MY DARLING MILLIE, I AM YOUR SWORD AND YOUR SHIELD. NO ONE WILL HURT YOU, WITH ME AT YOUR SIDE. THE PERSON WHO GAVE YOU THIS CARD IS MY TRUSTED FRIEND. GO TO THE COPIER. MAKE TWO COPIES OF THE XENO DATA. LEAVE ONE COPY IN THE COPIER. MY FRIEND WILL PICK IT UP. I PROMISE I WILL RETURN TO YOU. WESTO.

The lady cop was out of her seat and headed for the stacks when Millie emerged. And Millie was radiant. She was ecstatic. I could see it, the lady cop could see it. She was watching Millie like a snake. Millie went back to her seat and started gathering up some papers. The lady cop resumed her seat. She knew something had happened, but she wasn’t sure what.

Millie went over to the copier in a daze.

“She’s copying it,” I told Jason. His back was to her. How could they suspect him?

“She’s through!” Jason slowly got up and headed over to the copier. We had made damned sure we knew how it worked. He ran his paper through, recovered his copyand Millie’s, I prayed to Deadmanand headed back to his desk. The lady cop was bristling, glaring at him. The bitch knew something was up. The male cop looked at him thoughtfully. Millie gathered up her things and headed for the door. The male followed her, the female stayed on Jason. I zoomed in to the document on Jason’s desk. His hands were shaking as he turned the pages. RECORDING, flashing in red lightall right! One page, two pages, threethat’s it! DATA SUCCESSFULLY RECORDED, flashing at me.

“Got it!” I exclaimed. Jason put his things away, got up, and started for the door.

Outside, in bright sunlight, Jason strolled across the park where I had first met Millie. It looked like about six cops were on him. They wanted to see where he’d go. They were evidently not out to arrest him, at least not immediately.

“It looks like a parade, Jason. But you’re leading. Take your time. Act natural. If you can just make it around a corner someplace, I’ll do it.”

“No. Wait.”

“Don’t talk!” I waited, as Jason led his contingent down Park Road and on to the Museum. He hiked up the steps of the museum and into the main hall. It was not too crowded, but a delegation of cops was right behind him. In a moment, Jason was alone in a corridor lined with statues.

“Do it!” he said. Apples squealed with delight as I powered down. The bang brought the cops running, but all they found was Jason’s papersand Millie’sdrifting to the floor.

***

Jason staggered out of the ES chamber, into our arms. “Did you get it?” he asked hoarsely.

“Yes! Yes! That was beautiful! It worked perfectly!”

“Let me at the controls!” He vaulted into the command chair and brought up the documents on screen. All three pages were there. The translation was underway as we watched.

“When that’s finished, shoot it over to me,” I said, opening up a doc on the Q-link. It was set to go. I had prayed for the moment when I could send it. Now it was here. I read through the headings of the document shell I had already prepared.

‘FLASH CRITIC COSMIC SECRET’

Date: 323/06/07

Cite: LIFELINE 3821

To: Exclusive Starcom/Director Galactic Information/Outvac

From: Lifeline

Subj: SalvationProduction

Project Salvation reported genetic code for Xeno and active element in fungicide on 323/06/07. Following is original and translation of source document:

We had the info in a few marks, popped it into the document, and I pressed the SEND tab. There! That should blast Tara right out of her chair. ‘Production’nice and low-key. Let her decide if the mission is a success or not.

I sat in the chair before the console, exhausted. Jason sat nearby, still panting, eyes glazed. Apples was by his side. She was supposed to give him a physical exam, but she just sat there, stunned. It was finally hitting uswhat we had done. The info we provided was ripping through the galaxy at quantum speed, faster than light, from Q-link to Q-link, instantaneously. And I knew the classification line on top was just crap. Tara had told me exactly what she was going to do with the info, if I obtained it. It was going, exactly as received, word for word, cosmic secret gibberish and all, to every ConFree world, every System world, every Omni worldevery government, every city, every village, every grim and distant outpost, every ship in space, every research center, every hospital, every university, every center of learningin the known galaxy. It was going to be translated into every language on record, and disseminated, instantly.

Billions were going to live, who might otherwise have diedbecause of us. Because of Millie S-Fam.

And suddenly my eyes were full of tears. I couldn’t stop them. They were tears of joy, for what we had done. Jason took my hand. Apples took his, and mine. We couldn’t say a word. It was over, and we were exhausted.

***

But it was not really over. I rang up Tara the following day on the Q-link, after the first good night’s sleep I had had in quite awhile.

“Wester!” She almost leaped out of the screen at me. “You did it! You did it! You can’t imagine how wonderful this is! We’re just beginning to get the initial responses! Almost thirty million messages, so far, and more every frac, for passage to you. We’re sorting them. They seem to think you’re running some kind of medical research center. Wester, initial response is the substance can be duplicated. Can, can, can! Your mission is a success! Starcom is ecstatic! Do you know what this means, Wester?”

“I know exactly what it means, Tara.”

“Wester. Thanks.” She was looking out of the screen like a stunned puppy, right into my eyes. Vulnerable. Good!

“Tara. The mission is not yet over. We have a few uncompleted tasksinvolving the source. I’d like to continue the mission until everything is resolved.”

“Wester, you do whatever you want. You won’t get any grief from me. Or anybody else. Oh, and tell Jason he’s been promoted three gradeshe’s now a senior Lieutenant. And tell Alpha Six she goes up three as well, to Senior Nurse Group Super. That’s just for starters. We’ll fill in the rest of the crew later.”

“Good. I’ll do that. Thank you, Tara.” I cut the connection. ‘

you do whatever you want.’ Gotcha!

Chapter 14

Raped and Forsaken

“The screen shows the position of the rogue asteroid Gargantua,” Jason said, “as plotted by the CS Salvation, in orbit around Rima 2 in the Year 986 AFor Year 1286, on the Rima 2 calendar. It’s right on course. In a little over two Rima years, in the year 1288, there will be a catastrophic collision with the planet Rima 2. And that’ll be the end of both Gargantua and Rima 2.” The screen showed it clearly. The mathematics were inescapable. Jason and Apples and I sipped dox, sitting around the console, pondering the futureand the past.

“Any way to stop it, Senior Lieutenant?” I asked.

“Forget it,” he grinned wryly. “It’s already happened. And you can’t change the pastremember?”

“The Legion can induce novas in stars. We can hurl planets out of their orbits. We can surely handle a wayward asteroid.”

“If it was in our time, Fleetcom could do it. But this is over a hundred thousand years in the past. The only thing that can go that far backat presentis our small fleet of time-drive drones. And all they can do is project holos and probes. A couple of holos are not going to be able to do anything to change the course of that asteroid. Besides, it’s already happened. You can’t change it. That’s impossible. No, you can forget about stopping it. That planet is doomed. In two years, Rima 2’s atmosphere is going to glow cherry-red and then explode in flames as Gargantua hits it. Then the entire planet is going to be blown apart, into billions of fragments. Rima 2 is doomed.”

“We owe her.”

“That’s certainly right.”

“Any ideas? Senior Nurse Group Super?”

“Will you stop that?” She smiled, revealing even white teeth. “The only idea I have is to get her off that planet, before the asteroid hits.”

“All right,” I said. “That’s reasonable. Let’s say that’s the way to go. We can’t save the planet, but maybe we can save her. How do we do it?”

“Not so easy,” Jason said. “Considering Rima 2 does not have space flight.”

“Well, we do.”

“No, we don’t. Not there. All we’ve got is the CS Salvationand she can’t enter the at, or land. She can’t soft or hardland. She’s just a drone. It’s hopeless. There are some old hulks in orbit around Rima 2, but they’re worthlesstotal wrecks, gutted and empty. Those people lost space flight capability in the distant past. Until now, they didn’t need it. Besides, where would you take her, even if you had a spacecraft? Dump her on some alien world?”

“We’d bring her back here,” I said.

“Back here? How? Noimpossible. We don’t have any more copies of the Star of Dindabai standing by to transport her, and even if we did, the physics of time travel insure our crew would die on the voyage getting there.”

“What are you talking about? We’ve got a time-drive starship in orbit around Rima 2 already, in the Year 1286 localthe CS Salvation.”

“The physics of time travel

“

“Forbid trips into the past longer than two hundred years, I know. She wouldn’t be going into the past. She’s already in the past. She’d be going into the future. Her future. The physics of time travel do not forbid travel into the future. You can go as far into the future as you want, and survive. Right?”

“Well

yes. That’s true. The mathematics

“

“And the interior of the CS Salvation is designed to permit access by your techs, isn’t it? Access is through standard airlocksright? It’s fully shielded from the D-neg and everything else, to protect all that fancy gear. You’ve even got chairs for the techsright?”

“Well

yes. Right.”

“Then what’s to prevent us from putting her in there, and giving her the ride of her life, into the future?”

“What’s to prevent it is that we have no means of transporting her to the Salvation. The only way she’s going to get off the surface of that planet and into our drone is via spacecraft. And we don’t have a spacecraft that will do the job.”

“Then we’ll have to get one,” I said.

***

Fortunately there was one world in the distant reaches of Sagitta Sector that had not yetin Millie’s timeabandoned spaceflight. Once, their fleets had explored the cosmos and recorded it all. But by the Fourth Dynasty, when Millie lived, they were spent. Fleets of starships still orbited the planet, but most of them were sealed and unserviceable. The government no longer could afford the luxury of space flight. The people were demanding moreand what they wanted did not include star travel. Only a few private individuals and corporations maintained a space flight capability. The world was called Kalalan. We knew it as Odura. I had visited it, far in Millie’s future, to uncover the location of ChuditRima 2, Millie’s world.

Jason projected my Holo-X directly into a small star yacht that was still functional and had softland capabilityjust what we needed. The yacht was in orbit, dead quiet. Sensors showed only one person on board. A night watchman, no doubt. I appeared in a corridor, clad in Legion camfax, and strolled forward to the bridge. Grav was set to light. Power seemed to be set to minimum. Only one of every four light panels was alive. The door to the bridge was open.

A girl was sprawled in one of the command chairs, short reddish hair, pale skin, clad in shorts and sleeveless blouse, bare midriff, long legs up on the console, bare feet. She was reading something. When I appeared, she screamed and leaped from the chair, eyes bugging out. She stammered, then shouted something in an alien tongue.

I carefully grasped her wrists, led her over to a solid looking floor-to-ceiling cenite pipe I had spotted, and secured her wrists around the pipe with field cuffs. Then I turned to the controls.

“Give us a few fracs,” Jason said, as our scanners took in the controls. “That girl was speaking Oduran. You remember the language? We’ve got all the data from the Oduran mission. Let me bring up the language.”

“These controls look a little

strange,” I commented, as I settled into the command chair.

“We’ll get them,” Jason replied. “Just hang in there.”

The girl said something, looking back over her shoulder. I had cuffed her so she was facing the wall.

“All right, the translation units just kicked in,” said Jason. You’ll get audio on her comments. We’ll feed you text on the more obvious choices in responding to her. Your Oduran’s not bad, right?”

“What do you want?” the girl asked again.

“I must borrow your ship,” I said. The psymon had done a good job on me prior to the earlier mission to Odura. The language seemed to come easier now than it did before.

She did not respond. The controls were baffling. I could not identify anything. Hopefully Control would psych it out quickly.

“Are you going to rape me?”

I looked over at her, startled. “No,” I replied. She settled into silence again.

“Could be tricky, Thinker. Control says it looks like it responds to oral commands. There’s probably an override somewhere.”

“Wonderful.”

“Where are we going?” the girl asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” I gave up on the controls. There wasn’t much I could do until Jason reported back.

“I won’t resist if you rape me,” the girl said. “You won’t even have to tie my hands.”

I looked over at her in amazement. What in Deadman’s name was this? Nice long legs, cute little rear, and that bare midriff was really captivatingoh, stop it!

“I said I’m not going to rape you,” I replied. “Relax!”

“We’re told not to resist a rapist. We’re supposed to submit. It’s safer that way.”

“Who gave you that advicethe Rapists’ Guild?”

“No. The Government.”

“I’d advise you to kick a rapist in the balls.”

“But wouldn’t that make you angry?”

“I’m not a rapist! Can you please shut down?”

“Yes sir. Where do you want to go?”

“I want to go to Rima 2.”

“Why have you not launched?”

“Because I do not understand how the ship works. That’s why.”

“How can you starjack a ship if you don’t know how to fly it?”

“Well

actually I’m pondering that very question at this moment.”

“If I was going to starjack a

“

“Can you please shut down? I can’t concentrate if you keep chattering like that.”

“Yes sir.”

Jason reported a few more findings. The controls were more complex than we thought. You don’t want to go into stardrive without a thorough knowledge of your system. These people had developed completely separately from us. We should have anticipated problems like these.

“Sir, don’t you find me attractive?”

I looked over at her again. What was it with this girl? She looked at me over her shoulder. Captivating brown eyes, tender full lipsand that terrific figure.

“Well, of course I do. Yes, I find you attractive. All right? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Then why don’t you want to rape me?”

I just looked at her. She was probably put in orbit for her own good, I thought. Finally I spoke.

“Have you been up here long?”

“Seven months, sir.”

“All by yourself?”

“Yes sir. I’m the caretaker. They pay well, but

it’s boring.”

“I’ll bet.”

“You think I’m ugly, right?”

“You’re not ugly. You’re beautiful.”

“If I was beautiful, you’d rape me. I’m completely helpless, and I won’t resist. A hardened criminal like you should take advantage of meif I was beautiful. But I’m ugly. Right?”

“Can you fly this thing?”

“Sure. I’ve got my star license. It’s easy.”

“Can you get me to Rima 2?”

“Only if you promise not to hurt me.”

I walked over to her and unlinked the cuffs. “Get over to the controls and plot a course for Rima 2. And don’t try anything cute.”

“Yes sir. Don’t worry, I won’t resist. I’ll do anything you say.” She sat down in the command chair and the controls started to come to life.

“What’s your name, girl?”

“Kemah, sir.”

“All right, Kemah. Just do exactly as you’re told and we’ll get along fine.”

“Yes sir, I’ll be good. Just don’t hurt me.”

HOW DO YOU FIND THEM? Jason’s message appeared in the air.

“It’s a mystery to me,” I muttered.

“Sir?”

“Nothing. Just set the course.”

***

We slipped into stardrive flawlessly and settled down for the voyage. We had a meal in the galley, autofood, completely unfamiliar to me. I told her I was not hungry, although she said she was. I sipped at a cup of water. A holo does not interact well with food.

Later, she sat at the table scribbling in a little notebook.

“What are you writing?”

“I’m keeping a journal of my ordeal. Then, if you don’t murder me, maybe I can publish it and make a lot of money.”

“Let me see that.” I snatched it from her hands. Central gave me the translation, and I read it aloud in Oduran. “‘Raped and Forsaken, the Diary of a Victim.’ Ha! Catchy title. What’s this

. ‘He pushed me roughly into the galley. Take off your clothes, then get me some food, girl, he demanded. I stripped, flushed with shame. His eyes never left me as I served him, completely nude. When he was finished eating he seized me roughly and pulled me to him, forcing his tongue deep into my mouth while one hand explored my young breasts. I realized with shame that my nipples were hardening under his rough handling. You a virgin, girl? he asked. Yes sir, I replied quietly.’

“What is this?” I exclaimed, dropping the notebook to the table. “None of this ever happened! This is sheer fantasy!”

“Yes sir. It’s poetical exaggeration. I have to make it interesting, or nobody will read it.”

“You’re using the term ‘rough’ too often. Find another word.”

“Yes sir. Thank you sir.”

“Are you really a virgin?”

“Yes sir. Please don’t hurt me when you rape me. It’ll be the first time for me.”

“LookKemah. I’ve told you a dozen times. I’m not a rapist, and I’m not going to rape you.”

“Oh great! That’d go great in my diary, wouldn’t it? ‘I’m not going to rape you, he said.’ And twenty thousand readers close the book. Just my luck. I get the only starjacker in the galaxy who doesn’t rape his victims! Well, I can’t write about that!”

“Fine! Write whatever you want! I don’t care.”

She stared at me intently. “You don’t fool me! You’re going to deflower me tonight, aren’t you? You’re going to force me to make love with you. I know it!”

“Deflower?” I just looked at her.

“Yes! You’re going to take my virginity, and then ravish me all night. Aren’t you?”

“Ravish, huh?” I laughed. “NoI don’t think so.”

“I think you will. You won’t be able to help yourself. And later we’ll fall in love, and get married, and you’ll beg my forgiveness for treating me so badly.”

“You’ve been reading too many romance novels.”

“Oh, I hate you! Don’t you care about me at all? If you were a real gentleman

“

“Stop. Just stop. If I was a real gentleman, I’d rape you. Is that what you were going to say?”

“Oh you’re twisting everything! What kind of starjacker are you anyway?”

“Kemahif you don’t shut down I’m going to slap some tape over your mouth.”

“Oh yes sir! Sorry. I’ll be good.” She went back to her journal, scribbling furiously. And I thoughtwhy me? All I wanted was a serviceable starship and now I’m stuck with a sex-crazed virgin obsessed with rape fantasies.

***

Well, it was a long voyage, and we had to sleep sometime. I did not want to leave her alone, so I decided to sleep right there rather than disappearing with a bang. I accompanied her to the Captain’s suite, where she had been bedding down. The place was luxuriousa wide bed, a sofa and tables with a breakfast nook, carpeted floors, soft lighting, an attached bathroom.

“All right, Kemah, we’re both sleeping here tonight. Get into that bathroom and change into your nightclothes. What do you usually wear?”

“Uh

panties and hitop.”

“All right, Kemah, change into panties and hitop and get back out here.”

“Yes sir!”

She was absolutely captivating as she came out of the bathroom in panties that were almost transparent and a hitop that emphasized her breasts and revealed her slim waist. Why me, I thought again, glumly.

“Get in the bed.”

“Yes sir.” She lay down on the covers gingerly, looking my way warily, as if expecting me to leap on her at any moment.

“Get under the covers.”

“Yes sir.” She pulled the covers up to her nose, looking up at me with big brown eyes. I bent down and kissed her on the forehead.

“Good night, Kemah. I’ll be right over there on the sofa. Don’t leave the room. I’ll know if you do.”

“Yes sir.”

I ripped a spare blanket out of a closet, stripped down to my jox, doused the lights, and crashed on the sofa. It had been a long day, and I was tired.

It only took a few marks for her to begin yapping again.

“Sir. I’ve been thinking.”

“Yes, Kemah.”

“It’s foolish for you to leave me like this, not even tied up. I could slip out of the room as soon as you’re asleep, and change course, and you’d never know. Or I could find a weapon and maybe kill you or something while you sleep. Of course, I’m too scared to do that. But you don’t know that.”

“I see. Well, what do you propose?” I wasn’t about to tell her that Jason was watching her every move. All I really wanted was for her to shut down so I could get some sleep.

“A real starjacker would tie me up, so I couldn’t do anything while he slept.”

“And I’m not a real starjacker.”

“Well, I don’t know. You don’t act like it.”

I sighed, and fumbled around until I found my beltpak on the floor and took out the field cuffs. I manacled her wrists behind her back as she lay on her belly on the bed, revealing her lovely, firm little bottom. I sure didn’t need this. I hastily covered her again with the blanket and went back to my sofa. I didn’t get much rest.

“Sir?”

“Yes, Kemah.”

“Aren’t you going to sleep with me?”

I padded over to the bed, and sat down tiredly as she lay there on her belly, blinking her big brown eyes at me.

“LookKemah. I’m going to say this one more time. I’m not a rapist. I’m not going to rape you. I’ve never raped anybody. And I’m not going to start now.”

“Yes sir, but if I want you to do it, it’s not raperight?”

I just stared at her, then finally found my voice. “Are you serious?”

“Oh yes sir! I think I’m

oh! I think I’m

oh!”

I decided I was going to remain perfectly calm. “Kemah, I’m married. Don’t you think I should remain faithful to my wife?”

“You’re a hardened criminal, sir. You shouldn’t pass up this opportunity to ravish a young, innocent victim like me. Especially if I don’t object.”

“Can you excuse me for just a moment?” I walked out to the corridor and closed the door, leaning wearily against the bulkhead. “Did you hear that, Jason?”

“Sure did.”

“I don’t think I can hold out against this chick any longer. Has anybody ever

“

“Nope. Nobody has.”

“Well. I guess we can call this a field test. If she can’t tell the difference, we can call the Holo-X concept a total success.”

“I can tell you one thing, she’s not going to complain it’s not hard enough.”

“Very funny.”

“The next time, you sit in the control center, and I get the action.”

“Fine!” I went back into the Captain’s suite, and ripped the cover off her. She shrieked. I straddled her, tugging at the field cuffs on her wrists.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m unlinking your cuffs.”

“Nodon’t. Please don’t. Leave them. I’m going to write about this later. I want to see what it’s like.”

“Fine,” I said. “Whatever you say.” I grasped her panties and ripped them off. She squealed again. I could tell it was going to be a noisy evening.

Chapter 15

The Girl from the Past

I didn’t figure the police would have anyone in Rex’s apartment. Outside maybe, but not inside. It had been over two weeks since the incident in the library. Our probes located Rex’s aircar in Hishamon City, and subsequently found Rex, his apartment cube and shop. We decided the apartment, at night, would be best.

It was a huge bloc. I materialized in a long corridor outside Rex’s door and pressed the buzzer. We figured that would be preferable to appearing by his bedside. I was back in my kid outfit, bowl haircut, tent shirt and tight pants.

“Westo! Buddy!” The door snapped open. Rex Lammafam was in jox shorts with no shirt. His hair was rumpled. “Man, what are you doing here? Every cop in town is looking for you! Get in here, quick!” He locked the door behind me.

“Rex” I read from Jason’s text, hanging in the air before my eyes. “I do not want to make trouble for you. However, I need some help.”

“Westo, you just have a seat here and I’ll get us some xeno.” We regrouped at a kitchen table.

“What is it, Rexie?” A female voice. A lovely, leggy child with short dark hair and liquid brown eyes, clad in pajamas, peered out from behind the bedroom door.

“Go back to bed, honey, I’ll be there by and by.”

“Rex,” I said, “never mind the xeno. First of all I’d like you to know I’m not a murderer. That fellow attacked me. I was defending myselfand my girl.”

“Westo, don’t you worry about that.” Rex settled down in the chair opposite me. “From what I’ve heard about that creep, you did Lakeside City a public service. The police aren’t really overly concerned with his death, I can tell. But they want to know all about you. They questioned me about youwhere you really came from, who you really are.”

“What did you tell them?”

“I told them that you pretended to be from Peta Jaya, but I didn’t know where you were really from. They’ve got surveillance on me. There’s probably somebody outside right now. Undoubtedly waiting for you to show up. They seem to be very concerned about something, and I’m not sure it’s just Jocko’s death.”

“I see. Only one guy?”

“Sometimes two. Sometimes more. Westo, we owe you a great deal of money. That lock is tremendous! What would you say about a flat initial fee plus a percentage of all profits?”

“Thanks, Rex. You can keep all profits from the lock. In return there is only one thing I need. Do you think you could evade your surveillance at nightin your carwhile not making it too obvious you are doing so deliberately?”

“I guess so. Yeah, can. Lately it’s been only two cars. Sometimes only one. I know a multilevel parking garage with exits on every level. I could lose a whole squadron of cops in there. I’ll be happy to help you, Westo. Just one question. How illegal is this, buddy?”

“Nothing illegal, my friend. I want to meet my girl. The police are all over her. I am setting up a rendezvous, with your help. If the police are too incompetent to follow you, that’s not illegal.”

“This is the bunny you told me about! Man, I would like to meet her.”

“You will. This is what I ask you to do

“

***

The probes confirmed Millie was still under fairly heavy surveillance. There was no way out of it this time. I had to meet her, personally. We found one place that would do for a very brief, intimate meeting. The probes showed Millie habitually used the same restroom in the hospital. It was a one-person toiletperfect. I was waiting for her inside when she opened the door.

“Oh! Westo!” She fell into my arms. I kicked the door closed and locked it. She squeezed me like a constrictor, her eyes suddenly full of tears. We kissed, a kiss that almost didn’t end. When we finally came up for air, she broke out the tissues again. Her glasses were all steamed up. It was nice and comfy in there, her breasts nudging my chest. She was a wonderful girl. I had certainly missed her.

“I knew you’d come back!” she sniffled.

“Millieplease listen carefully. You have no future here. I guarantee it. I can offer you an alternate future, in a new world. A new world, for you. You’ll be a nurse there, too, helping the sick. And I will be at your side, for as long as you need me. Now listen carefully. I cannot promise I will be with you forever. My own life is

very complex. But I can promise I will be with you as long as you need meas long as you want me. I love you, Millie. You must choose now. You can come with me to a new world, and leave behind everything you have ever known. Or you can stay, and perishfor your world has no future. If you come with me, you cannot come backnot ever. Remember that.”

“How far is this

new world?”

“Farther than you can imagine.”

“You cannot promise

you will be with me forever?”

“No. But I will stand by you until you don’t need me any more.”

“I will always need you!”

“You may change your mind.”

“If I don’t like your world

why can’t I come back here?”

“It will be impossible. It’s too far. Once in my world, you can’t return here.”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes.”

“Then why can’t you promise you will be with me forever?”

“There are

complications.”

“Complications. Someone else.”

“More than one. But I’ll be with you, Millie. I’ll stand by you.”

“More than one.” She sighed. “No. Impossible. Did you get the xeno data?” She added it almost as an afterthought.

“Yes. Yes I did. It was all we needed. I want you to come with me, Millie. Will you?”

“You have someone else. More than one.”

“I love you, and I beg you to come with me. I cannot, will not, leave you here!”

“What’s wrong with here? Why do you say Lakeside has no future? What happens if I stay?”

“Death. Sudden, certain death. Very soon.”

“You frighten me, West-One Outfamjust like before. My God, you are maddening! You say you love me, but you admit you have someone elsemore than one! And you beg me to come with you anyway, or I’ll die. Are you insane, or am I?”

“Promise me you’ll come with me! I’ll make a new life for you. You and me. You’ll be happy. I promise it! I’ll make you happy! Close your eyes. Give me your hands. Now promise. Say yes.”

I could hear my heartbeat.

“Yes.” It was a whisper. “How can I say no? You’ve torn my life to shreds!”

“Good! Here is what you must do

“

***

“All right, Kemah. Can you do it?” I was back on the bridge of the Oduran yacht, in orbit around Rima 2.

“Yes sir. Easy.” She blinked her big brown eyes at me.

“This is very important to me. It’s why we’re here. After we’re finished, you can go back to Kalalan.”

“Yes sir.”

“You’re not going to do anything silly, are you?”

“Oh no sir! I’ll be good. Don’t worry.” She smiled happily.

“All right. When this young lady comes aboard, you treat her right, all right?”

“Are you going to rape her, too?”

“Kemah. Again. I did not rape you.”

“Oh right! You tied me up and ripped my clothes off! Ha! You raped me!” She smirked triumphantly.

“Kemah. You don’t say a word to her about that, all right?”

“Oh, don’t worry, sir! I won’t say a thing! I wouldn’t dare expose your evil secrets. But I’m going to write about it, sir. Yes siryou’re going to be famous!”

“Fine. Write about it.”

“Can I have you come back later and beg my forgiveness and give back all the loot you stole from your victims and serve a long jail term so you can get out later and marry me?”

“Sure. I’ll do that.”

“Great! Thanks, sir. I’m going to have a terrific book here! The rape scene is red hot! Would you like to read it? I’d welcome any improvements.”

“No thanks, Kemah. I don’t think I could improve on your imaginative writing.”

“I’m using ‘brutal’ as well as ‘rough’ to describe your behavior.”

“Perfect. Sounds good.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“All right. So you know exactly what to do?”

“Yes sir.”

“Only a few hours more. You’ll be on your own, but I’ll be watching youeven though you won’t see me.”

“Don’t worry, sir. I’ll do it right.”

***

It was a long weekend. On the sixteenth, Millie S-Fam packed a little bag and boarded the E-bus to the Balai Highlands, a popular vacation resort. Two cars followed the bus, full of young plainclothes male and female police officers, delighted with the unexpected vacation.

Early on the evening of the eighteenth, Rex Two Lammafam said goodbye to his latest conquest, drove downtown to the Eden Multipark, lost his police escort almost immediately inside the parking complex, and headed out of town, bound for the Balai Highlands.

The resort was a sprawling series of lodges, set amidst forested slopes high in the mountains. Rex did not check into a room, but drove around becoming familiar with the main parking lot and the feeder roads.

At 2210 hours in the evening, when the resort was glowing like a star and cars were coming and going in the lot, Rex drove his yellow sexmobile into a vacant parking spot near the steps to the center lodge, put the roof down, and waited.

Millie emerged from the shadows with a little bag, peered at Rex, and approached him.

“Rex Two Lammafam?”

“Millie! Get inquick!” Millie hopped in and the roof slid back into place as Rex rocketed out of the lot and along a side road. “Pleased to meet you at last! Westo obviously thinks very highly of you.”

“Where are we going?”

“Right where Westo asked. Hang on!” Rex cut the lights and the E-car left the road, shooting over a grassy field, past a little farmhouse, following the tree line of the forest down over a tumbling silver stream and finally swirling to a stop on a footpath by a disintegrating old wooden fence.

Rex turned the engine off and the car settled down and they got out and stood by the fence, facing a meadow. It was quiet, a warm hush under a moonless, overcast sky.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Millie asked. She looked like she was ready to flee the scene at the slightest provocation.

“This is it, all right. This is where Westo said to wait.”

“But there’s nothing here.” It was almost a plea.

“Yes, there is,” I said, striding out of the dark.

“Westo!” Millie threw herself into my arms. We embraced for a long, long time.

Rex grinned happily. “Young love!” he said. “Ain’t it grand?”

“Millie,” I said. “Did you bring your bag?”

“Ohyes!” She went back to the car and seized it and rejoined me. She was trembling, presumably from excitement.

“Transportation should be here shortly,” I said.

“Is that it?” Rex asked. E-car headlights probed the darkness of the forest trail.

“No, those must be the police. With a little luck

” I looked up into the dark. A single star appeared. It grew larger as we watched, glittering like a comet. And then it was on us, a lovely gleaming delta-shaped white yacht blazing with lights, illuminating us all, sudden daylight, a great roaring as it settled into the meadow, setting off a whirling dust storm. All right, Kemah!

It landed. As the dust settled, another light blazed forth. A port opened, a boarding ramp came down. I looked forward to the cockpit. Kemah peered out the plex. She waved at me. I waved back.

Rex and Millie were both stunned, gazing at the craft in amazement. Two E-cars pulled up and disgorged a gang of plainclothed cops. They stood there gaping at the yacht.

“Millielet’s go. Rex, thanks for everything.”

“Yeah. Yeah sure, buddy. It’s nothing

” He stared at the ship.

“Rex. Some advice? Enjoy the next few years. Don’t plan for the future. Just have fun.”

“I’d do that anyway, Westo.”

“You want to come with us?”

“No. No, thanks. I’ve got too many friends here.”

“All right, my friend. Farewell.” I grasped his hand firmly and embraced him warmly.

“You two have a good future.”

“We will, Rex. Thanks! And rememberenjoy life!”

“Always! Keep score, buddy.”

“You too!”

Millie and I boarded the yacht. The boarding ramp closed behind us. We hurried forward to the bridge.

“All set, sir!” Kemah was beaming.

“Bless you, Kemah. All right, let’s blow town.” I guided Millie into one of the cockpit chairs, and settled into the other. “Kemah, this is Millie. Millie, Kemah.”

“Hi,” Kemah said. “Lifting off!” We gently left the ground in a large dust cloud. I waved at Rex. He was still standing behind the fence. The cops were grouped around their cars. One of them was taking a holo of the yacht. Goodbye, Rex. Good fortune to you. What a shame. What a lovely world. What a damned shame.

***

“All right,” I said. “Is this clear to everyone?”

“Yes sir,” Kemah said. “It’s clear.”

“I don’t understand why you can’t come with me,” Millie said. “You said you’d be with me!”

“Millie. I will be with youlater. But I cannot accompany you. You must do exactly as I say, and everything will be fine. When you arrive, I will be there. I promise.”

“I’m scared!”

I embraced her. I could not explain it to her. The problem was we had to transfer her from the yacht to the CS Salvation. As we approached the Salvation, we would pass the minimal focal range of the Holo-X, and at that point my image would disappear. She would be alone, on the Salvation. Alone.

“You’ll have commo with Kemah on the handset. Once you enter the ship, Kemah will back off and I’ll be able to talk with you again.”

“I’m scared!” She cried, fumbling with her glasses again.

“There’s no reason for it. It will be fine. Kemah, any problem with the airlocks, back off three C and I’ll be back.”

“There shouldn’t be any problem with the airlocks.”

I put a hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes. “I’m depending on you, Kemah.”

“We’ll do it right, sir. I promise!” A pearly smile.

“Millie. Follow Kemah’s instructions exactly. Once you get into the other ship, everything will be all right. I must go now. You’ll see me on the other side. Give me a kiss.”

One last kiss. She was crying. If this doesn’t work

Millie will die. I did not know what I would do then. I hurried off the bridge. I was going to disappear soon, right at the critical moment. I prayed to Deadman it would work.

***

“Put me back on the yacht!” Jason shot me back there and I charged into the bridge. Kemah looked up from the controls.

“She’s fine,” she said. “Got her on board!”

“Bless you!” I squeezed her and kissed her. She giggled and handed me the comset. “Talk with your girl friend.”

“Millie! Are you all right?”

“Westo! I’m fine. Terrified, but fine. I’m so scared I’m shaking. There’s no room in here. I can hardly breathe! This is horrible! Will I ever see you again?”

“Yes! Yes yes yes! Listen, Millie. The journey will not be long but it will be

intense. Noisy. Scary. Just strap in and close your eyes. When it gets worse, when you think you can’t stand it any more, don’t despair. Just remember that it is going to end, and when it ends, I will be right there. All right?”

“Yes.” It was a whisper.

“Love you!” She did not reply.

“Kemah, back off one light year, now. Don’t be surprised when that ship disappears. It’s supposed to. I’ve got to gofor the last time. Thanks for everything! I’ll never forget you!”

“Sir?”

“Yes?”

“What’s your real name? Is it Westo?”

“Westo. Yesmy real name is Westo.”

“Westo. Perfect! My readers will love it!”

“Good luck with the book. I got to run!”

“Good luck, sir. I’ll miss you!”

I gave her one last kiss, and hustled off the bridge into the corridor. Kemah had jumped back a light year, and the CS Salvation was glowing already. The time drive had begun rotating.

***

The CS Salvation hung like a white phospho jewel in the starry void of Sagitta. The CS Lifeline approached her slowly, gliding towards her almost as if by magic. I stood with Jason and Apples, looking out the port. Over a hundred thousand years had passed since my holo had met Millie on a world that was no longer even there.

“She’s still glowing like a nuke from the time hop,” Jason said, closing his handcom. “We can’t get any readings. Best to just go inside and see.”

He didn’t say it but we must have all been thinking it. Nobody had ever jumped a hundred thousand years into the future on a time-drive starship before. Theoretically, it could be done safely. But this was the first real test. This was reality. There were probably lots of things that could go wrong. Things we didn’t even know about.

The CS Lifeline scooped up the time drone Salvation with a massive jaw and the drone slid into the launch bay and locked into ship’s hard dock. The great double airlock doors slid shut and sealed. The launch bay rapidly filled with air. The interior airlocks banged open and Jason and Apples and I rushed into the bay. An access ramp unfolded itself up against the glowing skin of the bird, and locked. An access door snapped open with a pop. I forced my way in first, scrambling on hands and knees along a dark, narrow crawlspace, past the massive quantum duplicators, past the Q-link, up to the Holo-X transceivers. There, right in the heart of the ship, sitting in a little service chair, surrounded by alien equipment, I should find her. As I entered the service bay from behind it looked as if there was no one in the chair. My heart froze. Then as I squirmed through the narrow opening I saw her, scrunched down in the chair, strapped in, frozen, bent almost double, hugging her little bag across her knees, her face buried in the bag. Alive? Dead? I reached out to touch her, not daring to breathe.

“Millie?”

Her head snapped up, her face devoid of color. “Westo! Westo!” she shrieked. We seized each other. Her glasses went flying. The girl from the past! I didn’t think I’d ever been happier than at that very moment. It made up for everything.

Chapter 16

Addicted

“I was so scared,” Millie said, “I thought I was going to die for sure. And then when you popped your head up, I thought I’d die of joy. What a trip!” She sat on the commander’s bunk, exhausted, her little black traveling bag still in her lap. I had a translation unit clipped to my collar. I wasn’t a Holo-X and more, and although my Trib was better now, I’d have to depend on the device until Millie learned Inter.

I had figured I was going to be either court-martialed or given a commendation for bringing Millie backmaybe both, the way the Legion worked. However, the initial reaction was certainly favorable. Commander Alran gave Millie his cabin. It was the grandest one on the CS Lifeline, and it was full of flowers. Lovely bouquets. The crew had done wonders with the flowers from the Lifeline’s hydroponics section.

“Welcome to ConFree,” I said. “I’m going to take real good care of you, Milliethat I promise.” I put an arm around her shoulders, sitting beside her on the bed. It felt so good, holding her as a real live person instead of as a Holo-X.

“Is this a starship?”

“Yes. We’re on our way to

where I come from. Your worldRima 2is now inconceivably distant, in both space and time.”

“And there’s no way back?”

“That’s right. No way back.” Apples had checked out Millie thoroughly. She appeared to be in perfect shape. The time jump had not affected her at all.

“What do you think of your quarters?” I asked.

“Why all the flowers?”

“They’re for youfrom the crew.”

“Really?”

“Yes. For you.” She looked around as if she could hardly believe it. I gently took the bag from her lap and put it on my knees. “You can unpack now. What did you bring?”

She took out the little holo of the two of us in the botanical gardens of that vanished world. “I held onto this while I was in the ship,” she said. “I was praying to it.”

“I guess it worked.”

Her whole life was in that bag. A diary, a few other holos, school and medical certificates, a romance novel, a medical handbook, several papers on the plague, nightclothes, undies, blouse, shorts and pants, an alarm chron, a few little washcloths, a little bag with toothbrush, toilet things and makeup, a compact with a mirror. A pitiful little collection of artifacts from the distant past. Not much, to start a new life, a hundred thousand years in the future. But she had something else. She had me.

At first I had thought we’d get by somehow, without getting personal about things. After all, it was almost like a summer romance. I’ll introduce her to Jason, I thought. He seems fond of her. We’ll let things take their natural course.

But it wasn’t that easy. And it wasn’t just her. It was me. I was the one who had torn her life to shreds, and ripped her out of her world into the distant future. Menot Jason.

I removed her glasses. She blinked up at me, dimly. Millie the Mole. Lovely. How could I resist her? We kissed, and the room spun around us. She held on. I could feel her heart thumping. It was wonderful.

“So,” I said. “We’re getting married. Right?”

“I thought you had someone elsemore than one.” Her eyes were wet.

“I do. I have two wives, and a child. But I love you, also. I’ll introduce you to them. I’m sure they’ll love you as well.”

“Slow down, Westo. This is too fast for me. You have two wives? Is that legal in your world?”

“Sure. The government normally keeps its snout out of our personal affairs. Unless you’re with the Legionwhich I am. But I won’t be with the Legion forever. We do what we want in ConFree. You can have as many wivesor husbandsas you want, as long as everyone is happy with the arrangements, and the children are taken care of.”

“I don’t know what to say, Westo. In one breath you ask me to marry you. In another, you say you have two wives already.” The tears appeared, trickling down her cheeks. I hated this. All I wanted was to make her happy. Why should that be so damned hard?

“I love you,” I said. “I want you. Marry me! It’s that simple. Nothing else matters. What do you say? We don’t put anything on paper in ConFree, but we pledge our loveand that’s worth more than any crap paper from some government.”

She found her glasses and put them back on, ignoring the tears, looking at me quizzically. “I don’t know,” she said. “I need a little time, Westo. You know I love you. I

I

how are you going to treat me?”

I took her glasses off again. She was crying a river of tears.

“I’m going to treat you like an angel from the stars. I’m going to worship you! I am your sword and your shield. No one will hurt you, with me at your side.” I gently unbuttoned her blouse. “I’m yours,” I said, “and you’re mine. Take off your clothes.”

“No

the light.”

“Never mind the light. I want to see youall of you. I want to love you. I want to make you mine.”

I buried my face in her breasts, lovely full breasts like ripe fruit, the nipples hardening in my mouth. She gasped, and pulled me closer. The bag fell to the deck.

***

“Oh, I look terrible! What can I do?” Millie stood flustered before the mirror, holding her comb. She was clad in a black Legion uniform, bereft of insignia.

“You’re beautiful,” I said. “Give me that comb.” I stood before her, took off her glasses, and combed her hair off to one side. She’s definitely got to change that frumpy hair style. And get her eyes lasered. Her face was like fine porcelain. She was lovely. I kissed her on the forehead.

“You look so handsome,” she said, pressing the goggles back into place. “What rank are you? Are you an officer?”

“I’m nothing. I’m just a soldier. A foot soldier of God.”

“You look like a general!” She straightened out imagined wrinkles on my blacks. “Why does the commander want to see us? Have I done anything wrong?”

“Are you kidding? I told you. You’re the Savior. You’re our new Goddess. Relax. He’s just inviting us to dinner.”

“Please show me what to do. I’m so afraid I’ll make a fool out of myself.”

“Millieyou can eat with your fingers and nobody will say a word. Stop worrying.”

“Is this your family?” She paused by the comdesk. I had been looking over the holos in my wallet when she was in the head. Deto!

“That’s them.”

She picked up the wallet, fascinated by the holos. “They’re beautiful,” she whispered.

“That’s Moontouch. She’s from Andrion 2. That’s my son Stormdawn. And that’s Priestess. She’s a Legion girl.”

“How can I compare with them? I’m so scared. You can’t care about me!” She turned away from the holos.

“Millie, come here.” I drew her to me, breathing her lovely scent. She was part of me nowno matter what. Our love was sealed by history. Who did she have here, in this alien place, in this alien time? Who did she have, to hold her hand in the night? Me. She had me.

“Stand by me, Millie,” I said. “Stand by my side. I’ll be there for you, always. Always, do you hear me? Always!”

***

The Legion thought it appropriate to relocate us to Veronica 2. It had been hardest hit by the White Death, but Millie’s information had led to a simple oral fungicide tablet that had been distributed by the billions on Veronica 2 and every other inhabited world in the galaxy. And it stopped the White Death cold. They labelled it Xeno-A. Nobody who took Xeno-A caught the plague. Xeno-A was 100 percent effective.

I thought our reception at the starport was impressive, with a shrieking crowd mobbing the port and gangs of dignitaries crowding in to see Millie, and swarms of news freaks and a sky full of camera probes, and flags and marching bands and the strains of the “Black March” screeching over my flesh. But it was not until they put us on an open E-car for a slow ride into the city that it really hit me, the full extent of what we had done.

More than twenty million people had gathered there in the city, along our route, to welcome us. It was normally a city of two million but was swollen by refugees from the White Death, who had been desperate to escape through the starport. Now they were safe, but had not yet dispersed. They evidently wanted to see us. We rode through that awesome crowd slowly, and it stretched as far as we could see. Millie stood in the center of our group, clutching the handhold, dressed in Legion black, with Tara and me at her side, and Jason and Apples beside us, and Commander Alran behind them. The crowd was hysterical. The roar as we approached was deafening and horrifying. It was like a raging beast, mindless, out of control. They were holding their hands up, moving, weaving, jumping up and down, dancing, shrieking, applauding, going wild. They were ecstatic, and they pressed in, eager to get a closer look. Then I heard the chantrhythmic, powerful, brutal in its simplicity: MIH-LEE! MIH-LEE! MIH-LEE! MIH-LEE! Twenty million, shouting with all their might. The earth shook. An E-car of news freaks was just ahead of us, recording it all. As I looked into the crowd I noticed something elsethe children. Fathers and mothers were holding their children up, above the crowd, to see the Savior. Kids, babies, infants, holding their little arms up, waving at Millie. Entire schools were there too, waving their banners, little boys and girls, freed from certain death, waving their flagsthe flags! Millie’s picture, on the flags. And suddenly I realized those flags were everywhereMillie’s picture, big old goggles and all, waving from every flag.

The mob broke into the road, forcing us to dead slow.

Thousands reached out to touch our E-car. The security folks were going crazy, leaping up onto the car, trying to keep the crowd at bay. Millie stood there like a statue, one hand raised, tears streaming down her cheeks. My fingers gripped her free hand like a vice. Tara faced the front, her face frozen, her jaw locked shut. Savoring her victory. Total victory, for Tara, for the Legion. Like a biogen, I thoughta terrifying, lifeless biogen. Until I saw a single tear, trickling down her cheek. Salvation, for us alleven Tara is human!

***

“He’s a Cyrillian from Dardos, according to his docs,” Tara said calmly. She was in her blacks, elegant and relaxed. I was back on Quaba 7, having a quiet chat with the Outvac’s Director of Galactic Information. There were only the two of us in the room. It was dark except for the glowing dscreen and a few subdued backdrop lights. I sipped dox, but Tara just glared at the screen. It showed a Cyrillian male, seemingly naked, purplish skin streaming with sweat in the glare of a hot spotlight, his bleeding head crudely shaven. Shadowy figures moved in the background.

“Our info net is a lot better than the System knows. They thought we wouldn’t know who he was. We discovered he was a minor criminal with a long string of arrests on Dardos. He wanted to travel to Auragaa Legion world, dead center of the Crista Cluster. A major transportation hub, by the way. We allowed him to come because we wanted to see what he was up to. This was while you were away, on Chudit. When he arrived we gave him the usual treatment we reserve for Cyrillians. The System calls it racism but since Cyrillians commit crimes at a rate over 800 percent greater than Outworlders, we call it common sensea concept unfamiliar to the System. It’s lucky the Customs folks took a good look at him. One of his teeth was removable. There’s a shot.” The screen showed a tooth with a tiny compartment hidden inside. A miniscule, roughly spherical-shaped granule was placed beside it.

“That thing was inside the tooth. It’s lucky Customs didn’t open it. Turns out it was full of plague sporesand they were live.”

I put down my dox. The Cyrillian was back on screen, sweating.

“We started paying attention, at that point,” Tara continued. “I did a psyprobe myself. He was recruited by someone on Dardosundoubtedly a cut-out. He was given a great deal of money, a round-trip ticket, the return portion dated a week after his arrival, and was told to open the container in a public restroom in Auraga, and leave it there. Had he done so, we would have had another Legion world infected. And the courier, of course, would have died, along with everybody else.”

“I see.”

“You once asked me what I was doing on Augusta 6, Wester. I’m now going to tell you.”

“Go right ahead.”

“I was tracking a Systie agent whom the SIS employed for sensitive clandestine missions. We wanted to know what his business was on Augusta 6. When the O’s invaded, of course, all that was instantly forgotten. And when the White Death appeared there, we initially thought it might have had something to do with the O’s. Butuntil nowwe had no reason to connect the System to the White Death.”

“I see.”

“I now believe it possible that Systie agent was carrying plague spores, and his mission was to infect Augusta 6. And that it was just a coincidence that the O’s chose that moment to invade. This is the most despicable genocide in galactic history, Wester. It appears that someone was using the White Death as a weapon against ConFree and Omni worlds. They must have created the substance themselves, for that specific purpose. And I suspect the SIS.”

“But System worlds were also infected.”

“Yessome of them were. The picture is not yet complete, Wester. That’s why you’re here. I’d like you to follow up on what we have, and track down and identify the guilty.”

“I’m not a cop.”

“You are now. I am pleased to announce your promotion to Senior Captain. It’s a battlefield commission, Wester, in recognition of your work on Chudit. I’d also like to inform you that you have been transferred permanently to Galactic Information.”

“No. I don’t

“

“It will be on your terms, Wester. Whatever you want, you get. The Legion needs you, Wester. I need you. Your people need you. We need to find out who did this, and exterminate himor them. If it’s the System, there will be consequencestitanic consequences.”

“I’m not a spy.”

“You did pretty good on Chudit, Wester. You’re exactly what I need.”

“You don’t know it’s the SIS.”

“No. That’s conjecture. But, in retrospect, it’s pretty odd that my target was there, on Augusta, for unknown reasons, when the White Death showed up for the first time. The Cyrillian is the key, Wester. He can lead you back to the source. We’ll take whoever’s there. We don’t care who it is.”

“Do you really think it was the System? Would anyoneeven the Systemdo something like this deliberately?”

“The answer is yes, Wester. The Cyrillian proves it. Those plague spores would have wiped out Auraga.”

“Yes. I suppose so. It’s hard to believe.”

“It’s not hard to believe. I’ve been fighting evil all my life, Wester. This is evil. I think I know where this leadsbut I need proof. You’re going to get me that proof. If you have any doubts about this mission, I can provide you with the latest casualty lists from the White Death. Very impressive figures. I’ve got some vid clips, too. Would you like to see an entire elementary school overcome by the fungus just before the shipment of Xeno-A arrived? I guarantee you won’t sleep for awhile after seeing that one.”

“Never mind, Tara. I accept your mission. With a few provisos. I want Dragonand Valkyrie.”

“Done.”

“And I want Priestess.”

“Done.”

“Will my Hqs be here, on Quaba?”

“Here, and on whatever starship you need to do the job.”

“Fine. I want Millie S-Fam assigned to Quabato the hospital.”

“Done.”

“I’ll be asking for more, later. That’s just the start.”

“That’s fine, Wester. I’m going to give you a letter from the Director of Starcom, designating you as his personal representative, and instructing everyone to do whatever you want, instantly.”

“That’ll be a big change.”

“Your new Starcom and Galactic Information ID is right here, Wester, along with the letter. You have unlimited funding.” She slid a small envelope across the table.

“One more thing,” I said. “Assign Scrapper to me as well. She’s in the SRC.”

“Done. Anything else?”

“I want to see that Cyrillian. Now.”

“Can. He’s right here on Quaba. Don’t you want to see your office first?”

“No. Take me to the Cyrillian.”

“Let’s go.” She got up. I picked up the envelope.

***

I watched the Cyrillian for some time through the one-way viewport, gathering my thoughts. He was alone, strapped to a chair in a little interrogation room, sweating profusely under hot lights, his ebony skin gleaming, his head dangling wearily.

Yes, I’d need Dragon, and Valkyrie. Dragon was the ultimate weapon, merciless and deadly, and Valkyrie was a psychotic, willing to hurl herself into Hell for the Legionor maybe just for herself. And I wasn’t leaving Priestess behind. Also, I knew Valkyrie would not come without Scrapper. Priestess and Scrapperyes, they’d both add a touch of sanity to our efforts.

I punched the door open and slid in behind the table, facing the Cyrillian. He barely looked up. I was just another black uniform to torment him.

“How you doing?” I asked cheerfully.

“Not so good,” he croaked, stealing a glance at me through bloodshot eyes.

“Yeah. I understand the guys are more than a little upset with you.”

“I gathered that.”

“You know why?”

“Something to do with my delivery.” He showed me sharpened fangs. The Cyrillians always sharpened their teeth.

“That’s it. Did you know what you were delivering?”

“I didn’t ask. For fifty thousand credits and a round-trip ticket, I don’t ask.”

“Didn’t the guys tell you?”

“No.”

I laughed. “You’ll like this. It was White Death spores. Live White Death spores. If you had opened it, you would have killed everyone on the planet. Including yourself. Funny, huh?”

He was silent at first. When he spoke, it was a whisper. “Oh scut.”

“Yep. Plague spores. So you can see why my buddies are upset.”

“Oh scut. That son of a bitch.”

“You know what they’re planning to do with you? They’re going to skin you alive. That’s done by removing the top layer of your skin with a laser, leaving you with no skin and one bleeding, oozing open wound, all over your body. It’s horrible. But that’s not allthen they’ll cut off your arms. That’s really annoying. You can’t even scratch your nose. You see, you were about to commit genocide. ConFree doesn’t let people get away with that. Your punishment is going to be broadcast to the entire galaxy.”

“I didn’t know! Oh scut.”

“You didn’t know? What did you think it was?”

“I thought it was just a deliverysome kind of drug, some kind of illegal substance. I’m a dependable courier. I don’t peek. I thought it strange when he said to open it at the delivery site, but who am I to argue? For fifty T, I’ll open it. Oh scut.”

“What’s your name, sub?”

“Theoford Van

oh, hell. Street name is Link.”

“All right, Link. Here’s the story. There’s one way, and only one way, for you to avoid getting skinned alive and having your arms chopped off. I’ve got this little problem. I’m supposed to find out who’s behind this business. And I will. I personally don’t care if you live or die, but I know you’re just a patsy. I wouldn’t mind letting you go, later, if you can lead me to the people on the other end of that package you almost delivered. We plan on killing them all, after torturing them for ten or twenty years. You can join them, or join me. You’ve got about ten fracs to decide.”

“Sign me up, man! I want them bastards as bad as you do. They were using me like a dispo!”

“Good. If I decide for any reason that you’re not being totally cooperative, you die instantly. Understood?”

“Gotcha!”

“That’s ‘Gotcha, sir’.”

“Yes sir! I’m looking forward to working with you, sir!” He gave me a wicked smile, again revealing his sharpened fangs.

“I’ll bet.”

***

“Mis-tah Mah-lu! Good to see you, man!” Link hesitated briefly before the booth. It was a darkened cafe, quite busy. Most of the tables and booths were taken. We had a good view from a probe that was about the size of a dust mote, floating above Link’s head.

“Have a seat, Link. What do you want?” Mr. Malu was by himself in the booth, sipping dox. He looked like a fairly typical Dardantall, lanky, a bony face, thinning hair. He was dressed in a dark business suit with a neck-high collar. There was a large goon with a vac gun sitting alone at a table nearby, pondering a handscreen. Valkyrie and Scrapper were at one of the tables, holding hands, posing as fem tourists. They had no trouble playing that role. They were wired, backup for our probes. Dragon and I were outside in our rented aircar, parked in the vicinity with the plex darkened, watching the action on our dscreens. Priestess was roaming around through the tourist market located along the sidewalks, keeping the car in sight. Greenside was a major tourist attraction and we were ostensibly there as tourists, sampling the spicy night life and unusual attractions.

“What do you want?” Link repeated, sliding into the booth opposite Malu. “Well to start with I’d like a blue stunner. Is that any way to greet an old friend and business colleague? What do you want?”

“Look, Link

” Malu grimaced. “I got a business to run here, and I’m kinda busy. I don’t have anything for you today. So if you’ve got something for me, let’s hear it.”

“Oh. Aw right. Sure. We’ll dispense with the foreplay. Mistuh Mah-lu, I came here to ask you

ain’t you surprised to see me?”

Malu just looked at him. “Should I be?”

“You’re not even a little surprised?”

“Well

maybe a little. I figured with 50 thou you’d be making a new life somewhere and we wouldn’t see you again. But here you are. Whoopee. Now, like I said before, what do you want?”

Link grinned hugely, and took a little envelope out of a shirt pocket and placed it on the table. “Remember that last delivery I made?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Do you know what it was?”

“What it was? No, I don’t know what it was. Do you?”

“Yeah!” Link grinned again. “Guess what? I didn’t deliver it.”

“You didn’t.”

“Tha’s right.”

“I see. So you’ve come here to give me back the fifty thousand.”

“Oh nonot at all!”

Now Malu was grinning. It was a scary grin. “This is getting really interesting. Please go on.”

“Actually, I’ve come here to get more money.”

“More! How do you plan on doing that?”

“Well, I’m going to pass you this envelope, and you’re going to pass it to whoever paid you to send me to Auraga with that delivery. There’s a note in there. You can read it if you like. It tells them that I know what is in the tooth, and if they don’t give me a million credits I’m going to blab. Oh, andone more thingif anything unpleasant happens to melike death, or disappearancethe authorities on Auraga are going to inherit the tooth, and all the details.” Link slid the envelope across the table to Malu. Malu didn’t open it. He contemplated Link for a few moments, then spoke.

“I’m going to give you some free advice, Link. Just because I like you so much. I’d advise you to take this envelope back, take whatever’s left of that 50 grand, and disappear, before I tell them you didn’t make the delivery. Or before I decide to kill you myself. That’s really good advice. If I pass on this envelope, you’re a dead man. I won’t have to do a thing. I know these people. They’ve got no sense of humor.”

“The note tells them how to reach me, if they don’t want to involve you. I won’t be hiding. I’m confident they’ll pay. And if you do anything drastic to me, they’ll be very upset with you. Believe meyou don’t know what was in that tooth.”

“It’s your funeral. Stay away from my place, all right? I just had new carpeting put in. Bloodstains are hell on the carpets.”

Link left the cafe with no incidents. The dust mote stayed, hovering over Malu. We relaxed, just a smidgeon.

“If they’re smart,” I said to Dragon, “they’ll do nothing. The less they do, the less we learn.”

“They’ll act. I think they’ll act. They’ve got to. They don’t know if he’s told anyone or not. It could be he’s telling the truththey don’t know. From their point of view, it would make sense to snatch him, find out the truth, then terminate him.”

“But that makes them vulnerable.”

“It’s their planet. They’ll be confident.”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, we’ll see. We’ll see what Malu does.”

***

The first thing Malu did upon returning to his office was to make a starlink call. The dust mote gave us everything. The Legion had given us the latest in surveillance gear. It was a one-way conversation, of course, but we got the number and that was all we needed. By then, Dragon and I were back in our hotel room. Priestess was babysitting Link in his suite, several floors down. Valkyrie and Scrapper were in the lobby, watching.

“This is S.C. Malu of Intersys Enterprises, of Dardos,” Malu said. “We’re calling for Cit K. Fresco of Fresco Shipping. Please inform Cit Fresco that the delivery to Auraga was never made. The courier is holding on to the goods, and wants more compensation. It’s given us a letter of explanation for Cit Fresco. We’ll hold onto it until we hear from it. This courier is not dependable to say the least and we’d like to apologize for that. We will certainly refund Cit Fresco’s payment in full. Please let us know how it would like to handle this. We’re very disturbed about this. It’s the first time this courier has failed to complete a delivery. Needless to say, we’ll not be dealing with that one again. Apologies and regards. S.C. Malu. Our thanks.”

Malu sighed, and disconnected the starlink. We were already tracing the call. We had the data before the message even arrived at the destination. Fresco Shipping was located on Santos, a System world. We had no doubt it, too, was a cutoutbut we knew we were getting closer. We sent the data back to Starcom, and settled back to await the arrival of any visitors to Link’s suite.

***

“Come on, man, it’s been almost two weeksI’m dyin’!” Link was insistent.

“No, you’re not dying. That’s the point,” Dragon replied. “You’re not dying because we’re careful.”

“But this ain’t no way to live! No nookie for two weeks. Man!” Dragon and I were visiting Link’s suite. We figured we could get away with that, once in awhile, because Link was a stim dealer. It said something about a world where a visit to a drug dealer was a good cover for your clandestine activities.

“Man, you fellows ain’t thinkin’ straight! If anybody’s watchin’ this place, they ain’t gonna see no nookie walkin’ in the door. Now that ain’t natural. That’s weird. If it was just me and 50 T, there’d be a parade of chicks, day and night. They’ll know something’s up! They’ll know it’s somebody besides me calling the shots!”

“I hate to say it, but he’s got a point,” I said to Dragon.

“Hmm. Yeah. Maybe. All right, Linkone girl. She’ll stay the night. But we call her. And you keep your mouth shut!”

“Yes sir!” He showed us his best grin. “I’d like something pale and hot.”

***

We watched the girl show up at Priestess’s room through another dust mote. She was incredibly beautiful, a sweet young thing with flawless skin, silky black shoulder-length hair, and long slender limbs.

“ID card,” Priestess said as the door slid shut. Priestess examined the girl’s card with an expression of distaste. “Cit Nimalee. It should be in midschool. What is it doing in this business?”

“We don’t have any parents,” she replied softly. “If we try to leave, the gentlemen will beat us. We owe them a lot of money.”

“Right. Stand there and don’t move.” Priestess ran a modified body scan over the girl’s body, her clothing, her purse, and her shoes. We watched. We weren’t voyeurs, but we had to watch. The girl was so pretty it wasn’t natural. She worried me. Priestess had called her from one of the escort agencies, chosen at random. I was worried anyway. Priestess went into the bathroom and used the tacnet.

“She’s clean,” Priestess said. “No weapons, nothing unusual.”

“Good,” Dragon said. “Direct her to Link’s room. Thanks, Priestess.”

Priestess gave Nimalee a hundred C, and Link’s room number. “We owe this fellow,” she said. “Stay with it all night. Do what it wants. It’ll pay another hundred in the morning if it’s happy.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“And go back to school if it gets a chance.”

“Yes ma’am.”

***

“This is disgusting,” I said, turning away from the dscreen. “I’m not watching this any more. What’s the point?” Link was making up for lost time, pounding his way into the girl like some kind of runaway pile driver. She was whimpering with every stroke.

“All right,” said Dragon. “We’ll just check it every once in awhile. I guess we can’t watch all night.”

“Good. I’m getting some dox.”

We settled down. It was going to be a long night.

***

I fell asleep. That’s the story. I had the watch, sitting by the dscreen with my dox, but I was not too anxious to watch the proceedings, and I nodded off. My fault.

Something must have prodded my subconsciousness, for in the dead of night I awokejust a few fracs too late. A glance at the screen showed me Link was alone in the bedand something was wrongvery wrong.

“Dragon! Alert!” I staggered to my feet. At that very moment, Scrapper called on the tacnet.

“Thinker, the girl is in the hall, heading for the elevator. What the hell, over?” Thank the dead for Scrapper!

“Stop her, Scrapper!” Dragon and I were out the door. Link’s suite was located two floors below ours. We rocketed down the stairwell and arrived in fracs. The door snapped open. Link lay on the bed, face purple, glazed eyes open and focused on nothing. A little black instrument with tentacles and suckers was affixed to one temple. A dispo power syringe lay on the carpet. His frozen hands were grasping at the air.

“Dead,” Dragon said, bending over him.

We burst out the door and headed down the stairwell again, with Scrapper’s voice calling from our comsets. “Stopping third floor!” she gasped.

We crashed through the third floor stairwell doors and sprinted for the elevator. Scrapper was crumpled on the floor before the elevators, barely moving, her sandy hair spattered with blood.

“Scrapper!” I went to my knees. She turned her head to face me. Her mouth was a bloody mess, the teeth all smashed, nose broken and bleeding, a huge purple bruise already forming. She blinked grey eyes at me and spoke, spitting teeth.

“Tough bitch,” she choked. The elevator indicator was blinking ‘1.’ Dragon was gone, heading for the stairs.

“Are you all right, Scrapper?”

“Go,” she said.

I went, tearing down the stairs, gasping for breath, enraged. That little bitch was going to pay!

The lobby doors popped open for me as I charged out into the plaza square. It was deserted at that hourexcept for two figures. The girl, running. Valkyrie, behind her, taking careful aim with a vac gun. She fired and the vac bolt flashed right on the girl’s back. She collapsed, sliding on her face into a puddle. We ran. Dragon appeared from another angle to cut her off.

And then the girl was up, shaking her head, on her feet, sprinting off again. Valkyrie fired, the shot echoing harshly through the plaza. It hit the girl’s legs, knocking her down again. Then she was up, almost instantly. What the hell!

I tackled her around the waist, falling with her to the gritty tiles of the plaza. She squirmed and thrashed like a demon. I got one hand on her blouse and smashed her face with a fist. She kneed me unsuccessfully and we rolled around a bit and she tore away from my grasp, getting to her feet. She whirled and a foot came out of nowhere and smashed into one side of my head and I fell to the ground, stunned. I watched the rest of the action through blurry eyes. She walked right into Dragon. He floored her with a powerful roundhouse kick to the head. It would have probably killed a normal person, but she came off the ground almost instantly, throwing herself at Dragon inside his guard, smashing at him with a fist to the face. He went to one knee, stunned. Then she did a nice left snap kick to his face. Valkyrie danced around, waiting for a clear shot with the vac gun. As Valkyrie brought the gun down the girl launched herself at Valkyrie, tackling her legs, and they went down in a tangle of limbs and the vac gun went flying. By then I was up and staggering forward, pulling out my own vac gun. I jumped on her, got a handful of hair and forced her head back, wild eyes glaring at me. I jammed the vac gun into her mouth and pulled the trigger.

***

“Load her in!” Our rented aircar hovered a few marks off. Priestess popped the doors open. We dragged the girl in, limping from our wounds and bruises. Dragon’s face was swollen and bleeding.

“Priestess, take charge of the prisoner,” I ordered. Valkyrie was at the wheel.

“Is she dead?”

“No. Whoopsshe’s

” The girl was stirring. Priestess had a field syringe in one hand but the girl seized Priestess’s wrist and smashed Priestess’s hand against a window and the syringe went flying.

“Get her!” We piled on. I couldn’t believe it! A vac bolt in the mouth, and she’s still functional! I noticed Scrapper was in the back, still bleeding from the mouth, reaching over the seats to help us restrain the girl.

“Another syringe

“

Dragon pounded at the girl violently with his fists. She was on the car floor. We were all holding her down but she was still moving, glaring at us with icy eyes. Priestess jabbed wildly at her with the syringe. The girl was a pincushion when the sedative finally started to take effect.

Scrapper was right. This was one tough bitch.

“Did anyone remember to check out?”

“I think it’s time to wake up those Legion guys.”

Our emergency transport was a ConFree supply freighter, parked downside at Dardos Port, all set to lift. I was kind of glad we had arranged it. We were leaving quite a mess behind us. We would certainly not be able to leave the same way we had arrived.

***

“She’s beautiful,” I said, peering at our captive in awe. She was shackled securely to a cenite bunk in the brig of the C.S. Fortune, and we were splitting the vac, bound for a rendezvous with the C.S. Die Young. We were all in the brig, gathered around her. I guess we were a sad-looking bunch. Scrapper had a bandaged nose and a swollen mouth full of tempo teeth. Dragon’s face was also bandaged and glistening with medgel. My own body was aching. I had a bruise about the size of an orange on my head. Valkyrie had several fleshpads on her face. Only Priestess was relatively unscathed.

The girl was indeed beautifulsimply fascinating. Priestess had cleaned out the mess in the girl’s mouth, and the ship’s medics had done some quick dental work. Her lips were a bit swollen, but she looked almost normalif angelic can be considered normal. Dull, beaten dark eyes, the fire smouldered for now.

Her creator was a true artista genius.

“All right, Priestess,” I said. “You say this lovely creature is a biogen.”

“That’s right.”

“I feel a lot better,” Dragon said, touching his bruised face. Biogens were tough. The System mass-produced them. Most of them were females, made for sex by the System’s male power structure, but when the Systies started running out of soldiers they decided to use biogens. The females were just as strong and smart as the males so we found ourselves facing them on the battlefield.

“Well, you examined her, Priestess,” I said. “You used that body scan. It’s supposed to be hot tech. It couldn’t detect a biogen? “

“She’s something brand new,” Priestess replied calmly. “The scanner picks up metal, and shows internal organs. Miss Nimalee’s frame is fiberite, we now know. As strong as cenite, but a lot lighterand it registers on the scanner the same as bone. Plus, this girl has got internal organs that register exactly like human organs, even though some of them are not functional.”

“I’ll be damned.”

“There’s a galactic government behind this. She wasn’t assembled in anybody’s garage.”

“So they sent a biogen. And she’ll be untraceable.”

“Probably.”

“She drugged Link, then hit him with a psyscan. How did she get that past you, Priestess?”

“She didn’t. They weren’t on heror in her. And she went straight to his room. I watched her. They must have been hidden in his suite.”

“Of course. He wasn’t hiding his location. They knew it. They had access. They stashed it in there.”

“And they discovered the association between you and Link, Priestess.”

“I suppose. We had to watch him.”

“Then you send out for a girl, and they’re on top of it. A quick trip to the escort service, and their bionic babe shows up at your door.”

“Link will have told her we discovered the White Death spores.”

“They’ll know we’re after them.”

“They’ll be waiting.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “We’ve got to find out who’s behind this. We’re going.”

***

I awoke suddenly as the dream swirled around in my head, then dissolved in the mist. It was dark and I lay there in my bunk with Priestess, her limbs locked around mine. There was barely room in the bunk for one, but we always slept this way. We were on the Die Young, in vac run red, on our way to the next target.

Priestess was sleeping peacefully. She was as lovely as an angel, fallen from above. Her lips were like ripe cherries, wet on my shoulder. Her skin was flawless. Her firm young breasts were pressed against my chest. Her hair was a tangled skein of black silk, tickling my flesh.

I got a chill whenever I thought about how lucky I had been to meet heror what I would do if I ever lost her. I could not possible exist without her.

I had been dreaming about Moontouch and Stormdawn. But I knew it was not just a dream. It was her, calling out to me from across the galaxy. I had tasted her tears. I had felt her despair. She wanted me to come home. And I wouldjust as soon as we tracked down these evil, genocidal psychotics, and killed them all. Then I would return, dripping blood, to a better world, a cleaner galaxy. A place to raise a child.

I could see my boy’s lovely smile, lighting up my life. It almost moved me to tears. It is for you, Stormdawn. I fight for you, and your motherto make a new world.

New visions swirled around me as I lay there, in bed, heart to heart with my lovely Priestess. The Guardian, on Odura, placing a dusty book back on a shelf, sadly, and his words, echoing in my mind “

the great struggle for the future of the world

his side lost, his civilization was extinguished, and the world has long ago forgotten the epic struggle in Eldorath.”

And Tara, her voice crackling over the tacnet“You have to be strong, Wester, to triumph over evil. You have to be stronger than the evil!”

Damned straight. And it helps if you have no heart as well. I had been writing to Moontouch regularlybaring my soul. Andrion 2 had no Q-link. The things were still extremely valuable, very scarce, and highly classified, and not for backwater ports like Andrion. So we used Legion starlinksbut that took a long time. And Moontouch had not answered any of my letters. I had not really expected an answer. She answered me in my dreams, at night. It was her way of urging me to come home. If I wanted to communicate with her and Stormdawn, I should come home. That’s what she was telling me.

I untangled myself from Priestess and pulled the little deskmod out of the bulkhead and sat there on the edge of the bunk in the dark, gazing at the desk, my mind a blank.

“What

?” Priestess, blinking sleepy eyes.

“Nothing. Go back to sleep, Priestess. I’ll be right there.”

“Love you.”

“Yes. Sleep.” She drifted off. LettersI’d write to Moontouch, and beg her to respond. But I did not touch the little desklight. Moontouch had been rightabout everything. What had she said? It was etched into my brain, as if by acid. ‘I see a White Death, invincible, wasting mighty empires.’ The plague! ‘

and innocents, trusting in you, betrayed and abandonedby you.’ I had not believed it when she had said it, but that was Camelora, all right. All those children, singing the Legion Chantbetrayed and abandonedby me! What else? Yes, yes

‘I see you

leaving your mortal flesh, to walk among the dead.’ That one had really had me worried, but I had done it already. What else was my Holo-X trip to Chudit? I had left my mortal flesh, and walked among people who had died thousands of years ago. Moontouch’s prophecies were more terrifying than ever, now that I knew how true they were. What else, what else? ‘An endless war

your people exhausted, in despair. Men without minds, killing without remorse, and children without hope, waving the flags of an evil God.’ Good lord! What was that? And the rest‘two madmen, leaders of the forces of light and darkness, locked in a struggle to the death for the future of humanity. You will follow the one and fight the other, and never know which God you serve.’ Deadman!

And, scariest of all, was the part she had mentioned first. ‘You will abandon me and your son again, leaving us to face our enemies alone.’ All right, I had abandoned thembut what enemies did she face? There were no enemies on Andrion 2. The planet was securely held by the Legion. Nobody would bother them there.

And what was this war? The System was disintegrating as its subject peoples hurled off their chains. The Omnis had recently ceased their attacks, possibly in gratitude for the information on the xeno. What war? The Legion was stronger than ever. Who were these madmen?

I pushed the desk back into the bulkhead and eased into the bunk. Priestess made way for me, wrapping her limbs around me again. I pinned her to the bunk, kissing her ears, her cheeks, her eyes. She blinked at me sleepily.

“I have to tell you something, Priestess.”

“Can’t it wait?”

“No.”

“Oh damn.”

“I love you more than anything

in the galaxy.”

“Let me guess. It’s Millie S-Fam.”

“Yes.”

“She’s your new lover.”

“Well

ah

not exactly.”

Priestess sighed. “You really are hopeless. I should have you neutered! All right, how bad is it?”

“Ah, it’s not, uh

serious. I mean, well, I had to gain her trust, see, to get what we wanted, and

well, when it was over, it didn’t seem fair to leave her behind. I mean, after all, she saved humanity. Right? And she did seem

well, fond of me. And

well, she’s a very nice girl. So what should I do? Just dump her? Say ‘Well, here we are, your new life in the future. See you, bye.’ It didn’t seem right.”

“So she’s your new lover. Your new wife.”

“Oh

no. Not

not exactly. I just told her

I’d look after her. I’d be there.”

“Fine. Take her. I’ll give you your freedom. It’s been fun. See you!” Her lovely brown eyes burnt with emotion.

“Stop it!” I touched my forehead to hers. “You are my life. If you leave me, I die. I’m sorry

about Millie. It happened. I have to live with it. I want you to meet her. I want you to love her. Don’t talk about leaving me. We can’t split upnot ever. I want to live with you a million years. I want you to have my babyhalf me, half you. It will be the most beautiful baby in the galaxy! Promise me. Promise!”

“I always wanted your baby,” she said. “So we’re going to leave the Legion, are we? And when is this going to happen?”

“As soon as the war is over.”

“Which war is this?”

“It hasn’t started yet. Moontouch told me about it. It’s comingsoon. And when it’s over, that’s itwe go home.”

“We?”

“You and me.”

“And Millie?”

“I

I don’t know. I want you to meet her. She’s a very nice person. She’s a nurse. You could

“

“I know. I know all about her. Do you still love me?” Her eyes were brimming. Oh nodon’t cry, Priestess. Not that.

“PriestessI love you more than my life. I’ve proven that. I left Moontouch and Stormdawn behind, I left my own universe behind, I left the future behind, for you, when you were lost. I brought you back from the dead. You’re me. I’m you. It’s Thinker and Priestess, on the cross, forever. Do I love you? It’s not just love, it’s life! I’ll be by your side until they blow me to bits, and with my last breath I’ll call your name. And we’ll live together in Heaven, forever.”

Sharp fingernails raked my back. Her cheeks were streaming with tears. “How did I ever meet you?” she gasped. “You’re insane. We’re both insane! I don’t know why I put up with you. You’re like a drug. You’re like senso. And I’m addicted. Damn you. Damn you! Damn you! I love you. We’re going to die together, Thinker. We’ll never see our lovely baby. We’re going to die in the mud, together, for nothing. Is that the only way I can keep you? I swear to Deadman

” She glared wildly at the ceiling.

“Please, Priestess. It’ll be fine. We’ll be all right. Don’t cry. We’ll survive! And we’ll be happy. I promise!”

Addicted. She was right. We were both addicted, to each other, and to the Legion. And addicts always end up dead!

Chapter 17

Red Snow

“Decar! Kick ass, gang!” Redhawk shouted as the assault door of the Kiss snapped open and we charged into a heavy, freezing rain. The Kiss rose in a whirling cloud of icy spray. We were in a tall forest of grim dark evergreen trees, shedding icicles. The forest floor was covered with snow. Santosdeto!

The Kiss was goneinvisible, already. We were right in the heart of the System. It was a miracle they had not spotted the Die Young, but it was no surprise they had missed the Kiss. She had slid through their defenses like a knife through soft cheese.

“Count!” I called out.

“Dragon!”

“Priestess!”

“Valkyrie!”

“Scrapper!”

All herefive troopers and one air jock. I had drafted Redhawk, I had drafted the Kiss. Tara was rightwhatever I wanted, I got.

We humped up a thickly forested hill in comtops, camfax and A-vests. Icy hail pinged off my visor. We did not expect any serious opposition. This one was so crazy no one should be expecting it, right in the System’s back yard. We had learned a great deal about Citizen K. Fresco of Fresco Shipping, but we needed to learn more. We decided to interview the gentleman. We would do it the Legion way, which consists of kicking in the freaking door. The tacmap was crystal clear. We fanned out to surround the house. All appeared quiet as we filtered through those black trees like ghosts, our camfax cloaks blending in perfectly. A heavy, icy sleet attacked us, crackling in the cold.

Dragon and I were the entry team. We low-crawled through a crust of frozen snow and ragged shrubbery to where we had a view of the front entrance. It was quite a homemore like a palace, actually. Two stories constructed of stone. Fresco Shipping was clearly a profitable venture.

“Laser security alarm confirmed,” Sweety whispered in my ear. She outlined it on my visor. A wide perimeter around the house.

“Dog,” Valkyrie said. A sleek black attack dog appeared out of the sleet, bristling, its nose lifted, looking around suspiciously. Valkyrie was off to our left, where the dog had appeared.

“Valkyrie, do the dog,” I ordered.

“Get your mind out of the gutter!” she snapped impatiently. “I’ve got to deal with this guard dog right now.” Sometimes I really wonder about Valkyrie.

“Don’t hurt it,” Priestess said. “Use the dart.” We were already prepped for the dog. I knew I would catch hell later from Priestess for what Valkyrie had said. It’s impossible to avoid offending these females.

“I kill subhumans,” Valkyrie responded. “I don’t kill animals.” The dog jumped, twitched, staggered, and collapsed, silently. The tranquilizer was fast-acting but would not harm the animal.

“Scrapper. Do the alarm. Ready, Dragon?”

“All set.” The perimeter alarm suddenly shifted position, snapping over to the rear of the house where it would not interfere with us. Fresco’s alarm panel would show it was still functioning.

Dragon and I darted for the door, sleet clacking against my visor. Dragon had the Manlink. The front door blew apart with a tremendous blast. We were through the smoking wreckage in instants and charged up the stairs. Dragon took out the bedroom door with another blast and we burst in while the debris was still whirling around the darkened room. There were two of them in a large bed, stunned by the explosion, petrified in terror. Fresco and a young ladypossibly his wife. I’m always secretly pleased when we bust into some place and discover heterosexuality is still alive and well. Call me old-fashionedbut I was beginning to like the guy already. That didn’t stop me from putting a knee on his chest and jamming the barrel of my E into his mouth as Dragon sat on the girl, forced Fresco’s hands behind his back and snapped on the cuffs. At such moments of extreme stress time seems to be cut into little fragments and I get a quick series of freeze-frames highlighting the oddest thingsthe beads of sweat all over Fresco’s brow, moist olive skin, balding black hair, a scraggly mustache. He was a large, heavy man. His wife, pale blue eyes, mouse brown hair, icy cold face, going into shock, suddenly screaming like a siren.

I pulled him brutally out of bed and backed out the door, dragging him behind me. Dragon covered the stairs. Fresco’s wife, stricken, raised one hand towards him in helpless disbelief as he slowly disappeared from her life. Her face wrinkled with emotion, tears filled her eyes.

“We won’t hurt him,” I said. “Don’t worry.” She may have found that a little hard to believe, considering the circumstances, but I meant it sincerely.

Valkyrie whispered in my ears just as Dragon and I cleared the front door of the residence with our captive. The sleet crackled all around us. “Aircar,” she said. “Damn! Discharging

” The sharp crack of auto x suddenly filled the air. Valkyrie was firing. I kept hustling Fatso along the walk. He was still in his nightclothes. Dragon faded to one side and suddenly the horrifying shriek of a tacstar rippled through the air and a titanic bang lit up the night, a dazzling electric arc light, freezing a sky full of sleet in mid-fall.

“Aircar

” X and laser cracked and popped all around me. I dove into the snow and landed on Fatso. I snapped my E to my shoulder and Sweety highlighted the targets. Four troopers, starbursting from a disintegrating aircar, coming right at us through the forest, firing. I fired, full auto x. We all fired, going into counter-ambush mode, spraying a heavy volume of x. The others moved forward, attacking. It was so automatic not a single order was necessary. Normally I would have been moving on them as well, but I was stuck with the prisoner.

The forest erupted, bursting into a horrid sea of white-hot flame. I could feel the heat through my litesuit. My hands were burning. An eerie whistle snapped overheadthe Kiss, coming back for another pass.

“Confirm opposition eliminated.”

“Evac, please.”

“I’m hit.” A whisperjust a whisper. Priestess! My adrenalin exploded. I staggered to her position, dragging the prisoner behind me like a big dog on a leash.

She lay in the snow, a pale camfax angel, and her blood stained the slush a bright red. She was silent, staring at nothing. I tried to get her on her side to examine her wounds. Her legs were shredded, bloody slices of glistening red meat dangling from awful exposed bones, and the blood was pouring out in cascades. Like a river, I thought, in shocka river of blood. I was stunned, momentarily frozen in horror with Priestess in my arms, looking at me, blinking.

“We’ll take her, Thinker.” Scrapper was suddenly there, ripping open a medpak, wielding a field syringe. Valkyrie slapped on medgel dressings. But how can she cover all those wounds? Cannot! We don’t have enough bandages! Dragon hovered over us on guard with the Manlink. The prisoner lay in the snow beside me but I seemed incapable of doing anything. I could only gape at Priestess, my lovely Priestess, bleeding a torrent of bright red blood onto alien snow.

And then the Kiss was there, hovering above us like a great bat from Hell, winking in and out of visibility, the assault doors snapping open, and they loaded Priestess in. I pushed Fatso in and the doors snapped shut behind us and we launched instantly, invisible and silent. The mission had been successful. I moved over to Priestess. Valkyrie and Scrapper were grimly working on her wounds. They had removed her comtop, and blood was squirting everywhere. Priestess was still conscious, looking into nothing. I touched her forehead with one hand and lowered the other over her heart. My hands were scarlet with her blood, and trembling uncontrollably. I closed my eyes and prayed, to Deadman, for her soul.

Chapter 18

Sleepwalking

“How are you feeling?” I asked Priestess. She was pale and still, stretched out on an airbed in the Body Shop in Quaba Fleet Hospital. Like an angel, I thoughta pale, wounded angel, cast down from Heaven’s wars.

“I feel wonderful,” she replied with an easy smile. “Lucky biomags are not addictiveor I’d be hooked for sure.”

“They say your new legs are growing fast. With chromite bones, you’ll be able to outmarch us all.” The lower portion of the airbed was obscured by the gentanks. They had shown me the images of Priestess’s new legs. Creepy, I had thought.

“All I want is for them to look the same.”

“They will. Don’t worry.”

“So now, your girl has got fake tits and fake legs. Tired of me yet?” Priestess was exaggerating slightly. She had taken x-max in the chest on Mongera, and they reconstructed her breasts.

“It’s not a problem, Priestess. The important parts are still there.”

“Very funny. How much longer before they unplug me from this thing? I’m getting tired of dribbling into a urine bag.”

“Now you just relax and don’t worry about that. When everything’s ready they’ll let you up, and you’ll have brand new legs.”

“I hope they’ll meet with your approval, sir. I know you’re a leg man.”

“It’s still you, Priestess. Every cell is from your own body, so don’t fret, all right?”

“Sowhat do you do when you’re not visiting me? I hear you’re dating one of the nurses.”

“Priestess. I’m just waiting for you to recoverthat’s all. That’s all I want from life, at this point. What did you say to Millie? She was in tears. She wouldn’t even discuss it with me.” Millie had visited Priestess, with flowers, anxious to win her friendship. It had not gone well.

“Maybe I was a little hard on her. I just told her that I was not going to let anyone steal you away from me, and if she tried, I’d kill her. That’s all. I think it was the biomag talking. It makes everything very clear.”

“She wanted so much to become your friend.”

“I’m sorry, Thinker. I must say, she was not what I was expecting. I was expecting some kind of predatory vixenyou know, like Valkyrie. Well

I’ll admit I felt bad when she ran out of the room.”

“Remember when Valkyrie visited me in the Body Shop on Atom and chased you out of the room?”

“I remember. I guess I was the vixen then, huh?”

“LookI’ve already told Millie I’m never going to leave you. That’s not an issue. But Millie is

she’s totally dependent on me. I’m all she has, in this time, in this place. She’s in agony right now because you rejected her. She wants you to like her. Can’t you try? Just a little?”

Priestess closed her eyes. She looked tired. “All right, Thinkerfor you. Tell her to come back. I’ll see her. I’ll be nice. You never cease to amaze me, Three. Nobody else would dare come to his wife’s sickbed and beg her to accept his new girlfriend. But I guess I’m just as crazy as you. I don’t know anybody else who would agree. Only me. We’re a couple of nuts, aren’t we?”

“That’s a ten, Priestess. But we’re going to be together forever. That’s a promise.”

***

Strange days in Quaba Base. Double suns, wheeling in a startling blue sky. Legion hotcars splitting the skies, thundering overhead. I strolled through those days with the assurance of a sleepwalker. A great calm overcame my soul. I was no longer worried about anything. The White Death mission was over, my unit was disbanded. Strangeperhaps I should have been unsettled, uneasybut I wasn’t. Perhaps I had accepted my lifeliving from one day to the next, anticipating nothing. My certainty was absolute. I was not worried about Priestess, I was not worried about Millie. I would do it right, for both of them. I was not even worried about Moontouch and Stormdawn. She had still not written but I knew she was receiving my star tracers, and I had pledged eternal love. Priestess had added her greetings as well. It was foolish to pretend we were coming back any time soon, so I didn’t.

Sleepwalking. Great events were underway, I knew, as a result of our missions to Dardos and Santos. Tara had psyched Cit Fresco personally. The psych exam had revealed a lot more than we expected. The Systies thought they were secure on Santos. Fools. Nobody is secure, anywhere, with the Legion on the loose, with the Kiss gliding invisibly overhead like a great vampire bat, cutting through the air with that faint, eerie flutter that would always raise the hairs on the back of my neck.

I knew the future was preordained. It was coming at us, inevitable, unstoppable, a tidal wave that would rush over us all like grains of sand on a beach. I knew itMoontouch had told me.

***

“It’s getting darkerlooks like it might rain. Does it rain here?” Millie asked. We strolled along the beach at a vacation resort by Quaba’s Sea of Storms. It was cold. Winter was rushing at us. The sea was slate grey, breaking gently on a beach of black, gritty pebbles. The air was refreshing. Millie had asked to be taken somewhereanywhereaway from Quaba Station. The resort was nice, but the weather was not cooperating. The sky was gloomy.

“Yes, it rains. It’s a beautiful world.”

“It’s so nice to get away for awhilejust the two of us.” She gave me a dazzling smile, latching on to one hand. She was clad in a Legion coldcoat. Her hair was cut short in an attractive style and the glasses were gone. Her vision was perfect now, and she was delighted. It was wonderful to see her smile.

She knew everything now about the past, about her world, and about mine. She had been very quiet after I told her. Then she had cried, silently, for her vanished past, for that lost world. We were closer than ever, now.

My comset sounded. I answered.

“Three, Priestess. Where are you?”

“I’m on the beach with Millie, Priestess. How are you doing?”

“Bored. I’m bored. I miss you.”

“I’m bringing you here as soon as they’ll release you, Priestess. It’s nice. A bit cold, though.”

“Sounds good. Let me talk with Millie.” I passed the comset to Millie.

“Yes,” she said. “Yes

yes

of course

.don’t worry, Priestess, I will. Goodbye.”

“What did she say?”

“She said I had to make sure you wore a coldcoat if it was cold, and eat three meals a day, and don’t drink too much dox.”

“Why do females always think males cannot function correctly without their input?”

“Because it’s true. You wouldn’t have worn your jacket if I hadn’t insisted.”

“It’s not so cold.”

“See? No common sense. You’re a typical male.”

“Hmm. WellPriestess is treating you all right now?”

“She’s very sweet. She sure scared me that first time. But she had felt threatened. Yes

I think we’ll get along fine. She said if any other girl tried to move in on you, I have to punch her out.”

Good, I thought. Keep them away. I sure don’t need any more females. We paused, as grey waves rolled in. A restless dark sea stretched to the horizon, an infinity of cold, gently tossing waves. I tasted the salt in the air.

“Priestess told me your mission uncovered important information,” Millie said.

“Important isn’t the word. Catastrophic might do itor horrifying.”

“What did you find out?”

“The data the info folks got from the biogen and the psych interrogation of Cit Fresco both led to the same worldHyada, the capital of the Democratic People’s Federation of Loyalist WorldsDemFed or HyadFed for short. We usually call it the Hyades Federation. It was formed out of the breakup of the System, just a few years ago, as part of the ongoing attempt by the Greenies to salvage their empire. It’s supposedly independent, but it’s an associate member of the United System Alliance, USICOM, and the United System Defense Alliance.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means the Hyades Federation is a satellite of the Systema client state. It means they take their orders from the Systemor what’s left of it.”

“I see.”

“So if the Hyades Federation is responsible for the White Death, then the System is responsible as well. You see, the Legion doesn’t shirk its responsibility. We don’t try to fool ourselvesor anyone else. It would be easy to focus blame on the DemFeds. But we’d be ignoring the real criminalsand we don’t do that. It’s the System. It’s always been the System. Tara told me the trail led back to the SIS, on Hyada. The SIS is the STRATCOM Information Service. They’re the System’s eyes and earsand assassins, it seems.”

“So what does it mean?”

“It means our lives are going to changeand not for the better. There’s more. It gets worse. The Hyades Federation is the creation of a rogue ex-ConFree official who defected to the System and gave them all our secrets. In return, they allowed him to salvage the Hyades Sector for them. He did a good job of it, crushing all nationalist breakaway parties while persuading the people that DemFed is independent from the System. He’s psychoticbut brilliant. His name is Kenton Cotter-Arc. He’s a sworn enemy of ConFree, the Legion, and humanity. And now it’s clear he’s employed genocide, as a political weapon, to weaken ConFree. He’s on the Legion death list, already.”

“Rain! Look, it’s starting to rain!” A few drops spattered around us. The sky was full of dark clouds.

“Yes. Let’s get back to the resort.”

Kenton Cotter-ArcTraitor Number One. He was responsible for the sabotage of Beta’s mission to Uldo, for the ConFree Special Mission raid to counter us there, and for the coverup that followed. He had destroyed our squad on Uldo, and dispersed us all over the galaxy. And he had been responsible for the ConFree raid on Andrion 2 that followed, and for my abduction, psyching, and detention on Nimbos. He had once been Director of Starcom, but his treasonous intrigues against the Legion and the Lost Command had failed. And I, personally, had played a large part in driving him from office.

He was my Satan. He was the black heart behind all my woesan evil, secret, distant spectre, weaving the magical web of my destiny. It was he who sent me on my long odyssey in search of my soul. And I knew he was waiting at the end of my road, to meet me. He was as much a part of me as Tara, even though I had never personally met him. But I would. I knew I would. I could feel him, tugging at that silken web, ever so gently, anxious to draw me in and consume me.

***

“Kiss me, Westo.” She sat on the edge of the bed, in our suite. We had just returned from the beach, the balcony doors were open, and one of Quaba’s suns was bleeding on the horizon, falling into that dark sea, casting us in a wine red hue. I had been heading for the snack mod and she had reached out and touched me, looking up at me trustingly.

I sat beside her, and looked into her milky brown eyes. Cheek to cheek, breathing in her scent. Soft, silky hair. Her heart, pounding softly. Her arms, a velvet embrace. Togetherand all is well, for a moment, one precious moment, as the world slows and holds its breath.

“West Lake,” she said. “You kissed me by West Lake, the Lovers Lakeand I was yours. From then. From that very moment. Now it’s all gonebut we’re still here! You stole me away, Westo, from the past. You ripped me right out of history, and brought me back here. It’s a miracle. You shot me through the heart and brought me back, like a trophy. Wellyou’re stuck with me now, Westo. Hope you don’t mind.”

I kissed her ears, her cheek, her eyes, her throat. And I had wanted to seduce her, to gain her cooperation, to

what a fool! It was I who had been seduced. Touch a girl and you’re undone. They’re all practitioners of the black arts. How can a fool like you resist anyone? Least of all this

magical

bewitching

lovely

creature.

She guided my hands to her breasts. I stripped her blouse away and cupped those lovely breasts in my handsthe nipples were hardening, anxious for my lips.

The comset rang. Perfect.

“Yeah.”

“Thinker, Priestess. Turn on the news, now. Priestess out.” She soundedtense. I snapped on the Legion Infonet and the wall screen lit up. A dark figure dressed in Legion black stood behind a lectern displaying a silver Legion cross. He looked up into a light glowing out of the dark. His skin was tanned by the fierce rays of alien stars and his eyes were a very pale blue, almost luminous in their intensity. He appeared to be young, but his finely chiseled face radiated authority andconfidence. A calm, sad, almost glacial confidence. I had seen him on the infonet before. He was some kind of political. I never paid attention to those things. The screen blinked ‘LIVE.’ That was most unusual. If true, it meant they were relaying a Q-Link broadcastthat was a first.

He had paused. He was evidently addressing a large audience. We could sense them, breathing, out in the dark. Now he resumed, speaking softly, without notes.

“There is nothing further to be done,” he said. “There is nothing further that can be done, except to do our duty to humanity. We are in the grip of history now. Our descendants will be the only human judges of whether our actions were correct. But now, under today’s stars, we can only stand forth and confront our enemies boldly, without hesitation, without doubt. We will do soand let the Gods decide whether we were right or wrong.

“There is no doubt about the System’s guilt. It is overwhelming. The hands of the SIS are red with the blood of millions. There can be no halfway measures here. This is genocide, as a weapon of undeclared war. Should we ignore this? Should we look the other way, because the consequences are so fearful? Should we blame the Hyades Federation, while ignoring their masters? We are in the dock of history. The light of the ages is shining harshly on us, now. It is time to decidefor our children. For is not that what we live for? It is they who will judge us. Shall we leave them this writhing, poisonous serpent, as a legacy?”

He paused, and looked out at the audience. His face glowed out of the dark. Now, for the first time, he looked down at some papers on the lectern.

“The Executive Council of the Confederation of Free Worlds convened this morning, in emergency session, at 0400 hours 323/10/29 CGS. I have been authorized to make the following statement, on behalf of the people of the Confederation of Free Worlds.

“323/10/29, CGS. The Government of the United System Alliance not having responded truthfully to our demarche of 323/10/22, the people and Government of the Confederation of Free Worlds, through their Executive Council meeting on 323/10/29, now publicly accuse the Government of the United System Alliance, and all its allied and associate states, of unprovoked genocide against the peoples of the Confederation of Free Worlds. Accordingly, in order to safeguard its rights and interests, the Confederation of Free Worlds henceforth considers itself in a state of war with the United System Alliance, and all its allied and associate states. Resolved, by the people of the Confederation of Free Worlds, that this state of war is hereby formally declared, that the President of the Executive Council is authorized and directed to employ the entire armed forces of the Confederation of Free Worlds to carry on war against the United System Alliance and all its allies, and, to bring the conflict to a victorious termination, all of the resources of the Confederation of Free Worlds are pledged to this end. May God have mercy on our souls, and may He protect our brave soldiers.”

What have I done, I thought, in shock. Deadman, what have I done?

Chapter 19

Pherdos

“Skystar’s set.” My voice was a hoarse whisper as I snaked wearily through a field of oily mud under a dark sky. There were at least twenty different ways to die in the next few marks, but I was too damned tired to worry about it. Evening on Pherdoswhat a nightmare. This had been a city once. Now it was just glowing rubble. The sky was flickering, toodeceptors and antimats. The tacmap on my faceplate was all scrambled, but that was good. It meant the Systies couldn’t see me.

“Tenners. Are you clear?” Priestess, breathing right in my ears. She always gave me a shot in the heartknowing she was there. It made it all the more crazy. A few lasers cracked overhead. A tacstar erupted on the horizon, electric blue, suddenly illuminating a corpse lying right in my path. A woman, swollen and putrid, blue skin falling off one petrified arm, crawling with maggots, awful fingers still scratching at the sky.

“Clear.” I squirmed around the corpse. The warning lights in my helmet were all a soothing green. Where was the bastard? It was an evil sky, covered with smoky clouds. We hadn’t seen the sun in weeks. The horizon was aflame, the ruins were burning. I had no idea how I was going to find Priestess again without the tacmapbut I knew I would. She was all I had, at that point.

Tacstars floated lazily overhead, leaving eerie phospho wakes against the dark. The airtank popped back on the tacmap, barely visible in a field of static.

“All right, there he is,” Priestess whispered. “See him?”

“Ten.” I could see it visually. The airtank floated in a hazy cloud of debris, moving in and out of shattered buildings, shooting up everything around itlasers, auto x, tacstars. Drifting, casually reaching out and touching whatever it liked. A building came tumbling down around it in a cloud of glowing smoke. It was a DefCorps heavy A-tanka formidable beast.

“Damn. There are people there,” Priestess said. I could hear the x-max. “Civilians. He’s strafing them. Just gunning them down.”

“Which way is he going?”

“Drifting your way. Are you sure you’re clear?”

“Clear.” The civilians would be Outworlders. I vowed again to never stop killing Systies, as long as there was breath left in my body.

We watched as the airtank floated under that hellish sky, methodically blasting everything around it. There was nothing else we could do. Airtanks were tough. We were both too tired to comment further. We just watched, as the A-tank slowly drifted into the defensive perimeter of the Skystar I had just set. I reflected briefly on the futility of trying to avoid your fate. It didn’t even matter if you were hiding inside an A-tank. When your time came, you were gone.

The Skystar missile burst out of the rubble, leaped up to the airtank in a blue flash, and a blinding nuclear airburst filled the sky with glowing tracers. The burning remnants of the airtank came showering down all around me, whistling and screeching, the impacts shaking the earth.

“Good,” Priestess said. “Now let’s take that objective.”

“Watch yourself,” I replied. “Slowly! There’s plenty of bad guys still out there.” I began crawling towards the target.

***

“Systie-free,” Priestess declared, kicking the exterior door closed viciously from inside. Her camfaxed A-suit was splattered with mud and she was festooned with ampaks and armament. Her E glowed on live and her ruby red faceplate was like a mask of blood. We had gained our objective, the interior of the prison. The place was built like a fortress and had survived the seesaw fighting that raged in the area the last few weeks.

“I’ll place a sentrycam here,” I said, banging one into the wall and pointing it at the door. “You want to tell Dragon?”

“Nolet’s scope the sit first.” The place looked like an office mod. The cells would be downstairs. Take the prison, Dragon had said. Just the two of us, Priestess and me. The order had not even fazed us. Everyone was busy. There were plenty of targets. Take the prison. Fine. We could do that.

We reconned the stairway that led downstairs, dropping a few deceptors down for luck, covering each other, kicking in doors, twitching, E’s at our shoulders, ready to fire. We found two levels of locked cells full of prisoners. No Systies. There was a guard post with table and chairs. We crashed down around a table, tore off our helmets and ripped open our ratpaks. My hands trembled. The place was filthy but it looked good to us after all the crap we had been crawling through outside.

“When’s the last time we ate?” Priestess asked, wolfing down a choco.

“Days. Who cares?” I was devouring a hotpak of field protein. I thought eating was a waste of time, but our bodies were insistent.

“Still love me?” Priestess laughed, blinking dark eyes, choco smeared all over her face, licking the remnants of the pak from her armored fingers. There was nothing she could do to make herself more lovely.

“Take off your armor and I’ll show you.”

“Water.” It was a croak, from the cellblock. I gazed over there indifferently, tearing open another foodpak. The rations were terrific. Priestess wandered over to the nearest cell door and looked in. It was a cenite door with a narrow, barred window.

“Water. Please. We’ve had no water.”

“Don’t get too close, Priestess. They said these prisoners are dangerous.”

“This one’s a female.”

“It doesn’t matter. They’re politicalssnakes! Be careful.” I got up and approached the cell door. A skeletal female with a shaved head looked out at us. She was clad in a torn u-shirt and ragged undies. She looked like an Orman.

“We’re all going to die of thirst,” she croaked, “if it doesn’t help. We’ve been locked in here without water for five days. The toilets are dry. Please!” A chorus of pleas from the other cells joined in.

“Look at this,” I said, fingering the prisoner data sheet from a plate set into the cell door. “This one was a lawyer. A lawyer! Let her die! Treasonous bitch! Lawyers are worse than murderers! Dragon was rightthey’re dangerous!” The prison had been in use by the Legion to detain Systie criminals when the front had shifted, abruptly. The Legion had not had time to evac the prisoners, and apparently the System had not even visited the place.

“Water!” The cry came from an adjoining cell.

“Shut down!” I ordered. The occupant was a large man with a weary grey face and a bald dome. He looked rather well fed, for a prisoner. I read the data sheet. “A judge! This one was a judge! A Systie judge! How many murderers did he set free? How many innocents died because of him? Burn in Hell, Systie! You’ll get no water from me.” I stormed back to the table, enraged. Lawyers! Judges! These were the people who had built the system, who had made it a paradise for lawyers and criminals, and a Hell for law-abiding taxpayer-slaves. Well, hopefully they would all be executed. The Legion would see to that.

“I guess I can spare them a little water,” Priestess said tiredly.

“Suit yourself. But don’t get too close to them. Remember, they’re all subversivestraitors to humanity. War criminals!”

***

“All secure.” I was outside the prison with Dragon. The rest of the squad had arrived, the front had rolled on, and nobody was actively trying to kill usfor the time being. We paused in a vast smoking wilderness of rubble. It had once been a pleasant suburb but now only the squat, bombproof bulk of the prison survived. It was daytime but the sky was overcast and spitting a sullen drizzle. A choking mist drifted past. My tacmap showed nothing nasty in the vicinity.

“That’s a twelve, sir. We’re a recon unit, not executioners. The prisoners are here if you want ‘em.” Dragon was on the tacnet with someone. I couldn’t hear the other half of the conversation. I opened my faceplate and breathed in the morning. Cold, wetburning ash. The neighborhood looked like a giant garbage dump.

“Three, I’ve just received orders to execute the prisoners. It’s this punk officer in Tacom. I told him to stick it and he doesn’t much like it.” Dragon did not sound particularly concerned. He had a healthy contempt for rear echelon weenies.

“I’ll talk to him, Dragon. Sweety, put me through. Hellowho’s this?”

“This is Officer Sabe One of Tacom. Are those prisoners dead yet? With whom am I speaking?”

“This is Captain Thinker of Starcom.” I emphasized the ‘Captain’ part. “Recon squad Jox is under my command, and we’re too busy to execute your prisoners. Also, we don’t do that kind of work. If you want them dead, send your own men. Understand?”

A short silence.

“Understand?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. Starcom out.”

“Starcom out,” Dragon repeated. “That’s a nice touch.”

“I knew that rank would come in handy some time. How are the prisoners doing?”

“All right. We’re making the DefCorps guys comfortable”.

“Good.” Twelve of the prisoners were Systie soldiers. They’d get honorable treatment and PW status. But the bureaucratsthe lawyers, the officialsthey’d get a merciful death, and it was better than they deserved.

“That aircar’s on the way?” I asked Dragon.

“Yeah. Should be here soon.”

“No word on what it’s about?”

“Captain Thinker report to Opscom. That’s it.”

“Damn.” Opscom was on Atom. It could be anything. I might not even come back. But there was nothing to be done. There was never anything to be done, when the Legion called, except to report back.

“I’ve called a squad inspection.”

“What for?”

“So you can say goodbye.”

“Oh, come on

“

“Squad inspection! Move it!” The squad appeared out of the mists, camfaxed ghosts in black armor, draped with armament and battle gear. They formed a ragged line before the prison, facing us.

“Attention! Visors open! Present arms!” Dragon barked the commands and the squad snapped to sloppily in a clash of armor. “All right, gang, Thinker is being recalled to Atom. Don’t know what it’s about, but we may not see him for awhile. That’s all. Sir, the squad is ready for inspection.”

I paused before Psycho. The little squirt smirked at me. His armor was splattered with mud and white with hits. His battered E dangled from a ratty sling. Ampaks and contac grenades hung from his shoulders. A bold red and white bulls-eye was lasered onto his chestplate and a skull and crossbones insignia decorated his helmet. His kills were carved into the stock of his E. There was not much stock left. All in all, he looked like a mad dog mercenary.

“Your boots are dirty, soldier,” I said. He grinned back at me, revealing mossy teeth.

“When’s the last time you brushed your teeth, soldier?”

“Last month, Thinker! I brush every month!” He looked hurt.

“When are you gonna pay me that hundred credits you owe me?”

“Soon’s I kill some Systie with a hundred credits on him, Thinker!”

“Squad leader, this soldier is filthy. See that he takes a bath.”

“Yes sir. You heard him, Psycho! Clean yourself up!”

“Does this mean I get leave?”

I moved on to the next squadieTrigger, a tall, scary young trooper with a massive Manlink strapped around one shoulder. He was a walking arsenal, festooned with ampaks. Also filthy, in battered armor. Then the rest of themTourist, Sweats, Doctor Dooma scurvy crew. Flash was no longer with us, and I tried not to think about that day. At the end of the line was my lovely Priestess, looking up at me with a dirty face and liquid brown eyes, and Beta Ten, Redhawk, our driver, smellier and hairier than ever, flashing a crazy grin. It was quite a squad. I’d miss them all.

“Has this squad ever passed inspection, squad leader?” I asked.

“No sir. Never. But it’s passed combatrepeatedly.”

“Good. Well, tell them they blew it again. But I’m proud of these guys. And I’ll see you all again as soon as I can.”

“Squad dismissed! Get out of my sight! You’ve disgraced us again! And say goodbye to Thinker. No kissyface now.”

Priestess drifted over to me. “Any hints what it’s about?” she asked. It was still wet and cold. I could see her breath in the air.

“Sorrynothing at all.”

“If you’re dealing with rear echelon pukes, tell ‘em what it’s like out here.”

“I’ll do that.”

“I’ll miss you.”

“Come here.”

“Dragon said no kissyface.” She looked down at the mud, just like a child, too shy to look at me. I couldn’t live without her. And now they were tearing us apartagain.

“I’ll come back,” I said.

“You’d better. I’ll be waiting.”

“The war isn’t going to last forever.”

“Dreamer.”

“Take care of yourself.” Her armored fingers locked around mine. A Legion aircar approached us in a blizzard of debris.

“Good bye, Three. Good luck!”

Chapter 20

The Death of Tyrants

The aircar took me to a shuttle and the shuttle shot me up to a tacship and the tacship made a quick jump and delivered me into the hungry maw of our mothership, Atom’s Road. Before I could even start to enjoy the icy conditioned air, I was hustled across the ship and into a cruiser, the Doom Pussy. The Doom Pussy promptly broke dock lock and leaped into stardrive. I learned they were planning several jumps, so I knew it was to be a long voyage.

I assaulted the galley and ate like a pig, horrifying the crew. I didn’t mind. I figured I was eating for all of our squad. Then I staggered to my little cube and hit the showers and washed away the outer layer of accumulated dirt and grit, and washed my hair until it wasn’t greasy any more. I dumped my camfax fatigues in the laundry and then I crashed in the bunk for a dreamless sleep. When I awoke my fatigues were back again, faded but clean. I slipped them on and tied my squad scarf around my neck. It was ratty and torn, but it was us. My only insignia was a combat cross and a Captain’s pipand that was all I needed.

At Pers, they told me I was headed for Z2. I accepted it with a dull resignation. Z2great. That was Starcom’s Battle Front for the war with the System. It was deep in the Gassies, but I didn’t know if it was on a planet or a starship or maybe a combination. It was a secret. The Legion didn’t want anyone to know where the command was. But no matter where it was, I knew who I’d find there, plotting my fate like a bloodless biogen. I hadn’t heard from Tara in some timebut I knew it was her.

I ate alone in the mess. Nobody wanted to bother me. They knew Legion soldiers were crazy.

The war was not going well. Wars never go well. They taught us that in Basic. It didn’t matter that the Systies were doomed. They didn’t know it, and they weren’t going to make it easy for us. And it didn’t matter that no one believed in the System any more. They were cranking out millions of biogensperfectly programmed, perfectly mindless. All they did was kill. We used Holo-X when we could, and that was finebut there weren’t enough units to go around, and only a small fraction of Legion units were Holo-X equipped. A lot of Legion immortals were still dying.

I thought about the war a lot, lying in my bunk, staring at the overhead. It seemed that it was never going to end. It had us by the throatit had me by the throat. Would we fight forever? Was that to be our fate? Hadn’t we been through enough already? DeadmanPriestess and I had seen it all, and it looked like we were going to see it through to the endor until one of us was killedor both. Was it my fault? Moontouch and Stormdawn still awaited me on Andrion 2. I would wake in the night crying for them, and they would just fade away. And Millieshe was waiting for me too, on Quaba 7. How many millions of soldiers had died in mindless wars, leaving their loved ones behind to mourn for themuntil their own deaths? But we were immortal. Our survivors mourned forever. Who could ever be ready for that? I knew a Legion girl in Providence whose first lover had been killed on Uldo, with the Eighth Legion. She told me she had never taken another lover, in all those years. And she said she thought about him every single day.

It was insane. It was pointless. The System was disintegrating. They could barely hold onto the Inners. The Hyades Federation had broken away and there was big trouble in the Pleiades and in the Dark Cloud. Out in the Gassies, the Pherdan Federation was paying the price for aligning itself with the System. The Systies recognized the importance of keeping a strong presence in the Pherdan Federation, as it was right up against the Outmark Border, within easy striking distance of the Outvac. The System had intervened decisively with major Starfleet and DefCorps unitsand that explained our presence on Pherdos. Meanwhile, in the Gulf, chaos ruled. I couldn’t keep track of everything that was happening there, but it all spelled trouble for the Systies.

I was a fool, I decided. Fine, I was a fool. But I was here, in the war, and I’d just have to accept it. Maybe it was my fault, but I was going to make sure our enemies paid for it. It was their fault, too.

***

It turned out Z2 was on a planet. They wouldn’t tell me the name. When the shuttle doors popped open downside, I was hustled into an aircar and driven to my appointment. It was the middle of the night and it was cold out there. The ground was covered with snow that glittered under an icy, starry sky. We passed over great forests, massive trees that had never been cut, a primeval wildernessand then the car dipped down past the snowy branches and we were in a vast Legion hive, perfectly camfaxed, perfectly organized.

After the usual security nonsense in the aircar bunker, a young trooper accompanied me along an exterior walkway marked with faintly luminous footlights. It was icy cold but the air was still.

“The Director’s here,” my escort said, flashing me a smile over his shoulder. He was dressed in spotless blacks.

“The Director of what?”

“The Directorof ConFree,” he whispered conspiratorially. “He spends a lot of time hererunning the war.”

I didn’t reply. I guess I must have been insane by then. Everybody becomes crazy sooner or later in the Legion, and I was well on my way. We had been through a lot on Pherdos. We had seen a lot. I considered it due only to Dragon’s tactical genius that only one of us had been killed. It was a long, grisly campaign, and we spent much of it behind Systie lines, surviving on what we could steal. We killed hundreds of the enemy. We were bathed in blood, but it wasn’t red blood. Most of them were biogens. A lot of them were girlsincredibly beautiful, incredibly tough girls, whose only mission was the extermination of Legion soldiers. And the only way to stop them was to kill them. It did something to me, every time I killed a girl. To me, they weren’t biogens. They were lovely little angels who should have been loved, and comforted, and cared for when they cried. But instead, I had to kill them.

“Starcom ops is in here,” my escort said. We entered a formidable bunker past blast doors guarded by a single trooper in full armor, and down a gloomy interior corridor lined with armored doors. It appeared completely deserted. I imagined everyone was asleep at that hour. Our boots echoed harshly off metallic walls. A blast door hissed open almost soundlessly, revealing a vast room lit only by scores of flickering dscreens, twinkling holo starmaps and cold green stratmaps. We stepped in.

“Chief Starcom Ops is right over there,” the trooper said, gesturing into the dark. “Report back when you need transport.” And he turned and left, leaving me alone as my eyes adjusted to what appeared to be a deserted room. Finally I made out a figure sitting in the dark and I approached.

It was Tara, slumped in an airchair before a wall full of dscreens, sound asleep. There was nobody else in sight. Her face was grey, eyes closed, brow furrowed, breath shallow, fingers twitching faintly. Still beautiful, that wondrous beauty from another dimension. But very tired. A single silver star was set into one collar of her blacks. A general. They had made her a general. The Legion certainly recognized talent, and Tara had that. In addition, she was certifiably insane. That was another of the requirements.

“Tara,” I said gently. “Wake up.”

She snapped awake instantly, startled, looking around wildly, gaping at me, stunned. “Wester! Deadmanhow long have I been out? Oh my God, it’s 0420!”

“It’s all right, Taranobody’s attacking us.”

She stood, wobbly, and shook her head, silky hair rushing over her shoulders. “I’m sorry, Westerwelcome to Z2! Sleepit’s like a disease. I wish we could do without it.”

“Are you guarding the whole galaxy by yourself, Tara?”

“Nono. We’re short-handed. You don’t look so good, Wester. Don’t you have a coldcoat? It’s cold out there!”

“You don’t look so good yourself, Tara. Noall I’ve got is my camfax. So here I am. I knew it was you. Please tell me what you want. I’d like to do whatever it is you want me to do, and then get back to my squad.”

She looked at me sadly, and resumed her seat. “You’ll get to see your squad, Wester, but you may not like the circumstances. Pull up a chair. I want to show you a Systie propaganda flick.” She reached out to her desk and a holovid snapped into vivid colors up on the wall. Golden letters in an alien alphabet marched across the foreground. Eerie martial music stirred my blood. A red sun arose from a sea of blood to illuminate a red-gold city. Thousands of people were marching together along wide avenues, under crimson banners, converging on a great stadium. We could see it all from the air. Phalanxes of lovely girls marched into the stadium in perfect order, singing heavenly songs. The camera rushed over their rankssparkling eyes, rosy cheeks, long clean hair, dazzling smiles, waving banners of red and gold.

An aircar approached out of the dawn, gleaming red in the sunrise. Its shadow passed over the marching hosts below. They looked up, pointing to the aircar.

The stadium was full. Hundreds of soldiers in gleaming golden A-suits lined the speakers’ rostrum, SG’s at their chests. Banners with arcane symbols rippled on the wind. The music built to a crescendo. Thousands of children in identical uniforms peered expectantly forward, hushed into silence.

He appeared behind an imposing lectern on the rostrum, a single man, master of all before him, clad in khaki. He raised a hand. The stadium erupted, a shattering roar that did not end. The camera rushed over the audienceenraptured, ecstatic, transfixed, adoring young faces, their eyes shining with love and faith.

He spoke. He gestured, he pointed, he appealed to the heavens. Who knows what he said? Who cared? They loved it. The applause washed over him like waves on a beach. His words hammered at them like stakes driven into their hearts. They listened, stunned, eager to understand, accepting it all without question, tears in their eyes, brimming with a fanatic, mindless faith.

When he finished, the audience erupted again. A delegation of little children burst forth from the crowd and performed a frantic, mindless dance to drums and brass, each child whirling a stick with a crimson banner around in circles, snapping it back and forth, up and down, all in time. And the faces of the children were gleaming with blind trust in their God, and in themselves. It was as if they were hypnotized. They knew, under His leadership, the Future was theirs.

When the holo faded darkness returned to the room. Tara sighed.

“Nice flick,” I said. “Who’s the gang leader?”

“The gang leader,” Tara replied, “is Kenton Cotter-Arc. And your mission is to kill him. Come on. I want to introduce you to someone.”

***

“Captain Thinker.” The Director’s icy blue eyes cut right into my soul. “Tara has briefed me on your background.” I had seen him before only on the news. The last time he had been declaring war on the Systies. He looked younger in person andharder.

“Sir!” I remained at attention. We were in a vast, darkened domethe War Room, Tara had called it. Batteries of dscreens and tacmaps on low power were barely visible in the gloom, scattered around the room. The Director was all in black, with a single silver insignia visiblethe Combat Cross. Tara had introduced me almost in a whisper. The War Room appeared empty except for the three of us. The Director was leaning over a stratmap when we entered. It was cold in the room, I realizedalmost like outside.

“At ease, trooper. Tara, thank you. Give us a few moments.”

“Yes sir.” She faded into the dark, leaving me alone and paralyzed before the Director. My heart was pounding. The Director was a man of considerable mystery. He had appeared, almost as if from nowhere, right when the Legion needed him most, to step into the void left by Cotter-Arc’s treacherous defection. His warname was Iceman. His background was typical Legion. Everyone he had known and loved had been annihilated by the Systies and the O’s. And now, having nothing, he inherited the war. A man with no soul, a man with a dead heart, a man with no future, a man who did not sleep, who could feel no human emotion except the burning desire to avenge himself upon his enemies. I could see myself in his cold eyes. He was the perfect Legion immortal. Hardly human, incredibly brilliant, never tiring, driven to superhuman effortshe was just what we needed. I didn’t know how much of the story to believe, but he sure sounded like the answer to our fevered prayers.

“You did Mongera,” he said. It sounded like an accusation. “You gave us the O. Then the Ship. Then the Star. And then the D-neg, and the time-drive. You thought it up, and you did it. And then you went and got us the Xeno-A, and stopped the plague.” His eyes were glowing. It made me uneasy.

“No sir. Tara thought up the D-neg. And the mission to Plane Prime. I was just

“

“You rescued that squad on Mongera. Beta. You disobeyed a direct order, and you did that time jump, and you rescued that squad.”

“Yes sir.”

“My personal congratulations, Trooper. It’s people like you who keep my faith alive!” He reached out and clasped my hand with both of his in a firm, cold grip. I was so startled I did not know what to say.

“You’ve come from Pherdos.” He went back to his stratmap.

“Yes sir.”

“Tell me about it.” Pherdos came to life on the stratmapthe whole planet, glittering with Legion and DefCorps units, bases, ZA’s, fronts, targets, campaigns, and the glowing ruins of former battlegrounds.

I told him. I told him everythingthe easy victories, the horrific defeats, the slaughter of innocent civilians by the Systies, the annihilation of entire cities, the antimat sky, driving us to the edge of madness and beyond. The pointless attacks by biogen hordes, chopped to bits by our E’s. The stupid valor, the stupid deaths, and the dying for the dead. Our closest comrades, shredded by the lasers. Flash, standing and advancing, when Psycho and Dragon were in peril. Walking right into the laser field, as I screamed frantically for him to come back. Come back, come back

he had advanced bravely to his death. And Psycho and Dragon had escaped. Vengeance, on our enemies. White blood, spurting. A Systie, caught and torn apart. Freezing nights, with murderous spheres and camfaxed snakes drifting through the dark, looking for the appropriate genetic material. Survivaltwitching in the mud. Victoryand death.

He listened to it all patiently, nodding slightly from time to time. He knew. He had been there.

“Pherdos Command declared the planet secure early this morning,” he informed me. “A victoryfor the books.” He knew it wasn’t really a victory, for anyone who had been there. But it was an ending, at least. I sighed, to hear the news. Priestess would survive. Good. That was good.

“He’s a madman, you know,” the director said. “Cotter-Arc. We are all mad, I suppose, but he’s goneover the edge. I knew him in the old days, I know how he thinks. He’s decided to pull the temple down around him. He decided that long ago. He knows the System is doomed. This is his final acthis legacy, his Armageddon. He wants the whole galaxy to go down in flames, all around him. We don’t appreciate himso we die. That’s all he wants.”

I was silent.

“Come here,” he said, walking into the darkness. I followed. The dome lit up with stars, a galaxy of diamond dust, glowing golden nebulae, swirling magical rivers of milky jewels, glittering in the velvet dark like a million microscopic fireflies.

“There’s the Outvac,” the Director said, flicking a thin red laser pointer into the void. The stars were reflected in his empty eyes. “The Gassies are over here. We’re landing on those worldsthe ones in yellow are still contested. The greens are taken. You can see there’s a lot to dobut it has to be done.”

He whispered something, and the stars whirled dizzily around us, then stabilized. “The Innersthe heart of the System. And here, DemFed, and the Hyades.” It was a fearful infinity of red stars, glowing like blood. “We’re hoping the Mocains will abandon the System and conclude a separate truce with us. We’d welcome it. But if they don’twe fight to the end. They know it.” I nodded, resigned to whatever the future would bring. Twenty years, I thought. Thirty years, to take all those planets.

“We know where Cotter-Arc is. If you can kill him, you may save the lives of millions. It could be a long war. Orif he diesit could be shorter.”

“Yes.”

“Kill him. I don’t care how. It’s not going to be easy, for he is well protected. But you will have the resources of all of ConFree and the Legion behind you.”

“Yes sir.”

“If you can do this, you will change history.”

“Yes sir”

“It will be an act of

deicide

to kill Satan. For that’s who he is. He’s Satan.”

“Yes sir.”

A wide panel along one wall was faintly glowing. I suddenly realized it was the dawn, a pale cold light seeping in through an open window port. No wonder it was coldthe window ports were open to the night. Wide open. The faint light illuminated the director’s face. Still young, it seemeduntil you looked into the eyes. They were cold and bottomless. A void.

“Promise me you’ll do itfor ConFree,” he whispered, grasping my right hand firmly in both of his. My heart was pounding. Kill a God? And who was the directorbut another God?

“I’ll do it,” I replied quietly, “but not for ConFree. I fought ConFree.”

“So did I. That wasn’t ConFreethat was Satan. That was Cotter-Arc. But we’ve got ConFree back now, the genuine article. The ConFree Constitution, written in blood, by free men. Justice, over alland the death of tyrants. The death of tyrants!”

“I’ll do it. I’ll kill him. But it will be for the Legion.” And for myself, I thought.

“For the Legion. Good. We kill Satanright in the heart of Hell. Make certain he knows it’s the Legion. I want him to see me in your eyes when he dies.”

My blood ran ice cold in my veins and my skin prickled with horror, as the director maintained his death grip on my hand. I brought my free hand up and placed it gently over his.

“To the death,” I whispered. A shooting star, I thoughtthat’s me. Going out in a blaze of glory.

He withdrew one hand, and traced the cross of the Legion in the air, right over my face.

“Bless you,” he said, “in Deadman’s name.” He was absolutely serene.

I left the room, stunned and silent. I knew I was only a pawna hired gun, one of Deadman’s Dogs, bound for certain death. But I was going to kill a God before I went out. I could hear Moontouch, whispering in my ear. ‘I see men without minds, killing without remorse, and children without hope, waving the flags of an evil God. I see two madmen, leaders of the forces of light and darkness, locked in a struggle to the death for the future of humanity. You will follow the one and fight the other, and never know which God you serve.’

Chapter 21

Uniden Troopers

“This was Goodlib City, capital of Pherdos. The Pherdans didn’t have any choice when the Systies intervened. The Systies ruled from here.”

Redhawk was at the controls of the aircar, ferrying me back to the squad. The wind whistled coldly against the plex as we hurtled over the remnants of the capitol, a nightmare city of the dead, great piles of smoking rubble stretching to the horizon under a dark grey sky. I had insisted on returning here, to choose my task force personally. Tara had not even argued about it.

“Doesn’t look too healthy,” I said.

“It wasn’t much better before,” Redhawk replied, grinning behind his faceplate. He looked more like a pirate than a soldier. The war didn’t do much for our grooming or personal hygiene, and Redhawk wasn’t overly concerned with either topic in the best of times. We were both in A-suits, and I cradled an E in my arms. The aircar’s console chirped with electronic challenges and responses. I felt right at home. The planet may have been officially declared secure, but that didn’t mean all the Systies had gotten the word.

Redhawk was right, I reflected. As on most Systie worlds, the System had holed up in their Government fortresses as society went to hell all around them, spurred on by Systie policies that divided the populace into mutually hostile groups that would end up fighting each other instead of the System. A corrupt government, a fraudulent democracy, a bankrupt economy, a failed legal system that protected lawyers and criminals and attacked the law-abiding, mandatory redistribution of wealth from workers to parasites until there was no more wealth to distribute, corrupt police

No, it had probably not been much better before. Pherdans or Systies, it was the same. Crime, poverty, despair, resentment and helplessnessa familiar story.

“That’s the capitol building,” Redhawk said. “We took it while you were away. They ran out of biogen girls. We wound up fighting Mocains. Didn’t last long.” The car wheeled to one side, falling giddily downwards, and a huge, dark structure appeared on the horizon, a great multistoried bunker of armored stone, still intact. What a colossal waste!

I hopped out the assault door in the shadow of that obscene monument to the past, trying to see through the muddy spray from the car’s downdraft.

“Thinkergive this to the guys!” Redhawk threw a cloth bag at me, almost as an afterthought. I tucked it under one arm as the aircar shot skywards. Not far away, a line of destitute women and children shuffled towards a field kitchen where troopers in Legion armor ladled out hot soup and Legion rations into plastic bowls. Children! My heart leaped at the thought of Stormdawn. He was safe and warm by his mother’s side on Andrion 2unlike these poor wasted, shivering unfortunates. I could barely stand to look at them. The System hated and feared its subjects. But all that was going to change now. The System was being swept away, forever, by us. If that was all we ever did, it would be enough.

A Legion aircar hovered up ahead over a sad tableau. A half-squad of Legion soldiers stood over their dead. Three A-suits lay side by side in the dirt, their armor burnt white by tacstars. The car touched down gently and the troopers moved to load the dead through the assault door. I made the sign of the Legion, instinctively. Further away, a work crew of DefCorps prisoners was marching off somewhere with a single Legion escort. Systie soldiers didn’t have to fear their fate as Legion prisoners, assuming they didn’t resist. I felt no anger at them, even though we had been fighting them not so long ago. I knew they were only pawnsjust like me. Our anger was reserved for the politicals. They had best not let us capture them alive.

“Thinker! You’re back!” Priestess suddenly appeared and collided with me in a sharp clash of armor. Her visor snapped up and she looked up at me with those lovely brown eyes, beaming like a child with a new toy. “Gimme a kiss!”

I snapped up my visor and we locked tongues for awhile but that’s not easy to do wearing an A-suit helmet. I lifted her off her feet and spun her around. My heart was burning for her. So lovely, so sweet. Deadman, how I had missed her! We embraced, silent, ecstatic. She wouldn’t stop grinning. What a treasure I had in herand what a fool I was to risk it all at the front. But it couldn’t be helped. We were all on Atom’s Road, walking point for Deadman, and turning back was not an option.

“Come on,” Priestess urged, “we’re all inside. It’s quite a place!” She shouldered her E and snatched my hand and led me up an imposing cenite staircase into a wide, open doorway past giant armorite doors that had been blasted right off their hinges and lay on the floor. There were no lights inside the cavernous interior. It was cold and gloomy. Trash and wreckage was strewn around the deck.

“Elevators are out. We take the stairs,” Priestess said, heading up an interior stairwell. A Systie Mocain was sprawled over the stairs, frozen in death, his bronze-colored armor burnt white with X-max hits. I could tell he was a Mocain by his sizethey’re big.

“Redhawk asked me to pass you this,” I said, tossing the package to Priestess as we continued up the stairs, heading for the upper floors.

“Yes! I know what this is. Just what we need! So how did it go, Three? Was it Tara after all? Are you back with us for awhile?”

“I’ll tell you later. Where are we going here?”

“To the top! Recon’s up there. We took this place ourselves. I got to kill a Mocain.”

“Yeah?” We threaded our way through a darkened office suite, full of dscreens and commo gear. “And how did you feel about that?”

She turned and faced me, her face hardening. “It felt good,” she said.

***

Recon was up on the very top of the massive bunker, under dark skies. Priestess and I surfaced through an access hatch used by maintenance people. The sky was full of dirty grey clouds and the air was wet.

“Three!” Psycho spotted me first. “Hey guys, alert. Thinker’s back!” His helmet was off. He had been standing by the edge looking out over the city. It was quite a view. The whole panorama spread out all around us.

“Welcome back, Thinker!” Dragon slammed an armored hand into mine. His helmet was off, too. His face was hard and skeletal, dark skin stretched tautly over bone, cold glittering eyes, sweaty dark hair. “Any news on the war?”

“Yeah, I’ve got news all right. Plenty of news.”

“Thinker! Gimme a hit!” Valkyrie punched my fist, grinning fiercely, icy green eyes, golden hair, the Legion Cross black on her forehead. “You missed the Mocains. We got some kills!”

“I heard.” They were all there, in dirty camfaxed armor, bristling with weapons, scattered over the top of the building. I spotted Trigger, Doctor Doom, Sweats, and Tourist from Pits and Scrapper, Pads, Ragdoll, Ricochet and Hotpants from Mams. Flash had been our only casualty, but he was not forgotten. I stood by the edge, looking over a smoking wasteland. Their fault, I thought. Cotter-Arc knows we’ll fight to the death. He knows. And he can stop the killing any time by surrendering. But he won’tjust as the Director said. He has to be killed. That will end the war. Only that.

“Thinker brought the flag!” Priestess exclaimed, ripping open the package Redhawk had tossed me.

“All right! Get it up!” Dragon ordered. Priestess clutched a dark bundle in her arms. She popped off her helmet and ran over to a large conical structure topped by a tall cenite flagpole. She started up a ladder built into the side of the structure. I snapped my helmet off, dropped it to the deck, and started up the ladder after Priestess.

“Priestess! Hold up! What are you doing?” Her boots were right at my face. It was only a short way up to the base of the flagpole.

“The flag, Thinker! You brought the flag! We tore down the Systie colors, but nobody had our own flag. Can you imagine that? We’ve got to run up the flag, Thinkereverybody will see it up here!” Priestess was on her knees on the narrow ledge above me, fooling with ropes that whipped in the wind. There was no room for me up there. I clung to the ladder.

“Be careful, Priestess! Isn’t there a better way to do this?”

“The Systies raised and lowered their flag automatically through this flagbase, but it’s broken. Just a frac.”

I gazed skyward. Wild dirty clouds scudded close overhead. A few drops of rain spattered around us. It was a tremendous flagpole, all right. Everyone would see it from the horizonfriend and foe alike.

“Careful, guys!” Recon gathered below, watching us.

“All right, I’ve got the catches. Help me pull it up, Thinker!” A rope slithered into my arms. Priestess pulled, I pulled. The flag snapped loose, unfurling into a rising breeze, wrapping itself briefly around Priestess, then flapping away as we pulled at the rope. Our own black flag, rising now into our newly-claimed sky. Straining at the rope, cracking and snapping, the flag of the Legion, vac black, a silvery Legion cross boldly emblazoned at the center. A cheer arose from the squad below. My blood was ice cold as Priestess and I continued pulling at the rope, sending the flag higher and higher. What a lovely, fearsome banner. It was us, all of us, proclaiming our victory. Death to tyrants! Fluttering now boldly at the very top of the flagpole.

It was quite a feeling, watching our flag, floating majestically over the defeated foe. An aircar hovered not far off. Snow Leopard told me later it had just been passing by, but it had recorded our flag-raising. Those images appeared all over ConFree, showing Priestess and me at the ropes, with Recon below, over the label ‘Uniden Legion troopers raising the flag on Pherdos’. I guess I’m prouder of that than almost anything else.

Chapter 22

Reinforcements for the Dead

“That’s your ship,” Snow Leopard said, looking out into the vac. The way he said it, I could tell he was satisfied it was a good ship. And if Beta One was satisfied, I knew I would be. Dragon and I stood beside Snow Leopard before an observation port on the cruiser C.S. Spawn, facing a cold black infinity of silvery dust, a magnificent panorama of primeval chaos, utterly beautiful, billions of lost stars and lonely nebulae glowing faint pinks and frosty pale greens and icy blues. The ship was approaching the Spawn, easing its way towards the docking port, gliding serenely through the vac. We could make it out now, a tiny chip of black, a microscopic shadow against the stars, a grain of black dust.

“It’s a tacship,” One continued, “the Confederate Ship Wraith. This is the perfect ship for our mission. It’s the only ship for our mission.” Snow Leopard looked around us, his pale face set, his icy pink eyes glinting resolve. There were a few other troopers and vacheads at the port, but nobody was paying attention to us. “It’s fully cloaked,” he continued, his gaze shifting to the ship. “It’s the largest ship the Legion has ever cloaked. The System has nothing like it. The damned thing is totally invisible. It’s state of the art, and it’s got everything we need. Cosmic secret, gang. Don’t ever repeat any of this.”

“Doesn’t look invisible to me,” Dragon said, looking out at the Wraith. It was coming closer, pinpointed like a bug by the Spawn’s spotlights. We could make out the details. It was an unusual shape for a tacship. Everyone on the observation deck was gawking. A roughly delta shape, dead black skin, not an edge on hercloaked. Good. Cloaked was good.

“Cloaking is off, Dragon,” Snow Leopard replied. “When it’s on, you see nothing. And all our sensors see nothing. She’s a ghost. Just what we need.”

Gliding slowly towards us, coming alongsidea ghost ship. Perfect. Tara had delivered, again. It was utterly lovely, perfectly invisible, and totally deadly. Our chariot, to ride into battle against Satan. She’d get us there. I knew it. What happened after that was entirely up to us.

“Let’s get to the docking port,” I said. “I want to meet the captain.”

***

“The Wraith is at your service, Captain,” the captain said, saluting me. “I have received orders from Fleetcom to place myself under your orders.” We were on the bridge. Captain Victor Zoche of the Wraith was a pale young Outworlder with hot dark eyes, a military shortcut and a Combat Cross on his blacks. The Legion didn’t award medals but there were sometimes other clues to a person’s past. The Captain wore a ring decorated with four tiny Systie starships. It meant he had sent four shiploads of Systie souls to Hell. Good credentials, I decided. His exec was an Assidic, warname Typhoon, fierce slit eyes, ramrod straight, practically twitchinganxious for action. Borderline, I thought, both of them. I could see the madness in their eyes. Yes, these two would take us to Hell all right, and wait around until we were through, or dead. The Legion needed madmen like them. Sane people would never do what had to be done.

The bridge was spotless and deathly silent, glowing with light, loaded with strange instrumentation and exotic controls, duty officers in black monitoring it all from the command chairs, calm, serene, barely moving, almost like phantoms. A ghost crew for a ghost ship. Outside the armored plex, the C.S. Spawn shone in the spots, a great, deadly bird.

“Thank you, Captain,” I replied. “This is Snow Leopard, my exec, and Dragon, our squad leader. Is your ship ready for combat?”

“Fully ready, sir. We’re taking on provisions right now, but we can launch on your command.”

“And all this fancy equipment I’ve heard aboutit all works?”

“Yes sir! All cloaking systems and holo systems have been tested 100 percent effective and are at 100 percent readiness. All combat mission support systems report 100 percent readiness. All strategic, operational and tactical attack and defense systems report 100 percent readiness. All officer and crew are at 100 percent readiness except for your mission complement and a delayed Triage crew, which should arrive shortly. We have a replacement staff standing by in Triage. The Wraith awaits your inspection, Captain.”

“All right, Captain,” I replied softly. “We’ll be taking on the rest of our squad shortly. Continue your loading.”

“Yes sir. And the mission?”

“Mission will be revealed once we’re underway. Let’s do that inspection.”

“Yes sir! XO, inspection!” The XO snapped a tab and the inspection whistle sounded eerily throughout the ship.

“Attention the Ship! Stand by for inspection! All hands to duty stations!”

***

“This is Plans.” the captain announced, “It’s all yours.” The door snapped open to reveal a little office built around a circular holo table, the bulkheads covered with dscreens and holo projectors. Twister stood at attention behind the table in new blacks, Combat Cross on her chest, stifling a smile, tall and awkward, chocolate eyes, a face full of freckles, curly reddish hair. Beta Thirteenjust as I had last seen her on the Spawn.

“Ops Plans reportingready for inspection, sir!” she snapped out.

“At ease, trooper,” Snow Leopard said.

“You didn’t tell me she would be coming,” I said. Snow Leopard looked at me in surprise.

“Twister is my XO,” he said. “I depend on her. What’s the problem?”

I looked at Snow Leopard, then over to Twister. “No

” I said. “No problem. Plans looks good. Let’s continue.”

Outside in the corridor, I excused myself and ducked back into Plans. Twister was still braced at ease, her eyes full of unshed tears. I went over to her and embraced her.

“Twister.” I said “It’s a suicide mission. We’re not coming back. I want to spare you. I don’t want all Beta going out.”

“I’ve stood by you a few times,” she choked.

“Yes

that you have. All right, trooper, stand by. We’re all going out together. And we’ll see you in Hell!”

“Yes sir!” The tears streamed down her cheeks but her jaw was rock-hard. What a shame, I thought. What a damned shame.

***

“Element ready for inspection, sir!” Dragon shouted, his harsh voice echoing off the cenite walls of the boarding lock. Five troopers were braced at attention in their blacks, in the cold white glare of the ceiling panels. The uniforms were fadedwell worn. Each trooper wore a Combat Cross. Snow Leopard and I moved out of the shadows to confront them.

“Wipe that smirk off your puss, Psycho!” Dragon snarled, almost in my ear. Psycho tried to stifle his grin. The little runt was almost presentable in his blacks. His pale blond hair was cut short, his evil blue eyes glowed with the fires of an alternate world, and I knew he was busting to say something outrageous and stupid.

“How’d you like to haul a Manlink again, Five?” I asked.

He paled for a moment, stunned. “I’d like that very much, sir,” he replied in a delighted whisper. I knew I had scoredand I was never going to let him forget he had finally called me ‘sir’.

Snow Leopard was right beside me as I moved on to the next trooper. I could tell the gang was thrilled to see us both, and overjoyed that Beta One, our old squad leader, the ultimate squad leader, would be a part of whatever we had planned for them.

Priestess braced, staring into nothing, her cheeks flushed, dark eyes sparkling. What a lovely child. An angel, an innocent, a saint. But I knew she was as much a killer as I was. And what did it change? We all walked Atom’s Road for Deadman, with the faith of children. I wanted to reach out and kiss her, but I didn’t. I just stood there, frozen.

“Good job on Pherdos, Nine,” One said.

“Thank you, sir!” A lovely smilean ache in my heart. Valkyrie was next. I knew exactly what I was doing. I knew these troopers like I knew myself. Valkyrie would stand forth and die for us, without hesitation. I’d seen it, on Uldo. Valkyrie, cut right from my heart. Hair like spun gold, a pale, flawless face, cold green eyes, tender pink lips, and that hellish Legion cross burnt onto her forehead. Valkyrie, my first lover, here to drive me mad. Now, standing mils from her tantalizing presence, I could feel my heart speed up. She always did that to me.

“What’s the mission, Three?” she asked. “Do we get to kill Systies?”

“That’s a ten, Val. There’ll be plenty of targets.”

“Good. Glad to hear it.” She sounded completely content.

Scrapper was next, Valkyrie’s fem lover. Thick sandy hair, clear grey eyes, black Legion cross on her forehead, large heavy breasts straining against her tunic. She had made the transformation from rational to psychotic in the time it took the O’s to annihilate squad Gamma on Andrion 3. Now she was a lovely shooting star, pledged to die for the futureor maybe for the past. And she belonged only to Valkyrie. The Legion was full of doomed immortals. I had a whole squad of them.

“Hi, big guy,” she said dreamily in a low, husky voice. She always called me big guy. I had never asked why. “Welcome back, Snow Leopard. Will you be downside with us on this one?”

“Captain Thinker will explain the mission, trooper,” Snow Leopard replied. “It’s good to be back.”

Redhawk was the last of my select group of fools. He was at rigid attention, but the tangled, greasy hair, the scruffy beard, the pale splotchy face, earrings and giant grin kind of spoiled the overall military effect.

“Quit grinnin’, Redhawk,” I ordered. “This is an official inspection. Is your Phantom ready for combat?”

“Kiss is ready, Thinker,” Redhawk replied softly. “She’s hot & wet. No foreplay necessary.”

“Good. Excellent. We’re going to need her.” I backed off a few steps and looked them over, with Dragon and Snow Leopard standing off to one side. Not many troopers, to change the course of history. These were the survivors of Beta and Gamma. We had been through a lotmore than anyone could demand. And now we were going to give just a little bit more.

“All right, gang,” I said. “We’ve got a mission. I’m in charge this time, but Dragon will be right there as element leader and Snow Leopard will be topside in charge of planning and ops. We don’t drop until Snow Leopard approves the mission, so you know the ops plan will be solid.” I knew the troopies would be pleased with that.

“We’ll proceed to the target in this tacship, the Wraith. It’s a rather special ship, but we’ll acquaint you with its capabilities later. The mission is

important. We’re going to take out a ranking Systie political creep. We’ll be using Holo-X, and we’re going to practice this one until we are dead perfect. I want no mistakes. This is to be a surgical operation. We hit one target, eliminate him, and disappear. If we are successful, we could end the war.” I paused, to let it sink in.

“There’s a down side to everything,” Valkyrie sighed. Psycho laughed, delighted. Gone. They were gone.

“I would like to stress that there’s a good chance none of us will be returning from this mission,” I continued. “We’re going to be deep in Systie vacvery deep. We are taking extraordinary precautions to protect ourselves, but the target is also exceptionally well protected, and all our Holo-X wizardry won’t work if our ship is blown to bits. There’s a very good chance that might happen.” I paused again, looking them over in the harsh light of the boarding lock. Snow Leopard and DragonDeadman, what other army in history had leaders like these? Psycho and Redhawkcertifiably insane. Valkyrie and Scrapperseeking death like mindless biogens. Priestess, a holy angel, standing by meno matter what.

“We’ll have some backup,” I said, “if they can get to uswhich is unlikely. But we’ll do the mission. I’ve chosen you, troopers, out of the entire Legion, because I know what you can do. I say again, chances are high we may not survive. If anyone is not ready to die, I want them to drop out right now. There’s no shame in wanting to live. We’ve all done more than enough for the Legion already. I’m sure there are people out there who don’t want you to dielovers, family, friends. This mission is voluntary. Please speak up now, and you’re out.”

Silence. The silence of the dead. I knew Redhawk wanted nothing more than to be with his lover Whit, Tara’s exec, forever. And Dragonhe had a Legion lover, too, a lovely girllight years away.

“All right. The target is Kenton Cotter-Arc. And this is our paybackfor everything. Any questions?”

“Yeah,” Psycho said. “What’s to eat?”

***

“This is where he’s hiding,” Snow Leopard said. “Took us a long time to track him down, and longer still to learn the details. But it looks like he’s gone to ground here.” The lights were down in Ops. Dragon and I leaned over the holo table, peering in fascination at the eerie image that glowed before us in a field of pale green light. It was a fortress, I realizeda great brutal metal fortress, vaguely circular, like two hemispheres sealed together with tops and bottoms lopped off. And it was underwater, blazing with murky lights. A great fortress, sprouting from a dark, muddy sea floor, bristling with weapons and sensors, tiny submarine craft circling it like minnows.

“Over one K deep,” Snow Leopard continued, “in the Saltweed Sea, off the shores of the Loran Archipelago, a restricted milzone, a wilderness inhabited by subhuman cannibals and one support base disguised as a scientific stationon the world Eiros 4, in the Hyades Federation, almost dead center of the Inners. We can’t even get near the system without being spotted and attacked by Starfleet.”

“But we can get through with the Wraith,” I said.

“Yes. We can.”

“Then why not antimat the damned thing and be done with it?”

“Won’t work,” Snow Leopard said grimly. “As soon as the missile hits the air it will be detected and countered. The archipelago is littered with anti-air sites, and the sea is full of subs and E-craft that do nothing but monitor the air. And they’re loaded with Skystar and interceptor nukes and autolaser systems. Not to mention the fortress’s own defensive systems, which are extensive. Should anything ever get through the Skyguard, it faces a host of challenges the instant it hits the water.”

“Release the antimat at the last instant,” Dragon suggested. “If they can’t see the Wraith

“

“It sounds tempting, but it won’t work,” Snow Leopard said. “We’ve done simulations. Close won’t work. We’ve got to penetrate the shielding to kill it. We’ve got to get inside. The place is pretty advanced. And there’s another reason why we might not want to blow the thing sky-high.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

The image faded to be replaced by a still holo of a vast hall full of

children. Uniformed children, grade schoolers, all boys. Outworlders, mostly, clad in silky white, gold piping at sleeves and collars. They were cheering, throwing their slim arms up, glazed eyes focused somewhere up ahead, innocent faces gleaming with joy. Hundreds of them.

It was not until that moment that I knew I would gladly, cheerfully kill Kenton Cotter-Arc, if I could, and that I would feel very good about it.

“Explain, please,” I said.

“Initial results of the Children’s Raids,” Snow Leopard said. “You may have missed it. It began while you were on Pherdos. Starfleet would hit an isolated ConFree world and the DefCorps would attack the milbase and starport. While the defenders were concentrating on that, a fleet of aircars would hit the grade schools and snap up all the boys. Then they’d be off, followed immediately by the rest of the raiding party. The whole point of the raid would be to take the children.”

“Why?”

“Simple. Nobody believes in the System any more. So it’s being defended by biogens, who can be programmed to believe whatever you want. But biogens are expensive to build, and the System is running out of cash. Children are next-best: They can be programmed. System kids won’t work. They already know what the System isand their parents would resist, too. So ConFree children are best. Systie psych programming is very effective. And it works best on young kids, because they have limited experience of the world.”

“And they’ve done a lot of these raids?”

“Our defenses are spread thin. They’ve been surprisingly successful. The programming is excellent. This is KCA’s own project. The kids are being used primarily in the Hyades Federation. Biogens and childrenhis personal guard. The biogen girls are known as the Arcangels. The boys are called Arcwhites.”

“Our own children.”

“Our own children. They’ll die for himwillingly.”

“We’re going in. I want to kill him with my own hands.”

“An argument has been made that it might be worth antimatting the place, if we can gain access, just to insure he dies. It will be difficult reaching him personally. Of course, no one wants to kill hundreds of children. But if it ends the war

“

“We go in. I want him to die like a dog. I want to see him bleed.”

“Tell us what you really think, Three,” Dragon urged me. “Don’t be so damned detached.”

“There’s something else you should know,” Snow Leopard continued. “KCA is a homosexual paedophile. He helps himself to those kids. It’s

“

“Evil,” I said. “The word is evil.” My skin crawled with horror and hatred. This was evil. This was what the Legion had been fighting, all these years. Pure evil, now concentrated, focused, in the person of one manKenton Cotter-Arc. Satan. The Director was exactly right. KCA was Satan!

The images faded from the holo field, to be replaced by the fortress again, calmly glowing in a dark sea.

“What do they call this place?” I asked.

“Norport Station.”

“How much do we know about it?”

“About everythingby now. Information we’ve got.”

“How?”

“Eyemote probes. We’ve infected the place. We’ve sent them throughout the complex. It’s almost completely mapped by now. The individual units don’t last long. They’ve got some kind of air filter equipment or anti-eyemote device that snaps up our probes regularly. But they last long enough to send the info back to us.”

“Do they know we’ve been eyemoting them?”

“It’s doubtful. Anti-eyemotes destroy the devices, but don’t really know what they’re destroying.”

“All right. We project our holos right into the site, and track the bastard down, and blast him.”

“Can’t do it. The entire dome is protected with anti-holo shielding. KCA ain’t easy.”

“How did your eyemotes get in?”

“Through the supply subs.”

“Then we’ll get in the same way. Once our holos are in they can’t stop usright?”

“That’s right. But if your holo goes down inside you can’t project back thereyou’ll have to re-infiltrate all over again. And that will be unlikely.”

“It’s all right,” I said. “We’re immortalsand they say the universe is going to last forever. We’ve got plenty of time.” I felt good about the mission. I felt holy. It didn’t matter how long it took. It didn’t matter if we succeeded or failed. It didn’t even matter if I lived or died. I was going to go out killing Satan. And, years after my death, nobody was ever going to say that Beta Three had just been along for the ride.

One’s comset beeped. He listened, said a few words, and stepped away from the holo table. “Your backup squad is here. Captain says we’re almost set to launch.”

“Tell him there’s no rush. Let’s inspect that squad.”

***

Nine more troopers, clad in Legion black, braced at attention in the boarding lock. Backup, I thoughtand a fearsome backup it was. I knew every soldier personally, and would trust each with my life. Snow Leopard and Dragon and I walked down the line slowly, pausing before each trooper. So young, I thoughtthey seem so young. I’m only a few years olderbut it seems like a generation. Holy Angels, I thought. Deadman’s Armyreinforcements for the dead. Temporarily with us, the living. Trigger, now a squad leader, a tall, strapping youth, totally fearless, driven by secret demons he shared with no one. Sweats and Tourist and Doctor Doom, survivors from the Pits, returning to their leader, Dragon. And Squad Mams, five scary, lovely girls with cold eyes and short hair, all branded on the forehead with the black cross. Ricochet, Ragdoll, Pads, Hotpants and ClawsValkyrie’s Babes, guaranteed crazy and all set to shoot up the town. Valkyrie and Scrapper appeared suddenly, grinning, and a satisfied growl arose from the girls. All was well, it seemed. We were all going to die together.

“All right, troopers. Welcome back,” I said. “This is Operation Deep, and you’re backup. Chances are high we’re all going to die. You were told that before you came here. I’ll re-emphasize it. This is a suicide mission. I don’t want anyone who isn’t fully prepared to die. If you have a loveror anyone else to live forI want you to walk back out that boarding lock, right now. Do it!”

Somebody laughed. “Nobody like that here!”

“Our lovers are right here!”

“My lover’s already in Hell!”

“I’ve always wanted to die. Can I take some Systies with me?”

“As many as you like, Trooper,” I said. “That’s part of the deal.”

“All right!”

Hopeless, I thought. Hopeless. Perfect. How the hell was KCA going to stop this bunch?

***

“Captain reports the ship is fully prepped for launch,” Snow Leopard said. “Your last volunteer is herethe crazy fem I told you about. Also we finally got a full team for Ship’s Triage.” I looked up. Snow Leopard stood by the door. I had been lost at the holo table, inside KCA’s serpentine fortress, mapping out possibilities. Dragon was by my side.

“Just what we need,” I said, “another crazy. Well, if you recommend her, that’s good enough for me.”

“Another couple of tits,” Dragon objected. “That’s four females in the strike force, and five in backup. They outnumber us!”

“From what One’s told me about this chick, I’d say her femininity is in question. That right, One?”

“I recommend her without qualification. You want to see her? You’ve met her before.”

“I have? Surebring her in.” Dragon and I stood by the holo table as the door snapped open. A Mocain girl stepped in and snapped to attention, dressed in blacks, Combat Cross, pale greenish skin, throat and jaw speckled with ugly scars. A Mocain!

“Trooper Zero reporting as ordered, sir!” she shouted. Hooded, icy eyes, almost invisible eyebrows, and a black Legion Cross on her forehead. She looked hard and fit and very tough. Deadman’s deathI knew this girl! She was a cold breath from the past.

“Millina,” I whispered. “It’s Millina.” I stood before her, fascinated. This Mocain bitch was part of Beta’s past. She fought against us on Coldmark, and with us on Mongera. “One

you’re joking,” I gasped. “You recommend her?” Dragon was almost nose to nose with the Mocain, glaring at her. Millina continued gazing calmly into space, braced at attention.

“Without qualification,” Snow Leopard said. “She’s got over 320 documented kills. She’s saved over 2,700 Legion or ConFree lives, including an entire outpost on Uldo. And including all of Squad Beta, on Mongerayou remember that. She’s been mentioned in after-action reports eleven times. Recommended for promotion to officer four times, and she refused it four times.”

“She almost killed Valkyrie,” I said.

“Valkyrie almost killed her. She’s been wounded in action five times. She’s lost both legs, one arm, and large chunks of her hide in service to the Legion.”

“She’s a Mocain!” Dragon snarled.

“She fought in Galagos, Titan, Uldo and Pherdos. She’s totally fearless, totally reliable, and totally ruthless. She’s exactly what you need.”

“Why should we trust a Mocain?” She stared into space, her hooded, vaguely reptilian eyes betraying nothing while we discussed her as if she were a dog or a biogen.

“She’s a ConFree citizenand a Legion trooper. Proven, repeatedly, in battle.”

“Why didn’t you tell me it was her?” I asked. “How do you think Valkyrie is going to like this?”

“Valkyrie is going to do what she’s ordered to do. I described her qualifications. You agreed she sounded terrific. That hasn’t changed. Neither has my recommendation. She’s the perfect trooper for this mission. And the past is dead and gone!” His pink eyes glowed.

Dragon breathed in her face, bristling. I went nose to nose with her as well. “You’re a Mocain,” I hissed. “What are you doing in the Legion, Greenie? Why do you fight for ConFree?”

She blinked, and responded. “I want to kill Systies, sir.” Only that. Deadmanwasn’t that enough?

“It’s your mission, Thinker,” Snow Leopard said.

“You’re in, Greenie,” I said quietly. “Do you have a war name?”

“Yes sir. Greenie. My war name is Greenie.”

***

“Wraith, you are cleared for launch.”

“Confirm ship is cleared for launch.”

“Detach dock lock.” The captain of the Wraith was in the command chair as Dragon and I stood behind the bridge crew at the observation rail. The bridge was a marvel of compact, perfectly functional design, the culmination of hundreds of years of experience, lights dimmed, screens glowing a soothing phospho blue. It’s almost like a chapel, I thoughta chapel to our God. We had a terrific view out the armored plex. The Spawn blazed like a star, a breathtaking sight.

“Dock lock detached.”

“Spawn, Wraith is free.”

“May Deadman be with you.”

“Thank you, Spawn. God bless you. Docking power ahead point one.” We were underwaygliding away from the Spawn in a graceful, slow-motion ballet of blinding spots and icy shadows and a lovely infinity of silvery stars, a silky road of glowing dust as far as we could see. Our journey had begun. All jumps start with docking power, they say.

“Docking power, ahead point one. All green.”

“Activate vac drive.”

“Vac drive activated, standing by, zero, all green.”

“Initiate vac drive, ahead point one.”

Gliding like a cenite bat, into infinity. The Spawn was already lost in the distance behind us. Now it was up to usto me. Snow Leopard was hard at work already. I vowed not to bother him for awhile. I knew whatever he came up with would give us maximum chances for survival while insuring the accomplishment of the mission.

“Triage is still standing by for inspection,” Dragon said. Volunteers were not always immediately available when the chances for survival were posted as ‘minimal’, but they were always there when it was time to launch. It gave me all the faith I needed in the Legion, just knowing we still had people like that, every day, walking in the door. If the day ever came when we called for volunteers and nobody showed, it would be the end of the Legionand ConFree.

“Fine,” I said. “Tell them we’re on the way.”

***

“Ship’s Triage Combat Fleet Medunit 901 ready for inspection, sir!” They were all in white, a young male Combat Surgeon and six medics and nurses, males and females, a brand new Body Shop equipped with every possible

my heart stopped. She stood there at attention, nurses insignia over one breastMillie! My own Millie! She smiled proudly, looking at me out of the corners of her eyes. I held up a hand, cutting off the surgeon’s description of the unit and its capabilities.

“Millie,” I said stupidly. “What are you doing here? I thought you were on Quaba 7.”

“I volunteered,” she replied brightly. “I heard you were commanding this mission, so I volunteeredsir.”

“I see.” I stepped back, furious. A volunteer. Just what we needed. And who could stop a Legion volunteer? Nobody! I had wanted her safe and sound on Quaba 7. And now she was here, to share my fate. Fate, fate, fateimpossible to fight it.

“Thank you, Chief Surgeon,” I said. “It looks like a splendid medunit. Hopefully, you won’t get a chance to use all this fancy equipment.”

“Yes sir! Thank you sir!”

Millieand Millina! What a contrast! Day and night, love and hate, blind faith and blind revenge, saving lives and taking them, walking into the future side by side, right into Satan’s den. I had a feeling we were going to need both of them.

Chapter 23

Deneb’s Seed

That damned big male Mocain kept looking at Valkyrie. It made her nervous, I could tell, but it made me more nervous. I was beginning to sweat, and I didn’t want that. We were in Norport Station’s supply sub, all six of us. It was working. We had appeared in the milbase, infilled quietly through to the warehouse, killed two guards and all six VS and took their places, loading massive dropboxes onto the sub. We looked like a truly ratty gang of VSVoluntary ServiceEiros slaves, skin darkened by a hot tropical sun, dressed in rags, totally unarmed and totally harmless. We had left a bloody mess behind us in the warehouse, but with any luck we’d be inside Norport before the carnage was discovered.

I was sweating all right, even though the air in the cargo hold was icy cold. The Mocain was lounging near Valkyrie. We sat on benches that ran along the interior of the hull facing the cargo, which almost filled the hold. Little observation ports gave a terrific view of the sea outside. Part of Norport came into view off in the distance. A little patrol sub cruised lazily past. A larger sub was doing something on the sea floor.

The Mocain reached out for Valkyrie’s headrag and pulled it back to reveal her face. The VS females on Eiros all wore those headrags, perhaps for modesty, but it wasn’t going to hide Valkyrie’s beauty. We had erased the Legion cross from her forehead, thinking it might not be appropriate for this mission. We’d done the same for Millina and Scrapper. The Mocain smiled and said something to Valkyrie. Damn it! There was only the one Mocain security goon in the cargo hold with us and a crew of two up in front, past the small passenger compartment with three passengers, if our info was right. A total of six to be dealt with.

Valkyrie looked down at the deck. Good! Don’t talk, Valkyrie. Just ignore him. Let the driver get us to the target first. Just get us there. Grant us only that!

The Mocain liked what he saw. He was huge, with pale, faintly greenish skin, clad in DefCorps khaki. He reached down and grasped Valkyrie’s wrist and pulled her from her seat, dragging her roughly to the front of the compartment near a crew hatch where a plastic wall panel blocked our view. VS weren’t supposed to resist Mocainsit was unthinkable. The security camera, above the door to the passenger compartment, gave the crew a good view of the supply compartment, but Valkyrie and the Mocain were now out of its field of view. Probably another ten marks before arrival at Norport Station. Damn!

Scrapper eased out of her seat and took a look behind the wall panel to see what they were doing. She looked back at me, grimacinginsistent. Damn! I started to get up. Dragon signalled me, urging me not to move. He was closer to them. He got up casually and strolled over to the scene of the action. Scrapper resumed her seat. Damn damn damn! We’d never make it!

A flurry of movement. Valkyrie staggered into view, shaken, her blouse dishevelled. The Mocain came crashing down, spraying blood from his face, Dragon following him to the deck like a killer bloodcat, hissing death. The intercom squawked something. Dragon dragged the unconscious Mocain back to the corner, but it was probably too late.

We resumed our seats, desperate to salvage something. Maybe they hadn’t seen much. Dragon confiscated the Greenie’s shockrod. That was the extent of the armament that most of KCA’s troopers were permitted downside. Even KCA’s quick reaction forces were only armed with vac. KCA knew firearms and energy weapons were dangerous. All good dictators knew that. The first thing he had done in the Hyades Federation was to disarm the populace. Possession of firearms was punishable by death. He didn’t even trust his own troopers or biogens, downside. All his installations were wired to detect firearms, so we were going in barehanded. But that was all right. It gave us an extra edge.

The door to the passenger compartment snapped openthat was it! A crew member, a Cyrillian, peering in. Dragon caught him behind the ear with a vicious roundhouse kick that drove him to the deck like a falling tree. We burst through the door past three passengers, startled, two males in khaki, one female in white, biogen. I was past them in a flash and tore open the door to the control room, the pilot, startled, stared back from his chair. I snapped the near-invisible angel wire over his neck and dropped, putting my full body weight behind it. Blood cascaded down my arms as he convulsed silently, his arms flapping wildly. I got a glimpse into the passenger compartment. Psycho was slitting a male Systie’s throat with a ceremonial cold knife he must have snatched from the Systie. Blood poured down the Systie’s chest. Valkyrie used her angel wire on the second male, riding him like a horse as he collapsed into the aisle, face purple, scratching at his bloody neck. Priestess and Scrapper struggled with the biogen girl, clinging to her like a pair of killer dogs on a jungle cat. She shook them off, then attacked Priestess. Dragon landed on the biogen’s back, jabbing at her with a shockrod he had taken from the Mocain. Psycho jumped on her head, plunging a bloody knife into her back. She snapped to her feet, dumping Dragon and Psycho, holding Priestess in a stranglehold under one arm, reaching behind her to pull the knife from her back, then slamming Priestess to the deck and plunging the knife hilt-deep into Priestess’s belly. Priestess screamed. Something exploded. Scrapper leaped on the biogen’s back, snapped the angel wire over her neck and yanked. The biogen released the knife, squirming wildly, going to her knees, white blood splattering everywhere. Scrapper was ripping the biogen’s head right offwhere the hell was Priestess? Dragon pounded at the biogen’s face, reducing it to a greasy white pulp. A voice from the cockpit console was demanding a sitrep. The stationhow could we dock? I caught a glimpse of another sub, spiralling our way. A bloody, hopeless screwupcriminal stupidity! A horrid clang rang out and the ship lurched. A deafening bang, and the passenger hatch was blown away and a squad of armored Systies charged in, firing vac wildly.

The ES snapped off and we were back in the holo chamber, lying where we had fallen. I was shaking with horror and rage and fear. Priestess was crying in terror and frustration, but there was no knife in her belly. The blood was fading from my arms. The door snapped open and Millina stalked in.

“Crap!” she screamed, livid. “That was pitiful! Amateurs! Fools! How have you survived? Put me in the strike force! You idiots can’t handle it! You’re all dead! Understand? Dead!”

“Shut the hell down!” I shouted. “Nobody asked you!” My heart still pounded. We had decided to exclude Millina from the strike force because a Mocain could not disguise herself as a VS, and anything else would draw too much attention.

“That was not so good,” Dragon said grimly.

“God damn it! Why the hell didn’t you

“

“Can’t you take out a bloody robot?”

“I didn’t see you

“

“Shut down!”

“She’s right! That was crap!”

“Shut down!” I screamed again. “Just shut the hell down!” A sullen silence settled over the ES chamber.

“All right,” I said. “This is why we’re doing these exercises. We’re going to do it better next time.”

“That’s not going to be too hard!”

“Critique, Thinker.” Snow Leopard demanded. He stood in the ES doorway, as calm as ice.

“That was stupid,” I said. “We weren’t thinking. Valkyrieif that happens in real life, you let him rape you.”

“Let him rape me!”

“That’s right! Our mission is to get inside that station and kill KCA. Only that. Nothing else is of any importance. If it gains us some time, let it happen.”

“Easy for you to say!”

“You can cut off his cock after we reach the other side. Until then we keep quiet. It was working until then. That was stupidwe were all stupid.”

“You were in charge, Thinker,” One said. It hurt.

“Right. Absolutely right. My fault. Scrapper, nobody asked you to get out of your seat.”

“We just let him rape her?”

“That’s right!”

“I thought we were going to kill Systies, not service them!”

“We do whatever has to be done to insure the success of the mission. That’s what we do.”

***

We got better. I got a lot more demanding, and we got better. The envirosim chambers were totally realistic. It was exactly like real life, and I set the controls to reflect everything that might possibly go wrong. We learnt fast. At first the angel wires had ripped our hands to shreds. Now we all had thick calluses on our handslike real manual laborers. Artificial, but undetectable.

The practice was hell. It was not going to end until we were ready for anything. They ended up hating me, but I didn’t mind.

We were going to kill a Godand we had to do it right.

We drifted around the Gassies on vac drive. I didn’t want to go stardrive until we were ready. There wasn’t much down time but when there was, I would spend some of it on the bridge, looking out at the stars. When I had been a regular trooper, I hadn’t known or cared where the Legion was sending mebut now I had to know everything. The stars were like milky highways through infinity. We floated along the edge of the Outvac like a microscopic fleck of metal; we had a damned good view. Out one port ConFree’s home stars burnt a lovely pattern into the darkthe Crista Cluster, a glorious spangle of silvery dust. Hundreds of stars. Homehome to us all. Veltros, Hell, Korkush, Quaba, Micathey were all there. I couldn’t look at the Crista without feeling a warm thrill on my flesh and a fierce determination that no intruder was ever going to threaten us without one hell of a fight. Those starswe’d die for them.

We were so far from the Inners that it was not really comprehensible. You could say the distance, but you couldn’t really grasp it: 1,400 light years from the Inners. We were way, way out there.

By turning my head just a bit, I could see another stunning cloud of icy, swirling dust and softly burning stars embedded in the cloud. It was the Donatei Cluster, on the other side of the Outvac, considerably further out than the Crista. New stars still formed there. It was a galactic nursery, glowing hot and bright, encased in a glorious bubble of glowing gas. And on one starry edge of the cluster, the Blood Star burnt a brilliant reda warning, to our enemies. God’s work, on display for all to see, even bacteria like us, and it surely was a marvelous sight. It always put things into perspective for me.

And, an impossible distance away, Deneb burnt like an arc light, a brilliant phospho blue-white supergiant, casting a welcoming glow to our tiny corner of the universe, a lighthouse for the Outvac, watching over us all. Deneb had always been there for us. But where we were going, it was just another distant star. We were Deneb’s seed, I thought, launched on a holy crusade, into the infinite dark.

***

I staggered out of ES, exhausted, my rags both scorched and soaked. I collapsed against a wall of the squad room and slid to the floor, my limbs twitching. So real! I had been terrified, the whole time.

The others appearing, excited, shouting to each other, still pumped full of adrenalin. Snow Leopard stepped in from the Control Room, clad in faded camfax, standing straight and tall, as cold as ice, watching us without comment.

“Element Beta all present or accounted for, sir!” Dragon shouted to me, crashing down to the deck.

We’re all here, One,” I said wearily. Deto! Another royal screwup! The bastard had shot me right in the head and I hadn’t even seen him. Deto!

Everyone was on the floor or braced against the walls, totalled, still panting, awaiting the word from Snow Leopard.

“Acceptable,” he said. The squad erupted, howling like wolves. Dragon pounded my back, ecstatic.

“What happened, Dragon?” I asked. I had missed much of the action.

“Greenie and I cornered him after they took you and Psycho out. We wasted the body guards and then we wasted him. Man! What a charge! He fought like a tiger! They killed Valkyrie when we were taking the escape pod. Acceptable, Three! Our first acceptable!” He was beaded with sweatecstatic.

Got him. A first. I was so tired I could not really appreciate it.

“That was good, Thinker.” Snow Leopard squatted beside me, totally calm. “They’re getting it. It’s coming together.” I nodded, mute.

“It will have to be better,” he said. “There was a lot of luck, this time. They’ll have to get better.”

“Yes,” I said. “We’ll do it.”

“I killed the creep that got you, Valkyrie,” Scrapper said. They were side by side against the cenite wall, sharing a canteen. Valkyrie was totally dejected. Nobody liked to get killedeven as a Holo-X.

“Not bad, Legion,” Millina said to Valkyrie. “I liked the way you handled that officer.” Millina was clad in STRATCOM red. She was proving to be most helpful, once we had decided to take advantage of her ethnicity rather than fighting it.

“You enjoyed killing that female, didn’t you?” Valkyrie’s face was completely blank. She had been that way ever since Millina had walked into the squad. Cold, detached hostility. Millina had raped and degraded Valkyrie on Coldmark and later saved her life on Mongera. Valkyrie had slit Millina’s throat on Coldmark and later saved her life on Mongera. They were even.

“Yes I did,” Millina replied, pouring the rest of her canteen over her head. “I enjoy killing Systies.” She said it as matter of factly as if she had just been asked if she liked snow cream.

“Hey, PriestessI thought you were watching my back,” Psycho complained. He was standing, a little shakily, one hand on his hip, the other clutching a canteen.

“I’m sorry, Five. There were two of them, and I was unarmed. I took down the first one, but she was a biogen. By the time I had gouged her eyes out, the kid was on you.”

“The little runt knifed me in the back! Scut! Creepy little dwarf! Don’t nobody teach kids manners any more?”

“Listen up!” I struggled to my feet. The chatter slowly died. “All right, that was acceptable,” I said. “We killed KCA. We did the missionbut at unacceptable cost. We had three killed. That’s not acceptable to me.”

“Come on, Thinker,” Psycho replied. “We got the bastard! And we’re Holo-X’s! Who cares about casualties? It doesn’t matter if we all get killed, as holos! Just so long as we get King Rat. Right?”

“Wrong! It was too close. We’ve got to do better. We’ve only got one chance at this target. We’ve got to do it right! Three casualties are three too many! I want zero casualties! And I want a clean escape.”

“Why? Once the job is done, turn the holos off. Why escape? Who cares?”

“I’m not arguing with you, Psycho. We’re going to do this a lot better. Zero casualtiesand a clean escape. Dragon, Snow Leopardlet’s go over the action. The rest of you, one hour break and stand by for the debriefing.”

A chorus of groans greeted my announcement. I didn’t care. We were going to do it right.

***

“Hi, Westo. You busy?” Millie stood in the doorway to my little cube. They had forced me to take a cube and I was glad to have a place to go over the ops plan on my own, completely alone, free from all interruptionswell, almost all.

“Come in, Millie.” I had been hunched over a little built-in holo walldesk, going over the attack plan again. It was starting to all blur together. Perhaps I needed a break. She stepped in and sat on the open bunk, her knees brushing mine as I sat in the little wall chair. She was in her whites. A wisp of hair fell over one eye. She brushed it back.

“I’ve missed you,” she said. “You’ve been so busy.”

“Yeah. I guess so.” Busyand exhausted.

“Do you miss them?” She was gazing at a little holo of Moontouch and Stormdawn that I had put up on the wall.

“Of course.” They haunted me. I couldn’t even sleep any more. But I had vowed to do itfor them.

“How’s the jump going?”

“Fine. No worries.”

“How far in are we?”

“About half way to the first target. It takes a few days.”

“Why do they call a star jump ‘vac run red’? We’re not really in the vac, are we?”

“Actually, we are. But it’s not normal vac. It’s an artificial wormholean antimat powered shortcut between two distant sections of our own universe. I don’t know where the term came from. I think it’s left over from the days before star flight.”

She looked at me with those big brown eyes, a ghostly smile at her lips. “Do you still love me?” she asked.

“You don’t have to ask that. Why do you ask that?”

“You didn’t want me to come with you.”

“I don’t want you to die.”

“Do you really think we’re going to die?”

“We’re going right into the Innerslike a bullet in the heart of the System. We may get inbut getting out will be the trick. Yeah. I think we’re going to die.”

“Then why go?”

“We’re going to kill Satan.”

“Is that so important?”

“Yes. It is.”

“I don’t care,” she sighed. “Can I sleep here tonight?”

“You don’t have to ask, Millie.” I reached over and pulled her to mehead to head. I breathed in her scent, a faint, fresh perfume. What bizarre fate had brought us together? God? KCA? Tara? Millions of dead? Who could read Fate?

“Hi, gang.” Priestess stood in the doorway, hair wet, bloodshot eyes, wearing faded camfax. “Can I crash here, Thinker? Psycho keeps trying to get my pants off and I’m really tired. He’s so damned annoying.”

“Sure. You can sleep with Millie. I’ve got to do just a little bit more work here. I’ll, uh

I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“Thanks!” Priestess fell into the bunk, kicking off her boots. It had been a hard day.

“Why don’t you join her, Millie? I won’t be much longer.” I doused the lights, leaving only the glow from the holo. I had to look at the milbase floorplan one last time.

“She’s asleep,” Millie whispered. “Wow.”

I tried to concentrate on the holo map. Millie stripped off her whites, revealing tight panties and minibra. I tired to ignore her long, lovely legs and ample breasts as she pulled a blanket out from the drawer under the bunk.

“I may join you on the floor later if it gets too crowded up here,” Millie said, snuggling in next to Priestess and pulling up the blanket.

“Sure. No monkey business, though. I’ve got to get some sleep.”

“No monkey business. Tenners.”

I went back to the map. I was tremendously weary, but I had to get this last part resolved. If we got stuck in the warehouse, we’d never even get into the sub. It seemed largely a matter of luck whether

“Westo?”

“Yes, Millie.”

“Maybe just a little monkey business.”

***

“That’s the supergiant,” One said. “See it?” We had just popped out of stardrive and were approaching the Parsi Cluster. There were several inhabited worlds here, firmly controlled by USICOM and the United System Alliance. The supergiant was a brilliant gold, a lovely cosmic jewel. To us it was just another sinister landmark on Atom’s Road. It was chilling to actually see it that close. The Parsi Cluster was the gateway to the Inners. The System had made a major effort to reestablish control here, and it was now firmly back in the Systie camp. Up aheadstill unimaginably distant, but getting closer every instant we were in stardrivewas the Dark Cloud, welcoming us to its dusty domain, where new stars were burning brightly in their cosmic womb. Beyond was the Pleiades, misty blue emeralds, beauty to strike you dead. And beyond that was the Hyades Federationour target.

“Yeah. I see it.” Snow Leopard and I occupied the VIP chairs on the bridge, watching the screens.

“This place is crawling with Systie ships. We’re in the Inners now.”

“Cloaking fully active. Standing by 100 percent combat alert,” someone announced.

“Continue recon run,” the captain ordered. “We’ll just see how good this cloaking is.”

We had just made a star jump across 1,100 light years, and we were now well within the boundaries of Systie vac. The mission here was to test the effectiveness of our cloakingagainst live bad guys. I had agreed it was probably a good idea. We wouldn’t want to arrive at the Hyades without confirmation that the cloaking worked against Starfleet. We knew it worked against Fleetcombut we weren’t targeting Fleetcom.

“Entering Parsi Sector defensive fields. 4S systems coming on scope now.” I could see them on the sector map, scattered carelessly through the vac like evil little red gnats. But there was nothing careless about it. 4S stood for Space Superiority Sector Sensors, and it was a notoriously dependable and effective early warning system designed to detect intruding starships. We knew it was good because the Systies had stolen the technology from us.

“This is crazy,” I muttered.

“What have you done since joining the Legion that hasn’t been crazy?” Snow Leopard asked. I had no answer.

“We are within the det field of the nearest sensor. Cocooning nicely. No trail. Cloaking appears to be 100 percent effective.”

“That’s nice.”

“This is the point where they’d normally be in a frenzy, crash launching everything within range and siccing their tacships on us.”

“No defensive reaction so far. Starfleet units in system defwatch continue normal routine. No downside targeting. Battle Fleet on combat patrol has not reacted. Two cruisers, one assault carrier, tacship screen, all on normal ready statusas marked.”

“Terrific.” The images of the Systie fleet put a little chill to my blood. This was definitely their vac. We didn’t belong here.

“Captain?” Snow Leopard inquired.

The young captain turned, grinning. “They don’t see us.”

“Good. That’s good.”

***

I knew something was wrongsomething indefinable. It would come to me at night, haunting me, awakening me from a fitful, sweaty, exhausted sleep, to stare, stunned, into nothing.

I should have known. Fooldid I think I could avoid my fate? Snow Leopard called me into Plans to tell me. Nobody else was therejust Snow Leopard. I settled into an airchair, still exhausted from the sleepless night and a hard day in E-Sim.

“We’re getting better, right, One?” I asked. Beta was in top form. We were so good by then it was scary. I was anxious to get to the target. Only a few more sessions and we’d be fully ready. All I needed was One’s approvalto reassure myself.

Snow Leopard took a nearby airchair and looked at me intently with inscrutable pink eyes. He held a little printout in one hand. I could never read him, but it slowly began to dawn on me that he had bad news.

“You know ConFree has been censoring the news, for proprop reasons,” he began.

“Sure.”

“I’ve just received some news that is over a month old. They should have informed usearlier. I just learned this today.”

“Yes?”

“The Systies have raided Andrion 2. Your boyStormdawnthey took him. He’s missing.”

And Moontouch’s words echoed right then, in my mind, icy clear, as the adrenalin shot through my veins‘You will abandon me and your son, again, leaving us to face our enemies alone.’ It was all coming trueall of it.

Chapter 24

Price of Admission

Eiros 4 came at us like a vision of Paradise, a stunningly beautiful, cloud-flecked orb reflecting the sunlight of a bright star, rippling sheets of silver and gold winking off great cobalt oceans, wonderful rust-green continents spiked with snowy peaks. It was so lovely it brought tears to my eyes. For all I knew we would die there, and I could only think that it would be a beautiful place to die.

“You’d better get in ES,” Snow Leopard said. We were on the bridge, looking out the ports at that evil fantasy as the Wraith hurtled relentlessly along the glide path to our target, as straight as an arrowan unstoppable, invincible, invisible meteor. A fearsome Systie war fleet was in orbit around Eiros. Starfleet, in all its glory. It froze my blood, watching those icy red tracks. But we shot right past them, a ghostly bat from Hell.

“Yes,” I replied. Invisible! I didn’t dare laugh. The techs kept us alive. They had outdone themselves this time. We were readyfor anything. Nobody could have been more ready than we were, right then.

“It’s going to work,” Snow Leopard said. He was in camfaxhis war clothes. He was aching to come with us, but we all knew he’d be more valuable to us in the Ops Center.

“Death,” I replied. The Wraith eased into its orbit. Eiros was a gigantic presence, blotting out the stars, an ache in my heart for its hopeless beauty. I was clad in rags, my skin darkened, my hair long and tangled, a dirty bandanna wrapped around my head.

“Death. Get moving!”

“Beta, Mission One. Count off!” Snow Leopard’s voice echoed right in my ears. I was standing alone in a featureless ES chamber, waiting tensely for insertion. We counted offall there. The Wraith floated silently in the vac high overhead of the target, waiting for the exact optimum time to deposit its deadly cargo of invincible Holo-X killers right into the heart of BioSite 1, KCA’s support milbase. And we were going to be killing, silently and quietly, as soon as we appeared. I was sweating already. Soon my muscles would start to twitch. Imminent murder always did that to me.

One had decided to name Operation Deep’s strike force Betafor that’s who we were. We occupied seven of the Wraith’s twelve ES chambers. That left only five for Reconbackup’s call sign, another fitting name. We were hoping we wouldn’t need Recon. At any rate, their mission was to stand by to secure BioSite 1 if our One decided it needed securing. They wouldn’t be in the first wave.

“Commo checkThinker, One. How you read?”

“Got you tenners, One,” I replied. “Beta, Thinker, commo check, count off.”

“Dragon.”

“Psycho.”

“Priestess.”

“Valkyrie.”

“Scrapper.”

“Greenie.” All here, and all in contact. Good. Let’s get on with it!

“We’re all set, One,” I said. “What’s your estimate for insertion?”

“Stand by, Thinker. Estimate

” a harsh blast rattled the walls of the ES chamber, the ship lurched suddenly, and I wound up on the deck, momentarily stunned. The damage warning claxon erupted, blasting its terrifying newswe had been hit!

“Maintain combat alert! Commencing emergency evasion! Cancel Holo-X mission! Emergency repair, I want accurate damage reports right now!”

“What’s the sit, One?” I got up from the deck, my heart thumping. Deadwe were dead! And we didn’t even get a chance to launch the mission!

“Thinker, report to ES Control!” I ripped open the door to the ES chamber and was at control in fracs. Snow Leopard sat before the Master Paneltwelve blank holo screens and three large holo tacmaps gave him total control over every Holo-X trooper. Several Legion techs were at their own panels, looking around nervously. The damage warning claxon cut off.

“What is it, One?” He held up a hand. He was listening to a sitrep on his command com.

“We’ve hit a mine,” he said, “and sustained some damage. We’re backing off and getting out of the system while we check the damage.”

“Deto! Are we going into stardrive? Are they pursuing?”

“Don’t know.”

“Let’s see the captain, now! Dragon, stand by!”

“Tenners,” Dragon replied from his ES chamber. A white-hot anger was building in me. A mine! All our efforts down the tubefor a mine!

***

We found the captain and his Assidic exec bent over a holo table on the bridge, surrounded by a gang of Fleetcom officers, examining images of the damage while casting anxious glances at the status of the Starfleet cruisers and tacships that were lazily orbiting Eiros 4 like birds of prey. We pushed our way to the front.

“

an orbital anti-ship nuke mine, model ASMN-2, identification positive,” someone said. An image of the device flashed on to a screen. “They cruise randomly in unauthorized orbits, looking for intruders. And our orbit was certainly unauthorized.”

“Extensive damage to exterior service modules 4 through 11orbital nav, downside mapping, hard and soft docking approach, downside LOS/VSR

“

“Starfleet tacships reacting. Two tacships diverting to

site of incident.”

“Anyone coming after us?” the captain asked.

“No sir.”

“Status of cloaking?”

“Cloaking reports 100 percent effective still, sir.”

“The damage,” the captain continued, “how bad is it?”

“All penetrations have been autosealed, sir. Damage Control suggests visual inspection prior to starlaunch.”

“Captain,” I interrupted. “Analysis, please.”

The captain straightened, his glance shooting over the holo table, the dscreen showing the Systie war ships, and the plex, revealing a rapidly receding Eiros 4. “We have hit an orbital anti-ship mine. It’s bad luck, really. It didn’t spot us, but it intercepted our orbit, probably by chance. Our shields deflected it, but the pressure detonated it. We’re functional, but damaged. Cloaking is still good. Systie forces are now scouring our former orbit, looking for an intruder. They won’t find oneand they won’t find us. We’re going to be repairing our damage outside the Eiros system.”

“So all downside forces will be on maximum alert?” I asked.

“Not necessarily. Not likely

actually. These ASMN’s are always going off like that. We don’t use them any more. The Systies stole the design from us. They keep running into space junk. A grain of dust a bit larger than normal and bang! Your mine is gonebut it’s a false alarm.”

“So

no alert?”

If they don’t find anything, they probably won’t even report it downside except in a periodic report.”

“Will they find anything?”

“I don’t know. Could be we left some debris behind. We’ll know when we do a full damage report.”

“Captain,” I said. “I would like you to turn this ship around. We’re going to do the mission. Now, before they discover some debris and raise the alarm.”

“Sorry, Captain. I guess I didn’t mention. Your Holo-X transmitters are in Exterior Service Module 6. They’re fried. I’m afraid you’re not going anywhere.”

Time seemed to slow down for just a few fracs. The captain, concerned about his ship. Snow Leopard, his lips sealed, face pale, eyes burning. The dscreen, showing a tangled mass of wreckage on the underside of the ship. No holos! Was this it? Was our mission over? Should I accept this, limping home without having even tried? Had KCA triumphed again? Tara’s voice echoed in my mind: ‘As long as my heart continues beating in my body, there is hope.’

“We’re going in live,” I told Snow Leopard. “Tell Redhawk and Claws to warm up the Phantoms. Tell Beta and Recon to board. Captain, prep to launch Phantoms. We’re going innow. One, I need a quick revised plan.”

***

A cold rain battered us heavily as we squatted in knee-deep swamp water, snaking through tangled foliage. BioSite 1 was in a direct line ahead. I identified a spotlight, haloed in the rain. It was still dark, close to dawn, but we were not going to see the sun. I shivered, dressed in my Eiros native rags and headband, spattered with mud and soaking wet. I could see my breath in the airscut!

“Thinker, One. Commo test. How do you read?” It was right in my earsliterally. Even when I thought we would be going in as holos I insisted on micromin implants for every trooperjust as insurance. They were new, virtually undetectable, and damned good.

“Loud and clear, One. How me?” I spoke in lowered tones. He would hear mehe would hear all of us, Beta and Recon. And he would track us just like holos. It was the only reason I dared go in live.

“Tenners, Thinker. What do you see?”

Dragon crept up beside me, glaring into that dark dawn at our objective. He was dressed like merags, headband, dark skin, mud. He looked pretty scary. We had landed in the midst of the swamp several K from the initial objective, in the Kiss. Recon had inserted behind us in Li’l Miss Miss. They were ready to shoot up the town, but we were virtually unarmed. Our mission depended on stealth and cunning, not force. Recon was only a backupif the primary mission failed.

“There’s one guard, Snow Leopard,” I whispered. “Loitering by the door.” One guard, looked like an Outworlder male, A-vest, shockrod at his belt. Shockrods were it, for KCA’s base. Anything more potent would trigger immediate red alerts in BioSite 2 or Norport Station. KCA was deathly afraid of firearms and energy weaponswith good reason. All tyrants fear their subjects. It meant nobody would be shooting at usbut we would not be going in as holos, now. We’d be taking on biogens, hand to hand. The odds had shifted dramatically against us.

“I’m going to take out the exterior spotlights and cameras on your side, Thinker,” Snow Leopard said. “The interior corridor is clear for now. Do the guardthen do the code. You know it.”

“Tenners,” I said. “Go ahead. Dragon, Psychothe guard. As soon as the spotlight dies.” Psycho twitched like a starved attack dog. He’d found the right profession, all right.

“We going in?” Millina asked. She was in a hooded camfax coverall, well protected from the rain and mud. Valkyrie crouched beside her, also in camfax.

“Pass the wordwhen the light dies,” I replied. We had a whole lot of surprises set for KCA. The one ace we had was the eyemotes. We had sent in plenty of the nasty little micromin intruders, and some of them could do more than observe.

The spotlight sputtered and abruptly faded. Darkness rushed in. I strained to make out the guard. At last I spotted him. He was looking up at the dead light. Two shadows crept up behind him, then leaped on him, pulling him down quicklya brief struggle, then no further movement.

I splashed through the muck to the door and punched in the override combo on the access plate, rain pouring on my head. They used simple number codes throughout the complex, with people only knowing the codes to which they had legal access. One’s eyemotes had programmed us a new override. We chose something simple1, 2, 3, 4. The door clicked.

“How’s the corridor, One?” I asked.

“Clear. It’s still early. Go!” The eyemotes gave him the view, but we were blind. I pressed the access lever and the door slid open, revealing a deserted security post and an empty corridor. We padded in, five dark Eiros natives dressed in rags, dripping water, splashed with mud. Just behind us Millina and Valkyrie entered in their camfax coveralls. The door snapped shut. One would be restoring power. And the dead guard was out of camera range.

“Change,” Millina whispered urgently. We moved up the corridor. I found the door and triggered the override. It hissed opena little reception room, quite nice. Perfect. Millina and Valkyrie entered. Priestess and I joined them, sealing the door behind us. Psycho, Dragon and Scrapper had taken another room. We had to get out of the corridor for just a frac.

Millina and Valkyrie ripped off their camfax coveralls, revealing spotless forest-green uniforms. A general’s star was set into Millina’s collar. It was the uniform of the SISa role Millina knew well. Valkyrie’s collar had a single pip. She was the general’s aide and likely sex toy. “Damn!” The catch on one of Millina’s boot covers had come loose somewhere in the swamp. Her left boot was covered with slimy mud. I peeled off the sodden cover, went to my knees, snatched a sleeve from her discarded coverall, and began frantically cleaning the boot. A lovely little barefoot Outworlder girl with wispy blonde hair wandered in, clad in shorts and a shapeless, sleeveless top. She was barely out of puberty. She stood there for just a frac, surprised but not yet afraid. It was a strange scenethe Mocain general, her elegant aide, and two scruffy male and female Eiros laborers. The male was on his knees shining the general’s boots.

Priestess and Valkyrie tackled her viciously, slamming her to the deck, whipping angel wire around wrists and ankles, leaving her hogtied on her belly on the carpet, gagged with a ragged strip of camfax stuffed into her mouth. The girl had collapsed instantly. She certainly wasn’t a biogenjust an innocent. There were plenty of human civilians here, and more in KCA’s lunatic underground citywives and kids, dependents of KCA’s brainwashed slaves.

“Shine it!” Millina’s left boot still looked like hell, and details like that could give us away. I shined it until it glowed. Valkyrie had the girl by her hair, the tip of her icepick dagger poised over her back. One push and it would go right through the little girl’s frail body. The push daggers were pretty low-profilebut we would have to discard them before we entered the sub, as there was a weapons check in the warehouse and only authorized officials could carry knives.

“The boot’s done,” Millina said. Everyone was looking at me. I stood up, adrenalin burning. Valkyrie shook the girl’s head, to draw my attention, the dagger poised over her back. The girl looked right at me, big liquid blue eyes, the tears suddenly gushing forth. She had just realized she was going to die. What a beautiful child! She had her whole life ahead of her. She was so young! She could be my daughter! The closet, I thought, we can drug her, we can

no, no. We have no drugs, all we have is angel wire and daggers. We can’t leave her, we can’t take the chance. She’ll raise the alarm. She’ll betray us. They’ll kill us allall of Beta. Priestess, Valkyrie, Dragon

all my closest comrades, dying, because of my weakness. And Satan will live! Because of me! A frenzied image of Biergart. I had executed him in cold blood on Katag, so that we might live. And I could hear Tara, hissing in my ear: ‘You have to be strong, Wester, to triumph over Evil. You have to be stronger than the Evil!’ The little angel was looking right into my eyes, pleading, mewing pitiful little whimpers through the gagas if she could read my mind! And Tara, again, a cold, merciless whisper: ‘

it was the right thing to do. The right thing to do is never easy.’ She had said that after dropping an antimat on a couple of hundred ConFree schoolchildren. I turned away to face the door, frozen, horrified, stunned.

“Kill her,” I whispered. It was done in an instant and I was overcome with a white-hot rage. It’s the price of admission, I thought, to Hell. I had finally graduated. I was no longer human. I was a true Legion biogen, killing for peace. What had Moontouch said? ‘I see men without minds, killing without remorse, and children without hope, waving the flags of an evil God.’ Yes

men without minds. That was me!

***

Out on the loading dock, two HyadFed DefCorps troopers were manning dock security, a little open office with a good view of the dock and the personnel and cargo doors of the sub. Snow Leopard also had an excellent view from one of the many high-tech eyemotes that were floating invisibly over the dock. He was about to give the troopers one big surprise. The sub was almost loaded, a huge, glossy black presence in the loading dock, a pier that was cut right into the mountain for security. Spotlights gleamed from the rock ceiling far overhead. A weak grey dawn leaked through the great open sea doors. It was still raining out there; the water was all speckled.

“Another beautiful day in Paradise, huh, Three Four?” one of the troopers remarked to the other. His companion smiled tolerantly. Three Four was an Elidian, and they were never really happy. But Nine One was a Luytenian, and he was happy just to be alive. It all depended on where you were coming from, and where you were.

“Loading?” the comset inquired in a metallic voice.

“Just a few more dropboxes,” Nine One replied. The Eiros porters were working on the last few loads. Nine One had all their ID cards and there were no problems.

“We’ve lost visual on the camerasis it all right there?” the comset inquired again. Snow Leopard could hear everything, relayed through the eyemote.

“We’re fine. They don’t work?” Nine One looked up at the camera mounts.

“The whole pier is blank. Power appears to be down.”

“Well, all’s normal here, sir.”

“All right. Call in with anything unusual.”

“Yes sir.”

“That’s funny,” Three Four said.

“Has that ever happened before?”

“Not that we

” A female Mocain generala general!stood before the counter, forest-green uniformSIS! Her pale greenish skin was growing paler, evidently with rage. A young Outworlder blonde was with her, also SIS, a stunning beauty, holding out a recorder, sticking it right in their faces.

“Where did we come from?” the Mocain hissed. There was no doubtshe was seething. Three Four was paralyzed. Nine One found his voice.

“Sir?”

“Where did we come from? We appear before it, right on the loading dock. From nowhere? It didn’t notice us? It didn’t notice a general? Is it in charge of security here? What else has it missed?”

“Sir, we

“

The Mocain’s arm whipped around and slammed a document down on the counter, shaking the guard post. “SISsurprise inspection! And we don’t like what we’ve found here. Its designation?”

“Sir, we

“

“Its designation!”

“Nine Five Nine One, sir, Fourth Commandos, Presidential Guard!” The blonde snapped the recorder over to Three Four.

“Eight Eight Three Four, sir, Fourth Commandos, Presidential Guard!”

“Read the orders, troopers! This inspection has been ordered by the Supreme Leader. It is a surprise inspection, of Norport Station and all supporting units. It will

“

“Sir! We were not notified of any

“

“Silence, trooper! It will not interrupt us! We just told it this is a surprise inspection. If we told anyone in advance, it would not be a surprise, now would it? Shut down and listen carefully! Things have been getting entirely too slack around here. The Supreme Leader orders all concerned to cooperate totally with the inspecting units. It will not alert Norport Security to our presence. We are to observe normal procedures, trooper! If it alerts them, we will be observing a charade. And if it alerts themwe will learn about it! Our papers!” She slammed two ID copies down on the counter and turned on her heel, heading for the sub’s personnel door, her lovely aide trotting along behind her. The last dropbox went rolling into the cargo door and the porters leaped in after it.

“Scut!” Three Four exclaimed.

“Bitch!” Nine One gasped. He watched the two of them step into the ship. The personnel door hissed closed behind them. “Did you see that honey she’s got?”

“Never mind the honey. What do we do?”

“What does it think?”

“We don’t know! Read the orders!”

“Shouldn’t we report it?”

“We? Hey, feel free!”

“Yeah, but they’re not on the list! Shouldn’t we

“

“Look, that was one mightily authentic and highly upset Mocain general! And if the Supreme Leader ordered it, we ain’t gonna call anyone!”

“But we can call Personnel, in the tacstrip here, to see if they’ve got an arrival record. That way, we’re just seeing where it’s been. We’re not alerting anyone where it’s going. Give us those ID’s.”

“All right.”

Three Four turned to the comset and punched the tab for the tacstrip.

“Library.”

“Huh? Gimme the tacsite.”

“Sorry. This is the science library. May we help it?”

“Nosorry.” Three Four cut the connection, and tried again.

“Library.”

“What the hell? Isn’t this the Second Air Wing?”

“No. It’s got the science library. Sorry.”

Three Four hung up again. “That’s odd,” he said. The sub was backing out, gliding slowly into the grey morning. It looked like the rain was easing up.

Snow Leopard was pleased. All right so far!

***

For a mindless biogen, I was a total failure. I was sitting with the others on a metal bench with my feverish head propped against a stack of cold sweating dropboxes. It was almost dark in the cargo holddarker than it had been in ESand I was having trouble breathing. I couldn’t decide if it was suffocatingly hot or burning cold. I seemed to be experiencing both at the same time. We were underway, cruising underwater in the supply sub towards KCA’s fortress city. All quiet so farblessed quietbut I was still shaking! I had to stop, or I’d give the mission away. Every extra instant we could pull it off was a blessing, every extra instant brought KCA closer to his death.

That damned hatch snapped open again. The Mocain guard gave us the once-over. I bowed my head, my bloody hands between my legs. The blood was everywhereall over my rags. But it was dark. He couldn’t see it.

The hatch closed. He was staying in the passenger cabin. Good! Maybe Millina was giving him hell.

We had killed every one of the porters in a bloody spasm of violence in the warehouse, ramming the daggers through their hearts, ripping their throats open with the angel wire, almost decapitating them, cutting them down silently, quickly, like a pack of bloodcats tearing through a herd of mumpups. We left the warehouse floor splattered with blood and dragged the bodies into the corners. They’d be discoveredbut, hopefully, too latetoo late for KCA.

Innocentseach one of them. Eiros porters: simple, wiry, tough, impoverished men and even a few women. People with families, working as VS for the System for a few credits to buy bread for the table and milk for the children. My heart burned, my muscles shook. Murder! Bloody, merciless slaughter! What had they ever done to me to deserve this? My eyes were full of tears. KCA was going to pay for this! I was going to shred him, limb from limb. I would gouge out his eyes; I would bathe in his blood!

Every extra instant brought me closer to Him. I’d leave a trail of bloody footprints, to Him. A trail of corpses, a path of slaughtered innocents, crying out to the Gods, for justice. Justice! Can you feel me coming, KCA? I’m going to join you in Hell!

Fools! They checked the porters’ ID’s when they entered the warehouse, but not when they entered the ship to accompany the cargo. They were to unload it on Norport and then return to BioSite 2 on the ship. They’d been checked once, no need to check them again.

One little problemthe porters who entered the ship were not the same ones who’d been checked. And the people who checked them were dead.

I prayed to Deadman. Let us dock, in Norport. Only that. We’ll do the rest. Just let us dock! Let us get that far.

We were truly unarmed now, the daggers left behind in the warehouse. All we had now was angel wire. Thatand everything the Legion had taught us. Unarmed? I almost laughed through the tears. Seven suicidal, psychotic, merciless killers. Everyone who crossed our path would die like bacteria.

I blinked away tears. We were almost there. The shaking stopped. A warm wave rushed over my body. I was suddenly calm. Nowwe were in the hands of the Gods. He would dieor we would. I knew we’d do our best. I thought of Priestess, close beside me, and Millie, back on the Wraith. I thought of Valkyrie, up in the passenger compartment with Millina. I thought of Tara, my evil twin, and all that had happened since I joined the Legion, as a young fool. I was older now, but still a fool.

It didn’t matter. We were grains of dust, under the boots of the Gods. Help us, Deadman, I prayedgrant me His death! And if not, I curse you! If not, kill me, Deadman. Him or me!

The skin of the sub rang like a great bell. We were docking.

Chapter 25

Inside

“Move it, subs!”

An Orman overseer with a shockrod at his belt glared at us as we slammed the dropboxes along the rollers from the docked sub to the cavernous interior of a warehouse. We were inside Norport Station, far below the surface. The massive sub butted up against the pier, streaming water, inside a huge underwater airlocked sub chamber. Inside! My skin crawled. Millina and Valkyrie were at the security checkpoint, engaged in an animated discussion with two large Mocain troopers. The troopers were clad in the rust red uniform of KCA’s security force. The other passengers had already gone through security.

“Visuals are cut,” Snow Leopard said in my ears. The stage was set for our dangerous game. The last of the dropboxes was loaded into the warehouse. It was time for us to pad back to the sub. The Orman gazed over at the checkpoint, trying to raise them on his comset. It didn’t seem to work. One of the Mocains gestured to him. They were behind a clear, armored plex double security door and it didn’t open from our side. I had a feeling time was running out quickly for us. I spotted a biogen girl with the Mocains behind the checkpoint counter. Millina and Valkyrie wouldn’t be able to take all three of them. We had to get behind those doors! Millina gesturing vigorously towards us. The doors snapped open. One of the Mocains shouted to the Orman.

“Those two VSbring them here! What’s wrong with its comset?”

“Huh? Bring them?”

“Bring those two VS. Now!” He pointed to Dragon and me. We paused, pretending to be startled.

“Yeah, you! You and youget over there!” the Orman barked. Dragon and I shuffled reluctantly over to the open doors, past the body scanners and up to the counter. The doors hissed close behind us. We had no weapons, so there was no alert. We were cleanharmless slaves. We stood there humbly, hanging our heads, our hands clasped before us in a gesture of servitude.

“How does it know?” Millina asked. “They have no ID. These two look bad! You let these VS right into the Supreme Leader’s base, without ID? Is this standard procedure? How does it know who they are?”

“There are hundreds of guest workers who have access to the base, General. These ones don’t even get off the loading dock. We know exactly who they are! They were all carded on the other side.”

“On the other side!”

“We have their ID’s right here. Would it like to see them? Is that damned thing up yet?” he snapped at his companion.

“It’s not appearing! It keeps channeling me to General Inquiries.”

“Does it always work this well?” Millina asked. The biogen girl was silent, seemingly minding her own business. Valkyrie was doing her thing with the recorder, thrusting it right at the two Mocain troopers.

“Sir, we

“

“We’ve seen enough! We want to know the designations of these two VS, and it can’t tell us! Would it like that to go in our report?”

“Zor, tell Myor to get those ID’s now. He’s got them.”

“We still can’t raise it.”

“Tell it! Get over there!” Zor went charging over to the loading dock, leaving the security doors open behind him.

“This is a terrific show,” Millina muttered. “We have never seen a more confused security post.”

“General, it’s not normally like this. We’re suffering from

” A buzzer sounded.

“B7 Sub Base, Post One.” The Mocain looked up at the ceiling. “Out? All out? Well, they look all right to me. Yes. No, it’s fine. Look, we’ve got some failures in our commo systems. Probably has something to do with the visuals. Could it have Commo check our systems? Yes. Yes, yes. Look, we’re very busy here. Right, out.”

“Something else wrong?” Millina asked acidly.

“Ah

just some camera problems. Herehere’s the IDs.” Zor came rushing back with a handful of printouts. His companion came around to the front of the counter in his anxiety to check the IDs.

“Why does that sub have blood all over its pants?” the biogen girl asked quietly.

“It cut itself in the warehouse, Miss,” Dragon responded.

“Blood?” the Mocain asked stupidly, looking down at my legs.

“We are sorry, sir,” I said humbly.

“Can it find these two subs on these IDs, trooper?” Millina asked. “We cannot.” Zor frantically pawed at the IDs on the counter. Dragon and I were clearly not depicted in the holo images.

“Does it realize what this means?” Millina asked. Both Mocain troopers focused on us, as if for the first time, their eyes widening. Millina whipped out her ceremonial dagger and buried it in the first Mocain’s heart, leaping on him savagely and riding him down to the floor, his mouth gaping like a fish, stunned and silent. Valkyrie shrieked and plunged her own dagger into the other Mocain’s neck, slicing it open, blood spurting as if from a hose. Dragon and I jumped the counter and tackled the biogen girl, slamming her face down to the floor. She kicked and punched powerfully, but we had caught her off guard. I slipped the angel wire around her neck and pulled from behind. Her neck spurted white blood as her body twitched in awful, spastic death throes, bucking under us like a berserk puppet. She kept fighting us. Even biogens don’t want to die, but her head was almost offand biogens need oxygen. She shuddered, one last awful strangled gasp, and ceased functioning. Psycho, Priestess and Scrapper were suddenly there.

“The Orman’s dead,” Psycho announced, holding a shockrod. “We’d better move fast.” Valkyrie’s Mocain twitched on the floor, his neck spurting a fountain of scarlet blood.

“No general alarm yet,” Snow Leopard said in my ears. “You’ll know it when it happens. Go with Plan B.”

“I’ve got blood on my uniform,” Millina said.

“So have I,” Valkyrie added.

“Never mind,” I said. “Got to chance it. Get those shockrods.” There was movement back on the loading dock. The ship’s crew was disembarking. Time to go!

***

C corridor was wide, with good reason. Large airsleds hissed along the center, piled high with packages and dropboxes, caution lights flashing. We kept to one side, Millina and Valkyrie leading the way boldly, five VS slaves shuffling along meekly behind. We were still on Level B7, and the people we passed had the aura of subs, putting in their time in a disagreeable place. Outworlders, Ormans, Cyrillians, Elidians, Dardans, Picansall the races of the System’s bankrupt empire were there, and they didn’t look happy. We were near the very bottom of KCA’s refuge. It was dark and damp.

“Stand aside!” Millina commanded. Two large Cyrillians in brown uniforms got out of our way, gazing at us curiously. The elevator was right up ahead. A group of Systies stood not far from it. One of them wore a rust red uniformSecurity.

“Who’s Security?” Millina called out. “That one! Accompany us! These VS are being investigated.” She punched the elevator tab authoritatively. Valkyrie glared at us, shockrod in hand. The security trooper saluted Millina and approached cautiously.

“Sir? What’s this?”

“We just said what it was, trooper. Pay attention! We’re going to Security HqsLevel H. Does it know the way?”

“Yes, sir. Do

“

“Good! Keep an eye on the VS! In here, subs!” she snapped at us as Valkyrie herded us into the open elevator, then followed us in with Millina and the security trooper.

“That’s the wrong level,” the trooper said. “You want H1.” Valkyrie had just pressed B10. The elevator door hissed close and we began to rise.

“Sorry,” Valkyrie said. The trooper pressed H1.

“This is an SIS inspection, trooper,” Millina said, “and it’s the first person we’ve met who hasn’t completely blown its responsibilities.”

“Our thanks, sir. Could we

” He was interrupted by a shrieking alert siren that almost deafened us in the confines of the elevator.

“ATTENTION! THIS IS A SECURITY ALERT! BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR A GROUP OF VS LABORERS, ACCOMPANIED BY TWO MOCAIN FEMALES, ONE IN THE UNIFORM OF AN SIS GENERAL! THIS IS NO DRILL! SUSPECTS ARE TO BE IMMEDIATELY DETAINED

” Millina smiled at the trooper and blasted him with a shockrod. He sparkled like fireworks for an instant, then collapsed, slumping to the floor.

“Get his shockrod!” Now we had a total of five shockrods. The door snapped open on B10 and we cautiously exited. Psycho ran his fingers over all the floor tabs to insure the elevator would stop everywhere and with a bit of luck not pinpoint our location.

“See yougood luck!” Millina and Valkyrie took off with their ceremonial daggers and one of the shockrods. We divvied up the rest. There was nobody in the vicinity. It was a laborers’ residential floor, reasonably quiet at this hour.

“Death!” I hissed. Scrapper appeared by my side, ripped the headrag off and tossed it away, revealing her long tawny hair.

“Goodbye, Thinker,” Priestess raised a hand and I swear she was luminousjust like an angel. Goodbye? Dragon was by her side, glowering. Dragon would take care of her. I had decided it was best this way. Millina and Valkyrie, Scrapper and I, Dragon and Priestess, with Psycho off on his own. Four separate attackssomebody should get through. I didn’t want to be with Priestess on this final mission. It was too important to be encumbered with human emotions.

We starburst, padding down dirty, deserted corridors lined with closed doors.

***

“This fellow’s an infotech,” I said, rummaging through a shoulder bag I found on the floor. “These are infotech tools.” Scrapper and I fumbled around in a dark cube, ripping clothes out of drawers and closets.

“How do I look?” Scrapper asked, posing with a white flash smile, clad in a sloppy brown shirt several sizes too large, wearing loose brown pants.

“Very prole,” I said. “You’re right in style. Mess up your hair a little more. Carry that comset over there. How about me?” I swung the bag over my shoulder. The man’s work uniform was a reasonably good fit.

“It’s you. We’re a pair of subs. Let’s get out there and slouch!”

“You’re going to need shoes.” I had found a pair of work boots that were a bit large, but slipped on easily. There was nothing small enough for Scrapper.

“Damn! I forgot!” She was still wearing her muddy VS sandals. “Well, there’s no shoe stores around here. Let’s go.”

“Thinker, Scrapper, exit the door and move right until you see a staircase. There’s light foot traffic, no security yet.” One was right on ithe had eyemotes on each element. We’d have been lost without him.

We strolled out the door, ignoring a pair of workers who brushed past us. We rounded a corner and came upon a girl hauling a big pouch of papers. It looked like she was making deliveries. Scrapper stopped before her, looking down at the girl’s feet.

“Nice shoes,” Scrapper said.

***

“Don’t they have anything for normal-sized people?” Millina hissed, ripping open another uniform pak and tossing it to the deck.

“How about khaki?” Valkyrie asked, snatching another pak. They were standing between two tall rows of shelving, lined with stacks of brand new clothingjust what they needed.

“Khaki is good,” Snow Leopard replied in their ears. “No time for insignia. Just find something that fits, get some boots, and get out! Alertsomebody’s approaching you!” One had guided then to the supply outlet, but time was running out quickly.

“Hey! What is it

” a stocky male Orman in a chocolate brown uniform stood at one end of the aisle. “What are you girls up to?” More confident now, he approached them, striding boldly forward, scowling at the pale brunette and the lovely blonde. Millina stood there quietly, watching him without comment. Valkyrie let a clothing pak fall carelessly to the floor. And suddenly he understood. Perhaps he caught a glimpse of the single star on Millina’s forest green uniform. His face paled, his eyes widened. He turned to run but they were on him like bloodcats, snarling, knives flashing, up, down, blood splattering. He screamed, scrambling along the floor desperately as the knives plunged into his back again, again, again, while the two merciless females clung to him like wolves bringing down a deer.

They left him there dying as they ripped open new clothing paks.

“Let’s go, let’s go! Where’s the boots?”

“I saw shoes a couple aisles over.”

“Come on! Help me into this thing! Why do they put the closures on the

“

“Scut! You’ve got it on backwards!” Valkyrie’s blood was ice cold as she helped Millina with the blouse. Her fingers were trembling, she was overloaded on adrenalin. They had to get out of there, and on with the mission!

***

Millina and Valkyrie waited in the shadows, silent, shoulder to shoulder, breathing heavily, backs against a cold metal wall. Millina held a bloody dagger in one hand, almost as if contemplating it. The door leading to the corridor was closed. They were still inside the supply outlet, waiting for word from Snow Leopard.

“Two Systies so far,” Millina said, “One Mocain, one Orman.”

“You’re keeping score?” Valkyrie’s heart was pounding.

“You’ve got three. Don’t forget that little girl.”

“I’m not likely to forget her,” Valkyrie replied coldly.

“Greenie, Valkyrie,” One said. “The corridor’s clear. Get out now, turn left, walk fast, second door on the left, use the combo.”

Valkyrie punched the code and the exit door swung open. They hustled along a deserted hallway, clad in khaki.

“Attention!” a metallic voice announced, “This area continues under a Code Yellow Security Alert. All security units remain on the alert for undocumented VS laborers and for two Mocain females in SIS uniform. All security doors are to remain sealed until further notice.”

“That’s the door!”

Valkyrie punched the override code1, 2, 3, 4. It slid open easily. They found themselves in a poorly lighted, wide, dusty metal stairwell that seemed to spiral up into infinity and down into the dark.

“Do I look like a Mocain?” Valkyrie asked.

“Consider yourself lucky they weren’t more accurate,” Millina replied. “All right, let’s go.” They headed up to the next level and immediately ran into a floor to ceiling barrier, a cenite grill.

“Deto!”

“It’s the security alert,” One whispered. “Use the combo!” There was indeed a combination pad set to one side. Valkyrie tried it. The grill lifted silently.

“All right!”

“Keep going up,” One ordered. “We’re not sure if the intrusion is registering on their security systems or not. We’ve put the children’s channel on their tacnet.” Valkyrie and Millina were not listening. They were padding up the stairs just like a pair of jungle predators, suddenly loose in a city full of prey.

***

“Please don’t kill her, Dragon,” Priestess whispered. “They’re so close it won’t make any difference!” Dragon and Priestess were in a public restroom at one end of a large swimming pool. The artificial sunlight shining in the doorway was in stark contrast to the dark, cool interior. The subject of their conversation stood naked before them, pale, tremblinga pretty, slim little subteen girl, curly chestnut hair, dark eyes, small breasts, long legs, gasping in horror. Priestess slipped on the girl’s swimsuit. Dragon already had on long, loose swim trunks and a sleeveless mesh swim shirt. A trickle of scarlet blood leaked from under one of the toilet stalls, pooling itself right at the feet of the terrified girl. There were only four lockers in the unisex rest room. All had been empty of clothing. The two visitors had already donated their swimsuits, and one had paid with his life for his resistance. Had Dragon been carrying the shockrod, it might have ended differently. But Priestess had the shockrod.

The girl whimpered, too scared to scream, icy sweat beading her brow. Dragon held a strand of angel wire, only visible because it was dripping blood. Dragon reached out with one hand and grasped the girl firmly by her hair and pulled her over to the lockers, opening one cautiously. The girl shuddered and criednot yet ready to die.

“Get in,” he said. She squeezed into the narrow locker, wedging herself in firmly, her knees at her chin, face twitching. Dragon leaned over to whisper in her ear.

“I’ll be coming back to check on you. One peep out of you and I’ll cut off your head!” She nodded her understanding, eyes bugging, teeth chattering. Priestess handed Dragon the shockrod. He touched the girl with it briefly, her skin flared with electricity, and she slumped into unconsciousness. Dragon closed the locker door.

“You old softy,” Priestess chided him.

“Follow me,” Dragon ordered. “Leave the shockrod. You can’t conceal it in that suit.” Priestess tossed it into a toilet. They trotted out of the rest room into bright hot lights and a wide expanse of shimmering blue water and a scattering of people catching artificial rays by the side of the pool.

Dragon dove smoothly into the pool and Priestess followed, as sleek as an otter. They swam underwater for the far end, the shallow end, where the main clubhouse was located. The changing rooms were there, with lockerslots of lockers, full of street clothes. It was cool and refreshing under the water, Priestess thought. The artificial sunlight shimmered on the surface above them like a sheet of liquid gold. It was unrealconsidering their mission. They had shot into the water so fast that it was unlikely that anyone had gotten a good look at them. Now they had to get out and into the clubhousealmost as quickly.

They surfaced smoothly, gliding through the shallows past wading toddlers, then popping up, spraying water, out of the pool and into the clubhouse.

Chapter 26

Pipe Rats Rule

Psycho blinked hard. It was dark down there in the sewers, among the drains and pipes, but some clown was blasting away with a laser welder, and some other clown was flashing a spotlight around, dazzling Psycho’s eyes.

“Waddya, a tourist? Oudda the way!” A couple of beefy workers brushed past him hauling a greasy section of pipe. Silently, Psycho watched them pass. He was dressed in soiled dark brown coveralls, sleeves rolled up, the front zipped open to reveal a sweaty chest. It was raining, it seemedicy rain, splattering over his worker’s cap. He turned away from the group of shadows huddled around the glowing welder, looking for a way past them in the confusing tangle of huge filthy pipes running along the floor and overhead. This was Psycho’s kind of place, and it looked like nobody cared much who he was or what he did.

“You’ve got to get down one more level, Psycho,” Snow Leopard announced, “and head eastI’ll guide you.”

“Keep your shirt on, One,” Psycho muttered. “I got to kind of go with the flow. Aah!” He pulled his hand away from a red-hot pipe.

“The red ones are hot,” One said.

“Thanks!” Psycho stepped into what appeared to be a narrow walkway between two forests of piping. It was still raining lightly. Spotlights were haloed in the mist.

“This place leaks,” Psycho observed.

“Go left.”

“Left. Sure. Why not?”

In a few moments Psycho came upon a short-haired girl, squatting on her haunches to one side of the trail. Psycho stopped to look her over. Reddish hair, flushed face, startling clear grey eyes, worker’s cap perched jauntily on the back of her head. She looked back at him boldly. She was a little thing, dressed in dark brownsleeves rolled up, pant cuffs rolled up, scruffy worker’s boots. She chewed lazily on a thin, wet stick of something dark and evil.

Psycho consulted a little plastic mapbook. He looked around a bit, then up at the dark, leaking overhead, then back at the girl.

“Nice day,” Psycho said.

The girl laughed, then turned her gaze away, sucking on her candy stick.

“Got no idea where we are here,” Psycho said, looking up at the tangled mass of pipes running overhead, then slipping the map into a pocket.

The girl ignored him, running a pink tongue gently over the candy.

“Does it?” Psycho asked.

The girl removed the candy from her mouth and looked up at Psycho. “Yeah,” she said, then stuck the candy back in her mouth, ignoring him once again.

Smiling, Psycho squatted down beside her.

“Waiting for a bus?” he asked. She smiled.

“Does it have a name?” he tried again.

“Who wants to know?”

“Hey, we asked first.”

“None of ya business.”

“Kind of sassy, huh? Sassy. Pleased, Sassy. Call me Psycho.”

“It’s a funny guy, Psycho. What’s it doin’ down here?”

“We were looking for a girl, actually.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. With short red hair, grey eyes, and a bad attitude. Found ‘er.”

“Get lost. Want a bite?” She held out the candy.

“Thanks, Sassy. Giving it up. Actually

we’re already lost. Can it point us to PowerGen Thermo?”

“PowerGen Thermo? What’s it want that for?”

“Got a job to do there.”

A bright light blazed around them and a shadowy figure appeared, walking down the narrow aisle. “Get off your butt, sub,” he snarled. “We need help in 7C.”

“We’re on our break!” Sassy shouted back at the man as he passed. “Give it a rest!”

“Well, hurry it up. We’re all gonna drown down here

” he muttered, disappearing into the dark. The ceiling was still leaking drearily.

“Got a boy friend?” Psycho asked.

“Yeah. And it’s one big, bad sub. It don’t like it much when anybody messes with its girl.”

“We don’t care what it likes.”

“We said it’s big, Psychoa lot bigger than it, actually.”

“Not where it counts.”

Sassy laughed again, delighted. “Sure it doesn’t want a bite?”

“Not of that thing.”

“It’s a bundle of laughs. What’s its unit?”

“Angel Procurement Detachment 22. We’re from God. We’re looking for the loveliest creatures in the galaxy. It qualifies. Interested?”

“It really wants to go to PowerGen Thermo?”

“Really.”

“Hmm. Well, we’ve got a few spare fracs, before our job interview for Miss Norport. Guess we could take it there. But we hope it knows what it’s doing. And got good ID. That’s a restricted area.”

“Yeah? Know a back way?”

“Sure. But it’s kinda dark and spooky.”

“It could hold our hand.”

“Sure. If it’s scared.”

“Sassywe’ve got a feeling this is going to be a short but very intense relationship. Lead on.”

***

“Biogens. Damn! They’ve spotted us!” Millina skidded to a stop on a stairwell landing, looking up into the dark. “Back! Back!” She stumbled down the stairs recklessly with Valkyrie, back the way they had come.

“We were almost there!”

“Quiet! Two of them. Stop! Here!”

They waited in the shadows, just around a corner of a stairwell landing. They could hear the biogens opening the security grill, calling it in.

“Identificationone Mocain female, in DefCorps khaki and boots, no insignia. One Outworlder female

Hello? Hello? Does it receive us?”

“Security, patrol Seven One, see the zero. We are pursuing. Request assistance. Does it receive?”

Two fearless biogen girls leaped down from the steps to the landing, swinging shockrods. Valkyrie got a quick glimpse of their perfect, flawless faces and rust red uniforms. Millina hurled herself at one of them, plunging her dagger right into the girl’s throat. Valkyrie struck at the other with her shockrod and the burst flared over the biogen’s skin, dropping her. The first biogen girl swept Millina off her with one arm, effortlessly, and Millina was down, the biogen pulling the knife from her own throat with a gush of sticky white blood. Valkyrie’s biogen sprang up, swinging her shockrod, but Valkyrie nailed her with a powerful right front kick. The girl fell again and skidded down the stairs. Valkyrie went after Millina’s biogen, feinting with a fist, then connecting with a hard rising left snap kick to the biogen’s chin. The girl buried the blade in Valkyrie’s calf. Millina attacked from behind, a vicious roundhouse kick, connecting to the back of the biogen’s head, driving her down. Valkyrie broke off immediately and hurled herself down the stairs, pulling open the angel wire. She met the second biogen charging up, shockrod snapping. Valkyrie used the angel wire to deflect the shockrod up, missing her face by mils, the raw power of the electric charge burning her face and sizzling her hair. Val came together with the biogen in a jarring tangle of limbs as they tumbled down the stairs to the next level, the shockrod flying away, ricocheting off a wall, thank God, face to face with the snarling biogen, startling white teeth, burning eyes, fingers like cenite knives, burying themselves in Valkyrie’s throat. The angel wireat last!snapped around the biogen’s neck. Valkyrie pulled with all her strength, pulling for her life, her head roaring, the biogen’s fingers a vice, crushing her throat, cutting off all air, they were face to face, chest to chest on the landing floor, squirming almost like lovers, the biogen slamming one knee, then another, into Valkyrie’s ribs. Again, again

the angel wire cut into the biogen’s throat, white blood oozing out, and Valkyrie kept pulling the wire tighter and tighter, the biogen staring wide eyed now, no longer kicking, her grip on Valkyrie’s throat as strong as ever, mouth open, white blood suddenly spurting out onto Valkyrie’s face, but everything was going black now for Valkyrie

***

Reality came flooding back dimly for Valkyrie. She was on her back on the landing, Millina kneeling over her.

“Get up, Legion. No more beauty sleep. Hold still. Don’t scream! We’re going to remove this knife.” Millina drew the blade out of Valkyrie’s calf in one smooth motion. Valkyrie was too charged to scream.

“Damn it! There’s more of them up there! Up we go! Just a frac. Got a scarf from one of those gens. Got to stop the bleeding.” She pulled tight and a hot burst of agony shot up Valkyrie’s left leg. “That’s itlet’s go!”

“The other biogen?” Valkyrie choked, hobbling down the stairs with one arm over Millina.

“Dead. Two more dead. It’s still one ahead of us.”

“Leave methe mission.”

“We’re a Legion trooper. We don’t leave our comrades.”

Valkyrie tried to gather her strength. There were more biogens rushing down the stairs, speaking into their comsets, perfectly calm. Millina would have plenty of opportunity to even the score.

***

“It’s his birthday!” I exclaimed. “What a break!” Scrapper and I stood in a cheering, disorganized crowd of Norport basers, overflowing the walkways onto the boulevard. A wide phalanx of white-clad boys flowed past under fluttering banners and flags, marching lock-step behind a noisy marching band that was banging out a hypnotic beat. We were on Level P1, the public heart of the base, where a magnificent wide boulevard ran right around the base, lined with restaurants and shops and theaters and infomods and dox houses and artificial trees. The whole town was decorated for the Supreme LeaderKCA. His image was everywhere, huge portraits hanging overhead, floating past us held aloft by the children. He looked stern and distantkind of like a god.

“Those are the Arcwhites.” Mindless, the boys marched past, children without hope, waving the flags of an evil God. Their innocent faces shone with faith. Stormdawn, I thought. He’s here, somewhere. He’s got to be here!

Somebody threw a bag of confetti over us. A speaker blasted out martial music. What ironyhis birthday.

“We missed it, Three,” Snow Leopard whispered in my ear. “But it’s a good opportunity. Lookthe mob is following the parade. You can get all the way to the other side of the base. Do it!”

The Arcangels were next. Hundreds of biogen girls, his personal guard, clad in white and gold, stamping their boots into the deck in unison, faces cold and blank and absolutely lovely, marching under his flag. They were fully prepared to die for him.

A cheering mob followed the biogens, flooding the boulevard, waving flags and banners, blowing little paper horns, tossing confetti, launching little paper starships through the air.

We joined the crowd, jostled almost off our feet. It looked like the whole town was there. With luck, we’d make it to the opposite side of the basejust where we wanted to gowithout even having to kill anybody. Closer. That much closer, to KCA. Can you feel me coming, KCA? I can almost taste your blood!

***

“PowerGen Thermo is all around us,” Sassy said. Psycho and Sassy were nestled between two huge pipes that ran along the inside of the gigantic cenite tube they had entered. It was dark, hot and sweaty inside the tube. The pipe on one side was ice cold, the other red hot. The tube was not big enough for them to stand up. It was quite confining. Sweat beaded Sassy’s forehead. Faint lights glowed behind and ahead of them. “Care for a brew?” she asked, producing two frosted containers from beneath the cold pipe.

“All the comforts of home,” Psycho said, popping the cap and sipping the icy liquid.

“It’s our home,” Sassy said. “This base has got hundreds of K of piping and wiring. Things are always going wrong. And then somebody’s got to go in and fix it. That’s usthe Pipe Rats. This PowerGen mess is especially bad. It’s hot as a star, and there’s tons of radioactive waste water shooting through these tubes. It’s bad news.”

“It just wanders in and out of here whenever it wants?”

“Pretty much. Of course we’re supposed to have a work order, but what do they know? We control the sensors down herenot them.”

“No kidding.”

“No kidding. So before we go on, how about it tells us who it is and why it wants to get into the power generator without going through Reception like a good boy.”

“Why has it brought us this far, Sassy?”

“Cause we know it’s not a redshirt. Although we haven’t quite figured out what it is. Plus

it’s a funny guy. We like comedians.”

“Like to try out for that angel part?”

“Told it we’ve got an appointment for the Miss Norport slot already, Psycho. We don’t know.”

“Come on. Give us some tongue.” She laughed as Psycho reached over and kissed her. She responded eagerly, her arms going around him. They kissed sloppily, hungrily, the drinks falling to the deck. Finally she pulled away, laughing, and wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

“Slow down, Psycho. This ain’t the place, although we’d like to see more later. We’re still waiting for it to answer us. Who is it? And what does it want?”

“How well does it know this area, Sassy?”

“It’s our second home, Psycho.”

“If we wanted to get in the vicinity of the PowerGen Thermo control room, could it do it?”

“The control room?” She laughed again. “It doesn’t want much, does it? Sure we can get it there. And then what happens?”

“But how does it get us out of the pipes and into the installation? It’s high security. Surely they have everything sealed off.”

“Yeahthey have. See, they send us down here to fix their nasty messes and sometimes we die, because of their security. We can get trapped down here, with no way out except into the installation. But that way’s blocked.”

“Yeah?”

“Wellit’s not blocked any more. We decided we weren’t going to die anymore for them. They treat us like crap. We’re disposable, see? We’re just subs.”

“So it can get through the security?”

“Yeah. They don’t know it, but we can get through anything we want. It’s our world, see? Pipe Rats rule. And screw the Uppers!”

“It’s quite a kid, Sassy. We’ve been looking for it a long time. Just how attached is it to this place?”

“Look around, Psycho. Hot and cold running power, meaningful work, high class companions, a bright futurewhat more could a girl ask?”

“Ever consider marriage?”

“To who?”

“A witty blond stranger with an infectious grin.”

“All rightwho is it? Cut the games.”

“We’re with the Legion.”

Sassy stared at him, stunned. Psycho gently grasped one wrist and drew his face close to hers. It was clear by her silence and the look on her face that she believed him. “We’re with the Legion,” he repeated quietly, “We’re all over this place nowand we’ve an important mission. We need its help, Sassy. And when it’s done, it comes with us, if it wants.”

Sassy just kept staring at him, almost in shock.

“So can it get us close to the control room?” Psycho asked.

“What is it going to do?” She whispered it, ashen faced and totally serious for the first time.

“It’s just a

kind of a diversion. We want to take control of the power station. Or raise hell trying to do so.”

“A diversion.”

“Yeah. To draw attention. See, if we threaten the reactors, all the security folks in town will show up, highly incensed.”

“It’s serious.”

“Dead serious.” Psycho smiled.

“And this is a

diversion. Threatening to blow up the base and kill everyone in itright? What’s the main event, for God’s sake?”

“Well

that’s the point. The main event insures we don’t have to do anything drastic with the reactors. But if we threaten the reactors, we keep the security forces busy, and our buddies can do their thing. If they succeed, we’re gone. And nothing happens with the reactors.”

“Is it saying this is a suicide mission?”

“Only if it has to be.”

“And what if its friends fail, in whatever they have to do? What then?”

“We do what we have to do, Sassy. We’re no hero. But if we have to die, we die.”

“It must be crazy to think we’d help it.”

“If it helps us, we can get in, do what has to be done, and get outalive. And nobody dies. If it doesn’t help us, a lot of people are gong to die. Including me. And maybe you.”

“Did it really mean it, asking us to come with itafterwards?”

“Never been more serious, Sassy. We’ve been looking for itall our life. We’ve got a good escape plan outta here. A friend of mine insisted on it. No reason one more couldn’t come along. It’d look good in black. And our kids

they’d be beautiful.”

“And if we say no?”

“We’ll zap it with a shockrod and kiss it goodnightthen try to get in on our own.”

“It’ll never make it.”

“Running out of time, Sassy. Never proposed marriage before. Probably a silly move. But we mean it. We mean it sincerely. What does it say?”

“Can we ask its real name first?”

“Psycho. Our real name is Psycho.”

“Psycho, we accept its proposal of marriage. It’s a first for me, too. Doesn’t it want to know our name?”

“No. Sassy will do for now. Can it get us near the control room?”

“We can get it inside the control room, honey. Via the toilets. Promise it’s not going to actually blow up the base? We’ve got some friends here.”

“It’s just a diversion, Sassy. Promise.”

“Mrs. Psycho. Hmm

that sounds

unusual. Well, we’re nutsbut here goes. Follow us.”

Psycho sighed with relief. Sassy’s ops plan sounded a lot more promising than Snow Leopard’s. Psycho wasn’t sure he was going to get out of this one alive. If the guys failed to terminate King Rat, Psycho was going to run the reactors right into critical, and nuke the base and everyone in it. Chances of escape were rather low. It would probably be best not to mention that to Sassy.

Chapter 27

Showtime

“Let me see that wound,” Millina said, loosening the crude bandage around Valkyrie’s calf. They were huddled in almost total darkness between two cold, oily cenite walls. The inner wall was a vertical circular tube, seemingly inaccessible. The outer wall encircled it, offering them temporary protection from their pursuers.

“Damn. It really hurts.” Valkyrie’s face was streaked with icy sweat.

“Pain is good for you,” Millina replied. “Sorry we have no mags.” She did not look much better. Her face was a cold green and her uniform was splattered with blood, both white and red.

“Use the ladders,” Snow Leopard whispered to them. “Start moving downwards!”

“Tenners. Just a frac.” Millina re-tied the bandage. “You’ll be fine, Legion. Just a scratch. Think you can get down a ladder?”

Valkyrie struggled to her feet. Her head spun. They were getting closer. They might even make it! They were inside the access tube that concealed and protected KCA’s escape tube. It was used by the techs and work crews who insured the one-man sub could blast its way up the tube and escape to the sea in instants, if necessary. KCA had it all figured out. But Millina and Valkyrie were about to give him one nasty surprise, should he choose to bolt.

Millina paused at an open panel on the grilled cenite floor plate. A ladder ran vertically down the outer tube. A faint light flickered below. Millina grasped the ladder.

“Let’s go, Legion. A few levels down, then it gets interesting.”

***

“Hold that wrench. Scut!” Millina spun another wrench around, loosening the last large bolt in the access panel in the wall. They were almost in! Valkyrie held her wrench down with the full weight of her body. They were sitting in a disorderly pile of greasy tools they had hauled out of a nearby tool locker. A faint light from the locker lit the scene. They did not think it wise to hit the working lights.

The bolt popped out and the wrench snapped out of Valkyrie’s hands as the heavy cenite panel crashed to the deck, narrowly missing her legs.

“We’re in, One! Deadman!” Valkyrie shouted in glee. Millina stuck her head into the darkened tube. A cold wet wind was blowing upwards, an icy spray soothing her hot face. A faint roar assailed her ears. The interior of the tube glistened with slick. Pipes and wires ran down the walls. Two great vertical nuke-assisted launch catapults were built into the walls of the tube. She spotted the cenite guide grooves where the minisub would shoot up the tube like a great bullet. And, far below, way down in Level X, Millina thought she could see the top of the sub itself, cocooned by the tubenice and comfy. The tube was not that widejust big enough for the sub.

A single personnel ladder was built into the inner wall. It looked slippery, fragile, and scary. It was a long drop.

“Showtime, Legion. Hope you’re not afraid of heights. Get those headlamps. Let’s go!”

“We’re going to make it.”

“Damned right we are!”

***

“Is he all right?” Priestess asked. Dragon and Priestess dragged the unconscious laborer into a dark, oily corner of the warehouse, behind a line of E-vans.

“I think so.” Dragon had dropped the Outworlder with one kick to the head. The warehouse was otherwise deserteddark and hushed, piled high with goods.

“Thank God,” Priestess replied. She hated killing Outworlders. Dragon cautiously opened the door of one of the E-vans.

“Onewe’re ready.”

“Tenners, Dragon, Priestess, proceed. Take your time.”

“How’re the others doing?”

“Fine so far. Don’t worry about them. Just get in that van.” Dragon took the controls and Priestess slipped in beside him. The engine came to life and the little craft lifted gently off the floor, floating on a thick cushion of air.

“This is where the games stop,” Dragon said, totally calm. He was dressed in a dark brown worker’s uniform.

“I’m ready,” Priestess replied. She was clad in civilian garb, a silky sleeveless blouse and loose black pants.

“Right up the middle,” Dragon said. “No more skulkin’ around!” He guided the van close to the warehouse door and a gate creaked up, revealing a wide corridor with aircar sensors in the center. Dragon turned onto the road and proceeded at slow speed.

Right up the middle! There weren’t many entrances to Level X, KCA’s personal office and residential complex. Level X was actually a great bell-shaped sealed dome with four levels. It was in the heart of the base, but protected by a wide airspace which could be flooded in an emergency. There were only a few entrances that bridged the airspace moatthe main gate, the supply gate, and several smaller entrances for service personnel. Loaded E-vans could deliver their cargo through the supply gate, penetrating right into X over the airspace bridgebut only with the correct ID. Dragon and Priestess did not have the correct ID. Their E-van would be stopped at the first guard post, and if their ID was checked there, they’d never make it to the second guard post, where a cenite grill barred further progress over the airspace bridge.

Dragon and Priestess headed for the supply gate. One had confirmed that KCA was home, and that was all the motivation Dragon and Priestess needed.

They glided serenely into a vehicular tube that circled higher and higher around the base. Traffic was sparse. A few workers plodded along a pedestrian walkway, blowing whistles and waving flags. They flashed past frozen images.

“That’s iton the left,” Snow Leopard said. They could see it, a wide, open driveway with a single horizontal metal pole blocking the road to prevent entry until the guards did the ID check. Four biogen girls, in silky whiteArcangels. Four! There should have been only two! Dragon gunned it.

“Death!” Dragon shouted, his face cold and hard.

“Death!” Priestess answered, her eyes gleaming, one hand on the door handle.

The E-van rocketed off the approach road and took the security pole off its mounting with a tremendous crack, the pole flying, the van shuddering and spinning around like a toy, all the way to the second guard post where a male Mocain in DefCorps khaki leaped aside and an Arcangel biogen dived for cover. The van struck the cenite grill over the inner gate with a bang and careened away, coming to rest at a crazy angle as the engine cut.

Dragon and Priestess popped out of opposite sides of the van, doors flying, the Mocain getting to his feet, Dragon launching himself like an arrow, an explosive flying right spear kick, catching the Mocain in the neck, dropping him instantly. Priestess was on the biogen girl by the inner gate, forward snap kick to the face just as the girl was getting up. The force of the kick snapped her whole body back, but Priestess knew she’d be up in an instant. The inner gate! They were so close! The levertwo more Arcangels leaped over the van shouting war cries, whirling shockrods like clubs, another two on the other side of the van going after Dragon. Priestess spun around and nailed Biogen 2 with a vicious roundhouse right kick to the head. She bounced off the other girl on her way down and Priestess attacked Biogen 3 with right and left crosses that connected on her face, and a forward left snap kick that caught her in the stomach. Now Biogen 1 was back, shrieking into her tacmod, whirling her shockrod. Biogens! They would have to terminate them quickly, or they’d never get the gate open. Priestess charged in under her guard, knocking the Arcangel off her feet, smashing the live shockrod to the deck, tearing at the angel wire in an attempt to get it around the biogen’s neck. Biogen 1 kicked her off like a wild horse throwing a rider. Priestess landed on her back and scrambled to her feet. Three Arcwhites now came at her. Dragon was suddenly there, landing like a great cat right in their path. A left, right, so fastone biogen crashed to the deck. A flying kick, flashing like lightning, blasting another biogen off her feet. A perfect left side snap, incredibly powerful, dropping the third biogen . Dragon was poised perfectly, in ready stance.

The Mocain, back, furious, red face, eyes bulging, shockrod crackling. Two more biogens, limping, charging. Priestess tackled the Mocain headfirst, leaping right at him, snapping a hard right punch to his groin, the shockrod blasting her to the ground with the falling Mocain, white hot agony ripping over her back, flesh burning, Priestess screaming, the Mocain screaming as they wrestled together in joint torment on the floor. Priestess spotted a shockrod lying nearby and snatched it, kicking away from the Mocain. She got a quick glimpse of Dragon still downing biogens, backfist to an Arcangel’s lovely face, a right cross to another, driving them both down, right snap kick to a third one, perfect form, connecting to the chest, lifting her right off her feet.

But there were more biogen girlsmore! Arcangels in white and security girls in redand males, Outworlders and Cyrillians, also in red, all armed with shockrods, swarming over and around the crippled van. Deto! Priestess exploded to her feet and charged, screaming, slashing with the shockrod, biogens crackling and falling, an Outworlder flashing with electricity, hair standing on end, semi roundhouse right kick to an Arcangel, right in the facebut they kept coming!

Dragon fought like a machine, totally mindless, technically perfect, roundhouse kick, Arcangel down; roundhouse kick, security biogen down; left drop snap to a leg, Arcangel down, broken leg; right side snap, Cyrillian down; roundhouse again, two biogens down; left right left right punches, Arcangel collapsing; head pull, knee to the face, Arcwhite down; semi roundhouse right, Arcangel down; left backfist, Mocain down; head pull, double knee strike to the ribs, security Cyrillian collapsing; right snap kick, biogen down; and then a shockrod scored, snapping all over Dragon’s body, dropping him, the wolves all over him now, Priestess still fighting, right cross to a biogen, left

a tremendous kick caught Priestess in the side, lifting her off her feet, forcing the breath from her lungs, going down, another blast of electric agony ripping over her skin like hot razors slicing her open and suddenly she was on the floor and a whole squad of biogens were striking at her with the shockrods and it was all fading to red.

***

“On your knees, subs!” The guards forced Dragon and Priestess onto the cold metal floor. A whole squad of Arcangels poked at them with shockrods humming on standby. Cenite cuffs were clamped tightly around their ankles and wrists, their arms cuffed behind them. This was a detention center, dark except for spotlights focused on them, dazzling their eyes. Dragon and Priestess were battered and bruised and burnt. Priestess had a bleeding lip. Her silky blouse was hanging in shreds, revealing her breasts.

“Attention! VIPs are here! Restrain prisoners!” An Arcangel grasped a handful of Dragon’s hair and touched his neck with the tip of a shockrod. The low buzz of the weapon, even on standby, sent an eerie prickle over Dragon’s skin. One touch of the trigger would send him crashing to the deck. Another Arcangel stood behind Priestess, doing the same.

The metal doors hissed open. A crowd of people, many of them children, bustled into the small room, all talking at once.

“Are these them? Lookby the Leader!”

“Filthy scum! What do you want, sub! What are you doing here?” A boy, a midschooler, clad in silky white. He sounded scared.

“Stand backlet us see! Aah

look!”

“What do they

“

“You! Who are you? Why did you attempt to break into the Supreme Leader’s residence! Are you insane?” An Arcwhite, barely out of puberty, speaking loudly to cover his fear, holding a shockrod before him like a talisman to ward off evil. Dragon was an awful sightterrifying, covered with sweat and blood, his eyes burning with hatred.

“Yes, he is insane, to think he could have succeeded. Answer the question, sub! And the slutwhat part did she play?” Another Arcwhite, a little older, pale arrogant face, wispy blond hair. Dragon did not answer.

The children, suddenly quiet, stood aside for two adult males who entered the cell without a word. A large bull Mocain, bald head, heavily muscled, earrings, SIS uniforma general’s star on one collar. The other was clad in white silk, no insignia, darkish skin, clean shaven, black curly hair, dark eyes. He could have been an Outworlder or, possibly, a light-skinned Cyrillian. A sleek Orman civilian followed close behind them. The Arcangels braced at attention.

The one in white silk came forward to look Dragon over without a word, his hands clasped casually behind his back, holding a shockrod. He observed Dragon closely, hooded eyes flickering faintly. Dragon glared back at him. There was a faint wisp of cologne. Dragon knew exactly who this man was.They must be inside Level X!

The man in white turned his attention to Priestess, staring at her like a snake about to ingest a bird. He seemed interested in her breasts, brushing the torn blouse aside with his shockrod to examine them. Then he turned back to Dragon.

“Take off his shirt,” he commanded. The Arcangels ripped Dragon’s shirt off, exposing his wiry, hard muscles and deeply tanned skin, scarred like leather with a bewildering assortment of old wounds, bruises and healed puncture marks.

“Let us see his hands.” The Arcangels forced Dragon’s head to the floor while wrenching his manacled hands around for the visitor to see. He nodded, apparently satisfied, and the biogens let Dragon’s head come up again.

“These are soldiers of the Legion, General,” the man in white said quietly. “Look carefully at the girl’s breasts. See those faint scars? That’s xmax. And the malehe’s been through a lot. Had death faces on his knuckles. They’ve been lasered off.”

“Soldiers of the Legion!” The Mocain general was stunned.

“But how did they get here?” The Orman spoke for the first time. He sounded genuinely shocked.

“Are we still having communication problems?” the man in white asked.

“Yes sir,” the general replied. “It’s getting worse!”

“And those VSand the Mocain femalestill loose?”

“Yes sir. We’re closing on them!”

“General. I am not impressed with this demonstration of the efficiency of my personal security forces. These two are professional killersand they almost made it into my personal quarters.”

“Sir! We’ll take down

“

“General. We are now under attack by a highly skilled and exceptionally formidable Legion raiding party. They are inside the base. I want a full scale red alert, now. Operational and strategic alerts as well. Seal all doors and hatches. No further movement. I’m going to flood the airspace to X levels, now, as soon as you’re out. Your mission is to track down the rest of these assassins and kill them. I want immediate reports of anything unusual.”

“Sir!” the general charged out the door. The man in white continued contemplating Dragon and Priestess. The Orman was silent. The Arcwhites and Arcangels were silent. The shockrods continued to buzz faintly.

“Remarkable,” the man in white said, touching his lips with one finger. “They must be getting desperate. To have come all this way

Recon. Yes, probably Recon. It must be me. They’re here to kill me.”

“But how did they get here?” the Orman repeated. The man in white glared at him.

“You’re the advisor. You tell me.”

“Shouldn’t we question them?”

“No. It’ll get nothing from these two. Nothing we don’t know already. Captain!”

“Sir!” One of the Arcangels snapped to attention.

“Flood the airlevels to X.”

“Sir!”

“And as for these two

bring the male to the contact arena. I want to watch him die. And the girl

bring her to the rec bed.” He moved over to Priestess and thrust his face within mils of hers. “We’re going to rape you thoroughly, subgirl, and then strangle you, when we’re finished. We’ll record it alland send it to the Director of ConFreeso he can see how we treat his emissaries.” He showed his teeth, a chill, evil leer. Priestess continued staring straight ahead, consumed with hatred.

***

Scrapper and I strolled up to the service entrance to X-levels, taking our time. A pair of Arcangels lounged at the outer gate. One took off at a fast trot, almost running, comset in hand, hot to go somewhere, shouting back at the other. What a break! A young Mocain male in DefCorps khaki left his post by the inner door and approached the remaining Arcangel by the outer gate. They were quite busy with their comsets, ignoring our approach.

“What’s happening?” the Mocain asked the Arcangel.

“An attempt to force access to X. Somebody crashed an E-van through the supply gate. Sounds like a big fightseveral intruders!”

“What? Well, what happened?”

“Intruders detained. No further info. Gee-girl is checking. The set is still acting up.”

Only two of them! We could see the inner door, a double airlock just a short distance away. No one else was around!

“Excuse us. We have a work order

” I began. The biogen held up one hand, cutting me off, straining to hear something on her comset. We must have looked pretty authentic, a couple of sweaty subs dressed in shoddy work clothes, me with the tool pouch over one shoulder, Scrapper with the battered comset.

“Try to get Admin if Security doesn’t work,” the Mocain said. “You’d think there’d be new orders.”

“We’ve already tried that!”

I nodded to Scrapperwe’d never get a better chance than this! We each had a shockrod. I lunged at the biogen, blasting her before she could react. Scrapper zapped the Mocain at the same instant. They collapsed, power surging over their skins. I knew we would have to kill the biogen. I whipped the angel wire around her neck before she could recover, and twisted. She came alive, snapping her limbs spastically. Scrapper zapped her again as I twisted the wire further. White blood popped out of her nose and mouth. Her eyes bulged horribly, an awful death rattle, the blood squirting out from her neck. One final shudderlife functions terminated. We wouldn’t have to worry about the Mocain. He was down and out, still smoking.

We pounced on the inner door. At that instant a piercing alarm shrieked, and a metallic voice boomed out at ear-shattering volume: “RED ALERT! RED ALERT! Full combat alert! Seal all doors and hatches! Seal all compartments! Seal all levels! This is no drill! Hostile intruders have penetrated the base! WarningLegion raiders have penetrated the base! Report all suspicious activity! Alert! The Legion raiders are in disguise and heavily armed!

” The sirens continued hooting. We could barely hear Snow Leopard, shouting in our ears.

“Get that door open, Thinker! Snap the lever!” We knew exactly how to do it. The airlocked double personnel doors slid open with a sigh and a cold wet blast of air rushed over us from insidea great roaring, drowning out the red alert siren. What the

there it was, the airspace! A gleaming cenite catwalk bridge stretched over a sheer drop to another cenite door on the other side, firmly closed. That was the final airlock door to X. Once past that door we’d be in KCA’s private domain. But an ocean was falling, a titanic waterfall crashing down from above, bursting off the bridge, thundering down with terrible force to a foaming, angry sea below.

“Damn! They’re flooding the airspace!” I shouted. KCA was a raving, psychotic lunatic, but he wasn’t a paranoid. If people really are trying to kill you, you’re not paranoid, no matter what measures you take, no matter how extreme they are. We knew exactly how this particular security measure worked. The airspace would be flooded, cutting off X level from the rest of the base.

Scrapper nodded and shouted something back. The roar from the torrent was so fierce I could not hear her. I went charging over the bridge and a falling ocean battered me down instantly, my face striking the cenite floorgrill. I struggled to my hands and kneesI had bounced right off the guardrail grill. Had it not been there, I’d have been swept off to my death in the watery chaos below. I crawled forward, gasping for air as tons of icy water crashed down all around me. My hand closed around the control lever to one side of the inner door. Scrapper appeared beside me, also crawling, the water battering at her. I pulled the lever. Nothing. Nothing!

“Use the combo, Thinker! It’s sealed from inside!” I could barely hear One, even though he was shouting right in my ears. I stole a quick glimpse upwards. The ocean was falling on us, rushing in from secret vents high above, in huge white foamy rivers, icy cold, smashing at the cenite bridge and us with incredible force. Would the bridge hold? Yes, yes, surely they would have tested it!

One, two, three, fourmy fingers shook and the pad was slipperywas that it? I yanked at the lever again. Nothing!

“It’s rising!” Scrapper screamed right in my ear, her tawny hair flattened against her scalp, gasping, water gushing around her face. I chanced a glance below. A boiling white ocean was rising up the air space. It would reach us soon. It was designed to deter intrudersand it was working just as advertised.

“Help me!” I shouted. Scrapper and I both strained at the lever. It should have opened easilybut it didn’t.

“Thinker!” One shouted again. “The red alert has cancelled all overrides! Our code doesn’t work!”

“What do we do!” I shouted. The ocean crashed onto my head, my back, battering me black and blue. Scrapper hung from the lever like a drowning rat.

“We’re trying to reverse it! Keep trying the code! Keep working on the lever!”

Scrapper gestured belowa wild, swirling ocean was rising. It would be upon us in moments! And One’s eyemotes were still screwing around!

“Keep trying!” I shouted, punching the code again, both of us yanking at the lever. Nothing! The lever smashed against solid cenite, again and again. It was firmly locked. And the ocean was here, rising, wild icy white foam swirling at our feet, rising to engulf the bridge. One two three four, pull! Nothing! One two three four, pull! Nothing!

“Keep trying, Thinker!” The water swirled around my waist, a freezing whirlpool, threatening to tear us away. We kept our grips on the lever. One two three four pull! Nothing! One two three four pull! Nothing! The water at my shoulders! Scrapper still at her post. One two three four pull! Nothing!

“Take a breath!” I screamed, filling my lungs. Scrapper did the same and the torrent whirled over and above us. The Legion had torture-tested us all underwater, building our lungs and endurance. I had hated itbut I knew my capabilities. So did Scrapper. I wasn’t afraid of drowning. The Legion had flooded our bloodstreams with nanoreds, artificial red blood cellsmillions of them. I had done the pool test repeatedly. Twenty marks, sitting at the bottom of the pool without breathing, my body surviving on the extra oxygen in my bloodstream. I had thought it was sillybut it no longer seemed silly.

The wild current tugged at us as I pressed the pad again underwater. One two three four, pull! Nothing! We kept doing it. It was getting so cold my limbs were going numb. We were not going to last much longer. But I was not going to stop tryingnot ever.

Chapter 28

Fresh Corpses

Dragon stood in the exact center of the circular contact arena on the mat, naked to the waist, his arms still cuffed behind him, his legs manacled, his feet bare. Dragon had spent half his life on the mat, so he knew exactly where he was. It wasn’t the type of place he was used to, however. This one was pretty upscale, practically brand new, rows of brightly colored seats ringing the arena, rising at a steep angle. The seats were rapidly filling as teams of contestants lined the edge of the mat, clad in loose-fitting team uniforms. There were a lot of childrenboys, dressed in team colors. There were plenty of biogens as well, all female, some of them warming up on the fringes. There was a steady murmur from the audience. Dragon was the center of attention. He was almost like a statue, a dark slab of hard wiry muscles, shirtless, battered and bruised but standing tall, his deep-set eyes glittering defiance. The arena was well-lit and there wasn’t much about Dragon that was not revealed by the lights. He was a formidable sight.

KCA came in to deafening applause, surrounded by a flurry of Arcangels and Arcwhites. He was still dressed in white. He took a seat in a box about half way up the bleachers.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” KCA said, evidently to everyone. His amplified words cut through the buzz of conversation, ending it instantly. “This is one of the Legion assassins who were sent here by the CrimCon to kill the people’s Supreme Leader. It failedand now it is to pay for its crimes. We’re told it’s a fighter. Samsejan, it’s told us the Arcwhites are contact qualified. We have a live target for them. Let’s just see how good its Arcwhites are. Guardsrelease his leg cuffs.”

The leg cuffs came off and the biogen guards faded away fast. Dragon tested the mat, stretching his legs. It was perfect. He snapped his right leg out and it cracked like a shot, then slapped back to the mat, as sudden and powerful as a bolt of lightning. He snapped his left out and another shot rang out. He balanced lightly on the balls of his feet, almost floating. His arms were still tied behind his back. It was dead silent in the arena.

The Systie contact master signalled a young fighter, who stepped forward. He was built like a tank, pumped up and ready to leap into action. KCA signalled from the stands.

“The youngest qualified first, Samsejan. Let’s work our way up.”

A child warrior came out, clenching his fists, bowing once to Dragon in an ancient contact ritual, then taking his stance. Dragon bowed back, and settled into a relaxed stance. The child appeared nervous. Finally he shouted and charged, trying for a left thrust kick. Dragon did a left snap kick that caught the boy in the thigh, lifted him into the air and dumped him onto the mat. Red-faced, the child scrambled to his feet and charged again, throwing a right-left straight punch combo. A jump kick to the throat put him on the mat again, stunned, down and out. Dragon had pulled his kicks. He did not want to hurt the boy.

Two kids came at him next from opposite sides, dancing around him, shouting, feinting. One of them tried a spear kick. Dragon countered with a very solid left side snap kick that dropped the child, screaming in agony. The second one went with a fast roundhouse kick. Dragon dodged it, and countered with a right spin kick that landed hard, knocking the boy almost off the mat.

Dragon stood in the center of the mat, motionless, as his opponents limped off. Fighting with his arms tied behind his back did not bother Dragon at all. On his home world, his contact club built their skill levels exactly that wayconducting tournaments with arms tied behind the back. No hands matches, they were called. Dragon had won the gold more than once in that particular skill set.

The Systie master signalled, and three more youths took to the mat. These were a bit older and certainly more experienced. They circled Dragon warily. He did not move. One of them leaped in, swinging a right crescent kick. Dragon leaped aside like a great cat and landed a solid left snap in his opponent’s ribs, putting him out of the fight, writhing on the mat. The second fighter tried a left thrust kick, but his foot went slicing past Dragon, who whirled and did a full roundhouse kick, connecting to the back of his opponent’s neck, decking him. The third boy leaped at Dragon with a flying snap kick to the chest but Dragon avoided it by mils and delivered a jumping left kick to the side of the head, knocking his enemy unconscious.

Dragon stood alone, not even sweating. He had been a bit worried about his balance during the roundhouse, without his arms, but it had worked fine. His opponents lay groaning on the mat.

The young tank came out alone. Finallysome serious opposition. The youth took a wide combat stance, twitching in anticipationjust a little too close. Dragon struck with a sudden overhead right hammer kick that whistled around like a great scythe, landing with a sickening thud on his opponent’s head, driving him to his knees. He looked at Dragon briefly, surprised, then collapsed face-first onto the mat.

KCA, visibly disappointed, signalled the contact master. A short-haired biogen girl came out, quite beautiful, wearing a white team uniform with scarlet trim. She exploded from the ready stance, launching a very good roundhouse kick that whistled past Dragon’s face. He caught her with a rising left snap that dumped her on the mat. She leaped to her feet instantly and ran into a front kick to the face. She fell to her back, teeth broken and white blood oozing from her lips. She leaped up again and went after Dragon with two left kicks that came close, a roundhouse right that glanced off his shoulder and a series of straight punches that caught him in the chest. Dragon kicked her in the belly with a rising right snap, and followed with a left spear kick to her face, breaking her nose and sending her down again. She sat there for a moment, stunned, then got up. Dragon knew she would not stop until she was dead, or he was.

Another biogen girl joined the fray, another beauty, anxious to score. Dragon took on the first one again, roundhouse kick, perfect, blasting her to the mat. The second one attacked with a side thrust, dodge, glancing off his shoulder. Dragon struck with a dropping left hammer thrust to the leg. The crack of the biogen’s bone snapping was clearly audible. Both were down, and Dragon stood alone.

Two more biogens slipped onto the mat, and the first two got up again, one struggling with her broken leg. All four attacked and Dragon acted on instinctright spear, score; left snap, duck; left snap, overhead right hammer, good; roundhouse left, good, score; biogen flying, right snap, snap, snapleft half roundhouse, right snap, left hammer. Four biogens struggled up from the mat.

Two more biogens appeared, reinforcements, six of them now coming at him. The crowd roared, kicks and thrusts and snaps and fists coming at Dragon from every side. He parried, ducked, counteredleft snap, right snap, half left roundhouse, hard biogen feet connecting to his back, his side. He went down but sprang up again, a rising left, connect hard, dropping right hammer, connect hard, biogen punching at his face, flying left kick, she’s down, right snap to that one. Somebody scored hard with a flying thrust kick and Dragon went down briefly, jumping up instantly, countering with a half roundhouse left, connecting, the biogen crashing face first to the mat.

Six of them rose up from the mat, coming at him again. Dragon was bleeding from the mouth. The audience was on its feet, ecstaticwild, thunderous applause.

The biogens were holding off. Dragon stole a glance at KCA. He was on his feet, one finger in the air, a sudden hush falling on the arena.

“Free his arms,” KCA said. A fierce cheer from the crowd, as Dragon’s cuffs fell away. He snapped his right arm free, crack! Then his left, crack! He settled into combat stance, balancing lightly on the balls of his feet, as graceful as an aircar. Every muscle gleamed in the light. He smiled. He was going to die free, on the matdoing what he liked best. The biogens approached, warily.

“We’re beginning to lose interest, Samsejan,” KCA said to the contact master, heading for the exit. “We’ll watch the recordings. We’d like a happy ending. Suggest you arrange it. Do it yourself if necessary. Otherwise we may replace you with this fellow. We can tell you we’re not impressed with your students.”

***

Underwater, the wild current tugged at Scrapper and me as I pressed the pad frantically. One two three four, pull! Nothing! We kept doing it. It was hard to fight the instinct to breathe, but the Legion had shown us how to do it. The roar of the falling water was now deafening.

One two three

Scrapper and I both had a death grip on that lever. Scrapper looked like she was already half dead. Deto! Four! One more pull.

The lever slid down easily to the open position. I thanked Deadman and all the Gods of Hell. I thanked Beta One. The hatch was still firmly closed, but all it needed now was one last pull on the lever.

One more notch on the lever and the hatch would snap open to the side into its slot in the cenite wall. I prayed, and gave it that last pull.

The door snapped open instantly and the force of the water rushing into the airlock sucked us both in like minnows. I slammed up against the far door and a burst of panic struck as the swirling water threatened to drown me like a rat caught in a whirlpool. It was icy cold and terrifying and almost impossible to hold my breath any longer. Suddenly I shot upwards and into the air, gasping, filling my lungs. Scrapper surfaced beside me, her face pale and strained. Air! The sudden surge of water into the airlock had compressed much of the air up into the ceiling of the chamber. We had hoped for it, but I had been afraid that the force of the water would have purged the chamber of air. Lucky for us, my fears were groundless.

“Deadman

now what?” Scrapper’s teeth chattered. If we stayed in this water much longer we would freeze to death. It was icy cold and very scary. There was barely room for our heads in the airspace.

“All right,” I said, breathing heavily. “Now

we close the exterior door

and

then

” my head was spinning. I’d have to slow down!

“Thinker? Scrapper! Can you hear me?” It was Onebarely audible!

“One! Yes! Speak! We’re in the airlock! Got air!” I was paralyzed with fear.

“Great! All right, close the exterior door but do not blow the water out of the airlock! When the exterior door is closed, you’ll be able to open the inner door. When you do, the water will shoot outand so will you! Without that diversion, you’ll never make it past the guards. Acknowledge!”

“That’s a ten, One.” I responded. “The human cannonball routine. Second time this week. All right, Scrapper, let’s go. Got your party hat?” She gave me a weary grimace, and took a deep breath.

***

The biogen girls stripped Priestess naked and spread-eagled her face down on a large bed with a pure white cover and a gleaming metal frame. Cenite cuffs snapped tightly over her wrists and ankles with cenite link chains were secured to four sturdy bedposts. When the biogens tightened the chains, it was like being on the rack. Her muscles burnt with pain and she had to stifle a scream. She was just barely touching the covers. It felt as if her arms and legs were about to be torn from their sockets, and her loins felt as if they were being split wide open.

“Comfy?” One of the Arcangels whispered in her ear. “Would it like something for the pain?”

Priestess shook her head, producing a fresh jolt of agony. Her eyes filled with tears from the pain and she was furious because she did not want them to think she was afraid.

“It’s quite beautiful, for a flesher,” the biogen continued. She seemed to be in a chatty mood. “Such a nice body! The Supreme Leader will enjoy it. Too bad it has to die. The SL doesn’t ever terminate biogens. It says we’re perfectand we are.” There were several other Arcangels standing around the bed, and they smiled in agreement. The bed was surrounded by a luxurious study full of airchairs and sofas.

“Oh, don’t cry. Is it too tight?” Priestess nodded, too angry to talk. Someone eased the chains a little and the pain eased off and Priestess’s breasts sank into the covers.

“We’ll loosen it some more when the SL comes. It likes a little resistance. Feel free to struggle. Excuse us now. We have to put this on.” The Arcangel slipped a silken gag over Priestess’s mouth and tightened it viciously at the back of Priestess’s neck. “The SL likes its boys to be quiet when it’s mating with themand that goes for girls as well. Best to relax now, it’ll be here shortly. And remember, it’s an honor to be chosen by the Supreme Leader.”

It was an honor Priestess would very much like to have avoided. Her mind was racing, but she could see no way out of this one. She was going to be raped and murdered in Norport by KCA, with a roomful of biogens calmly looking on. And there was nothing she could do about it. She didn’t want to dienot this way! She began to shudder, overcome with grief and rage. One of the biogens laughed.

***

“These things are not bad,” Psycho said, sucking on one of Sassy’s black candy sticks. He leaned forward in a padded airchair, facing a wide, very complex control panel that merged into a whole wall of dscreens and display readouts.

“They grow on ya,” Sassy replied, her own candy stick jutting from her mouth like a cigarette. A moan from the floor interrupted them.

“Take care of that, Sassy.” Psycho handed her the shockrod. She reached down to the hogtied tech and zapped him again. There were six of them, males and females, Ormans and Outworlders, stretched out on the deck, securely tied, just beginning to recover from the shockrods.

“We must be crazy,” Sassy said. “We’re so scared we’re almost paralyzed

but it feels good, so damned good, seeing those smug Uppers tied up like pigs. It made it look so easy!”

“Sure there’s no other way in?”

“Nobody’s getting in those vault doors. And only us pipe rats know the other way.” Psycho had padded silently right into the control room from the toilets, zapped every tech, and sealed the doors. The formidable force of security goons were all on the other side of the vault. They were falling out of orbit, but they weren’t getting in.

“All right, Psycho,” Snow Leopard said in his ear, “you’ve been more successful than I had dared dream. Make the announcement.”

“Can,” Psycho replied, and triggered the emergency public address system. “Good morning, Systies! This is the Legion. We’re a suicide force. We now control your Nuke Power Generator. All we want is the Supreme RatKenton Cotter-Arc. Turn this murderous psychopath over to us immediately and free our comrades, and we’ll leave peacefully. KCA, surrender now and give your people a break. Otherwise, we’re going to put this reactor into stardrive and nuke your base, killing you and everyone else. You’ve got about ten marks to decide. We don’t want to kill anyone. But we will, if we don’t get KCA. He’s all we want, alive or dead. Ten marks, folks! We are fully prepared to die! Are you?” Five snapped the PA key to the off position.

“Is it really going to do it?” Sassy asked, pale and subdued.

“Nah! Relaxthat’s all nonsense. I hope.”

“It hopes!”

“Well, it’s a last resort. I don’t think we’ll have to actually do it. Mmmthese are yummy!”

“Don’t do it! We can’t have it killing all those people!”

“The only reason to do it would be to kill King Rat. If my buddies get him, we’re gone. You and me.”

“We like it when it talks sub.”

“You and me! You and me!”

“Ooh! Sounds bad!”

“That’s me. One bad sub. Can’t wait to get you alone.”

“Looks like they’re getting set to blast the vault door,” Sassy said, pointing to a dscreen.

“Back off from the vault,” Five barked into the speaker, “or we blow the lid right now!” He reached over to the master power levers and began sliding them down towards the red. He had already deactivated the auto safeties. The emergency claxon came to life, blasting a tooth-rattling warning. Sassy held her ears, grimacing.

“What a day, huh, Sassy? No matter what happens, these folks are going to remember us. Pipe Rats rule!”

“Screw the Uppers!” the candy stick danced in her mouth.

“Aw right!” Psycho had his firmly clenched between his teeth.

***

“Delightful,” KCA said, standing behind Priestess not far from the bed. He had entered the room with a large crowd of Arcwhites and Arcangels and Systie hangers-on, Mocains and Ormans. Priestess could not see behind her, but she could catch glimpses of a few boys in white gaping at her. She was hot with rage at her hopeless situation. She could not even move the chains. “Are the cameras on? Are the holos active?”

“Yes sir,” a biogen answered. “All functioning.”

“Good. Then this is our message to the CrimCon. Iceman, we have received your assassins. This is how we will deal with themevery one. We hope you will enjoy its suffering. Why don’t you come here yourself, Iceman, instead of sending a girl to do your dirty work? We’ll welcome you, and we’ll treat you the same way.” He laughed and stripped off his shirt, letting it drop to the carpet, moving up to the edge of the bed between Priestess’s outstretched legs.

“Priestess.” Snow Leopard’s voice was right in her ears, a fierce whisper. “We’re coming for you. Don’t despair. We’re coming.” Priestess gasped in surprise. She was not forgotten!

“Mylook at that! Tempting!” KCA ran his hands gently over Priestess’s legs, and it was like the touch of a snake.

He was going to rape her with all those people watching, biogens and children alike. Priestess wanted to curse him and his descendants, consigning them to burn in Hell for all time, but the gag prevented her from uttering a sound.

“Sir

excuse us.”

“We wanted no interruptions, Commander. Does no one listen to us any more?”

“It’s very urgent, sir.” A new alarm claxon was bleating in the distance, as if to underscore his words.

“Very well. Speak.”

Priestess could not hear the response, a low whisper. But she heard KCA’s reaction.

“What! You’re joking! Another penetration! Through the flooded airspace! Impossible! Are you all totally

are we flooding?”

“No sir, it was only the contents of the airlock door, it’s all sealed now. But two intruders got through in the confusion. We’re

“

“You’re relieved! Captain, put this one in the brig. Locate and kill the intruders! We

“

“Sir. Excuse us. There’s more. A Legion squad has seized control of the nuclear power generator, not five marks ago. They’re threatening to nuke the base.”

“Seized control of the

” KCA was sputtering, apoplectic in rage.

“Sir, we recommend it evacuate the base immediately for its own protection. We are preparing to assault the power center with its permission, but cannot guarantee the Legion will not succeed

” KCA raised a shockrod and blasted the Mocain commander. He collapsed heavily to the carpet.

“Captain, it is now in charge of our personal security. It will locate and terminate those two intruders at once. Instruct our forces to attack the power generators immediately. We want

“

“Sir, we recommend it evacuate the base immediately via the minisub,” an Orman advisor squeaked excitedly.

“Captain, that damned Mocain female is still loose. I want energy spheres, set for Mocain freaks. Set them loose inside X as soon as they’re programmed. Mocain freaks, we repeat.”

“But sir, that will target every Mocain in Xnot just the hostile!”

“Do it! If my security forces were more reliable, such actions would not be necessary.”

“Sir, the minisub!”

“All right. All right. Our security forces have failed us. We’ll be back, Captainand it had better have some fresh corpses for us. As for this one, slit her throatand record it! We’re

” A rising commotion, just outside the doors. Screams, shouts, the popping of shockrods. Two Arcwhites come crashing through the open doorway to the carpet, shockrods flying. An Arcangel biogen was next, staggering back, swinging a shockrod.

“The Leader

“

That’s when Scrapper and I came charging through the doorway, soaking wet and mad as hell, whirling our shockrods like swords at the end of their wrist thongs, so fast they were buzzing, so fast they were blazing white-hot blursand everyone we hit went down crackling with electricity. We had learned the technique during the pursuit after our breakthrough into Level X. On the job training. I can’t recommend it.

We cut our way into that room, and Arcwhite children and Arcangel biogens threw themselves at us wildly, swinging their own shockrods. They were no match for us. We were screaming, suicidal banshees, not pausing for an instant, sparks flying off our shockrods, two burning circles of power. We knew one slight touch from an enemy shockrod would put us down instantly. It was quite a motivator.

KCA was a fool. One vac gun would have stopped us. But he didn’t have one vac gun. Starfleet had plenty of firepower to defend the planet but KCA didn’t even trust his own security guards, downside.

“Thinker!” Scrapper was hammering the last of the Arcangels, who were inexplicably retreating out another door, leaving a room full of wounded children. I was about to pursue them when I saw Priestess strapped to the bed.

“Priestess!” What the hell! I spotted a control pad on one of the bedposts and hit it and the cuffs snapped loose and I gathered Priestess into my arms and ripped the gag off. She gasped, exhausted, drained, taking great gulps of air.

“Thinker!” Scrapper tossed me a spare shockrod from the carpet. I forced it onto Priestess’s hands and helped her to stand. An older Arcwhite boy straightened up from the floor. Priestess kicked him right in the face without a word, and began stripping the silky white clothing from his unconscious form.

“Right size,” she said. “That was KCA.”

“What?”

“You just chased KCA out of the room. The bastard is dressed in white pantsno shirt. Let’s go!” She pulled on a shirt over Arcwhite pants.

“KCA!” I shouted to Scrapper. “White pants, no shirt! Follow the biogens!”

Chapter 29

False God

“Take the stairs, Thinker. He’s on the next level. Hurry!” Snow Leopard said urgently.

A wild mob of Arcwhites and Outworlders and Ormans and Cyrillians and Mocains and even a few Arcangels rushed past us in a panic, ignoring us, shouting to each other.

“The reactor is critical! Got to evac!”

“There’s no escape! Blow the water out from X, or we all die!”

“The Leader. Where is the Leader?”

“We can’t authorize

“

“Hello, hello

answer, please!” An Arcangel, on a comset. Even biogens don’t want to die.

A wide, padded staircase. Scrapper and Priestess and I went charging up as several Arcangels came tumbling down, shockrods flying. Dragon was poised at the top of the stairs, shirtless, bleeding from several knife wounds, head up, perfect combat stance, almost floating on the balls of his bare feet. A white blur came at him, he connected with a thrust kick, and the figure disappeared. Dragon dropped back onto that perfect ready stance. He was weaponless. Weaponless! The man was nothing but a weapon!

“Come on up, gang,” he said calmly. “Always room for a few more. Watch out for the kids. They’ve all got knives.”

It was a vast circular office, the walls covered with dscreens and holo starmaps, the room full of conference and commo desks and holo tables. They were all active, but nobody was looking at them. The place was full of white-clad Arcwhites, fanatic and wildly excited children and youths waving knives and shockrods, and icy-eyed Arcangels, lovely doomed biogen girls, also in white, the Supreme Leader’s guard force, focused totally on his defense. A massive cenite column occupied the center of the hallthe escape tube! A shirtless man with dark hair and darkish skin was bent over what appeared to be a personnel hatch, set into the tube. It was fully closed.

“That’s him,” Priestess said. KCA! He uncoiled like a snake, rising to face us, a shockrod dangling from one hand. For a moment all was quiet except for the buzzing of shockrods, and the muffled bleating of the red alert claxons, as we faced that formidable gang of Arcangels and Arcwhites, pausing, on the brink.

“Recon,” KCA said calmly. “Welcome. Congratulationson making it this far. But this is as far as you go. You die here. Hope you have no objections to killing children on your way out. Arcwhites! Arcangels! These are the assassins who have come to kill the Supreme Leader. Now it is time to prove your love. Kill them! Kill them all!”

They came at us in unison, singing some mad song, swinging shockrods and waving knives. I charged the mob, swinging my shockrod in a great circle, downing Arcangels and Arcwhites alike, focused on KCA like an imprinted, mad dog biogen. An irresistible stampede of children suddenly trampled me to the carpet, my shockrod torn away, feet and fists pounding at me, a wild tangle of bodies piling on, knives slashing. I snatched the knife from my belt and cut my way out. One child screamed, blood pouring from his chest, another pale in shock, grasping a bloody arm. I stood there for a moment panting, encircled by Arcwhites. My arms were bleeding, my chest was burning. I stripped off my sodden shirt and wrapped it around my left arm. I had a bad cut on my chest. KCA was still by the escape tube, but he stared at me, almost in fascination.

“You’re Beta Three,” he said. “I’ve seen your holos. Beta Three! I’ll be damned.” He tossed aside his shockrod and pulled out a hotknife and triggered it. It burnt like lava, lighting up his face. He came at me, the hotknife extended. “Kill the others!” he shouted. “I’ll take this one.”

Dragon and Priestess and Scrapper formed a fighting circle off to one side and the Arcwhites and Arcangels attacked like a pack of ravenous bloodcats. The bodies were piling up but I could only see KCA, coming at me, bent on murder.

It was instantly obvious that he was a hotknife ace. He glided up to me behind the extended, glowing knife, probing gently, slicing back and forth effortlessly, his free hand held loosely behind his back. The Arcwhites circled around us excitedly but stayed out of our way. My own blade was the dark, utilitarian combat knife I had picked up off the floor of KCA’s bedroom. It was a DefCorps knifecold but indestructible. I dropped into knife stance and countered two of KCA’s thrusts, deflecting his hot knife upwards. The contact heated up my blade. He slashed twice, a double slice past my belly. I could feel the heat. He thrust and I dropped, jabbing upwards, my blade sinking into his forearm. He gasped and jerked backwards, slashing wildly. He bled badly from his knife arm, giving me a blast of hatred from cold reptilian eyes. I attacked, slashing a wild butterfly pattern as he backed up. My knife glanced off his, showering us with sparks.

“Arcwhitesattack!” They came at me with knives, shouting with joy, slashing recklessly. No shockrods. My only worry was bleeding to death. Children! I slashed horizontally. Two of them went down screaming, spraying blood. An older youth, hot eyes, thrusting. I slashed down and cut back, opening up his chest. A younger child, shouting, hurled his whole body at me, the knife clenched in a two handed grip. I gave him a backhand punch to the face and opened up his arm with the blade. Hot blood spurted all over me. Children! Our own children! KCA’s face bobbed hazily in the background. I cut my way through the children viciously, consumed by hatred, aching to plunge my blade right into his heart. Nothing mattered except his death.

Stormdawn slashed at my face, his lovely features transformed into a frightening, unreal mask. Stormdawn! He shouted, leaping at me, cutting at me again with the knife. He was dressed in white silk and his eyes were totally blank.

“Ever faithful,

Ever free.

Immortal leader,

We die for thee!”

Chanting his death song, my darling boy came at me, swinging the knife like a hammer. I staggered backwards, stunned. I crashed into a desk and vaulted over it backwards. Stormdawn came after me, wanting nothing in the world but my death. He was so lovely I wanted to burst into tears. His hairmy hair!was clean and silky. His eyeshis mother’s eyes!were a hazy brown. His lovely little face was as perfect and flawless as a biogen’s. He was growing tall and stronga prince! I could see his mother in himand me!

I dropped my knife. He leaped at me, triumphant. The other Arcwhites surrounded us, anxious to witness my death.

“Stormdawn!” He swung the knife right at my face. I countered with a left block but I misjudged and he sliced my arm. He thrust to my belly. I seized his arm and tore the knife from his hand and tossed it away.

“Stormdawn!” I had him by both wrists. I pulled him closeface to face. “Stormdawn! It’s your father! I am your father!” I saw only hatred looking back. My boy was a stranger. He kicked me in the groin. I fell to my knees in agony but retained the grip on his wristsa death grip. He’s not getting away from menot ever! KCA was forgotten. Now there was only Stormdawn. My son!

“Let me go! Murderer! Assassin! You dare challenge the Gods! Die! Die!” He kicked at me. He was crying in frustration at his helplessness, cryingfor KCA!

“Storm! It’s your father! Moontouch and I want you to come home! Come home, Storm! Come home! We miss you!” I was crying myself now, forcing his face close to mine. I wanted to breathe in every last detail, I never wanted to forget it and if it was to be my death I would go out with Stormdawn’s lovely image imprinted on my mind. The rest of the Arcwhites watched, fascinated.

“Come here, Stormdawn.” I released his wrists and took his head in my hands and pulled him to me, my vision blurred with tears. He pushed away weakly and looked into my eyes, blinking.

“Daddy!” he gasped, and embraced me fiercely. I could only hold on, exhausted, bleeding, triumphant. And then Stormdawn pulled away again, and looked around at the rest of the Arcwhites.

“I’m going home!” he announced boldly. They stared at him in silence, stupefied. Stormdawn looked over to KCA, who was hauling the escape hatch open.

“False God!” Stormdawn hissed it in horror, but I swear everyone in the room heard it.

The hatch swung open and Millina popped out snarling and her fingers went around KCA’s throat and he crashed to the carpet with Millina on him like a parasitic biogen psychotic, her bony fingers digging into his neck, her evil green face hot with rage, teeth showing. She was a terrifying sight, now straddling KCA triumphantly, strangling him to death. He was gurgling horribly, his arms fluttering helplessly. Everyone in the room was frozen in place, watching in horror, with Stormdawn’s words still hanging in the air‘False God!’ Dragon and Priestess and Scrapper stood in a ragged circle of biogens and children, but most of them were on the carpet, out of commission.

Then an eerie buzzing sound raised the hairs on the back of my neck and it came shooting into the room like a meteor, straight as an arrow to Millina. Sphere! I thought in horror, but it was too late. Impact! It flashed over Millina, burning from outside, transforming her in instants to a smoking, blackened corpse. Millina! I snatched a knife from the floor and charged KCA blindly, leaping over furniture. KCA moved in slow motion, brushing Millina’s corpse away, getting up. Valkyrie leaped from the hatch, a roundhouse kick to the head, perfect, KCA was down again, stunned. Valkyrie stood over him, drawing back a shockrod, ready for a tremendous blow. A knife hilt suddenly appeared just below Valkyrie’s right shoulder. KCA had nailed her with a cold knife. Valkyrie dropped the shockrod, collapsing, and KCA scrambled to his feet. Dragon and I arrived at the same instant, colliding. We went down in a tangle of limbs. Arcwhites leaped into the fray as well, their intentions unclear. I exploded to my feet. KCA was disappearing into the dark, forcing the hatch closedbut he had someone with him, dragging him in, an arm around his throatStormdawn!

“Daddy!” One last scream, and the hatch clanged shut. I screamed, leaping at it, battering at the cenite with my fists. Dragon pulled me off, shouting.

“One, Dragon! KCA is escaping in the minisub! Track him! We’re evacing!”

“He’s got my boy, One!” I shouted. “Track him! You track him! Don’t lose him!” Priestess and Scrapper were helping Valkyrie, gently easing the knife out.

“Who wants to go home?” Dragon asked. A whole room full of Arcwhite boys slowly began raising their hands.

Chapter 30

Death my Destination

“Surfacing!” Dragon announced.

We were at the controls of a large commuter sub packed full of Arcwhites, Arcangels and lots of others, fleeing the imminent destruction of Norport Station. The sea was full of subs, all heading away from the station as quickly as possible. The defensive sub force did not know what to target.

We burst through the surface like a breaching dragonshark in a large phosphorous wave. The cloudy night sky blazed with glittering tracers. A whole day had flashed past during our nightmare visit to Norport. Skystars and chainlink skysweep x floated eerily across the dark in beautiful patterns. Opstars and tacstars erupted, flashing night to day in frozen blue electric instants. Vibrations thundered into the skin of the sub. The party was on. The Wraith’s small force of fighters was distracting the station’s defenders while we got away.

“One, put us right on it!” I demanded.

“You’re heading right for it!” KCA had beached his minisub in the swamp not far from BioSite 2. Kiss and Little Miss Miss darted back and forth over the swamp, hunting.

“That’s it! See it?” Dragon said, pointing out the front port to a ragged shoreline of mud and saltweed and swamp trees covered with strangle vines. It was raining. Therea minisub, run up onto the mud.

“Kill him, Thinker!” Valkyrie gasped, holding a bloody cloth against her shoulder. Scrapper was right beside her.

“Put us right alongside. Just ram the shore.”

A faint bump, and the sub slid to a halt. I was at the crew door in moments, hauling it open. A warm nightthe stink of the swamp, a light rain and a faint buzz. One of the Phantoms passed overhead. I leaped down to the surface, landing with a splash in dark, waist-deep muck. I struggled towards the shore and the minisub, a sinister dark outline. Dragon was behind me.

The sub loomed over me. I vaulted up to the wet cenite deck. Rain peppered my face. The main hatch was fully open, revealing the interiorempty! I turned away. Dragon looked up from below. Priestess came splashing up beside him, still wearing the Arcwhite outfit, splattered with blood.

“The swamp,” I said. “He’ll be signalling for pickup. One

“

“He’s not going to get picked up, Thinker,” Snow Leopard responded instantly. “Kiss and Miss will see to it. Recon has seized control of BioSite 2.”

A titanic blast shook the earth, lighting up the clouds for a split-frac, freezing every raindrop. A rolling fireball gained height just beyond BioSite 2.

“That’s the tacsite.”

“Has the reactor gone up yet?”

“Not yet.”

I leaped down into the mud. I had no shirt but I still had that DefCorps cold knife. What the hell else did I need? I sloshed into the swampwild spooky black trees full of hanging moss and stranglers, ragged fields of chest-high swamp weeds, sucking mud and silty water.

“Let’s spread out!” Scrapper shouted.

“All rightdo it!”

“Thinker, Claws has spotted the bastard.” One said, in my ear. “See the flares.” Brilliant electric-blue flares glittered to sudden life, floating serenely over the swamp. I headed towards them like a well-trained attack dog.

“How many targets, One?” I asked.

“Only one target.” My heart froze. I knew he didn’t need Stormdawn any more. He must have known he was doomed at that point. Stormdawn was only to stop us from blasting his minisub.

One target! I guess I was already assuming, at that point, that Stormdawn was dead. I tried not to think about it.

“Beta, Recon, One. DefCorps Starfleet is dropping fighters into the at. We’re running out of time. Our Fighter Force is disengaging and returning to the Wraith. Kiss and Miss will stay on target.”

“I’m not leaving until KCA is dead!”

“We’ll support you, Three. Go!”

***

I found Stormdawn in KCA’s wake, sprawled in a clump of saltweeds, almost submerged in the muck, discarded like a used dispo. His lovely face was cold and pale and still, his hair was matted with mud, and his white uniform was scarlet with blood. The rain pelted us fiercely and his blood was still flowing. I went to my knees and embraced him, stunned. His eyeshalf closed, half open. Dead, cold eyes. His mother’s eyesdead! My heart was burning. I pulled at his blouse with trembling hands. His chest was a bloody mass of bubbling gore. Stabbed in the chest, stabbed in the heart, sliced open by a hotknife. Dead! I couldn’t see clearly because of the tears. All I could do was hold him in my arms and cry like a baby.

“Thinker! Let us

Thinker!” Scrapper and Dragon were suddenly there, examining Stormdawn, pulling him from my grasp.

“Redhawkland on our zero! We need a medpak. Now!”

“Thinker, KCA is right up ahead. See the lasers.” Hot, glittering tracks sizzled down from the dark sky like golden rain, slicing the night.

I got up slowly. Stormdawn’s cold hand slipped from mine. Dragon and Scrapper ripped his shirt off. My boy was dead. The laser was shredding the swampdrawing me in like some kind of hypnotic, demonic vision. It was the hand of God, I thought, pointing the wayto KCA. I sloshed my way toward it, knife in hand, weeds and vines and cold dead branches cutting at my chest. I didn’t even feel them. KCA. My nemesis. My fate. I could hear Little Miss Miss hissing overhead, the angel of death.

I found him sloshing through a wide pool of saltweed, his gaunt figure flickering in the flares. He was exhausted, forcing himself on, sweat streaming off his shirtless frame, a hollow face, a crude bandage wrapped around his forearm. I staggered forward, raising my cold knife. He spotted me, turned. He raised the hot knife. It came to life, burning blue, casting his face an unearthly hue. He was breathing through his mouth. He faced me. He knew there was no escape now, for either of us. A light rain glittered like snow in the cold light of the flares. Xmax and tacstars filled the skies, but it was all fading away, for me. Everything outside of KCA was just blacking out, just disappearing from viewas if it were not even there. I could only see KCA, just as if I was staring down a gun barrel at him. My whole being was focused on himKCA and only KCA. He was imprinted on my brain with acid. A burning rage rushed through my veins. I’m a mad dog, and I’m going to tear out his throat and rip him to shreds. I’m going to drink his blood!

We circled each other in the muck, warily. My blade was out there, pointed right at him. His hotknife spat in the rain. I was just as tired as he was but it didn’t matter. I am indestructible, I thought. I am a mindless Legion biogen, programmed to kill. And I don’t care if I live or die.

He thrust, slashed, right, left. He didn’t come close. It was hard moving in the water. I charged him, clumsily, butterfly slashes, thrust, thrust, back cutnothing. He lurched backwards out of reach. But I had him with my eyes. He stared back. I know he saw death looking out at him. Deathwhat the hell am I afraid of? Death is my destination. I charged him again, going right in. The hot knife sank deep into my left forearm and I snapped it away, my coldknife slicing KCA’s right shoulder open as he staggered back. I fell into the water. I surfaced, snarling. My left arm spouted blood but I didn’t even feel it. I scrambled after KCA. He fell backwards over a tree root, going under for an instant, then surfaced, the hotknife still glowing, blood pouring down his chest from the shoulder wound. I attacked, going right in again. I could see the fear in his eyes as he suddenly realized that my only objective was to kill him, and that I did not care whether or not I survived the attempt. His hot knife sliced into my ribs as I slashed at his throat with my blade. We went down, tangled together under water.

I surfaced, slicing my blade wildly. Where the hell was he? A branch hit me in the head. We had moved into a forest of swamp trees.

“Thinker! Are you tenners?” Priestess was by my side, pulling me up. I had somehow slipped under the water again.

“You’re bleeding, Thinker!”

“He’s right there, Priestess. Where is he?”

“Let me

“

“Let go!” I tore away from her, enraged, splashing blindly into the dark. Where is the bastard? Is he going to get away?

“Thinker

to your right!” It was Dragon, somewhere behind me. And a sudden flare found KCA for me, lurching along holding on to a large tree root. He turned wearily as he spotted me again. He raised the hotknife. His face was pale and covered with icy sweat. His naked chest streamed with blood. I guess I looked the same. He faced me, exhausted, the blade out. I sloshed up to him with the last of my strength, and raised my own blade. My left arm was useless and I was losing a lot of blood from the arm and from the wound in my ribs. I was dizzylightheaded. But KCA was still there, imprinted on my retina, on my brain. KCA, and nothing else.

I went right at him again. I flung my left arm up with all my strength and thrust my knife forward with my right. His hot knife sliced into my left upper arm and went burning all the way through into my armpit and chest, penetrating to a point not far from my heart. My blade sank hilt-deep into his chest. We stood there for a moment, face to face, chest to bloody chest, glaring into each others eyes. Then we fell apart. I toppled backwards into the muck, leaving my knife in his chestright where it belonged.

But the fight did not end there. I fought on for hours in a hot haze, gasping for air, bleeding from fatal wounds. Everything was swirling around me like a cyclone, so he was hard to spot, but every once in awhile I’d see his eyes, rivetted on mine, and then his face, a ghastly blue from the hot knife. I would continue my attack, refusing to die, and he would hit me with the hot knife, again and again, and I would bury my blade in his chest, again, again, again

People kept interrupting me, trying to get me to calm down, to rest, to lie down. Fools! Who were they? Didn’t they know what was at stake here? It was KCA! And he was right there, right at the point of my blade!

“He’s dead, Three. He’s dead. Please!” They’d say things like that, too, but I wasn’t going to listen to that kind of talk. Not until I’d killed him myself!

“How is he?” Hot, red dreams, the world swirling around me. Gritty, awful pain, scalding my skin.

“He’ll pull through. The tip of the blade actually penetrated his heartburnt a little hole, but hit nothing vital.”

Got him in the heart. Nothing vital, for a soldier of the Legion. We had cenite hearts, didn’t we? They’d beat for a thousand yearsafter the original inhabitant was long forgotten.

“Thinker. Thinker! Talk to me, Thinker!” I strained to make out who it waswhere the hell was KCA? Someone came into view, floating hazily before mea girl, lovely pale face, dark hairPriestess!

“Move aside, Priestess!”

“Thinker! It’s all right! He’s dead. Thinkeryou killed him. It’s over!”

I stared at her, not quite grasping it. Her eyes were red and swollen.

“KCA is dead, Thinker. We’re on the Wraith. It’s over!”

“Westo! We’ve been praying for you! You’re going to be all right!” It was Millie, beaming at me, evidently overjoyed about something. Her eyes were red, toofunny. I was in an airbed, in the Body Shop. How had that happened?

“He’s conscious!”

“Thinker! You got the bastard!” Dragon leaned over me, glowing with a savage joy. “I cut off his head. I saved it for you! The whole galaxy is going to see it!”

I tried to nod, but the effort made me dizzy. I should have been happy, but I wasn’t. I was crashing into the depths of despair. Why hadn’t he killed me? It would have been so much easier for me. My eyes filled with tears. I grabbed a handful of Priestess’s blouse and pulled her ear down to my lips. It was hard to talk.

“Priestess,” I croaked. “I want you to take good care of Stormdawn’s body. When we get to Andrion

he’s going to have the funeral

of a prince.” It was so hard to say I almost couldn’t. I was blinded by the tears.

“Thinker,” Priestess replied, “Stormdawn is going to be fine. His wounds were not fatal!”

“Don’t you lie to me about that, PriestessI can’t stand it!”

“She’s telling the truth, Westo!” Millie interrupted, “Your son is alive! He’s right here in the Body Shop! The hotknife missed his heart. It was a bad wound, but MedUnit 901 fixed him up fine. I helped the surgeon myself!”

And it was just as if a glorious sun was rising, right in that room, a brilliant golden sun, blinding us all in its holy, life-giving rays. I felt that God himself was right there. I could only reach out for Priestess and Millie, and hold their hands, in silent rapture and grace. And now the tears were for joy. From that day on, I was a believer.

***

“We never did have to nuke the place,” Psycho said. “When One reported King Rat was fleeing the scene, there was no longer any need. We just popped back into the toilets and flushed ourselves away. Uhh

in a manner of speaking. And there was such a rush to grab a sub out, nobody paid any attention to me.” Psycho flashed a huge grin and flung an arm around Sassy. Millie had set our airbeds side by side in the Body Shop, Valkyrie and Stormdawn and I, slowly recovering from some rather nasty wounds. I held Storm’s hand much of the timejust for reassurance. His lovely smile was the best medicine for me.

“Psycho was more successful than I had dared dream,” Snow Leopard said. “The assault on the power generator was planned as a distractionessentially a suicide mission. I sure never thought he’d get inside.”

“You can thank Sassy for that,” Psycho said. Sassy smiled. She seemed fascinated with her new world. She was one of us now. The Legion doesn’t forget its friends.

“Dox?” Millie placed a cup on a little tray by my side. I had my own personal nurse. She knew I wouldn’t ever turn down a dox. The whole gang was thereall of Beta, all of Recon, Pits and Mams alike.

“Thanks. How far in are we?” I asked.

“About half way. No pursuit. We’re free,” Snow Leopard replied.

I savored the dox, pondering his words. A gang of Arcwhite kids were peering in the hatch. We had taken all we could, in the limited time we had.

“Congratulations, Thinker,” Twister said. “The mission was successfuland we’re all still alive.” She seemed so happybut she was wrong.

“Not all of us,” I said. Her face paled instantly.

“I’m sorry, Thinker.” She lowered her eyes. I knew it hurt, but that didn’t matter. You can’t forget the dead.

“Millina,” Dragon said, raising a cup of ice water.

“Millina,” we all echoed. “Death!”

“Flash,” Trigger said.

“Death!”

“And all those we killed,” I said.

“Death!”

I took a sip of dox. Death, our Goddess. Millina had worshipped her, too. We owed Millina. We’d honor herin the next world. Priestess’s arm snaked around my neck. Alivewe were still alive. That’s what Twister had meant. Was it a punishment? We’d have to live with the dead. I could still see that little Outworlder girl.

“Thinker,” Snow Leopard said, “Tara has been on the Q-link, asking for you. It seems ConFree is pleased with the results of the mission. Pleased is putting it mildly, from what I’ve gathered.”

“I don’t want to talk with Tara.”

“You really should, you know.”

“Tell her to stick it.”

“She said if you won’t talk with her, she’ll have the Director of ConFree give you a call.”

“Tell her I’m too sick to talk with anyone. Including the Director of ConFree.”

Snow Leopard laughed. “She knows you pretty well, Three. She said if you won’t talk with her, tell her what you want. She’ll arrange it.”

What I want? I put down the dox and stretched out in the airtank. Priestess and Millie were beside me, and Storm was right there in the next tank.

“All right,” I said. “Tell her I want a nice, quiet desk job on Andrion 2.”

“Isn’t that what you had before?” Scrapper interrupted.

“Yeahbut there’s one more thing. I want my Legion MilSpec status changed from Unrestricted to Admin.”

“Admin?” Psycho echoed in astonishment. “You want to be an Admin puke? But that’s where they put the screwups!”

“Good idea,” Priestess said. “Can I get one of those, too?”

“One for Priestess and Millie, too,” I said.

“All right,” Snow Leopard grinned. “I’ll tell her. You folks deserve it. Maybe you can get those Admin people squared away.”

“Everybody smile!” Ragdoll handed a holocam to one of the Arcwhite kids. The whole gang gathered around our tanks. The holo crackedone for the books.

***

I’ve still got that shot, up on a wall in my study on Andrion 2. Moontouch tells me images from a war bring bad luck, but I can’t bear to take it down. She understands.

Priestess and Millie are both pregnant now. It’s certainly time to settle down.

Moontouch advises me to listen to her, next time.

I believe I’ll do that.

THE SOLDIER OF THE LEGION SERIES

If you enjoyed this novel, you will be happy to learn that

Cross of the Legion is the fifth book in the Legion Series but not the last. Look for Curse of the Legion in 2011.

Soldier of the Legion

The Black March

Slave of the Legion

Secret of the Legion

Cross of the Legion

Curse of the Legion*

Forthcoming*

For more information visit www.soldierofthelegion.com

About the Author

Marshall S. Thomas is a retired Foreign Service Officer who served in East Asia for most of his career. Marshall attended the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, the University of New Mexico and the University of Miami with a major in Government/ International Affairs and a minor in History. Marshall’s 35-year Foreign Service career included postings in Saigon, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Manila, Canberra and Kuala Lumpur.

Marshall currently lives in Williamsburg, Virginia with his wife Kim Lien. His youngest son Alexander, 20, is now in college studying biochemistry. His eldest son Christopher is a graduate of Radford University who studied art and graphic design. Marshall loves to write science fiction but has also written on East Asian subjects including Lotus, the story of a refugee. He was a member of Nancy Mehl’s original Write Stuff Writers Forum and is a member of C.E. Winterland’s Midnight Forum.

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