Chapter 1

Out of the Oz

Oz, Day 1002: Release. I stood in the cold as the gates slid shut behind me. The sky was grey. Winter was on the way. The jacket they gave me was too thin but I didn’t care. I was afraid, but also ecstatic. Free! I clutched the doc case nervously. Everything I owned was in there. And it all flowed from today, the entire future, from this very moment.

I glanced over my shoulder. High stone walls, to keep in the crazies. A cenite plaque, next to the gates:

OZER CLINIC

UNITED SYSTEM ALLIANCE

MINLAW REGIONAL PSYMED FACILITY

DIRECTED SERVICE

NIMBOS SECTOR

Farewell to Oz. I had no regrets at leaving but it would not be easy, starting from zero, making a new life in a strange world. I would try to remember what they told me. Their advice would be temporarily useful, I was sureuntil I found out about myself.

Those were my first thoughts, out of the Oz, in the New World. I stepped out onto the road. An aircar shot past overhead, buffeting me with a wave of cold air. I set off down the road, cheap cloth shoes crunching over the gravel. I knew what I had to doeven then. I soaked up everything they taught me, I had parroted it out, I even persuaded myself that they were right. I became so good at it that even the Eye thought I was good. If all your reactions are correct, if you even think you’re a Goodlib, how can you not be good? I was goodthat much I admit. They certainly did their job. And now I was released, into the out. Cured. Harmless. A good citizen.

But there was one thing they had not quite extinguishedonly one, a tiny spark, hidden deep deep inside me. I had tried to avoid even thinking about it inside the Oz. But now I was out, and it was growing, already.

I wanted to know who I wasthat’s all. After all that time, after all the treatment and all the training and all the talking and all my denials, I still wanted to know who I was. Unforgivable, I knew. But I didn’t care! I wanted to know who I waswho I had been. I wanted to know about the past. It was evil. It was forbidden. It was socially counterproductive and psychologically destructive and counter to everything that Oz had tried to achieve with me. But I didn’t care!

It started to rain. A dark sky, a light rain. I continued walking, overwhelmed with terrifying, anti-pubmor thoughts. I fumbled with the doc case and pulled out the crude city map. My quarters were pre-arranged, my employment all set. The System did all it couldnow it was up to me to adjust. They had done a terrific job. It was truly frightening, how much money and time they devoted to my rehab. I realized I was a very unusual case, an exceptional case. The System did not have resources like that to waste on normal crims. I had been important, somehowvery important, to merit such special attention. I did not know anyone else who had been in the Oz for as long as I had, or who had been given more thorough treatment.

Free! I sucked in cold air. My cheap shoes were already soaking wet. It was time to start a new life. I had better concentrate on that first. I could worry about the past later.

They gave me a cube in Agra Worker’s Hostel Number 14. The place was pretty miserablea massive, ancient, crumbling prefab highrise hive, swarming with worker ants. My cube was a tiny closet with a broken window, and a broken bed, and the toilet down the hall. I didn’t care. My own cube! It was all I needed. I could hear the people on both sides, but it didn’t bother me. I set the doc case on a little table that folded down from the wall. One of the hinges was broken and it was a little wobbly. I struggled out of the wet jacket. Insects scuttled across the dirty floor. The ceiling light flickered.

I opened the doc case. My papers told me nothingonly that I was a graduate of the Ozer Clinic. I was a man without a past. I had come out of nowhere, and here I was. I was supposed to accept it, but I was not going to accept it.

I found a cracked mirror on the floor and put it up on the table, against the wall. A pale, clean-shaven youth looked back at megreen eyes, prominent cheekbones, and very short brown hair. I would let it grow out, I decidedmy first voluntary act in this new life. An antisocial act, I knew. I stared at myself in the cracked, cloudy mirror. I was an Outworlderthat much I could say for sure. But that told me nothing. I was young and fit. My body was hard and strong and covered with little scars. I had evidently worked with my body, not my brain, in my past life.

The scars were worth thinking about. They were everywhere, little white scars, slash marks, puncture wounds, and places where it looked as if I had been burnt. But most puzzling were the red scars. Almost all my knuckles were disfigured with deep, reddish scars. It looked as if the skin had been burnt right off. And on my left arm it was the samethere was a large red patch on the upper arm just below the shoulder, the same kind of scar as the knuckles, but larger. I wondered about that.

And then there was the left arm itself. It looked the same as the right, but it did not feel the same. I had tremendous strength in that armsuperhuman strength. It wasn’t a natural arm. It was artificial, insidebiogenned. I knew it. I could feel the cenite.

Who would have gone to such trouble, and expense, to give me an artificial arm? And why the left? I was right-handed. The arm looked just fine, outside, except for the scars. The skin was perfectit was real skin, the same as my other arm. There was no clue outside that it was not a normal arm.

I wondered a lot about the arm. I figured it was the best clue I had to who I had been. But I had no idea what it meant.

My employment was nothing to write home aboutnot that I would have known where to write anyway. The System found me a job as a dishwasher, in a pubfeed. It was all right. I didn’t care what I did, and I didn’t have any choice. I washed greasy plastic dishes in tepid water, elbow to elbow with a bewildering assortment of sleazers and druggos and broken-down losers. That didn’t bother me, eithersome of them were good folks. They called me “Loony,” of courseit was no secret where I had come from. Even that didn’t bother me. One big goon used to taunt me about it a lot, but he stopped after I smashed his face with my bionic left. My co-workers were friendlier after that. They hadn’t liked the big guy much anyway.

Oz said when they psych you, it does not affect your intelligence, only your memory of past events. But I can tell you that’s crap. I think it makes you stupid. Intentional or not, I don’t know. But I found I had to concentrate hard enough to accomplish even simple tasks. It was easy to forget things, too. Of course I did not know how I had been before, but now I found I had to work very hard just to get the damned dishes done correctly. Sometimes I’d forget about lunch. And when I did eat, sitting there at the bench with the others, I would lose myself in the task, sipping warm soup, bringing the spoon up carefully to avoid spilling any. People would be talking to me and I wouldn’t hear them.

Sometimes I heard snatches of music in my head, just for a tantalizing fracterrifying music. I never quite got a grip on it. It wasn’t really music, and I never really heard more than a brief flash, but it put a chill on my flesh, even then.

I knew it was from the past.

I learned more about myself as time rolled on. I got better at the joba lot better. I fixed up the kitchen, I cleaned the filthy sinks and counters and the walls and the floors; I set up a system to sort the dirty dishes and glasses and cutlery; I fooled with the water heater downstairs and got hot water in the pipes and started sterilizing the dishes. When I was through, our product was sparkling. Most of my co-workers were uneasy about this, but it gave me a tremendous satisfaction. Our Super looked at me funny, but did not object.

I thought a lot about that, too. Why this dark sense of accomplishment, this strange urge to change things, to make things better? I knew it was antisocial behavior. Oz would not have approved.

I figured I had been a very strange unit. But that I already knewotherwise why all the special treatment from the System?

“Loony. Is it there?”

“What?” I looked up in annoyance from my soup. We were all huddled around the table, scarfing up the slop. One of the sexboys from the clean-up crew was leaning over my shoulder. Stu-Twohe was a good little kid, I knew.

“A secret,” he whispered conspiratorially. “Lou-Ellen is hot on Loony. It wants an approach. Hot and bothered, Loony! Red-hot info, Cit. We guarantee it!”

I looked out the plex to the feeding hall. Lou-Ellen was the doorgirl. She was sitting behind her battered table, wearily reading a comic. She was attractive, tall and slender, smoky red hair and smouldering dark eyes. I had wondered what it would be like with her. I turned my eyes away.

“We don’t think so,” I responded. “But thanks for the info, Stu-Two.”

“If it doesn’t like girls, how about us?” Stu-Two asked, running a hand gently down my arm. I turned and glared at his hand. He pulled it back quickly.

“Well! So touchy!” he sniffed, and turned on his heels. The rest of the gang all laughed.

I learned more about myself every day. HeteroI was certainly hetero. I felt no attraction to Stu-Two, even though he was a good-looking kid. It had been hard to tell in the Oz. They had put something in the food to stifle the sex urge. But now I knew. I would have liked to get Lou-Ellen in bed, but sex was a very low priority for me right then. Oz had made me slow and stupid, and I did not want any distractions from the task at hand. And the task was to find out who I was, who I had been. Everything else was secondary. A girlfriend would take up time, and I would lose my concentration. I might even accept my situation. Lou-Ellen was fine, but she’d have to wait. I had more important things to do.

There was a System proprop outlet in Agra City, not far from the pubfeed. A library, they called it, run by MinTru, the Ministry of Truth. There wasn’t much in there but Government proprop, but a few of the readers still worked and they had a lot of printed material. I started haunting the place. I needed information, and that was all the information that was available. I went there regularly after work, and would read for hours. I was often alone there, except for the derelicts trying to get out of the cold.

Somewhere in the library, I was convinced, lay the secret of my past. The one thing I knew for sure was that I was not from this world. Nimbos was not my home planet. Oz had told me that openly. Psychees are never released on their home planets, they said. They are sent somewhere else to start a new life where there are no traces of the past.

I read all I could find on robotics and biogens and advanced surgical techniques and regeneration. But there wasn’t enough information to help me. The material available in the library did not specify who qualified for such advanced, expensive treatment.

I started to read about other worlds. I started to read history. I had no idea what I was looking for, inside the library. But I kept learning more about myself outside the library. It was a long, slow process. It was the little things that did itthings that I knew, instinctively, were wrong. Things they had not been able to erase.

The clothing, for example. The thin, cheap material. The shoddy cloth shoes. I knew I had never worn clothing like that. Coldcoats were supposed to be warm, and shoesthey were not supposed to soak through and come apart at the seams. I was instinctively angry with things that did not work the way they were supposed to. This was hostile, antisocial behavior, I knew.

The filththat was wrong, too. Agra City was a rotting cesspool, an open sore. And as far as I could tell, all of Nimbos was the same. We all lived like pigs, shivering in the cold, eating once a day, twice if we were lucky, shuffling through dirty streets to our lice-infested cubes. It did not seem right to me.

Yes, we were at war, I knew, and sacrifice was necessary, I knew. But I saw no evidence on Nimbos that the situation had ever been better in the past, before the war.

Most puzzling of all was my reaction to social contradictions. I knew exactly what I was supposed to think, which is why my instinctive reactions frightened me. Everything I saw angered me, but the anger was not at myself, as it should have been. My anger was directed to others. It was thoughtcrime, and I knew I could never tell anyone. It meant that the Oz had failed, after all that effort, to cure me. I slowly came to realize that I was not a Goodlib at all. I was a Bacteria.

It hurt me to think about the meaning of what I saw. The streets were full of predators, darting out of the shadows like wolves, preying on the weak or the slow. It was a daily gauntlet, trying to get past them. As I watched their activity, my anger slowly grew. Murder and rape were everyday events. The thugs were all licensed by the System as charity cases, and citizens were required to contribute when approached. Theoretically you could write the donations off on your taxes, if the thug gave you a receipt. However the charity cases always wanted more than you had, and some didn’t even bother to askthey just took. The police were never in sight, except to clean up the mess afterwards, and none of the predators would ever see the inside of a jail cell. Yet if any of the pubfeed employees ever failed to turn over the 20 percent voluntary war donation from what was left of their pitiful monthly salary after the 60 percent income taxes had been taken out, why, we’d get to chat with the local constabulary. They always seemed to find time for that.

I decided that the authorities approved of the crims activity and encouraged it. I was not sure why. I did not dare tell anyone of these conclusions. It angered me. I was not sure why that was, either. My reactions were wrongall wrong. The reactions of a Bacteria, a Doubter, a Wrecker, a Thinker, a Braincrim. I had just gotten out of the Ozhow could I have gone so bad, so fast? It was frightening.

There was a wonderful System proprop poster that one of the politicals had tacked up on the wall overlooking the staff lunch table. It glowed with colors, the brightest thing in our drab, dreary world. It showed a group of Legion soldiers, clad in sinister black armor, in the ruins of some unfortunate city, gathered around a campfire where they were roasting a baby on a spit. It was an absolutely beautiful shot. The hungry Legion troopers were intent on their task, poking at the baby’s burning flesh to see if it was done. A dark cloudy sky was rolling overhead.

We were sitting around the table scarfing down our slop a few days after the poster went up, when big Ando Ordthe goon whose nose I had rearrangedslammed down his bowl in disgust and glared at the poster. We all turned to him in surprise. The old toothless derelict beside me even stopped gumming his soup.

“Scut!” Ando exclaimed angrily, “They eat better than we do!” We all burst into laughter, then shut down hurriedly. I didn’t think anybody was going to turn him inbut it could have been a provocation. You could never tellthe SIS was everywhere. The poster came down a few days later.

I forced myself to sit through endless hours of System proprop at the library, slumped before a glowing d-screen. It was the only way to get a general idea of what was happening in the galaxy. I suppose it was funny, actually. I was a sub, shuffling along through trash-strewn streets, in a neighborhood that looked like a demilitarized zone. They had made me so slow and stupid I sometimes forgot to put on my jacket when I went outdoors. And I wanted to improve my mind! I wanted to learn what was happening in the galaxy! Well, I learned what they told me. Even then I realized that what they were telling me might not be entirely true, but I figured most of it was probably factual. Remember, I was only a sub.

According to the proprop, the advance of the Variant horde into System vac had been stopped by the DefCorps. The V were aliens, totally evil, totally merciless. They had been plaguing mankind for hundreds of years, and had exterminated over two billion humans. Until recently they had been irresistible. But now the DefCorps had developed the technology to counter the Vand they were doing it.

The CrimCon, however, was doing its best to subvert our efforts by attempting to align itself with the V. That was truly frightening. We were at war with the CrimCon as well as the V, and if the CrimCon and the V were able to cooperate successfully against the System, humanity would surely be doomed. The CrimCon were humans, but I guess it would really depend on how you defined humanity. Officially it was the Confederation of Free Worlds, only it wasn’t much of a Confederation, and none of the worlds were free. We called it the Criminal ConspiracyCrimCon for short. It was a horrific totalitarian galactic empire, and until recently it had been expanding relentlessly. The CrimCon’s shock troops were known as the Legion. They were high-tech, fanatic, mindless barbarians, and only the DefCorps could stop them. We had recently gotten a big break, however, in the struggle against the CrimCon and the Legion. The CrimCon had split in two, with major Legion forces breaking off from the CrimCon in a military revolt to form the Lost Command. It was indeed fortunate. The enemy camp was divided and weakened. And it couldn’t have happened at a better time for the System.

***

I got careless one night, walking home late from the library. Normally the scum didn’t bother me. It wasn’t because I appeared any bigger or badder than anyone else. It was because when I got to the really bad areas I’d haul out a big steel pipe that I kept stuffed into the front of my jacket. I’d walk through the dark with the pipe on my shoulder, and nobody ever bothered me. There were easier targets, the scum probably thought, and why take a chance with the Pipe Man? The subs didn’t have firearms. The System was very strict on that. They didn’t want the citizenry getting their hands on firearms.

That night, I forgot to take the steel pipe out of my jacket. I guess I had lost my sense of danger. I thought the scum had gotten the word. Wrong again.

He stalked me right into the hostel and I didn’t even see him. The power was on that week, the elevator was working, and I didn’t feel like walking up eight floors, so I was going to take a chance that the damned elevator would make it up to Eight without dying.

He leaped into the elevator after me just as I was pressing the floor button, a gigantic, terrifying druggo with wild hair, dark skin oozing with pus and rot, broken bloody teeth and insane red eyes. He whipped a huge razor knife in an erratic arc in my general direction.

“Donation!” he screamed, “Gimme ya wallet or I’ll kill ya, subrat!” And something snapped inside me. My left leg came up in a power kick and the ball of my foot landed right on his chin, snapping his head back. I kicked the right leg up as the left was coming down to land on his right knee, which I used as a foothold as my right foot caught him on the left temple. He bounced off the closing elevator door and the knife went flying. I went after his head with my fists as he was going down, smashing his face with all the power in my body. I punched through him, not at himI felt the bones breaking. I screamed with each blow, four five six seven eighthe was down and twitching on the floor. I hauled the steel pipe out of my jacket and brought it up, then down, shrieking. His skull cracked and blood spattered wildly as I brought the pipe up, down, up, down, up, down, smashing his skull until it was a bloody jellied pulp and his limbs jerked uncontrollably.

I stopped, my heart hammering, the bloody pipe poised over the druggo’s lifeless corpse. My face was twitching. The elevator walls were splattered with blood and brainsso was I. I felt shock, but there was something elseecstasy. That was it. I felt wonderful; I was shaking with joy. A fierce, wolfish grin crept over my face and someone was laughing, an evil, guttural laugh. Was that me?

The elevator door creaked open. We were on the eighth floor. My eyes snapped to the corridor like a cornered rat. Nobody there. I pressed the button for the fifteenth floor and the doors eased closed again. We moved upwards shakily. I would wash the blood off me in the toilets up there, I decided, and walk down to the eighth. I’d leave the body in the elevator, and blow out the hostel’s power. That happened all the time, and they wouldn’t discover the body until they got the power fixed and the elevator opened. It would take days. They’d never figure out who did it.

Ecstaticthat’s how I felt. It was terrifying. I thought a lot about that. I decided I must have been an exceptionally violent and dangerous criminal in my former life. My reaction when the druggo attacked had been purely instinctive. I hadn’t thought about any of it, I had just done it. And those movesthe kicks and punchesthey were flawless, powerful, practiced. I hadn’t even known I could do that. I must have been a killer, I thoughta professional assassin. But why the special treatment from the System? The System didn’t care about killers. There were hundreds of them roaming the streets outside. The System didn’t even bother to arrest them, much less psych them. Why was I so special?

***

It must have been a few weeks later when The Slime Bug knocked on the door to my cube in the hostel. The Slime Bug was what we called him in the Oz, but not to his face. To his face we called him “Sir.” Doctor Antos Schleiman was the official who determined who was ill and who was cured. I had kind of hoped I would never see him again, but there he was, standing in the doorway grinning, a short, heavy, bald little Orman creep with watery blue eyes, and wearing a shabby dark jacket. He looked strange without his white coat.

“Doctor Schleiman!” I exclaimed, “It’s good to see it, sir!” I suddenly realized how much I hated the man.

“It’s looking fine, William. May we come in?”

“Of course! Pleasecome in. We’re afraid we don’t have a chair,” I said nervously, gesturing to the bed. The cube was so small the bed took up most of the space. We sat on the edge of the bed, and I activated the hot plate. I had rigged it up myself.

“Would it care for some hot water?” I asked, setting a cup on the hot plate. I suddenly realized I was terrified of the man. He represented the absolute power of the System over my life.

“That would be nice,” The Slime Bug said. “How has it been, William?” William wasn’t my real name, of course. It was the name they had given me at the OzWilliam Fifteen.

“Oh, just fine, sir. We’ve adjusted well. We are happy. We enjoy the work. It is a new world, just as Super said, but we enjoy it.”

He looked into my eyes, smiling dreamily. He did that a lot. “Well

” he said, “that’s good. We thought we’d just drop by. We like to keep an eye on the graduates, see if everything is all right and help if we can.”

“We appreciate that, sir. It’s nice to know Super is still thinking of us. We often think about the Clinic as well.”

“Tell us, William

” he paused. He often paused, before saying something important. “Is it facing any problems here? Any difficulties in adjusting to the new situation? Difficulties are quite normal, we assure it. As a matter of fact, if it denied there were any problems, we would not believe it. We want to help, William.” He smiled.

I handed him a cup of warm water.

“Yes sir,” I said. “We understand. Of course there were some problems in facing the new reality. But we did as Super saidwe did not question. We adjusted. And our initial problems are over. Of course, we learn more every day. But we use Super’s advice, in every new situation.” I shut down. I knew it was best to give the man as little ammunition as possible.

The Slime Bug sipped at his cup, then put it down on the wall table. The table was still a little shaky. “How does it like the job, William?”

“We are happy, sir.”

“But it did not accept the situation there, did it, William?”

“Sir?”

“It instituted a lot of changes in the kitchen, didn’t it, William?”

“Well

yes. Yes, sir.”

“Why was that, William?”

I squirmed, and took a sip from my own cup. “Well sirit was dirty in there. We thought it needed a clean-up.”

“How about its co-workers? Did they approve of the changes?”

“Well

we did not ask, sir.”

“We see. So one of its first acts was to challenge its environment.”

“It’s because the Clinic was so clean, sir. We were comparing it to the Clinic. And nobody complained, sir. If anyone had said anything we would have stopped immediately. But nobody did. We realized it at the timethat it could have been interpreted as a challenge, sir. But we didn’t mean it that way.”

“We see.”

“Did we do wrong, sir?”

“Well

it depends on its motivation. Tell us, William

” he paused, again. I listened carefully. “It’s been spending a lot of time at the library, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Why is that, William?”

“Well sir, we are anxious to learn about our new environment. As Super suggested, total immersion. There’s nothing to do after work. We remembered what Super said. And so we’ve been reading, and watching, to become a better citizen.”

“What does it read?”

“Proprop, sir. Information bulletins. The history of Nimbos. Science updates. Social commentary. Citizen alerts. Whatever is on, sir. We figurethe more we learn, the better we’ll be able to fit in. And the info screen at the hostel is dead.”

“We see. How many hours?”

“Sir?”

“How many hours per night is it in the library?”

“Oh

it varies, sir. Two

usually two hours.”

“Is that normal, William? Is that normal behavior?”

I was silent.

“Speak up, William. Don’t be afraid.”

“Well, no sir. We guess not.”

“Of course it isn’t. Why does it do that, William? Why the library?”

“It’s because we’re just out of the Clinic, sir. And everything is new. And Super encouraged us to learn from the environment.”

“One doesn’t learn about one’s environment in a library, William. The real world begins when it steps out of the library’s front door.”

“Yes sir.”

“Tell us, William

” he paused again, peered into his cup, took a sip, and then placed it carefully back on the wobbly table. I was watching him like you’d watch a highly poisonous snake. “What would it say if we suggested it return to the Clinic for some more treatment?”

“Does it think we need more treatment, sir?” My mind was reeling. They wanted me back! Did they know about the killing?

“We don’t know, William. Perhaps. Tell us what it thinks.”

“We think we’re adjusting well, sir. But Super knows best. We don’t mind returning to the Clinic. If Super believes we could benefit from more treatment, we’ll be happy to do so.” I dared not resist anything the man said. I knew he hated resistance.

The Slime Bug looked at me mournfully, and then nodded his head. “Good,” he said. “It was always most cooperative, William. That’s wise. We don’t think it needs to go back yet. But a word of adviceaccept your reality. Stop trying to change it. And don’t spend so much time in the library. It’s not healthy.”

“Yes sir.” I felt a great relief. I was not going back, and he didn’t know about the killing. I was very happy about that. Almost as happy as when I had made the kill.

***

Winter came, and stayed. It was agony walking to and from work in the cold. Howling winds from the arctic wastes laid siege to the city for months. We wore sleazy, thin jackets to work, and shivered in our drafty cubes at night.

I had to cut down on the visits to the library. I had been warned. I was starved for information, but there was no information; and I dared not ask any questions of anyone. I shuffled through my new life blindly, at a dead end. It appeared that I would never find out who I had been.

And then the dreams began.

At first it was always the samea raging, violent nightmare, exploding in light and sound. It swirled around in my mind like a gibbering phantom, a hot rush of emotion, suddenly there, overwhelmingly there. A glittering sky full of lights, rushing over mefireworks, the whole sky erupting, every color in the spectrum, bursts of actinic green, phospho white, elektra blue, shocking pink, a million smoking tracers covering the sky. Hot metal rain and a wild electronic shrieking in my earslightning, flashing right in my face, titanic bursts of thunder, striking me blind and deaf.

I screamed, helpless before my fate, wriggling in the mud like a worm, bathed in icy sweat. The sky burst into flame. A horrific vision, the gates of Hell, spitting flaming fingers of dooma white-hot, roaring star, falling down to the earth to incinerate us all. I burst into flames, shrieking in horror.

I would awake gasping and thrashing in the dark, my throat paralyzed, adrenalin racing. It happened a lot.

***

The pawnshops did a lot of business in Agra City, but this time I was the only customer. It was warm and stuffy inside. Snow was falling out in the streets, it was cold as a frigid bitch, and I still had only the one thin jacket the Oz had issued me. I was fingering a thick, glossy nitex coldcoata police field jacket. Some starving cop had probably traded it for something to eat, or some crazed druggo had killed a cop and pawned his clothes. I turned away in regret. I had saved up a few credits but I knew there was no way I could afford the jacket.

They usually had a lot of military and police equipment. It was high quality stuff and much in demand. I hovered over the glass counter as the bald gnome behind the bars concentrated on his sex book. He wasn’t worried about shoplifting, I knew. He was more observant than he looked, behind his armored plex, and the door didn’t open unless he triggered the release.

Nightsticks, armored goggles, field spotters, belt pouches, police gloves, a few knives. One of the knives caught my attention. A big, black cenite bladea massive, coldly functional instrument.

“Could we see the knife?” I pointed it out. The gnome stirred, waddled over to the counter, retrieved the knife, and slid it under the plex in the goods tray. I picked it up.

It was a single piece of cenite. The finely checkered grip felt as if it were molded to my handthe balance was perfect. A razor sharp blade, with tough little sawteeth on the false edge. The damned thing was beautiful.

“Does it have a sheath?”

“No.”

“How much?”

“Sixty-five.”

“We’re serious. How much?”

“All right. Fifty-five. Serious.”

“We can’t afford that. Nobody can afford that. It doesn’t even have a sheath.”

“That’s a DefCorps knife. It’s worth a lot more than fifty-five.”

“We’ll give you fifteen credits.”

“Sorry.” The gnome retrieved the knife. I turned wearily and headed for the door.

“Thirty,” he said. My hand was on the push bar but he hadn’t triggered the door.

“We don’t have thirty,” I said. The door was still locked.

“Twenty-five,” he said. “Bottom price.”

“We can give it twenty,” I said. “It’s all we have.”

“Twenty! God’s ass! Done! Don’t show it aroundcivilians aren’t supposed to have these.”

***

I awoke in a blind panic, drenched in sweat, my heart hammering. It was cold. I lay there, staring up into the dark. It was the pit of the night. I never knew what time it was at night. The guy in the next cube had an alarm chron that woke me up in the morning, but I had nothing.

I sat on the edge of the bed and flicked the hotplate on. A battered metal cup of water was already there. It was getting to be a nightly routinea wild nightmare, get up, have a cup of hot water, ponder the future and wonder about the past, and then drift back to an uneasy sleep.

I never could really get a grip on the dreams. It was a sky full of sparklersalmost like fireworks. Falling softly, gently, like hot rain. But there was a tremendous, ear-splitting din, all around me, like a battlefield. And I was squirming in the mud, as this horrific sky came right at me. A sky full of lightning and fireraging white-hot flames, blasting me to a crisp.

There were other people, too. They were around me, somehow. Voices. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear them. They were calling out to me in my dreams. I could hear them in my dreams. But when I awoke that part just faded away. Who they were, and what they were saying, I could not remember.

Night after nightstrange voices, calling out to me under that awful sky. Voices from the past. I knew it. This wasn’t some fantastic nightmare, this was my past. What was that wild sky? Who were the voices? They had been calling me urgentlythey had something important to say.

I closed my eyes as the cup of water heated up. Tonight there had been something else, something vitally important. I strained to remember it. And it floated around in my head like a mist. A pale, frightened face, a young female, a massive blast of burning gas, a horrid flaming metal hand, reaching out to me, and someone shrieking my namemy namemy name!

It faded. I couldn’t even see the face anymore. But I had seen it in my dreams. A girl, terrified. A metal hand. And the fire, again. She had called out my name, but I couldn’t remember it. My namegood God! Who was she? I would have to dream it againI must try and remember my name!

I sipped tepid water in the dark. It was still and coldthere was frost on the window. I hadn’t lost my past. It was all inside me. And I was going to get it back! It was all I had to live forall I had.

***

Without the library, there was not much to do. I started exercising. I pushed the little folding table back into the slot in the wall and that gave me the narrow space between the bed and the wall. I did crunches, I did push-ups, I did leg lifts and squats. I exercised for hours, every night, my mind blank, my muscles getting harder and harder. I didn’t know where I was going, I didn’t know what the future held, but it was a nasty world out there and I wanted to be ready.

When I got tired of exercising, I would put the table down and sit on the bed and take out the knife and gently place it on the table and worship it. I didn’t think I had ever seen anything quite so beautiful, so perfectly functional, so perfectly deadly. I would caress it lightly along the hilt, and it was like touching a love slave. It was cold and dead but brutally utilitarian, as clean as an arrow, the final product of a thousand years of knife design. Cold black cenite, aching to leap into my palm, eager to do my will. You could tell just by looking at it that it served a totalitarian state, a state without mercy or pity.

The edge was like a razor. I didn’t careI wanted it sharper. I would sit there far into the night, hypnotized, sharpening it against a flat oiled steel skillet I had lifted from the pubfeed. And the cenite blade would sigh against the steel, a faint whining, hour after hour, and my eyes would grow heavy, and flicker, and sometimes I think I was doing it in my sleep.

“Will you please stop doing that?” I stopped, the voice still echoing in my minda female voice, annoyed. And I was coming back but I still had it, the floodgates of my mind, still open. A warm wave, rushing over my skin, then fading. It was so clear that I almost cried out as it faded. What was it, what was it? A girl, sitting just to my left, dark hair, I couldn’t quite focus on her but

what was she doing? What

and a child. A child! Pinched little face

and a huge presence. A giant, in shadows. His eyes, glowing

fading, fading, fading.

I was frozen over the knife, my skin crawling, flooded with emotion. The past! Surfacing, right there in my rotten little cube. Gone! It was gone, now, but it had been there, for just an instant, a flash of the past. I could still hear her voice; I could hear every word; how could I ever forget it? “Will you please stop doing that?” she had said. She had been upset. And the childI could almost see him. A pale face, that’s all I could rememberno features, but it seemed to be a little boy. The girlI couldn’t make out her face either. And the giantwhat the hell? An impression of a huge, menacing hulk of a man, a beast of a man, moving in the dark like a great snake.

I tried, but it would not come back. I slowly started sharpening the knife again. It must come back! Who were they? Who were they? My holy God, who was I? I was going to go insane, if I didn’t find out.

***

I was on autopilot the next day at the pubfeed, washing the dishes, trying to summarize what I had learned about myself. I was an Outworlder, raciallybut it told me nothing. There were billions of us, unarmed and powerless, kept in check by a vigilant United System Alliance and USICOM, the Interstellar Commission, monitored by the benevolent Mocains and their humanitarian intelligentsia, the Ormans, and a host of allied races. We were an evil, violent people, I had learned at Oz, with a bad historical record, but under the System we were meeting our obligations to the rest of humanity.

I knew I had come from a lower-class background. I found polite speech difficult. I instinctively wanted to say “I” and “me” and “you”, rather than the proper “we” and “it”. That was typical lower-class Outworlder speech, typical sub.

An evil, violent backgroundI seemed to be fascinated by weaponry and police equipment. It was an unhealthy obsession with evil tools, I knew. I must have been a soldier, or a policeman, or a criminal. All those scars, the dream of a burning skyit was like a battlefield. And my reactions, when confronted by that druggo. I should have submitted, as required by law. My reactions were criminal, and unbelievably violent.

Certainly, I had been evilperhaps a master criminal, or a political mercenary or an interstellar pirate chief. Someone importantotherwise the System would not have devoted so many resources to my rehab. Ordinary criminals did not get such treatment. Hence, I was not ordinary. It must have been somehow political.

And the armhow to explain that? Despite all I had read in the library there was no real clue to who rated such expensive treatment. The arm should have been the best clue of all, but it led nowhere. And if I made any further inquiries of anyone, it would get back to The Slime Bug, and I would be back to the Oz.

Ando Ord sneezed at the next sink, a tremendous roar, spraying his germs over all the dishes. Terrific. And that was another thing. I had noticed that I never got sick. Everybody else would be wheezing and coughing and sneezing and hacking, but I never even got the sniffles. It was downright eerie. The pubfeed was crawling with germs, but I never caught a thing.

How long, I asked myself, must I wait? Must I grapple with these phantoms every night for the rest of my life? I had been psyched, but I knew my past was not really gone. They had told us openly how it was done. People think psyching involves erasing your memory, but that’s not true. Memories cannot be erased, Oz told us, but they can be suppressed, permanently. The mind-gates to the past can be shut and locked, leaving your conscious mind outside, cut off from the past. That’s what they said. They knew how the brain worked, and they could manipulate it. It meant that my past was all still there, in my mind, locked up by the System for the good of society.

But little pieces of the past were leaking out past the gates, from time to time, in my sleep, swirling around in my head. It was driving me crazy. I knew I couldn’t take it much longer.

Chapter 2

Illumination

The door to my cube crashed open violently, awakening me suddenly from an exhausted sleep. I caught a split-frac glance of a shadowy figure colliding with the wall table and going down quickly, then a second figure and the room erupted, a crackling flash, white-hot lightning dancing on my skin, shooting over my body, slamming me back onto the bed. I felt a quick, overwhelming burst of agonizing pain, short-circuiting all my nerves, going directly into my brain. Then it all faded away.

“Are we all right?” A ghostly, girlish voice.

“Aah

scut! Right in the nuts!” A deep bass.

“Told it we should have gone first.”

“Gaaahd!”

“Keep its voice down! Looks like these walls are made of paper.”

I was slowly coming back, but every nerve ending was shrieking and I felt as weak as a newborn baby. One of them found the light switch and the feeble light panel flickered to life. They had closed the door. The people in the adjoining cubes had certainly heard the racket, but they weren’t going to interfere, that was for sure. I tried to focus on the intruders, two of them. A wiry Cyrillian male, now slumped over in agony on one knee, skin so black it was almost purple, fierce slit eyes, sharpened white teeth, clad in a thick coldcoat. His companion was a slim little blonde girl, pale skin, delicate features, ice blue eyes, short tousled wispy hair, also in a coldcoat. She was holding a Police shock gun. I remembered the Cyrillian nowhe had been hanging around outside the hostel for a few days. I had taken him for a plainclothes cop.

“What the hell was that?” the Cyrillian whispered through clenched teeth.

“Wall table,” the girl replied. “It took it right off the hingesdummy!”

“We don’t think it’s funny!” he hissed.

“It’s got no sense of humor!” she whispered back.

The Cyrillian stood up shakily, and they turned their attention to me.

“Is that it?” The Cyrillian asked. The girl looked me over calmly. I tried to move, but a wave of pain overwhelmed me. I could only lie there in my worn jox and torn u-shirt, gasping. I was helpless and terrified. These two crazies were going to murder me, I knewI was dead!

“Looks like it,” the girl said. She picked up one of my hands and examined the knuckles, then let it fall back to the bed. Her companion took a look at the scar on my left arm.

“See this?” he asked.

“Take some solids,” the girl said. The black took a holscan out of one pocket and began cracking off shots of me lying there in agony on the bed. The girl laid my left arm over my body so the scar would show in the shots. She was leaning over me now, looking into my face. She touched my cheek gently with sharp fingernails.

“We’ve found it,” she said. “It’s changed a little, but this is it. Definitely. We remember it!”

“Do the genetic ID,” the Cyrillian said.

“We don’t need it. This is Beta Three. Does it think we don’t remember it? It found us on Katag, it trailed us through a trackless desert. We remember it!” She was blinking her eyes rapidly, breathing hard. “Identification is positive. We don’t need the genetic ID.”

“Then let’s get outta here.” The Cyrillian peered nervously out the broken window.

I slowly began to comprehend what was happening. My past had just kicked in the door. All of my questions were about to be answered! But I was still terrifiedwho were these people? I had no idea what they wanted. For all I knew, they could be planning to butcher me and have me for dinner.

“Does it remember us?” the blonde asked. She was kneeling by the bed, one hand on my shoulder. She was simply lovely, like a creature from another world.

I tried to talk, but could not. I shook my head. It hurt.

“It doesn’t remember us,” she said to the Cyrillian. “They’ve psyched it all right. Bastards!” She clutched my hand and squeezed. “Don’t worry, Beta Three. We’re here now, and we’re going to take it back! It can depend on that!” Her face was shining with determination as her sharp fingernails dug into my hand.

“Perhaps we should leave the room for a bit?” the black suggested.

“It’s not funny, Pandaros!” the girl snapped.

“It’s got no sense of humor!” the Cyrillian replied, grinning.

***

“Remember,” the Cyrillian said ominously, “one false move and we do it the hard way.” I was standing shakily before the elevator. Luckily it was working againI don’t think I could have made it down the stairs, in the shape I was in at that moment. And I didn’t want to know about the hard way. The easy way was hard enough.

“Don’t worry,” the little blonde assured me as the elevator door creaked open, “Things get better from here on!” They had let me dress and put on my cloth shoes and threadbare jacket, and now we were going out, into the night. I stumbled into the elevator. It was an effort just to move my limbsthere was no way I was going to be able to fight them.

It was cold out in the streets. Filmy plastic trash blew past us as we headed away from the hostel. They had not let me bring anythingnot the knife, not even my ID. The Cyrillian was barking into a comset in a strange language. A blacked-out aircar appeared from the shadows, hissing along a few marks over the pitted pavement. A door slid open and they hustled me in and climbed in after me. The driver was another Cyrillian. We took off abruptly, rising. Cyrilliansdamn! They were mercenaries, with an evil reputation. There was nothing at all I could do. Whatever was going to happen, they had me.

***

“Have a seat,” the blonde said. It was a stunningly luxurious apartment, pale peach carpeting, emerald green marble, and rich cocoa-colored leatherette airchairs and sofas. Whoever these people were, they were well financed. I settled into one of the airchairs, testing my muscles. Everything still hurt.

There were more Cyrillians there. One of them was on a comset. “Agreed,” he said. “Twenty G for two hundred K. Twenty two hundred hours exact. It knows the place. See it.” I looked around. A low marble table was piled high with little bricks of something wrapped in bright green plastic. There was a trademark on the plastica blazing sun.

“Senso,” I said. “It’s smuggling senso.”

“Importing,” the blonde corrected me.

“Pure pleasure,” the Cyrillian flashed me a frightening smilehis teeth had all been sharpened, a savage mouthful of fangs. “Take senso and it dies! But it dies real happy. Personally, we never touch the stuff.”

“Finish off the deliveries,” the girl ordered, “tonight. And get me the docs. We’ve completed our mission here. Now we do the docs and lift. Where’s Nelson?”

Senso, I thoughta dirty business. A little flake of senso gave you a full body orgasm that lasted for hours. Pure pleasurethe Cyrillian was right. Senso freaks would pay all they had for more of the stuff. Like rats in some mad scientist’s experiment, they’d trigger the pleasure centers until they died of sheer sensory overload, lack of sleep, dehydration and starvation. It was a deadly plague, and highly illegal.

“The docs, Whit.” One of the Cyrillians dumped a pile of equipment on a nearby table.

“Thanks, Nelson,” the blonde said. “Set up the ID holo.” She turned to me. “Would it like some dox?”

“Dox?” I asked. “Sure.” Dox was an unimaginable luxury on Nimbos.

She brought over a cup and popped it open. The rich aroma hit me immediately. I accepted the cup as she settled onto the edge of the table, watching me carefully.

Silky hot dox burnt its way past my tongue and down, and it was probably the best thing I’d ever tasted. The girl was gazing at me in fascination as I sipped the dox. The Cyrillian, Nelson, was setting up some equipment.

“Our name is Whit,” she said suddenly. “Doesn’t it remember us?”

“We remember nothing,” I said.

“Well, we remember it,” she said, “very well. Does it want to know about its past?”

I paused, and put down the dox. “Yes,” I said, “we do.”

“Good,” she said. “That’s good. We’re going to tell it everything. But we have to do it slowly. A little at a timedo we understand?”

“We understand. It wants to break the bad news slowly. Let us guesswe were a major senso dealer, right? We were responsible for the deaths of millions, right? Isn’t it afraid the cops are going to kick in that door?”

“No, we’re not. And it wasn’t a senso dealer. We’ve paid our taxes. The System knows all about us, and leaves us alone. Does it really think we could do this without the System’s blessing? The senso is nothingforget it. It simply allows us to move around freely in System vac. And that’s what we needed to get to you. No, senso has got nothing to do with its past.”

“Head up, please.” The Cyrillian, Nelson, was aiming an ID scanner at me. It cracked, and he turned away.

Whit popped open a dox of her own. “That’s Pandaros over there,” she said, gesturing to the Cyrillian who had almost emasculated himself crashing through the door to my cube, “and this is Nelson.” Nelson nodded to me. He was fooling with the equipment. I didn’t say anything.

“We can hardly believe it,” Whit said. “Cinta will be pleased.”

“Who’s Cinta?” I asked.

“It’ll find out. By the way, its designation is Beta Three. Did we tell it that?”

“Beta Three

” I repeated. It brought nothing to mind. “What kind of a name is that?”

“It’ll find out. It’ll find out everything. We owe it, Beta Threewe owe it. That’s why we’re here.”

“What if we don’t like our past?”

“It’s not a matter of liking it or not. It’s a matter of unfinished business, of debts to be paid, and promises to keep. It’ll see. It can’t imagine how many people have been looking for it, and how much effort has gone into it. And we found it! Cinta will be pleased!”

“Beta Three,” I repeated. “Beta Three.” It was a strange name, but it was all right with me. Fine, I thought, I’m Beta Three. It’s a start. I picked up the dox cup. I decided I may as well relax and enjoy the rideI certainly hadn’t been going anywhere back in the pubfeed. And I had wanted to know about my past. Well, here it wasgood or bad, I was going to find out.

***

I awoke suddenly in shock, fighting a blind panic, arching up in bed and smashing my forehead sharply against the bed’s overheadsomeone in the room! I gaped open-mouthed at the girl in the doorway to my cubea vision of languid beauty, short tousled blonde hair, blinking pale blue eyes, leaning against the bulkhead totally at ease. It was Whitlooking me over. I rubbed my aching head. I had almost brained myself. I was sitting up in the bunk, twitchingnot a good way to wake up! The lights were on. I remembered now. I had not been able to find the switch, and had collapsed into bed completely exhausted and slept a dreamless sleep. We were on the P.S. Stardust on antimat drive, in the cold maw of the eye of the hole, balanced precariously between creation and extinction. I could feel it on my skinand I knew, in a sudden flash, that I had been here before. I shivered.

“We’re sorry,” Whit said. “We were just checking. Did it sleep all right?”

“Fine,” I said. “Fine.” It was all I could think of just then. Checking? Checking what?

“We have a big day planned for it, Three. Might as well get up. Breakfast in the rec room.” She didn’t take her eyes off me. She seemed calm, but there was certainly something else there.

“Right. Give us a few fracs.”

“Take its time. There’s no rush, Beta Threeno rush at all.” I looked at her sharply. Her face was flushed. She ducked out the door and it slid shut again. Strange.

The little cube was spotless and icy cold. The head was a vertical closet, also spotless. I had never imagined such luxury, such fanatic, sterile perfection. I hit the shower and closed my eyes.

***

“So it sees, we’re really old friends,” Whit said. We were sipping dox over our breakfast. A couple of Cyrillians were lounging over the remains of their meal at the next table. I had been astounded by the abundance and high quality of the food. The rec room was another miracle of compact and totally functional design. The dox was like a powerful drug. I could not remember ever tasting anything so rich. It was making my head spin. I put down the cup. It was marked with the logo of the Personal Ship Stardust.

“We wouldn’t be here without it, Beta Three,” Whit continued. “We owe everybodybut mostly we owe Cinta and Beta. Cinta arranged it, but it was Beta Three and Eight and Nine that stepped out of that awful night and freed us. Does it remember? We rememberwe’ll never forget. We owe it, forever. Beta, and Cinta.” She was glowing. Her eyes were clouding over. She was lost for a moment. Then she laughed. “Memories. Good and bad. We’re nothingwe’re stupid, just as Cinta said. But we pay our debts. Touch us, and it’s done. We see it as an angel. A dark angel, raising the dead. Doesn’t it remember anything?”

I blinked, suddenly realizing that she had just offered to sleep with me. Things were happening entirely too fast for my taste.

“No, we don’t,” I said. “It promised it was going to tell us about our past. We’re still waiting.”

She bit her lip, and got up. “Come with us, Beta Three. It’s time.”

***

I settled into an airchair before a dark d-screen. The instrumentation was new to me, but a lot of things were new to me. It looked a bit like a starlink. Whit slipped into another airchair beside me. The door had slid shut behind us, leaving us alone in the little cube. It was dead quiet.

“How much does it know about the war?” Whit began calmly.

“With the CrimCon? We only know what we’ve been told,” I responded. “The System and the CrimCon are at war. The System is slowly winning, but it’s a protracted struggle that has lasted for generations, and may last for generations more. The CrimCon has recently split into two warring, power-hungry factions, and this may ultimately prove decisive. The break-away faction is called the Lost Command.”

“And what about the Variants?”

“The V? The aliens continue to attack System worlds, but the DefCorps is learning how to counter them. The CrimCon attempted an alliance with the V, and encouraged them to move into System vac. The alliance failed, because the V learned they could not trust the CrimCon.”

“Very good,” Whit smiled. “Is that what the System taught it?”

“Yes, it is.”

“And do we believe it?”

“We believe nothing,” I said, “except what we experience ourselves.”

“A wise policy. Tell us more about the CrimCon.”

“CrimConthe Criminal Conspiracy. Confederation of Free Worlds, we think they call themselves. An evil, racist, genocidal, totalitarian dictatorship, ruling solely by force over half the inhabited galaxy. A cabal of obscenely rich, all powerful plutocrats, responsible for the deaths of billions of defenceless non-Outworlder peoples.”

“Good! Very good! And the Legion?”

“They’re the CrimCon’s terrorist shock troops. Fanatic, mindless, brainwashed barbarians, motivated by cash and loot and pointless violence. They’re programmed to rape, torture and kill. They eat babies, too.”

“Excellent. Tell usdoes it remember Andrion Two? Does it remember the last time it saw us?”

“We remember nothing.”

“Think! An aircar, falling into the dark. We were both in there, with a squad of troopers. Lasers and xmax, flashing outside, following us down. We were personally so scared we wet our panties, and Beta Three was right beside us. Doesn’t it remember?” Her pale blue eyes were glowing.

“No,” I said. “We don’t remember.”

“We leaped out of the car and ran with the troopers. It had a death grip on our arm. Then everything started blowing sky-high, and those armored bastards came right out of the flames, firing. It let go of our arm and fired back. Doesn’t it remember?” Her pale face was twitching.

I just looked at her.

“We don’t recall anything like that,” I said. “It’s an interesting story. What were we doing in the aircar? Who were the troopers with us? Who were the guys in armor? And who were we? Is it going to tell us, or just go on asking us if we remember things?”

Whit shook her head, turned her eyes away, and looked around the cube. Then she looked back, right into my eyes. “They were Legion troopers, Beta Three. The ones in armor were the CrimConfrom ConFree. And itit was with the Legion, too. It’s a soldier of the Legion, Beta Three, sworn to the Legion. It took an oath to protect and defend the people of ConFree from all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

***

“None of what it says makes any sense,” I objected, after the initial shock wore off. The Legion, I thoughtthose were the guys that had been roasting that baby, in that great proprop shot we had pasted over the staff lunch table. My head was swimming. I didn’t believe everything the System told us, but I knew the Legion were barbarians. They routinely tortured women and children to death, just for kicks, and gang rape was their national sport. Surely I could not have been with those scum!

“If we were with the Legion,” I asked, “why were CrimCon troopers firing at us? Why would they fire on their own people?”

“That’s why it’s here, Beta Three,” Whit replied sadly. “That’s the source of all its troubles. And that’s what caused the Lost Command to split off from ConFree. Does it doubt us? Feel its left arm.”

“It’s artificial. We know that.”

“It’s a Legion arm, Beta Three. Biogenned. It lost the original on Mongera, fighting the V and the System, for the Legion. Does it doubt it’s a Legion trooper? Who else would go to so much trouble? Would the System? Those scars on its knuckles, on its arm. Legion tattoos, Beta Three. Dead troopersits comrades. Lasered off by the System, or maybe by the CrimCon, to hide its identity. Does it notice it never gets sick? Stick around another hundred years, it will notice it doesn’t age either. It’s a Legion immortal, Beta Threea soldier of the Legion.”

“A soldier of the Legion.” I considered it. I guess it did make some sense. I was in tremendous shape, even after all that time in the Oz. There was no spare fat on me, and it was not just because of the starvation rations they had fed us on Nimbos. My muscles were whipcord tight, and hard as iron. That mugger in the elevatorI had demolished him with my hands and fists. I had reacted as savagely as a jungle animal, and I had felt no remorse for his death. And it was true, I never did get sick. And the arm

immortal? Immortal! System proprop claimed it was because Legion troopers were doomed to fight forever, until they were killed, even if it took hundreds of years.

“The CrimCon captured it, Beta Three, when we were running together from that aircar on Andrion Two. They almost got us as well, but the Legion troopers that were with us hustled us out of the area.”

“It’s nonsense,” I objected. “Why was the CrimCon fighting the Legion?”

“We don’t know the full story, Beta Three. We know only what Cinta has chosen to tell us. But we can tell it that it is one extremely important unit. Cinta told us that elements in the CrimCon allied themselves with the System, to oppose the Legion and to capture both Cinta and it. They didn’t get Cinta but they got it. They psyched it, and gave it to the Systemwe don’t know why. It wasn’t easy, tracking it down. But we did it. And now we’ve got it back!” Her eyes were glowing, and a fierce grin arose. “Cinta will be ecstatic.”

“Why did they want us? What did we have that was so important?”

“We don’t know, Beta Three. Cinta never told us. But we do know it had something to do with a little trip that it took with Cintawe can’t even tell it about that. Whatever it was, it precipitated the breakup of ConFreethe CrimConand the foundation of the Lost Command. What does it know about the Lost Command?”

“Insane, genocidal war criminalsa gang of ruthless, merciless, marauding bandits, armed with antimats and hungry for bloodsomething like that.”

“Yes, yes

right. Something like that. It consists of several Legions that have broken away from ConFree and formed their own sphere of influence. We used to be terrified of the Legion, Beta Three. We were on the Legion death-list, oncemaybe we still are, but it doesn’t matter any more. Cinta fooled us for a long time, it was good, but we’re not stupid. We were pawns, the whole timeand Cinta was the only one who knew. It doesn’t matter. We love that woman. We’ll follow it right into Hell, if it wants. We’ll never leave our Cinta.”

“It sounds as if this Cinta person is the one with all the answers. Is that why we’re in this room?”

“Yes to both. Just a frac.” Her slender fingers flashed over the controls. She adjusted the screen so I was just out of the picture. She flashed me a quick smile, and nervously brushed back her short wispy blonde hair with one hand. The screen filled with light. “It will take a few fracs to make the connection,” she said. I watched her, my mind in neutral. It was going to take awhile for me to sort it all out, I knew. I was a dishwasherwhat did I know about the Legion? It was ridiculous, I thought. They must have the wrong person! Surely I would remember something, if it were really true. The screen crackled suddenly, and flashed blue-white.

“Is it true?” A female voice, from the d-screen. I couldn’t see her featuresWhit had turned the screen away from me.

“Absolutely!” Whit was beaming, triumphant. “We have Beta Three, Commander. And it’s right here. Just for it, Cinta. Happy birthdaywith love, from sub.”

“Let us see.” There was no emotion in the voice. Whit reached out a finger and swivelled the d-screen around to face me.

A stunning image of beauty gazed at me out of the screen. She was exquisitepale brown skin, lustrous shoulder-length auburn hair, exotic Assidic eyes and a wide, sensual mouth. The smouldering eyes, the high cheekbones and the very fine facial features suggested the blood of the Conqueror, a chill ghost of the bloody past. Yet she was so fragile and perfect she looked like an angel, fallen to earth through some heavenly tragedy. I knew this was no ordinary girl. As her gaze fell on me she sucked in her breath and one hand went up to her lips, an involuntary gesture. She had paled, ever so slightly, and now she was frozen, taking me in. Then the hand came down, and her lovely face was a stony mask.

“We thank it, Whit,” she said quietly.

“Pandaros helped us,” Whit said. She was still beaming proudly. But I hardly heard it. My mind was swirling madly, my gaze rivetted on the vision in the screen. Her voice! ‘Will you please stop doing that?’ The words were echoing in my skull. This girl, Cintashe wasn’t just on the screen, she was in my mind as well. I knew her! She had come to me one night in my dreams, back in my filthy cold little cube in Agra Workers Hostel Number 14. I had been sharpening my knife, lost to the world, and she had come out of my mind, out of my past, cutting past all those barriers like magic, hissing right in my ears‘Will you please stop doing that?’ She had been upset. And there had been a childand something elsea beast, a giant

yes, there was no doubtthis was her, my past!

“I remember you!” I exclaimed. Then I stopped, shocked. I had said “I”, and “you”. That was CrimCon vocabulary, sub talk. Strangeit had just popped out.

“I remember you, too, Wester,” the vision said calmly, “and I’m very pleased you’re getting your memory back.” The color was coming back to her face now. And she was talking CrimCon too! “I’d like to welcome you back. What exactly do you remember?” Somehow her speech sounded perfectly natural. The you’s and I’s didn’t bother me at all.

I squirmed, uneasily. “Uh

nothing. Really. We just

I just

seem to remember it. You. Your face. Your voice. That’s all. Nothing else.”

She was silent for awhile, looking out of that flickering d-screen, glowing out of the dark. And my whole world seemed to focus in on her, right there, in that shimmering field of light. Had I really known this angel?

“Then it’s true,” she said. “You’ve been psyched.”

“That’s affirmative. They told us

they told me I was a dangerous criminal.”

“You were dangerous all right, Wester, but you weren’t a criminal. You were mostly inconvenient, to ConFree. They probably felt uneasy about killing one of their own, after they had extracted all you knew. So they turned you over to the System. The slimy bastards! This is what we’re dealing with, this is our enemy, this is how bureaucracies deal with moral dilemmasthey make you go away. What did they do to you, Wester? You look terrible!”

“Sorry

if we don’t come up to its standards,” I said coldly. “We’re just a dishwasher, after all. And those people may be its enemiesbut they’re not ours.” I was a little upset. I guess things were happening a bit too fast for me to absorb it all. The Oz had made me stupid, after all, and I had no idea what was happening here.

Cinta just stared at me. I couldn’t read her at all. She licked her lips, and my heart leaped. “You’re not a dishwasher, Wester. You can forget that right now. Everything you remember is crap. It’s all a lie. You’re not a citizen of the System, you’re a soldier of the Legion, born in ConFree, and you’ve got a date with destiny. Your past is what’s really real, and that’s hidden deep in your mind. But we’re going to get it back for you, Westerdon’t you worry about that at all. I pledge that from the bottom of my soul. I swear it on Deadman. I’m going to get you your past back, and when I do we’re going to finish what we started, and ConFree’s going to regret it, and the System’s going to regret it, and the O’sthe Vthey’re going to regret it, too.”

“Sounds like we’ve got a lot of very powerful enemies,” I said, uneasily. “Assuming you do get my memory back for me, is anybody going to be happy about it?”

She smiled, a white flash smile that took my breath away. “Yeah,” she said, “the good guys are going to be happy. We may be outnumbered, but we don’t give a damn about that. We’re on a mission from God, Westerand you’ve been walking point. I’ve got an E with your name on it, and it’s getting lonely. I’m really glad to see you, Wester. I’ll admit it. I’ll even admit it in front of Whit. I’ve missed you, Wester. We all have. You can’t imagine how good it is to have you back.”

“Well

” I was more than a little nervous. I knew an “E” was the Legion’s standard-issue battlefield superiority weapon. “Thanks. We

I

uh

how about introducing yourself? Oh and, uh

I thought my designation was Beta Three. Am I ‘Wester’ too?”

Another pearly smile. What a doll! “Sorry, Wester. Yes, you’re Wester, and Beta Three, too. My name is Cintana Tamaling, alias Cinta, alias Antara Tarantos-Hanna, alias Tara, alias Indigo Frost

I’ve used up a lot of names. You used to call me Tara. We’re old friendswe’ve been through a lot together. Yes, just call me Tara. That name used to be a secret, but all the secrets are gone now. We’re standing right under the stars, waiting for the future, whatever it may be. Life or death, it’s the same to us. We’re going to do the right thing, Westerwherever it leads. Just a frac!” She leaned to one side, distracted. Someone was saying something to her off-screen.

“Sorry, Westergot to go! Whit, take good care of it. Brief it on everything. Get Redhawk on the link and make sure it’s all going smoothly. We’ll get back to it. Oh, and Whit

thanks.”

“It was nothing, Cinta!” Whit was glowing again. She was obviously fond of Cinta. The screen flashed, cracked once, and faded. Silence settled over our little cube. Whit appeared very pleased with herself.

“So,” I said, “where was she calling from? If she’s close enough to use a link, and I’m so bloody important to her, why didn’t she come in person?” I was trying out my sub talk, and I didn’t care any more what anyone thought. It seemed perfectly natural to me.

“It’s not exactly close,” Whit replied. “Cinta’s in Dindabai, with the Lost Command. It’s about as far as it can get from System vactwelve hundred light years or something like that.”

“Dindabai. Soshe’s with the Lost Command.”

“Affirmative. And from what we’ve gathered, Cinta is a rather important unit with LC headquarters. Just for its info.”

“We see. And we’re in stardrive, out of Nimbos Sector.”

“That’s right.”

I just looked at her. They must have thought I was pretty stupid. Just a dishwasherwhat the hell will he know. They probably thought they could tell me anything they wanted, and I would believe it. Well, they were in for a big surprise.

***

“Hi. Want some company?” I opened my eyes. I was lying on my back by the pool, toasting in the warm rays of the sun racks lining the overhead. It was Whit, clad in a skimpy black two-piece swim mini that didn’t conceal much. Her long shapely legs were knocking my eyes out.

“Sure.” I blinked, running my eyes over her slender, perfect figure.

“How’s the water?” She didn’t wait for a response, but dove right in. She hardly made a splash. She was obviously at home in the water. A swimming pool in a starshipthese people were seriously crazy, as well as criminally wealthy. The System had taught us that wealth was evil. Whit and her friends were certainly either criminals or CrimConmaybe both. And I was going to find out.

When she came back from her swim she settled down beside me, shaking the water from her short blonde hair, flashing me a cheery smile. Her nipples were fully visible against the wet top, and those legs were really distracting. She certainly knew it.

“Does it like the pool?” she asked.

“Fine,” I said. It was warm and peaceful. The reflection from the water was glimmering off the ceiling. The two of us were alone by the pool.

“Would it like to mate with us?” Whit asked, touching me lightly on one leg. Nothing like the direct approach, I thought.

“Of course I would,” I replied. “But not now. There are a few things we have to clear up first. You can tell your buddy Cinta that her patsy doesn’t believe a word of the story you two have cooked up. Just tell her this is one dishwasher who’s not buying it. She’s going to have to find herself another fool.”

Whit had suddenly flushed. “What does it mean?” she gasped.

“You think I’m stupid,” I said, “and maybe I’m not as bright as I should be, because of the psyching, but I’m not stupid. Starlinks don’t work across galactic zones, they don’t work in stardrive, and they certainly don’t work in realtime. Your Cintaor whatever her name isis probably on board this ship. So why don’t you tell her to show herself? She’s not fooling anybody.” I closed my eyes and lay back on the warm tiles. I didn’t have anything further to say, and it was wonderful just lying there in the warmth. I had exercised thoroughly, had a good swim, and now I was just soaking up the rays. I had already decided I was not going to believe anything these people had to tell me.

“Kaga, is it there?” I opened my eyes. Whit had got up and was standing a few steps away, speaking into a wristcom she had picked up off a poolside table. Look at those legs! Little beads of water were trickling slowly down those long silky legs. What a ride that would be! My eyes moved up to her lovely, tender little rear, pale cheeks seemingly straining to pop out of that skin-tight black mini. I wanted nothing more than to slip the mini down and take her up on her offer, right there by the pool. I should have probably mated with her first, and only later told her that I didn’t believe her. Well, I was just a sub after allsometimes we weren’t too bright!

“Kaga here,” the response came.

“Kaga, bring us the Beta Three hardfile, from our desk. We’re at the pool.”

“The pool? Will do.”

She settled down beside me again. I didn’t get up. She had a towel around her neck.

“We’re sorry it doesn’t believe us, Beta Three,” she said. I did not respond. “It saved our life, Beta Three, on Katag. And we’ll never forget that. We wouldn’t deceive it. We’re going to prove to it that we’re telling the truth. Why should we lie? What do we have to gain?”

I looked over at her. “How should I know?” I replied. “I’m just a sub. I’m an ex-criminal who’s been psyched. And you need a patsyto do something for you. What better choice than someone who doesn’t know who he is? You feed him some half-truths, suck him right in, and next thing he thinks he’s a soldier of the Legion, and he’s off on whatever suicidal venture you’ve cooked up for him. And if he’s caught or killed, who cares? He’s a psycho, a nobody, a throwaway, to do your dirty work. Nobody will even know he’s gone. Nobody will care! What is it? A political assassination? Espionage? Ripping off a rival senso dealer? Let’s have the punch line.”

Kaga entered. He was one of the Cyrillian crew, a sinister black shadow. He put a doc case on the table, let his cold gaze wander briefly over Whit’s body, and then withdrew.

“Take a look,” Whit said, emptying the doc case on the table. Several little metal ID cards and a few solcards tumbled out. Whit withdrew a plastic printout from the case. “Your whole life is here.”

I drew up a chair and picked up one of the gleaming metal cards. My face looked up at me from an image plate, young and confident. My hair was short and my skin was burnt dark from the fierce rays of some alien star. The Legion cross was etched into the metal at the top. That symbol was hated by billions in System worlds. It represented the triumph of the Outworldersnot to mention genocide and mass murder. There was a long number etched into the top of the card, and under it a live text box with words running through the window: 22 LEGION TRAINING COMMAND. ADVANCED COMBAT TRAININGHELL COURSE. CERTIFICATION OF COMPLETION. FULLY FIT FOR COMBAT. REASSIGNMENT AUTHORIZED TO ACTIVE UNIT.

“Why is it marked invalid?” I asked.

“It’s a souvenir, we gather. These were found in its personal effects on Andrion Two, Cinta told us. It evidently did its advanced training in some place called Planet Hell. This was its ID card at that time.” I picked up another metal card. Another image, me again, seemingly even younger. Pale, wide-eyed and scared. The same number across the top, and another text box: 22 LEGION TRAINING COMMAND. VELTROS BASIC TRAINING. CERTIFICATION OF COMPLETION. REASSIGNMENT AUTHORIZED TO ACT.

It was also marked INVALID. There were several other metal cards, but I was getting the idea. Whit was toying with one of the holcards. She triggered it, and the image burnt its way into the air, mils from my face.

A disorderly gang of young troopers, males and females, dressed in camfax fatigues, grinning at the holscan, splattered with mud, celebrating something. I was right there in the middle of them, grinning confidently. One guy in the back row was seemingly about to plunge a hot knife into somebody else’s back. I looked at the holo a long time. Arrogant, foolish young troopers. Innocents, grinning in the face of death. Was that really me? Had I really lived through such adventures? Did I really know these people? Kids, just out of school. I looked into every face. What had they meant to me? My skin was crawling. Strangers, all of them. I couldn’t remember any of them.

“Here’s its Legion ID,” Whit said sadly. “This one’s still valid.”

Another metal card, boldly emblazoned with the Legion cross. The image was me again, tanned, alert, grim, wearing a black tunic. There was a text box along the top that read: 22 LEGION, 12 CER, CAT 24, BETA 3. CONFEDERATION OF FREE WORLDS, MINISTRY OF WAR. CONFREE LEGION, OUTVAC SECTOR COMMAND. MILSPEC: UNRESTRICTED. STATUS: ACTIVE. EXPIRATION: INDEFINITE. SERVICE: 22L, VBT, ACT, 22/12CER/CAT24B, ATOM’S ROAD, ANDRION 2, COLDMARK, ANDRION 3, ANDRION 2, MONGERA, VEDA 6, ULDO 3, ANDRION 2.

At the very bottom of the card there was another textbox with a warning notice: THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT SUBJECT, DESIGNATION BETA 3, IS A CITIZEN OF THE CONFEDERATION OF FREE WORLDS AND A MILITIA VOLUNTEER ON OFFICIAL SERVICE WITH THE CONFREE LEGION. THE MINISTRY OF WAR OF THE CONFEDERATION OF FREE WORLDS AND THE CONFREE LEGION HIGH COMMAND HEREBY REQUEST ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN TO PERMIT SUBJECT UNHINDERED PASSAGE FROM ANY POINT OF ORIGIN TO RETURN TO CONFREE VAC, AND NOTIFIES ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN THAT ANY ATTEMPT TO DETAIN OR HARM SUBJECT WILL BE CONSIDERED AN ACT OF WAR AGAINST THE CONFEDERATION OF FREE WORLDS.

“It reads more like a declaration of war than an ID card,” I commented.

“It’s a nasty galaxy out there,” Whit responded, “and the Legion is not too popular. However, everyone knows they mean exactly what they say. An ID card like that demands a lot of respect.”

“Sounds like I had an interesting career. Twelve CERwhat’s that?”

“Twelfth Colonial Expeditionary Regimentyour unit. It was annihilated on Uldo. It’s no longer active.”

“Annihilated.” I don’t know why, but an icy wave was creeping through my veins.

“Most of its friends are dead,” Whit said matter-of-factly. “But those of us who are left would very much like it to remember us.”

“I’ve heard of Uldo,” I said. “Wasn’t it the first DefCorps-Legion effort against the V? And the Legion betrayed us?”

“It wasn’t the first. And it wasn’t the Legion that did the betraying. It was the DefCorps.”

I pushed the ID cards aside. “You’ve gone to a lot of trouble. These are good ID’s. I’ll keep it in mind, should I ever need any help with documentation.”

Whit activated another holo. I was standing there smiling, one arm over the shoulders of a stunning beauty. It was CintaTara, Whit’s buddy. We were both dressed in Legion camfax, relaxed and happy. And right between us, gazing shyly at the holscan, stood a little boy. A preschooler, leaning against our legs, right at home. We were each holding him by a hand.

And my head was spinning, again. ‘Will you please stop doing that?’ It was all I had to make their story true. It had come to me in the night, long before Whit and her Cyrillian had kicked in my door. I could still remember it all, whirling around in my head. There had been a boy, a childand I knew this was that child. I knew it.

“That was Andrion Two, after Uldo,” Whit said. “The last shot we had of it.”

“Is Cinta my wife? Is that my son?”

Whit laughed. “It is confused, isn’t it? No, Cinta belongs to nobody. And that’s not its son. It’s

an orphan.”

“You were lying to me about the starlink.”

“No, we weren’t. Cinta was calling it from Dindabai. We’re not lying to it.”

“That’s impossiblewe’ve done a little reading. The laws of spacetime prevent it.”

“The device we were using is Cinta’s own creation. Cinta said it doesn’t violate the laws of spacetimeit simply bypasses them. It goes into an area where they don’t apply.”

“Cinta created it? Nonsense! How stupid do you think I am? What is she? A spacetime physicist? An antimat engineer? If there was such a device, it would revolutionize galactic communications and probably star travel as well.”

“We don’t doubt it. Cinta had a lot of

unusual

help. Afraid we can’t be more specific, but it’s true.”

“Nonsense. I don’t believe a word of it.”

“We’ve got its entire service record here.”

“I don’t want to see it. It’s nonsense.”

“Cinta warned us it was extremely stubborn. We can see that now. What will it take to persuade it that we’re telling the truth?”

I looked away, up to the lights on the ceiling. “I’m not sure,” I said. I had known Cintathat much I believed. And the child. My hand moved over to the holo. Perhaps it was true. Perhaps it was all true, even the part about the starlink. How would I know? I was just a sub, after all.

“Cinta promises it will get its memory back, Beta Threeit promises! It will spare no expense.”

“De-psyching? And how do I tell it from psyching?”

“We can’t help it if it doesn’t want help, Beta Three.”

I looked calmly into her pale blue eyes. “I want my past back. If you can do that, I’ll do whatever you want. Assassination, drugswhatever. But it has to be real. Don’t try to fool me. I’ll know the difference!”

Whit held out one hand, palm up. “Deal.”

I smacked it lightly with a fist. “Then do it.”

***

A slight shudder ran over the ship. I closed the datapak. I knew we had just exited stardriveand I knew I had done this before, in my previous life. I thought of it that way nowmy previous life. The datapak was full of details about my previous life. I glanced at the chron on the wristcom Whit had given me. It was way too early. Something was wrong. Then the door to my spotless little cube slid open soundlessly and Whit was suddenly there.

“Want to see something?” She seemed bright and cheery.

“Sure.”

“Follow us.”

She took me to a small room furnished with several reclinable airchairs. There was nothing else in the room.

“Take a seat.” She collapsed into one of them. I chose another.

“So now what happens?” I asked.

“Illumination,” she said with a faint smile. She jabbed at something on the arm of her chair, and the ceiling cracked open.

Nuclear light flooded us, dazzling me, glittering phospho-hot, burning over my flesh, cutting the room into brilliant arcs of blazing liquid metal and icy black shadows. An observation port, I thoughtpolarization zero. My pupils were slowly widening now after the initial shock. I sucked in my breath. Two massive stars were burning above us, a double star systema young electric blue giant glowing like the moment of creation, spitting holy actinic rays to light up the galaxyand a companion star, a glittering, icy emerald-white sun, a precious galactic gem from Heaven’s cosmic mine, married to the blue giant by a sparkling twisted highway of phospho gas, diamond dust, God’s necklace, a holy road in the vac paved with a billion stunning gems. The two great stars were illuminating the universe, swirling in a mad cosmic dance, dazzling my eyes, crawling over my skin, crackling silently. The eyes of Heaven, God’s own lighthouse. A beacon, a warning on the perilous shoals of infinity as we rush blindly into the dark, mindless and lost.

I was stunned, paralyzed, frozen and helpless, flattened against the airchair like a worm wriggling before the face of God. The warm rays of those alien stars were kissing my flesh, the image burning into my retina for all time. The double star was so brilliant it blotted out everything else in the sky. There was only that incredible, massive, glittering visionthe blinding blue giant, the elektra-green white, joined by that astounding magical road of holy dust, an eerie, impossible marriage that could only have been arranged by the gods.

The floodgates of my mind burst wide open and I heard itthe music of the stars, rushing over me like an irresistible evil drug, exploding in my mind, hissing in my ears. It was the starsI could hear them! Massive red supergiants, roaring, the breath of hell. Ancient dead black dwarfs, moaning, billions of lonely light years of regrets and longing. Shimmering, silvery nebulae, sweet far-off melodies from the edge of infinity. Insane black holes, deadly gateways to other universes, howling total destruction. Hot yellow suns, crackling and spitting, full of life. Stars, stars, galaxies of stars, whispering in my mind. My skin was ice cold. This was the terrifying music I had heard, ever so briefly, in my dirty little hole in the workers’ hostel. The music of the stars!

By the time Whit finally restored the polarization, banishing the images, I was stunned and twitching.

“How’s it doing, Beta Three?” It was almost a whisper. I did not answer. My eyes were full of tears.

“That was the Two Sisters,” she explained. “Cinta showed it to me oncethe bitch! We were in the vicinity, so we thought we’d give it a look-see. Our own idea. What does it think?”

I didn’t answer. The starsscut! They had me, now.

“Thought it might trigger something, Beta Threethat’s all. It’s a soldier of the Legion, after all. It belongs out here with the stars. Not down on Nimbos, in the gutter.”

The stars! I closed my eyes, overwhelmed. Soldier of the LegionI was a soldier of the Legion!

“Sorry if it didn’t work, Three. We’ll try something else. Pretty, wasn’t it?”

***

“Thinker! I’ll be damned! It is you! Deadman’s death! I’ll be damned!” Beta Ten was bug-eyed with amazement, peering at me in wonder from the d-screen of Cinta’s impossible starlink. I was somewhat taken aback as well. Beta Ten was a pale, intense young man with splotchy skin, long tangled reddish hair and a scruffy, sparse beard. According to Whit his warname was Redhawk. He didn’t look like a mass murderer. He didn’t even look like a soldier, but he was wearing Legion camfax.

“We did it, Tenniejust for it!” Whit was squirming beside me, beaming at the screen.

“You’re a bloody genius, girla magician! Thinker! How are ya?” A manic grin split his face as he addressed me again.

“I’m fine,” I said. “Uhh

afraid I don’t remember you. And who’s Thinker? I thought my name was Beta Three.”

“You’re Thinker, Three! It’s your warname! The bastards psyched you! They erased you, Three! They erased everybody, the whole squad, one way or another. They just wiped us out, wrote us right out of history. Well, they’re not going to get away with it, Three! We owe it to One to get the past back. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing for Cintafor the LC. You think I like this crap? Skulking in the dark, nosing around in Central Datacall? I hate every frac! But I’m going to see those cowardly ConFree Inner bastards don’t get away with it! I tell you, Thinker, I’ve never seen such bad morale beforeit’s so bad it’s close to rebellion. And they know it! That’s why they don’t dare move on the LC. They’re afraid they’ll give the orders and nobody will respond! Man, that would be a first for the Legion, wouldn’t it? Remember Andrion Three? Remember Mongera? Remember Uldo? We charged into Hell for the Legion, for ConFree, blind. And now they want us to target our own! Deto! They can haul me away in cuffs; they can put me up against the wall. I’m not worried! Nobody will pull the trigger!”

“Afraid I don’t remember any of those places,” I responded calmly. Redhawk was twitching on screen. His pale blue eyes were glowing, and little specks of saliva were visible at the corners of his mouth.

“Get me the hell out of here, girl,” he said wearily to Whit. “I’m sick of it!”

“That’s the plan, Tennie,” Whit responded soothingly. “Nothing’s changed. But first it’s Yida, then Dindabaiand only then do we

re-unite.” She reached out with slender fingers and her tapered silver nails clicked lightly against the d-screen.

“You’d better wear your dispo panties, girl, ‘cause they’re not going to survive that event!”

“That’s affirmative, Tennie.” A faint smile from Whitshe was blushing.

“Thinker, welcome back!” Ten appeared to have snapped out of his depression. “Whit told me she’s briefed you on Beta. Now let me tell you what I’ve found out. I’m right smack in the heart of a Legion hive here, in Aircar Control for Quaba Station. We’re on Quaba Seven, and Quaba Station is Hqs for FleetcomFleet Command for the Black Fleet. We support Outvac Sector Command, or what’s left of it after the LC broke away. As I think you know, Fleetcom is sitting on the fence right now, claiming to be loyal to ConFree. And I’m dead meat if they detect what I’m doing. Anyway, here’s what happened. I was your aircar driver on Uldo. When the dust settled after your attack on the Mound, they ordered me to stay put. I promptly disobeyed orders. I flew directly to the Mound, and walked right in. The Legion had secured the site, but it was an awful mess. I found Merlin. He was deadthe medics were recovering the body. Then the security folks caught up with me and carted me away.” He paused, and wearily shook his head.

“Merlin,” I said. It meant nothing to me.

“Merlin was Beta Four,” Ten continued. “He was my blood brother. And yours.” He sighed, then continued. “I was detained for awhile. Then a couple of ConFree drones dropped in with a Legion escort, and gave me the word. They told me there had been no survivors. Everyone in Beta was killedthat’s what they said. Then they reminded me that the entire mission was classified Ultra Cosmic and I was to never discuss it with anyone. They said there were details about the mission that could not be revealed to me, or to anyone else. They said it was so important they were going to change my Legion serial number. They said my old identity had to end. Beta Ten’s name went up on the death list, on the Legion Monument to the Dead, and I was reassigned here with a new designation.

“Well, my slot here is not too demanding. I had a lot of time on my hands. So I was checking out the Monument one day, calling up designations on Datacall. Anyone can do it. Well, I found my number all right. Dead as hell. Then I called up everybody in the squad. And, sure enough, they were all thereall listed as killed on Uldo. ‘Died in Service’. That’s what it said. You too, Thinker. But Cinta had been with you, and she was not listed. Neither was Gildron. I figured it was because they were not officially part of the squad. But I wondered about that. And I thoughtwell, how do I know any of them are really dead? I’m listed, and I’m not dead. The only one I know who died for sure is Merlin, because I saw his body myself.

“In Hqs I had access to all personnel records for Outvac Sector Command. There’s nothing sensitive about it. I started with my own recordsboth the old file and the new file. The genetic ID had been altered, of course, but there were certain physical similarities between the two allegedly different individuals that were exactly the same. Height, eye color, blood typeall the same. They hadn’t bothered to change it. They probably figured it would be an impossible task to track anyone down using those guidelines alone. And it’s not until you get into the file that you’ve got the holo. A different pix, but it was certainly me.

“Well, I can tell you, they had good reason to be confident. I called up the old files for every member of Beta. They all ended with combat deaths on Uldo. I took down basic physical featuressex, height, blood type, and anything else I thought they might have not bothered to change. I did one person at a time, scanning the entire sector personnel listing. I wasn’t expecting any luck on the more unusual features, like Snow Leopard’s pink eyes or Dragon’s tattoos, but I tried anyway.

“It took a long, long time, but I had plenty of time. I’m not finished yet, but I’ve already made one good hit. I didn’t find you, Thinker, but I found DragonBeta Eight. Eight is alive, and he’s in Systie vac, just like you. Yida, specifically. They changed his designation, psyched out a false bio for him, and then recorded his resignation from the Legion. Dragon, resigning from the Legionridiculous! The Legion was his life. But there’s no doubt it was him. It was Dragon, glaring at me right out of the holo, tattoos and all, even though the tattoos were not mentioned in the physical description. Dragon survived Uldo, Thinker. He’s alive, and he’s on Yida. Voluntarily or not, I don’t know.”

“Cinta found it,” Whit cut in.

“That’s right,” Redhawk continued. “I learned he was alive and had left the Legion. I also had the date and place. That was enough to track him out of Legion vac. He headed straight for the SystemI had no idea where. Damned if I knew why he’d do that. I brooded about it for quite awhile. I was completely helpless. I couldn’t contact anyone, and the last port of call listed for Cinta’s ship, the Maiden, was Uldo. After that, it just vanished from the records.

“That’s when Whit walked into my office. That’s when my world turned right around. Cinta tracked Dragon to Yidashe’s got the System wired.”

“Sounds like she’s got the Legion wired as well,” I commented.

Redhawk laughed. “I suppose so. This link is a real kick. Anyway, that’s why you’re headed for Yida. I wish I could come with you but I can’t. We want you and Whit to contact Dragon. Bring him with you, if he’ll come. Tell him what you know about Beta. Ask him what he knows. We don’t know what his story ismaybe they’ve psyched him, too. If they have, Cinta wants to un-psych him. Just like she’s going to do for you.”

“Why is Cinta being so helpful to you?”

“I’ve been extremely helpful to her. And don’t forget she was with Beta on the Uldo mission. She doesn’t talk about it much, but she’s rather intense on the subject. When I told her about Dragon and said I wanted to contact him, she agreed completelyand mounted a major expedition to recover both you and Dragon.”

“Was it Cinta who tracked me to Nimbos?”

“Yeah. She found me, and she found you. I don’t know how. But she’s got the resources of the Lost Command behind her.”

“So we’re off to Yida.”

“Right,” Redhawk said. “Damn, it’s good to have you back, Three. Damn!” He was positively glowing.

“Yida,” I said.

“You, and Whit. Bring him back alive, guys!”

“We’ll do that,” Whit said.

“And then get me outta here! I can hardly wait!”

“Likewise,” Whit said. “See ya!” And she cut the connection.

***

I awoke with a start, and almost brained myself again on the overhead. The images were still swirling around in my head. They just wouldn’t go away. The adrenalin was still flowing, and my guts were churning. It was pitch black. The deck was icy. I sat on the edge of my little bunk, mindless light years from everything I knew, rushing into the future. I strained to remember it. I knew it wasn’t a dream. It was the past, my own secret past, whispering in my ears.

And it was all flames, superhot burning gas roaring all around me, shrieking blue-hot white-hot brilliant incandescent flames, swirling everywhere. There was no escape and I was running right into it. She was up ahead, lost and doomed, burning, holding out one glowing metal hand. I could almost see her face, behind the mask, pleading, crying, calling out my name“Thinker! Thinker! Thinker!”

My name. I pulled out the wallchair and straddled it, fumbling at the desk console in the dark until I found the holcard. I activated it and both squads appeared, Beta and Gamma, shimmering in a brilliant cone of light.

My nameThinker. That was what those voices had called me, back in the Agra Workers’ Hostel. Surely that was it. And now I was remembering it. Was it just suggestion? Redhawk had told me my warname. Or was it real? Real? Since when is a dream real? But my past was realmore real than the present.

Betaand Gamma. Faces from the past, unknown to my present self. A gang of young soldiers in camfax fatigues splattered with mud, grinning and excited, celebrating something. The high morale was obvious. My eyes were drawn to a girl with tangled black hair and dark liquid eyes. She was clutching a muddy medpak, looking vaguely off into the distance.

Was this the girl who had been calling my name in my dreams, from out of those impossible flames? I knew the designations by now. She was Beta Nine, Priestess, the medic. Why did I think it was her? There were other girls. Perhaps I should ask Whit about Beta Nine. Orperhaps I shouldn’t. The dreams were all I could believe. They were all I had that was real. I didn’t want any further input. No, perhaps I should not ask.

Beta NinePriestess. Why Beta Nine?

Chapter 3

The Priest

“Yida Traffic Control, P.S. Stardust locked on to approved orbit, acknowledge.”

“Stardust, Yida. Confirm. Welcome to Yida. Stand by for Customs Inspection.”

“Yida, Stardust. Confirm.”

I was on the bridge with Whit and Pandaros. We had quite a view. Yida was up ahead, a massive, luminous ice-blue orb streaked with filmy, wispy clouds. It was glittering brightly, burning my eyes. It was astounding, approaching that blinding, gigantic world in complete silence. I knew there were millions of people down there, but from the Stardust, in space, nothing could be seen of the human population. Everything our race had built was invisible. We were of no more consequence to this planet’s natural history than a momentary plague of ants. I knew whatever we had done down there would ultimately dry up and blow away with the wind, in a cosmic instant. And then it would be just as if we had never been there. I felt about as significant as a mote of dust, approaching that great planet.

“It’s quite a place,” Whit informed me from the command chair. “Heavy grav, and cold as a bitch. The star’s a white dwarf, and this is the only surviving planetit’s barely within the current life zone. There are huge atmospheric generation plants here, churning out oxygen. This planet wants to die, but the System won’t let it.”

“What’s the attraction?”

“It’s mineral-rich. It’s so important to the System’s war effort that the Governor is a Mocain, and there’s a Mocain DefCorps garrison. They’ve imported a lot of VS to work the mines. There’s plenty of trouble with the VS and there’s trouble with the original settlers toothey’re Outworlders.”

Mocains. They were the Greenies, the real power behind the System, hated and feared by billions. I hadn’t even seen one on Nimbos. They normally got other races to do their dirty work for them. At the Oz they had been presented as benevolent and wise, concerned only with bringing peace and equality to the galaxy. And the VSthat stood for “Voluntary Service”. The VS were said to be the ultimate idealists, giving up everything for service to the System. The CrimCon claimed the VS were slaves. I wasn’t surebut I knew there was a lot of pressure for System citizens to sign up for VS.

Why would Beta Eight come to such a world? It didn’t look like a good environment for an ex-Legion trooper. On the other hand, why had I gone to Nimbos? There was no way of knowing Eight’s situation until we met him.

“Three

there’s something it should know,” Whit was saying, “about Dragon.”

“What about him?”

“Well

it knows that TennieI mean Redhawkis our

well

we’re

um

friends.”

“I gathered that.”

“Well, Dragon was with it and Priestess when it recovered us from Katag.”

“Yes, I’ve read about that.”

“Well, Dragon is rather

forceful.”

“Forceful?”

“Yes. On the trip to Veda, Dragon

well, it visited us in our cube.”

“He did?”

“Yes. Well, what’s a girl supposed to do? We didn’t invite it! Anyway, it was very nice.”

“I see.” So why was she telling me?

“We just want it to know, Three. We’re very fond of Dragon. And we want very much to get it off Yida, if it’ll come.”

“Fine.”

“We’re also very fond of Redhawk. We’d hate to hurt it. Dragon knows about Redhawk, of course, but Redhawk doesn’t know about Dragon. We hope it will keep our little secret. All right?”

“Fine. Don’t worry.” I decided I was probably going to need a scorecard, to keep track of Whit’s social life. I wondered vaguely if her earlier invitation to me still stood.

***

“How in Deadman’s name do people live like this?” I asked. We were standing before what looked like a giant warehouse, struggling against the grav, blinking in the smog. It was mid-day but the sky was black and it was sleetingthe pavement was slick with ice. I felt about twice as heavy as normal. My eyes and throat were burning. I snapped the oxy mask in place.

“It’s the chlorine,” said Whit. “They say the body adjustsbut it’s hard on newcomers. Better ease up on the oxyit’s best to get used to it.”

Nelson had parked the aircar nearby. He was one of Whit’s Cyrillians, and he was staying with the car. Pandaros was back on the Stardust, safely in orbit. Our senso op was in high gear and vast amounts of credits were flowing into the Stardust’s coffers and into the pockets of Yida’s customs officials and a host of other System bureaucrats. Senso was big business, and the only losers were the buyers. Meantime, Whit and I were tracking down DragonBeta Eight.

“Is this the place?” I could barely make out the sign, through the yellow smog:

SWEETFLESH FARM

Wholesale and Retail Breeder of Pure Flesh Stock

SWEETFLESH INDUSTRIES RG.

Live or Cooked Flesh Stock

Smoked Sweetflesh

Skinned Flesh Stock and Sweetflesh Fillets

“This was its first and only employment on record,” Whit replied. “It didn’t stay here long. Where it went from here we don’t know.” She took a whiff from her oxygen mask, then stuffed it back inside her jacket. “Let’s do it.”

We pushed in past a large, loose door, leaking water all over a dirty tile floor. It was colder inside than out. An oversized goon with a bad haircut, a bloody apron and massive bare arms looked up at us from a counter stacked high with packages.

“Help ya?” he asked hoarsely, pushing aside a comic book.

“Can we see the manager?” I asked.

“What’s it about?”

“We’re trying to find a fellow who used to work here. Is the manager in?”

“This ain’t no lost and found. If you don’t want to buy sweetflesh, take a walk.”

“The manager will like us,” I said, sliding a hundred-C credmark over the counter into the thug’s pudgy fingers. “We promise.”

“Like I said, we’ll see if he’s in.” The goon made the credmark disappear and picked up an intercom. There was another sign up on the wall behind him:

FRESH AND FROZEN SWEETFLESH

Whole Fresh Stock

Fillets, Veal, Steaks, Brain

Live Flesh Stock and General Sweetflesh Products

Frozen, Fresh, Dried, Smoked and Cooked Sweetflesh

“

want to see you and they’re giving away money,” the gorilla was saying. “Yeah? Right.” He hung up the intercom. “End of the hall,” he gestured with his thumb, opening up his comic book again.

“What’s sweetflesh?” I whispered to Whit as we walked down a cold wet tiled hall lined with doors.

“Take a look,” she said, pausing by a door, her fingers digging into my arm. Through a frosty glass panel we could barely make out several rows of faintly blue human corpses, hanging upside down from meat hooks. I jumped back from the door as if stung.

“Scut!” My head was spinning.

“It’s a tough world down here. Cannibalism is accepted. It’s big business. Forget itnothing we can do. Come on.” She pulled me down the hall. But there was another door. I only got a quick glimpse of ita file of chubby, naked young girls, pale skin and mindless eyes, still alive, shuffling forward, escorted by a fat male butcher with a shockrod, guiding them to an unknown fate. Then Whit pulled me away.

“Let’s see that manager,” she said. “Keep cool.”

We pushed open the door at the end of the hall. A rail-thin young man in a thick sweater was sitting behind a large desk in a cluttered office. The walls were decorated with colored posters of his products.

“We’re the managerClinton Quair. Can we help it?”

“Thanks for seeing us,” Whit cut in before I could respond. “Our name’s Tani Weemas. We’re new in town, and trying to locate a former employee of its firmKenkan Megwa. If it can

” but the mention of the name was enough. The manager’s eyes had widened, and a sudden alarm was clearly evident. One hand crept towards the edge of the desk.

“Don’t!” I warned him, jamming a hand into my jacket pocket. He froze, and carefully raised both hands, palms out. They were trembling.

“We don’t want trouble,” he said shakily. “We weren’t here when it happened. We never contacted the police. We had nothing to do with itnothing!” He was quite obviously terrified. I exchanged glances with Whit, and spoke.

“Tell us what you know,” I said in a menacing tone.

“We only know what the survivors told usonly that! We’re just a businessmanwe were not involved!” He was sweating.

“Let’s hear it,” I demanded.

“He didn’t work here longless than a month. He wasn’t a model employee, that’s all I know! The police took his personnel recordswe don’t have anything left.”

“Why wasn’t he a model employee?” Whit asked.

“He shot the former manager in the head, and executed most of the day gang. Six of them. Then he let the stock loose. It took days to round them all up againthey were all over town.”

“Where is Megwa now?” I asked.

“Ask the police! We don’t know, we don’t care. We have no problem with it, we have no complaints. We’re just a businessman, providing a service in response to public demand.”

“So

it’s wanted for murder?”

“Not for murder! It’s not illegal to kill non-government personnel, unless somebody files a complaintand nobody filed in this case. No, he’s wanted for thoughtcrime.”

“Thoughtcrime? What did it do?”

“We don’t know! We just heard it. Ask the police!”

I looked at Whit. She placed a five hundred-C credmark on the manager’s desk. “Appreciate the information. We’ll go now.”

He was speechless with relief.

***

Outside in the icy rain, we paused on the sidewalk, weaving slightly in the heavy gravity as our aircar glided slowly toward us from out of the fog. We were both clasping oxy masks over our mouths.

“Kaga is going to catch hell for this,” Whit muttered through her mask. “It was supposed to check with the police, and it said there was no record.”

“Whit, it knew Dragon,” I said. “Would he really have killed all those people?”

“Dragon was a soldier of the Legion. It was a believer. Believers are dangerous. Certainly it did it.”

“How do you feel about him now?”

“Our feelings don’t change!” Her eyes flashed.

The aircar drew up beside us and the doors snapped open. Nelson handed a plastic printout to Whit.

“From Kaga,” he said. “It seems the police are looking for our target.”

“Remind us to drop Kaga’s salary!” Whit snapped. We struggled into the car and collapsed gratefully into the seats. The message was a wanted notice, with Beta Eight’s hungry face burnt onto the image plate. Even in that muddy pix his dark eyes appeared to glow with a fanatic, unholy light. I leaned over Whit’s shoulder to read the notice:

WANTED

By the United System Alliance for

THOUGHTCRIME against the people.

CR 20,000 REWARD for information leading to the detention or death of Kenkan Megwa, Outworlder, Permanent Resident Alien of Yida, last seen in Keltos City on 1447/03/42. WARNING: Subject is armed and should be considered extremely dangerous.

“Shot him in the head,” I mused.

“He’s an idealist,” Whit explained.

“Funny they don’t specify what he did to merit thoughtcrime status,” I commented, reading through the physical description.

“The System never specifies,” Whit answered. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. Thoughtcrime status is considered a hunting license by the police. It’s a shoot-on-sight order.”

“Six

no, seven dead. And he freed the

what did the manager call them? Stock?”

“Futile, but admirable. Flesh stock is raised just to be slaughtered. There’s no attempt at education. Most of them can’t even speak. They’re just like animals. Easily recaptured.”

Our aircar lurched into an icy rain. This Beta Eight must be quite a guy, I decided. But the manager was rightDragon was certainly not a model employee.

***

When we came to the head on a stake, I knew we were in the right place. It had seemed like just another suburban shopping area, except for the roadblocks with kids toting SG’s. The residential areas were mostly cube blocs, but they were neat and clean. Whit and I had left Nelson with the aircar in the carpark and now we were wandering around the shopping area with the population. They seemed to be mostly Outworlders, and I didn’t spot any obvious poverty or signs of crime. It was lightly raining, cold and miserable. It did not look like a particularly revolutionary area, but this was Pearce Plaza, Pearce was supposed to be a center of subversive activity, and it was reportedly where Beta Eight had fled after the incident at the sweetflesh factory.

And there it was, right in the center of the shopping plazaa human head, bloodily mounted on a tall wooden stake. Something had been carved onto his forehead, but I couldn’t make it out because of the blood. A roll of thunder reverberated overhead, almost as if somebody had timed it to add to our sense of foreboding. The head was a horrible spectacle, but the rest of the shoppers were ignoring it. I turned to a punk who was lounging nearby.

“Who’s your buddy?” I gestured to the head.

“Internal Revenue,” the punk smirked in reply. “And he ain’t my buddy!” He struggled to his feet and slouched off.

“Well, let’s start asking around,” I suggested to Whit. “I don’t know what else to do.”

We never got a chance. The shoppers slowly faded away. Three kids with SG’s appeared from out of the yellow smog and took up positions around us. One of them was a girl.

“Freedom Front,” the girl announced. “ID’s, please.”

“We’re from off-planet,” I explained as we handed over our bogus System ID cards. “We’re looking for a friend of oursKenkan Megwa. We understand he’s in the neighborhood.”

“These are Systie ID’s,” the girl said, looking up at us sharply. “Don’t you have Front ID’s?”

“I told you, we’re from off-planet. Have you heard of Kenkan Megwa?”

Her face was a mask. “Everybody knows him. You want to meet him? Come with us.”

***

“You say you’re a friend of Kenkan.” He was a young Outworlder, wiry and alert, with intelligent grey eyes and long shaggy hair, sitting at a desk examining the contents of our pockets, which were strewn over the desktop. Whit and I had our hands cuffed together behind our backs. My throat was burning from the air. A young streetfighter was lounging against one wall with a subgun.

“That’s right,” I replied.

“Kind of heavy on weaponry for meeting a friend, aren’t you?” He fingered one of the two vac guns. There was also a shockrod, a hot knife, two cold knives, a boot knife, two autobillies and a knuckleshocker. The Stardust’s armory had been well stocked and I had helped myself.

“We heard it was a bad neighborhood.”

“It is. Sometimes it’s fatalfor people asking about Kenkan Megwa.” He examined our ID’s. “Where did you know Kenkan?”

“Off-planet. We’re old friends. Both of us. He knows us by other names. Show him the ID pix.”

“What names did he know you by?”

“Tell him it’s Beta Three and Maralee Whitney.”

“I’ll do that. Don’t go anywhere.” He left the room abruptly. The kid with the subgun remained, propping up the wall. We were not about to go anywhere.

“What if they psyched it?” Whit hissed through clenched teeth. “It won’t remember us!”

“You’ve got a real pessimistic streak there, haven’t you?”

***

They took us to him in an aircar. Whit and I were bundled together in the back, our hands still secured behind us, accompanied by three very relaxed streetkids armed with SG’s and one very young driver who was evidently still learning to drive. We hurtled into the dusk shakily with the windows down and a light rain spraying over us and the SG’s pointed carelessly out the windows as their owners chanted nonsense to each other. It appeared that the Freedom Front owned the area. By the time we arrived it was dark and the rain had turned to a cold drizzle.

“Out.” We stepped out of the car onto a wet gravel drive. We faced a gloomy building half hidden between two large shadowy trees. There was a faint light by the intercom on the door but otherwise it was dark. It looked like a detached home.

“In.” The kids pushed us in roughly as the door slid open. It was dark inside as well. We were in a large entry hall. I wasn’t sure if we were there to meet Beta Eight, to be killed, or maybe both. I sensed a cavernous room off to my left, also darkened. Little red sparks were dancing in there. I caught a whiff of incense, charged with something heavy, a powerful musk.

A shadow appeared out of that dark room, as lithe and quiet as a great cat. I knew immediately it was Beta Eight. He stood there, only a mike away from us. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness I could see black hair, deepset glittering eyes, distinct features, and a firm mouth set in a rock-hard jaw.

“Dragon!” Whit croaked. She sounded scared.

He reached out one arm, and his hand settled on Whit’s shoulder, hesitantly. Then it moved cautiously up her neck to her cheek. He stared into her face, totally silent. His fierce eyes shifted to me. I glared back at him. His other hand reached out for my shoulder and steel-hard fingers dug into my flesh.

“Whit,” he said. “Thinker. I don’t believe it. I’m dreaming. Whit! I thought I’d never see you again. I thought you were gone forever. Thinker. Thinker! They told me you were dead. Dead! You’re alive! May Deadman walk! I thank the Gods of war! Release themrelease them! These are my comradesmy oldest comrades! Release them immediately!”

***

“Try some,” Dragon said, offering me a tiny cup of what looked like warm tea. “It will calm you. It’s good for reflection.” The two of us were sitting by Dragon’s desk in the large room from which he had emerged to meet us the previous day. The room was a study, lined with shelves of datapaks. The desk was stacked high with comgear and weaponry. E’s and SG’s were propped against the walls. There were no lights. It was very early morning outside, but there were no windows in the room, and mornings on Yida tended to be dark anyway. Incense smoke hung in the still air, and spooky music moaned in the background.

“What is this?” I asked, looking suspiciously into the cup.

“You want to live forever?” Dragon responded with an easy grin.

“What does that mean?”

“Private jokebetween you and me. But I guess you don’t remember Planet Hell. Go ahead, it won’t hurt you.”

I took a sip. It was goodwarm and soothing.

“That’ll mellow you out in no time,” Dragon said. “I don’t use it when I work. But it’s good for the down time.”

“Nice quarters you’ve got here. Looks like some rich guy’s house.”

“Yesit is. He donated it. He’s out in the streets, leading one of our strike forces. He’s a good man.”

“He just gave away his home? No persuasion needed?”

“His wife was a crime victim.” Dragon said it as if it explained everything. I wasn’t sure what he meant.

“Where’s Whit?” I asked.

“Still asleep. I always get up early. You’re up pretty early yourself.”

“I have trouble sleeping.” Whit had surgically attached herself to Dragon the previous day, as totally smitten as a biogen love doll, blinking wet-eyed adoration up at him, absolutely worshipping the man. Dragon had embraced her and not once let go. I had last seen them heading for Dragon’s bedroom after dinner, with Whit almost dancing in anticipation. I had spent an uneasy night, my mind swirling with violent images.

The tea was not bad, I reflected. Dragon’s eyes were closedhe was off somewhere.

“Did Whit tell you we want to take you back with us?” I asked.

“Yes,” he responded. His eyes were still closed. “She told me it was all a lie. The Legion lied to us.”

“It wasn’t the Legion,” I replied. “It was the CrimCon.”

He opened his eyes. “CrimCon? You mean ConFree. Yes

it was a couple of ConFree pukes who briefed me. They said everybody was killedbut they lied. They said you were dead, they said Cinta was dead. They said I was the only survivor. I never trusted ConFreebut I believed them. I knew they were liars, but I believed them, when they told me everyone had died. I was expecting it.”

“They psyched me,” I said, “and sent me to a psycho ward on a System world. It’s a miracle Cinta and Whit found me.”

“They did pretty good to find me, too. I quit the Legion, voluntarily. You see

death follows me, wherever I go. It’s a curse. All my friends are cursedthey all die. It’s happened to me before. But the Moundthat was it, for me. When they told me everyone was deadit was like being shot through the forehead with a laser burst. You don’t remember this, but they psyched me. ConFree psyched me, before Uldo, and I betrayed you in the Mound. I betrayed Beta, for ConFree. It was like betraying myself. You left me behind, cuffed. The Legion found me there. I was finished, then. They told me Beta was done, and I believed it, and I decided it was time to quit.” He held out his hands to me, palms down. His knuckles and fingers were covered with facesminiature, full-color faces, burnt into his flesh. “They all stood by my side, and died. I wanted to leave it all behind me. I wanted to start a new life, so I quit the Legion, and came here, to Systie vac.”

He sipped at the tea. Incense smoke hung in the air. The walls were covered with news pix and doc printouts.

“I just wanted a quiet life,” Dragon continued. “I just wanted peace, and a normal life. Maybe I really wanted forgiveness for my sins. I wanted to forget the Legion and all it meant. I knew I couldn’t do that in ConFree vac. So I came here. I thought maybe I could change my lifedo good deeds, something like that. I had plenty of credits. You’re set for life when you retire from the Legion, but I didn’t want money. I wanted redemption. I left the money behind me. The only thing I bought was a new identity, as a nobody. I came here as an immigrant, a cipher, seeking a new life. The last thing I wanted was trouble. They assigned me to the sweetflesh factory, right away. And it all began again.”

He gazed into the distance, into the dark. “You can’t escape your past,” he said. “It’s always there. I wanted Beta Eight to die, but he was still here. Still here, meting out justice. Blind and deaf and dumb and totally merciless. I didn’t say a word when I was doing it. I just fired until they were all dead. One round eachright between the eyes. Then I opened the cages, and let loose those hopeless beasts. Futile. Stupid. Meaningless. I knew it even then.”

Strange, I thought. Dragon wanted to lose his past, and couldn’t. I wanted to find my past, and couldn’t. We were both cursed.

“I headed for the Freedom Front,” Dragon continued. “I knew I couldn’t hide from the past any more. They accepted me, without question. I’m happy here, now. I don’t want to leave. This is my home. I’m at peace, here.”

A faint tapping interrupted us. One of the child commandos stood by the open doorway. “Visitor,” he announced. “Angie Mercer’s mother. Will you see her?”

“Angie Mercer.” Eight frowned. “Yes, I’ll see her.”

She was a young lady, quite attractive, slim and athletic, shoulder-length blonde hair, a weary face, standing in the doorway silently with a large wicker basket of colorful fruit. Dragon stood up. I stood up, too. I suddenly realized our visitor was in the grip of some powerful emotion. She was biting into her lower lip. Her face was twitching and her swollen red eyes were suddenly brimming with tears.

Dragon stepped forward and took the basket wordlessly. She gasped, and embraced him suddenly. He stood there silently as her fingers dug into his back. Her body was shuddering with sobs. I stood frozen beside them, embarrassed, pretending to be invisible.

When she eventually detached herself from Dragon, her face was streaked with tears and she was still twitching.

“Thank you,” she gasped. “God bless you!”

“The Front is your servant,” Dragon said. “Now go home and get some sleep.”

She left, and we settled into our seats again. Dragon put the fruit basket on the desk. “Breakfast,” he said, picking up a plum. “Have some.”

“What are you,” I asked, “some kind of priest?”

Dragon smiled. “Yes, I guess you could say that. You could say I’m a

healer. Yes, a healer. A priest, for troubled times. A holy man, a righter of wrongs. A light, for the lost. A physician, for tortured souls. Yesthat’s me!” He took a bite out of the plum. He sounded depressed.

I was silent.

“Want to see my inspiration?” Dragon reached up to the wall behind the desk, tore down a colored pix, and handed it to me. It was a newspix printout. A child, faintly smiling at the camera. A little boy, maybe four or five, reddish hair, freckles, brown eyes. He had a purplish bruise under one eye and another on his forehead.

“Inspiration,” Dragon repeated. “That boy was my inspiration, my

illumination. I looked at that picture for weekshe used to come at me in my dreams, every night. Just like that, bruised and smiling. Looking into the future.”

“So what’s his story?” I asked.

“He had no story. His mother’s live-in beat him to death. Beat him for years, and finally beat him to death. There was a lot of nasty publicity. They put the man on trial, and the judge set him free. Just set him free. Not a single day of punishment. A good-behavior bond, I believe they called it. Good behavior. Right.

“I went after the judge first. I shot him down in the street like a dog, and carved the double-F into his forehead with a hot knifeit’s the Freedom Front’s symbol. Nobody could figure it out at firsthe hadn’t done anything against the Front. Then a few days later I executed the live-in, and gave him the double-F, too. Then everybody knew. The System went crazy, but since that day the Freedom Front has enjoyed the almost unanimous support of the people. Justice is all you have to give people. That’s all anyone wantssimple justice.” Dragon sounded weary.

“So you’re an executioner?”

“I settle accounts. I’m a servant of the people, an instrument, meting out justice for the powerless. Nobody need fear me except arrogant judges, treasonous parole boards, corrupt lawyers, bloodsucking internal revenue officials and murderous criminals. For them, I’m the angel of death.” His eyes were glowing. “I had good training, you see. So did you.”

“So you’re happy here?”

“I’m at peace. I’ve accepted what I am. I’m useful here. I’m performing a valuable service the people don’t get from the Systemjustice. Justice, for everyone. We put their heads up on stakes now. Crime has dropped to almost zero since we started doing that. And the Government has stopped plaguing the people, here in Pearce. We’re the government now. You see, they made themselves irrelevant. They shouldn’t be surprised at the result.”

“So you kill government officials as well as criminals.”

“That’s even more important than killing criminals, because one Goodlib official can unleash a horde of criminals on the public if he’s stupid. And all Goodlibs are stupid. We look at the crime first. There’s only one penaltydeath. If the crime doesn’t deserve death, we do nothing. But if it does, the Front passes sentence. If it’s unanimous, we do it. First we look at where he is. He’s always free, either because the authorities decided to release him, or because he was never detained in the first place. If it’s clear who’s responsible for his being on the street, we also target themjudge, parole board, whoever made the decision. They die, too. They die first, actually. The criminal is secondary.”

“What about that lady who was just in here?”

Dragon sighed. “A subhuman raped and murdered her little daughter about two years ago. Tortured her to death, actually. He had three other rape-murder convictions on record. They always free them. They did the same this time. But that wasn’t all. The girl had injured the sub, while resisting him. Resistance is, of course, illegal. The sub’s lawyers sued the girl’s motherthe lady you just saw. The court awarded the sub two million credits. Most of it goes to the lawyers, of course. It meant the girl’s mother not only lost her daughter, but lost everything else, to her daughter’s murderer. She didn’t have two million credits, of coursebut they took all she had. That was last week. The Freedom Front works a lot faster than the System. I executed the judge two days ago. The arrogant bastards never seem to expect it. We caught up to the rapist yesterday. We let the mother execute him, herself. I personally handed her the weapon. It made me feel goodreally good, seeing justice done. Another head on a stake. It always makes my day. Have some more tea.”

***

It was a narrow, poorly lit hallway, lined with cold metal doors. Kids ran past us shoutingtheir echoes rolled along the hall in their wake. Some people had their doors open and noisy music was blasting away. It smelled like sour food and sweat.

“Next one down,” our young guide said, pushing open a fire door to reveal another stairwell. He was one of Dragon’s streetfighters, spotty skin and extra long hair, armed with a vac gun.

“This place is swarming with people,” I said. “Are you sure it’s safe here?” I found it hard to believe a revolutionary outfit could operate so openly.

“We own this whole complex,” Dragon assured me. “The System doesn’t come in here.” He was wearing a khaki raincoat that barely concealed the cut-down SG dangling from one shoulder. I thought the sunglasses a nice touchit was almost high noon outside, but Yida’s white dwarf didn’t generate much sunlight.

“Stop worrying, Three,” Whit said. “Dragon has got it under control.” She was looking mellow, cheeks flushed, dreamy eyesshe was almost floating. Well, he’s got her under control, I thought. That much is certain.

The stairwell was well guarded. More heavily armed youths, their weapons pointed in every possible direction.

“Do these kids ever shoot each other?” I asked Dragon.

“They’re mostly ex-VS,” he said. “We give them basic firearms training. They don’t need motivationthey’ve got that already.”

“Here we are,” our guide said. We had entered the lowest level somewhere in the sub-basement, a hall lined with pipes, the floor slick with moisture. Two guards with SG’s were posted by a door. They looked more alert than the others, but they opened the door to Dragon immediately.

It was dark and cold inside. A single desk lamp was directed at the captive, a young male who sat miserably in the glare, shirtless and shivering. He was tied to a chair, surrounded by shadowy figures. One of them approached Dragon.

“Here’s what he had,” he said, passing something to Dragon. Dragon examined it, than passed it to me. I strained to make it out in the dark. It was an enhanced, enlarged printout of my face. I recognized the pix immediately.

“We picked him up at Pearce Plaza,” the shadow told Dragon. “He had a phony Front ID, and he was showing that pix around, asking if anyone had seen him. He wasn’t the only one, eitherat least two others got away.”

“They’re getting a little pushy, aren’t they?” A voice from the dark.

“That pix is from my Nimbos ID card,” I said quietly.

Dragon put one foot up on a chair and leaned over the captive. “Do you know who I am, Systie?”

The Systie looked up. He was an Outworlder. We could read the fear in his face. He licked his lips and responded. “Yes sir. It’s the Deadman.”

“That’s right. Your designation?”

“Designation. Uhh

Three Two Glenn.”

“Your unit?”

“We’re with Keltos City Special BranchPolcrime Investigations, sir.”

“Your mission?”

“The mission was to locate William Fifteenthe fellow in the pix. Locate and detain.”

“Did they tell you why? What had he done?”

“Thoughtcrime, sir. They said it was important. The order came from off-planetfrom the SIS.”

“Scut!” Whit exclaimed. A hush settled over the room. The captive was sweating in the cold. He probably figured he was as good as dead. Dragon motioned to the door. We followed him out to the hallway. I fumbled at my oxy mask and took a deep whiff. My throat was burning and I was dead tired hauling my body around in that grav. Just walking was a major effort on Yida.

“If the SIS is after Three,” Whit said, “it means the Stardust is in danger as well. We’ve got to get off this planet right now!”

“You’re right,” Dragon said.

“Nelson!” Whit snapped into her comset. “Tear itself away from those underaged beauty queens and get to the carnow! We’re leaving!”

“On the way!” the comset squawked. Nelson had evidently been romancing some of Dragon’s more comely guerillas.

“Sir

” it was one of the guards. “What shall we do with the Systie?”

“He’s just a cop,” Dragon replied. “We’re not at war with them. We’ll free him

later. Check with me later.”

“Sir!”

“You coming, Dragon?” I asked.

“Yes!” Whit exclaimed.

“No,” Dragon said calmly. “No, afraid not. I belong here.”

“Dragon!” Whit stared at him, stunned. “We came here for it! Only for it!”

“Sorry. Can’t do it.”

“It said it loved us!”

“I dobut I’m not going to walk away from the Front. I’m needed here.”

“We need it more!”

“Then stay here. Stay here, with me.”

“No

we can’t.” It was a whisper.

“Don’t you love me?” A thin smile, from Dragon.

“Intrusion!” The comset at Dragon’s waist crackled urgently. “Center, Noran. We’ve got three DefCorps hotcars, overflying us headed roughly northeast.”

“Center, Memorial.” Another voice on the comset. “We’ve got a flight of four DefCorps hotcars, heading east, high altitude.”

“Let’s go!” Dragon barked. As we charged up the stairway with our long-haired guide, the comset was alive with transmissions.

“Noran, Memorial, Center. Please confirm these are DefCorps aircars, respond.”

“Definitely! Center, Noran. They’re DefCorps hotcars, now losing altitude.”

“Center, Memorial. We confirm four DefCorps aircars.”

“Center, Parks. We’ve got two DefCorps airbuses, escorted by four hotcars, passing low over Mount Condor, heading southeast.”

“All air defense units, stand by.”

“Permission to fire!”

“Permission to fire!”

“Negative, negative, stand by all!”

We had reached the ground floor corridor and skidded along the hall, bursting noisily through the exterior doors and into icy air by an aircar lot. I stopped, gasping. The sky was grey and smoky. Light sleet peppered my skinthe concrete walkway was covered with ice. Dragon had his SG out. He was scanning the skies. The streetkid was glancing around nervously, fingering his vac gun.

“Do it

do it.” Dragon muttered under his breath. Then the comset crackled again.

“All air defense units, fire at will and disperse immediately. Repeat, fire and disperselet ‘em have it!”

“Good!” Dragon snapped. “Where’s your car?”

“Nelson, where is it!” Whit shouted into her comset. “We’re on the other sideget over here!”

“On the way!”

“They’ve never done this before,” Dragon said calmly. “It’s the Systie garrisonfirst time they’ve attacked us. It must be youthey’re attacking us because of you.”

“Deadman!” A couple of Dragon’s militia tumbled out another door, calling to him. “What do we do?”

“We got one!” Dragon’s comset came to life again. “DefCorps aircar hit, fallingwe got one!”

“Disperse, dispersenow!”

“Defend the building!” Dragon shouted at the kids, ignoring the comset. “Get to the popholesnow!” He started jogging towards them but Whit snatched him by one arm, skidding along comically over the ice behind him.

“Dragon! Come with us! Please!” Our aircar rounded a corner of the building in a cloud of spray, heading right for us.

“I told you

” Dragon began. The sky flashed, then turned a shocking pink. My blood froze. A titanic explosion split the heavens. A huge armored airbus appeared, a leviathan from Hell, crashing right through the parking lot, flipping parked aircars aside like toys. A Systie aircar shot overhead in a flash and the world erupted in a horrific bang, a million dazzling white-hot contrails crackling out to fill the sky. I could feel the heat, burning my skin. I scrambled up from the walkway, stunned. We had been protected from the blast by a low concrete wall. As I watched in horror, Dragon shouldered his SG and fired over the wall. My eyes snapped over to the parking lot to see what he was shooting at. Billows of glittering pink smoke parted briefly to reveal a great many fully armored DefCorps troopers coming right at us on foot. As I stared aghast they fired, and the wall of the cube bloc behind us erupted, peppering us with debris. The kid with the hair popped up with his vac gun and his head burst and he crumpled, bloody and lifeless. Whit screamed. Our own aircar floated over us like a slow motion dream, taking hits, xmax popping and flashing on the armored skin. I could see Nelson through the plex, snapping us a quick glance. I realized suddenly that he was going to bring the aircar down further along the building. We’d have only a few fracs to make it. Dragon had Whit by an arm, and we were running hunched over by the little wall toward the aircar, trying very hard not to slip on the ice. The air was crackling with laser and x.

“Get in!” Dragon shouted. The aircar hovered, spraying ice and sleet, and the doors snapped open. Dragon threw Whit in bodily, then turned to face the DefCorps. I had my vac gun out but I knew vac wouldn’t do any good against those armored troopers. Dragon carefully removed his sunglasses with one hand and tossed them aside. He shouldered his SG and the raincoat flapped all around him in the backblast of the aircar. The Systies were coming right at us, bronze-colored DefCorps armor, relentless, unstoppable, armored goliaths. Xmax exploded off the side of the aircar, a tremendous racket, the shrieking of laser, the whining of the aircar, and Dragon stood there firing, as cool as ice. My skin crawled as I suddenly realized that Dragon had decided to check out right there, calmly facing the DefCorps, going out like a moth hurling itself at a naked flame. I stood near the open aircar door and the car danced lightly over the downblast and Whit was leaning out of the aircar door screaming something, but I could not hear her. I raised the vac gun and fired right into Dragon’s back. His arms flew up into the air loosely and the SG went flying and he collapsed face first onto the icy pavement.

“What is it doing? Is it crazy?” Whit was suddenly out of the car and by my side, screeching into my ears, scratching at my clothing.

“You want him or not?” I shouted back. “Help me get him into the car!”

We tossed him in headfirstI can’t imagine how we did it in that grav, but we had plenty of motivation. Laser burnt tracks into the side of the aircar as we scrambled in after him. Nelson took off so fast I almost blacked out.

***

“Feeling better?” I asked. We were in the command lounge of the Stardust on vac run red, deep in the hole. I was sitting across a little table from Dragon. He was slouched over a cup of dox and Whit was standing behind him, lightly massaging his shoulders. It was quiet and warm, and my fingers and toes were rapidly defrosting. The air tasted so sweet after Yida it was almost intoxicating.

“Let me get this straight,” Dragon said, shifting in his chair. “You shot me in the back with a vac bolt. Is that right?”

“That’s it,” I said.

“I see,” Dragon said, looking me over curiously. He had a nervous tic on one side of his mouth that I had never noticed before. “So now,” he continued, “I’d like to hear one good reason why I shouldn’t smash all your teeth right down your throat.” His eyes were blazing, and his arms were twitching. I had no doubt at all he could do it, with very little trouble.

“I’ll give you two good reasons,” I said, as calmly as possible. “First, I saved your life. If you had stayed there, you would have been killedand I think you know it. Second reason, I felt kind of sorry for you and I wanted to even things out.”

“You felt sorry for me?” His face was turning purplea bad sign.

“You told me you betrayed us on Uldo, after ConFree psyched you.”

“Yes. What has that got to do with you shooting me in the back?”

“You told me you felt badly about betraying usso badly that you quit the Legion.”

“Yesso?”

“So there’s no reason to feel bad about it anymore. We’re even now. You betrayed us, I betrayed you. You can come back to the Legion now. There’s no further reason to feel guilty. And we all want you back. You belong with us. You belong with the Legion. You’re a soldier of the Legion. Your friends on Yida will get on without you.”

He just gaped at me, open-mouthed. Whit had been frozen during the exchange, but now she resumed massaging his shoulders.

“That’s right, Dragon,” she said soothingly. “It’s the reason we came here. Tenuh, Redhawk wants to talk with it. Cinta wants to talk with it as well. She told me Beta was betrayed, sold out, dispersed by ConFree after its costliest, most successful operation. We don’t even know who’s alive or who’s dead. We don’t know what’s truth and what’s a lie. We’ve got to determine who survived, and who didn’t. We’ve got to get the squad together againno matter what it takes. We owe it to the past. And Cinta needs our help, as well. Talk with Ten. Talk with Cinta, it’ll see.”

“Talk with them, Dragon,” I urged him. “I have no memory, I can’t help you. But they can. Just talk with them, then you decide. If you want to return to Yida, we’ll arrange it. But talk with them first! I get the feeling we’ve all been royally screwed, and I’d kind of like to get at the truth. I don’t even remember Beta, but I don’t like what ConFree has done to us, if it’s true. They erased me, just like Redhawk said. I don’t like that. I’d like to get back at them. I’d like to find out who’s responsible and track them down and shoot them right through the forehead. It’s probably the same bunch that psyched you. What do you think?”

He glanced toward me coldly, his eyes far away. “You know, you haven’t changed at all, Thinker,” he said calmly. “You always pretended to be so cool and rational, but underneath that you were a raving maniac. It’s why I always liked you. All rightyou’re right. I feel the same damned way. But there’s another reason I walked away from the Legion. And it’s partially why I didn’t want to go back with you. I told you beforeeverybody I know dies. I figured I had done enough damage to Beta already. If we pursue this we’re all going to dieyou, me, Whit

Redhawk, Cinta

Nelson, all your Cyrillians

everybody. We all die. That has to be understood.”

I held out my hand. He grasped it. Whit reached over and her slender fingers wrapped around ours.

“Agreed,” I said. “To the death.”

“Death,” Eight repeated.

“Death!” Whit whispered. Her eyes were closed. Our future was sealed.

Chapter 4

The Hand of the Legion

It was a long way to Dindabai. We hurtled into the void, into the endless black dust of the hole, blasting our way right between the eyes of the Cosmosan impossible antimat bullet, rupturing the magical fabric of spacetime. We were cold and dead and doomed, neither here nor there, somewhere between the in and the out, phantom travellers riding the edge of extinction. It was extremely cold and I could feel the pressure on my skin. Vac run red. I knew we were in the eye and I knew we would be there for a long, long time.

The Stardust was so spotless and sterile it made me feel dirty. My little cube was so clean it almost glowed in the dark. I felt like a pig moving around in there, leaving impressions in the icy phospho green carpet, wrinkling up the neatly folded blankets on the bunk, leaving hairs in the sink, getting water all over the shower floor. On the other hand, just taking a shower was such a remarkable experience to me, after Nimbos, that it was almost erotic. It may have been a long way to Dindabai, but we were also a long way from Nimbos. And as we travelled further and further into the hole I felt I was leaving my old lifemy false lifebehind me forever.

Whit said it was obvious that the Systie attack into the Freedom Front’s pitiful little liberated area was prompted solely by a desire to kill, capture or neutralize

me. That gave me something to think about, all right. I thought it strange that no apparent effort had been made to attack or cripple the Stardust, after we had escaped the DefCorps garrison’s downside attack. It didn’t surprise Whit at all, however. She said the DefCorps was so rigid and paranoid that combat units were normally unable to adapt to changing situations, and unauthorized to do so as well. When we escaped their massive attack on the ground, the situation was out of their scenario. In addition, as a senso smuggler, the Stardust had first-class protection from the local authorities, who may not have been informed by a distrustful SIS. We were probably luckybut there was no way of knowing.

Whit wouldn’t tell me why the System was so concerned about me. Ask Cinta, she would sayask Cinta. It seemed that everything was fine as long as I was safely psyched, washing dishes on Nimbos. But now that I was on the move, and out of their control, things were different. I knew Whit was very worried about pursuit, even though it was highly unlikely in stardrive. We were bending spacetime, rushing into the future, leaving Systie vac far behind, bound for Dindabai and all it meantbound for ConFree vac. I had heard only horror stories about Dindabai and the CrimCon. I didn’t know what to expect.

***

“Fireworks,” I said, “filling the sky.” I was in the lounge with Dragon. It was dark and cold. There was some spooky music moaning away in the background, and incense smoke hung in the air. Dragon was shirtless, sitting cross-legged on the deck. He was a strange one, all right. When I walked in he had been frozen, eyes closed, worshipping private demons.

“Mongera,” Dragon responded. We were playing association. I wanted him to explain my dreams, but I didn’t want to give him the details. I was still suspicious. His pale brown skin was covered with dark tattoos. Glittering dragon-snakes writhed down his arms, armored beetles marched across his chest and strange indecipherable runes marked his earlobes and shoulders. The faces of the dead looked up at me from his knuckles. I didn’t know where he had come from, and I didn’t think I wanted to know.

“Tell me about Mongera,” I said. “The sky

tell me about the sky.”

Dragon closed his eyes. I knew he could see Mongera again. “It was beautiful,” he said softly. “We made that sky. Warhound had the manport atlauncher. The techs had worked it out. It was psybloc, to counter the O’s psypower, and we were giving it the first combat field test. The psybloc burst at high altitudejust like fireworks, and fell slowly down like hot rain. It scrambled the O’s psypower projections, protecting us. There were different colors, for the different frequencies. Warhound just filled the skyit was heavenly. It was

it was us. We marched right at the O, under that holy sky. We didn’t have any doubts we were all going to die. Nobody had killed an O before.”

That was my dream, I thought. That was my nightmare. A sky full of sparklers, falling gently down.

“Flame,” I said. “Raw flameburning brightly. The whole sky, burning, white and green.”

“Mongera,” Dragon said again, his eyes still closed. “Tacstars and bioticsthe O was blasting us with tacstars as we advanced. The green fireballs were biotic saturation strikes, from the O. Psycho blew them apart with our own tacstars as soon as they appeared. The little squirt had quick reactions, I’ll give him that.”

“Mud,” I said. “A worm in the mud.”

Dragon smiled, and his eyes flickered open. “That was all of uson Mongera. It started raining after we killed the O. Then the Systies surprised us.” The smile faded. “You were hittrying to reach One and Two and Nine. I told you not to try it, but you ignored me. That’s when you lost your arm. The sky was alive with nukes by thenand we were squirming in the mud. Five deadfive immortals.” His eyes were closed again. “They died for us. They died for the future.”

“We remember that sky.” It was Whit, standing in the doorway. She had been listening, and I hadn’t even seen her. “Cinta had gone in to help, and the DefCorps hit the escape pod. That’s when we showed up in the aircar. We remember that skyit was a glowing ocean of fireballs, and all of the city had been nuked. We prayed to God, for simple survival, as we approached.”

“You were our last hope,” Dragon said quietly. “I could hardly believe it when you answered Cinta’s nova. It was like a dream.”

And it was like a dream to me, listening to it. Whit was a pale, ghostly vision, slim and alluring. She glided over to Eight and settled down beside him, running long fingernails lightly over his flesh. Eight closed his eyes again. I regretted not having taken Whit up on her offer. What a stupid move. It was definitely a little late now.

Further and further, into the hole. Dindabai was at the furthest reaches of the inhabited universe, on the far side of the Outvac, so far the mind was not really capable of grasping the distance. This was where the Lost Command was making its last standand this was where Cinta awaited us. She had all the answers, I knew. She was the ultimate destination, for me. It was a long way to go but I knew it would be worth it for me. I just wanted to fill in the blanks, that’s all. I wasn’t worried about the consequences.

Stardrive is trickyit does things to your mind. And the longer the trip, the more it does. I had enough problems already, and stardrive wasn’t helping.

The dreams got worse. It got so bad I didn’t want to sleep, but sheer exhaustion is one of the symptoms of extended stardrive. I’d have the dreams every time. It was like going to Hell, every time I slept. I’d drift off, into the mists, and then the gates of Hell would snap open, engulfing me immediately in a white-hot blast of fiery gas. Everything would be burning all around me, the flames roaring and shrieking, and I would be burning too, my cenite skin glowing cherry red, alarms ringing in my earsand the voices. The voices were there, too, calling me urgently, just like before, calling my name, only now I could hear it clearly: ‘Thinker! Thinker! Thinker!’ It was a desperate cry for help. She was trapped in the flames, going out like a fleck of burning ash, calling my name. I was frantic, wild, lost in the flames, trapped and doomed, burning, no idea which way to go, no idea where she was. I would scream, horrified, and wake up covered in sweat, and moan, collapsing back onto a wet pillow.

Sometimes I thought I could see her face, peering at me out of the flamesbut I could never quite make it out.

“That was Uldo,” Dragon informed me, after I told him about it. “We were running from the O’s in the bowels of the Mound, and they were blasting us with starmass. It eats right through ceniteour A-suits were melting.” I was growing to like Eight a great dealI was not sure why. I had already decided I could trust him.

“Was anyone lost in the

starmass?” I asked.

“We all were, at one time or another. But TwelveScrappershe was caught in one especially intense burst. And NinePriestessshe ran right into the flames, looking for Twelve. That’s the last I saw of either of them.”

“Scrapperand Priestess. And the tall girl with the freckles?”

“That was ThirteenTwister. She was with you when Merlin was killed. And she was accompanying you when you left me behind. That’s all I know.”

I triggered the holo again, and the squad came to life. Beta and Gamma, triumphant, on Planet Hell. Thirteen wasn’t thereshe had joined the squad later, replacing the dead. My eyes kept going back to Beta Nine, Priestess. I examined the images again, in the solid. Nine was the medic, a pale, angelic girl with dark hair and dark eyes, clutching a medpak, looking off into the distance, with the hint of a sad little smile. What a beautyhad I really known her? Was she the face in my dreams? Gamma Five, Scrapper, was another charmer, a thick mop of tawny hair, a white flash smile, heavy breasts, leaning against another girl, Gamma Two, a stunning blonde with icy green eyes.

I had known them all, I knew. I didn’t want to ask too much about the past. Perhaps I was afraid of what I would find out. Dragon didn’t volunteer anything, either. He just answered my questionsbut he was uneasy. I knew he was holding back. I think he wanted Cinta to tell me about my past. I found it difficult to ask the really hard questions.

A whole squad of troopers. Some of them may have died for me. Dragon was there, looking totally confident. It was true, I decidedit was all true. I was a soldier of the Legion, and someone had stolen my past away.

And I was going to get it backno matter what.

***

We ate three times each ship’s day on the Stardust. I thought it an unbelievable luxury, and the food was so good I made an absolute pig of myself. About three hours after the last meal of the day whoever was off duty would show up in the lounge, which would transform itself into a bar, and it would rapidly fill up with Cyrillians. There were only the Cyrillians, and the three of us. They normally kept their distance, but things loosened up in the bar. Cyrillians were professional mercenaries, mostly. I got to talking with Pandaros once, and he told me their home planet had been destroyed by the System. The System had always told us it was the CrimCon that was responsible for the destruction of Cyrillia. The Cyrillians, however, seemed to feel differently. It didn’t surprise me a great deal. I was beginning to realize that the situation in the galaxy was a lot different from what we had been told on Nimbos.

They played a lot of Cyrillian music in the bar. It was mostly hot metal, but was always sad and moody. We’d drink blue ice, and float away. It was really mellow stuff, and just what we needed for stardrive.

I closed my eyes and the music swirled around meand it returned, the same terrifying vision that had shocked me awake the previous night. I could still see it in my minda naked baby, squirming and crying in the grip of a shadowy female. She had thrust the baby right into my face, as a terrible rhythm beat away in the background, like a great savage heart. It was totally horrific. I could not see the baby’s face; I could only sense that it was a boy. And of the female holding it I could only see slim fingers with sharp nails, digging into the baby’s tender skin. Long black hair swirled around the girl, but the face was all misty. She was almost throwing the baby at me. Frightening, primitive music, and I sensed horror and terror and a great longing.

I hadn’t been able to get back to sleep after that one. I ordered a drink of hot water from the kitchenmod, and it appeared in instants, piping hot in a spotless little white cup, and I sat there in the dark on my bunk, sipping hot water, thinking about Nimbos, and my own lost past, and the dream, and what it all meant.

A burst of applause brought me back to the present. Whit was up on stage, her eyes closed, singing a sad little song. She was absolutely lovely, softly glowing in a luminous white light, and the song was not bad either. She was certainly the most attractive thing on board. There was no competition, since she was the only female. She had a captive audience, that was sure.

“If I was her,” I remarked to Dragon, “I’d be a little uneasy as the only female on a ship crewed by a gang of Cyrillians. These people aren’t renowned for their social graces.”

“She told me they’ve never given her any trouble,” Dragon replied, gazing at Whit with unfocused eyes. “Cinta pays them very well. They don’t want to jeopardize what they’ve got.”

When Whit finished, she rushed back to Dragon, giggling as the Cyrillians hooted their approval.

“Not bad,” I said, raising a glass.

“Outstanding,” Dragon grinned, throwing an arm over her shoulders.

“Thanks!” Whit said, “It’s fun!”

“Dragon, aren’t you afraid those Cyrillians are going to get jealous and murder you in your bed or something?” I asked.

“They’ll have to go through me first,” Whit laughed.

“Now I’m jealous,” I retorted.

“Now you know how it feels, Thinker,” Dragon said, grinning, “We were all jealous about Priestess, too.” The grin vanished quickly as he realized what he had just said. Whit went suddenly still as well. The Cyrillian music continued, wailing away about lost loves, lost worlds, a lost past.

“So tell me about Priestess,” I said quietly.

“Sorry,” Dragon said, his eyes going down to his drink. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“You’ve said it. Let’s hear it.”

“Cinta was going to tell it,” Whit said.

“Tell me,” I insisted. My heart was hammering.

Dragon’s gaze wandered up to the ceiling. “It was Priestess and you. Ever since Andrion Two. You were

lovers. You were in love. You were quite a pair. You tried to hide it, but we all knew. The whole squad knew. You can’t hide something like that.”

“Priestess.” My skin was crawling. Beta Ninethe medic. She had loved me. Somebody had loved me!

“Your first lover was ValkyrieGamma Two,” Dragon continued. “She was redesignated Beta Eleven after Gamma was shot up on Andrion Three. You two really had it bad, from Planet Hell to Andrion. But then Priestess came along, and split you up.”

Valkyrie! The green-eyed blonde, good God, she had loved me too! I was stunned, listening to Dragon calmly relating my past.

“Priestess and Valkyrie actually got in a fist fight once over you. It was kind of funnyPriestess got a black eye, and Valkyrie got a split lip. Guess they must have seen something in you, beats me what. Valkyrie later decided she liked girls better than boys. It’s a shameshe was hot enough to melt cenite.”

Priestess and ValkyrieLord! Ghost lovers, from the past.

“Tell me about the baby,” I said.

Dragon and Whit exchanged glances, then Whit spoke. “It had a girlfriend on Andrion Twoone of the Taka. It’s supposed to be a sorceressname of Moontouch. It had a baby. We gather it was not planned. A sonits name is Stormdawn. It would be about four now. Cinta said it’ll never see either of them again, so it had best just forget about them.”

Forget about them! Forgetting things wasn’t a problemremembering was the problem. But I wasn’t likely to ever forget that baby, or his mother, coming at me in my sleep, right out of the past, the girl thrusting the baby into my face. A sorceress! Leaping time, right into stardrive, bursting the rusting gates of my mind, holding up my baby for me to see. I sat there, stunned, my flesh crawling. Three loversand a baby! And somebody had tried to erase it all. I felt a great anger, rushing through my veins like lava. I decided I was going to get my past back, and then I was going to find out exactly who had done this to me, and kill them horribly.

***

“What is it?” I asked. We were out of stardrive, and it was way too early. I had found Whit in the command chair on the bridge, and now I was looking over her shoulder. It was totally silent on the bridge of the Stardust. Kaga was in the number two chair, and Pandaros was visible on one of the d-screens, manning security and weapons. Stars filled the forward viewporta glorious view, a velvet sky full of diamonds, a magic road to the future. Banks of instruments glowed softly on the consoles. It was actually a very small bridge, but everything was perfectly arranged. It was so calm and still that I had the feeling that Whit and Kaga had the situation totally under control.

“We’ve been called out of stardrive by the Legion for a planetary emergency,” Whit said.

“Which Legion?” I asked, “Is this the Lost Command or the Loyalists?”

“There’s no way of telling. We’re actually still in the Inners but we’re so close to the Outers that it’s not unusual to find Fleetcom patrols around here.”

“What is the planet?”

“Here it is,” Kaga said. The d-screens flashed, and filled with planetary data. “Tanamia class A settlement, self-governed, non-aligned

looks like religious people. Non-aligned! That’s unusual.”

“Temple of Man,” Whit read from her screen. “Funny they settled way out here. Probably trying to get away from the System. We’ve heard of this bunch. They’re Outworlders, mostly. They live communally, refuse any association with off-planet entities. Agriculturalists, living in their own world, worshipping

themselves, we guess. They believe in non-violence, settle disputes through compromise, and generally mind their own business and live a healthy, primitive life.”

“So what’s the emergency?”

“Don’t know. We received the message in stardriveit was an all-ships nova. Can’t ignore those.”

“What’s the Legion got to do with this planet?” It was Dragon. ” We’re not even in ConFree vac yet.” He had appeared silently behind me.

“Don’t know that either. According to this data, ConFree does not interfere with events on Tanami. But Fleetcom is responsible for border security. Let’s find out!”

Her finger was hovering over the transmit tab when the Legion message boomed through the ship. “Welcome Personal Ship Stardust! Outvac Fleet Command greatly appreciates your assistance. Please approach and orbit Tanami Four and await further instructions. We have declared a planetary emergency for Tanami Four. The planet’s human population is in crisis and in need of assistance. Please contact Legion Traffic Control for further information.”

“That’s a Legion cruiser,” Kaga remarked. “The CS Gauntlet. Damn! That’s a Lost Command ship according to ship registry!”

“A Legion cruiser!” Whit exclaimed. “They’re not supposed to intrude on an independent world.”

“Why would the LC be this far from home?” Dragon asked. “It’s a long way to Dindabai.” It was visible on-screen now, a glowing phospho dot in orbit around the planet. We were still so distant from Tanami 4 that we could not even see it out the viewport. I couldn’t even tell which star was Tanami.

“ATTENTION!” The Stardust suddenly warned us at full volume, “STAR PIRATE! I DETECT OUTLAW PRIVATEER VAMPIRE, PIRATE 361, FORMERLY P.S. LUCINDA, IN ORBIT AROUND TANAMI FOUR! RECOMMEND CRASH STARLAUNCH! INITIATING LAUNCH SEQUENCE!” The emergency claxon shrieked to life, almost deafening us, adrenalizing everyone on board. The ship highlighted the pirate for us, some distance behind the Legion cruiser, also in orbit.

“Deto!” Whit exclaimed, jabbing at the transmit tab. “Legion Traffic Control, what’s that pirate doing there?”

“Relax, Stardust,” the low-key reply came. “The Legion has secured the pirate. There is absolutely no danger to your ship or crew. Please proceed to orbit as marked. Stand by and we’ll give you a full briefing.”

“Scut!” Whit hit the alarms, and they cut off in mid-bleat. “Secure from starlaunch! Damn it, we don’t like this!”

“Commander, can we please leave?” It was Pandaros, on the screen, leaning forward anxiously with a weak grin.

“We sympathize, Pandaros, but we’re afraid not.”

“It’s acting more and more like Commander Tamaling. Sir.”

“We have no choice, Pandaros. The penalty for failing to respond to an all-ships nova is confiscation of the ship, and that’s just for starters.”

“Is it sure we’re dealing with the Legion and not the privateers?”

“Which would it prefer?”

“That’s a tough one!”

“Calm down, Pandaros. Give us a chance to get the briefing they’ve promised us. We’re sure there’s an explanation. One thing’s sure, the Legion doesn’t mix with star piratesand vice versa!”

As we approached in deathly silence, the star grew in the main viewport until it was a brilliant, blood-red orb, burning magically in the vac. It was rather scary, watching it grow.

“Tanami Four is over theresee it?” A tiny green speck, a cosmic mote of dust. The star fell away behind us, and the speck floated into our field of view. It grew into a shining dot, stabilizing in the viewport. The screens filled with data as I watched the planet approach. It grew larger and larger, glowing a lovely, luminous green. As we approached, I felt we were falling right into it. It appeared to be drawing us in, sucking us in like a black hole, and now it was we who were the mote of dust and Tanami 4 was a gigantic cosmic whirlpool of deep green oceans and swirling white clouds. How could we possibly avoid it? We were falling, faster and faster, into the future.

***

“It’s quite a mess,” Dragon remarked. We were downside, strolling rather warily along the center of a wide boulevard adrift with filmy floating plastic trash. Shadowy figures were visible all around us, going our way. The boulevard was lined with stately buildings and they were all burning. A blood-red sun was sinking below the horizon but the city continued to glow a ruddy orange from widespread fires. Oily smoke, charged with glowing ash, hung over the city like a shroud, a black dusk for Tanami 4. There were bodies in the streetsmany bodies. Some of them were being carefully recovered and loaded into ambulances by groups of weary men. Others were left to rot. I did not see any efforts to put out the flames. The entire city was burning, and the emergency services had obviously been overwhelmed.

A building collapsed with a tremendous roar, sending a huge ball of fire and a rush of sparks up into the sky, the heat scorching my flesh.

“Damn! They’d better get these fires under control!” Whit said.

“First things first,” Dragon replied.

We had to walk around one body, sprawled out in the street. A male, shot all to hell, eyes open, mouth open, abdomen split wide open, viscera spilling out, lying in a pool of blood, stripped almost naked, as dead as a stone. He had been a short, stocky man with coarse hair like bristles and a huge head like a melon. He had tattoos on one arm.

“Never trust a guy with tattoos,” Dragon advised us.

The fires roared up around us, and a sudden gust of smoke burned into my eyes. I kept one hand in my coldcoat pocket, clutching a mini. We had been advised not to show any weapons. As the smoke cleared, I saw we were passing a school. It was unmistakable. There was a horrific tangle of bodies just outside the open gate, a chilling, obscene spectacle. One swollen corpse hung from a long rope, dangling under a great tree, glowing faintly red, illuminated by the fire. In the schoolyard a group of terrified schoolgirls were huddled against a wall, wailing and crying as a frantic and exhausted mob of adults tried to comfort them. The moaning and sobbing of the children came to us faintly, like waves falling on a distant shore.

There was a slight movement in the shadows by the tree and I saw it was a Legion trooper in black armor reflecting blood red flames, balancing an E on his hip. He was almost motionless, watching over the pile of bodies and the hanged man and the pitiful schoolgirls and their weary attendants. A Legion aircar glided effortlessly overhead. The sky was sparkling with burning ash, winking red and gold like little stars.

A tall building was silhouetted against the dark sky ahead of us, glowing a rosy pink before the flames. It looked like a government center. There were two flagpoles on the roof, and as I watched a large, shadowy flag slowly unfurled itself in a faint breeze and lazily openeda jet-black banner with a silvery Legion cross boldly emblazoned across its face. A rush of sparks glittered past it as it faded again into the dark. And I thought I had never seen anything quite so terrifying. The hand of the Legion was on this planet now, for better or worse, and we were about to see exactly what it meant.

***

“Citizens of Tanami!” The amplified voice boomed over a stadium teeming with people. We were with the Legion, at one end of the darkened playing field, and the stadium bleachers were full. The Legion had promised to resolve the problem, and the natives evidently wanted it resolved. The speaker was clad in Legion camfax, spotlighted in a brilliant white glare. He looked like a young recruit but he spoke like a general. “Greetings from the Confederation of Free Worlds, from Outvac Sector Command, and from the officers and crew of the Confederation Ship Gauntlet! I am Commander Kim X-One. I am addressing you after consultations with your Council of Ministers. As you all know, the ConFree Legion has recently intervened to resolve a planetary emergency here on Tanami Four. On behalf of the Legion, I am now pleased to announce that as of 0015 hours local time we have declared Tanami Four secure. As best as we can determine, all of the privateers of the Vampire have now been neutralized.”

A weak cheer rippled over the crowd.

“Upon completion of tonight’s proceedings, the Legion will depart Tanami. You may or may not know that we are here because we tracked the pirate starship to your world through our own routine monitoring efforts, and not because we were asked to intervene by your Council of Ministers. Had anyone on your world alerted us to the arrival of this privateer, we would certainly have responded sooner, thousands of lives would have been saved, and the citizens of Tanami would have been spared the tender mercies of these savages.” He paused, and an uneasy murmur ran over the stadium. A ragged flight of bat-like birds darted overhead, chasing insects through the searchlight’s glare.

“I wish to add that Outvac Sector Command welcomes new applications for membership in the Confederation of Free Worlds. We deeply sympathize with Tanami and we grieve for your dead. We are sad to say that most of them died needlessly. As a ConFree world you would no longer be alone. The Legion guarantees the security of all member worlds from external attack.” The muted roar of the audience continued, but there was another sound as well, from out in the darkened playing fielda low wailing, a hopeless howling that set my teeth on edge. There were a whole lot of people out there, but there were no lights on the field and all I could see were moving shadows.

“We will now proceed with the sentencing of the criminals. At the request of your Council of Ministers, I will stress that the authority for this judicial procedure is granted me by the War Powers Act of the Confederation of Free Worlds. The ConFree Legion is responsible for the apprehension, prosecution, sentencing and conviction of all privateers operating anywhere they may be foundwhether in ConFree, System, unaligned, disputed or border vac. This is solely a function of the Legion. Your Council of Ministers is not involved. Evidence was presented earlier today and verdicts reached in all cases. Sentencing will now be carried out. Proceed.”

The lights faded from the speaker and a new row of searchlights cracked to life, blazing onto the field, harshly illuminating a long line of half naked males on their knees, their arms bound behind them. Their heads were shaved and bloody and they were shivering in the cold, moaning. Armored Legion troopers were stationed among them at regular intervals. The light revealed many, many more lines of kneeling men. It looked like several hundred, all bound and helpless, weaving slightly, chanting faint prayers to the Gods of Hell.

“How did they capture so many of them?” I asked Dragon in astonishment.

“The Legion uses vac whenever possible,” he replied. “That way there’s no civilian casualties.”

A cold, metallic voice rolled over the crowded stadium. “Golgor, Legion file 990170233, crew member of the privateer Vampire, charged with galactic piracy, evidence on record, eyewitness testimony; additional charges of participation, multiple murder, gang rape, attempted murder, evidence on record, eyewitness testimony; verdict guilty as charged on all counts, identification confirmed, sentence death, sentence to be carried out immediately.”

A Legion trooper was standing before the first man in line. He placed the muzzle of an E up against the forehead of the frozen prisoner. The shot echoed harshly through the night, and a muffled moan escaped the crowd. The pirate collapsed onto his back, his legs all askew. It was difficult to see more in the glaring spotlight and deep shadows. The Legion trooper moved to the next man in line, and a pitiful cry arose from the prisoners.

“Skinhead, alias Stonehead, Legion file 330013811, crew member of the privateer Vampire, charged with galactic piracy, evidence on record

” They were going to kill them all, I realized, as the harsh voice continued reading the verdicts. The Legion was going to kill them all, right there, and leave the stadium soaked in blood. I could hardly believe it. I leaned over to Dragon, speaking slowly and carefully.

“Dragon, some of those guys appear to be bleeding from the crotch. What’s that all about?”

“Oh, they were castrated,” Dragon replied. “That has to be done on the spot if a rapist is caught in the act by the Legion. It’s just to get their attention before we execute them.” He was smiling. He looked like he was thoroughly enjoying the evening. Another shot echoed around the stadium. It was going to be a long night, I thought, but when it ended there was not going to be any further piracy problem on Tanami 4. It’s justice, I thought. Not lawbut justice. Tanami was getting justice, whether they wanted it or not. No wonder Dragon was enjoying himself.

***

We rushed on into the hole, leaving Tanami behind, but life on board had changed. Now the Stardust was crowded to capacity, full of traumatized refugees who had given up on the Temple of Man and the philosophy that man was by nature good. The pirate raid had very rapidly destroyed Tanami’s happy communal society in the simplest possible way. There were over a million people on the planet, but no weapons of any kind. To the few hundred heavily armed pirates from the Vampire, it was a paradise. The young girls did not even know enough to run, and the adults who approached to negotiate were simply shot.

Everything on the planet was available to the looters, with zero risk. The capital seemed the likeliest target, and it proved a good choice. When they had taken all they wanted, the pirates set the city afire, but they stayed a little too long, tracking down the last of the girlsjust a little too long.

The Legion snatched their ship effortlessly and swept through the city like a great scythe, firing vac, cutting the pirates down like grain. Not one escaped.

“Legion doctrine requires that sentencing and punishment has to be public, if at all possible,” Dragon told me. “Had the Tanami authorities known what was going to happen in that stadium, nobody would have come. The Legion had promised a resolution of the problem. The authorities thought that meant there was going to be a negotiated settlement with the pirates. They had been horrified with the violence.” We were in my cube, just the two of us, sipping dox. It was one of the few places we could avoid the refugees. Dragon seemed no more interested in mixing with the citizens of Tanami than I was. They were indeed a strange bunch.

“Well, I guess you could say there was a settlement, couldn’t you?”

“A rather decisive settlement,” Dragon smiled dreamily. I suppose he was the perfect Legion trooper.

“What do you think that LC cruiser was doing out here in the first place? They’re practically in the Loyalists’ back yard.”

“No sense in wondering and no sense in asking. That’ll be classified.”

“What do you think about those refugees?” I asked.

“Fools. But they’re smarter than the ones who stayed. They at least realize that the religion of the Temple of Man has failed.”

“So they’re to be moved on from Dindabai to other worlds?”

“The LC doesn’t want them. Dindabai is the last port of call for anyone who ventures this far out on the edge, but it’s a major starport. There’ll be other ships, heading elsewhere.”

“I feel kind of sorry for the kids.” The Stardust was full of children, stunned and quiet, sticking close to their designated guardians. They had been raised communallya lot of adults had been killed. A lot of children had been killed, too.

“Don’t feel sorry for them. They’re more fortunate than their parents. They’ll remember the pirates. They won’t grow up to be Goodlibs. They’ll probably join the Legion.”

I saw the stadium again, a brilliant field of twitching bodies, awash in blood, the audience fleeing the scene. And I thought back to Nimbos. There had been plenty of laws on Nimbos. We had been strangled by laws, but there had been no justice. The laws only seemed to apply to the law-abiding, but never to violent crims. It was different with the Legion. It appeared there were some rather serious penalties for criminal behavior. I wondered how I should react to what I had seen in the stadium. As a Goodlib Systie, I knew how I was supposed to react, of coursewith disgust and horror. But I had felt neither disgust nor horror. I had been shocked, and astounded, when I had first realized that the Legion was going to execute them all, immediately, but as the executions proceeded and the bodies began to pile up, I had felt something else. Satisfaction. A deep, dark satisfaction, so fierce it was almost like a kind of rage. And each shot, echoing around the stadium, had made me feel just a little better. Justice. I was watching justice at work. Justice, at last! It felt so good it was like a drug, rushing through my veins. YesI had felt a deep sense of satisfactionand admiration, almost reverence, for the Legion. I realized then that there was a lot more to the Legion than what the System had told us.

Chapter 5

Dindabai

We dropped onto Dindabai in the shuttle, falling into the night side of a gigantic planet completely covered in clouds. The refugees from Tanami remained aboard the Stardust, which was still in orbit. Legion officials had already boarded to process them on to other worlds.

It was quiet as we entered the at. Dragon and I were up front in the cockpit with Whit and NelsonWhit was piloting. The shuttle shook slightly as we encountered air. The wings started glowing. Nobody said a word. It was completely dark down there. I wondered what Dindabai would be like. This was truly out on the edge, at the furthest reaches of the Outvac. There weren’t any human settlements past Dindabaithis was it. The System had told me the Lost Command consisted of insane, genocidal barbarians and Dindabai was their last refuge, a wild lawless land, inhabited by galactic pirates and convicted war criminals. I was more than a little tense as we approached.

Deeper into the atmosphere, thin gossamer clouds flashed past us. It was dark and still, and the sky was full of cold stars. Down below the world was covered with a thick blanket of puffy, faintly luminous white clouds. The ship groaned and creaked as we hit thicker air. Soon the clouds were whipping past us. It was only then that I felt that we had truly entered Dindabai, when we hit that ocean of clouds. My heart was thumping. We were hurtling into the dark on a strange world, a world of wondrous white clouds. Rain pattered at the plex, briefly, then left us. I wondered how the air would taste.

When we broke through the clouds, it was dark below. Whit and Nelson were calm. The sit was fine, as we rode the air. A silvery river passed us below, cutting through dark forested hills. I saw no sign of human habitation.

“Stardust Shuttle, Dinda Port, you’re on course.”

“Dinda, Stardust Shuttle, confirm.”

A single light belowa tiny structure perched on a hill, pale white light illuminating a neat, microscopic lawn. Darkness. Then a string of lights, glowing softly in the night. A road? A pipeline? Darkness, again. A silver aircar far below cruised like a tiny toy over black forests. Life! I wondered who was in it, where they were going. It seemed so lonely, so vulnerable, a little chip of life skimming over a hostile wilderness.

“We’re over the city,” Whit said. A few more lights floated past below. I caught a quick glimpse of several low-rise buildings, faintly illuminated. It seemed very calm, very ruralnot at all what I was expecting. Then we tilted to one side and the starport was coming at us, glittering like a frozen volcano of light. Dinda Portit was the end of my personal odyssey. All my questions would soon be answered.

***

That first night I went out to the little balcony of my cube and breathed in the sweet air of Dindabai. It was a soft, velvet night charged with a musky perfumea thick, wet odor, the scent of the forest. I could see dark trees, fading into the night. It was profoundly silent, but it was a peaceful, warm silence. There was another low-rise building nearby, strange construction, three separate cone-like structures joined together, softly lit. The grav was good and the atmix tasted perfect. Worlds like this were precious beyond words. Most planets did not even fall into the life zone of their stars, and most of those in the zone were totally unsuitable. Of the one in a million with a gaseous atmosphere and reasonable gravity, only one in a million had an atmix that humans could breathe. And yet the universe was so vast that there were still uncounted, uncountable millions of such worlds, waiting to be discovered. It was a cosmic miracle. And here I was, breathing it in.

Whit had shown us to our quarters after a fast aircar ride in from the port. She said we were in the heart of Dinda City, but from the little I saw it didn’t look like a city to me. She advised me to get some sleep, but I was much too excited to sleep. My cube was a sterile wonder of compact, functional design. Dindabai! My heart was thumping. How was I going to sleep? Tomorrow I was to meet Cinta. She had all the answers. She would unlock my past, I was convinced. I had decided not to fight it any more. Just go with it, let it happensurrender, to the future. Yes, that was it. Just close your eyes and let it happen.

I slept a dreamless sleep.

***

“Beta Three? Welcome to Dindabai! Come on in!” He appeared to be very young, but I knew it was hard to tell in the Legion. He was tall and lanky with a lock of sun-bleached blond hair hanging over one eye. He had a good tan and looked like some kid you’d find on a beach, but he was wearing a white coat. My defenses went up immediately. Why did they always have to wear those damned white coats? System or ConFree, it was the same. It was like some ancient cult, some arcane, secret badge of office. I hated them.

“Please, have a seat. Relax. Did you have a good trip?” Whit and I settled into a couple of airchairs, and he joined us. It was a nice spacious office. One entire wall was polarized plex, and it offered a great view of Dindaan invisible city, hidden in a forest.

Whit was silent and dreamy. She had spent the night with Dragon, and had probably not gotten a lot of sleep. She was so mellow and generally pleased with herself that I figured she would be completely worthless the rest of the day.

“It was a fine trip,” I replied. “We got to watch a whole shipload of pirates die. Then we rode with their victims, all the way here. Fun stuff.”

“Good, good.” The long-haired witch doctor nodded and grinned. It was just as if he hadn’t heard me. Whit was dreaminguseless! “Well, we’re glad you’re here, Beta Three. I’m Doctor Jan Varna. I’m a specialist in applied psychic sciences and neuro-engineering.”

“Yes, I know,” I said. “I was kind of hoping to have a talk with Cinta Tamaling before we started working on my psychic problems.”

“Oh, you don’t understand,” he smiled pleasantly. “You’re not here as a patient. Oh, I will probably be consulted about your case, but that will be later. No, I wanted to see you before you spoke with Tara. It’s very important that I see you before she does.”

“Really. Why’s that?” My nerve endings were on full alert. I didn’t like this at all.

“Well, you see

” he was no longer smiling. “Tara is a great resource, for usfor the Lost Command, for us all, here on Dindabai. She is what allows us to surviveand to stay one step ahead of the opposition.”

“Is that so.”

“Yesshe’s very special. Her mental capabilities

well, they can be described as supernatural. Perhaps supernormal would be a better word. Ever since her return from Uldo, she has been exploiting her new capabilities, exploring her full potential with guidance from our most brilliant scientists and theoreticiansspecialists in every field. And she’s taken them all along on a wild ride over brand-new roads, places they’ve never been before. Places they never even knew existed. The things she’s discovered so far are going to transform human civilization. And it’s all been discovered by chance, by accident, during those wild mental rushes of pure energy into unknown worlds. Alien worlds. You see, we don’t even know what it is, or how it works. We only know it’s in her. But it’s dangerous, for Tara. It’s draining, mentally and physically. Exhausting. Strange things happen to her body, when she’s in it. Her temperature rises to dangerous levels. Her nervous system starts

well, short-circuiting is the best way to put it. Her heart speeds up, her blood pressure rises. And we don’t really know what happens in her mind. We can’t monitor it. It’s very, very worrying to us.”

“Why don’t you tell her to stop?”

“We did. She refused. She said she’d do it on her own if we didn’t help. She would, too. She is

driven. The Legion is her life. Nobody can stop heror it. All we can do is try to keep her alive.”

“I see.”

“We’d like you to help.”

“Me? What can I do?”

“She’s in a state of nervous exhaustion right now. She’s promised to relax for five days. Then we re-evaluate. She’s very interested in your storyin what happened to you, and why. All I ask is that you urge her to waitnot to take any personal mental action to resolve your problems, until we re-evaluate her condition.”

“All right. That sounds reasonable.”

“We’re going to do all we can to solve your personal psychic problems, Beta Three. I can assure you of that. But please help us with Tara first. Please don’t get her excited. She must stay calm.”

“Can I see her now?”

“Of course. Whit will show you the way. Nice meeting you. We’ll see you again. And here’s hoping you enjoy your stay on Dindabai.”

“Thank you.” He escorted us out.

I wasn’t expecting this at all. I thought I was the patient, not Cinta. We were wandering along a corridor, and Whit was silent.

“So, are we going to see Cinta now?” I asked.

“Yes, dear.” Her hand slipped into mine automatically. She hadn’t the slightest idea where we were, and she obviously thought I was Dragon. I wondered briefly if I could get her panties off before she recovered, but then she snatched her hand away, blushed scarlet, and mumbled an apology. Dragon really had a way with the ladies. I’d have to ask him his secret.

***

She was sitting in the morning sun behind a little white table on the terrace, as still as a statue. She had a black shawl around her shoulders and one hand clutched a plastic cup. As we approached, I thought I had never before seen anything quite so fragile or beautiful. Her features were flawlessdreamy Assidic eyes, lost in the dawn. Silky auburn hair touching satin skin tinted a faint gold by the sunlight. She was like some kind of exotic delegate from another world.

“Mornin’, Cinta!” Whit chirped.

Cinta came out of her trance, blinked, and looked up, silent. Then a hesitant smile arose. “Hello, Whit. Hello, Wester. It’s been a long time, Wester. Too long.”

“Good morning,” I said. So this was herCinta, alias Tara, the girl from my dreams, the girl from my past life. She was exquisitely beautiful, but she looked very, very tired.

“Thanks, Whit,” she said. “We’ll need some time alone. Perhaps it could show Beta Eight around.”

“Good idea,” Whit smirked. “Have fun, guys. We’re off.”

Whit left us alone on the terrace. It was a still, soft morning. The sky was white, with a distant, brilliant sun burning through a high dome of clouds. A very faint stirring of air brought the cool, wet scent of the forest. We had a spectacular view from the terrace. A great still lake glittered like a sheet of molten gold in the new day. Thickly-forested hills rose from the lakeside. Here and there I could see oddly shaped buildings, hidden in the trees. This was Dindabai, the lost Command’s sinister hide-out. It was peaceful, quiet and sleepy.

“Nice view,” I said, pulling up a chair and joining Cinta at the table.

“You’ve changed,” she observed in a husky voice.

“You told me on that starlink that I looked terrible. Aside from my looks, is there any other way I’ve changed?” She was the girl with all the answers, for me. Her face was pale and drained.

“I’ll tell you later,” she replied. “What do you think of Dindabai?” She turned her gaze away from me, out to the lake.

“It’s beautiful. It seems

peaceful.”

“It is. It’s perfect. We made it. It’s our home, a home for Outworlders, a home for the Legion.”

“It seems a long way from everything.”

“It is. And we like it that way. Nobody bothers us here.”

“The atmix seems nice.”

“It’s close to perfect! It’s a beautiful world, in every way. And we’re going to keep it that way!”

“All right! I believe you. Take it easy. Your doctor told me you were not to get excited.”

She smiled easily, lazily, a flash of white. “I’m not excited. I’m too tired to get excited.”

“Would it be all right for me to ask you a few questions?”

“Sureshoot. Would you like some dox?” She pushed aside her cup.

“No, thanks. Look, I know all about our mission to the Mound on Uldo. Dragon told me the mission was to seize a V

that is, an Omni starship, which appeared to be disabled in the Mound. But the story only went up to the point where Dragon turned on us and we tangled with that ConFree squad. After that, I have no idea what happened. Dragon doesn’t know, and all Whit will tell me is that you and I next appeared on Andrion Two. She won’t even tell me how we got thereor anything else. And I know she knows more than she’s telling me.”

“Whit doesn’t know everything, but she does know more than she told you. I told her I’d brief you myself on certain things.”

“How did I

how did we get to Andrion Two from Uldo?”

“We got to Andrion Two because you’re a tough son of a bitch.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. It is. You know

we did midschool on the same world, Wester. Galgos. I was your girlfriend. Oh, we weren’t lovers. We were both innocents, then. I left you for the Legion. At the time I thought you were hopelessly soft.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m a fanatic, Wester. I might as well tell you. I am the Legion. They cut the cross right into my heart. I’m a psychera solitary, brooding bitch. I have no soul, I’ve never loved anybody. I’m as cold as an E. And I’m not scared of anything. But you scared me, on that Ship.”

“That ship?”

“We boarded that alien ship, Wester. You, me, and Gildron. Then the damned thing launched. We were like dogs to the O’s. We were just animalsthey could kill us just by thinking about it. We survived it, Wester. We got out of it, and brought that ship back to Andrion Two. It was almost impossible, but we did it. We did it together, you and me and Gildron and Willard. But I’ll tell you, Wester, there were several times when I was ready to give up, when I thought the situation was hopeless and I wanted to stop trying. You kept me going, Wester. You wouldn’t stop. You wouldn’t give up. You actually horrified me. I thought you had gone insane. We had screaming arguments about it, about everything, but in the end we did it your way, and we came home to Andrion Two. It was a terrible journey but we did it. We survived, because you were a tough, fanatic soldier of the Legion and you refused to quit.”

“Gildron

he was your bodyguard. That giant, retarded humanoid.”

“Gildron is not retarded! He’s smarter than we are! Yes, he was my bodyguard.”

“Willard

the kid?”

Cinta smiled another dazzling smile, and her eyes softened. “My darling Willard! We found him on the Ship. A little boy, a survivor from the O’s holocaust on Uldo. He’s with me still, here on Dindabai. He’s the one bright spot in my life. I love him, Wester, I love him!”

“You said you never loved anybody.”

“I lied. I love Willard.”

“Will you please stop doing that?” I said.

“What?”

“Those wordsI was sharpening my knife, and you said ‘Will you please stop doing that?’”

A puzzled smile from Cinta. “Yes

that’s true. I remember. We were on the bridge of the ship, I was trying to decipher the controls, and you just kept sharpening your knife, like some kind of demented blacksmith. It was bugging the hell out of me.”

“Willard was there,” I said, “and Gildron.”

“Yes, that’s right! You remember that?”

“It came to me in a dream.”

“Good. Then your past is alive. We’ll get it out, Wester. We’ll get it back.” She sighed, and looked out to the lake again. It really was a perfect morning.

“What happened to the Ship?” I asked.

“It’s gone, Wester. Gone, forever. The O’s didn’t want us to have it.”

“And what happened to you, Cinta? I understand you’ve been teaching the Legion’s top scientists a lot of new tricks. And they’re afraid your brain is going to melt, or something like that. What’s that all about?”

“I’ll tell you later,” she said, rising slowly from the chair. “And call me Taranot Cinta. You always used to call me Tara. Come on. I want to show you around.”

We walked lazily along leafy footpaths that took us on a circuitous tour of Dinda. Tara kept the black shawl wrapped tightly around her shoulders, and her movements were those of an old woman, but her figure was slender and willowy. She was certainly the most attractive girl I had ever seen, and she seemed so fragile and ethereal that I half expected her to blow away in the wind.

“We don’t really have any roads,” she said, “just walkways. We walk or stick to aircars. Groundcars really are an abomination.”

“It’s like being in a forest.” We were surrounded by huge trees, and the walkway was dappled with sunlight flickering through the leafy canopy overhead.

“We don’t think you should have to chop down any trees to build a houseor a city.”

“These buildings are so strange.” We were strolling past a large edifice with several low-rise, roughly circular domes rising from a massive ground floor platform. Windows with darkened plex were set into the domes. The domes did not rise above the treetopsthe overall effect was very pleasing.

“They’re all mo-quad. We like it.”

“Mo-quad? What’s that?”

Tara smiled faintly. “Sorry. It’s something new. We tried it, and it works. Mobile modular mobius moldingwe call it mo-quad for short.”

“I can see why.”

“The mobius part was my own idea

well, not really mine, but it came from me.”

“I won’t even pretend to understand that.”

“We developed the theory here on Dindabai. Mobius growth takes place when any crystalflash-susceptible element or compoundsuch as ionium or stoneglassis duped into a mobius pattern. Each flash feeds on the next, and it doesn’t stop until it fills the mold and the appropriate pressure forces it off. It means we can make things extremely light and extremely strongand the building builds itself! All you have to do is stand there and watch.”

“That must be strange to see.”

“It is. And all of these modular structures are fully mobile. They’re so light we can detach each module from the base and move it wherever we want with air effects tractors. Then we can move the base the same way. We could move the whole city if we wanted. And if we get tired of anything we can reverse the mobius process and watch the building dissolve.”

“That would be a hell of a schoolboy prank. Hope it’s not too easy to do.”

Tara laughed. “Noit’s not.”

We came to a massive public building, seemingly made of stone, two stories high, fronted by great plates of darkened plex. A fountain sparkled in a shallow pool set in a plaza before the building. Two flagpoles flanked the entrance. There was no breeze but I could see one flag was the Legion’s black war banner. The other appeared to be the ConFree standard.

“You’re still flying ConFree colors?” I asked. “I thought you were in revolt against ConFree.”

“ConFree gave us birth. What’s happening now is an aberration. We’re convinced it will pass.”

“What makes you think that? They’re going to forgive a mutiny?”

“The consequences of breaking up ConFree are too painful to contemplate,” Tara declared calmly. “What happened is the citizens of Dindabai told the ConFree Council that they had lost confidence in the present Council to represent the people of Dindabai, but they were not yet ready to declare secession, which is their right under the ConFree Constitution. They told the Council that henceforth they would handle their own affairs, while encouraging the Council to come to its senses. If the citizens regain confidence in the ConFree Council, they will return as a full member of ConFree. And, if that doesn’t happen, they may formally declare secession.”

“And the Council has to listen because Dindabai is supported by the Lost Command?”

“That’s right. The entire Twenty-Second Legion and elements of the Twenty-Third are loyal to the people of Dindabai. And yes, that’s mutinyit’s never happened before in the Legion. And the official name is the Dindabai Command, not the ‘Lost Command’ although that’s what a lot of people call it.”

“It sounds

pretty complex. What’s this building?”

“This is the library.” I could make out the inscription now, carved into the stone: THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE.

There was not a sign of life. It was a bit eerie.

“Where are all the people?” I had seen no inhabitants during our entire walk.

“They’re around. But there’s not so many of us. We don’t think a city should be crowded. We like to give ourselves plenty of room.”

“I see.”

“Come on. I want to show you the school.”

The school was not far from the library. A sunny playground greeted us, full of brand-new children’s recreational equipmentslides, swings, a large sand box, a climbing gym, a toddlers’ maze.

We entered the school through doors that hissed open at our approach. It was deserted inside but it was bright and cheery. Skylights let in the sun. We walked down halls that opened onto elementary classrooms with miniature desks and walls covered with bright pictures, letters of the alphabet and numbers. Everything was spotlessright out of the factory.

“This is the preschoolfor the really little guys.” Another room, full of sunlight, scattered with little toy rocking horses and aircars and stuffed animals. It was so quiet I could almost hear my heartbeat.

“Where are the children?”

“There aren’t any.” She frowned. “Not yet. Except for Willard. But we’re going to have children, eventually. We’ll raise a new generation, right here, once it’s safe for children. We’ll raise them up right, with love. We’re going to

” she turned away, abruptly. “Scut!”

“What’s the matter?” I approached her in alarm. She turned her face away from me. I reached out for her.

“Don’t you touch me! Don’t you dare!” I froze. She was dabbing at her eyes with the shawl. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry, Wester. I’ll be all right in a frac.”

I stood there as she recovered her composure. When she faced me again she sighed. Her eyes were wet. “We’ll have children, eventually,” she continued. “We’ll have hundreds of children. Strong children, who will dwell in the stars. They’ll fill up this school, and you’ll hear their lovely laughter from across the lake. Have you ever heard children singing the ABC song? It’s a heavenly chorus. They’re like angelsjust like angels! Oh scut, I’m sorry.” She turned away again, and buried her face in the shawl. “I’m a sentimental fool, Wester,” she gasped. “I’m getting soft in my old agethey should put me in an old folks’ home. I’m no damned good anymore. All I can think of is those things I never hadlove, family, home, children. Deto! I hate this!”

“Please, Tara

” I reached out for her again. I was aching to hold her in my arms.

“No! Don’t touch me! It cannot be, Wester. I’m a psycher. I live with loneliness and despair. I’ll die aloneit’s what we are. And you can’t help! Nobody can help.”

As we walked out of that nursery there were a few little bells, mounted on the rocking horses, tinkling faintly in the breeze from the hallway. I thought it the loneliest sound I’d ever heard.

***

“Nice view?” Tara asked. We had paused in an open hallway running along the side of a large, low building perched on a hill overlooking the lake. The view was indeed spectacular. The lake was metallic blue, with ripples glinting like ice. The sky was white. There was a faint breeze.

“What is this place?” I asked. The building was so new we could smell it, an intoxicating, tangy blend of newly bonded compounds.

“This is going to be a vacation spot,” Tara replied. “A hotel for lovers, for families, for doomed psychers. The rooms are extra large, and every room has a balcony with a view.”

“I thought you didn’t cut down any trees,” I said, running a finger over the railingfine wood, as smooth as satin.

“It’s artificial. Good, isn’t it? We can dupe almost anything. We can do almost anything here, anything we want. This is our worldours! A Legion world. An Outworlder world. It’s our domain. We live life here the way we think it should be lived. And we’re keeping it that way. We’re sick of compromise, sick of ConFree’s whining. We’re proud of what we are, and we’re not changing for anybody. If ConFree or the System doesn’t like that, they know where we are. We’re ready for themthey’ll be sorry if they attack us. Their worlds will burn for a million years. We’ll knock their planets right out of orbit!”

“I believe you. Stay calm.”

“I am calm. Let’s go down to the lake.”

We strolled along a path by the lakeshore in weak sunlight as dark water lapped gently in fields of reeds.

“Is this a real lake, or artificial?” I asked.

“Real. We thought it was perfect for our city.”

“It is a nice place.” We were the only people in sight. Shade trees lined the shore.

“Can you tell me something?” I asked.

“Sure.”

“We were togetheryou and I and Gildron and the kidin that Omni starshipfor quite awhile, weren’t we?”

“Quite awhile.”

“How long?”

“It’s hard to tell. Days, weeks, monthsdepends on how you want to calculate it. I can tell you it seemed like years.”

“Tell me. Did we

were we

lovers?”

A faint smile from Tara. “No. We weren’t.”

“I’m disappointed. My former self must have been a very unimaginative fellow.”

“You did ask me to take off my clothes at one point. I remember that. But we were too busy to follow up on it. We were focused primarily on staying alive. Besides, I’m a psycher. We don’t have time for love.”

“I see.”

Tara stopped and turned to face me. A light breeze fluttered the black shawl around her shoulders.

“I’m going to tell you about the Star,” she said coldly.

“Fine. Tell me about the star.”

“The Star explains everything. It’s why ConFree psyched you and tried to capture me. It’s why the Lost Command split from ConFree. It’s why we’ve survived here on Dindabai. It’s why ConFree hasn’t dared attack us.” Her eyes were far away and her face was grim. She looked up to Dindabai’s lovely white sky. I was silent.

“It happened when we were on that ship, the Omni starship. That last group of O’s left us something as they disappeared. A present. They must have been laughing, as they left us behind on the ship, with the Star.” A faraway smile from Tara. She looked out over the lake. The smile faded quickly.

“It was a brilliant little ball of light,” she said, “smaller than your fist. It hung in the air and glowed like a star, so we called it the Star. You wanted to shoot it, but I wouldn’t let you. You avoided it, but I gave myself to it, completely. Perhaps it would have been better if you had shot it. The thing has been killing me slowly.”

“Well, what is it? What does it do? What do you mean, it’s been killing you?”

“At first I thought it was an artificial intelligence device. Later I decided it was alive. It’s a

it’s a knowledge star. It holds the secrets of the universe, the secrets of the O’s. And now it’s oursthe secret of the Legion. We were trying to kill them, and they gave us the Star. What does that tell you? It’s a double-edged sword. It holds

the future. Used wisely, the secrets of the Star will allow mankind to prosper. Used foolishly, it will destroy usno, it will allow us to destroy ourselves. It’s completely neutral, you see. It’s pure knowledge, enough to kill you quickly if you take too much at once.”

“And this is what has been plaguing you? This is what makes you so valuable to the Legion?”

“We brought the Omni ship back to Andrion Two. The ship was the key to the future. With the secrets of that ship in its grasp, the Legion was assured of galactic dominance, and the System was doomed. But the O’s came back and destroyed the ship. The Legion only had it for a few daysnot long enough for what we needed.”

“So the ship is gone.”

“Gone forever, with all its secrets. But we still had the Star. I tried to keep it a secret from all but Starcom. Somebody found out about it. Starcom must have briefed ConFree. And ConFree did a commando raid on Andrion Two, to capture me and you, and locate and seize the Star. They knew the Legion would never give it up voluntarily. They failed to get me, but they got you. And that’s when your troubles began.”

“So it’s all about this

Star.”

“That’s right.” A soft breeze played with her auburn hair. She was visibly tired, but remained strikingly beautiful. The lake was gunmetal blue, rippling in the breeze. “It’s all about the Star.”

“How does it work?”

“You give yourself to it, and it floods your mind. It hurts. Later you can explore

what it gave you. That hurts too. It doesn’t end. You pursue

new roads. Much of it is meaningless to me, but if you have the Legion’s best science freaks by your side it can be very, very rewarding. We’ve already got enough to transform human civilization. I told them about something the other day. They told me yesterday what it meantactual time travel, into the past. The follow-up research has already begun. I’m so tired.”

“Where is this thing?”

“I won’t let you shoot it!”

“So you do read minds.”

“It used to be my primary skill. Now it’s just a parlor trick. It’s not important in comparison with the Star.”

“So where is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“The last time I saw the Star was on Andrion Two. Everything I’ve done since then has been a result of what I gained from it earlier.”

“So the Star is on Andrion Two?”

“It must be. The System doesn’t have it, ConFree doesn’t have it, the Legion doesn’t have it, I don’t have it. It’s got to be still on Andrion Two.”

“Who had it last?”

“Gildron.”

“Gildron! The ape!”

“He’s not an ape. He’s the only creature who’s ever loved me without reservation.”

It was getting chilly. Tara clutched the shawl tighter around her shoulders. A light breeze still played with her silky hair.

“Where’s Gildron?”

“He’s still on Andrion Two. Somewhere. We got separated during the ConFree attack. I was forced to leave him behindwith the Star. It was the last thing I wanted to do, but I had no choice.”

“Somewhere? Who controls Andrion Two?”

“ConFree. Elements of the Twenty-Third Legion. They claim to be loyal to ConFree.”

The air was fresh and pure. It was a beautiful world. Why would anyone want to leave?

“We’ve got to take back the Star, Wester.”

“No, we don’t! The hell with it! It’ll kill you, won’t it? The damn’ thing is on the other side of the Outvac and it’s killing you as it is. And you want it back? Scut! You’ve already got enough knowledge to transform human civilization, you admitted it yourself! What else do you want? Absolute power? The thing is going to destroy us, it’s obvious. It’s already got ConFree attacking the Legion, it’s got Legion units facing off to fight each otherit’s crazy!”

“What if the System gets it?”

“What?”

“It’s therecompletely neutral. Waiting for a new owner. What if the System gets it?”

I was silent.

“They’d enslave the galaxy! ” Tara continued. “The System spits on humanity. And whoever those ConFree bastards are who’ve been playing games with the System, they can’t be trusted, either. We found out during the raid on the Mound that ConFree wanted to turn the ship over to the System. Can you imagine the System supreme over ConFree?”

“They must have been insane.”

“They were afraidafraid of the Legion.”

“It’s crazy!” I said.

“No, it’s not. They had good reasons to be afraid, Westergood reasons. We’re not angels, either. But you can live free and safe and strong under ConFree, with the Legion cruising the vac. Take away the Legion, and ConFree dies, and the dark rushes in. ConFree is foolish to believe otherwise. We’ll all be slaves under the System. I’d rather die!” A bleak vision passed over her face and she clutched the shawl tighter.

“We’ve got to take back the Star,” she repeated. “ConFree thinks we’ve got it. That’s the real secret of the Legionwe don’t have it! If they knew it was on Andrion, they’d have it already.”

“Fine. Kill yourself. I can’t stop you.”

“You’re going to help me.”

“Me! Why me? All I want is my past back! I don’t want the damned Star! I’ll shoot it if I see it!”

“The Star is your past, Wester.”

“No thanks!”

“I’m going to give you your past backall of it. Then you’re going to help me, just as you promised.”

“I promised? When was that?”

“You promised Whit. Get you your past back, and you’ll do anything we want.”

I was silent again. She was absolutely right.

“You’re going to get me the Star back, Wester. I already know exactly how you’re going to do it. But first we’re going to give you your past back, and find out why the System is so interested in you.”

“Why they’re interested? I thought they were interested because of the Star.”

“They were. But that was before. I’ve been trying to understand why they would pursue you to Yida, once they learned you were gone. After all, ConFree psyched you thoroughly; they drained your mind and turned you over to the System. There’s nothing you know that they don’t know by now. And the System released you from detention to wash dishes on Nimbos. Why should the System care if you disappeared? Why should ConFree care? I think you must know something that Con Freeor the Systemdoesn’t want anyone else to discover.”

“Well, I know about the Staror I will, once you de-psych me.”

“Many people know about the Star by now. We certainly know about it. No, that’s not it.”

“Well, what is it?”

“I don’t know. But I’m going to find out. And then you’re going to get me the Star back.”

“Let me destroy it! Then it won’t be a threat anymore.”

“No! No, you have no idea what it can do.”

“I’ve got a pretty good idea of the trouble it can cause. Look what it’s done already! Destroy it, and we’ll all be safer. Then the System won’t get it either.”

“I don’t know if it can be destroyed, Wester. How can you destroy knowledge? That’s what you’re proposing. It’s pure knowledgeall the secrets of the future! Imagine it!” Her eyes were glowing, and her face was briefly transformed into a frightening, distant mask.

“It’s evilI can see that now.”

“It’s the future! It’s good! Mankind will be strong and free! We’ll be the masters of our fate!”

“We’ll be slaves. Under the Legion or the System, we’ll be slaves of the Star!”

“Why can’t you ever agree with me, Wester? We could never agree on anything!”

“We should destroy it!”

“When we were on the ship, you told me you were my weapon. A silver bullet, you said, for alien intruders. A biogen, totally expendable. You said you would kill all my enemies, tear out their throats and come back happy and lie at my feet. You said you were my attack dog.”

“I must have been crazy as a loon!”

“You were. So was I. We survived, Wester, because of it. When I was your girlfriend, on

on Galgos, you once told me that, no matter what happened in the future, if I ever needed you all I had to do was call you, and you’d come. No matter what! I did that once, and you did come, from across the galaxy. Now I need you againmore than ever. You’ve got to help me, Wester. Promise me!”

It was turning dark. The lake was like a sheet of cold metal, the sky was looking ominous, the wind was picking up. Tara took a deep breath, pulled the shawl over her hair and held it tightly. Looking right into my eyes.

“Help me, Wester.” She looked so helpless, so fragileas lovely as an angel, but ground down by weariness, clutching the shawl just like somebody’s ancient mortal grandmother, weaving slightly in the breeze. She didn’t fool me. I knew she was anything but helpless. But my fate was written in her eyes. I could see it was hopeless. There was no way I was going to be able to fight this. Get the Star backscut! It was hopeless. I was doomed. Just like Dragon had saidwe all die. Absolutely right, Dragon. It was perfectly clear now. I was going to die for the Star, and I didn’t even want it.

“All right,” I said wearily. “Fine. I’ll help you. Without thought, without judgment. I’ll be your biogen. Just get me back my past, and point me in the right direction.”

She reached up suddenly and embraced me, pulling my head down to hers and kissing me gently on the mouth. Sweet, wet ecstasy, for just an instant, and then she pulled away abruptly with an impish grin.

“We kissed on Andrion, Wester. I still remember it. All rightit’s done, and I thank you! Now just put yourself in my hands. We’re going to get your past back! I feel wonderful!” She sucked in her breath again and spun around to face the breeze, laughing. “The future is ours, Wester! Ours!” She threw out her arms wildly, laughing, and the shawl flew away in the wind. It was frightening. I hoped I was doing the right thing, but I knew I was committed.

Chapter 6

A Taste of the Past

The de-psyching procedure was not at all what I expected. With no memory of how I had been psyched, I had no basis for comparison; but had been thinking about it for some time and had built up this image of a gang of serious-looking, aged psychers in white coats slipping wires into my brain and cackling to themselves. It wasn’t like that at all.

All I had to do was go to sleepthat’s what they said, and it was true. Sleep, and leave the rest to them. It was fine with me. I was not resisting any more. Every night I reported to the PsyCenter and stripped down to my jox and slipped into the psybed and finished off a warm glass of acid. That’s what I called it. I forget what they called it. It was a real witch’s brew, designed to knock me out, relax my body and stimulate my mind. Then all I had to do was rest my head on the pillow, totally surrounded by massive brainscan devices, and float away. Four ghosts monitored the readouts as I faded away. They wore white coats all right but they weren’t psychers, they were techs; and they looked young, not old. They were a good bunch. They told me everything they were going to do. They told me what had been done to me, and how they were going to undo it. They made me understand that they weren’t even going to try it unless I understood it and agreed and trusted them, completely.

I was with them a long time. Dr. Lock, team leader, was a young fellow with thin sandy hair, crazy eyes, and a spooky grin. He had been a Legion trooper, but lost his arms and legs in a scrap with the O’s. The Legion biogenned him new limbs, of course, but the O’s had cut up his unit pretty badly and he spent a lot of time in psychotherapy. He developed an interest in psyscience as a result, and began a new career. That was “some time ago,” he said, and I didn’t ask what that meant. I didn’t want to know. It might have been hundreds of years ago. It was hard to tell with an immortal.

“They’ve blocked access to the decoding centers for your established long-term memory circuits,” he had told me in his office over dox. “That’s the basic problem. Without accessing the decoding centers you can’t recall anything prior to the time they set up the caps. You can’t retrieve itcan’t be done.” He grinned, twitched his head to one side, and snapped it back quickly. He did that a lot. “And if the LTMyour long-term memoryis blocked long enough, if you don’t stimulate the synapses, it’s all going to eventually fade away.”

“But I thought my memory was all still therejust blocked. The System told me that.” His office was not as spacious as Dr. Varna’s; he kept the plex a lot darker. The walls were decorated with solids of Legion soldiers in combat with O’s. They were really scary pix.

“The System was right,” he said, twitching his head again, his eyes sparkling merrily. “However, if you don’t use your LTMif you don’t trigger those synapsesit fades and disappears. It makes way for new impressions, which are coming in all the time.”

“So psyching does erase your memory!”

“Not at first. But eventuallyyes. Unless we can locate and eliminate the caps.”

“How do you do that?”

“Two methods. First, we search your fornix and hypothalamus for the decoding centers that house the signal mechanisms of your pre-psyching LTM storage circuits. These decoding centers are the key. You can’t recall anything prior to your psyching because they’ve flooded the LTM decoding centers with gibberishmassive amounts of static. The decoding center shuts down, flooded in false data. The real information can’t get through the static to stimulate your LTM synapses. We’re going to remove the static.”

“How do you do that?”

“Hunter-killer teams,” he grinned. “We identify the static and destroy it, electrochemically. We burn it right out.” Another crazy grin. “It’s non-invasive, don’t worry. We target the body’s natural biochem processes and focus it right where we want it. And in the meantime, we locate and stimulate your pre-psych LTM, to ensure the synapses don’t fade away. That’s the second method, and it’s almost as important as the first. We just ignore the decoding center and stimulate the circuits directly. We call that deep-brain stimulation. The brain has a curious structuremiraculous would be closer to the truth. LTM is scattered throughout the cerebrum, to maximize your chances for survival in the event of injury. You’re certainly going to see your past, in your sleep. But you’re probably not going to remember it when you wake up.” He snapped his head back and forth again, grinning happily. “So we’re taking you back to the past. Temporarily, at first. And permanentlylater.”

“Back to the past.”

“And all you have to do is sleep. Nothing to it!”

Nothing to it, I would think, climbing into the psybed. Marty always tucked me in. She was a sweet little doll with short chestnut hair and big brown eyes, a mischievous smileand a white coat. I was bleeding internally, every time she came close to me. I knew she was interested in me, but I avoided her after they woke me up in the morning. I was angry about itI was very attracted to her, but she was the last thing I needed on top of all my other problems. I had three lovers already, even if I didn’t remember any of them. I sure didn’t need another. My life was complicated enough.

It was like a ride in a magic aerial bus, a totally silent rocket, flashing into the dark, sparkling little stars flickering all around me, falling, falling, black clouds whipping past. Floating alone in the dark. Spiralling into alternate worlds. Cruising over strange territory. That’s how it started. But then it would fade into the warmth, and I would slowly wink out.

I would awaken, exhausted, bathed in sweat, my heart hammering. The headache would last all morning, but I couldn’t remember anythingnot a damned thing. Dr. Lock told me not to worry about it. It was normal, he saidnormal. As if anything in my life was normal.

I went on a picnic once with Tara and Willard and Dragon and Whit. It was a perfect cool day, Dindabai’s pale sky glowing brightly. A light breeze caressed my skin as I lay there beside Tara on a camfax cloth covered with snack food and cold drinks, under a great shady tree. Dragon and Whit were completely happy, clowning around with Willard like a couple of kids, throwing a ball back and forth and chasing each other around in a field of blood-red flowers. I was growing very fond of Willard. He was a good kid.

Tara remained quiet, staring into space. She had agreed to another five days of restit looked as if she was doing a lot of thinking. I had been doing the same. Having your past taken away from you is almost like murderas if someone has killed a part of you. I wanted only to get it back. I knew Tara had been my girlfriend at one time in my past life and now I felt I was falling slowly into the past once again. I did not want to resist it any more.

My hand gently closed over hers. I half-expected her to snatch it away, but she didn’t. She flashed me a sad little smile, and gave my hand a barely perceptible squeeze, and looked out again into the green haze of the forest. Dragon and Whit and Willard were laughing and shouting at each other.

“We used to hold hands, Wester. I still remember ita million years ago. What a simple, happy time that was.”

“There’s no reason it couldn’t happen again.”

“We were children. That’s gone forever.”

“We can do anything we want.”

“No, we can’t. I’m a psycher. I can’t love anybody. And I’m on a mission that will end in my death. So are you. Don’t tell me we can do anything we want. That’s crap. We’re slavesslaves of the Legion. It’s a good cause, Wester. I don’t mind dying for the Legion. Do you?”

“Ask me when I get my memory back.”

“You have no idea

how long it’s been.”

“How long what’s been?”

“Since anyone held hands with me.” She was still looking blankly into the forest, but she made no move to withdraw her hand. I felt like a kid on his first date.

“Why’s that? You’re beautiful! You could have any man you wanted.”

“I’m a cold, hostile bitch, Wester. And I hate associating with people. I hate people. All psychers do. Deadheadsdamn them to hell! We serve them, we hate them. They use us; they hate us.”

“Do you hate me?”

“Nonever. I used to think about you out in the vac. Good memories. Why don’t you pick up a normal girlfriend? How about Marty, in the PsyCenter? She likes youI know she does. She’s a nice kid.”

“I know she is. No. My life is too complicated.”

“Get involved with a psycher and you’ll learn what complicated really means.”

“Teach me.” I squeezed her hand. Slim hard fingersmy heart was thumping. I could fall right into those fascinating Assidic eyes, with no effort at all. It would be easyso easy.

A flicker of despair passed over her lovely face, and she snatched her hand away. “I’m sorry, Wester. It’s not possible.” Her eyes filled with tears, and she seized a napkin and covered her face. Dragon and Whit and Willard were still cavorting in the field. I decided I must have offended some very powerful God in a previous life. What other explanation could there be?

Willard came charging over to us, flushed and excited. “Nobody will play with me! Will you play with me, Wester? Why is Tara crying?”

“Girls have to cry every once in awhile, Willard,” I told him.

“I’m glad I’m not a girl. Can I have some water? Is Tara sad?”

“Kiss her. Maybe she’ll cheer up.”

Willard kissed Tara on the cheek, and she threw the napkin down and wrestled him to the grass as he struggled to escape, giggling.

“Kiss me, will you?” Tara chided him. “Don’t you know it’s illegal to kiss a psycher? I’m going to tickle you to death!”

I settled back with a cold drink. Hopelessit was hopeless. Maybe it would become clearer once I got my memory back.

***

She came to me through the mistsa pale face, all youth and innocence, as serene as an angel, looking up at me with a faint smile. Gleaming black hair, deep brown liquid eyes and a small mouth with ripe tender lips. She blinked once and I was hers, then and forever. She was serving me something from the cooker. “Flanpie,” she said, setting it gently down on a wall table. She was dressed in Legion camfax, as slender and lithe as a cat. She was absolutely adorable. I vowed to love her forever, and never leave her side.

“Do you believe in God?” she asked me.

The world erupted, a deafening bone-shattering blast of starmass roaring in my ears, engulfing me in deadly white-hot flames. My armor was melting, Sweety was shrieking warnings into my ears, and Priestess was gonegone! She was lost and blind, flaming like a meteor, staggering, groping, lost in the starmass, melting, dying, going out like a fleck of burning ash, calling my name“Thinker! Thinker! Thinker!”

I screamed and awoke in a blind panic, thrashing wildly, slamming up against the brainscan devices. Marty came running out of the dark, snatching at my arms.

“Three! Three! Three! Calm down! It was just a dream!”

I collapsed against the pillow. My body was covered with cold sweat, and my heart was thumping. Marty was quite concerned.

“The hell it was,” I hissed. “It was the past!” And I wasn’t likely to forget it.

***

I began to retain some of the images that came flooding up from my brain in my sleep. They weren’t really dreams, but were the result of the techs poking around in my brain, stimulating the LTM circuits. I wasn’t recalling any of this on my own, since the caps were still in place, but when they prodded the circuits directly, I didn’t have to recall anything. It flooded my mind, just like a dream. And when it did that, I could sometimes remember it when I woke up. I wasn’t recalling a memory, I was remembering a dream. But these dreams were from the past. I was cheating, bypassing the caps. I was getting little glimpses of the past.

Daytimes, I went to class. It was a rather special classI was the only student. But it was all part of Tara’s plan. I learned about the Legion. I learned what happened to a new recruit, where he goes and what he does. I memorized my lines. There was a lot to learn, a lot to read. It kept me busy.

Dragon often joined me on the range. They had a first-class range out in the wilderness. I soon grew familiar with a wide range of weaponry, Legion and Systie. I had done it all before, you see. It was all strangely familiar.

I got to know the E. I got to love the E. The E Mark 3 was a little black bitch, hot and nasty and very talented. Treat her good, treat her bad, it didn’t matter. She would stand by you no matter what. She was beautiful and faithful and tough as nails. I could strip her in the dark, blind as a bat, bathe her lovely limbs in slick and put her back together again in no time flat.

We fired for hours, Dragon and I, shattering the afternoon, then triggering the lights and firing on into the evening. I loved it. I loved every freaking frac. Full auto x, cracking right through the ear baffles. Xmin, xmax, the targets flashing and erupting, smoking phospho shrapnel tracers shooting skyward. Laser, death’s bright light, snapping, shrieking. Vac flashing, knocking the targets flat. Flame, sheets of white-hot gas, setting the world afire. Hell, on tap. Canister, erupting like the end of the world, shredding the target with a hot hail of cenite microdarts. It sounded like a swarm of killer bees, and it chilled my blood.

I loved it. It was better than sex. Dragon and I would laugh in sheer delight as smoke poured from our targets.

“We’re living on borrowed time,” Dragon said once, with a far-off smile. “Might as well enjoy it.”

“No argument here!”

Whit joined us once. She stayed about a half hour, watching us, then left. I guess girls just hate it when they’re not the center of attention.

We had a couple of new girlfriends. That was the problem.

Tara came by once, hoisted an E, and bet us each a hundred credits she could out-shoot us. Then she humiliated us both, and to prove it wasn’t an accident she did it again. She did it so easily we were stunned. As the echoes faded into the distance, she slipped her earbaffles off. Downrange was wreathed with smoke. It was glowing, flickering, burning.

“It’s good to relax,” she said quietly. She was clutching the E just like a baby, and her face was cold and hard.

***

Moontouch’s guard suddenly appeared out of the dark, all shields and spears and tridents. Then the wall of warriors parted and Moontouch was there, clutching Stormdawn to her breast. I reached out and embraced them. A prickly wave of emotions rippled over my flesh as I inhaled her scent, for probably the last time. We kissed, feverishly. She was crying silently, tears rolling down her cheeks. I kissed the child, my own lovely son. I prayed for them both. I had given them eternal life, but it was not enoughit was certainly not enough.

“Come on, Threelet’s go!” Whit, in the aircar. I tore myself away. Deadeye was standing by the car, his fierce eyes gleaming. We embraced.

“Take care of her, Deadeye!”

“My life, Slayermy life!”

I floated back to consciousness, flooded with emotion. Moontouchmy wife, my son! Good Lord, I had seen her, I had tasted her tears, she was right there! I was lying in the dark on the psybed, and my skin was crawling. I had touched her, Moontouch, my wife, embracing me in a soft night, holding my child, my very own boysaying goodbye for the last time. I felt totally helpless, totally alone. I vowed again to kill the people who had tried to erase my wife and son forever from my mind. And I vowed to find my loved ones againno matter what.

My memories started to come back to me, slowly and tentatively at first, building on the dreams that the techs stimulated every night. Then, as they began to target and destroy the caps, I started to remember things on my ownwhen I was awake.

Every memory was precious to me, something to be savoured like a rare wine. I almost cried, the first few times, when I brought up the past on my own. What a fragile, wonderful thing is a memory, I thought. It’s just a closed electrochem neurocircuit, a stimulated synapse, but what a magical thing it isa picture of the past, so vivid, so charged with emotion I could feel it on my skin. Thoughts, smells, tastes, regrets, love, loneliness

flooding my brain. The past, the past, the pastsurfacing, in my mind. People I knew, people who had loved me. Saved from oblivion. Back with me, again! It felt so good I could hardly believe it.

Day after day, the caps disintegrated, as the techs identified and annihilated the static blocking the decoding centers. And soon it was a torrent of memories, a raging riverI was remembering it all. At first it was a jumble, random flashes from the past. Then I slowly began to sort it out. I saw the Legion Gate and Providence and Planet Hell. I tasted my savage love for Valkyrie, I saw the drop onto Andrion 2 again, and I kissed Priestess under a starlit sky. I remembered burning exos, and fighting the Soldiers of God. And Moontouch, the Delegate from the Past, showing me the Book of the Dead in the Tomb of the Kings. A forest, burning in the night over a Systie base. The mission to Coldmark, and Valkyrie drawing a knife over Millina’s throat in one swift, bloody movement. A Legion trooper, screaming as he was being cut out of a fused A-suit. Then it was Andrion 3, the river of doom, swift black deathbirds, the kitchen of the Gods, Oplan Gold and death’s cold road. And Mongerawe were holy pilgrims, bound for death, dueling with the O and the Systies under nuclear skies. We bade farewell to our oldest comrades there.

It was all coming back, our nasty little trip to Katag, the image of a dead man tied to a chair, haunting me. Then it was Uldo and the ultimate mission, Beta against Beta. Sleeping underwater in my A-suit. A squad of Systies, leaning into the current. The Mound, Blue Jade, starmass, everyone running from certain death, lost and doomed. And then there was the Ship. YesTara and I and Gildron and Willard, on that endless, hopeless blind trip into an uncertain future, on that alien ship. We thought we were doomed, but we wound up on Andrion 2, again. I did it myselfme and the Gods.

And then I had said a hurried goodbye to my wife and child, and ConFree snatched me and psyched me. I never learned what had happened to my beloved

Priestess. Alive or dead, I didn’t know. She was an ache in my heart, now. I loved her, absolutely, just as I loved Moontouch and my child. I didn’t try to understand it. I was grateful just to know it.

***

More than two months later I was ready. Tara was proud of me, I knew. She would have never told me, but I knew it. I was her biogen, just as I had promised, and no human was going to stop me. She probably thought I was invincible, and maybe I was. I was armed with the past. It was a formidable weapon.

“So there doesn’t appear to be anything further on it?” Dr. Varna was looking at Dr. Lock quizzically, his long sun-bleached hair dangling loosely over one eye. We were sitting around a conference table piled high with doc printouts and psych readouts and brainscans, sipping dox. Half of the ceiling was plex, flooding us with diffused sunlight.

“We can’t get any further readings on it,” Dr. Lock replied, grinning and snapping his head to one side and back again. “I believe that’s all he’s retained.”

A silence settled over the room. I savoured the dox. It was good stuff.

“Three?” Tara queried me gently. She always called me Three when the brain police were present.

I put down my dox cup and sighed. “I’ve told you again and again and again. And I’ll do it again, if you want. The ConFree interrogators were asking me about a ship. And it wasn’t the O’s starship. They wanted to know about a ship that landed near the Mound when we were inside. They asked me repeatedly about it. They gave me multiple psytests, to ensure I was telling them the truth. And I was. I told them we had been inside the Mound, battling O’s and Systies, and we didn’t know anything about any ship. Except the one that was inside the Mound.”

“How did they describe this ship?” Tara asked.

“I told youthey didn’t. I asked, at one point, what kind of a ship was it? Was it a shuttle? A starship? They didn’t answer. They just said it was big, and it landed near the Mound, and how could we not know about it? I told them we had spent most of our time in the Mound trying to avoid being vaporized or broiled alive, and we weren’t focused on what was going on outside. I told them our tacmods had alerted us when the Systie squad breached the Mound’s main doors, and later when Blue Gold entered as well. But we received no notice of a ship landing.”

I went back to my dox. I didn’t give a damn what it meant.

“It’s troubling,” Tara said.

“Downright strange,” Dr. Lock said, nodding and grinning and looking around the room eagerly, his eyes lit up.

“What do you think, Tara?” Dr. Varna asked.

“It’s not the Legion,” Tara said, “or we would know about it. I don’t see how it could be a Systie ship, either, because if it was, the Legion would have detected it. The only ship that registered in that area was the O ship, when it launched with Three and I on board. It launched from the roof of the Mound and shot out of the at into the vac and into stardrive. It’s all on the record. That was the only ship. There wasn’t any ship that landed there, and there wasn’t any ship that took off from thereexcept the one O starship. And when the Legion secured the site there wasn’t any other ship.”

“But ConFree seems convinced there was. Otherwise why question Three about it so extensively?” Varna asked.

“If the System had the capability to land a ship near the Mound without having it blasted to atoms by the O’s,” Dr. Lock asked, “why would they have sent that DefCorps squad after Beta on foot?”

“I’m convinced,” Tara said, “this is why the Systemor ConFreeor bothgot so excited when Three disappeared from Nimbos. They realized that a de-psyching would reveal their questions about this ship.”

“A ghost ship.”

“A ship that wasn’t there.”

“All right, then, it was an O ship. A second Omni starship. It had to be. What else is there?”

“But it never arrived,” Tara said, “and it never left. No, the same objections apply to an Omni ship as to a Systie ship. The Legion would have detected it. The O’s can’t hide their ships from us.”

“But if it wasn’t ConFree, and it wasn’t the Legion, and it wasn’t the System, then it must have been the O’s. Right?”

A long silence ensued. Tara was looking up at the sunlit ceiling.

“Three doesn’t know anything about this alleged ship,” Tara said thoughtfully. “And ConFree knows it. All he knows is that he was asked about it by ConFree. Why should that be so important? Does it mean they already know what it was? Or they don’t?”

Nobody had an answer to that.

“What do you think, Three?” Dr. Lock asked me.

“It doesn’t matter what I think,” I said. “But I’ll tell you, if you really want to know. I think those ConFree interrogators were smoking dope. The Legion knew what was happening on Uldo. They had that planet covered like a wet blanket. A flea couldn’t have hopped without showing up on a Legion sensor. If the Legion says no ship arrived there, and no ship left, then there couldn’t have been a ship. It’s crap. Some ConFree clown misinterpreted something, and some other clown foolishly put it in an info report, and ConFree Hqs went out of orbit when they read it, and the interrogators were stuck with the result. There wasn’t any ship. It’s crap.”

“It’s troubling,” Tara repeated.

It wasn’t troubling to me. I didn’t care.

Chapter 7

Deep Dreams

It was easy enough, inserting myself into the Legion’s replacement mechanism. Tara got me to Auraga, and Auraga was an interstellar transportation hub. My docs were excellent, fully backed up in Legion records. I was an ACT grad from the new training facility on Guarados, on my way to Quaba 7 for reassignment. The LC had the Loyalists pretty much wired, since many of the so-called Loyalists were LC sympathizers. Tara assured me I would have plenty of help along the way. The Legion had purged their records of Beta Three, and this made it a lot easier to re-introduce me as a new personality. Tara didn’t even have to alter the genetic ID. She told me I was the only one she could trust to ultimately do what had to be done. Her faith in me was touching, and justified, but it just made me angry. I knew she was perfectly right. I was her damned biogen. I already knew they’d have to kill me to stop me.

Standing in line in the Auraga terminal to present my docs to board the Legion freighter, I had to admit Tara had done a great job. I was a new Legion troopie once again, dressed in new blacks, my hair cut short, my face burnt brown, allegedly from months in ACT, hauling a nitex shoulder bag that contained all my possessions. I could remember my original ACT course on Planet Hell, but I had also memorized every detail of my new history. Tara had thought of everything. I even had an explanation for the scars on my knuckles and my biogenned arm. I wasn’t afraid of anything.

Aboard the ship I was given a bunk in troop quarters. It was just a recessed slot in a cenite bunk wall, but it was all I needed. There were troopers above and below me. I didn’t care. The ship was full of replacements bound for the war. I didn’t mix with them. I ignored them. I wanted the word to get around that I was sullen and hostile. I’m sure it did.

I spent a lot of time in my bunk in stardrive, dreaming, pondering the past and the future. It was strange how things worked out, I thought. I was going to do Tara’s bidding, but in so doing I was going to accomplish my own tasks as well. Moontouch was on Andrion 2Moontouch and my son. Nothing was going to stop me from seeing them. And it was only because of Tara that I could. I should be grateful, I decidednot resentful. I had met plenty of people on Dindabai who didn’t wear white coats. The milbase was swarming with troopers and vacheads and the town was inhabited by actual civilians as well as plenty of government people. All of them were focused on the national goal of survival in a hostile galaxy and working out the political problems with ConFree. I knew it was only because of the Lost Command’s resolve that I was headed for a reunification with my family. YesI should be grateful.

***

“All right, Eight One Nine. These are your orders. You’re on a wait list for reassignment. Easy duty. See the orders for your quarters. Just check your messages regularlyyou could be moving out at any time. You’re on the warm body list as well. You’ll be called if we need you.” He was a young trooper, impeccable in his blacks. Was he looking at me curiously? Was I imagining it?

“Yes sir!” I saluted smartly, took the orders, and disappeared. I knew better than to ask any questionsthe orders would have all the answers. And I knew there wouldn’t be any reassignment for me until Redhawk gave Tara the go-ahead.

I paused outside in the quadrangle. An extensive, deserted parade ground stretched out before mered clay, packed down as hard as stone by the boots of thousands of recruits. It brought back memories of Providence. It was so wonderful to have memories again! I took a deep breath and looked uptwo far-off white suns were glittering in a cobalt blue sky. Quaba 7 was quite a place.

As I approached the aircar port on foot, a shrill whistle drew my eyes to the massive installation looming before me. A high wind gusted all around me, and two flags snapped from a double flagpole over the main entrance aheadthe ConFree flag and the black Legion war banner. I thought briefly how ironic it was that the Loyalists and the Lost Command were saluting the same flags. Then the aircar popped up from behind the port and flashed overhead, a black blur, a titanic blast of raw power, hitting me like a physical blow, almost deafening me. I turned in astonishment to watch as it receded into the distance, a dull black dart on the horizon, suddenly spiralling up and into the dark sky, heading straight up now, right for the double sun, still spiralling, just like a bullet. Then a second hotcar boomed overhead, shattering the morning again on the trail of the first, seemingly only marks above my head. I was on a wide walkway leading to the port, and he was as low as he could get, using it as an aiming point. I caught a quick flash of the car as it passed, dark camfax skin, muted Legion cross, black plex shimmering in the sunlight, spitting white-hot nuclear exhaust. Then it was gone, whistling eerily, spiralling up into the sky like a metal bat, hot on the trail of the first car. I was frozen, my eyes rivetted on the aircars, now two tiny darts, trailing white contrails up into the stratosphere.

A double explosion, hammering at me like a mighty fist, rattling my teeth. Two more Legion hotcars, ripping past like snarling beasts, side by side, so close they were almost touching. Double troubleI got a glimpse of one of the pilots behind the plex, an insect man in a full-face comtop. He didn’t even look human. As they thundered away to the horizon something was building inside me. Then another two aircars rocketed overhead, cracking past like artificial thunderbolts, double blasts of raw nuclear power, the power of the Legion, tearing the world wide open.

They left me in their wake, and I was screaming in savage joy. I’m not sure what I was screaming, but I was certainly out of my head. They were beautifulthe most beautiful things I had ever seen. I didn’t doubt any more that I was a soldier of the Legion. Those aircars told me, clearer than Tara had ever done. And as I watched them, six thin white contrails high above, I knew I was going to die for the Legionone way or another.

I found Beta Ten inside the port, in a cavernous underground bunker full of aircars undergoing repairs. The facility was reverberating with deafening noises amidst a dizzying light show. Somebody pointed Redhawk out to mehe was working on an aircar engine with someone else, and he looked up in annoyance as I approached, glaring at me under long stringy reddish hair, sporting a scruffy beard. He was shining with sweat and splattered with slick. Then, as he recognized me, a fierce grin arose.

“Three!” he shouted, turning away from the aircar. “How the hell are ya!” His companion looked up.

“Eight One Nine!” I shouted, reminding him of my new alias. The bunker exploded in sound and lit up as if a rocket had just impacted. Someone was revving an aircar engine. Ten seized one of my shoulders in a fierce grip and was pounding the other with a fist. His features were transformed with joyhe was almost dancing. He shouted something to his co-worker and dragged me away eagerly.

We regrouped in his cube. It was right in the port, down several levels but thoroughly soundproofed. It was small and untidy. Dirty laundry was strewn over the unmade bed. Solids of aircars glowed on the walls. Ten popped the tops on a couple of dox cups and gulped his like it was ale, spilling hot dox all over the little wall table.

“Damn! It’s great to see you alive, Thinker!” he said. “So you’ve got your memory back? Do you remember me now? Do you remember it all?”

I sipped at my dox, leisurely. “I remember you, Redhawk. I’ve got most of my memory back. It’s hard to tell, really. It’s good to see you again. My last memory of you was when you were dropping us off in the aircar, on Uldo. You said you wanted to pick up twelve troopers when we called for evac.”

“Yeahthat’s right! And you told me to keep it fast and low!”

“But you didn’t pick up twelve troopers, did you?”

“I picked up nobody! The bastards said you had all been killed.”

“They lied. And that’s why Tara wanted to run me through Quaba Seven before my reassignment to Andrion Two. She wants to zero in on any Loyalist penetrations of the LC. She wants to know exactly who sold us out, who backed ConFree in the effort to steal the Ship and the Star away from the Legion. And whether or not they’re in LC ranks. Tara told me she briefed you on the Star.”

“Yes, she did,” Redhawk said. “We’ll be working together on this. What else did she say?”

“She said there were plenty of dupes, but she wants to know who did it deliberately, knowing what they were doing. She’s compiling a list of names, she said. The living dead, she called them. She was always good at that.”

“Did she give you any of those names?”

“Only the top man. It’s no secret who’s ultimately responsible in ConFreeDirector Kenton Cotter-Arc. Tara says he’s the ConFree Council member who runs the Outvac, and that includes much of the Neutral Zone and most of the historical hot spots between ConFree and the System. It includes all of the sectors in the zone. He’s a powerful manall-powerful. According to Tara, the ConFree Council entrusts its Directors to run their areas. They’re completely responsibleand completely accountable.”

“Tara told me about Cotter-Arc,” Ten said. “She said she doesn’t imagine the Council is too happy about the formation of the Lost Command. But Cotter-Arc has sold them on an alliance with the System to counter the O’s, pictured the LC as opposing such an alliance, and promised the problem of the LC will be settled without bloodshed.”

“Not if I can help it!”

“Yeahit’s a tall order for Cotter-Arc. Tara says his ass is on the line. If he fails, he pays the price.”

“The price?”

“She told me death is the penalty for failure on that level.”

“She didn’t tell me that,” I said. “I get more motivated all the time.”

“So does Cotter-Arc. What kind of person is he? Did Tara tell you? We don’t hear much out here.”

“Cotter-Ark? They call him KCA. He’s an Innera civilian. He’s never served in the Legion.”

“An Inner! You mean the absolute ruler of the Outvac is an Inner?” Redhawk’s mouth gaped open.

“Afraid so. It was a shock to me, too. I never knew what happened on that level. Tara says he’s weird. Brilliant, but strange. He has some Cyrillian bloodthe rest is Inner. Tara says it’s messed him up. He appears to resent Outworlders and Assidics.”

“Wonderful! A ten-year-old kid could have picked a better leader! Does the Council know about the Star?”

“We don’t know. The people who interrogated me certainly do, and that means Cotter-Arc does. He might not want to tell the Council.”

“Does the Council view the Legion as a bigger threat than the System?” Redhawk asked.

“We don’t know that either. KCA certainly sees it that way. Tara isn’t sure the Council even knows the full story about the Ship. If they approved KCA’s plan, the galaxy is in serious trouble. If they didn’t, it could be that KCA is in serious trouble. A desperate and dangerous man, she says.”

“What, specifically, does Tara want us to do here on Quaba Seven?”

“KCA founded an outfit called Special Mission, under ConFree. We ran into some of those guys on Uldothe Special Mission Strike Force. There’s also Special Mission/Plans, which KCA runs, and SM/Ops, which directs SM/SF, the Strike Force. According to Tara, Special Mission is solely concerned with reducing the power of the Legion by increasing the power of the DefCorps and the System. The plan to turn the Ship over to the System was part of that. So is the hunt for the Star.”

“Scut! In the old days, behavior like that would have been called treason.”

“Yes

well, Tara is old-fashioned. She views it that way too. And what she wants you and me to do, here on Quaba, is to collect some more information. She wants to know who, in the Twelfth, betrayed us; and who they took their orders from, in the Twenty-Second, in Fleetcom, in Starcom.” The 12th was our regiment, the 12th Colonial Expeditionary Regiment. It had died on Uldo, annihilated by the O’s. The 22nd was the Black Legion, the Rimguard. Fleetcom was Outvac Fleet Command, headquartered right there on Quaba 7, and it supported Outvac Sector CommandStarcom.

“Tara told me you had some names,” I said. “She wouldn’t tell me who. She hoards information like gold.”

Ten grinned. “I’ve noticed that. Yes, I’ve got some namespeople who survived Uldo. People we can look up. Old friends from Uldo.”

“Yeah? Who’s that?”

“Remember the pair who prepped our A-suits just before our mission to the Mound? The Assidic guy and the little blonde girl?”

“Remember them! I’ve always suspected them of sabotaging our tacnet power reserves.”

“The blonde is right here on Quaba.”

“Well, well

yes, I’d like to have a chat with her.”

“And you remember Recon Control?”

“Yeah?”

“The fellow who was in charge of Black Jadeour missionis also here.”

“It might be interesting to talk with him, too.”

“All the rear echelon types survived, you see. Them

and me.” He slammed down his dox cup. “Scut!”

“Take it easy, Redhawk,” I said. “Flying an aircar is not exactly rear echelon. You paid your dues on Andrion Three and Mongera.”

“Yeah, and I was sitting on my ass in Uldo while Beta fried. Scut!” He got up and fumbled around in a desk console. He came up with a holcard and tossed it to me. “Thought you’d want this back.”

I placed it on the walltable and triggered it. It burnt to life in the air between us, flooded with light. It was Priestess and I, embracing. She was in faded camfax, melting against my chest, looking up at me with calm, trusting dark eyes, one hand on my shoulder. I was in a sweatie, totally calm, looking down at her with a faint smile. My heart gave a jolt. She was incredibly lovely. Flawless skin, gleaming black hair, tender lips, slightly parted. Deadmanhow I missed her! I remembered it all now. It had not been so bad, before I got my memory back. Now it was like a knife in the heart, every time I thought of her.

“You gave me that, just before the mission to the Mound,” Redhawk said. “You asked me to keep it for you.”

I triggered it off, and the image faded. “Thanks.” My mind swirled with memories.

“Wish I could say I’ve found herbut I haven’t.”

I was silent.

“How’s Whit doing?” Redhawk asked.

“She’s fine. She talks about you a lot.”

“Oh yeah?” A manic grin split his dirty face. “Well, can’t say I blame her! That girl’s got good taste! What does she say about me?” He was scratching his chest absently.

“She worships you like a God.”

Ten laughed. “She’s a honey, isn’t she? I really like her. If we ever get outta this mess, I’m gonna disappear with her. Nobody will find us. Nobody.”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

Ten was resting his head on his hands, elbows on the table, looking out at me quizzically from behind long, stringy reddish hair. His face was pale and splotchy and spattered with slick.

“What?” I asked.

“I’ve got some news,” he said. “Good news.”

“What’s that?”

“Valkyrie is alive. She’s right here on Quaba.”

***

“Does this place have a name?” I asked. It was so dark I could hardly see a thing. Little sparks flickered in the gloom and a milky cloud of glitter gently swirled overhead. The air was charged with sweet, musky incense. The music crawled over my skin, overwhelming me, infinitely sad, totally overpowering.

“Deep Dreams,” Redhawk replied. “Try not to breathe anything.”

“Off limits,” something female hissed. “Nasty boys!” As my eyes adjusted, I could see a girl with glistening purple skin, completely naked, so tall and spidery I thought I was imagining it. I could only gape at her as she faded into the smoky dark with laughing yellow eyes. I had never seen a female Cyrillian before, clothed or otherwise.

“Let’s see if we can find a table,” Redhawk said.

“I can’t see a damned thing.”

A phantom with a pinpoint flash guided us to a table against one wall. She was an exquisite petite Outworlder girl, also completely nude. Shining, carefully clipped tawny hair, generous breasts, shapely legs, and a pink ribbon around her neck.

“Legion?” she asked us over the music. “Deep Dreams welcomes you. You will be alerted if Town Patrol enters. Please relax and enjoy. May we serve a softside?”

“Noblue ice, please,” Redhawk responded. The girl faded into the dark. The eerie music continued, soaking into my bones. Shimmering clouds of ice crystals floated past our tablewe could see nothing else.

“What’s a softside?” I asked.

“Aphrodisiac,” Redhawk replied. “You don’t want it in this place. This is a fem bar. Males can look but don’t touch, or a gang of very tough toms will toss you out on your ass.”

“I’ll try to remember that.”

The naked sweety brought us blue ice, and we sipped deep dreams as a series of dim lights slowly came flickering to life out of the mists to focus on a slim, angelic blonde with very short hair and very long legs, clad in a pale filmy gown, dancing dreamily in the clouds.

My mind floated away, back to Planet Hell, where Valkyrie and I had killed together in the swamps, and run to higher ground, terrified and exhausted, and paused in a cold forest on a misty hill. She had sunk her fangs into my neck and left fingernail tracks all over my back. Gamma Two, she had been thenmy Two, forever and ever and ever. And then, on Andrion 2, Beta Nine had touched my heart with deep, dark child’s eyes, and taken me away. Valkyrie was lost to me, forever. Gone, claimed by the Legion and her own fevered dreams. Valkyrie had seen too much, on Coldmark, on Andrion 3, on Mongera, on Uldo. She was Beta Eleven by then, but was gone from all of us, forever. In the end she had been as cold as a biogen, out for blood and praying for death. I had prayed too, for her. I still prayed for her, to Deadman. Valkyriealive! I had last heard her voice in the tunnels of the Mound. We had been trapped and doomed, Tara and Gildron and Twister and I, and the O was rushing at us like a dragon from the stars. I had called out our impending death, just for the record, and Snow Leopard had responded, miraculously. ‘It’s them, Eleven,’ he had said. ‘Get that O!’ And Valkyrie, invisible, had replied. ‘I’m on it, One!’ she cried out. ‘Goodbye and God bless you!’ Hurling herself at the O. Then the starmass had overwhelmed us. Valkyriealive! I had never dared even hope it.

Up on stage, the spidery Cyrillian girl had stripped the blonde and was licking her down like a frozen fruit bar, as the music rose to a shattering crescendo. I didn’t pay them a whole lot of attention.

Redhawk had called our waitress over and had launched into a long, involved speech. I couldn’t hear a word. The waitress was bending over to listen, a puzzled expression, her large breasts bobbing gently a few mils from his face. He didn’t appear to even notice them. It was really kind of funny. When she glided away, Redhawk leaned over to me. “She’ll check,” he said. “She confirmed Valkyrie comes here every night. She has a permanent cube here, she’s hardly ever in her Legion quarters.”

“You’ve never contacted her?”

“No. I just found out about her. And I didn’t want to show up in her quarters. She’s got a new designation now, Three Three Two, and she’s assigned to Admin. It’s a dumping ground for screw-ups and incompetents. Also a good place to hide somebody. No human wants to contact anybody in Admin.”

“You sure it’s all right to approach her here?”

“Best place on the planet. These people are total outcasts, and totally suspicious. They’re not going to cooperate with anyone official.”

“So why is the waitress doing what you asked her?”

“I tipped her fifty C. And she knows I’m not TP or Info. I’ve been here a few times before, just for chuckles. Never knew Eleven hung out here.”

The waitress appeared again, her perfect face completely neutral. “She doesn’t know any Beta Ten,” she said. “And she doesn’t want to know any Beta Ten.”

“Damn,” Redhawk said. “But she’s herecan we see her?”

“No,” the waitress said, her face hardening. It sounded pretty final.

“All right,” Redhawk said. “Give her this. If she won’t see us then, we’ll leave. Tenners?” He handed her a holcard. She looked at it skeptically, but accepted it and turned away, displaying slim silky legs and a lovely, firm little bottom that no man would ever get to enjoy.

“What was that, Redhawk?” I asked.

“A shot of us allBeta and Gammaon Planet Hell. I always carry it.”

“Well, here’s hoping they haven’t psyched her.” We raised our glasses to it, and drank blue ice. Up on stage the Cyrillian spider-woman was humiliating the leggy blonde waif. It was awful. I had to turn my eyes away. The music was like a great heartbeat. The whole room was throbbing. The blonde was whimpering.

“She’ll see you.” Our tawny-haired waitress was back. “Follow me.”

She led us to a silent padded hallway somewhere far below the nightspot, lined with brightly colored doors. We stopped at number 44. Two short-haired, tough-looking, uniformed toms were lounging in the corridor, fingering their shockrods, watching us with some interest. The naked waitress pressed a doorbell and stepped back with disinterest, her task complete.

The door slid open. Beta Eleven stood there, a cold elegant blonde, an angel from Hell, emerald eyes, pale pink lips, slim and perfect, clad in a silken black robe. A black Legion cross was burnt right onto her forehead, the mark of the dead. She held Redhawk’s holcard in one hand. As her eyes focused on Redhawk and me, the color rushed from her face and her head lurched back and she suddenly collapsed, falling heavily to the deck. Redhawk reached out to catch her, the waitress screamed, the two toms charged in waving their shockrods and shouting their battle cries, another girl appeared suddenly from inside the room, and for a couple of fracs it was very confusing indeed.

“She fainted! It’s not us!” I screamed, desperate to ward off the two man-haters with the shockrods. “She fainted! Help her!”

“She fainted!” the waitress confirmed. The toms paused over us, hesitating, poised to pound out our brains. Redhawk had Valkyrie in his arms.

“Give her some air,” I said. “We’re friendlies!” Valkyrie evidently had a roomie, a sweet little underaged thing with silky brown hair, hovering over her in concern, watching us warily with big brown eyes.

“Valkyriewake up!” I pleaded. Her roomie produced a wet cloth and we daubed at Valkyrie’s forehead. The toms were holding off and the waitress was still gaping at the scene.

She came around slowly. Her eyelids flickered and opened. Redhawk and I were on our knees beside her. She stared at us in wonder. One hand came up and closed around Redhawk’s greasy reddish hair. Another came right up to my face, her slim fingers running over my cheek.

“Ten

” she gasped. “Three! Oh my holy God! You’re real! You’re alive! Oh my God!” Her face twitched, and she burst into tears, clutching us tightly, her arms snaking around our necks. “Where have you been? Where the hell have you been? Oh my God!”

***

Valkyrie’s cube was quite a place. The Deep Dreams people appeared to be running a profit, to judge by the rooms they rented out. It was luxurious by Legion standards. Redhawk and I sat in yielding airchairs, accepting cups of dox served by Valkyrie’s roomie, the little lovely with the thin silky hair. The walls were glowing with dreamy fantasy shots of fems disrobing and soaping each other down in improbable outdoor locations. When she finished serving the dox, the roomie settled down on a stack of cushions in one corner, watching us silently with big brown eyes. Valkyrie appeared from an inner room, completely composed, her face cold and hostile.

“You bastards!” she snapped at us abruptly. “How long has it been? Why did you abandon me? They told me all of Beta was gone. They said I was the only survivor! They said you were both killed. I saw your names in the Book of the Dead. Why didn’t you contact me before? You bastards!” She was furious, icy emerald eyes, the color burning on her cheeks, the black Legion cross throbbing on her forehead. She reminded me of her fem lover, Gamma One, Boudicca, the Bitch from Hell, who had perished on Mongera in her arms.

“We only just found you, Eleven,” Redhawk responded calmly. “I’ve been searching for you for close to a yearever since I learned ConFree lied to us. We’re all in the Bookyou’re in the Book, too. But we’re not all dead.”

She glared at us, her lips firmly set. “Who’s alive?”

“We’ve found Dragonand Cinta. Nobody else.”

“Dragon! And Scrapper?”

“We haven’t found Scrapper. We don’t know who’s alive, and who’s dead. The bastards lied to us all, about everythingbecause of the Mound, because of the Ship. They told me the samethat everyone in Beta was dead, that I was the only survivor. That I had to change my designation, because of the Ship. And they psyched Thinker. They were trying to hide us from each other.”

“Who did this?” Valkyrie stood in the middle of the room, as still as a statue.

“ConFree,” Redhawk replied. “An Inner named Kenton Cotter-Arc. He’s the ConFree Director for the entire Outvac. He gives orders to Starcom.”

“And he did this to us?”

“That’s right. He had a lot of help, but he’s the man.”

“He’s dead,” Valkyrie said. She said it with such calm conviction that I had no doubt she meant it. I stood up, setting my dox cup on a table.

“Come here,” I said. She looked at me with glittering green eyes, and moved over to me in a trance. I embraced her, closing my eyes and floating away, a wave of emotion crawling over my skin. Her fingernails were digging into my back. Mineshe had once been mine. My head was spinning.

“Ten!” she called. He came over, and she pulled him close. We stood there in the middle of the room, the three of us, silent, embracing, trembling with emotion. I could feel the love, rushing over us. Beta was reformingand the galaxy was going to regret it, I knew. Valkyrie’s roomie was already regretting it, watching us gloomily from the corner.

“Dragon says hello,” I said. “He said we’re planning to kick some ass, and we’d like you to join us.”

“Dibs on Cotter-Arc,” Valkyrie gasped. It was so good to see her again, to touch her again, to inhale her lovely scent. I remembered it, from how many lost years ago, tugging at my heart. It was a taste of the pastmy past. Her heart was thumping against mine. It was so damned good.

***

“All set?” Redhawk asked. We were standing silently before a door in a dimly lit, hushed corridor, Redhawk and Valkyrie and I, dressed in our blacks. It was a residential cube bloc in Quaba Base. Redhawk held a techscan against the doorlock, and it was glowing green. He triggered it, and the door snapped open.

We rushed silently into the darkness within. It was a largish cube with the bed set behind a little sitting area. She was in bed. We kind of expected that since it was 0100 hours, the pit of the night. Valkyrie and I were on her like a couple of bloodcats attacking a crippled bird. I grabbed a handful of hair while Valkyrie ripped the covers off and jumped right onto the bed, straddling her, seizing her arms. She was on her back, coming awake with a strangled gasp and a rising scream that ended abruptly when Valkyrie slapped her hard on the mouth.

“Shut down, bitch! Turn her over!” We flipped her over easilyshe was just a little thing. Redhawk hit the lights. The door was firmly closed once again. I had a knee on the girl’s neck as Valkyrie forced her arms behind her back. The girl cried out in pain.

“Cooperate, bitch, or I’ll break your arm!” Valkyrie warned. Our victim was a petite little blonde with long slim legs, squirming beneath us in micropanties and a short, sheer negligee. Valkyrie was still struggling with her arms.

“Need any help?” Redhawk asked us with some amusement, his arms folded. Valkyrie had the cuffs on now, snapping them around the girl’s wrists.

“She’s going to need your help when I’m through,” Valkyrie snapped, pulling the girl’s panties down abruptly and jabbing her buttocks with a field syringe. It was a superflash sedative, and it slowed her down quickly. When the girl stopped struggling, Valkyrie pulled her roughly off the bed. She landed on her knees and cried out in pain.

“Keep your trap shut, bitch! Do what we say and you may live. Get up!” Valkyrie pulled her up by her hair, got a headlock on her, and marched her roughly into the sitting room. “Where do you want her?”

“Put her against the wall,” Redhawk replied. Valkyrie slammed the girl back-first against one wall, then frisked her thoroughly. It hardly seemed necessarywe could see right through the negligee, and she certainly wasn’t armed.

“She’s clean,” Valkyrie reported.

“Who are you?” the little blonde squeaked. Her light blue eyes were frantic, and she was deathly pale. She had a thick mop of pale blonde hair that hung down over one eye. It looked like she was going into shock, weaving unsteadily against the wall. “What do you want from me?” She was beginning to tremble. Her lips were swollen and bleeding. I remembered her from Uldo. I remembered a lot of things now, and I knew I had Tara and the Legion to thank.

Redhawk took something out of a pocket and activated it. It floated out of his hand and stabilized up near the ceiling, glowing. The little blonde stared at it in horror. Valkyrie approached her with a little black instrument and placed it just over the girl’s right ear. It secured itself with little suckers and a green light came on. A shiver ran over the blonde’s flesh. Cold sweat trickled down her brow. Redhawk and Valkyrie and I pulled up chairs around a little table as the girl remained against the wall, paralyzed with fear.

“Nice quarters,” Valkyrie remarked casually, looking around the cube.

“Your designation is Three Four S Two Two Nine, Hqs Quaba Support Command?” Redhawk asked the blonde calmly.

“Yes,” she replied in a quavering voice. She looked like she was about to burst into tears.

“We are a citizen’s commission, charged with ascertaining the truth, so that justice can be done. You have been accused of several very serious crimes. Our only interest is the truth. These proceedings are being recorded, and the results will be passed to the Legion High Command. Any attempt to evade the truth will be detected and made a matter of record. Do you understand?”

“I haven’t done anything wrong.” It sounded like a plea for mercy.

“Your previous designation was Two Four S One Eight, Second of the Ship, Black Twelfth. Is that correct?” The blonde gasped audibly and went even paler.

“Is that correct?”

“Yes.” It was a whisper.

“One Eight, you are accused of high treason, aiding the enemy in time of war, espionage in time of war, sabotage of a military unit in time of war, one confirmed count of murder as a result of sabotage in time of war, and twelve counts of attempted murder as a result of sabotage in time of war. These are all capital charges. The penalty for each is death. Do you understand the seriousness of these charges?”

She was trembling, unable to respond.

Redhawk produced a plastic printout and placed it on the table. “One Eight, I have here a record of the official inspection that was conducted on twelve A-suits of squad Two Four Beta in preparation for a combat mission on Uldo, a recon mission into enemy territory. The report concludes that all A-suits are fully combat-ready. The certificate includes your seal. Did you inspect those A-suits?”

“Yes.” Her eyes were glazing overshe was in bad shape.

“Were all the A-suits, in fact, fully combat-ready?”

“No.” She was in agonyher face was twitching.

“You’d better explain,” Redhawk said grimly.

“They made me do it,” she said hopelessly. Tears were streaming down her cheeks now. “They ordered me to do it. I didn’t want to do it! They said it was a direct order.” She was sniffling miserably.

“They made you do what?”

“They said to decharge the tacnet power reserves down to twenty-five percent and fix the charge status indicators to one hundred. They said it was Cosmic Secret, and the outcome of the battle depended on it, the lives of thousands of troopers. They swore us to secrecy, and threatened us with court martial and execution if we didn’t. I didn’t want to do it! Neither did Jano. But we had to.”

“Who’s Jano?”

“The Assidic. My buddy. We did the check together. The systems check was the final step. We were horrified when they told us.”

“Who told you?”

“It was Two Four One. He said the orders came from the Ministry of War. There was somebody with him, from the Ministry. They stood right there and made sure we did it.”

Two Four One! The information electrified us. Two Four One was Lowdrop, commander of CAT 24, a harsh and demanding autocrat. I had never liked him, I had never trusted him, but I had never expected treason.

One Eight was blubbering like a baby and blood was trickling down from her lips. I got up and found a tissue and gently daubed at her face. I brought her over to the table and let her sit down. Her arms were still bound behind her. I didn’t enjoy bullying this poor little girl, but we were deadly serious about our mission, and we didn’t have time to waste.

“We fix A-suits,” One Eight whimpered. “We prep them for combat. We’re proud of our work. They made us betray youand ourselves. We didn’t want to do it. I had nightmares for months.”

“Two Four One,” Redhawk reflected.

“I always hated him,” I responded.

“We shouldn’t be surprised,” Redhawk said. “He was more concerned about his career than about his troops. His assets were all expendable.”

“Did he survive Uldo?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Redhawk said, “But I’ll certainly find out.”

“Describe this fellow from the Ministry of War,” Valkyrie ordered our captive. She described him. It didn’t sound like anyone we knew.

“The Ministry of War,” Valkyrie mused. “That’s ConFree.”

“Are you going to kill me?” One Eight asked weakly. It was clear that she recognized us as the very people she had betrayed. Valkyrie reached over and grasped her by the hair and pulled her face so close they were almost kissing. One Eight was covered with icy sweat. Valkyrie must have been a terrifying vision to her, with that black Legion cross burnt onto her forehead.

“If we do decide to kill you, bitch, I promise it will be me.” Valkyrie caressed her gently along one cheek. “I’ll strangle you, with my own hands. Gently. I’ll make sure it takes a long, long time. You’ll be looking into my eyes as you die.” Valkyrie released the girl abruptly and laughed.

“Easy, Eleven,” Redhawk said. “One Eight, we’re not going to approach the Legion on this until our investigation is concluded. When action is taken, everyone involved is going downall the way up to ConFree. People at the lowest levelsuch as yourselfmay even survive. But it’s going to depend on how cooperative you are. Should you alert anyone else to our inquiries, for example, we’ll find out, and you’ll get the death penalty. Not a word to anyonedo you understand?”

She nodded, stunned and speechless.

We recovered our equipment, I released her from the cuffs, and we left. Valkyrie paused in the doorway on her way out, smiling. “Just think of it as a bad dream, bitch,” she advised One Eight. “And rememberif you’re a good girl, you’ll never see me again. But if you’re bad, you’ll awaken one night with my hands at your throat.”

I felt sorry for the little blonde. It certainly wasn’t one of her better nights.

***

We weren’t so gentle with the fellow from Recon Control. His designation had been changed as well, and they had stuck him out in a science station by himself, a little scimod bristling with sensors and comgear, in the middle of nowhere. Redhawk borrowed an aircar and the three of us set out into the rugged, eerily beautiful wasteland of Quaba 7, under two suns. Recon Control was to have guided our mission to the Mound on Uldo, but with our commo down we had quickly lost contact with them. We didn’t know if Recon Control had been working against us or not, but this fellow certainly had some answers that we needed. We were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, for the first few fracs.

“So what did you want to know about?” he asked us. We were sitting around a table inside the scimod, sipping dox, surrounded by a dizzying array of scientific instrumentation. We had said we were from Starcom Science. He had been happy to see us. Apparently he didn’t get too many visitors. He was a young trooper with an engaging smile, thick dark hair and smoky grey eyes. He seemed like a nice guy, but we were far beyond any feelings of pity or even mercy. We were bound for death, and it didn’t matter if he was a nice guy or not. He had become entangled in the same web of conspiracy and intrigue that had been plaguing us from the beginning. Guilty or not, he was going to talk, and we didn’t have time to explain that we were the good guys.

“We want to ask you about Uldo,” Redhawk said. “You were with Recon Control for the Twelfth on Uldo. You were the mission officer for Black Jade. We’d like to ask you about Black Jade.”

The color vanished from his face. His jaw worked soundlessly for a moment before he regained his voice. His panicked eyes flashed to each of us in turn.

“I

I can’t talk about that,” he stammered. “It’s Cosmic Secret! I’ve been pledged to secrecy. I can’t

” I stood up and shot him in the chest with a vac bolt from my mini. It was deafening. He crashed violently to the deck with his chairthe air crackled with electricity.

When he regained consciousness he was tied to the chair, the psymon was attached to his scalp, and the scanner was floating up by the ceiling, taking it all in. The three of us were still sipping dox, gazing at him calmly.

“Citizen’s commission,” Redhawk explained patiently. When he had finished describing the penalties for treason, Redhawk asked our captive if he understood.

“I

I understand. You’re Black Jade!” The horror showed in his eyes.

“That’s exactly right. We’re the survivors. And all we want is the truth. Will you cooperate?”

“Yes!” He was sweatingjust like the blonde. What had they told him?

“Were you aware of the effort to sabotage Black Jade’s mission?”

“No! No sir! Your mission was the Moundthat’s what they told us. I was there to support you. I didn’t know about any sabotage!”

“Did you know our commo was down?”

“Not until you popped the nova. After that, we didn’t hear from you. I called you to ask if you wanted evac. I asked you to pop another nova if your commo was down and you wanted evac. You didn’t answer. Recon rules are a request for evac has to be confirmed. You knew thatso no evac.”

“We don’t blame you for that. Tell us about Blue Gold.”

“They penetrated your AO in their aircar. It was completely unauthorized, not to mention crazy. I was about to order them off when Two Four One jumped me. He told me Blue Gold’s mission was Cosmic Secret and none of my business and I was not to communicate with them or you. I didn’t even know who was the MO for Blue Gold. I watched the survivors following you on foot after their aircar got blasted by the O’s. I couldn’t say a word to you about it. Those were the orders. I figured there was more about the Mound than they’d told me.”

“Two Four One!”

“That bastard!”

“If he was with Recon Control when Blue Gold intruded,” I said, “it means he wasn’t with the Twelfth when it perished. He’s probably survived Uldo.”

“Good point,” Redhawk said. “Recon, did you see the O ship launch from the Mound?”

“Yes sir,” he said glumly. “It went shooting up into the at and out to the vac, then went stardrive.”

“You sure about that?”

“Yes sir! It was a big surprise to me. Nobody had told me anything about a ship.”

“And there was only the one ship?” I asked.

He looked at me curiously. “Well

when all was said and done, it appeared that way. But for awhile, we weren’t at all sure.”

“Explain.”

“Well

some time after you had entered the Mound, I turned away for some dox and when my eyes returned to the d-screen I saw what looked like a camfaxed ship, grounded on the desert, a few K from the Mound. It was barely visible, barely registering. It appeared to have landed. I did a frantic systems check but there was no approach track. It was a complete ghost. I called Two Four One over and we stared at it. It just sat there, in a wildly fluctuating mag field that distorted everything. It was fading in and out. I couldn’t get any readings on itnothing at all. Then the O ship launched from the Mound and shot up to the vac. The other ship was still there. I did everything I could to get a read on it. We finally diverted a Legion fighter to zap it with biotech, but the damned thing disappeared before the fighter got there.”

“Disappeared?”

“It just wasn’t there any more! No departure tracknothing at all. The fighter made another pass, but there was nothing there. Then I got another readingvery brief, very faint. Then it was gone again, and never reappeared. Finally we decided it must have been some kind of ghost image of the O ship that had been in the Mounda mag ghost. It wasn’t a good explanation, but it was all we had. Two Four One ordered me not to enter it into the log. So there’s no record of it at all.”

He sat there in the chair, miserably, slick with sweat. The psymon indicated no deception.

“They changed my designation,” he continued wearily, “and made me swear never to say anything to anyone about the Mound, or the Ship, or Black Jade, or Blue Gold. On pain of death, they said. They erased my past. I lost my unit, I lost all my friends. And now I’m here.”

“Does this mean we don’t kill him?” Valkyrie asked. She had a strange sense of humor. We had never intended to kill him.

“He’s just as much a victim as we are,” Redhawk said. I triggered the release on the cuffs. He brought his hands around carefully to his front. I removed the psymon from his temple.

“Sorry about the vac,” I said. He didn’t respond. He just sat there, rubbing his wrists, blinking.

“They’re coming down,” Redhawk said. “All of them. We’re going to kill them. And if you warn them, we’ll kill you too. Understand?”

“I understand. You don’t have to threaten me. They wrecked my life as well. Go ahead and kill themI don’t care. You’re with the Lost Command, aren’t you?”

“They’re going to pay,” Ten replied coldly.

“Good. Good! Kill them! Kill one for me! Why should I tell them you’re coming? They’ve caused me nothing but grief. They want silence, that’s what they’ll get from mesilence. Two Four One was in on it. Lowdrop. That’s the only name I have. The others were all strangers to meConFree people. The Legion would be better off without Two Four One.” Our friend was getting carried away. He wasn’t a bad sort at all.

Lowdrop, againand that damned ghost ship! What could it be? We were getting closerbut we were running out of time, I knew.

Chapter 8

Marching in the Mud

Black clouds scudded across the silvery face of Andrion 2’s single moon. It was a still, starless night. Valkyrie and I were motionless in the deepest shadows of a grove of dato trees. Alpha Station loomed against the sky, a massive, dark presence. Only a few lights showed topside. I savoured Andrion’s sweet night air. It was here Beta’s troubles had begun. Our first worldwe had even called it the New World. When we dropped in from the stars, we had called this site Zero Alpha. Then we had built Alpha Base, which had become Alpha Station. We had destroyed the entire area in the drop, but fast-growing dato trees were now sprouting everywhere. All of the Black 12th had been here once, but now Andrion 2 was a backwater, left in the wake of the war like so many other worlds. Alpha Station was manned by a few under-strength companies, as was Farside Base, on the other side of the planet. The 23rd had been eager to put the three new replacements to work, and questioning their good fortune was the last thing that would have occurred to them.

“He’s late,” Valkyrie whispered.

“He’ll be here,” I replied. We were both clad in camfax and armed with E’s, hauling comtops and fieldpaks. My mind was whirling with images from the past. I could hardly believe we were there. Tara was a genius. She really had the Legion wired. We had arrived independently, with genuine orders, and had not acknowledged that we knew each other. They had been keeping us busy, but that was about to end. The 23rd’s three new replacements were about to run into trouble.

“Do you think they’re catching up to us?” Valkyrie asked.

“Maybe. Tara didn’t explain. But it sounded as if something was happening.” Back on Quaba 7, Redhawk had received a brief message from Tara on his impossible starlink. It read ORDERS SENT. 3, 10, 11 LEAVE FOR A2 IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIPT. DO NOT/NOT DELAY. And that was all we got from Tara. We had tried to raise her all night on the link, but failed. We knew we were lucky to even get a text alert. The quantum gateway that carried Tara’s link was fleeting at best in the Quaba/Andrion sectors, and until it improved, contact was going to be sporadic at best. Our orders were there in the morning, and we hopped a transport the same day. It was troubling. The original plan had been for Redhawk and Valkyrie to proceed to Dindabai, and me to move on alone to Andrion 2. Something had certainly happened. We had now been on Andrion a full week and the starlink didn’t seem to work anymore. We were completely in the dark. But it didn’t matter. We had a mission. I was home, now. And nothing was going to stop me.

A black aircar appeared suddenly around a corner of the base, hissing a few marks above the ground, gliding slowly our way. Valkyrie and I stepped out of the trees and I raised a hand. The car floated gently over to us and the assault door popped open. Redhawk grinned at us from the driver’s seat. He was right where he belonged. He was a great aircar driver.

We tossed in our gear and climbed in. I took the Number Two seat and Valkyrie slipped in right behind us. It was a full-sized aircar and there was a lot of camping and survival gear on the seats and floor.

“We can’t carry all that stuff,” I observed as we pulled away from the base and headed into the night.

“We don’t have to,” Redhawk replied. “Take what you like. We’ll leave most of it behind. We have to make it look like we were just going camping. The Legion will find the aircar and conclude something happened to us.”

They’d be right, I thought. Something had certainly happened to us, on our way to the future.

Into the night. We were headed for Taka country and we could only take the aircar so far. Strange things had been happening in Taka country since the last time Tara and I were here. The Taka were Andrion’s original inhabitants, and to me they were blood brothers. We had fought them at first but then joined them against the priests and the Soldiers of God and the exosegs. Ultimately I had pledged myself to them, forever, and taken a Taka girl as my lover. Nobody could be closer to the Taka than I. But things had changed. The Legion was no longer welcome in Taka country. And, with vastly reduced strength, the Legion did not have the resources to reestablish its control over the Taka.

Nobody in Andrion Station seemed certain what it was that had prompted the change of the Taka from close and loyal Legion allies to distant and hostile tribesmen, seemingly indifferent to the Legion’s role in freeing the planet from the double curse of the priests and the exosegs. We freed them from slavery, but that no longer seemed to matter. I found it odd. It didn’t sound like the Taka I knew. Their loyalties were absolute. Something had certainly happened, and it had happened after Tara and I had left Andrion, after the ConFree raid had been repulsed, and after the 23rd had subsequently confirmed their loyalties were with ConFree, not the Lost Command.

Somethingwe had to find out what, if we were to accomplish the mission.

We headed roughly south, passing over the Mountains of the Exiles, then swooping low over a darkened plain, headed south to God’s GardenTaka country. At night the landscape was a mysterious world, a marshy lowlands sliced with silvery rivers and dotted with clumps of white-stalked flowertrees. My blood stirred. I remembered this territory. The dead city of Stonehall was up ahead somewhere and, further south, the ruins of Southmark itself could be found, in the Swamp of Lost Souls. The Taka had a long and glorious history, but it was all lost, forever, in the mists of time. No one would ever know what Southmark had been. It was only a book of dust now, in the Tomb of the Kings. I had held it in my hands, with Moontouch close beside me. We were all dust, she had saiddust in the wind.

“Dox?” Valkyrie had found a case of dox.

“Might as wellwe can only carry so many.” The aircar shuddered slightly as we entered rough air. I popped the cap on a dox and let the silky, hot liquid swirl around my mouth and slide down my throat. Simple pleasures. The closer we got to death, the more we appreciated life’s little pleasures.

“Aircar 898, you are approaching a restricted zone. Please turn aside.”

Redhawk glanced at us and grinned. We remained on course. Somebody in Alpha Station had noticed us.

“Aircar 898, repeatyou are approaching a restricted zone. That’s Taka country. Acknowledge, please.”

We continued into the night. Valkyrie was silent, slumped in her chair, sipping dox. I had loved her in my past life. It was easy to understand. She had hair like golden fleece, glittering emerald eyes, and a flawless, exquisite face. Tender pink lips that had once belonged only to mebut now she belonged only to the Legion. When she had been my lover, she had not had that damned Legion cross burnt onto her forehead.

“What are you lookin’ at?” she growled sullenly.

“Sorry.” I turned to look out the plex.

“Aircar 898, you have entered a restricted zone. Acknowledge, acknowledge!” The message was shot through with static. The jets popped once, and quit. All internal power suddenly cut off. The gauges and readouts all flashed to zero as the console lights blinked off. It was immediately dead silent. We could only hear the hissing of the air outside as we slid down towards the deck.

“I’ll be damned,” Redhawk said.

“This is just what they said would happen,” Valkyrie said. “Aircars that enter the Taka zone suddenly lose all power.”

“I’ll be damned,” Redhawk repeated. “This is fascinating! Total power loss! How the hell can they do that?”

“I hate to interrupt,” I interrupted, “but are we going to die?”

“No worries, gangwe glide right in, the blades will autorotate us right down. I’ve never seen this before!”

The ground was coming at us quickly.

“Prep for a hard landing, guys,” Redhawk warned us. I tightened my harness. We were falling like a brick, and the Garden of God was coming right at us, bathed in moonlight, sheets of silvery swampland set in a mysterious dead ocean of ink.

We banged hard against the ground, jarring my teeth, bounced once, and crashed down again, settling in at a slight angle. All in one piece!

“See? Told you!” Redhawk assured us confidently. “We landed on a cushion of airthe closer we got to the earth, the thicker the cushion, even on zero power. It’s a nice safety feature. Everybody out!”

We jumped out into ankle-deep water. We were in open swampland. Scraggly clumps of tall, spooky trees grew from little islands of higher land. Dark hills rose on the horizon. The sky was still covered with clouds. The air was fresh and cool. We hauled out our fieldpaks, ratpaks, coolers and canteens, clipped our comtops to our u-belts, and hoisted our E’s. It was silentthere was only the sighing of a faint breeze. It was going to be a long walk, and we had to move out quickly in case the Legion decided to send a rescue car.

“All set?”

“Got plenty of dox?”

“Everybody got a medkit?”

“Let’s move out.”

***

Hours later, we were still sloshing through swampy terrain, under a fitful moon streaked with black clouds. The air was fresh and wet but there was no rain. A soft breeze washed over us as we plodded forward mechanically, silent. It reminded me of Uldo. There was really no way of knowing if my memory was as good now as it had been before. Even without psyching, memories are constantly fading away, but I could still remember a lot about our march to the Mound, on Uldo. It had been just like this, at one pointsloshing through the swamps. All of Beta had been there. And Tara said we were marching in the mud for God, for justice, and pronounced it good. She said she felt ecstatic. I thought she was raving, but later, when I saw what the O’s had done to our people, I changed my mind. And, standing under our impaled dead, I vowed revenge, and I too felt ecstatic, and determined to go on. Only then had I understood.

Now, sloshing through the muck, we were fighting another enemy, an enemy even more sinister and treacherous than the O’s. Traitors, in our own ranks. We had been fighting them since our original landing on Andrion 2, and had never even known it. I knew they thought they were doing the right thing, but it didn’t make their treason any less dangerous to the future of humanity. History is full of dead civilizations that had been overrun by barbarians while frantically trying to do the right thing. In the Legion’s History of the Galaxy you could even read some of the desperate speeches, given by doomed leaders in their last few days. Some were almost comical. People with good intentions were dangerous, I knew. I had long ago decided that the Legion was all that allowed ConFree to survive, and ConFree was humanity’s only hope against the System. We, the Legion, were the barbarians that the Systies feared. They knew we were without mercy or pity, just like them, and we stood between them and the tender, peaceful, perfect worlds of ConFree, where people lived in prosperity and comfort, the way life should be lived. As long as we remained barbarians, ConFree would prosper. And as soon as we weakened, ConFree would die. I had vowed it wasn’t going to happen on my watch.

“Let’s take five,” I said.

“Nah, let’s keep going,” Redhawk replied. He had a strange sense of humor. We found a relatively dry area under some trees and dumped our fieldpaks.

“Anyone for dox?” It felt good to be off our feet. It was still the pit of the night. The clouds must have been fading, for I could see a few starsthe moon was heading for the horizon. I popped a dox. Just what I needed.

“I’m going to wee,” Valkyrie said, heading into the dark.

“Watch out for snakes,” Redhawk called out after her, grinning. She did not answer.

“Do you think the Legion can see us?” I asked him.

“That’s a twelve. It’s doubtful. They can’t see much in the Taka zone any more. It’s bizarre. There’s a very powerful source of deceptor interference that covers the whole area. It originates on a mountain not far from the old Southmark. It makes commo impossibleeven the smaller visual details are hard to read.”

“And you enter the zone and your aircar dies.”

“Exactly. The few Legion patrols they sent in on foot were intercepted and politely escorted out. Since the orders were not to use force, they didn’t have any choice.”

“Strange.”

“The reconsats do show some large construction projects underway, although it seems to be stone-age stuff. New buildings, stuff like that.”

“New buildings?” That was strange. The Taka were tribal primitives, living in the wreckage of a glorious past, squatting in the midst of the dead stone bones of the once mighty temples and fortresses of Southmark. Their history was long gone. They certainly had no business constructing new buildings.

“The whole Taka zone is now restricted. Nobody’s been there since the LC split with ConFree. The Legion just doesn’t have the resources to resolve this little problem, and so they’re leaving it alone.”

“Sounds like the Taka don’t welcome visitors.”

“That’s a ten.”

It was very, very strange. The Taka had pledged themselves to us forever, after we had delivered them from the exosegs and the priests and the Soldiers of God. And now this. Tara was convinced that Gildron was somewhere in Taka country. When the ConFree commandos had attacked Alpha Station, Gildron had been separated from Tara. He would have headed for the Taka, Tara said. The Taka were our friends, totally loyal, blindly loyal, and they knew and liked Gildron as well. They would have given him unconditional shelter, unconditional protection.

Gildron had the Star. He had to have it, Tara said. Nobody else did. And the Star was our objective. Recover the Star, and bring it back to Dindabai. That was the mission. Gildron was Tara’s creature. He adored her; he would do whatever she said. She wanted us to bring him back, too. I wasn’t anticipating any trouble, if we could just locate and get to Gildron. The two of us had been through a lot together. He was a big, retarded ape, but he had a good heart. Despite his uncanny ability to communicate with the O’s, he could barely speak with us, but he was always friendly. I was confident he would do as I asked.

If he didn’t have the Star, we’d just have to find itwherever it was.

“It’s kind of spooky out there,” Valkyrie said, reappearing from out of the dark. “I thought I heard some movement from the swamp.”

“Yeah?” I glanced at my tacmod. It was completely snowed under.

“We can forget about the tacmods,” Redhawk said.

“All right, let’s move out,” I said. “And stay alert.” We hoisted our packs.

***

The moon slowly vanished and there was a long roll of thunder and a hard rain began. We put on the comtops and sloshed forward without a word. Heavy rain, beating on our helmets, falling straight down, drenching the tangled trees and the swamp and us. We tried to ignore it. A fitful wind rushed past us. The sky flashed and lightning lanced down repeatedly somewhere off in the distance, lighting up the vegetation in frozen flashes of wild dancing trees, as tremendous barrages of thunder split the night like artillery. The swamp hissed and bubbled as tons of rain crashed down from above. A sky full of rain, an ocean sky, washing us clean, soaking us, the rain pouring in past my collar, into my tunic, running over my skin.

I didn’t mind. We plodded on, staggering, sloshing through knee-deep water, dazzled by lightning flashes, deafened by the blasts. It was almost as if the Gods were turning against us, but even that didn’t concern me. I didn’t care what the opposition was. My family was out there somewhere, and I was going to find them. I didn’t really give a damn about the Star, except that I knew the people who had tried to erase me didn’t want me to have itand that was a good enough reason for me to secure the cursed thing, and bring it back to Tara. I didn’t care what she did with itseize absolute power, enslave the galaxy, whatever. I didn’t care. Just so long as I made those bastards squirm, that was all I wanted.

Valkyrie disappeared suddenly, right under the water. She came up thrashing, and I pulled her to higher ground. She was laughing. Redhawk staggered on like a drunk. I pulled off my comtop and raised my face to the deluge. Bitter rain, battering at my face like hail.

I didn’t mind. We were getting closer with every single step.

***

“You awake?” Valkyrie whispered it. It was very early. We had been sleeping, and it was Valkyrie’s watch. We had fought our way out of the swamp onto a flat, treeless plain of sticky red mud. We struggled for hours and finally collapsed, exhausted. The rain eventually stopped. We huddled together in a soggy mass of fieldpaks and camfax cloaks, wallowing lazily in a sea of viscous red clay. It was totally silent. The sky was mostly dark, with a few stars showing overhead and a faint glow on the horizon.

“I’m awake.” I turned to Valkyrie. She was lying in a pool of mud, her shoulders propped up against a pile of rotting debris that I recognized as our ratpaks. She was completely covered in red mudeven her hair was caked in liquid mud. She looked like some primitive mud-worshipper, all set for the ceremony. Only the E across her chest gave her away, but even the E was covered with mud.

“You’re looking good, Valkyrie,” I said.

“I’m sorry, Thinker.”

“Huh? Sorry about what?”

“I mean I’m sorry I snapped at you back in the aircar. Sorry.”

“It’s all right.”

“I’ve changed, Thinker. I wish it could be the same as before.”

“Yeah. Me, too. We’ve all changed.”

“There’s one thing that hasn’t changed, though.”

“What’s that?”

“Two and Three against the world.” She was looking out at the dawn. That’s what it had been beforeshe had been Gamma Two, and I had been Beta Three, and it had been just the two of us, against the world. It was nice to hear her say it, again.

“That’s a ten.” Dawn was coming up behind a line of velvet hills on the horizon. The black sky was slowly turning a luminous violet in the east. A pale rosy halo flickered faintly, tinting the hills blue.

We lay there in the sea of mud like pigs, gawking at that miraculous new day. Valkyrie handed me a dox and I popped it open and savoured the aroma and the taste. We prodded Redhawk awake and forced a dox on him, too.

“Get up, lazybones. Check the dawn!” He came awake blinking, smearing the mud on his face, clutching the dox gratefully.

The sunrise tinted a line of dark clouds pink and red from below. Fingers of golden flame were rising from the hillsit was a silent, slow-motion explosion of heavenly light. A hot bloody gash was burning over the hills now, the molten clouds glowing phospho orange and the entire sky turning an electric blue. Finally a blinding white star burst into view, warming our skin. The air was completely still.

“Are they still out there?” I asked Valkyrie.

“That’s a ten. At least one. Right about there.” She pointed out into the sea of mud. The Taka had been trailing us, discreetly.

“Persistent fellow.”

“Shame we can’t invite him over for dox.”

“I doubt he’d accept.”

“His loss!” It was a fine morning, I decideda fine new day.

Redhawk stood up and stretched and yawned and took a few tentative steps out into the mud. “Back in a frac,” he said.

“Watch out for snakes,” Valkyrie said half-heartedly.

***

We set out into the new day, struggling through the mud. We must have looked ludicrous but I felt great, as that glorious rising sun baked my flesh. I felt a tremendous satisfaction. I was right where I wanted to be, doing exactly what I wanted to do. My blood was coursing through my veins and my skin was crawling. Marching in the mud, I thoughtfor God, for justice. Or maybe just for myself. Tara should be here, I thought. She would appreciate this. I blessed her. Without her, I’d still be washing dishes back on NimbosI knew it.

“What are you grinnin’ about?” Valkyrie asked.

“Never been happier!”

“You’re getting weirder all the time!” Redhawk declared. I just laughed at them. Who could want better companions than these two? Immortal, indestructible mud-creatures, staggering along beside me. Soldiers of the LegionI knew they’d never quit. I really felt sorry for Kenton Cotter-Arc. He was in terminal trouble.

The sea of mud merged gradually into a wet, soggy plain of tough sawgrass with occasional clumps of tall, willowy trees. I recognized the terrain. We were getting closer, I knew.

The Taka were following us. At first we only saw two of them, scouts, trailing us from several K away, silhouettes on the horizon, falling into the grass whenever we stopped. After awhile there were more of them and they stopped hiding. They kept their distance, marching parallel with us, spears and tridents on their shoulders, shields catching the sun. I could see the mark of the Book on the shields, a black crown over a black skull. It was the ancient seal of Southmark, a still defiant emblem of a long-dead world, and the Taka were the soldiers of that world, soldiers of the past, marching for dead kings.

As we penetrated further into Taka country, into the land of Southmark, more and more Taka appeared to both sides of our line of march. Soon there were hundreds, completely silent, two long columns of marching shadows on either horizon. I was overjoyed to see so many Taka, still strong and free. I knew they didn’t give a damn for anything except themselves and their friends. If they had broken with the Legion, they certainly had a reason.

We were slowly approaching a dark forest when the trees shuddered and a long line of Taka appeared, striding out of the shadows. There were so many it was as if the entire forest had come alive and was advancing on us abreast. They approached at a slow walk, spears and shields winking in the sun. We turned and saw the two columns that had been parallelling our march had stopped, facing us. Then they began their advance, spears and tridents held high. To our rear, another long line of warriors had silently appeared. They too were coming at us, spears and shields, side by side.

When they linked up, they stopped. We were totally surrounded. It was a beautiful day, a sky full of grey clouds, a light, wet breeze.

A massive crack split the sky. I had been expecting it, but I jumped anyway. Another! Hundreds of spears, smashing against the shields. It sounded just like E’s, firing in unison. The shields jumped, up from the ground, flashing in the sun, and the world erupted in soundthey were drumming the spears against the shields, almost in ecstasy. I cringed, despite myself.

When it stopped there was a sudden, savage roar, a blood-curdling war cry, and the Taka advanced, shaking their shields and waving their spears and tridents wildly. My blood pressure was going up.

They stopped in unison and grounded the shields and battered them again with the spears, and broke into a joyous song. I knew it well. A boy soldier sacrifices himself for his people. His lover begs him to stay, his mother begs him to stay, his little brother begs him to stay. He goes. He faces the enemy alone, and dies. He is remembered forever.

“Very impressive,” Redhawk observed. The Taka must have known we could have killed them all with our E’s. They weren’t afraid. Taka were afraid of nothing.

I raised my E on high, so they could see it. Then I handed it theatrically to Valkyrie and walked forward to meet them. A fierce howl arose from the Taka.

“Be careful,” Valkyrie called out after me.

Things change when you decide to do something that may result in your death. Accepting Tara’s mission changed a lot. A few years before, I would have been paralyzed in terror, facing those Taka. Now all I could feel was admiration for them.

I knew the leader would have to face me. He came out of their ranks as I drew closer. He held his trident high, then grounded it into the earth, dropped his shield, and started walking towards me. And each time his feet touched the ground, his warriors slammed their spears against their shields. The earth trembled at his approach. It was a nice touch.

I stopped and grinned. I couldn’t help it. I recognized him. How could I not recognize him? It was Deadeye Flowers, Standfast, Waterwalkermy blood brother. He held his head high as he approached me. His fine features were fixed with determination. Long tangled dark hair reached to his shoulders. He was naked to the waist but a necklace of blackened exoseg teeth hung around his neck. I was filthy, covered with mud. How could he recognize me? We stopped a few paces apart. A silence settled over the field. He looked into my eyes, fearless.

“Deadeye!” I shouted in Taka. “I am Slayer! I greet my brother! I return from the stars, to rejoin my lover and my son. Your heart still beats within you. You have guarded the Queen and the Prince. I am eternally grateful. Tell me of Moontouch! How is Stormdawn? Are they well?”

Deadeye gaped at me in astonishment. Clearly I was not expected. “Slayer!” he gasped, “You live!”

“Yes, DeadeyeI live! How is Moontouch? How is my son?”

He stepped back, uncertain. Something was wrong. Something was certainly wrong.

“Deadeye! How is Moontouch?”

“Have you come for the Star?”

The question caught me flat-footed. Deadeye knew about the Star! I knew I could not lie to him.

“I have come to see my wife and son. I have also come for Gildronand for the Star.”

“Then we are enemies, my brother. I defend the Star.”

“We are brothers! We cannot fight! I do not care about the Star! I have come to see my family!”

“You are my prisoner, Slayer. Surrender or die!” He raised one arm.

“Deadeye! Don’t be foolish! You cannot fight us!”

“If I drop my arm, my warriors will attack.”

“If they attack us, they will die!”

“Then we die!” His eyes glittered with determination.

“No! No! We surrender! I am your prisoner, Deadeye. Take me to Moontouch.”

“Tell your companions to drop their weapons.”

“Deadeye! Where is Moontouch?”

But he would not answer.

Chapter 9

Every Crazy Bastard

“This could be better,” Valkyrie observed dryly. The three of us had been marched into a ruined temple complex in the forest and locked up in a windowless cell deep underground. The air was cold and wet, the stone walls and ceiling were covered with multiple layers of sopping green mold, and the floor was a puddle of icy slime. The ceiling was so low we could not stand upright. A very faint glow could be seen from the peephole in the sturdy wooden doorthere was a torch out in the corridor. Otherwise, it was dark.

“Just like a female to bitch about the accommodations,” Redhawk said. “This isn’t so bad. It reminds me of our quarters in Uldo Milport.”

“At least we had dox on Uldo,” Valkyrie continued. “We haven’t even got water here. However I do think it was nice of them to let us keep our clothing, don’t you agree?”

“Well, these are Thinker’s buddies. We’re probably getting the VIP treatment.”

“We probably are,” I said. “I don’t think this is a permanent detention facility. There’s not even a pot to pee in. And there’s no sign anyone else has ever been here.”

“You mean, like a human skull?” Redhawk asked.

“They’re probably deciding what to do with us,” I replied. “I don’t think we’ll be here long.”

“I thought Thinker was particularly masterful back there with the Taka, didn’t you, Valkyrie?”

“Yeahhe just swaggered right out there and took charge, didn’t he?”

“They knew better than to fool with him.”

“Lucky it was his best friend in command of the troops, huh?”

“Otherwise we might have been in trouble.”

“Three is a natural leader. ‘Drop your weapons! Don’t fire! We’re surrendering!’ He said it with such authority I was forced to comply.”

“Say, Three, I’m just curious,” Redhawk said. “Did you make any enemies among the Taka? Because if this is how your friends treat you, I don’t think I want to meet any of your enemies.”

“All right, all right,” I said. “Maybe things could have worked out better, but starting a war with the Taka was not in the plans. Our mission is to contact Gildron and secure the Star. And we need the Taka’s cooperation to do that. We could have fought our way past all those Takaby killing thembut that would have doomed the mission. Just wait. It will work out.” I leaned back against the cold, wet wall. I was in no hurry. I had all the time in the worldI was an immortal, after all.

***

The door creaked open and someone thrust in a blazing, smoky torch. The light almost blinded us. We awoke groggily, blinking. Our throats were parched. Someone was kneeling in the doorway with the torch. There was a heavy thunk and a gurgling sound. Several gourd-like objects rolled around on the floor. We snatched at them and sucked greedily. Water bottles, full of sweet life.

He watched us silently. It was Deadeye, I realized. His long hair was tangled and sweat beaded his dirty face. His eyes glinted as cold as death.

When I finished the gourd I dropped it to the cell floor and fixed my gaze on Deadeye. He looked back and finally spoke.

“The world has changed, Slayer,” he said.

“You pledged your life to your Queen,” I said in Taka. “You have betrayed me, and yourself, and your people.”

“No, Slayer! I keep my word. My Queen livesI am her slave. Does not my heart beat within me? I have not betrayed you!”

“And my son?”

“Stormdawn rules all Southmark, with his mother at his side. I guard them with my life. It is just as you wished.” A tremendous wave of relief washed over my body. Moontouch and Stormdawnalive and well! Who could want anything else?

“Why did you greet your blood brother as an enemy?” I asked him.

He lowered his head and hesitated. “It is the curse of the Star,” he said. “Moontouch saw you coming, but she did not know it was you. She saw three angels from Hell, and all bore the mark of the Legion. One was seeking death and one was seeking vengeance and one was seeking redemption and all had lost their past. She said they had come for the Star, and wanted to take it away. She said we must stop them.”

“I do not want the Star, Deadeye, but Moontouch is right. I have come to take it away.”

“I do not want the Star either, Slayer, but I must defend it, with my life. It is evilit is cursed, but I obey my Queen.”

“I agree with you about the Star. I would destroy it if I could, but I cannot. We are all slaves of the Star. Let me speak with Moontouch. Let me speak with Gildron! Is Gildron with you?”

“We do as my Queen commands,” Deadeye said. “And nothing else. We march to Stonehall today. You march with us. We march together, Slayeras in the old days. Come. The sun rises on a new day. The world has changed, but we can pretend it has not.”

***

I knew it was not far to Stonehall. We marched through grassy fields under a clear sky. The three of us accompanied Deadeye and all his troops, a long column of warriors like a great glittering snake, slithering through the sawgrass, spears and tridents and shields reflecting sunlight. Free men, I thought, fighting for themselves, for their own families, for their own race, for what they believed inagainst all enemies. No conditions, no hesitation, and no doubts. I admired the Taka.

We cleaned up at an icy creek, washing most of the mud away. Eleven looked almost human now, although Ten and I were still pretty scruffy. It didn’t matter. We felt great.

“Does Moontouch await me?” I asked Deadeye, as we strode through the grass.

“My Queen awaits you, Slayer. When I told her you had come, she was not surprised. Her eyes were fierce, Slayer. You must abandon your quest for the Star. Come home, to us. Do not touch the Star. It is evil.”

“What has it done?”

“The Star is our salvation. It is our strength. Southmark is rising, Slayer. The dead Kings stir in the dark of the tomb. Your son sits on the throne of Southmark, and he is the voice of the past. We are proud and strong and free once again, just as the Book prophesied. The women are sewing the battle flags, Slayer, with threads of silver and gold. Ancient flags! The Golden March, Slayerthe Golden March resumes!” He looked up at the sky, hypnotized.

“Why do you say the Star is evil?”

“It eats at our hearts, Slayer. How can we oppose such power? The slave turns on the master, blood brothers threaten each other, the Queen is mistrustful of her lover. How can you doubt it is evil?”

“I don’t doubt it.”

“The world has changed, Slayer. The Star is ours! Would you steal it away from your Queen? I will not permit it! Starmouth will not permit it!”

“Starmouth? Who is Starmouth?”

“Starmouth speaks for the Star. He whispers the words of the Star in the ears of my Queen. He is our salvation. He is never wrong. Without Starmouth, we are nothing.”

“That’s nonsense, Deadeyedon’t talk like that. You talk like a slave!”

“We are slaves, Slayerslaves of the Star. But the Star will make us strong, Slayerstrong!”

“I’d like to meet this Starmouth.”

“You will, Slayer. You will.”

***

I remembered a long, dry gully that led to the dead city of Stonehall. It had once been a grand canal, sometime in the distant past. When we came to it this time, however, I did not recognize it. A wide canal greeted us, shimmering in the sunlight. A large, elaborately carved and painted wooden barge was drawn up at a small pier on the bank, guarded by a group of Taka warriors. A dark flag hung limply from the bow. I recognized the crown and the skull, the sign of the Book. The boat looked like something from history, but it was obviously brand new.

We went aboard, with Deadeye and a small contingent of warriors. As we stood in the shade under brightly colored awnings, the barge silently pulled away from the pier. One of the crew handed out gourds of fresh water. I noticed someone at the stern appeared to be piloting the boat. Deadeye was silent, content, a gourd in one hand, his eyes gazing into the distance. I noticed most of his warriors had set out marching in our direction down a stone road along the side of the canal. The Grand Canal had been rebuilt. The highway had been rebuilt.

“Deadeyehow is this boat powered?” There were no sails, no oarsnot even the noise of a hidden engine.

“The water powers it, Slayer. How else should a boat be powered?”

“You have rebuilt the Grand Canaland the King’s Highway.”

“Yes, Slayer. Stonehall stirs. Southmark arises, from the past. My blood races within me. I am so proud to see my race rise up from the mud! We stretch our limbs in the sunlight after a long sleep. We awaken.”

“How did this happen, Deadeye?”

“You know how it happened, Slayer. It is the Star. We thank the Star.”

We approached Stonehall in perfect silence up the Grand Canal. And both banks of the canal were lined with fearsome stone statues, soldiers of the Golden Sword in full regalia, facing the canal. There were thousands of thembattalions of them. The last time I had seen them, these statues had been time-ravaged, overturned, shattered, colorless, and those that stood had all been headless, decapitated by some ancient foe. Now they were spotless, perfect, fully painted, glittering with color, armor glinting silver and gold, spearpoints winking in the sunlight, sightless eyes full of cold menace.

“The past greets you, Slayer. This is how it was.”

Stonehall slowly appeared before us. It had been a vast petrified city of stone rubble, scattered over six thickly forested hills, an invisible city lost in the suffocating grasp of the flowertrees. But Stonehall had changed as well.

The central hill had been rebuilt. A massive multi-towered palace of blinding white stone now covered the hill, a miniature city of high fortress walls and wide steep stone stairways leading up to a series of imposing, colonnaded stone halls topped by a skyline of elaborately carved cone-shaped domes. A host of colorful flags flew atop the domes, flickering in a light breeze. I could see restoration was underway on a nearby hill as well. It was unbelievable. Stonehall was indeed rising.

We docked at a great stone pier at the foot of the hill. Several other boats were there as well, and the port was swarming with workers, as busy as ants. The last time I had been here the Taka had been a primitive tribal society, living in the ruins of the past. Now they were rebuilding that past.

***

Deadeye walked us through a great hall with glittering walls of white marble and a mirror-like floor of pale coral stone and a ceiling lost in shadows. It was dark and cool inside and the walls were bare. We were like dwarfs in the house of the Gods. It was truly a monumental building. My heart was hammering, but it was not because of the scenery. I knew Moontouch was close. I could almost taste her.

“Slayer, please come with me,” Deadeye said in Taka. “Redbird, Snowgirl, please wait here. We will not be long.”

Redhawk shot me a glance but I decided to go with the program. Four Taka soldiers remained behind with Redhawk and Valkyrie as Deadeye led me through a doorway. And I suddenly realized that I had missed something important. I only had a quick glance, but one of the Taka warriors had inadvertently revealed something at his waista strangely shaped little device that looked very modern indeed.

Deadeye and I walked through a sunny courtyard with a wide pool of water flanked by young trees, into another doorway. We stepped into a little room with black curtains on the walls and a skylight shooting a blinding pool of sunlight onto a large, bare table of gleaming wood as smooth as silk.

Deadeye smiled at me nervously.

“Where is Moontouch?” I demanded.

“We await Starmouth, my brother. You must see Starmouth first.”

“I don’t want to see Starmouth! I want to see my wife and son! Take me to them, Deadeye!”

“No, Slayer. You must see Starmouth first. My Queen commands it.”

I glared at him, furious, my blood pressure rising again. Who the hell was this Starmouth anyway, to come between me and my family? I had come all the way home, from ultimate exile, from not even knowing who I was, all the way to Stonehall, and still there were obstacles. Why was my wife not greeting me? The last time I had come home here, from Uldo, she had met me publicly in triumph, beaming over with pride and confidence. All of Stonehall had witnessed my homecoming, then. But now I was being shunted from room to room, forced to check in with strangers, as if I was some kind of dirty family secret. I was not happy about it at all.

The curtains stirred. He was there, silent in the shadows, watching us. Then he stepped forward into the sunlight. He was a giant, wearing a great cloak that parted to reveal massive, heavily muscled, hairy arms and a metallic tunic of silvery chain. His great head was as crudely chiselled as a cave dwellera bony face with a sloping forehead, prominent brow ridges, deepset eyes glittering like obsidian, a wide flat nose with gaping nostrils, a large mouth, long tangled hair falling to his broad shoulders. Gildron! My heart leaped.

“Gildron!” I tried to remain calm. “You are Starmouth!”

Deadeye answered. “Yes, Slayer. Gildron is Starmouth. He is the defender of our past and the voice of our future. He is the hand of the Star.”

Gildron didn’t say a word. He just stood there, a massive presence, looking me over. Then he nodded, ever so slightly, and Deadeye left the room, back the way he had come, just like a ghost. Gildron looked into my eyes, but there was no need for words. I took the vidcard out of my fieldpak and placed it on the table and triggered it.

Tara appeared, a luminous life-sized angel in a shimmering field of light. She was still and calm, facing Gildron with her head held high, lovely soft hair touching her shoulders.

“Gildron,” she breathed, and her voice was full of longing. “My lovely Gildron! How long has it been? I dream of you every night. I think of you every day, all day. I miss you so much, my darling Gildron. You know you have always been the only person I could stand to have by my side. I am so nervous now. The Deadheads are driving me crazy, Gildron. I long for your calm presence, for your warm, loving thoughts, for your unconditional, total love. I pray you are healthy and free, but somehow I feel you are.

“I need you, Gildron. I have sent Beta Three to tell you this. I want you to come back to me, with Beta Three. And you must bring the Star, if you have it. Bring me the Star, Gildronthat’s very important. Bring me the Star. If you don’t have it, then you must take it from whoever has it and bring it back to me. I need you, Gildron, but I need the Star, too. Without the Star, my world will die, and I will die.

“Come back to me, Gildron. I’m sorry I had to leave you. I love you, Gildron. Please come back to me. It’s very important that you come back to me, and bring the Star. I don’t want to die without you, Gildron. I love you. Please don’t fail me!” She reached out one arm, right over to Gildron, and traced the sign of the Legion in the air. It was a blessing. Then she faded away and disappeared.

Poor old Gildron! He was awfully slow and he couldn’t really talk much, but he always understood Tara. I didn’t figure there was much else I had to say. He adored Tara. His entire life revolved around his beloved ‘Cinta’. I didn’t think he’d be able to resist Tara’s plea. When she set out to do something, she didn’t leave much room for resistance. I certainly couldn’t resist her. I doubted Gildron could, either.

“Sit,” he said, pointing sternly at the table. There were several heavy, backless wooden chairs. I drew one up to the table. Gildron chose another. He was so large he seemed to settle down in sections.

We faced each other over the table. He looked into my eyes but I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Tell me where she is,” he rumbled. I almost jumped out of my skin. He had said it effortlessly, as if he had been talking all his life. When I knew Gildron, he had the vocabulary of a retarded preschooler.

“You

your Inter is excellent!” I stammered.

“It’s a primitive method of communication,” Gildron said, “but I find speech useful, here on Andrion. I never needed it with Cinta. Where is she?”

“She’s on Dindabai.”

“Dindabai. I thought as much. I was waiting for her. Why has she not come herself?”

“She is

exhausted. Mentally exhausted. She sent me, instead.”

“Is she in any danger?” His eyes blazed with alarm.

“She is in considerable mental anguish,” I said. “She may be dying. She needs you, Gildron. She needs your help. Only you can help hershe told me that herself.”

He leaped to his feet, snarling like a beast, trembling, his great hands still on the table.

“You bring evil news!” He was enraged and bristling.

“Cinta needs younow! That’s the message. She needs you, and the Star. Without both, she will die.”

He moaned, an awful cry of anguish, and his hands went up to his head. He crashed back into the chair. “The Star,” he said. “The Star! It is the Star that is killing her, isn’t it? Even from here, it wreaks its evil work in her mind. Speak the truth, Beta Three!”

“Of course it’s the Star,” I replied coldly. “Yes, it’s the Star that’s killing her. At first I thought it would help if I destroyed the Star. I was thinking about that for quite awhile. I planned to come here and destroy it. But now I’m not so sure. It’s already in her mind, you see. If we kill it, she will continue doing what she’s doing nowexhausting herself mentally, following its evil trail in her mind. Perhaps if we bring her the Star itself, things will get better. Perhaps you could help her. You’ve always been so close to her.”

“I curse the Star!” Gildron was looking around wildly. “I curse the day we encountered it. I wish you had shot it, that first day!”

“So do I.”

“My dear companion!” He reached out two massive arms and seized my shoulders in a grip of iron. “It is so good to see you, after all this time! I am overjoyed to learn that my beloved Cinta is still alive and still loves me! She is everything to me. My happiest days were spent at her side, numb with her love, content just to be there. We were so perfect for each other; it was a miracle that we ever met. If I thought it would help her, I would tear the Star apart with my bare hands. But I think you are right. Perhaps the solution is for me to come to her, with the Star, just as she asks. And then I will continue as Starmouth. I will speak for the Star, and she can stop struggling. She is too fragile, your race is too fragile, to bear the weight of the Star. I will do it! I will sacrifice myself for her.”

“Then you have the Star?”

“No, Beta Three. I do not have the Star. The Star has me.”

“Is it alive?”

“The term is meaningless. It is

aware. It lives in everyone it touches. I was a fool, to give myself to it. I am a fool no longerbut it is too late now.”

“Where is it?”

Gildron sighed. The curtains rustled. The Star floated out of the shadows up near the ceiling, glittering brilliantly, hanging in the air, completely silent, dazzling my eyes. It was just like a star and it was just as I remembered it. I glared at it, convulsed with hatred. Deadeye had taken away all my weapons.

“I would kill it if I could,” I hissed. “It is the source of all the evil in my life. It’s a Star from Hell. It will kill us all!”

“You are certainly correct,” Gildron said, gazing at the Star without evident emotion. “It is temporarily useful, for everyone. But I believe it will ultimately destroy your civilization.”

“I agree.”

“We must kill iteventually.”

“Yes. Can it be killed?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps I could kill it just by squeezing it in my hands. But could anyone have the mental strength to do that, when the Star holds the answers to all the secrets of the universe? When it can resolve any problem you may be facing? Can the time ever be right to do such a deed?”

I did not answer him. I stared at the Star. It was brilliant, cold, beautiful, and totally impersonal. Who could ever imagine the evil that could flow from such a beautiful vision? But I knew the evil was not in the Starit was in us. The Star was completely neutral, just as Tara had said. It was humanity that was evil, not the Star.

***

The Great Hall was in the heart of the palace high atop the hill, lined with massive columns of shiny black marble; it was just like a forest of ancient trees. The hall was open to the day. Colorful silken awnings were floating lazily in the breeze outside, and lovely streaks of sunlight lanced down from the breezeways up near the ceiling. It was a hall of sunshine, and it was full of soldiers. All the crazy brave of Southmark’s miraculous renaissance were there, dressed up like the dead, a bright rainbow of colors, and they were all armed for some prehistoric war, with spears and tridents and slingshots. Their shields lined the walls, and they all bore the sign of the Book.

Gildron and I strode boldly down the wide center aisle between the two great rows of tree-columns. Redhawk and Valkyrie followed close behind us, and a host of warriors fell silent as we passed. Gildron was a truly imposing figure in a billowing scarlet cloak. Redhawk and Valkyrie and I had scrubbed out all the mud and changed into Taka garb. We looked downright human again.

I had my E back. It felt good.

They were at the far end. Stormdawn, my son, sat on a massive, dark, austere throne hacked crudely from raw stone. It was the throne of the Immortal, the Golden Sword, or a damned good imitation. I had seen the original, in the Tomb of the Kings.

Moontouch stood at his side, slim, pale, cold, regal, magnificent. They were surrounded by their bodyguards. Deadeye was up there too, but I didn’t even see him. The whole hall faded away in an instant and all I could see was my son, a slender young boy with long growing limbs and fine thin hair that reached to his shoulders, and pale brown skin and very fine features and big brown eyes and a haughty gaze, and Moontouch, standing there like a statue of ice crafted by the Gods. An angel fallen from Heaven, a slender, perfect angel with a waterfall of lovely shimmering black hair and limbs of tender velvet flesh, and faraway, slightly slanted eyes glittering with resolve, and pursed, determined lips. In my most fevered dreams I had never imagined, I had never remembered such incredible beauty. She took my breath away. She was almost supernatural.

We stopped before the throne.

My son stood up, arrogant and furious, fire in his eyes. He was holding a mace topped by the crown and skull of Southmark. It was all the power and glory Southmark had ever possessed.

“My mother asks me why my father abandoned us,” he cried out boldly. “What am I to say, visitor?”

The hall was dead silent. Moontouch was frozen. I did not answer. I raised my E with one arm and snapped it out, presenting itoffering absolute loyalty, blood and honor. My life, for Southmark.

That’s as far as it got. The mace went flying, my son came charging off the throne and leaped into my arms, whimpering, and Moontouch was right behind him, gasping, throwing herself at me unconditionally. The E bounced off the floor, forgotten, and my wife and son were right there in my arms, cheek to cheek, dancing in joy, feet not even touching the ground, just as it always should have been in any sane world, and I think all three of us were crying, and the Taka were cheering, but it didn’t matter at all, to me. I was home. Home at last, from my lunatic galactic odyssey, with my lovely wife and beautiful son right in my arms, right where they should be, their limbs wrapped around mine, their hearts beating against mine, and Moontouch’s intoxicating scent was once again with me. I vowed right then that I was never going to leave them again, not for anything. Not for the Legion, not for Tara, not for the Starnot for anything. They’d have to kill me first!

***

She took me into her life and it was almost as if I had never left. We lounged on pillows in a little garden in the palace, under a billowing canopy. Servant girls padded in and out silently, bringing whatever we needed. I fell in love all over again, with limpid eyes and satin skin, a cascade of silken black hair hissing over my fevered skin like something alive. She laughed and bit into my neck with tiny white teeth. I stripped her naked and we tore at each other like jungle cats, frantic to make up for our years apart. She was an exquisite Goddess of beauty, a sexual sorceress, touching my burning flesh with perfumed lips, covering me with tongue tracks, butterfly kisses, a pounding heart and the room spinning around me.

At night, when our lust was sated, our son Stormdawn dived into the pillows with us. The three of us slept together, wrapped in each other’s arms. Once it rained, and a fine mist filled the air, and my wife and son stirred, and held me tighter. I didn’t think I had ever been so happy. It was like a wonderful dream. It was such a magical, unbelievable time that I was terrified it might end, that I might suddenly wake up and discover that it was all a lie.

“I knew you would return,” she whispered in my ear. “You cannot escape me. It does not matter how far you travel, or how long you are away. You are destined to return to me. It is written in the dust of the dead.” She was a sorceress. I knew she could see the future, but I never dared ask what she saw.

“I’m not going to leave you again, Moontouch,” I said. “This is my home now. I have no intention of leaving.”

She looked away, sadly. She did not believe me. How could I possibly leave her? She was the most beautiful creature in the galaxy and she loved me and I loved her. Was I insane, to leave her? Never! I gently pulled her face to mine, and we kissed. The scent of crushed flowers, in a soft night. Her heart, beating against mine. My happiness was complete.

***

It was a pale child’s face, with big brown eyes and silky black hair and lips like ripe cherries. She blinked, looking right into my eyes, silent, pleading. At first that was all I could see, just her face. Then she suddenly thrust out one slim arm, the hand open, slender fingers trembling, right in my face. Her eyes were blazing.

I awoke in a panic, my heart hammering. Priestess! Again, again, againwhen would it end? I sat up, sweating. It was dark and quiet. Moontouch and Stormdawn were asleep at my side; a few candles were softly haloed in the gloom. All was well with the world.

But all was not well with the world, at all.

Priestess was back with me, again. Haunting me. What did she want? What could I do for her, for the dead? Both Redhawk and Tara had exhausted all available Legion records, scanning for every possible combination of physical characteristics that might lead to Beta Nine or our other missing squadies. They found no trace of them. Priestess had surely died on Uldo, along with the rest of the squadSnow Leopard, Psycho, Scrapper and Twisterkilled by the O’s, or maybe by the Systies, or maybe even by ConFree. Just as it said in the Book of the Dead. It didn’t matter much how they died, but it appeared certain they were dead.

Dead, and haunting me. I had loved Priestess. I still loved Priestess. But she was gone now. Why should she continue to haunt me? ‘Thinker, I want to live through this,’ she had said, as the massive doors of the Mound screeched open. ‘Then we live together, forever.’

Forever. I shuddered. I was an immortal. Was she to haunt me forever?

I got up and walked over to the terrace. It was still and cool. Stonehall was a magical, marble city perched on a hill in a black forest overlooking a canal that looked like molten mercury, snaking through the dark. The sky was full of stars and Andrion’s single moon burned above like a silver chariot. We had gazed at that moon together, Priestess and I, and it seemed like a million years ago.

It isn’t fair, I thought. I have found happiness, at last, but I am still haunted by phantoms from the past. What does she want from me? What do you want, Priestess? Why do you reach out for me? I cannot help you from beyond the grave.

I could not forget her lovely face. Those pleading eyes. Reaching out for me, for my help. What could I do? Nothing. There was nothing at all I could do.

Was she alive, after all? But even if she were, what could I do about it? If Tara couldn’t find her, I certainly couldn’t. There was nothing I could do!

I closed my eyes. I saw her clearly. She always trusted me. She always knew she could depend on meno matter what.

No matter what!

It was a cool night, but I was sweating. Nine, Nine, my lovely Nine, what do you want from me? You already have my soul. What more can I give you?

***

“There’s a couple of them over there,” Redhawk said. We were picking our way through the underbrush on one of Stonehall’s thickly forested hills. It was a hot oppressive day, and the trees seemed to amplify the heat. Over to our left a group of Taka were slicing down trees with bioaxes, a little contribution from the Star. Up ahead we could see two male Outworlders stripped to the waist, hauling away some downed timber from a rough clearing.

“Imagine getting captured by Taka!” Valkyrie exclaimed. “What a bunch of clowns!”

“Very funny,” I replied.

They paused as we approached, looking us over. They were both young and fit, deeply tanned and well-muscled. One of them was a big blond, the other was smaller, darker, and wiry.

“Morning,” I said. “Are you the ConFree Special Mission fellows we’ve been hearing about?”

“That’s us,” the blond responded. “And who’s asking?”

“Lost Command,” I said. “How long have you been here?”

“Lost Command! Scut! How did you get here?”

“Well, it’s kind of a long story. But we’d like to ask about you first. Would you like some dox?”

“Dox? Dox?” The little guy lit up. “You’re kidding, right?”

Ten popped a couple of dox and handed them over. They savoured it with their eyes closed, sipping it carefully.

“We’ve got plenty more.”

“Trooper, you don’t know how good that is!” the little guy said.

“It’s definitely been awhile!” his companion commented.

We settled down in the debris of the clearing. A tree came crashing down not too far away, raising a cloud of dust.

“How many of you are there?” I asked.

“Three squads, altogether,” the big one replied. “We were the last of three. There were three separate missions into Taka country.”

“What happened?”

“The same thing happened to every squad. The drop, aircar power lost, commo lost, then silence. What happened was the Taka captured usevery squad.”

“How did they do that?”

“We didn’t even see them. We’re tiptoeing along in the forest as quiet as a little mousie and bang! We’re all down, zapped like bugs, our hair standing on end and our muscles short-circuitingas weak as babies. Then the Taka show up and secure us. Nobody hurtno mess, no fuss. Simple.”

“Bang?”

“Bang.”

“What was your mission?” Valkyrie asked.

“The mission was the Star,” the big guy replied, running his gaze hungrily over Eleven. “Secure the Star, and signal for evac.”

“So ConFree believes the Star is here?”

“They weren’t sure before. They’re sure now. It’s obvious, isn’t it?” He downed the last of his dox and Redhawk tossed him another.

“How do the Taka treat you?”

“Fine. We eat well. There’s not much to do in detention. That’s why we volunteered for the work parties. They know we’re not going anywhere, with these on.” He held up an arm to reveal a thin wrist bracelet with a filmy black square set in the center. “They can track us everywhere with these. And they don’t come off.”

I thought back to our own encounter with Deadeye and his troops. How wrong I had been. I had thought we had the power to annihilate all those Taka, but in reality all Deadeye would have had to do was drop his arm and we would have been zapped and helpless. I had gotten a better look at those little devices the Taka carried at their waists. They were deadly accurate nerve guns, and they scrambled the voluntary muscles just like a stunstar, but with a lot less noise.

“Where do they think they’re going to find the Star?” Redhawk asked.

“Gildron. That’s what they said. And they weren’t wrong, were they?”

They know everything, I thought. ConFree knows everything.

“We won’t be the last,” the blond said. “And the next time it won’t be a squad. I’m afraid of what might happen next time. The orders are coming direct from the Ministry. They’re going to get the Star, make no mistake about it. The situation has changed, Andrion isn’t garrisoned like before, and ConFree is deadly serious. The Twenty-Third is irrelevant. They won’t help us, they won’t hinder us. Mark my words, one of these days a ConFree starship is going to show up here, and it’s going to be full of Legion troopers, and nobody’s going to stop it, and the Taka’s neat little world is going to end rather violently. And ConFree is going to take the Star.”

“You don’t know that.”

“No. But you can bet your next watch on it. This is great doxthanks!”

“Did they tell you why they want the Star?”

“No. I’m just a soldier. We follow orders. The word is the Star is an alien artifact, and it contains a lot of valuable technical information. You know, I feel kind of sorry for the Taka, now that I’ve gotten to know them a little better. There’s this one girl

well, that doesn’t matter. Anyway

the Taka are doomed. They’ve got some clever tricks, but that’s all they are. They don’t have the technological base to fully take advantage of whatever’s in the Star. When ConFree arrives, they’re dead. And ConFree is coming. You can bet on it. It’s a shame. It really is. All these people want is to be left alone. But as long as they’ve got the Star, every crazy bastard in the galaxy is going to be showing up here. Uhh

no offense.”

Every crazy bastard, I thought. He’s absolutely right. That’s exactly what we are. We’re totally out of our minds, and the Angel of Death is riding along right beside us. The Taka don’t deserve this. They’re complete innocents. Why should we bring them down with us?

Chapter 10

Evil Gods

“It’s green!” Redhawk grinned, hovering over his toy, Tara’s wild realtime sectoral comlink. The d-screen was up, and the channel was indeed open. It had been red ever since our arrival on Andrion, allowing only that one text alert from Tara. But all that was about to change. Redhawk and Valkyrie and Gildron and Deadeye and I were gathered around the table in anticipation, anxious for news from Tara. We were in a large, cool room in the palace. The scent of perfumed incense hung in the air. A white sky glowed outside and brilliant sunbeams cut into the room from the breezeway above.

The d-screen flickered and filled with light. Tara peered anxiously out at us, her concern evident in her first words. “Wester! Report! Do you have the Star?”

“We’ve got it, Tara,” I replied. “Gildron’s right here, he’s still got it.”

“Gildron!” she cut in, “Speak to me, Gildron! How are you?”

“My darling Cinta,” Gildron said, elbowing me roughly aside, “You have known my love for you in your heart and in your mind. Now I can confirm it in your own language. My life is yours, as it has been since we met. I live only to serve you. I have the Star, and it too exists only to serve you.”

“Gildron!” A girlish laugh, a delighted twinkle in her eyes. “I knew the Star would change you! I’m pleased to see your Inter has improved. It’s wonderful to see you! And you have the Star. Let me see it.”

Gildron pulled back his cloak and the Star floated out of an inside pocket and hovered before the screen, dazzling us with its light. Tara’s eyes were burning and her features were briefly transformed into a frightening mask. With a visible effort she regained control of her emotions.

“Good,” she said. “Good! Now don’t say a word! I don’t know how long this link will stay open. It could close again at any time, so listen carefully. ConFree is prepping a full-scale attack on Andrion Two. Their mission is to seize the Star. They know it’s there now, and they know you’re there as well. If there’s any resistance from Alpha Station or Farside Base, they will be destroyed. And if the Star is with the Taka, the Taka will be destroyed as well. ConFree is determined to take the Star, and if that means laying waste to all Andrion to do it, that’s precisely what they’ll do.”

“Wester, Ten, Eleven, Gildron, you’ve got to get off Andrion immediately and bring the Star. Andrion’s only hope is for you all to leave, with the Star. Once the Star is gone there will be no further threat to Andrion.”

“How do we do that?” I asked.

“Don’t interrupt! I’m about to tell you. As soon as we finish talking I’m going to send a Legion CRITIC star tracer to the CSS Tempest, now in orbit around Andrion Two. It will take thirteen galactic hours for them to receive it.”

“Thirteen hours! When is the ConFree attack scheduled?”

“I don’t know, Wester. They’re being annoyingly secretive about it. I’m sorry about the thirteen hours but it can’t be helped. The instant that message is received, however, the CSS Tempest will defect to the Lost Command. All you have to do is pop those nova beacons I gave you, and you’ll be picked up by a shuttle that will take you to the Tempest. The shuttle will not be affected by that interference that’s grounding your aircars. Wait thirteen hours, fifteen marks, then do it! One area beacon, one zero beacon. Your call sign is Supply Alpha. Don’t forget it!”

“Are you sure about this, Tara?”

“Yes! It’s the only way; we’re running out of time. The Tempest will bring you here to Dindabai. When the Tempest goes stardrive, the balance of power in the galaxy is going to shift decisively and when it does I’ll be gleefully informing Kenton Cotter-Arc that the Star is no longer on Andrion Two. That should ensure that the attack is cancelled and the planet is not destroyed. I repeat. A shuttle from the Confederation starship Tempest will pick you up. You must be ready when the shuttle appears. Wester, Gildron, don’t fail me! You can trust the crew of the Tempest with everything but the Star. Keep the Star to yourself, Gildron! Don’t show it to anyone! You must bring it to me, on Dindabai. Only on Dindabai will it be safe from ConFree. Promise me, Gildronon our love!”

Gildron gently plucked the Star from the air and returned it to his pocket. “I pledge my life,” he said simply.

“What happens if the shuttle doesn’t show up as scheduled?” I asked.

“Then you’ll have to get off Andrion by yourself, and make it to the Tempest if at all possible. If not, you’ll have to find another method of getting to Dindabai.”

“What would you suggest?”

“Try piracy. Use your imagination. It will depend on the situation. I’m a psycher, not a fortuneteller! Just liftdon’t let anything stop you!”

“You don’t need me!” I exclaimed. It was all closing in on me. Moontouch, Stormdawn, my new life on Andrion, where I belonged. Peace, freedom, love, happiness. It was rushing right through my fingers like sand, with Tara’s every word. I would stay! What the hell did she need me for? I sure didn’t need her!

“Don’t deceive yourself, Wester,” she replied, her face hardening. “ConFree knows you’re after the Star. They’ll be after youand everyone around you is going to die. Stay on Andrion, and Andrion dies. Come home to me. Bring your family, if you want. I need you, Wester. You’re crazy brave, and I’ve got lots of crazy brave positions to fill. Don’t kill those you love, Westercome home!”

The d-screen flashed once and abruptly turned black. The little green light snapped to red.

“We’ve lost the link,” Redhawk said. “That’s it! No telling when the channel will open again.”

“I will alert my warriors,” Deadeye said.

“Don’t bother,” I said. “It won’t make any difference.” I was stunned by Tara’s news. It was tearing me apart.

“Fine,” said Valkyrie quietly. “Let them come. It was all coming to this. I knew we’d end up fighting ourselves, sooner or later. Fine. Let it happen.”

“Thirteen hours,” Gildron rumbled.

Thirteen hours, I thought, thirteen hours to live.

***

That night the clouds vanished and it was crisp and clear and the stars filled the sky, magnificent, blazing, a silent symphony to stir my blood. Moontouch and Stormdawn and I lay on our backs on a mound of pillows on a terrace high atop the palace, trying to sleep but still awake. I ran a finger down Moontouch’s face, past dark liquid eyes over velvet skin. She blinked and touched her tongue to her lips and my heart gave me a jolt. I had never seen anything more beautiful in my lifeshe was truly captivating, and she had enchanted me.

“When I grow up, I’m going to marry Mommy,” Stormdawn whispered. I smiled. He was just as beautiful as his mother, with fine features and long silky hair and slender limbs that promised Southmark’s future King would be tall and strong.

“She’s already taken, Stormdawn,” I said. “You’ll find someone else.”

“Nobody is as beautiful as Mommy,” he said.

“We must leave,” I told Moontouch. “You and Stormdawn and I. My enemies are comingthey are looking for the Star. They will kill everyone they see until they find the Star. We must leave this world. We must take the Star far away, to prevent them from destroying Southmark.”

She looked up at the heavens, starlight on her lovely flesh. “I know,” she said. “You must go.” And my heart was aching, already. I knew it. I knew it!

“I cannot leave you,” I said.

“You must leave us, Slayer,” she replied calmly. “If you love us, you must leave us. You know I cannot leave. You know Stormdawn cannot leave. Should a Queen and a Prince abandon their people? It is impossible, my love. We will stay. We will die, if we must, with our people. There is nothing to fear. The Taka know how to die. We will meet in Heaven, my only love.” And she looked right into my eyes and placed a finger on my lips and kissed me on the forehead. I was speechless. I knew I didn’t have that kind of courage. She was tough as cenite armor, and I knew Stormdawn would grow up lean and hard, and would probably hate his father forever. I had been forced to leave them, twice, and fought my way back with all my strength, through impossible obstacles. Was I now to abandon them again, voluntarily? My world was ending. Was despair to be my only companion, forever? Was happiness to be denied me, forever? What evil Gods had I offended?

***

When it happened I awoke instinctively. There had been no sound, but a glance at the night sky told me all I had to know. I was immediately awake but surprisingly calm. I got to my feet and looked up from the terrace to a soft night, full of starsand something else. A swarm of silvery meteors falling silently, tracing glowing tracks against the dark as the ships entered the atmosphere. A gentle hail of starstuff, filling the sky. Even as I stood there, more of them appeared. It was beautiful, like some mad cosmic artist’s ultimate canvas. It thrilled me to the marrow, just watching it. It was the power of the Legion, and they were bracketing us, falling right down onto us, all around us. And this time the Legion was the enemy. I looked at my chron. Almost eight hours had passedthere was no sense in popping the nova, I knew. The Tempest had not yet received Tara’s star tracer.

I tore my eyes away from the sky, back to my family. Moontouch was awake, standing as still as a statue, wrapped in a black cloak, gazing calmly at me from a bloodless face. She did not appear to even notice the sky. Stormdawn was stirring at her feet, awakening.

“It is time, again,” she breathed. “Time to lose you.” A deep roll of thunder began, and did not end. I knew it was not thunder. I could see the ships now, glowing cherry-red in hot combat drops, falling almost straight down. They would be here in fracsit was time to get moving. Deadeye burst onto the terrace with Moontouch’s guard, a gang of fierce-looking Taka youth, armed with spears and shields and nerve guns.

“They are here, Slayer,” he warned us. “Time to go!”

“I know, Deadeye. You know the time. Follow the plan exactly! We must survive for five hours, at all costs!”

“The Taka nation stands between you and your foes, Slayer!”

***

We hurried into the underground, through ancient escape tunnels rotting with the weight of history, breathing air charged with the dust of the dead. The only light was from the torches carried by the Taka soldiers. Deadeye and I were on point. He had a nerve gun and I had an E set on auto xmax. Moontouch and Stormdawn were directly behind us, surrounded by a reinforced squad of warriors clad in armor from the past, hauling spears and tridents and shields marked with the sign of the Book. We were sliding through that tunnel like a great metal snake with scales of burnished red gold, glinting in torchlight, slithering deeper and deeper into the dark.

“Gildron, where are you? Answer!” I was on the comset, frantic. We slid to a stop in a desolate chamber where several tunnels merged. This was where we were to meet Gildron, but he was nowhere to be seen. Moontouch drew her cloak closer around Stormdawn. It was cold. Deadeye and the guards were looking around nervously. I knew we could not stay here longevery instant was precious.

The earth shuddered. A sharp explosion echoed down the tunnel, and the air quivered around us. Two more tremendous bangs, shaking the walls. Deadeye grinned like a wolf.

“We have said hello, Slayer,” he said.

“They won’t be happy, Deadeye. Ten, Eleven, Three, respond!” I snapped into the comset. We had left a whole lot of very nasty biomines above. We had been tiptoeing around the damned things for weeks in the palace, in anticipation of just what Tara had confirmed, but they were finally coming in handy. Chances are the ConFree assault was about to slow down.

“Three, Ten, we’re on the way!” My comset sputtered.

“Where the hell is Gildron?”

“On the way, on the way, wait one!”

“We must go, Slayer!” Deadeye was getting nervous.

“Just a few more fracs, Deadeye!” We had to link up with Gildron! I hit the Legion channel for Alpha Station. A spattering roar shrieked from the comset. Then a metallic voice cut through the static. “

authorized by Fleetcom, Starcom and the Ministry of War. All Legion units are to remain in place. This is a classified mission authorized at the highest levels of ConFree. Alpha Station, Farside Base and other Legion installations are not affected. We repeat, any movement by downside Legion units may result in friendly fire. Starcom has ordered all Legion units on Andrion Two to remain in place for their own safety

“

Movement, down-tunnel. I raised the E, slipping the laser sight up to my eye. Deadeye and the others threw themselves into defensive positions instantly, shielding Moontouch and Stormdawn. I knew ConFree would meet no effective opposition on Andrion. The planet had been stripped of Legion forces because of the war. It had been a political hotspot before, because of the earlier ConFree assault, but the time was now right, at last, for ConFree and the System.

Gildron and a small army of warriors came charging out of the shadows, disorganized, excited and sweaty, torches dancing. Another series of sharp explosions rolled along the tunnel behind them.

“Three!” Gildron shouted joyously, “They are right behind us! Standfast, why do you delay! Take the Queen and the Prince to safety, immediately!”

Deadeye scrambled to obey, urging Moontouch and Stormdawn on. We all burst into a run, down a long straight tunnel that led to our escape.

“Do you have the Star, Gildron?” I shouted.

“It is safe!” he bellowed. I caught a glimpse of Redhawk and Valkyrie, sprinting along with Gildron’s group.

“Stay close, guys!” I called out. “Gildron, is the Star with you now?” There was a flash of light up ahead and we skidded to a sudden stop. Someone was standing in our way, a male clad in an A-vest and camfax litesuit, no comtop, cradling an E casually in his arms. He was peering at us with some interest. I recognized him immediately as LowdropTwo Four One. My adrenalin exploded as I slipped the E up to my shoulder, centered on his chest, and fired auto x. The tunnel exploded in a terrific multiple bang, then flashed and cracked viciously as Deadeye’s warriors let loose with their nerve guns.

As the dust settled Lowdrop reappeared, still standing there casually, an infuriating smirk on his face, looking right at me.

“Beta Three,” he said, “I remember you. They said you were dependable. I guess they were wrong. Beta Three, you are engaged in a criminal enterprise and you are wanted by the ConFree Council for high treason and crimes against humanity. You and your gang are now completely surrounded by Legion units. Surrender and we will spare your livesthat’s all I can offer.”

“It’s a holo!” I shouted, letting loose another horrendous burst of xmax. I knew it wouldn’t do any good but it made me feel better, blasting his image with x. We charged forward, running right through the holo, supercharged with fear. They knew where we were. They were tracking us!

“Queen’s maze, Slayer!” Deadeye stopped. The guards raised a rusty trap door set in the tunnel floor. It meant escape and salvation for Moontouch and Stormdawn and their defenders, but the rest of us had to go on, to draw off the pursuit.

“My King!” Moontouch tore away from her defenders and threw herself into my arms. “You must return to me! Do not forsake us! Your son needs a father, and I need you! Do not betray us, my only love!” And so many emotions were evident in her voice and in her lovely face that I was stricken dumb. Her dark eyes were brimming with tears. I kissed her, paralyzed with love and despair, and the world whirled all around us. Stormdawn latched onto an arm.

“Come with us!” he screamed, pulling me with him as a guard dragged him towards the escape hatch.

“Stormdawn! I cannot!” I reached out for him but he was gone, still looking back at me, I’ll never forget him; and Moontouch was torn from my grasp and Deadeye gave me one last glance as he followed them into the hole.

“I will do my duty, Slayer, to the death!” he shouted. I knew he meant it literally. The trap door banged shut, sealing them away from me, perhaps forever.

“They are coming!” We ran blindly into the dark. Explosions lit up the tunnel behind us. Gildron was barking instructions into a comset. Southmark’s communications system had gone from runners to comsets in one sudden jump.

***

We surfaced in a wet tangled mass of vines in a clump of dato trees, lost in the extensive forest that surrounded the city. The pungent scent of rotting vegetation assailed my nostrils as I cautiously crept out of the hole. I could see the stars through the dark leafy canopy. The night seemed to be holding its breath. Our scouts had reported the forest was littered with crashed aircars and teemed with angry Legion soldiers. All we had to worry about was infantry. Gildron and the Star had evened things out rather nicely.

Something boomed overheadI got a quick glimpse of a Legion fighter, cutting across the sky at a high altitude. They weren’t so easy to stop.

“Let’s get a move on!” Redhawk suggested. The plan was for a brief run through the forest to link up with another tunnel that led to an extensive labyrinth where we would surely lose all pursuit. The run was dangerous, we knew, but it was the only way.

We ran without comment, crashing through the underbrush, heedless of injury. Gildron’s massive form was right ahead of me, and Redhawk and Valkyrie were behind. That’s when the forest lit up, a nova of harsh white phospho light freezing the trees in a haloed kaleidoscopic tangle of branches and vines. An ear-shattering blast splintered the tree limbs above us, and I heard them. Legion troopers, fully armored, crashing past the trees, lobbing stunstars our way.

“FREEZE! UNIDEN PERSONNEL, SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY OR WE FIRE! CEASE ALL MOVEMENT!” A steely nonhuman voice at tremendous volume burnt in our ears, echoing, “

Freeze! Freeze! Freeze! Uniden personnel

Surrender immediately

“

“Scatter!” I screamed. They were all around us and a flotilla of probes was suddenly seeking us out, ricocheting through the branches wildly, glittering with light. Probes! The eyes of the Legion, out to get us.

I ran blindly, adrenalin surging, terrified and hopeless. Doomed! No way out! We were dead! The Star!

The universe exploded in my face, a booming white-hot blast, overwhelming all my senses, dazzling my eyes, blinding me, hurling me into a roaring red wilderness of pain. I tried to scream but my throat was paralyzed and the world was fading, vanishing in a dizzying swirl of glittery hot stars. I fell, into the pain.

***

“Welcome back,” someone said. I was returning to consciousness, still dazed and hurting but slowly becoming aware of my surroundings. Someone was removing a field syringe from my left arm. I was on my face on a cold metal deck. I struggled to get up and discovered that my wrists were secured together behind my back. I managed to squirm around until I was lying on one side. Harsh white lights burnt in my eyes, scorching my flesh. Sweat trickled down my face. I slowly realized that my ankles were in shackles. I was naked to the waistthey had taken my shirt. I made it to my knees and stopped, exhausted.

“We should have killed you before, instead of turning you over to the System,” the voice continued. “It was a political decisiona compromise. They were nervous about executing one of their own. I wanted you dead after interrogation, but I was overruled. They were wrong.” I recognized the voice nowTwo Four One, warname Lowdrop. He had briefed us on the Mongera mission. I remembered him well. I tried to focus on him. He was a shadow, standing against a wall with several other people. Spotlights blazed down on me. I couldn’t see much.

“You caused us a lot of trouble, Beta Three. We wasted valuable resources chasing after you. I’m pleased that it’s all had a happy ending, however. You’ll find it ironic, I’m sure, that you’ll go down in history as the person who secured the Star for the Galactic Council, thus ensuring galactic peace.”

I strained to make him out. “Galactic Council?” I croaked. I had never heard of it.

“You will address me as ‘Sir,’ trooper! Before and after!” His voice cracked like a whip. “Acknowledge!” This was the Lowdrop I remembered.

“Sir

yes, sir.” I responded quietly. I didn’t see any sense in provoking him. I suddenly realized we were on a starship. I recognized the no-slip pattern on the metal deck.

“That’s better, sub. No, I don’t suppose you’ve heard of the Galactic Council. You’ve been away on Dindabai, consorting with traitors. The Galactic Council is a cooperative undertaking between the Confederation of Free Worlds and the United System Alliance to coordinate humanity’s response to the continuing friction with the O’s. It’s the brainchild of Commissioner Kenton Cotter-Arc, and it will insure the most effective strategy on coping with the O’s.”

I knew he was lying, but I was silent. I recognized proprop when I heard it. The purpose of the Galactic Council was probably to weaken the Legion by strengthening the System. That’s what Blue Gold had told us on Uldo, about ConFree’s goal. And the fastest way to weaken the Legion and strengthen the System was to take the Star away from the Lost Command. I didn’t like his comments on ‘coping’ with the O’s, or his referring to the war as ‘friction’, either. That was Systie talk. The only way to ‘cope’ with the O’s was to kill them, I knew. Anything else was suicide. His ‘friction’ had so far cost us over two billion dead humans.

“It is Beta Three?” A strange accent.

“Yes, Ambassador,” Lowdrop replied. “You can tell your government that we have recovered our missing property. Please thank the SIS and the DefCorps for their efforts.”

I was stunned. I could make him out now, a big, heavy Mocain, a Greenie, the dominant race of the United System Alliance. A Mocain, on a Fleetcom starship! This was the face of treason, and I was witnessing it firsthand. Any doubts I may have had about the Lost Command vanished as if in a puff of wind. I knew instinctively that the LC was on the side of the angels.

“Does it have the Star?” the Mocain asked. A ConFree trooper was beside him. I could see the insignia on his litesuit. He was standing next to a shelf, and on the shelf there was a dox cup with what looked like a ship’s seal and the wordsI could barely make them outPride of Alana.

“No, but it will lead us to the Star, within the hour,” Lowdrop declared. “Get him up, troopers!”

Two shadowy figures pulled me to my feet and maneuvered me roughly out a door and down a corridor. I could hardly wait to find out why I was going to lead them to the Star, within the hour.

***

“I believe you know Beta Eleven,” Lowdrop said. Valkyrie was standing before me, still in her litesuit, blonde hair dishevelled, a bruise on her chin but otherwise unhurt. She was barefoot and her hands and ankles were shackled. She glared venom at Lowdrop. A large ConFree trooper was standing beside her, a bodybuilder armed with a vac gun. He had the ConFree insignia on his fatigues, so I knew he was not with the Legion. There were only the four of us, in a little ship’s cube with bare walls.

“We’re it, Three,” she informed me quickly. “They don’t have anybody else. Tell them nothing! Make them earn it!”

Lowdrop showed his teeth. He reminded me of a reptile. I tried to remember what they had said about him. He had been around a long timelong enough to lose his humanity. It was an occupational hazard for an immortal. “Still begging for punishment, Beta Eleven?” he asked. “I swear, you must enjoy it. Didn’t that Systie teach you anything? What was her name? Millina? She was soft. We’re not. I’m not even going to bother asking Beta Three. You’re going to tell me all I need to know.”

In reply, Valkyrie spat in his face. I almost groaned. Valkyrie was hopeless. She was going to make it worse for us. Much worse.

Lowdrop patiently wiped the spittle away, still grinning. “You’re going to tell me where to find the Star, little girl, just as soon as we walk in that door.” His eyes hardened as he glanced to a closed metal hatch in the nearest bulkhead. “You’re also going to get down on your knees and beg me to forgive you, for what you just did. You’re going to beg me to permit you to sleep with me, to make me feel better. You’re going to grovel, girlyou’re going to kiss my feet. And a lot of other places, too.”

“You’re insane!” Valkyrie hissed. “I wouldn’t sleep with you to save my life! I’d rather die!”

“That won’t be necessary. Open the door,” he ordered the bodybuilder. The goon hesitated, seemingly reluctant.

“You don’t want it open, sister,” he said softly to Valkyrie. “Do what he wants.”

“Open the door!” Lowdrop barked, his eyes flashing. The bodybuilder began fumbling at the lock, slowly. He wasn’t happy. I didn’t like it. I didn’t want to know what was on the other side of that door.

“Valkyrie,” I said urgently. “It’s all right. Just tell him. They’ll find out anyway!”

“Shut down, Three,” she replied. “He can burn in Hell! Don’t you dare say a word!” Crazyshe was out of her mind. Didn’t she ever learn? The hatch slid open. Lowdrop forced Valkyrie and me in the door, following close behind us. It was dark and it stunk, a deep, nasty odor that scared me badly.

“Stay out there until I call you. Close the hatch!” Lowdrop ordered the bodybuilder. The hatch clanged shut behind us. Before my eyes could even adjust, something exploded against my legs and I landed screaming on the deck. My legs were burning with pain and my muscles were twitching in agony.

“Stay down there and don’t move!” Lowdrop ordered me, holstering his vac gun and flicking on a bright overhead light, momentarily dazzling us.

“You bastard!” Valkyrie was still standing, snarling at Lowdrop. She saw it the same instant I did. It was hard to miss. The cage took up most of the room, a massive cage of solid cenite bars, spattered with filth.

The creature in it stirred, huddled in a corner in some kind of awful nest, blinking at us. It had evidently once been human. A massive hydrocephalic head topped by sticky, matted, reddish hair. Dull glazed watery eyes. Wide wet nostrils, a puckered drooling mouth with dirty, broken teeth.

It moved one long hairy arm, revealing a bloated, loose belly and a flat, hairy chest. The creature was completely covered with hair, stinking filthy hair smeared with its own filth. It was looking out at us, deciding what to do. A low moan, almost a growl, was the only sound. There were pieces of bone and shreds of clothing inside the cage, scattered in with other debris on the floor.

“This is Bobo,” Lowdrop explained. “Some people use psymons, or even psychers. I’m old-fashioned. I use Bobo. He’s my truth detector. He’s proven to be one hundred percent effective. Isn’t that right, Bobo?” The creature shuddered, circled its nest once, and then crept forward, closer to the bars, cold eyes glittering, scratching its matted chest, fixing Valkyrie with an intense gaze. Valkyrie backed up until her shoulders hit the wall. Lowdrop approached her.

“Bobo is very strong,” he told her. “He could tear your arms right out of their sockets if he wanted tobut he won’t want to.” He grinned once again, and ripped Eleven’s tunic open. He raised a hot knife and cut the tunic away until it lay on the floor in smoking shreds. Then he cut her undertop off, exposing her breasts. He started on her litepants next, running the glowing hotknife along the seams, mils from Eleven’s flesh.

“You have a nice, firm body,” he said. “Bobo will like you.” Valkyrie was helpless, paralyzed against the wall, wrists and ankles still manacled. When Lowdrop was finished she was naked. The creature moved up to the bars, its hairy arms hanging outside the cage. It was making more assertive noises now, its eyes alive with menace, biting at the bars with broken yellow teeth.

“Bobo is severely retarded,” Lowdrop continued, dropping the remains of Eleven’s panties on the deck, “but he’s fully developed sexually. He gets very excited when we bring him a new friendas you can see.” The creature was drooling, snuffling, holding out its awful arms for Valkyrie, hooting, banging its great head against the bars, shifting its legs to reveal its awful, obscene arousal.

“So what do you say, Beta Eleven? Would you like to go into that cageright nowand become Bobo’s latest love object? Or are you going to tell me the exact location of the Starright nowand apologize to me for your rude behavior, and get down on your kneesright hereand service me, while your friend watches? That’s your choice. That’s your only choice, girl!” He laughed, madly. “I’m looking better already, aren’t I? A shame we don’t have time to show you what happened to the last girl we gave Bobo. She told me the truth, of course, after taking a look at Bobo, but she left something outsomething important. A bad move. When we found out, I gave her to Bobo. We have it all recorded. I watch it sometimes, on a slow day. Sometimes I let Bobo watch. He gets a big kick out of that. She died, of course. Bobo doesn’t know his own strength. You could say he kills those he loves.” He laughed again. I decided the man was completely insane. It was frightening to think that he had once been in command of CAT 24. My mind was whirling. How do you reason with a madman? This was insane, I thought, it was like being in Hell. My heart was racingI was beginning to panic. My legs were still burning from the vac. I squirmed, trying to get to my knees. Lowdrop whirled, with the vac gun out. Eleven was white with shock, trying to merge with the wall, icy sweat running down her face, eye to eye with the creature in the cage.

“Sir

” I choked. “I can

“

“Shut down!” he snarled. “We don’t need your input! Shut down or I’ll toss you in there as well! Bobo isn’t fussy, he’ll take anyone!”

“Sir!” I insisted, “I can take you to the Star! I can find it! There’s no need for this! I can give you the Star!”

He paused, torn, suspicious eyes glittering. “Where is it?”

“Gildron knows where it is!” I said. “I don’t know if he has it with him or not, but you’re not going to find him without me. I can lead you straight to Gildron, and I can get him to give me the Star!”

“Why should you do that?” he asked quietly, gazing at me with hooded eyes.

“She comes with me,” I said. “I don’t give a damn for the Star, I just want you to leave Andrion alone. And don’t put her in that cage. If I give you the Star, you take it and leave. That’s all I really want. I was planning to do it anyway. The Star is nothing but trouble. I’ll lead you right to Gildron, you can stick a c-cell in my skull. I’ll get the Star for you, I’ll give it to you, you take it and leave, and leave the girl with me, and don’t kill any more Taka!”

“Three

” Eleven moaned. She was in torment.

“Shut down, Eleven!” I snapped. “Just don’t throw her in there, Sir. Please. She comes with me, unharmedand you get the Star.”

“Why should I agree?” he asked. “You tell me where Gildron is, and we’ll find him. We don’t need you!”

“Yes, you do! I can’t find Gildron, I only know the general area, but he will find me, if you let us loose down there. He’ll come to me! He’ll never come to you. You’ll never find him! You’ll never find the Star without us! I’m itwe’re it. The two of us, we’re your Gildron magnet.”

“Why should Gildron give you the Star?”

“Because I’ll explain to him that we’re taking it off-planet. He knows it’s a threat to the survival of Andrion, he wants to give it to the LC. Then your guys show up and I hand over the Star to you.”

“And he kills you, when he sees who we are.”

“We’ll worry about that! What do you say, Sir?”

“Fine idea. But I keep the girl. She amuses me. You go alone.”

“It won’t work! Gildron is smart, he knows we were captured, he won’t buy it if I’m alone, he’ll know it’s a trap, he’ll know Eleven is a hostage. If he sees the two of us together, he’ll believe it.”

“I wasn’t aware Gildron was known for his intellect.”

“He wasn’t, before

but he’s been with the Star for two years now. He’s changed. Don’t underestimate the power of the Star.”

Bobo moaned and whimpered, stretching one long, hairy arm out for Eleven. Eleven remained against the wall, paralyzed with fear.

“You are in no position to bargain, Beta Three,” Lowdrop declared. “I don’t need you. We own Andrion now. We’ll get the Star, sooner or later. We’ll track down Gildron and get the Star.”

“Sure you will

in six months, or a year. You don’t know what those tunnels are like! It could take a year or longer

you might never find the Star! Gildron might destroy it! Or bury it so deep it’ll never be uncovered. We can lead you to it immediately! Gildron wants to get rid of it, but he won’t give it to you. He’ll give it to us

willingly. Maybe today! It would save you a lot of time! KCA would like that! He won’t be happy with a delay.”

“Why should Gildron trust the two of you any more than he’d trust one? He knows you were both captured.”

“Assuming your men aren’t complete incompetents, they should be able to track us at a discreet distance without alerting the Taka. He may be suspicious, but he won’t ignore us if we come looking for him. He’ll figure we got away somehow. We can work it out with the handover of the Star; your people can pose as LC. We’ll be on scope, if we don’t show up on schedule you can kick in the door and come after us. Gildron will come to us, for sure. When you find us, you’ll find Gildron.”

“So I should release you both, is that it? You’re really comical.”

“You get the Star, in return. Guaranteed. What have you got to lose? Nothing! If it doesn’t work, you do what you would have done anyway. You only lose a few hours. But if it does work

you’ve got the Star. Think about it, Sir.”

“You’re a fast-talking boy, Beta Three. Ever consider a career as a lawyeror a confidence man? All right. Maybe I’ll take a chance on you. You and the girl. It doesn’t matter. We own the planet now! If you betray me, I’ll get you back, and you’ll both wind up in the cage with Bobo. Understand?”

“Yes, Sir!”

“Just one thingthis little bitch has insulted me. I don’t take that from anyone. I’m going to teach her some manners before she leaves this room. She’s going to remember me for a long time. And you’re going to watch.”

“Sir, uh, with all due respect, that might not be wise. She’s a hot-headed, vengeful, suicidal psychotic. I know her well. If you

do that

she’ll betray us in the end. I won’t be able to control her. She’ll go nuts. She could destroy the Star, or alert Gildron. Just

let her come with me. No punishment. She’ll apologize! Please accept her apology! She’s just a worthless little slut, Sir! Don’t jeopardize the Star for her! I can keep her in line if you don’t drive her over the edge.”

“She’s going to grovel!”

“Eleven! Apologize!” I shouted frantically. “Apologize to the man!” It was insane, I thought, but he was insane, the room was insane, the situation was insane.

Bobo howled againhe was foaming at the mouth, still reaching out of the cage toward Valkyrie’s tantalizing body, just out of his reach. Valkyrie slid slowly down the wall to her knees, twitching in horror, never taking her eyes off the creature in the cage. Cold sweat was dripping off her nose. Her lips moved.

“Louder!” Lowdrop shouted, waving his vac gun. He was crazier than Bobo, I thought.

“Sir

I’m sorry, sir,” Valkyrie gasped. “Please forgive me!” A wave of relief flooded over me at Valkyrie’s words. I had been terrified she was not going to cooperate. Thank the dead! All I wanted from life at that point was for the two of us to get out of that room alive. And I suddenly realized that I was going to lead Lowdrop to the Star within the hour, just as Lowdrop had promised the Systie Ambassador.

***

When they released us, Valkyrie and I ran from the ConFree groundcar like two rats pursued by a pack of dogs. It was still dark, but dawn would break in a few hours. I knew where Gildron was headed but I didn’t reveal that to them. I had them drop us off in a thickly forested area about 70 K east of the site of our capture. We crashed through the underbrush, ignoring the pain, anxious only to get away from the groundcar and all it represented. We were completely unarmed. They had drilled c-cells into our scalps to track us like animals. Valkyrie was wearing a new litesuit and it was a safe bet that the thing was a giant transmitter that would broadcast our every word back to Lowdrop. The two comsets clipped to our u-belts probably served the same purpose.

We ran to exhaustion and collapsed into a stand of spiky ground palms. We lay there gasping, hardly daring to look at each other. I felt dirtynot from the run, but from what had happened back on the ship. We hadn’t said a word to each other since our release. I was mentally shot, rushing from event to event with no chance to even think. I stole a glance at Valkyrie. She was pale, drained, stunned, propped up against a palm, smeared with dirt and sweat. Looking at me with glazed eyes.

“Idiot,” I said. She did not answer. “Did you have to spit on him? Do you know how close we came to dying?” I was angrymore at myself than her.

She stirred, struggling to her feet. She staggered over to me and collapsed, almost on top of me. She grabbed a piece of my tunic and pulled my face close to hers. She was still breathing hard from the run and her icy green eyes were not really focusing. I had loved this girl for years. She had been my first love in the Legion, and I had thought it would last forever.

“You were wonderful,” she gasped. “I can hardly believe

he agreed.”

I embraced her and we lay there, hot and sticky, cheek to cheek, heart to heart.

“I did just what he wanted,” I said. “I’m not proud of it.”

“You kept me out of that cage,” she said. “That’s all that’s important. Now what do we do?”

I pointed to our heads, and the comsets, and the clothing. She nodded. “We do exactly what he wants,” I said. “If we don’t give him the Star, Andrion Two will be destroyed. I don’t want that. We’re going to give him the Star. I don’t care about it. I never cared about it. Tara can burn in Hell. This is all her doing anyway.”

We lapsed into silence in each other’s arms, clutching each other like life jackets, listening to the night as our racing hearts gradually slowed down. Almost 0500 hoursit would be dawn soon. I was so sick of struggling. Was life supposed to be like this?

“Hot-headed, suicidal

what did you call me?” she asked. “A psycho?”

“I think I called you a hot-headed, vengeful, suicidal psychotic.”

“Yeah! And a slut! A worthless slut!”

“Did I say that?”

“Did you mean it?”

“I think the part about the vengeful, suicidal psychotic was completely accurate. But not the slut part. I just kind of threw that in.”

She looked up at the stars, grinning. “You really are a fine piece of work, Beta Three. I was amazed. All I could do was stare at that

thing, while you were hitting Lowdrop with all those terrific arguments for letting us go. You made it sound like letting us go was the only possible scenario any sane person could consider.”

“It must have made sense to crazy people, too.”

“I guess so. What’s the next move?”

“We head for Gildron’s tunnel. Might as well get going.”

“You were right about the slut part, too,” Valkyrie admitted, snuggling a little closer. “I’m feeling very slutty right now. I know this isn’t the right time. But I’d like you to know

just in case anything happens to us

I forgive you for everything. For Priestess, for Moontouch. It doesn’t matter, that’s all in the past. I still love you, Thinker. If we get through this, I’m going to get you alone in a room at some point and you’re not going to get away from me. That’s a promise!”

“All right, Valkyrie. If we do get through this, that will be our celebrationour reward. But first, we sleep for about two days. Agreed?”

“Bet your ass! Let’s go!”

***

“Keep climbing! We’re almost there!” Redhawk shouted. I was right behind himalmost under him, actually. We were scrambling up a perilously steep stone staircase that spiralled up at a dizzying angle, deep inside the stone heart of a massive, ancient structure. It was pitch dark except for the light flashing from Redhawk’s E. The stone walls were covered with black moss and the stone steps were slick and worn deeply by the footsteps of unknown generations of Taka. We kept going up and up. Valkyrie was right below me, and the three Taka warriors who had intercepted us in the forest were just below her. It was cold and we were exhausted, forcing ourselves on. The Taka had taken us to Redhawk and now Redhawk was taking us to Gildron. We had been marching for hours, through an elaborate maze of underground tunnels constructed during the Age of the Sword. But now we were going straight up.

“How can we still be going up?” I gasped. “We must be way above ground level by now.”

“We are!” Redhawk shouted back. “We’re inside Mount Light! Gildron’s up near the top!”

Mount Light! It was a massive, forested peak, thrusting up inexplicably from a flat plain like the mighty fist of some underworld God reaching vainly up for Heaven. It was an ancient sacred site. It was also the evident source of the deceptor activity that had turned Taka Country into a restricted area for the Legion.

“Slow down!” Valkyrie gasped.

“Almost there!” Redhawk shouted. “How did you get away from ConFree, anyway?” There had not been time to discuss anything earlier.

“Tell you later! Any ConFree activity in this area?” I slipped, catching myself just in time to avoid crashing down onto Valkyrie.

“Careful!” Valkyrie warned me. I regained my balance, and resumed climbing. I was ready to collapse but the Legion kept me going.

“They’re scattered all over the forest but they haven’t reached the Mount yet,” Redhawk replied. “They’re still getting used to the fact they haven’t got any functional aircars. Our guys are giving them hell. We’re here!”

We surfaced in a small stone hall deep within the mountain, cold and dead, feebly lit by several ghostly candles set into the walls. Valkyrie staggered up the stairs and collapsed against a wall. The three Taka warriors followed, grinning, shouldering their stabbing spears. Redhawk was grinning, too. He was short of breath but he seized me by the shoulders.

“Welcome back, guys!” he said hoarsely. “Can we get the hell out of here now?”

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Thirteen plus two!” Redhawk replied.

“Is that my fieldpak you’ve got there?”

“That’s a ten.”

“Everything in it?”

“Everything!”

“Good. Where’s Gildron?”

“Right here. You’re not gonna believe this place!” Redhawk’s eyes gleamed. He put his shoulder against a massive door of rusted steel and rotting wood. It creaked open. A bright light appeared around the edges of the door, and I was suddenly aware of a high-pitched humming and a deep vibration.

We stepped into a cavernous void, a gigantic cathedral of stone full of sunlight lancing down from a single, brilliant point high above. The towering walls were built of smooth, massive blocks of stone, fitting so closely that I could barely see the lines, and I knew in a glance that it had been done in ages lost to history, so long ago that the stone was all that remained of their past. We were inside the mountainonly it was not a mountain, I suddenly realized. It was a temple to the past, a gigantic tower of stone built by giants, a stairway to the Gods. I was getting dizzy, looking up at those sloping walls, at the sunlight blazing down like a star. It was a pyramid. The walls sloped up gently to form a pyramid, merging where the sunlight entered.

“It’s lovely!” Valkyrie shouted. The air buzzed faintly. I could feel the pressure on my skin. We were on a slick, dirty metal floor. A great central structure of blackened stone and metal rose up before us. The sunshine shone straight down into it, a golden shower of light flickering gently, dazzling our eyes against that backdrop of blackened walls. A group of Taka clustered around a hulking giant. It was Gildron.

“Gildron!” I shouted, my words strangely muffled by the buzz. “We are here!” He turned and peered at us, distracted, still listening to a comset in one hand as we approached.

“Welcome, Three. Welcome back, Eleven. You are both well?” I could read only concern in his features. He was wearing a great cloak. Several of the Taka around him were war leaders, well known to me. Others were people I had never seen.

“We are well, Gildron. Why are we here? Are the ConFree troopers closing in? How much time do we have?”

Gildron looked up to the stream of sunlight lancing down from the roof. He seemed perfectly calm, as calm and solid as a statue.

“It is past dawn,” he almost whispered it. “We have only time. It is all we have. A billion years

two billion. All we need. Do you know what this place is?” He looked like a King, an Emperor, a God, looming above us all, his eyes aglow.

“No,” I said. “I don’t. Gildron, do you have the Star?”

“The Wanderers built this place,” Gildron said, “long before the Thousand Years War. The Taka call it Mount Light now, but it was never a mountain. It is the mouth of the earth, and the gateway to the sky. It was built to channel and focus all the natural power of the planet. Observethe sun has only risen, but its rays are already drawn in, to join the earth.”

“Gildron

the Star. Do you have the Star?”

“The Star revealed it all to me. Without the Star, this would still be only a lonely mountain, covered by the forest. Observe.” He walked into a narrow doorway in the central structure. I followed him in. Reflections from the sunlight lit up a small room with walls of blackened metal tiles marked with strange runes, unlike anything I had ever before seen. Gildron ran one massive hand gently over the tiles.

“I have barely begun to understand its power,” he said quietly. “We are only toying with it now. Charging the atmosphere a little, blowing out communications, knocking out aircars. It is a pity we will not get to understand it further.”

“Can you turn this on and off?”

“Yes. I will soon disable it. No one can understand it without the Star. How did you escape from ConFree?”

“We did not escape. They released us.”

“Why?” He was not even looking at me. He seemed to be lost in thought.

“I told them we would give them the Star. Do you have the Star? You know it will bring death to the Taka if it remains here.” Redhawk and Valkyrie were in the doorway, looking in. I detached the comset from my u-belt and handed it to Valkyrie. She snatched at her own comset and disappeared.

“And do you intend to give them the Star?” Gildron asked me gently. Ten was still in the doorway.

“Redhawk, any news of the Tempest?” I asked.

“It’s still in orbit. We have no idea what’s happening on board. There appears to be no active resistance from the Legion garrison. Of course

it’s not much of a garrison.”

“Is there some way out of this place? Can you get me to the top, or maybe somewhere on the side of the mountain?”

“Sure. Follow me.”

“You have not answered my question,” Gildron chided me.

“You haven’t answered mine,” I replied. “Do you have the Star? It’s rather important. Could I borrow your comset?”

Gildron handed me his comset and accompanied us as Redhawk led me across the floor to a metal door set in one wall.

It brought us to the outside, to a narrow ledge hidden behind a crumbling stone wall in a tangle of foliage on the nearly vertical slopes of Mount Light. It was a cool wet morning. There was a breathtaking view past the vines and branches. The mountain loomed over a great forest, a primeval world that stretched to the horizon. A white sun burnt brightly just above the horizon. Air angels floated in the breeze. I could see no activity in the forest below, but I knew it was crawling with attacking ConFree and Legion troopers and defending Taka. We would be invisible too, to any observers. I raised the comset to my lips and switched the channel.

“Moontouch, Slayer. Please respond.”

“Slayer!” she responded immediately, “You live! I thank the Gods of the Dead!” My heart was burning. How could I leave her?

“Moontouch, my only love. I had to hear your voice one last time. I have escaped from my enemies. I must take the Star far, far away, where it will no longer endanger your people. I promise I will return, my love, if I survive. Tell my son I love him. I swear to all the dead I will love you forever. I must go now, my love. Be strong! Tell Stormdawn to be strong!”

“Daddy!” It was Stormdawn, tugging at my heart. “Promise you will come back! Promise!”

“I promise.”

“I love you, Daddy!” I broke the transmission. I couldn’t stand it any more. Cursed by the Gods! Valkyrie appeared, looking out at the view.

“Are the comsets gone?” I asked.

“Cooking,” she answered cheerfully. “What now?”

“Redhawk?” He handed me the fieldpak. I pulled out one of Tara’s nova beacons, activated it, and hurled it off the mountain, as far as I could throw it. It airburst with a shattering bang and fell, burning with a bright, hot light, spitting sparks all the way down, finally disappearing through the forest roof.

I raised Gildron’s comset and switched channels again. “Tempest, this is Supply Alpha, calling for pickup. Please note our area zero.” I looked up at Gildron. He was examining me calmly. “Can you deactivate the defenses so the Tempest can drop in aircars?” I asked.

“It is done,” he replied.

“ConFree will be on us as well,” Redhawk said.

“Thinker,” Valkyrie said thoughtfully, “I want you to kill me if it looks like the bastards are going to get us again.”

“Certainly.”

“Thank you.”

“Tempest, Supply Alpha,” I said into the comset. “Suggest aircars, repeat, aircars. Expect a hot zero. Alpha out.” I know there would be no answer. I didn’t want them using the shuttleit was too big a target. But I had to let them know that aircars could now penetrate the Taka zone. Unfortunately, the bad guys would be listening as well.

“Do you think ConFree can hear us?” Redhawk asked.

“Probably,” I replied. “I imagine they’re listening to every word we say. We can assume they’re on the way. Valkyrie and I will need E’s.”

“That’s not a problem.”

“Gildron,” I repeated, handing the comset back to him, “Do you have the Star?”

“It is with me always, Three.” He was looking sadly out to the rising sun. “We are all driven by secret demons. And mine is named Cinta.” He raised the comset to his lips. “To my beloved warriors. This is Starmouth. The time we spoke of has arrived. I must leave, and I must bring the power with me so it will not destroy Southmark. Tell your brave soldiers to defend their Queen. There is only one order: Fight until the intruders are driven from your land. A thousand generations of dead warriors are watching you. Do not betray your heritage.” He turned his face away from us. I knew it hurt him deeply, to leave the Taka in their hour of greatest need. It hurt me, too.

***

“Supply Alpha, Tempest Air Six Two, please nova your pickup zero, confirm.” They were calling us! We were on the very top of Mount Light, picking our way through a tangled forest in the clouds, an eternal rain forest that covered the flat top of the peak like a great wet sponge. Cool misty clouds sliced through the trees, erasing them. It was quiet and spooky. Redhawk and Valkyrie were right beside me. Gildron was up ahead, and the area was saturated with Taka warriors. We were all heavily armed with E’s and grenades. Redhawk and Valkyrie and I had our comtops on, and Valkyrie had a micronuke clipped to her A-vest. The tacmods were working perfectly, now that Gildron had shut down the power source. I tossed another one of Tara’s novas off into the trees. It exploded with an ear-shattering blast and began burning brightly. It would guide the Tempest’s aircar right to us.

“Novas going off all around the mountain,” Redhawk reported. ConFree was getting in on the act.

“I can see the aircar!” Valkyrie said. I could see it too on my tacmap, a brilliant dot illuminated on my visor, approaching the mountain.

“Tempest Air Six Two, Supply Alpha,” I said into the comset. “Have you ID’d us, respond.”

“Attention! Three aircars approaching from the Southwest, masked Legion ID, as marked,” my tacmod reported.

“Attention! Four aircars approaching from North, masked Legion ID, as marked.”

“Damn,” I said. ConFree had just realized that Taka country was no longer closed to aircars. It was Lowdrop, coming at us.

“Tempest Air Six Two, Supply Alpha,” I said into the comset, “Intruders approaching. Hot zero. Request extraction if at all poss, respond.” If it was not possible we were going to wind up dead or in the cage with Bobo, I knew.

“Stand by, Supply Alpha.” Stand by! They were coming! A burst of pride shot through my system. Legion troopers, riding right into Hell, for us!

“Full auto x, gang!” I shouted. “Don’t hit the Tempest’s aircar!”

“They’re all going to be dropping right in on our heads!” Redhawk exclaimed. It was true. Seven enemy aircars were going to be landing right on our nova.

“The Tempest’s car is going to arrive first!” Valkyrie alerted us. I watched its progress on the tacmap. Valkyrie was right, but it was going to be close.

“Taka warriors, for your clans!” Gildron shouted into his comset. “The first manbird is friendly. The others are not. When the doors open, attack!” The forest was silent, but they heard. I know they did. I looked up. The trees danced gracefully against a misty white sky. There was a faint, rising whistlethe Tempest’s aircar, coming right at us.

The forest erupted behind us, flashing like an exploding star, multiple detonations, multiple concussions, hitting us through the air. A quick glance back there, a sky full of shredded vegetation.

“Stunstars!”

Valkyrie tore the micronuke off her A-vest and activated it, clutching it tightly in one hand. Her eyes were frantic. If she dropped that, we’d all die. Another stunstar detonated, closer, rattling my teethnot yet in range! The forest was shaking itself apart to our front. The Tempest’s aircar was dropping right in on our zero, slicing through the forest like a great cenite fist, branches and trees snapping and exploding into dust before it. I caught a quick glimpse of two aircars, darts, flashing high overhead, wheeling. There was a sudden wild windstorm of flying twigs and leaves, and then it was therea dull black aircar, floating like a cenite butterfly, darkened plex, muted Legion cross on the fuselage. The assault doors snapped open and a Legion trooper in a camfaxed A-suit leaned out, armed with a Manlink.

“GET IN!” A highly amplified voice, totally inhuman.

I started forward, my E up. “I confirm arrival of Tempest aircar,” my tacmod informed me. Redhawk appeared to my right, advancing warily. Valkyrie was just to my left, her E pointed right at the car, the micronuke clutched in one fist. We were not a trusting bunch.

“Gildron, where

” The aircar detonated, exploding right in our faces, a mighty soundless flash and I was on my back trying to make sense of all the buzzing, sparkling stars that were swirling around me like angry bees. I struggled up to a sitting position. I was sitting in a burning forest, a mighty conflagration. Blazing white-hot wreckage was strewn everywhere. Before I could even get my thoughts straight a titanic blast shattered my ears and dazzled my eyes. Theremicronuke, rising through shattered trees, an ugly mushroom cloud rolling into the sky. Valkyrie! Dead! An aircar shot overhead, firing chainlink, an eerie screech. I screamed and staggered to my feet, firing wildly after it, auto xmax hammering skywards. The forest was coming apart to my right, shaking itself to pieces. I whirled and charged at it blindly, crashing through burning palms, shrieking mindless rage. Another black aircar burst into view in a hail of debris, the assault doors snapping open. I ran right at them, my finger locked on the trigger, auto xmax, and a whole squad of fully armored Legion troopers leaped from the car, right into my line of fire, right into Hell. The x flashed and burst, blasting awful chunks off their armor, chopping off arms and legs and helmets, white-hot liquid cenite splattering wildly, the whole aircar lighting up, and they were on the ground spraying blood but I was still firing, auto x to end it all, auto x to end the universe. The aircar erupted, the whole squad caught in the blast, red faceplates reflecting only death, the forest around me going up, some of them firing. I switched to laser and sliced back and forth blindly and it was a knife from the stars screeching on their armor, crawling on my skin, burning, spitting. The aircar swung wildly right over my head but I ignored it, hunting down the living like a mad dog from Hell, stepping through a glowing charnel house of quivering, twitching death. One trooper was on his knees, screaming. He had lost both arms and his pitted, smoking armor was dripping with blood. I switched back to xmax and shot him in the face. The aircar floated past me, derelict. I fired flame into the open assault door and vaulted in, totally adrenalized, twitching, numb. There was movement from the burning cockpit. An A-suited pilot was struggling to get outhis armor was riddled. I fired auto x, blasting him apart, raw meat splattering on the walls. The car crashed into a tree and settled in at a crazy angle. I fell out the assault door onto a bloody field of glowing armor and burning corpses. Holy angels, killed on sacred ground. A whole squad of them had been shooting at me, and I was untouched. Evil Gods, watching over me. Gildron came striding out of the mist, a fearsome giant, his E at his shoulder. The forest was burning all around us. The sounds of battle were still popping in my ears. Redhawk knelt beside me, pulling me up. A couple of Taka warriors appeared, clutching their nerve guns.

“Thinker. Thinker! Deadman, what happened? What the hell happened?”

I seized him by the shoulders, my face twisted with rage. I was shaking uncontrollably. “They’re Legion soldiers, Ten! Soldiers of the Legion! Just like youand me! It’s KCA! It’s Two Four One! Those bastards did this! Not me!”

“Gildron!” Redhawk shouted. “Get in the car! Where’s Valkyrie?” He went hurtling into the aircar, fighting his way into the bloody pilot’s seat. The car was on fire but he ignored it. Gildron pulled me into the aircar. I was looking around wildly, ready to fire. I guess I was pretty much out of action by then. Gildron seized a fire extinguisher and blasted the flames with vac. I was on my knees in the aisle, twitching. I raised my arms. They were covered with blood and tiny little flecks of bone and brains and cenite shrapnel. My E was still at my chest. I couldn’t stop shaking. I stood up.

“Valkyrie’s dead,” I said shakily. “I’m going after her body. You go ahead if you want. Don’t wait for us. You’ve got to get the Star away from here.”

“Thinker!” Valkyrie came charging in from the burning forest, weaponless, vaulting into the aircar right into my arms. I could only gape at her. “Thinker!” she repeated, “Are you all right?”

“Liftoff!” Redhawk shouted from the cockpit. The two Taka warriors raised their arms in farewell and Gildron returned the gesture. The assault doors slammed shut and we burst through the forest roof and shot down off Mount Light, falling like a brick for the forest below, then levelling off at the last possible frac and rocketing along like a shooting star, max speed, just above the treetops. I could see ConFree aircars wheeling in the dirty sky, but I wasn’t worried. I knew Redhawk was the best aircar pilot in the galaxy.

“Tempest, Supply Alpha,” Redhawk said. “Your aircar has been lost. We’re on our way in an enemy car. Please note our zero. Request intercept and recovery, respond.”

“When the Tempest’s car went, the blast blew that micronuke right out of my hand,” Valkyrie said. “Lucky for us it didn’t land anywhere near us.”

“Legion troopers,” I said. “They were Legion troopers!” Soldiers of the Legion, I thought, doing their duty. Just like us! I had known it was eventually going to come to this, but it didn’t make it any easier. KCA, I thought, and Lowdrop. ConFree. Criminals! Traitors! And soldiers of the Legion were their pawns.

“I’m not going to rest,” I told Valkyrie, “until they’re dead!”

“It’s all right, Thinker. We’re all alive. Please calm down. It’s all right.”

“It’s not all right! And we’re not alive! They’re going to pay, Valkyrie! They’re going to pay!”

“Calm down, Thinker. Please. Calm down.”

“They’re going to pay!” I was crying with rage.

Chapter 11

Lost Souls

Green eyes. Icy, empty green eyes, melting me slowly. Another heart, beating against mine. Soft pale lips against my chest. A face like a tormented child, and hair like golden flax. Slim pale satin arms, gliding over my body.

We floated away in her bunk, lost and lonely, clutching each other for solace. She was as lovely as an angel, I thoughta naked angel. How long had we avoided each other, and to what end? I had never lost my longing for her. My heart beat faster whenever I neared her. And now she was back, just as she had promiseddespite all I had done to avoid it.

I had always known I could never resist her. I was not that strong. There had been reasons, before, but the reasons were all gone now. It all seemed suddenly so foolish.

“Kiss me,” she whispered. Sharp fingernails sliced into the back of my neck. I cupped her head in my hands, and looked into those emerald eyes. How could any human be this fortunate? I tried to think of Moontouch, of Priestess, but it hurt. It was so much easier to just lie there, in Valkyrie’s arms, and dream of what might have been.

We were on the starship C.S. Tempest on vac run red in the eye of the hole, on our way back to Dindabai. Tara had been absolutely right about the Tempest. The instant our nova had appeared they had broken with ConFree. But breaking with ConFree is not easy. They had launched four aircars to pick us up, but only one had gotten throughand that one had been destroyed on the ground.

A lot of troopers had died for us.

We mated like a couple of crazed alley cats, totally without shame, grappling with each other on Eleven’s bunk under a blazing ceiling light, riding to an explosive climax, then crashing to the deck with the bedding, laughing, delirious with joy and relief.

We lay there in each other’s arms under the lights, spent, sticky with semen and sweat, tangled up in damp sheets.

“Again,” she said.

“Good plan,” I responded. “I always missed you

Valkyrie. I never forgot you. I was so happy when we got you back on Coldmark.”

“Do you miss Priestess?” She looked into my eyes calmly. I looked away, up to the ceiling.

“Of course.”

“I know. I miss Scrapper, too. I think of her all the time. Every day. Every night. She’s like a ghost, haunting me. Do you think of Priestess that way, too?” Scrapper was Beta Twelve, Valkyrie’s girlfriend. They had become very close, after Mongera. I brought my gaze back to meet hers.

“Yes. That’s exactly the way it is with Priestess. She’s just like a ghost

as you said. I wake in the night and I can still see her face. It’s almost like she’s calling out to me, from somewhere.”

“They can’t still be alive, can they?”

“I

I don’t know. I don’t think so. Of course not. Where could they be? They’ve got to be dead. There’s not a trace of themSnow Leopard, Psycho, Priestess, Scrapper, Twister. Not a trace. Chances are they were all vaporized in the starmass. We left Psycho and Twister to face the O’s. Priestess and Scrapper were last seen in a bust of starmass. And Snow Leopard was near youand that O.”

“He was the bravest man I ever knew.”

“You were just as brave as he was, ” I said. “You saved us from that O.”

“I was terrified. Lookwe were all listed as dead. How do you know the others aren’t out there somewhere as well?”

“Redhawk found Dragon, and you. He saw how they covered his disappearance, accessed the personnel lists, and ran his programs. They worked. He found Dragon, and he found you. He even found that A-suit girl and the fellow from Recon Control, with help from Tara. But he didn’t find anybody else. He thinks it’s because they’re not alive.”

“He didn’t find you, did he?”

“No. My disappearance was handled a little differently. I didn’t continue in the Legion. They wrote me off as dead on Uldo, and didn’t have to worry about disguising me as anybody else. They actually made me into someone else. Even I didn’t know who I was.”

“Do you think they’re all dead?”

“Probably.”

“If they’re dead, they should leave us alone. We can’t help them. I loved ScrapperI still do. But I can’t help her if she’s dead.”

“Yes. That’s true.”

“I can see her face, even now.” She bit her lip, and turned away. I pulled her closer.

“We’re all that’s left, Eleven. Don’t you leave me.”

“I know you’re going back to your sorceress, Thinker. But until that day, I’ll not leave your side. You’ll have to shoot me dead to get rid of me. We’ve been through too damned much, Beta Three. I have no more pride, no more vanity. You hurt me so much, with Priestess, and it hurts still, but somehow it’s not important any more. We’ve each had our lovers torn from our arms, and our oldest comrades lost in battle. And here we are again, together again. It’s a miracle, a holy, obscene miracle!” She buried her face in my chest, and could not say any more.

A holy, obscene miracle, I thought, looking up at the lights. It’s the story of my life.

***

When the Tempest’s shuttle entered Dinda Port’s ground traffic system, it glided gently over the hardsite toward the main milport personnel terminal. We were getting door-to-door service. I was impressed. I was sitting next to Valkyrie as we peered out a viewport. The entire panorama of Dinda Port was all around us. There appeared to be a great deal of military trafficmore than I remembered. Redhawk and Gildron were in the seats behind us, chatting excitedly. The shuttle was full of Fleetcom officers and techs from the Tempest, and Legion soldiers from the strike force.

I was not happy about returning to Dindabai. It beat Bobo’s cage, but that was about all I could say for it. I felt totally helpless, a grain of dust in space rushing headlong to destruction. I had lost everything on Andrion. Moontouch and Stormdawn were beyond my reach now. They were so far away they may as well have been in another galaxy. Valkyrie’s thigh was pressing close against mine, and one hand was resting gently in my lap. We had taken each other without a word, for the moment, and as long as the moment would last. It didn’t even require any thought. It seemed as natural as breathing and as inevitable as death. I think we would have gone crazy if we hadn’t each been there, for each other. I thanked the Gods of Hell for sending her to me, but it didn’t mean I was happy.

“Check out the crowd,” Valkyrie said. There were, indeed, a whole lot of people swarming around the terminal as the shuttle glided to a halt directly in front of it and gently touched down. A flicker of color caught my eyesflags, unfurling. The Legion war flag, the ConFree banner. A squad of Legion troopers in formal blacks snapped to attention. A nervous crowd of officials peered expectantly at our shuttle.

“Look at that,” I said. “There must be some VIP’s on board.” I looked around, scanning the passengers in our shuttle. I didn’t see anyone who looked even remotely important. What the hell?

“It’s us!” Valkyrie exclaimed. “We’re the VIP’s, you dummy!”

Gildron laughed, delighted. “Of course we are! Cinta is greeting us! You do not realize the historical importance of this moment, Three. You do not realize the historical significance of our mission. The balance of power in the galaxy has just shifted, decisively. Because of us!” He stood up, smiling. “Of course it is us.”

“Oh no,” I said. I just sat there, my head in my hands. I felt terrible. And this welcoming committee was not going to help.

“Thinker, Gildron is right,” Valkyrie said. “Look at all those scanners! They’re going to record it all! Generations of schoolchildren will see us just as we are, right now. Don’t you dare look gloomy! You cheer up right now, soldier!”

“Damn,” I said miserably. “I hate this.”

“Come on, Thinker,” Redhawk said. “The whole planet’s out there! Cheer up! Give ‘em a smile! Tell ‘em there was nothing to it. KCA will hate it.”

If you view the official recordings of that event, you’ll note that I’m not smiling, but I’m not frowning either. Perhaps paralyzed is the word. What a day! Brisk, clean, biting air. The flags flapped in a gusty wind. The ConFree anthem, “The Black March,” blasted away as we all stood there like statues. Then the Legion chant, “Soldier of the Legion,” crawled over my skin. Tara, pale and imperial, all in black, speakingI didn’t hear a word. Dragon and Whit and the brain police, Lock and Varna and the whole gangthey were all there, along with a brace of Legion brass I had never seen before. Some of them spoke, too.

Then we all saluted each other and the nonsense was over and Gildron stood before Tara, looking down at her tentatively. She raised her head and stretched out one arm and touched him lightly on a shoulder, as if to confirm that he was really there. Then he opened his massive arms and gently embraced her, just as if he was gathering in a particularly delicate bouquet of flowers. And Tara put her head right down on his chest and closed her eyes and just stood there in his grasp, almost floating away. I could hardly believe it. That certainly wasn’t the Tara I knew. But before I could get over my amazement, Whit came rocketing out of the crowd and jumped right into Redhawk’s arms. He howled with delight and I thought he was going to rip her clothes off her right there but she whispered in his ear and I guess she must have persuaded him to hold off, because he did. Dragon came out of the crowd, grinning. He had just lost Whit, but he had not seen Valkyrie since that fatal day in the Mound. They embraced, fiercely. I didn’t mind. I knew exactly how they felt.

***

I had my appointment with Tara a few days later. Her offices were near the top of a rather busy cube hive that functioned as the brains of the Lost Command. The plaque over the main entrance downstairs read GALACTIC INFORMATION. Tara’s outer office was full of people waiting to see her. She was a popular kid. An intense girl with very short blonde hair showed me into a quiet little alcove, and then the doors slid open to Tara’s inner sanctum. She sat at a large shiny desk littered with plastic printouts and holos and solids. One side of the desk glowed with d-screens and comsets and starlinks. A low murmur from the screens sounded like waves washing peacefully onto a distant beach. A sheet of polarized plex formed one entire wall, lighting the room up to a suppressed white glow. Tara rose from her chair, tossed back her hair, and came forward to greet me. She was looking considerably better than the last time I’d seen her.

“Hello, Wester. Lori, freeze the calls. I want a little peace and quiet.”

“Yes sir,” the blonde said as the doors slid shut behind her.

“Have a seat, Wester. How are you? How are you all? Are Ten and Eleven settling in all right?” She gestured to a leatherette air sofa in one corner. It was yielding and comfortable. We had a spectacular view of the lake.

“They’re fine,” I said. “This is a nice office. I guess you’re more important than ever now.”

“The office doesn’t mean anything to me, Wester. I’d work in a tent if I had to, you know me. But I guess

in one sense, you’re right. Your mission was completely successfulyou gave us the Star. I feel as if a great, suffocating weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I feel so much better, Wester, you have no idea how my health has improved.”

“You look a lot better.” Her pale brown skin was glowing with health, her auburn hair was shining, and her eyes were sparkling.

“Wester, I’d like to thank you. Not just on behalf of the Legion, and the Lost Command, and ConFreethe real ConFreeand all our descendants, but I’d also like to thank you personally. You’ve certainly saved my life. Those witch doctors said I was dying, and I don’t doubt them. The Star was killing me, but it’s not, not any more. Now that we’ve actually got it, I can slow down. Gildron understands it better than I. The science freaks are all over him now. He’s stronger than I ammentally stronger. I can think on a different level now, back in the psycher’s world, and let Gildron communicate with the demons from the Star. Yesyou’ve certainly saved my life.”

“You’re using him, aren’t you?”

“What?”

“You’re using Gildron. You

“

“Don’t bother saying it! I see what you think. You’ve always had a low opinion of me, haven’t you, Wester? You think of me as some kind of cold, calculating biogen. Well, I’m not. I’m a psycher, yes, but I’m human, too. All I’ve wanted for years is to be human. You think I was lying to Gildron, about my love for him? Fine, think itI don’t care. The truth will out, in the end. Truth always triumphs, Wester. You’ll see!”

“Yes, sir,” I said sarcastically.

“You doubt your own role, toodon’t bother saying it! You’re a damned hero, Three. A hero! Don’t deny itthe truth will out!”

“A hero? You’re joking! What did I do?”

“You brought us the Star!”

“I did nothing. I’m no hero. I botched everything I touched. I got my element captured by a gang of stone-age soldiers, then to top that I got myself and Valkyrie captured by ConFree, almost as soon as they dropped. I spilled my guts to Two Four One immediately; I led him right to the Star, just as he had planned. Then I slaughtered a whole aircar full of Legion soldiers and abandoned my wife and son to the mercy of a vengeful enemy after vowing never to leave them again. It’s a holy miracle I didn’t deliver the Star right to ConFree. I didn’t get you the Star; Gildron did. You want to thank somebody, thank him. Hero? I feel like a coward. I’d like to crawl in a hole and die.”

“You need some rest, Wester,” she said, looking at me with some concern. “Your mind is in turmoil. It’s understandable. You’re concerned about your wife and son. I’m not going to lie to you, Wester. The situation on Andrion is not good, but we’re monitoring it closely. You will learn everything that we know about Andrion, I promise you that.”

“I feel better already,” I said gloomily. I was getting a headache, a dull ache behind my eyeballs. “Any idea when Andrion will be ours again?”

“It’s too early to tell. But we expect the ConFree Council to oust KCA and come to terms with the LC once it sinks in that we have the Star.”

“Why should they do that? What’s the alternative?”

“The alternative is war,” she said. “Civil war, among the Confederation of Free Worlds. It can only strengthen the System. KCA would like that, except he must know it would cost him his jobmaybe his life.”

I sighed. “I guess I’m just tired, Tara. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be so negative. It’s just that

I haven’t got much left.”

“You may have prevented a galactic war, Wester. Please don’t doubt the value of what you’ve done. We know

it was done at considerable personal sacrifice. That’s why I called you a hero. Not just because your mission was successful. I know what it meant to you, leaving your family behind on Andrion.”

“Yeah, sure. I’m a hero. Whatever you say. Let’s not talk about it any more, all right?” I looked out over the lake. It seemed so peaceful. I was getting a headache, all rightthe damned thing just wouldn’t go away.

“One? Tara. Do you have a spare frac?” She was standing by her desk, speaking into a darkened d-screen.

“No,” the response came. A wise answer, I thoughtTara was nothing but trouble.

“See you in five,” Tara retorted casually. “Let’s go, Wester. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

“He didn’t sound too anxious to see you,” I said, rising from the sofa.

“He was only kidding. He’s always got time for meand you.”

We took an elevator that shot downwards so fast it left me slightly dizzy.

“Your friend lives in the basement?”

“No, Wester. The War Room’s down here.”

The door snapped open to a small airlock where several alert Legion soldiers in blacks and A-vests and E’s strapped to their chests scanned our ID’s before activating another door. We strolled through a spotless corridor full of Legion desk jockeys hurrying importantly from door to door.

“Who are we going to see,” I asked. “Info One?” I figured she was taking me to see her superior, the Lost Command’s Galactic Information chief.

“No,” she replied. “It’s Two Two One.” Two Two One! I froze, as she triggered a vault door open. Two Two One was LC One, the Commander of the 22nd Legion, the Rimguard, the Black Legion. He was the Lost Command’s maximum leader, the man who had led the 22nd Legion and half of Outvac Fleet Command into outright rebellion against Kenton Cotter-Arc’s ConFree leadership. He had seized the far outvac for the Legion, defying the entire galaxy. He was the Lost Command, all by himself. I had heard a lot about him, but had never met him.

We stepped into a hushed twilight world glowing with blacklights of phospho violet. It was a huge room, full of silvery dust, hanging in the airstars! The space between the stars was dotted with glowing specks and airy highways, and it was all labelled, tiny icy letters and symbols, floating beside each display. A shadowy group of officers stood around the controls in the center of the floor, manipulating the display, reaching up into the dark with thin pink laser pointers. This was the War Room, displaying the entire Outvac. All of Fleetcom was up there, I knew, and all of ConFree’s forces as well. It was in this impregnable fortress, far below the ground, that the Lost Command would direct the war against ConFree, should it ever come to that.

A figure detached itself from the group around the controls. It was hard to make him out in the dark. “Tara!” he said. “Good. Follow me.”

He led us into a quiet little room dominated by a large conference table lit up by soft white lights under walls covered with darkened d-screens.

“Can I get you something?” He asked us, fussing over a snackmod set up on a side table. He was in his blackshis back was to me. Tara did not respond.

“No, thanks,” I said, settling into an airchair. I couldn’t quite picture LC One getting me anything at all.

“Try one of these,” he said, ignoring my comment and handing me a cup of hot dox. “Rose Mountain Supreme. It’s strong and sweet.” He was slim and fit, but the slightly yellowish skin on his face appeared to be stretched tightly over the bones. His eyes glinted like black opal. A single lock of straight black hair hung loosely over one eye. I popped my dox open, conscious of his eyes peering right at me. He seemed strangely fragile. They said LC One was hundreds of years old. They said he was the ultimate warrior, and that he had been wounded so many times that most of his body was now artificial.

“One, this is Beta Three,” Tara said. “Warname Thinker. ” She had also accepted a dox, and was holding it delicately with both hands. “In the flesh. Beta Three, Two Two One.” She raised her cup, and took a sip.

“Tara has told me a great deal about you, trooper,” he said. “I told her I wanted to meet you. You’ve changed history, you know. I want to thank youpersonallyfor what you’ve done.”

“I haven’t done anything, sir.” I kept my eyes focused on the table. “I already told Tara. Gildron is your mannot me. He kept the Star for us, and brought it back. Not me.”

“You were in command, trooper. Tell me

why did you do it?”

“I’m a soldier, sir. A soldier of the Legion.”

“Any doubtsnow?”

“Yes sir. I think we should destroy it.”

He laughed, easily. “Well, you may be right. That’s still under discussion. How’s the dox?”

“Good, sir. Very good.”

“I understand you and Beta Eleven had a little run-in with Lowdrop.”

“Yes sir.”

“I have the greatest sympathy for him. He was a good trooper. I knew him in the Plague Wars. He lost everything there was to lose. Finally he lost his soul. He’s an evil man, now. He’s obsessed with his career but he’s chosen the wrong side. It’s a shame. Rest assured, justice will be done. He’s a vile traitor, and we’ll track him down and execute him, sooner or later. Justice will always be done, as long as there’s life in my body.”

I didn’t say anything. The Plague Warsthat was several centuries ago. I wondered how tired Two Two One was. I was just out of Hell, it seemed like only a few years ago, and I was exhausted already.

“Trooper, you know the Legion doesn’t give out awards or medals or ribbons. We figure every soldier is a hero, or he wouldn’t be here in the first place. And your recognition comes when your name shows up on the Monument to the Dead. However, in my position I can occasionally reward people for exceptional deeds. You’re qualified and I’d like to reward you. Tell meis there anything I could do for you that you would appreciate? What do you want? What do you need?”

I stared at him blankly.

“Take your time, trooper. There’s no rush.”

“There is something I want,” I said. “An assignment to Andrion Twoas soon as it’s possible. Yesthat’s what I want. That’s all I want.”

“That’s easily done. See to it, Tara.”

“Sure,” she said casually.

“What kind of position did you have in mind?” LC One asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” I replied. “Anything. I can wash the dishes. Whatever.”

He turned in surprise to Tara. She smiled. “The Systies had him washing dishes on Nimbos,” she explained.

He laughed, delighted. “Well, I think we can come up with something better than that! We’ll surprise you. Of course, we’ve got to get Andrion back first. I’d like you to see something, trooper. You too, Tara.” He touched a control on the arm of his chair and one of the wall screens came alive. A slight, dark, sallow man dressed in ConFree’s formal dark plum uniform was looking thoughtfully out of the screen from behind a gleaming desk.

“It won’t work, Pointman,” he said. “You’re a fool if you think it will make any difference at all. You know ConFree even better than I. Ask yourself what their reaction will be.”

“I received this shortly after you lifted off from Andrion, trooper,” LC One said. “KCA is an old acquaintance. He took an instant dislike to me when we first met, but that was his reaction to most people.”

“You’re doomed, Pointman,” KCA said. “You and your whole damned Command. You are lostit’s a good name. The Lost Command. You’ve led them astray, Pointman. Far, far astray. Do you really think the Star will make any difference? You were always a hopeless romantic. I must say I’m not surprised to see you in this dilemma. And I don’t have any sympathy. But think of your Command!”

He sighed, and looked away. He was absentmindedly tapping a light pen against his desk. “Doomed,” he said again. “The ConFree Council and the Legion High Command have sworn out a warrant for your arrest and execution on charges of high treason, mutiny, rebellion, sabotage, piracy, aiding the enemy, multiple murder, and a host of lesser charges. Think about it, Pointman! You’ve lost! It doesn’t matter about the Star. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that I disappear tomorrow. Does that solve your problem? What do you really think will happen to you and your Command? You’re rebels. You, personally, have led a mutiny, the first mutiny ever for the ConFree Legion. You’re a blot in Legion history, Pointman. You have defied the Confederation of Free Worlds and all it stands for. You’re supposed to be a soldier, not a politician. You’re supposed to defend ConFree, not attack itor defy it.” He leaned forward eagerly, looking into the screen.

“The terms will be unconditional surrender. You know thatit has to be! You and your officers will be executed. And your Legion will be disbanded. The old Twenty-Second, the proud old Rimguard, the invincible Black Legion, ConFree’s sword, with its ancient war flags lowered to the dust, for the last timeyou will have accomplished all that, Pointman.” KCA was faintly smiling, and LC One was pale and bristlingI could almost feel the hate radiating from him.

“So you see, Pointman, you’ve lostno matter what. So don’t get so cocky about your latest little caper. And don’t think it’s over! You can tell all the stories you want, about what I allegedly planned to do with the Star, but the fact is you’ve got the Star, not me. And you’re not giving it to ConFree, are you? That’s the way ConFree sees it, Pointman. Have a pleasant day. I’ll see you next through the plex of your execution chamber.” The screen faded to black.

“What a snake!” Tara remarked.

“He’s crazier than Lowdrop,” I said. The man looked like a clerk but talked like a dangerous psychotic.

“He’s frightened,” LC One said, “with good reason. He failed in his mission to seize the Star. If he had the Star, he could claim success, and the LC would be a mere annoyance, to be neutralized at ConFree’s leisure. His personal position in ConFree would be assured, and our future would be bleak. But he’s failed. We have the Star. The ConFree Council will be annoyed at his failure, especially when they learn the Star was in their grasp on Andrion all the time, and not on Dindabai, as they had thought. There will be consequences. What they will be, I don’t know. Perhaps they’ll actually decide to attack us. I’ve provided full documentation to the Council of KCA’s attempt to seize the Omni ship for the System on Uldo, and their first try to take the Star on Andrion Two. Whether the Council will believe it is an open question.”

“Why not just give the Star to ConFree?” I asked. “That would solve the problem, wouldn’t it?”

“No, it wouldn’t. KCA is ConFreeI’d be giving it to him. No, he’s got to go first. Once he’s gone, we’ll get back together with ConFreeonce I know the Star is safe. He’s the traitor, not menot us. He’s the one who wanted to weaken the Legion by passing vital military secrets to the enemy, the System. Once ConFree realizes that, we’ll work it out.”

“He didn’t make it sound as if there was much to work out.”

“He’s absolutely right, about what will happen to me. I am a rebel, and the leader of a mutiny. But I’m not a traitor. When I walked under the Legion gate that first time I swore an oath to trust no Earther worm, nor any mortal man, but only the mark of the Legion. You remember it

‘I have burnt the book of laws, to serve the Deadman’s cause, as a soldier of the Legion.’ They made me put a hand on our only sacred trust, the ConFree Constitution. It was a single page, written in blood by free men, and I swore to defend it against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I still remember that last paragraph. It said a free people are duty bound to overthrow a tyrannical government, and if they do not do so, they deserve to be slaves. I still remember that.” He paused, and seemed to be looking into the past.

“I’ll tell you one thing,” he resumed. “The Twenty-Second is not going to be lowering its flags to the dust for anyone.” I could see the rage again, flowing over him. “The Twenty-Second is not going to be disbanded. KCA is right, I’ll be executed for surebut that’s not important. I’m going to leave behind a strong, united Legion, and it’s going to have the full confidence of ConFree. I’m going to show them what that bastard tried to do, and how we stopped him by remaining faithful to our oath and to the Constitution, when nobody else did.”

He stood up. “I just wanted you to know what we’re up against. My personal thanks, Beta Three, Tara. It was a magnificent mission! Trooper, you are assigned to Galactic Information for nowTara will give you the details. I’ve got to get back to the war room. It’s one damned thing after another.”

***

I surfaced to a thunderous roar that continued, drowning out all else. The water was icy cold and bitter in my mouth. I reached a large boulder near the edge of the pool and turned, shaking water from my hair. My eyes stung. The waterfall crashed straight down a vertical cliff that was covered with tropical foliage, a sheer white cascade, a mighty, foaming river falling past an emerald jungle through low clouds into a great, hissing mist that hung over a wide, brown, boulder-strewn pool of swirling mountain water. The jungle arose on all sides, around the waterfall and the pool and the rocks and the river. It was a vertical chasm of ancient trees and tangled vines and splashes of brilliantly colored flowers. It was totally wild and totally peaceful. We had found it by chance cruising the forest in an aircar. For all I knew, we might have been the first people to ever set foot here. Dindabai was a newly occupied world.

A lovely naked girl was poised on a rock by the side of the waterfall, almost lost in the spray. She raised her arms, all set to dive. She was absolutely beautiful, I thought, slender and lithe with long legs and arms and pale, faintly ruddy skin, short white-blonde hair and shapely, firm breasts with rosy nipples. A water nymph, I thought, from some childhood fantasy.

“It’s too high!” I shouted. She could not hear me above the roar of the waterfall. She smiled, a white flash, and dived.

She surfaced in the foam and swam to me and I hauled her in like a fish. She slithered into my arms and we lay there in the icy shallows by the rocks, breathing hard.

“I’ve had worse days,” she said.

“It’s a bloody paradise,” I replied. What a gem she is, I thought. I could see the waterfall, reflected in her emerald eyes. Gamma Two, I thoughtBeta Eleven, Valkyrie. My first Legion lover. We had loved each other, just like this, without question, on Planet Hell. Then it had ended, with Priestess. I had never even imagined getting back together again with Valkyrienot in my wildest fantasies. I thought she hated me. It was strange, the way things worked. All this time, I thought, and here we are again, back in each other’s arms.

We kissed, and I could taste that bitter, acid water, and she almost sucked my tongue out of my mouth. Then we lay back in the shallows laughing, exhausted, looking up at the sky, listening to the thunder of the waterfall.

Tara had given us all a week’s leave. It was generousthere was a lot to do on Dindabai, and not much manpower to do it with. But I guess we deserved it. Redhawk was off somewhere with Whit; Dragon was scouting around for a new girlfriend; Gildron was with Tara, working, of course; and I was with Valkyrie.

The news from Andrion 2 was not good. ConFree had seized total control of the planet, and established garrisons in Taka Country. Tara’s Andrion 2 assets were all gone. We had no further information on developments. All we knew was what ConFree announced. I had no idea what had happened to Moontouch, or Stormdawn, or Deadeye. It was like a knife in the heart, whenever I thought of them. It was almost beyond endurance. It was easy, too easy, to fall into a black depression, brooding about Andrion.

It hurt to be with Valkyrie, loving her. We were so happy it hurt. Dindabai was perfecta paradise for lost souls. A place to forget the past. A waterfall to wash away your heart. A pool of bitter, cold water to salve your wounds.

The scar tissue I had would never heal.

We had a picnic there, sitting almost naked in the sunlight on the rocks by the pool, touched lightly by the mist from the waterfall. The jungle was alive with a high-pitched twittering from millions of little reptilian tree-creatures. My shorts were soaked and stuck to my skin. I wasn’t shy and we certainly had no secrets from each other.

“I’m starved!” Valkyrie said, tearing into our snacks. “This is great!”

“Try the lemon breadmelts in your mouth!”

“What a place,” she sighed, looking up to the sky.

“It’s certainly something.”

“It’s all so stupid, Thinker,” she said, putting down her food. “Look at this place! All of Dindabai is like this. If this isn’t paradise, I don’t know what is.”

“So what’s stupid?”

“Us! We’re stupid! Why do we go on? Why? I’m sick of it! Why don’t we just get off? Why don’t we stop participating?”

“That’s pretty funny, coming from someone who’s got a Legion cross carved into her forehead.”

Valkyrie fell silent, and we listened to the waterfall thundering down and the jungle screeching in a mad chorus. The meal was forgotten. Finally she spoke.

“I thought I’d be dead by now, for sure. I thought I was going to my death on Andrion ThreeI was certain of it. I almost wanted to die by then, Millina had messed me up so badly. The O’s killed five of us in Gamma, but I survived. Then it was Mongera. They killed Boudicca, my darling One, they killed Sassin and Coolhand and Warhound and Ironman, but I survived, again. Cursed by the Gods. When we hit Uldo I was suicidal. I wanted to die, I wanted to go out like a meteor. I was salivating for death. We lost Snow Leopard and Merlin and Psycho and Priestess and Scrapper and Twister. But I survived, again. They’re all gone, Thinkerall gone! And I’m still here. I’ve thought about suicide, a lot. I don’t know why I never did it. And now we’re here. Just the two of us, in this bloody paradise. Scut! Let’s just get off! Let’s blow up the aircar and hike into the forest, and shoot at anyone who comes after us.” She wasn’t even looking at me. She was glaring at the waterfall. Her jaw muscles were set and her green eyes were blazing.

I didn’t say anything. Just get off, she said. I couldn’t get offthe dreams wouldn’t let me. Priestess was still coming at me, every night. And Moontouch and Stormdawn, crying out to me.

“I don’t care about the Legion any more,” she said. She was still staring at the waterfall. It was a horrific confession. It was like saying she didn’t care about breathing, or living. The Legion was all we had. It was all we had ever had, from the very beginning. We had all been lost, and we had come to the Legion for salvation. Without the Legion, we were nothing.

“I only care about those I love, now,” she said. “Boudicca and Scrapper

they loved me. And I love them.” She was hugging herself, and her flesh was rippled with cold bumps. It was getting chilly.

“But they’re dead,” I said.

“It doesn’t matter,” she whispered. “I love them. And youI love you. We have each other. The Legion can burn in hell!” Her face was wetI couldn’t tell if it was tears, or the spray from the waterfall. I could not imagine Valkyrie crying. She was one tough bitch.

“Don’t say that,” I said. “I told you about LC One. He’s willing to die, fighting tyranny. He’s ready to sacrifice himself for the Twenty-Second, for us. We can’t just give up!”

“Yes we can, Beta Three. We’ve given enough. We’ve sacrificed

everyone we love, for the Legion. Isn’t it enough? You’ve lost Priestess, and Moontouch, and your son. And all your comrades in Beta. I’ve lost GammaBoudicca and Scrappereveryone I love! How many more dead do you want? Me, and you? Why don’t we stop it? Stop it, right here! We still have each other!”

I thought about Moontouch, and Stormdawn. They were waiting for me. I knew I had to return. The Legion had me in its grip.

“I’m sorry, Valkyrie. I can’t stop yet. There are things I have to do. I need the Legion, and the Legion needs me.”

“You’ll stop when you’re dead! You’re a fool, Beta Three. You’re a fool, and a fanatic.”

I embraced her, and she lay her head on my shoulder. Her hair was all wet. A fool, and a fanatic. She was certainly right. The Legion needed people like me.

***

“So this is how the seventh level eats,” I said, testing the soup. “Not bad.” Tara had invited me to lunch in the executive dining room. It was a comfy little place with subdued lighting, low music, snowy white tablecloths, heavy cutlery, and actual waitresses serving the food expertly, young Legion girls who looked like they should have been studying for final exams in middle school. I was surprised by the waitresses. They didn’t have any waitresses in the cafeteria where I normally ate.

“We don’t eat here every day,” Tara said. “We save it for

special occasions.”

“So I’m a special occasion? Well, I’m flattered.” There were a few other diners, but it was not crowded.

“How’s the citro soup?”

“Best I’ve ever tasted.”

Tara was looking very good, totally at ease and stunningly beautiful, blinking Assidic eyes, flashing a white smile, chatting about nonsense, picking at her food. I was always pleased to be with a striking girl like Tara, knowing that every male who saw us would have liked to be in my place. Not that they were missing much. Our relationship had always been depressingly platonic.

I was working for Tara now, although I didn’t get to see her much. My work for Galactic Information kept me very busy down in the basement, sorting raw info reports from all over the Galaxy and bringing them to the attention of the appropriate action arms. Eleven did similar work, while Eight and Ten had topside jobs where they got to see the sun.

It kept me busy and out of trouble, I suppose.

“How about some dox?” she asked me when we were finished with the meal.

“No thanks.”

“I’ll order us some dox. It’s good.”

“Yes, sir.” I smiled. I wondered if there was a course they gave to people at her level, teaching them how to gracefully ignore subordinates. I knew there was never any point in resisting her. I had loved this girl almost my whole life. I had followed her into the Legion and we had found ourselves, again, by a cosmic miracle. But it had never worked out, and it would never work out, I knew.

We sipped dox quietly. I watched her without comment. She was nervous, I could tell. I knew her pretty well.

“I have to tell you something, Wester.” Her eyes met mine. My heart fell as a sudden bolt of ice shot through my system.

“It’s about Andrion,” I said fearfully.

“No. No, it’s not about Andrion. Andrion is fine. I mean, nothing has changed. If anything has changed, you’ll know.” A great relief flooded over me. Not about Andrion.

“All right,” I said. “So what is it?”

She wet her lips, and began again. “We’ve known each other a long time, Wester.”

“That’s true.”

“I can’t think of too many people who know me better than you do.”

“Is that so?”

“You know it is. You know what got me started. You know what I was like before I joined the Legion.”

“You certainly weren’t shy about expressing your opinion.”

“I’ve always respected you, Wester. I’ve always sought out your views.”

“You’re joking. I’m a raving maniac, you know that. Sought out my views? What are you talking about, Tara? You yourself said we could never agree on anything.”

“Yes, yes, that’s true, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t take your arguments seriously. I always listened to you, Wester. I recognized that my own opinions were often too

strong. I thought of you as a source of common sense.”

“You were pretty far out there all right. I hope relying on a gibbering idiot for advice on common sense didn’t lead to any major problems.”

“You’ve always been too hard on yourself, Wester,” she said, faintly smiling. “My point is, I respect your opinions. You see

I’m not like a normal person. I don’t have any friends. I’m a psycher. We’re totally alone. I don’t have any family. You’re the closest to family that I have.”

“Well

thank you, Tara. I guess I didn’t quite realize that.” I wondered where the conversation was leading, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good to press her.

“I’m at a turning point in my life, Wester. And I need your blessing.”

“My blessing? What do you mean, Tara? You want my advice on something?”

“No

not your advice. I’ve already decided what I’m going to do. What I need is your understanding. Maybe even your support.”

“I’ve stood by you a few times, Tara.”

“Yes

that’s certainly true. You’ve always been there for me when I needed you. Katag. Uldo. The Ship. I need your support now, more than ever.”

“Well, here I am,” I said. She blinked, looked around, picked up her dox, put it down again. Nervous as a midschool girl on her first date. This certainly wasn’t the icily efficient Tara I knew so well.

“You might as well tell me, Tara,” I said. “Whatever it is.”

Her slim fingers were trembling. She pressed them against the tablecloth. She gave me a brief, nervous smile. She was sweating! Sweat, beading her brow.

“Tell me, Tara,” I demanded.

“Gildron has asked me to be his wife and I’ve accepted,” she said breathlessly.

I was struck dumb, stunned, sitting there gaping at her in total astonishment. I was so surprised I was literally speechless. I couldn’t say a word.

“Oh my God, I shouldn’t have told you,” she gasped, pale and shaken at my stupefied reaction. She brought both hands in horror to her lips.

Gildron! I was slowly recovering. Tara and Gildron! Deadman’s death, what the hell was next? I reached over slowly and grasped Tara’s hands in my own and gently pulled them away from her lips. She looked like she was about to go into shock.

“Do you love Gildron?” I asked her.

“Yes.” It was a whisper. She was looking down at the tablecloth, mortified.

“Does he love you?”

“Yes!”

“Do you want to stay with him forever? So long as you both shall live?”

“Yes!”

“Then let me be the first to congratulate you, Tara. You have my blessing. You have my support. You have my love. I’ve always wanted you to be happy, Tara. You’ve never been happy as long as I’ve known you. If this will make you happy, I support it. And I wish you a thousand years of love. Can I be best man?”

She raised her head in surprise. “Are you serious? Would you do that?”

“If you’ll have me.”

She gave me a tortured smile and squeezed my hands, blinking wet eyes and hiding her face again. “I’m so happy, Wester. You’ve made me so happy! I was so scared you’d be angry.”

“What kind of a creep do you think I am? Did you really think I’d walk away from you? I’m here for you, Taraalways!”

“You’ll be best man, Wester, Whit will be bridesmaid. I’m so happy!” She pulled her hands away and began dabbing at her eyes with a napkin. “I haven’t told anyone yet. You’re the first.”

“I love you, Tara. You know that.”

“I know, Wester. I love you too.”

“It’s a shame it couldn’t be.”

“I knowI know. It’s the Legion. They made me a psycher. They cursed me, drove me out of the world of mortals, into a lonely, cursed wasteland. I couldn’t stand to be near anyone, even someone I loved, like you. It’s the thoughts, Wester, all those thoughts, buzzing around me like angry, intruding bees. I can’t shut them out, ever. And that’s what stunned me about Gildron, when I first met him. All I could feel was loveonly love, for me. It was so peaceful. For a long time I thought he was retarded. Boy, was I wrong about that! Now, he’s told me everything. He’s so strong, Wester. He’s taken all the pressure of the Star off me, right onto himself.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Was it that bad, when you were my girlfriend, when we were kids? It didn’t bother you then, being near me, did it?”

“No, not at all. Well

maybe just a little. I was uneasy being around anyone, Wester. I would get headaches, remember? I didn’t know why, then. I was closer to you than anyone, Wester. It was only later that I learned what I was. And it was only after the Legion developed my powers that I realized I was never going to be able to relax, that I was going to be bombarded with random thoughts for the rest of my life, from whoever was closest. That’s why psychers are so miserable. That’s why we don’t have lovers, or friends. And if you do have a lover, you will slowly lose your powers. That’s not just a storyit’s been proven.”

“Aren’t you worried about that?”

She smiled. “I don’t give a damn. I will happily shed this curse, for Gildron.”

“What will the Legion say?”

“They don’t know yet. I don’t care what they will say. I’ve more than paid my debt to the Legion.”

“Are you

certain you’ll be happy with Gildron?”

She was finally smiling, looking down at the tablecloth again. “I love him. I resisted it for years. I always knew he loved me. I could sense it, even though I could never read his thoughts. At first, I thought of him as a

companion. Almost as a pet. I loved to be with him. At first I thought it was only because he didn’t have any annoying thoughts to bother me, like everyone else did. Being with him was so peaceful. Later I began to fear that I might grow to really love him. I was terrified of that, because I told myself he was just a big, retarded ape with no brain activity to bother me, and falling in love with him was crazy. Later

when I learned he was, in fact, more intelligent than me, when I learned he could communicate with the O’s, and when he accepted the Star, and began speaking Inter

well, I was ashamed of myself. I guess it changed everything. I realize now that I’m the inferior, not him. And I’m sick of being a psycher, I’m sick of it! I don’t want to struggle any more, Wester. I just want to lead a normal life. I want to have a boyfriend again, and not worry about Legion tasking. I want to be Gildron’s girl. And when I pass by and somebody asks ‘Who’s that?’ they won’t whisper ‘Psycher!’ Instead they’ll say ‘That’s Gildron’s girl.’ That’s what I wantonly that.”

We’ve been working too hard, I thought. Even the fanatics are dropping out. Valkyrie, Tara

next it will probably be me.

“Tara, if you’ve found happiness, grab hold of it and don’t ever let go. That’s my advice. Are you going to have kids?”

Her expression darkened. “No

no, we can’t have kids. We’ve checked. Gildron’s genetics do not allow him to successfully breed with our species. It’s a shame. I so wanted to have children.” She was looking at the tablecloth again.

“More dox, sir?” Our little waitress was there with a tray of dox. I stared at her briefly, as if she was an intruder from another planet. Then I recovered, nodded, and she gave us more dox. I turned back to Tara.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Maybe you could adopt?”

“Willard!” She smiled again. “We’ve already agreed to adopt Willard as our son. He loves us bothand we love him!”

“Good. That’s good. That’s great!”

“We’re going to be happy, Wester.” She was looking into my eyes, confident once again. “And I don’t care what anyone thinks!”

“Happiness,” I said. “Can you do me a favor, Tara?”

“Anything!”

“Let me know what it’s like.”

***

Months passed. I was busy working, every day. I lost myself in the work. The situation in the galaxy seemed frozen. There was a lot going on, plenty to keep us busy, very busy, but the overall situation did not change. Nobody attacked us. The Lost Command retained control of Dindabai and most of the Outvac but the Loyalists controlled the Crista Cluster, Andrion and the approaches to the Border Zone, the Gassies and the Gulf. Four years after our intervention on Uldo, the Legion was still tracking down and exterminating O’s downside, but Uldo was ours, a planet had finally been retaken from the Omnis, and the System was enraged that ConFree would not hand control back to them. I smiled when I heard that, and it didn’t matter that it was Loyalist forces that had done it. Uldo was ours! We had paid for it in blood. The Eighth Legion was finally avenged.

The O migration into Systie vac continued, but at a much slower pace. No Legion worlds were threatened. Tara told me high-level negotiations were underway between the LC and ConFree, but the damned talks didn’t ever seem to end.

Valkyrie and I became closer than ever. She moved into my cube, and we spent all our off-hours together. We needed each other desperately and our lovemaking was frantic and shameless. There wasn’t much we didn’t do. We lost each other in sex, and I prayed for happiness, but it didn’t help. We were both miserable. We would sometimes go all day without even speaking to each other, not because we were angry, but because it didn’t seem necessary. It was enough, being together and making love. But it wasn’t really enough.

I had a little shrine in one corner of my cube, a holo of Priestess, faintly smiling, a little slice of the past, always there, always on, emitting a ghostly glow at night. When Valkyrie moved in, she added one of Scrapper, and the two of them were there, standing side by side, watching us as we made love. It was crazy.

And all day Moontouch and Stormdawn would be overlooking me as I worked from another holo right over my desk. Haunting me. It was crazy. I was slowly going crazy. ‘God should have mercy on people who get what they want.’ Tara had said that on Uldo. Absolutely right, Tara. I had wanted my memory back, I had been going crazy, and now I had it, and I was going crazy once again.

It was crazy.

Chapter 12

K2

“We’re almost there,” Tara said. She was driving the aircar and I was the only passenger, sitting beside her up front. We had penetrated a vast, thick forest of tall dark trees and were following a trail marked with phospho sensors on the tree trunks, skimming along a few marks over the forest floor, raising a fine dust of shredded leaves. The roof of the forest filtered the sunlight to a pale glow. The entire forest appeared to be a security zone. I could tell. The aircar’s sensors chirped with challenges and responses, and from time to time we would pass lone camfaxed Legion soldiers lounging by the path with Manlinks slung over their shoulders. Apparently we were authorized, because nobody tried to stop us. I could tell a lot of heavy traffic passed along this trail. The trees closest to the path were missing a lot of vegetation, and the trail itself was remarkably free of debris.

“You’re not going to tell me what this is all about?” I asked again.

“Wait till we get there. All your questions will be answered then.”

The land rose as we entered the foothills of a forested mountain range. The trail led right into a pair of massive cenite blast doors in the side of a cliff, rolling open at our approach. We entered a vast Legion base, fully hardsited and camfaxed. I was surprised that I had been unaware of the existence of such a large installation.

Tara parked the aircar in a wall slot and as we walked away our car disappeared and an empty park slot rolled into view. The place was fully automated and evidently heavily populatedotherwise they wouldn’t need rotating car parks.

We entered a Security office where our ID’s were scanned and stick-on badges issued. I had to sign a form pledging to reveal nothing, to anyone, forever, on pain of death. Fine. I signed it. Death didn’t scare me anymore. Tara smiled. We proceeded into an elevator. It shot downwards into the earth. Floor levels swirled past on the display, then stopped abruptly on the letter M. The door snapped open and we stepped out into another Security checkpoint. There was a long counter and a wall of hardhats. Somebody checked our ID’s and somebody else slid a couple of hardhats along the counter toward us. Deep vibrations were running through the floor. The hardhats covered our ears and were equipped with comsets.

“CAN YOU HEAR ME?” Tara’s voice boomed in my ears.

“Yeah. Turn down the volume.”

“Welcome to K2, Wester. It’s my pride and joy! You’re going to love it.”

“K2, huh? Never heard of it.”

“Good. You weren’t supposed to. Right out this door.” She palmed open a blast door and a harsh roar overwhelmed us. We stepped out onto a wide catwalk that ran along one wall of a gigantic tunnel that had been carved out of the underworld. The catwalk receded into the distance. Bright lights burnt and flashed in a vast cavern of ear-shattering noise and leaping shadows and a confusing tangle of heavy equipment. We were looking into an artificial canyon of frenzied activity. Some kind of gigantic, horizontal, vaguely tubular structure was under construction. Down below, heavy groundcars full of techs and equipment moved along jerkily with spotlights blazing. Up above, a confusing framework of access catwalks and guide rails and booms and cranes covered the massive cenite beast they were working on. Techs and workers tiptoed along the catwalks like ants. The ceiling blazed with blinding spotlights.

Tara paused, looking out over it all, fists grasping the guard rail, and I could see that look in her face, that look that said she was off again, doing exactly what she believed in, heart and soul, and nothing was going to stop her short of a laser track in the brain. I knew her so well it was scary. I decided right then I was going to get out of her way for this one. I knew I wanted nothing to do with it, whatever it was. Tara was dangerousand I’d had enough.

A massive, pale blue metallic bonder was attached to the main structure like a leech. It shrieked and glowed. A shower of glowing yellow sparks fell in slow motion down into the canyon. Something flickered like lightning, off to one side, and spat flames. A clap of thunder rumbled through the canyon. A series of short, sharp explosions echoed passed us like an E on autofire. A group of techs brushed past us, laughing. They were wearing fatigues with Logistics insignia. I realized then why so many troopers in Dindabai wore Logs insignia.

“K2, huh?” I asked.

“It’s the second largest city on Dindabai, Wester. Fully self-contained. There are people here who never even bother to visit Dinda.”

I strained to make out the shape of the massive cenite structure that was the obvious center of attention. There was so much going on there I couldn’t really make sense of it.

“So what’s the project, Tara?”

She threw back her head and looked out proudly over her creature. I knew it was hers, whatever it was. She smiled and spoke.

“It’s a starship, Wester. Our starship. The ultimate starship.” Her eyes gleamed. She was out there all right. Gone again. I had thought Gildron was going to calm her down. It had been a really charming wedding, out in a forest, the bride and groom bedecked with white flowers, and we had pelted them with blossoms, and Tara had seemed happier and more relaxed than ever, and I had hoped that she was saved, at last. But it was all an illusion, I could see now. Tara was back, the real Tara, the genuine article, standing right there.

“Tara,” I said. “The LC has got a whole fleet of starships. Why do we need another one?”

She tore her gaze away from the ship, surprised. “This one’s different, Wester. This ship will ensure galactic supremacy for the LCfor the Legion. This ship will revolutionize star travel. It will change history. Everything will change, once this lovely lady hits the vac.”

“Don’t you ever get tired, Tara? You told me you only wanted to be happy. You said you wanted a normal life. You said you were tired of struggling. What happened to all that?”

“I am happy, Wester. I’ve never been happier! Come on! Want to go inside?”

“Not really.”

“Oh, come on! Follow me. You can tell your grandchildren about this one.”

She led me into an access ramp that brought us into the heart of the ship. We tramped down a long ship’s corridor and it was a real mess, raw cenite slabs, hundreds of K of flexible tubing and wires and pipes tangled up everywhere, blazing lights dangling from open cavities, piles of wall panels stacked man-high and groups of workers bending over live laser tools while construction probes whizzed over our heads like metal bats.

We paused in an extra-large chamber with gaping holes in the roof and bulkheads. A temporary office had been set up there. Several techs were consulting plastic printouts and querying a d-screen for information. One of them greeted Tara. She was evidently a frequent visitor.

“This will be the bridge, Wester. Controls will be over there. The power boom runs out aheadtake a look!” She brought me over to the open portion that was evidently destined to be the bridge’s forward viewport. I could make it out now, a long, massive cylinder, thrusting out ahead of us. It didn’t make any sense.

“What’s a power boom?” I asked. “What’s a power source doing forward of the bridge?” I should have known. I’m a little slow sometimes.

“Where’s that model?” Tara was asking one of the techs. They fumbled around on some shelves, dislodged a blizzard of loose printouts, and Tara had her model. She handed it to me.

It was a dark, delta-shaped dart, spiked with a long, thin projectile that ended in a bulbous nose. A cold hand clutched at my heart. I understood immediately.

“You’re looking at the Confederation Ship Dindabai, Wester. Isn’t she beautiful?”

“This looks like that Omni ship we hijacked, Tara.”

“Of course it does, Wester,” she said sweetly. “It all comes from the Star. It all comes from Gildron. It’s our bright shining starship, our heavenly chariot. It’s the door to the future. It’s the gateway to the stars.”

“That Omni ship was powered by D-neg. We don’t have any D-neg, Tara.”

“No, Westerwe don’t. But we will. We’re going to go and get it, Wester. You, and me, and Gildron, and the Star, and every science freak on Dindabai. We’re going to go and get it!”

I laughed in her face, and dropped the model onto the deck. I looked right into her eyes. “You’re completely out of your mind, Tara. I can hardly believe this. You’re still trying to kill yourself. Give it up, Tara! What the hell is it with you? You’ve got the damned Star, what else do you want? What does the Legion want? Absolute power over the entire galaxy? Scut! I’m sick of it! This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard and sure enough, there you are, right out on the cutting edge. Why have you always got to be out there, Tara? Why the hell don’t you just go home, and be happy, and forget the damned Legion?”

“Let me tell you how we’re going to do it, Wester.”

“No! I don’t want to hear it! I don’t care! I’ve had it with your crackpot schemes. I will not help you! I’ve paid my debt to you, Tara. You got my memory back, I got you the Star. Deal, done, finished! We’re even! There’s no way I’m going to get involved with this crazy ship or this suicidal mission. My only objective is to get back to Andrion Two. That’s all! That’s it! You can forget about me, Tara. Get somebody else! I will not help you! Do you hear me? I will not help you!”

“Sure you will, Wester. Calm down!” She flashed me a maddeningly beautiful smile. I stormed out of the chamber, enraged, stumbling over snake pits of wiring, finally making it back down the corridor to the access tunnel.

I paused outside the ship, back on the catwalk overlooking the construction cavern. I could discern the outlines of the ship now that I knew what it was. The great power boom stretched off into the distance, obscured by construction equipment. That’s where the D-neg would beexcept for the fact that this particular universe did not have any D-neg in it.

“I need you, Wester.” She had appeared at my side. I was suddenly too weary to walk away from her.

“You don’t need me. Find somebody else. Somebody enthusiastic.”

“I need somebody I can depend on, Wester. Somebody experienced. Somebody who can work with Gildron and me. Somebody I can trust. It’s you, Wester. There’s nobody else. Every fiber of my being tells me it’s you.”

“Your fibers are wrong. I’m not going. Now go away and stop bothering me.”

“Lookthere’s Gildron!” She leaned over the guardrail, waving like a schoolgirl. Gildron was down below with a group of techs, standing by a massive open cargo door on the bottom of the ship, consulting some printouts. He looked up, saw us, and waved back with a big grin. Tara was beaming, her eyes shining with love. What a difference he made! She might even become human again, in a few years. But until then we were stuck with the old Tara.

“Want to hear how we’re going to do it?” she asked.

“No!”

“Remember how disappointed we all were when the O’s re-took their ship from us on Andrion, and destroyed it? That ship would have been the key to the future, but it turned out we didn’t even need it, Wester. Not so long as we had the Star. Well, we’ve got the Star back now, Wester, and it’s built us this ship. It’s an antimat drive starship, but it’s something else as well. We’ve built a D-neg drive capability into it, Wester, guided by the Star. The galaxy will be our back yard, with D-neg. The entire universe will be open to us. Other galaxies, if we want. Anything, Wester. Total power, for the Legion.”

“It’s not going to do you any good without the D-neg, is it?”

“We know more about other universes now than we ever did before, Wester. We’ve learned a lot of painful lessons, but we’ve got our act pretty much together now. You know the principle of antimat drive. The antimat manipulates quantum effects to create an antigravity field that generates negative pressure to cut and hold open a wormhole connection through hyperspace to another portion of our universe, a stargate shortcut to the future. However, if you cut the hyperspace connection in the wrong place, you could get sucked into another universe, and you may never come back, because your efforts to escape will normally just land you back again in another part of the alien universe. Well, there haven’t been many accidents lately because we’re learning. We’re mapping the locations of the interfaces with these different universes. We know all about our little sector of the galaxy. We know where they are. We keep track of them, you see, so we can avoid them. They’re moving all the time, but we can track them. We’re so good now the sensors in our starships can detect the presence of another universe by distortions in the local spacetime continuum. Again, it’s a warning.”

“So?”

“The Omni raiding party that destroyed the O ship we had captured came from another universe. We know where that universe is.”

“I see.”

“That’s where the D-neg is, Wester. It’s the cosmic glue of the Gods, it’s what holds our own universe together even though it’s not in our universe. It’s starstuff. It’s present in some universes, absent in others. We think it’s in the universe that O starship came fromand returned to.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. And, since we know where it is, we can avoid itif we want to. Or we can zero itand go into it.”

“That’s completely insane. Just what do you plan to do once you get there?”

“We’re going to seek out the D-neg, Wester, and collect it. It’s a natural substance, the Star tells us. Tiny grains of dust, hurtling through the dark. It’s out there in the vac, in the space between the stars, in that alien universe. All we need is a microscopic fragment, Wester. A single molecule of this marvelous substance, and all our problems are solved, and the future is ours. It’s eternal power, Wester. We’ll be immortals, with eternal power. We’ll be Gods!” Her eyes were glowing again. I hated it when she got that way. I was getting angry again. I tried to remain calm.

“Taraeven assuming you are able to collect this D-neg without blowing yourself and your starship to atoms, how do you plan on getting back to this universe? I mean, considering that nobody has ever done it before.”

“Nothing is easy, Wester. Nothing is risk-free. I admit, there’s a danger we may not be able to get back. But we’re bringing most of the LC’s top science freaks with us. And we’re bringing the Starand Gildron. If things work out, we’ll trap the D-neg in aerogel, bleed the active elements off in our reactor, process it, install it in our D-neg drive, and power through back to our own universe. If the D-neg drive works it won’t be a problem. That’s what D-neg does, Wester. The immense power of D-neg gives us access to other universes.”

“And if you don’t collect the D-neg, or if you do, but the D-neg drive doesn’t work as advertised?”

“We’ve still got our antimat drive. If it gets us through to the alien universe, it may be able to get us back.”

“Or it may not.”

“We’re not sure. We can’t tell, from the information we get from the Star. We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to track the location and presence of our own universe, once we’re in the alien universe, so we can return home on antimat drive, if necessary. Nobody’s ever done it, Westerso we can’t be sure. But we wouldn’t be risking it if we didn’t think it was possible.”

I looked out to the massive project that was underway before our eyes. The noise was overwhelming us, even with the hardhats. I was becoming very depressed.

“Tara,” I said. “You’re planning on bringing a lot of people with you, aren’t you?”

“Yes. We’ll need a lot of people, a lot of expertise, to do what must be done.”

“I’ve got a suggestion. One that will save you a lot of time, expense, and trouble.”

“What’s that?”

“Take all those people. Put them all in a big room. Then set off a tacstar. That way you won’t even have to build the ship. And you’ll accomplish exactly the same thing.”

The metallic bonder was shrieking away, spitting sparks. A siren sounded. Work probes shot past us silently. “You shouldn’t be so pessimistic, Wester. We’ll do fine. We make a good team, Wester. We make a great team! I feel so good about this mission, Wester, I feel almost holy. It’s a good thing we’re doing, a wonderful thing for humanity. We’re dropping into the unknown, Westerunafraid. For the future, for generations of unborn children. For the Legion!”

“It’s a suicide mission. A mass suicide, the most expensive, spectacular mass suicide ever. And it’s not good, it’s evil. The Star’s evil. And we’re becoming evil by listening to it. I won’t have anything to do with this insane, evil mission!”

“I know you better, Wester. You won’t stay behind. Don’t you know yourself yet? You’re out on the edge with me. You’ve always been there. You’re just fooling yourself if you think otherwise.”

“I’ve changed. I’ve got something to live for, now. I’m not going. It’s crazy, and I’m not going! I’m not going to help you kill yourself. Now let’s get out of hereI’m sick of this place!”

Chapter 13

Crazy but True

A few days later Tara reappeared, standing in the doorway to my office cube. I had been trying to avoid her, but it’s not easy to avoid your supervisor. She placed a datacard on my desk.

“You’ll be interested in this, Wester,” she said gravely. “We’ve only just received it, from a very reliable source in Starcom. This is the official report on the forensic investigation of the interior of the Mound. The investigation was conducted immediately after the site was secured by the Legion. Section Twenty-Three will be of greatest interest to you. In Section Twenty-Three, they track the c-cells of every member of Squad Beta from the moment each one entered the Mound. They follow each trail to its conclusion.”

“How were they able to do that?” I seized the datacard eagerly.

“They got full tacmod readouts from Eight, Eleven and Four’s A-suits. The environment was very bad because of heavy and near-constant deceptor activity, but the readout is interesting, nevertheless.”

“How do you know this report isn’t ConFree deception?”

“We’re convinced this is the real thing. It’s a regular after-action report compiled by the Legion. It was given a Cosmic security classification, later, and taken off the records by ConFree. We found it anyway.”

“Have a seat, Tara.” She sank into an airchair by my desk. “What does the report say?”

“You’ll have to read it, Wester, to decide what it means. I’m afraid it’s not pleasant reading. I can summarize it for you, if you like.”

“Please.”

“All right. The c-cell tracks are fragmentary, but they give a reasonably accurate picture of where each trooper went, up until the end. The main problem is that both deceptor activity and starmass interfere with the record. And there was lots of starmass near the end.”

“Go on.”

“The report notes that they recovered Beta Four’s bodyMerlin. It also confirms that they located and recovered Beta Eight and Beta Eleven, Dragon and Valkyrie, alive. Considering the trouble ConFree went to later to disguise that, I think this says something about the accuracy of this report. The report states that Dragon and Valkyrie were both placed in protective custody. ConFree was intervening even at that point. It also mentions Beta Ten showing up and being detained.”

“So that much of the report is true!”

“Yes. It makes you want to believe the rest of the report as well.”

“What about the rest of the squad?”

“The record shows you, me and Gildron making it to the Ship. More truth. It shows Beta One vanishing in a burst of starmass. But there’s moreabout Snow Leopard. I’m sorry, Wester. They recovered

part of him. A leg, still in armor, severed above the knee. Positive ID. We’ve got the zero. That’s all they found.”

I sat there, stunned. Snow Leopard! Our invincible leadergone! The room whirled slowly around me.

“Are you all right, Wester?”

“Go on, Tara. What else?” Under siegeI was under siege.

“The record shows Priestess and Scrapper disappear in another burst.” My heart gave a jolt, but Tara continued. “There’s no further record of either of them.”

“No record.” Priestessmy beloved Priestess, what was your fate? Did you suffer in those final moments? Dear Lord, grant her eternal peace. I will never forget her!

“FivePsychois tracked to where we left him. Then he moves, through very heavy deceptor fields. Down a corridor

and there the trail vanishes.”

“What! He moved?” My skin crawled. This was the first positive word we had on Paycho’s fate. He had lost a leg. We had left him behind, crippled and seriously wounded, facing the enemy behind a stack of grenades. ‘Don’t worry about your rear,’ he had said. Psycho! Why would he have moved? How could he have moved, with only one leg?

“The trail shows Thirteen, Twister, up to where we left her. She moved too, Wester. The record shows it. We left her with a crippled A-suit, in the path of the O’s. She couldn’t move, Wester. Her suit was cooked. She was doomed. If she could have moved, I wouldn’t have left her! The record shows she moved. Someone was with her, Wester. We can’t tell from the record who it was. It’s very confused, but someone was with her. No matter how we manipulate the record, we can’t tell whoor whatit was. But it looks like an A-suit. Maybe even more than one. They proceed together, into heavy deceptors. There the trail ends.”

I stood up and went to the wall, turning my back to Tara. My hands were fists, and rage was coursing through my body. Twister! She had moved, too! How could she have moved, with a crippled A-suit? ‘I’m done for,’ she had said, ‘Leave me! Get the Ship!’ We had left her. And she had moved! Down a corridor! Someone with her! And we had left her! My eyes were full of tears. Twister! She had stood by our side until the end. She was just a kid, just a little girl.

“Leave me,” I said.

“I’m sorry, Wester. There’s something else you should know. They found hundreds of bodies. But they can’t confirm any of them as Beta troopers. They couldn’t even confirm a melted A-suit, from Beta. All they found was Beta One’s legthat’s all. Starmass doesn’t leave much behind. Read the report. Read everything. We’ll talk later.”

She left. I couldn’t even see the wall.

***

I started going for long walks through Dinda, every noon. I didn’t eat lunch, I just walked. It was very pleasant. The seasons were changing. Summer was gone and autumn was rushing at us with crisp air and sparkling days.

After work I would often go up to the roof of the Info building. They had a little canteen set up there with tables and chairs out in the open air. There wouldn’t be many people there after work. Sometimes there was only me. It was a spectacular view, overlooking the lake. I would sit there for hours, watching the sunset.

I was doing that one day when Tara appeared. Somebody was with her, a fellow I had never seen before.

“Hello, Wester. How are you?”

I ignored her. The horizon was a spectacular, bleeding glow of crimson and gold, and Tara was ruining it.

“Can we sit down?” I didn’t answer. They sat down, exchanging glances.

“Wester, this is Seven Six Seven. Six Seven is a spacetime physicist. He’s got something to say that may interest you.”

“I’m not interested in your ship.”

“You were interested in the forensic report, weren’t you?”

“Yes, I was interested in the forensic report. But I’m not interested in the ship.”

“All I ask is for you to listen, Wester. That’s all. Just listen. All right?”

I sighed. “I’m sorry, Tara. FineI’ll listen. But the answer is still no. It doesn’t matter what you saythe answer is no.”

Tara flashed a dazzling smile. “Wester is really cranky, Six Seven, but he’s a good soul, once you get to know him. Wester, before Six Seven starts there’s something you should know. Gildron has found out something interesting about the Star.”

“What’s that?”

“The O’s didn’t make the Star. It originated in another civilization, created by another people. Someone we haven’t met yet. I had always wondered about that. There is so much knowledge in the Star, and yet the O’s don’t seem to have used that knowledge at all. Their civilization is static. It’s been static as long as we’ve known them. The O’s only seem interested in expansion, and yet they never even used the Star to improve their weaponry. They haven’t used it for anything at all, as far as we can tell, except maybe for their stardrives, but even their stardrives don’t seem to have changed in hundreds of years.”

“Aren’t you the same girl who told me the O’s just misunderstood usthat they only wanted universal peace?”

Tara smiled, and looked away. “Well, you’ve got me there, Wester. I was wrong, and you were right. I’ll admit it. I think they had done a little psych job on me. But that’s not important. The real question is, why didn’t the O’s use the Star? Gildron says it’s because the O’s don’t want the knowledge. They regard it as dangerous. That’s why they gave us the Star. Gildron says the Star has been used before to destroy other civilizations

or, rather, to allow other civilizations to destroy themselves, with the knowledge from the Star. The O’s gave it to us so we’d do the same.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

“The people who created the Star must be a brilliant people! I always wondered how the O’s could create such a device. I think the Star can create a better world, if you’re wise.”

“You’re going ahead with the Ship, aren’t you?”

“Of course!”

“The O’s were right. The Star will destroy us.”

“No, Wester. It’s knowledgeonly knowledge. It’s not good or evil. If we’re good, we’ll use it wisely, and prosper. If we’re evil, we’ll use it foolishly, and perish. It’s up to us. Not the Star.”

“Mankind is evil. The Star will kill us.”

“I have more faith than you, Wester. Six Seven, tell him.”

“You’re familiar with the principles of antimat drive?” Six Seven asked. He had slightly curly reddish hair and a flushed face with cold blue eyes. I couldn’t recall ever having seen him before.

“Yes, they taught us that in Basic. I’m familiar with the concepts.”

“Good. Then you know it is only the antimat quantum drive that gives us the raw power necessary to create and hold open a dimensional vortexa wormholein spacetime, penetrating hyperspace to exit our universe and reenter it at another point, cheating time and distance.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that.”

“We use antimat because it works, and because it is the most powerful substance we can successfully manipulate to achieve the desired effectholding open the wormhole for a reasonable period of time. But it is not the most powerful substance in our universe. If we could manipulate and focus the power of a black hole or a neutron star, for example, we would have a more powerful star drive. Unfortunately, we can’t.”

“Why do we need a more powerful star drive? Isn’t antimat good enough? Why would anyone want more power than that?” I didn’t mind being obstinate.

“There are other universes out there, beyond hyperspace. They’re real, and infinitejust as real and infinite as our universe. But we can’t visit themyet. Antimat drive is not powerful enough to get us into other universes, in any kind of controlled way. A black hole wouldif we could manipulate it.”

“There are millions of galaxies out there, in our own universe. It’s infinite! You can never explore it all! Our own galaxy alone is so vast there’s no need to ever leave it. If going to another galaxy is out of the question, why go to another universe, even if you could?” I could go on being obstinate forever.

“If you need a reason, we have oneD-neg. One tiny, microscopic grain of D-neg and we won’t need a black hole. We’ll have the power to routinely pop into other universes. And there is no D-neg in our universe.”

“Who needs it? We visit another universe, to collect D-neg, so we can visit other universes? I just asked you. With everything in our universe, why visit another?”

“The reason is that D-neg opens up new, and fascinating, possibilities. D-neg, when held in stasis by unitium and spun on its axis, creates a gravitational field of almost infinite strength. This forces spacetime to distort, around it. This, in turn, creates a time axis, a time warp. A ship powered by D-neg will fall into the time warp created by the D-neg. Once it’s in the light cone, a ship can travel forward into the future or backwards into the past. And it can stop whenever you want. And return to whenever you want.”

“You’re not serious.”

“I’m totally serious. This isn’t theory, it’s established science. We’ve long known it could be done. The only problem was that we never had the exotic matter to generate the power to create a true time warp. D-neg will give us that power.”

“Now do you see why we want to build the ship?” Tara asked.

“With D-neg,” Six Seven said, “we have a stardrive, an inter-universe drive, and a time driveall in one. We can do anything with it. Anything we want. It’s the ultimate starship.”

“My God.” I was still pondering the implications. “Do you mean

you can really visit the past?”

“Yes.”

“Walk around in it?”

“Yes.”

“And

change it? Change the past?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You can shape the future, you can contribute to the present, but you cannot change the past.”

“What do you mean?” So much for being obstinate. Now Six Seven had my interest.

“There are a lot of paradoxes. Some of them we don’t fully understand. Others are clearer. What I mean is

what you can do in the past is limited. The three of us are sitting here, now. In the present, a fleeting instant in the infinite, unstoppable river of time. Developments in the past have allowed this to occur. No other outcome is now possible, at least in this universe. You can’t go back, now, and change the past, so there will be only two of us sitting here.”

“Why not? If I go back in time, like you say I can, and I kill you, or I get killed there, one of us won’t be here.”

“But I am hereas a result of what happened. So are you. So you didn’t kill me. And you didn’t get killed, either. But tomorrow is different. Tomorrow hasn’t happened yet. You could go back in time tomorrow, and return later this evening, and kill me as I sleep in my bunk, and I won’t be around tomorrow. When you return back here tomorrow, after your successful time hop, you will learn that someone killed me in my bunk the previous night. But you can’t prevent me from making it here todayI’m already here. It happened.”

“But that doesn’t make sense. If you can go into the past, you should be able to change things. And you just said I could. You said I could go back in time and kill somebody.”

“You can do things that will shapeor affectthe future. You can even do things that will result in the three of us sitting here, today. You could return to the past, push Tara out of the path of a speeding groundcar, and thus insure that she’s sitting here today. Your timehop might turn out to be the only reason she’s here. We can’t know unless you do it. You can contribute to the three of us sitting here, today. But you can’t stop it. Party number four is not at this table. To continue the analogy

maybe it’s only because you went back in time and killed him. But if he makes it to the present, you can’t kill him in the past.”

“That’s crazy.”

“It sounds crazy, but it’s not. We’re not sure how it works, because nobody’s ever gone back in time. But we know it can be done. And we know you can’t change whatever has already happened. You can’t change the past. And that’s the same thing as saying you can’t change the present. But you can shape the present, and the future, by shaping the past. The future hasn’t happened yet, so there’s nothing to change. But you can create it. The future is an open book. The future is completely fluid. Tomorrow is anything we want to make it. Tomorrow is ours!” His eyes were almost glowing. Six Seven was just as far out as Tara. I could see that now.

“Wait a frac. Just a frac,” I said. “You’re saying you can go into the past, but you can only change the future.”

“I didn’t say that. I said you can’t change the past, or the present. You can shape the past, you can contribute to the past, you can fulfill the past, so it results in the present situation.”

“Why should anybody want to do that? It’s already been done! We’re here.”

“It’s not a matter of wanting or not wanting. What happened, happened. Fact: Tara makes it here. Why? Unknown. Possibly it’s only because, at some point in the future, you learn about that groundcar and take steps to save her.”

“And what if I don’t?”

“But you do. Or somebody does. Otherwise she wouldn’t be here. Assuming the premise is true.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Yes. Crazy but true. You see

we’re just starting to understand the practical consequences of time travel. We’re certain that past events can be manipulatedor shapedto produce specific developments in the future. Obviously, this capability could be an extremely powerful weapon, for whoever controls it. That’s why the LC is putting all its resources into this ship.”

“I see.”

“So the message is

you can shape the future, but you can’t alter the past. And anything you’re going to do in the past has already been done, as we sit here discussing it. We may not know about it, but if a time hop was successful, or is to be successful, it’s been done.”

“Think about it, Wester,” Tara said. And they left me. The sunset was gone. It was darka crisp clear night under a starry sky. I didn’t understand it at first. Shape the future? Why would anyone want to go into the past to shape the future? Anyone can shape the future, starting from today. Why go into the past?

***

VIEW: MTR 3874 GAL INFO CAFETERIA EXT 318 02 04 0233 UNCLAS.

It was past 0230 hours, a still, clear night, when Tara came striding out of the dark toward the massive, shadowy bulk of the cafeteria bloc. It was cold and she was wearing a thick coldcoat over pajama pants and ship boots. Her hair was untidy and she was muttering under her breath. There was a little pool of light by the main entrance. Two figures stood there, hands in their pockets.

“This better be good, Lock,” Tara said grimly as she neared them. Dr. Lock flashed her a brilliant grin, snapped his head to one side, then snapped it back. The security guard stood there, seemingly amused.

“He’s finally flipped out,” Dr. Lock said, still grinning.

“I hate it when you use that psych jargon,” Tara replied. “Where is he?”

“He’s in the cafeteria. Kind of tearing it apart. Isn’t that right, Eight Four?”

“He’s disassembling things,” the guard said. “I can’t figure out exactly what he’s doing. He wasn’t too communicative.”

“I would have approached him, Tara, but I thought

well, you’re a lot closer to him than I am. I thought he’d react more positively to you than to me.”

“You thought he’d be less likely to disassemble me.”

“Well, there’s that, too.” He grinned again. “Eight Four has got a vac gun, if he gets out of line. Want us to accompany you?”

“No, that’s all right. Just stay here. I’ll see what’s troubling him.”

“I like your outfit.”

“Shut down!”

***

I had barely gotten started when Tara showed up in the galley. I was pretty much lost in dreams already, the steam from the hot water rising up all around me, my hands tingling and turning red, the dishes sparkling, hissing, almost smoking. I already had a nice collection on a rack off to one side. I put a freshly washed dish on the rack and picked up another from the bubbling sink. I slapped the scrub sponge on to it and wiped it clean under the faucet, taking my time. My whole body was warm, and my eyes were heavy. The idea was to sleep while you worked.

“Wester? What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing, Tara?” I replied impatiently. “I’m washing the dishes.”

“But there’s no need to wash these dishes, Wester. It’s a fully automated system. The dishes wash themselves.”

“It’s not a good system, Tara. If you ate in the cafeteria more, you’d know that. If you want dishes to be really clean, you have to hand-wash them.”

“What have you done to the dishwashing system?”

“I had to destroy it in order to save the dishes. You should thank me. My dishes are clean. My dishes are sterilized.” I put the dish away and took another one. It felt good, but the idea was to think, or maybe not to think, and Tara was not allowing me to do either. “Can you go away, please, Tara? It’s nothing personal. I just need a little time alone here.”

“What’s wrong, Wester? Why are you doing this?”

“I just want to think, Tara. Doing the dishes kind of helps me think. Killing bacteria. You know, a single bacterium can wipe out an entire civilizationif we let it. And a single bacterium can save millions of people from deathif we help it.”

“What is it that’s troubling you, Wester?”

“I think you know what’s troubling me, Tara.”

“Why don’t you tell me, Wester? Maybe I can help.”

“You can’t help me, Tara. You’re the source of all my troubles, but you can’t help me. I’ve got to decide this one on my own.”

“What is it you have to decide?”

“I have to decide to accept the happiness I have foundthe only true happiness I’ve ever knownor to risk it, to risk it all, for what might be. To throw it away, maybe forever, for something that will probably never happen. For a lost dream. For the past, for the dead. Should I risk the living, for the dead? Wouldn’t I be a coward, if I abandoned those I love, to fight the Gods? Anybody can fight the Gods and die. Even a coward can do that. But only a hero can stand by those he loves, despite all the obstacles, despite all temptation. Isn’t that true?”

“I don’t know, Wester. You’re rightI can’t help you.”

“I’ll let you know when I’ve decided, Tara. I don’t know what I’m going to decide. What do you think? Am I a hero or a coward?”

“You’re not a coward, Wester. We all have hard choices to make in this world. I pray to God you make the right decision, for your sake, and for those you love. I don’t know what it is, Wester. I’ll pray for you. Just let me know what it is, whatever it is. I’ll stand by you, Westerno matter what.”

“Thanks, Tara. Now if you could just leave me alone for awhile? Please? Why don’t you go back to sleep.”

“Of course, Wester. I will. God bless you.”

***

Priestess shrieked in agony, burning alive. I could see her eyes wide in shock through a faceplate suddenly rippling with black bubbles. Her A-suit was burning, flaming like a meteor, melting, spitting off globules of white-hot cenite. Starmass blazed like the heart of a sun, a raging holocaust, a river of destruction, all around us. She reached out both arms for me, flaming metal arms. I was running for her, I almost had her, but a blast of starmass caught her in the chest, blowing her away from me like a fleck of glowing ash. She screamed again as she saw I was not going to reach her.

“Thinker! Thinker! Help me! Help me! Help me!” The starmass overwhelmed us and I could see her no more. She was gone!

I awoke screaming, raging. I leaped out of bed, convulsed, and bounced off the opposite wall, still screaming. Valkyrie twitched on the bed, stunned.

“GOD DAMN YOU!” I put a fist through a wall screenit popped off the wall and went ricocheting across the room. I yanked a comcenter off the desk and hurled it at the porch. The plex on the sliding door exploded, spraying shards of plastic around the room. I picked up the desk chair, screaming, and pounded it at the desk until the chair was only kindling. I ripped a clothes mod out of the closet and threw it at the wall. It burst open, strewing clothing. “GOD DAMN YOU! GOD DAMN YOU!” I was on my knees, pounding at the carpet with my fists. Valkyrie was off the bed, crying, hysterical, embracing me, trying to calm me down. I pushed her away and swept everything off the desk to the floor, snatching for the phone. The damned thing was still functional. I jabbed at a tab and glared at the little screen, breathing hard, covered with sweat, bleeding from the hands.

“WAKE UP, YOU BITCH!” I shouted. Tara came to life on the screen, blinking. She woke up quickly when she got an eyeful of me. Valkyrie landed beside me, still whimpering.

“Wester! What’s wrong?”

“Shut down and listen! You’ve won! I’ll come with you! I’ll go on your damned suicide mission. Understand? But there’s one condition. One! Do you hear me?”

“I hear you, Wester.”

“When your mission is overassuming we’re still alivewe go on my mission. Mine! Do you hear me?”

“I hear you.”

“And I’m in command! Not you!”

“You’re bleeding, Wester.”

“I don’t give a good Goddamn! I’m in command, do you hear! The second mission is mine! And you do everything you can to insure its success! You follow my orders! We do it or die, do you understand?”

“Please calm down, Wester. We’ll discuss this in the morning.”

“Calm? Calm? Are you crazy? How can you be so damned calm, when you’re proposing to rocket blind into another universe? What are you, some kind of psycho? What does it take to get you excited anyway? A mass murder?” I cut the connection, still raging. “Psycho!” I shouted. “That woman is a psycho!”

“Please calm down, Thinkerplease!” Valkyrie embraced me, shattered. I was slick with sweat, shaking with anger. I knew everything noweverything I had to know. It was like being shot in the brain with a diamond bullet. The future was crystal clear. All I had to do now was make it happen.

***

From that day on, I was perfectly calm. It had always been that way in the past for me. Once things were clear, once things were decided, a deadly calm would settle over my soul. It didn’t matter what it was we were facing, we could be marching right into Hell, but once it was clear, my blood would turn to icewater and I would be as cold as a biogen.

I didn’t know if I was doing the right thing or the wrong thing, but I knew, at last, what I was going to do. There were no more doubts. It didn’t matter whether it was right or wrong, I thought, it’s what I’m going to do. And all my phantoms were going to live with it. Live, or maybe die. And I was going to live with it, too. Live, or maybe die.

The dreams stopped. It was almost miraculous. It was almost as if she knew there was no need to call out any more. I was coming. We were coming.

I purged my mind of everything except the mission. I thought of nothing else. I lived for nothing else. Tara’s mission, and mine. If Tara’s mission failed, mine would never get startedwe’d all be dead. So Tara’s mission must not fail.

I told Valkyrie and Dragon and Redhawk. They were with me. They said it was crazy, but they were with me. It was just like the River of Doom, on Andrion 3. That had been my idea too, and everyone had said it was crazy. But they went. We would all be going on this missionTara and Gildron and Whit, Valkyrie and Dragon and Redhawk and I, and a whole lot of other people. Aliens, from U1that’s what we called our universe. And we were bound for the O’s universe that we had named Plane Prime. The O’s must not have liked it much, because they had been migrating into our universe for hundreds of yearsand causing a lot of trouble. We had never known where they had come frombut we knew now.

***

“Isn’t this fun?” Tara asked. Her face was blue and her teeth were chattering. We were lying in an icy stream under a massive log that lay across our legs. The water was half ice. It wanted to freeze, but we kept interfering. I couldn’t even feel my legs anymore. The stream ran sluggishly along the bottom of a steep, rocky gully. I tried to squeeze some feeling into my bare handsno luck. I was too tired to even try to get out from under the log. We were taking a little break, but I knew it wouldn’t last long.

“What the hell is this?” our tormentor bellowed, appearing suddenly at the top of the embankment. He had gone ahead, of course. That’s easy to do when you’re not carrying a tree. “Did I tell anybody to go to sleep? Get your fat pussies up and moving, ladies!” He was built like a brick wall, a short, squat Assidic tank, a flat face and fierce slit eyes, a massive chest and arms like an ape, solid muscle and brown as a berry. He always wore shorts and a sleeveless top and today was no exception even though it was below freezing and a light sleet was falling. How the hell did he do it?

I struggled to my feet, shifting the log with great difficulty to one shoulder. Tara was getting up too, and Dragon and Whit and Redhawk and Valkyrie behind us. It was one damned big awkward log, and even with six of us it wasn’t easy to maneuver it. We were in camfax fatigues and boots, but had no gloves or hats.

“You’re soft, ladiessoft! You’re office weenies! Civs! Pussies! Move it! The enemy’s on your ass!” We sloshed forward up the stream, breaking ice with every step, the massive log digging into my shoulder painfully. I was on point. I got to see where we were going. I got to break the ice. It wasn’t a deep stream, not even knee-high, but it was a bitch, breaking that ice, and my legs were numb.

It had been Tara’s idea, of course. She had said it toowe’re soft. And we would need to be hard, very hard, where we were going. So here we were, in Basic again, with a brain-damaged Assidic gorilla torturing us and shrieking abuse. I remembered this nonsense from the first time, years ago. In my worst nightmares I had never thought I’d have to do it again.

“Stop!” he bellowed. “Up the bank! They know you’re going down the creek! Up the bank and cross-country! Now!” We stopped, weaving there with the tree on our shoulders. He had stopped us at a place where the gully was almost vertical. It looked easier up ahead.

“Up ahead!” I said hoarsely.

“No!” the immediate answer came. “Soilsat! It’s mined up there! This is your only chance!” He stood above us, glaring down.

“Roll it up!” I said. We slammed the log against the steep earthen embankment, and started forcing it up. It didn’t roll, of coursewe had to lift it.

“Keep going!” I said. The top of the bank was too damned high. We’d have to climb up, forcing the log ahead of us. The soil was a wet clay, and our boots sank into it, sliding downwards. No good!

“Look out!” We collapsed, the log falling heavily on top of us. I wound up on my back in the icewater, struggling to free myself. When I surfaced, the gorilla was still standing there, gazing down at us scornfully.

“Pitiful,” he said.

“We stand it on end,” I told the others. Whit looked like a perplexed little freezing puppy. She had never had to do this sort of stuff before. Dragon and Redhawk and Valkyrie were troopers, I knew they’d never quit. And I knew Tara was too proud to quit.

We maneuvered the cursed tree up and stood it on end against the cliff. I thought of it as a cliff by then. We stood there exhausted for a moment, our feet submerged in icewater, light sleet settling on our hair and tingling our exposed flesh. I noted my hands were bleeding.

“I’d like to stick this tree right up his ass,” Dragon whispered grimly. Blood was pouring from a cut on his cheek.

“Four of us pushing,” I said. “Two of us up there guiding the damned thing up and pulling, if they can.”

“So who’s the lucky two?”

“Tara and Whityou’re the weakest. Get up there and make sure it doesn’t fall.” They scrambled to obey.

We did our best, straining every fiber to get that damned log up and over the embankment. We could barely move it, even with all four of us grunting away at the bottom. It stood there, but wouldn’t go over.

“Heave!” It moved, up, then slid back.

“Scut!”

“Heave!” Up and back again.

“It’s not working.”

“It’s working!” Tara shouted. “You’re wearing away the dirt up here. Keep it up, and we’ll eventually do it!”

We did do it, eventually. We wore a slot right in the lip of the embankment, and were able to force the log up at an angle and get it over the top, at last.

We lay there in the mud, at the top, gasping. Our tormentor appeared, grinning. “Eight has just been wounded,” he said. “He can’t walk. He can’t use his hands either. Let’s get moving, girls! The enemy is on the way!” The bastard knew Dragon was the strongest among us.

“Put him on the tree,” I said, as we struggled to our feet.

It didn’t work. Dragon wasn’t allowed to use his hands, so he kept falling off the log. “Sorry, guys,” he said, looking up at us from the mud.

“All right, we’ll rig up a trav,” I said. “We need two long, strong branches. Let’s get into that forest!”

It actually worked. They had let us keep our u-belts, although we didn’t have much to carry on them. We rigged up the u-belts around a couple of tree branches and we had our trav. We had Whit pull him, while the rest of us did the tree. We staggered on. It was hard. My fingers and nose and feet were totally numb.

“Sure wish Gildron was here,” Redhawk muttered.

“He’s got more important things to do,” Tara gasped.

“Move it, pussies! Faster! Once we get the log up that mountain, we’re going to jump off a cliff!”

I didn’t mind. I didn’t mind at all. It was for a good cause.

***

“Ready on the firing line!” I snapped the E up to my shoulder, stealing a quick glance to one side. Dragon was beside me, then Valkyrie, Redhawk, Tara and Whit. We were all in camfax fatigues. It was raining lightly, a grey sky full of cold rain, peppering my skin. It felt wonderful.

“Individual firesemiauto, x-min, individual targets, fire at will.”

I concentrated down rangenothing. Dragon fired, then the others began firing, single shots muffled by my earbaffles. A cenite target popped up downrange and I fired. It slammed back down again, spraying shrapnelgot it! Another target popped upI fired again and knocked it down. Another! I burst off two quick rounds and it disappeared in a hail of white phospho contrails. The range was rocking with firing now, a dull muffled roar in my ears, and downrange was smoking and burning. I leaned into the E, anticipating, blasting away at the slightest movement, psyched and hyper.

“Cease fire!” Silence settled over the range. Our E’s were smoking in the rain. We were getting soaked but I didn’t mind. I looked over at the others. It was almost Betaall dressed up and nowhere to go. We had all gone through Uldo together, just like thisall except Whit. Dragon and Redhawk and Valkyrie and Tara. Even Gildron had been with us. And the others, invisible companions, Snow Leopard and Merlin and Psycho and Priestess and Scrapper and Twister. We had left them behind on Uldo. There were other ghosts as well, from Mongera. Coolhand and Warhound and Ironman. Cut right from my heart. And that didn’t even count Gamma, almost all of Gamma, cut down on Andrion 3 and Mongera.

“Individual firelaserminburstindividual targetsfire at will!” I snapped over to laser and shouldered the E again, ready for the slightest flicker of movement downrange. Almost Beta. We had made a good team on Uldo, a good squad. We had perished, as a squad, but we had accomplished the mission. Victory, over all odds. Victoryand death. A target popped up. I lasered it cleanly, the burst screeching wildly, the target slamming down again. Another target popped up to meet my laser instantly. It was pouring now, the rain hissing off my E, glittering laser bursts snapping on and off, Hell on tap, instant death for any foe.

Victory, I thought. But the dead outnumbered the living by now. And I thought of the Legion farewell to the dead. I could still hear Boudicca on Andrion 3, standing in a field of charred A-suits, counting off the numbers:

“Gamma Three, Gamma Four, Gamma Six, Gamma Eight, Gamma Nine,

You’re four effectives short.

Remember your brothers-in-arms.

Missing in action,

We join you soon!”

My targets were exploding downrange. Boudicca was dead now, but she had been right. It was we the living who were missing in action. The dead were right where they belonged. And we’d certainly be joining them soon. One way or another.

***

“You’ve got to realize none of this may work,” Seven Six Seven said, squatting gingerly before us. He was warmly dressed in a thick coldcoat, gloves, and a fur field hat I could have killed for. The six of us were gathered around him on the ground bareheaded, clad in boots and camfaxed fatigue pants and sleeveless tops. A new layer of snow covered everything, sparkling in the sunlight. It was cold, but we were only allowed sleeveless in camp. They didn’t want to weaken us. We couldn’t even sleep in tents. We slept in the rain and the snow, on the ground, huddled together for warmth. It was really miserable. Whit was barely with us, but we were all taking real good care of her.

“There are several possibilities,” Six Seven said. Our Assidic torturer was hovering in the background, probably to make sure we didn’t murder our visitor for his clothing. “There’s an almost infinite variety of possible outcomes, because there are different possibilities for each personand we’re talking about five people. One, Five, Nine, Twelve, and Thirteen. Those are the five of whom there is no trace. Because we don’t know what happened to them, it means there may be a chance you will be successful. There’s no hope for Beta Fourhe was killed. That can’t be prevented. It doesn’t look too good for Beta One either. But there may be hope for the others.”

New hope for the dead. At first I had just been thinking exclusively about Priestessmy whole focus had been on Priestess. But then I had started thinkingwhy just Priestess? If you’re going to attempt this insanity, why not do it all? Why not all of them? They were all there, weren’t they? If I could reach Priestess, I could reach the others as well. Beta, back from the dead!

“It could be,” Six Seven was saying, “that they’ve all been killed, annihilated in the starmass. It could be that you’ll show up there and find nothing. And the timing is critical. You might get there just in time to watch them die. Be prepared for that.” He paused and licked his lips, hesitating. “But it could also be,” he went on, “that you will find themsuccessfully. One or more of them. You see, this would explain why there were no bodies. It could be. You’re not going to know until you get there. If you get there.”

You will find them, I thought, repeating the phrase in my mind. It gave me a surge, right down to my toes. Dear holy God, Deadman, let it be! You will find them! You will find them! Lord, is it really possible?

***

They launched the ship one glorious day. We watched from a ragged clearing on the side of a forested hill several K away. Tara herself had christened it, a few hours earlier. The name had changed. Now it was the Confederation Ship Star of Dindabai. And an altogether fitting name it was.

The massive blast doors over the ship’s berth rolled slowly back, allowing Dindabai’s weak sunlight to fall for the first time on our ship.

As we watched, it rose silently from below, parallel to the ground, raising a whirlwind of dirt and snow around the great installation below. It rose like the sun, seemingly as weightless as a cloud, hovering overhead effortlessly, riding the air. Deadman, it was beautiful! If was a lovely, burnished silver, and as it paused there over K2 it was as if a great silver sword was poised, like the indestructible saber of some mighty God, to smite us. The cross of the Legion was fused into the fuselage, as if to remove any doubts as to the ship’s intentions. All right, I’ll admit itmy skin was crawling. I was proud of our ship. How could I not be proud, looking up at that incredible creation? It reflected all the power and glory of the Legion, and I don’t think I had ever seen anything more wonderful in my life. It was our heavenly chariot, just as Tara had said. And we were going to use it to do things that nobody had ever done before. We were going to make history, we were going to hurtle into another universe, and maybe even into the pastfor generations not yet born, and for the dead. Tara was absolutely right. How could I possibly miss a ride like this one? How could I stay home, with the Star of Dindabai floating in our pale winter sky? They’d have to put out my eyes to get me to stay behind!

I looked over at Tara. She was lost, looking up to the ship, paralyzed with pride. She might as well have named it Star of Tara, for that’s what it was.

We were all thereGildron, Tara, Dragon, Redhawk, Valkyrie, Whit, and me. Nobody said a word. We just stood there watching the Star of Dindabai, newly born, breathing in the air, tasting the sunlight, taking in the view. Our ship. We were going to ride it, blind, through another dimension and into another universe. Our training was over and we were all in terrific shape, as tough as biogens. My muscles were whipcord tight and I had never felt better. Even Whit was salty and aggressivewe had recently had to restrain her from punching out a supply clerk who had moved a little too slowly to suit her.

We did not know what awaited us in Plane Prime, but we didn’t figure there was anything further we could do to prepare for it. We had literally been through Hell, in Basic. We ran through fire and swam in icy seas and leaped from terrifying heights and crawled through awful dirt tunnels with no light, far beneath the earth, and fought off multiple attackers, repeatedly, unarmed, and wasted an incredible amount of ammo firing everything from E’s and SG’s to Manlinks.

The Legion had done all it could to prepare us. Now it was up to us.

Chapter 14

Plane Prime

“We’re here,” Tara announced. It had been a long star run to get here, back in the Andrion Sector. I was on the bridge lounging in a VIP chair just behind Tara. We had just come hurtling out of stardrive into normal vac. The forward viewport was full of stars. The Star of Dindabai had worked just as advertised so far. They had tested it for months, first in the at, then out in the vac. They had done hundreds of test runs. She was tight as a virgin, they said, and as smooth as slick. High praise from the techs for our lovely ship. They were happy with it. We were all happy with it. It was a wondrous ship. And now, cruising the Outvac somewhere in the Andrion Sector, looking out at those stars, I could feel the longing in my heart for my wife and son on Andrion 2. They were still light-years away but I swear I could feel them on my skin.

“Look at those readings!” The techs were getting excited.

“Climbing into the red,” somebody said. Plane Prime was closeso close our instruments were already detecting its presence. Once the indicators edged into the red it would signal extreme danger. No star pilot in his right mind would initiate a star hop in such close proximity to another universe. It was suicideyou would likely be sucked into the other universe from hyperspace, and never return.

“We’re losing it.”

“Auto correctionrelax!” The Star of Dindabai was hunting down Plane Prime for us, seeking it out like a moth circling a naked flame. Gildron looked back at us and smiled confidently. He was a tower of strength, that’s for sure. The Star was with him, in an inside pocket of his jacket. The Star was with him always.

“Three, Eight, what’s the sit?” The voice crackled in my ears. Dragon and Redhawk and Valkyrie were with the Strike Force, huddled behind multiple bulkheads. The ship was on yellow alert, and they were missing the show.

“We’ve successfully exited stardrive into the Andrion Sector,” I said into my shoulder mike. “We’re chasing Plane Prime. It’s here. We’re close.”

“You know,” Whit remarked casually to Tara, “this is the craziest thing we’ve ever done.”

“You can tell your grandchildren about it,” Tara replied from the Command chair. A couple of the Legion’s very best star jumpers were piloting the ship, Ice Two and Slambang Sue. Ice was as efficient as a biogen, and Slambang was equally good. She didn’t get her name from her landings, but from what happened when she got a male alone in a cube.

All Tara had to do was make decisions. Whit was a good pilot as well but she was just along for the ride this time. Tara had insisted on her presence on the bridge. Superstition, maybe.

“Entering the red!” My heartbeat speeded up just a little. I closed my eyes. I remembered I used to gulp mags to ice out, going into action. But I didn’t need the mags anymore. My mind was whirling with thoughts and images. We were superbly equipped. Even our clothing was specifically manufactured to maximize our chances. I was encased in a spun-cenite, fireproof, bulletproof litesuit. They’d have to hit me with starmass or x or laser to bother me. Unfortunately all those weapons were in the O’s arsenal.

“WARNING! WE HAVE ENTERED A REDLINED SPACETIME DIMENSIONAL VORTEX! SEVERELY DISTORTED SPACETIME CONTINUUM INDICATES PRESENCE OF A NATURAL DIMENSIONAL STARGATE! STARLAUNCH IS FORBIDDEN!” The ship boomed out the warning. Normal people would have paid a lot of attention to that announcement.

“We’re in the red,” the pilot said. It was almost a whisper. I pulled on my gloves and secured them to the sleeves. The comtop was clipped to my belt.

“Fasten your seat belts, kiddies,” Tara said. She was at her best in moments of crisis, I suppose. I was concentrating on what felt like an impending heart attack. I checked my harnessall secure.

“Locked in!” the pilot said. No, it was not going to get away from us. And we were not going to get away from it.

“Attention the ship!” Tara spoke into the Commander’s mike. She sounded perfectly cool. Her voice was silky smooth. “We are about to launch into a natural stargate. We have located and zeroed our target. Plane Prime is just beyond the gates. You all know how important this mission is, and you all know the risks. If we succeed, we change history and humanity triumphs. If we fail, we die. It’s that simple. But either way, we will have tried, and the future will be better because of it. I am proud to be serving with every one of you. You are the very best of the Legion. And no matter what happens, we will know that we did our very best. We are now initiating antimat drive. Please put on your comtops and stand by. And may Deadman be with us.”

I fumbled with my comtop, slipping it over my head and snapping it on. I was sweating. Can I be excused for the rest of the afternoon? No, Tara wouldn’t like that. I’d better suit up and shut down.

“Prep to launch.”

“We’re right in the bubble.”

“WARNING! DIMENSIONAL STARGATE! STARLAUNCH IS FORBIDDEN!” The ship was insistent.

“Over-ride starlaunch auto warning.”

“WARNING! YOU HAVE REQUESTED OVERRIDE OF STARLAUNCH AUTOWARNING! YOU ARE WITHIN A REDLINED SPACETIME DIMENSIONAL VORTEX! SEVERELY DISTORTED SPACETIME CONTINUUM INDICATES PRESENCE OF A NATURAL DIMENSIONAL STARGATE! STARLAUNCH IS FORBIDDEN! STARLAUNCH MAY RESULT IN DESTRUCTION OF THE SHIP OR POSSIBLE STARDRIVE EXIT IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE! DO NOT LAUNCH! REPEAT, DO NOT LAUNCH!”

“Can’t say we weren’t warned, huh?” Ice Two sounded almost bored. I was in agony, squirming in my seat.

“Autowarnings over-ridden.”

“Let’s do it.”

“ALERT! ALERT! INITIATING STARLAUNCH! REPEAT, STARLAUNCH! SECURE ALL PERSONNEL!”

“Love you, Thinker.” It was Valkyrie, whispering in my ears.

“Hold tight, Valkyrie. See you on the other side.”

“Death,” Tara announced to the ship and all on board. It was the Legion’s war cry. I don’t know why, but it made me feel just a little bit better. Death, I thought. Fine. If it is to be death, we’re ready.

***

“Stop! Stop! I can’t stand it! Isn’t it going to end?” Someone was coming apart, shrieking hysterically. Blind panic was rushing over me. My eyes were shut tight and I was gritting my teeth, trying not to scream. Something was terribly wrong. We had starlaunched into the hole, and that queasy feeling had crept over my skin, the way it always did, and then it had started to go wrong. The ship had lurched like a wounded beast and shuddered and lurched again, generating tremendous grav, flattening us into our chairs. A terrible vibrating noise ran over the ship. My blood pressure shot skywards, and the visor of my comtop was full of red warning lights.

We should have broken through into the hole, into hyperspace, even on our way into another universe. It didn’t happen. The ship leaped again. Unsecured gear flew around the bridge. That stuff should have been tied down! Something bounced off my comtop. It felt as if we were fallingfalling wildly, out of control. I was completely helpless. All I could do was sit there, strapped in, eyes closed, praying for survival.

The ship spun around wildly. My stomach did, too. I was getting dizzy and wanted to vomit. I tried to fight it. I tried to close my mind, to think of something elseanything but this! Moontouch

a screeching, in the bones of the ship. I ventured a peek. Everyone was strapped in, but I was seeing double, then triple. The front viewport was black. I closed my eyes again. The gravs were building, threatening to tear me from the chair. Incredible, irresistible grav. My eyes were starting to pop out of their sockets. I was being battered from side to side in my chair. We were going to die, I decided. The mission has failed. Moontouch! I have abandoned you! Terror and regret flooded my veins. I cursed Tara. Damn her to Hell! Death, death, death!

“Please! Please! I can’t stand it!”

“Shut down!”

“Can you read

the

status

“

“No!”

“Don’t

touch

” The ship bucked again, berserk, and something crashed against a bulkhead. It wasn’t going to end, I realized. It was going to go on like this, until we all died of exhaustion. We were trapped in some kind of dimensional maelstrom between two universes, something totally unexpected. We were trapped and doomed. The ship was bouncing around like a mote of dust in a hyperspace typhoon.

I closed my eyes again, as the grav forces slammed me around in my harness back and forth, back and forth. Sleep

die

sleep

I’m a soldier of the Legion, I thought. We can sleep anywhere. Sleep. Pass out. Fade away

we die with a whimper, not even noticed, not even objecting.

“Please! Please! Stop it!” And I tried to sleep, ignoring the screams. It was not going to end, I knew, and we were all going to die. I accepted it, and tried to dream sweet dreams, of Moontouch and Stormdawn and Priestess and Valkyrie.

***

I awoke to a dead silence. I didn’t know if I had passed out or slept, but I had certainly been out for some time. I opened my eyes carefully, fearful of what I would find. There was no movement on the bridge. It was still as a tomb. Everyone was still strapped into their seats. Debris was strewn all around the deck. I carefully unlinked my harness and rose from the chair. Ship’s grav was normal. Every muscle was aching. My bruises had bruises. I crept forward to the Command chair and looked into Tara’s visor, my heart thumping. Her eyes were closed, her brow was troubled, but I could see she was breathing. Asleep! A great relief flooded over me.

I moved painfully up to the pilot’s chair. Ice Two turned slightly to look at me, then went back to the instruments. I looked out the viewport. Darkit was dark. A cold hand seemed to be gripping my heart.

“Where are we?” I whispered. It was so quiet I dared not raise my voice.

“We made it,” he whispered back. “It’s Plane Prime. We’re here.”

“I don’t see any stars,” I said.

“There don’t appear to be any,” he confirmed. “We’re searching.”

Someone stirred lazily behind us in his seatGildron.

“How long did it last?” I asked Ice Two.

“Almost three hours.”

Almost three hours! My eyes were drawn back to the viewport. No stars! I could see a little smudge somewhere out there, a slight frosty blur that could have been a cloud of cosmic dust, or maybe a smear on the plex. No stars. That was scary. I was too tired to investigate.

***

As people recovered their wits they returned to their duties, and we were soon fully functional. Damage reports revealed a lot of minor breakage to unsecured items, including a few minor fractures to crewmembers incautious enough to have unlinked during the storm, but no serious damage to the ship. Our lovely, tough ship had come through it all unscathed. We were all very, very happy about that, because this was not the place for a breakdown.

We had successfully made it to Plane Prime. I stood beside Tara on the bridge, looking out the main viewport as we awaited more results from the science sensors. It was profoundly dark out there. It seemed very, very cold to me right then.

“That’s a galaxy,” one of the analysts said, hunched over a glowing d-screen.

“What’s the distance?” Tara asked.

“It’s over ten billion light years away.”

“I guess we can cross that one off.”

“There’s lots of stuff out there,” Slambang said. “It’s just not very bright.”

“I’ve got more nebulae,” another analyst said. “Dark nebulae.”

“That’s where we should find what we’re looking for,” Tara said. “It’s out there. This universe is part of the cosmic glue that holds all creation together. And it’s the D-neg that does it. It’s out there, vast clouds of it. We’ll find it.”

“There’s a lot of neutron stars coming on scope. And I’ve got white dwarfs, and black dwarfs, scattered widely. Incredible distances.”

An ancient universe, I thought, where the stars have all burnt themselves out. A fossil universe, dying, winking out to extinction over billions of years. No wonder it seems so coldthis is the coldest place any human has ever visited. No wonder the O’s want to leave.

“Take your time, guys,” Tara said. “We’ve got plenty of time.” She was looking very pleased with herself. I don’t think I’d ever seen such a look of total triumph before. She answered my gaze with a slow smile. “You’ve got to have faith,” she said. “Faith and determination will overcome all obstacles. Nobody can stop us, now. Nobody.”

***

The D-neg probes looked almost like antimat torpedoes. We looked one over from a little walkway in the launch tube. It was a massive gleaming cylinder, dwarfing us as we stood beside it.

“How many of these guys do we have?” Ten asked.

“Eighteen,” Tara replied. “It should be enough. All we need is one good hit. We launch them all into likely areas. The fuselage splits open, the impact buffers deploy around the probes. With luck, a tiny grain of D-neg hits the buffers and burns its way through the cenite baffles and impacts in the layer of aerogel crystalflash lining the base. Then we pull the probes in and analyze them. If we find any raw D-neg we isolate it, load it into the reactor, and strip away the extra atoms into a plasma of pure D-neg. It’s only at that stage that it becomes an extremely dangerous substance of almost infinite density that will annihilate anything with which it comes in contact. But the idea is that it will never come into contact with anything else. The plasma is immediately directed into the unitium stasis. And once we’ve got it in stasis, it’s oursand we’re well on the way to powering up the D-neg drive.”

“Simple, huh?” Dragon asked.

“It’s not simple, but we believe it will work.”

“And there are clouds of this stuff out there?” Valkyrie asked.

“If the physicists are right, there should be almost limitless nebulae of raw D-neg scattered throughout this universe. And it’s these clouds of charged D-neg that exert such a powerful influence on this, and adjacent, universesincluding our own. Individually, D-neg molecules are just another substance. But together, in infinite amounts, D-neg distorts the very fabric of spacetime. And once we strip it down to isolate the active elements, we can use that power.”

“So all we have to do is find one of these clouds, and go charging right in?”

“I wouldn’t advise that. If we get too close, we’d never escape. It’s just like a black hole. No. All we have to do is detect a cloud. Hopefully it will be a very safe distance away. D-neg radiates everywhere. Once we locate a source, we send out our probes. Then it will be up to the techs.”

“And if they do anything wrong, we all die. Right?”

“The resulting explosion would be really spectacular. But don’t worrywe’ll never notice it.”

“How experienced are these techs?”

“Well, nobody’s ever done this before.”

“This gets better and better!”

“No whining, please. We’re doing great so far. Just keep the faith!” Tara was brimming with confidence. She was quite a girl. All I could feel at that point was an overwhelming, formless dread.

***

Tara was right about the D-neg. As we cruised that unholy vac, our sensors filled in the backdrop to those dark stars, revealing incomprehensibly vast fields of D-neg, filling the skies with great pulsating airy walls of ultimate energy, billions of light years away. There was so much of it that the techs concluded the entire universe had to be permeated with radiating D-neg particlesour ship was probably being bombarded by them even as we discussed it.

We launched the probes and watched them deploy. I didn’t feel any better. I knew we didn’t belong there. We were doing forbidden things, things that the very fabric of nature and spacetime forbade us to do. I was determined to do it for my own selfish reasons, but there was an icy knot in my stomach that reminded me of just how profoundly we were altering the most fundamental of natural laws. I was afraid at any moment it was all going to explode in our faces, annihilating us like intruding bacteria.

“Recovery successful.” The first probe was back! It would be quite awhile before the testing would reveal whether or not it had captured any D-neg. Even those science freaks not working on the probes were extremely busy gathering as much data as they could, as quickly as possible, on Plane Prime. Nobody had ever previously returned from another universe, and if we were going to be the first we had better have a damned good understanding of the forces that made this universe function, before we attempted to break loose.

The bad news was that it was impossible to detect the presence of our universe from this one. The techs theorized that since our universe did not have any D-neg in it, it did not distort the spacetime structure of adjacent universeslike this one. So it was not detectable from here. Hence our only chance to return was to initiate stardrive in the exact same spot we had appeared after our tumultuous journey from our own universe, and hope the link was still there.

We were keeping very careful track of our position.

***

The tension was rising. I knew I needed some rest. I returned to my cube and tried to sleep, but it didn’t work. I just lay there in my bunk, my mind racing, my muscles tied in knots. Hopeless. RelaxI needed to relax. I reached over to the snackmod and punched in a cup of hot water.

“ATTENTION! RED ALERT! BATTLE STATIONS! CRASH STARLAUNCH UNDERWAY! OMNI STARSHIP EXITING STARDRIVE! PREP FOR COMBAT!” I was into my boots in fracs and flying down the corridor to the bridge, adrenalin surging, crew members flashing past me in fast motion, the bone-numbing blasting of the red alert claxon crawling over my skin, my heart thumping.

I burst into the bridge just before the airlock door sealed us off from the rest of the ship. Tara was strapping herself into the command chair. Gildron was there as well, but I didn’t see Whit.

“Cancel starlaunch!” Tara ordered. “Prep for crash starlaunch.”

“Advise against cancelling starlaunch, sir, Omni ship!” Slambang Sue responded. “Distance two light years. The next one will be the attack run!” We could see it now, popping up on the d-screens, a dark delta-shaped alien starship, suddenly there. Freezing our blood.

“Auto crash starlaunch cancelled. Ready for command crash starlaunch. Activate all defensive systems, activate all weapons, prep to fire.”

“Fully prepped for combat!”

“Omni ship cruising normally. No indications of preps to fire or launch. Shall we launch fighters?”

“Negative,” Tara said. “I don’t want to start a war here. And I don’t want to starlaunch either.”

“We may have no choice!”

“Open all-freq hailing visuals. Gildron, try and communicate!”

“I’ll do what I can,” Gildron said. It might just workthe O’s had previously made a sharp distinction between Gildron and the rest of us. Perhaps his image would make a difference.

“Are you confident we can do combat starlaunches in this universe and still find our way back here?” Tara asked the pilot.

“I’m confident we’ll be destroyed if the O’s attack and we don’t starlaunch,” Ice Two replied. “I’m hopeful that the ship will return us here.”

“Hopeful don’t count!” Tara snapped.

“ATTENTION! A SECOND OMNI SHIP IS EXITING STARDRIVE! RECOMMEND CRASH STARLAUNCH!”

“Maintain alert,” Tara said calmly. “Are they getting our signals?” We were coiled, trembling in anticipation, ready to unleash enough firepower to knock a small planet out of orbit.

“Distance one and a half light years!” The new ship was on screen now as well, another mute, delta-shaped dart. These were the enemies of all humanity. They had already killed two billion of us. Another ship-full of humans would make no statistical difference at all.

Our d-screens suddenly filled with light. An Omni appeared, leaning forward glaring at usleathery spotted green skin, his skull split into two sections down the middle, dead black eyes behind filmy lids, a savage mouth opening with rows of needle-sharp teeth. A hissing rising shriek, the eyes suddenly open and burning, and it was a blast of such withering malevolent rage that we shrank from its image. Then the screen flickered and faded.

“He didn’t look too friendly.”

“ATTENTION! A THIRD OMNI SHIP IS EXITING STARDRIVE!”

“I’d advise starlaunch.”

“Distance one light year!”

“I’ll just bet the next one will appear within range and firing.”

“Damn. Crash starlaunch, now. Prep to fire.”

“CRASH STARLAUNCH UNDERWAY! PREP TO FIRE!”

“Omni ship

“

“ALERT! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! LAUNCHING!”

“Fire all

“

“FIRING ALL WEAPONS! ENEMY IN RANGE, FIRING ANTIMAT

” We launched, a sudden jolt and a silky, silent ride, the pressure on my skin again, the ports all black.

“Successful launch, we’re in the red.”

“Our tail is clear, no sign of weapons or probes.”

“It was that last ship. It was firing as it exited stardrive. We had no choice.”

“I had confirmed lock-ons for all our torpedoes.”

“I want max alert as we exit stardrive, ” Tara said. “Prep to fire.”

“Random combat exitnow.”

“REENTERING VACPREP FOR COMBAT!”

We popped back into normal vac, ready to lash out at anything that might have been therebut there was nothing there. Another dark, eternal sky, utterly cold and lifeless, countless light-years from our last position. We cruised, totally alone in an alien universe as our sensors took it all in and plotted our location.

“Know where we are?” Tara asked the pilot.

“Yes.”

“Can we get back?”

“Yes. This lovely lady appears to be totally flawless.”

“Good. Science, report,” Tara snapped. “What’s the status on the probe?”

“We only just recovered it. We haven’t even begun to examine it.”

“Well, begin! What are you waiting for?”

“Can we unlink first?”

“Get to work!”

“Yes sir!”

“We’re going to have to go back there, eventually,” Tara reflected to Gildron.

“The other probes are still out there,” Gildron replied. “If this one doesn’t reveal D-neg, we might want to go after them.”

“My God,” Tara exclaimed. “The probes! You’re right, we launched them all. If this one fails

we’ve got to get them back! Otherwise, the entire mission could fail! Damn! I thought launching them all would minimize the time needed to accomplish the mission. Deto!”

“They’ll be hunting them down.”

“Damn! You’re right. There’s no time to lose. Starlaunch!”

“CRASH STARLAUNCH UNDERWAY! PREP TO FIRE!”

“We’re going right back there. Prepare for combat! Prepare to recover probes!”

“Even if their ships are gone, they’ll have their own probes there, and maybe mines,” Ice Two cautioned. “I’d advise taking a quick look first, and immediately crash launching, no matter what. A single frac is all we need to scope the sit.”

“Fine. A quick snap to zero all our probes and any hostiles, then we launch again.”

We launched, a sudden lurch and then a silent, effortless ride.

“EXITING STARDRIVE! PREP FOR COMBAT!” There was nothing I could do but pray, strapped into the chair, as we rushed headlong back into the maw of death.

The ship shivered and we were suddenly there, poised to strike, all our sensors on max, sucking in images from everywhere.

“Deadman, look at that.” An Omni ship had been hit. It was a horrific nebula of frozen metallic dust, scattered over the sky. One of our antimat torpedoes had found its mark. An entire ship and all it contained, blasted to tiny bits. I knew they could do the same to us.

“ENEMY PROBES! CRASH STARLAUNCH UNDERWAY! FIRING ALL WEAPONS!”

Another wrenching jolt, and we were back in stardrive.

“Are they following?”

“Twelve, it’s clear.”

“Let’s get to work on the snapshot.”

We exited safely from stardrive back to the vac, another dead, dark wilderness. No enemy ships appeared. Examination of the snapshot images revealed twelve of our probes, cruising freely. Five had already disappeared. No Omni ships were present, other than the remains of the one we had destroyed. The others had launched. Five enemy probes had been staking out the area, but had failed to follow us into stardrive. We had not given them enough time.

“They’ll come back for the rest of the probes,” Gildron said. “They’ll know we visited. They’ll be waiting.”

“Damn,” Tara replied. “Nevertheless

we’ve got to try and recover one more probe. Just one.”

“Why? We’ve got one. It may have captured some D-neg. If not, we can re-use it.”

“No. What if something happens to it? We can’t depend on one!”

“Is it worth risking the ship? We’re safe here, for now. Let’s await the results of the examination of the first probe.”

“No. No, no, no! They’re hunting down our probes right now. We need at least one more, or the mission may fail. Only one! What if there’s a repeat of the attack? Our one probe is out again, we starlaunch, it’s gone! Mission over! It was stupid of me to launch all the probesstupid. We should always have one in reserve, at least. No

we have to go back.”

“I told you not to launch all the probes. Listen to me next time.” Gildron sounded a trifle upset.

“Yes, dear. You’re right. All right, let’s decide which probe we’re going after, and do it.”

I could taste the adrenalin on my tongue when we exited stardrive back into that awful vac, strewn with the wreckage of that Omni ship. I knew it was wrong, I knew it was crazy, but that had never stopped the Legion before.

“No O ships.”

“Probe on scope. Commence recovery.”

“ENEMY PROBES! ATTACKING! CRASH STARLAUNCH!”

“Cancel starlaunch! Prep starlaunch!”

“Fire all weapons! Launch fighters! Get those

“

“LAUNCHING FIGHTERS! STARLAUNCH CANCELLED! FIVE PROBES TARGETED, MISSILES LOCKED ON!” Four Legion fighters burst away from the Star of Dindabai just as the vac erupted with our missiles and deceptors.

“Continue recovery!”

“Intercept plotted, target zeroed, recovery underway.”

“Enemy Probe One destroyed.” A horrific flash lit up our d-screens, an antimat strike of elemental fury.

“All enemy probes have launched vac missiles, analysis reveals antimat warheads, all missiles have locked on to us, we are successfully targeted. Defensive systems engaged, antimissiles launched and locked, all enemy missiles are under attack.”

“Continue recovery operation!”

“I’ve launched,” one of our fighter jocks reported. “Missiles locked.”

“ENEMY PROBE TWO DESTROYED.” The screen continued glowing.

“That was mine!”

“

HIT HIT HIT HIT

” Our ship was haloed by a glowing screen of erupting missiles.

“ENEMY PROBE THREE DESTROYED.”

“Launched and locked!”

“I’m on that last one! There’s about ten missiles zeroing in!”

“ALL ENEMY MISSILES DESTROYED! ENEMY PROBES FOUR AND FIVE DESTROYED!” A double flash, and the screens slowly cleared.

“No further enemy activity.”

“Maintain fighter screen! Good job, guys! Continue recovery operation!” The enemy probes had all been vaporized, along with the missiles they had launched. Our own D-neg probe was nearing us now. We would have it shortly. Four Legion fighters were still out there, cruising the vac. I wondered how the pilots felt, hanging out there on their own. Their only job was to buy time for us in case of an attack, to allow us to launch, leaving them behind. I really admired those guys. They were always prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for the rest of us. They knew if they were successful in their mission they would probably die. Every one of them had read the job description, and there they were. It was almost miraculous, where the Legion found people like that.

“ALERT! CRASH STARLAUNCH! OMNI SHIP EXITING STARDRIVE, IN RANGE, FIRING, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!”

“Cancel starlaunch! Prep for crashlaunch!” Tara snapped. “Fire all weapons! Continue recovery!”

The Star of Dindabai erupted like a poisonous blossom, spewing forth a fantastic glowing bouquet of glittering antimat trails, scores of weapons of ultimate doom, offensive and defensive torpedoes and missiles covered by hundreds of deceptors, bursting outwards to fill the vac, all locking on like a raging foaming biogen mad dog on that one Omni ship.

It had done the same to us. I could see its barrage approaching us on the screens, a glowing network of spidery trails. It was madness to sit here, waiting for something to hit us.

“Locked and firing!” Our fighters were hurling themselves at the O ship.

“LOCK, LOCK, LOCK, LOCK

” Our ship was going after the Omni torpedoes.

“It’s not starlaunching!”

“ENEMY SHIP CONTINUES FIRING RUN, LAUNCHING MORE ORDNANCE.” The bastards were coming right at us, throwing everything they had at us.

“LOCK, LOCK, LOCK, LOCK, LOCK

” The Omni ship was firing a mighty barrage, and we had to intercept and destroy every one, even the deceptors, just to be sure.

Our D-neg screens suddenly went white.

“ENEMY SHIP DESTROYED.” As the screens faded we could see it, a blinding eruption, a brand-new star, thousands of glittering, phospho streaks shooting outwards from a brilliant coreblasted to atoms! My blood froze.

“LOCK LOCK LOCK LOCK LOCK LOCK

” The enemy barrage was still coming, but the earlier missiles were meeting up with our defense.

“

HIT, HIT, HIT, HIT, HIT, HIT, HIT

” I could see them flashing on the screens, all around us.

“LOCK LOCK LOCK LOCK LOCK

“

“HIT HIT HIT HIT HIT HIT HIT

“

“ALERT! CRASH STARLAUNCH! ENEMY SHIP EXITING

ALERT! SECOND ENEMY SHIP

ALERT! THREE ENEMY SHIPS EXITING STARDRIVE, FIRING!”

“Deto! Launch! Abandon recovery, fire all

“

“FIRING ALL WEAPONS!” The ship lurched as we let loose with a tremendous barrage, a death spasm.

“LOCK LOCK LOCK

“

“HIT HIT HIT HIT HIT

“

“ALERT! FOURTH ENEMY

ALERT! FIFTH ENEMY

ALERT! SIX ENEMY SHIPS ATTACKING!”

“ALERT! MULTIPLE HITS! STARLAUNCH CANCELLED! DISABLING HIT IN ANTIMAT DRIVE CONTROL LINKS! ACTIVATING DEATHSTAR!”

“

HIT HIT HIT HIT

“

“ENEMY SHIP TWO DESTROYED!” Another awful white glow pulsing on the screens, another shipload of Omni souls howling into Hell.

“I want damage reports! Keep firing!”

The screens faded to reveal a lunatic spiderweb tracery of glowing missile tracks filling the vac.

“

HIT HIT HIT

“

“Antimat drive is inoperable!”

“ALERT! SEVENTH ENEMY SHIP ATTACKING!” The grav cut off as our ship lurched, a wounded beast fleeing certain death. We were on Deathstar, a suicide burst, firing all ordnance. All power was surging to aid our escape, but without stardrive, I knew we were doomed.

Another spectacular supernova, another Omni ship vaporized. The vac was flashing madly, as hundreds of antimat missiles burst head to head.

“Keep firing!”

“One fighter gone

“

I was pressed flat into my chair. The ship was generating tremendous g-forces now, fighting for its survival, and we humans were just passengers.

“I want

“

“Enemy has ceased firing at us, concentrating on fighters and defense.”

“They know they’ve got us, they want to seize the ship!”

“Permission to activate scuttle charges.”

“Destroy our lovely ship?” Tara exclaimed. “Never! Prepare to repel boarders! If they want this ship, they’re going to pay for it! Star of Dindabai to fighterskeep after them. We’re going to fight to the end. Death!”

“I’m hit.” It was one of the fighters. I watched him on the screen, a sparkling phospho trail against the dark turning in a great arc, a superhuman effort, zeroing in on an Omni ship, locked in with laser, a deadly hail of missiles erupting from the O ship, too late, too late. The crippled Legion fighter hit the Omni ship like a falling star, impacting with a tremendous flash, strewing wreckage, the O ship spinning crazily out of control. My guts were churning.

“ALERT! VAC DRIVE SHUTTING DOWN! WE ARE IN A MAG FIELD!”

“That’s it, we’re finished.”

“Soldiers of the Legion!” It was Tara’s voice, icy and cruel. “Let’s show these bastards how to die. Activate all internal defensive systems! Charge the skin! Prep to repel boarders!” They had us in a mag field. We were powerless, drifting, trapped, defenseless. We couldn’t even fire, in a mag field. I almost laughed, it was so insane. A ship full of Legion crazieswe were about as defenseless as a basket of pit vipers. We were praying for death and we wanted as much company as possible. We wanted the O’s to show up. We were all set to welcome them.

“Last fighter has been destroyed.”

“Valiant warriors! We join you soon!” Tara was raving, but it made perfect sense right then.

“Let me activate the scuttle charges,” Slambang Sue urged her eagerly. “We can wait until they board, then take them all out.”

“No! They’ll have to earn it. Lock by lock, cube by cube. A river of blood. How can we deny them, if they earn it? But they’ll have to kill every one of usone by one. They’ll remember it. They’ll remember us!”

That fightera magnificent suicide, for us. How could we do anything less? Only death would do, I knew. I felt strangely calm, even though the battle was still raging all around us. I unlinked and catwalked my way over to the arms locker by the door. The grav was gone and things were floating around the bridge. I snapped open the locker and took out an E Mark 3 and held it tightly. It felt good. It felt like a lover. I pulled out a belt of psybloc grenades, just in case.

“Open the locks, Tara,” I said. “I’m going to defend the bridge from outside. You direct the defense.”

“God bless you, Wester.” The door to the bridge snapped open. I took one last look out the viewports. That once-dark sky was a glittering tracery of lost missiles and dying starships and brand new asteroid swarms of shredded cenite and microscopic little fragments of flesh and bones. I stepped out into the corridor.

“Close the door, Tara. And don’t worry about it any more. Nobody’s getting past me.” The airlock door slid shut behind me. Time seemed to be slowing down somehow. I could feel the blood pumping in my veins. I suddenly realized Gildron was standing right beside me, armed with an E. He grinned at me through his visor and I felt good, about everything. Gildron! He had stood with me once before, in that Omni ship, against the O’s. His woman was on that bridge. No, they weren’t going to get past us. We placed our backs against the door to the bridge, planted our mag boots firmly on the deck, and slid the safeties off our E’s. Things weren’t complex any more. Things were very, very simple. I liked it that way.

“They may not be real,” Gildron said.

“I know,” I replied. The skin of our ship was a death trap. Not even a microbe would survive an encounter with it. And any unlucky fool who blew a hole in it and got in anyway would get a very hostile reception from the Strike Force. The O weren’t easy to kill, but we knew how to do it. The only trouble was, I was pretty sure the O weren’t going to make it easy for us. We might have been crazy, but they weren’t. They didn’t want to die.

“ALERT! HOSTILE VAC PROJECTIONS!”

“O’s on board!” The report was punctuated with auto x.

“Three O’s!” More firing.

“Psybloc!”

“Intruders in C corridor!”

“Intruders on B deck!”

“Fire vac!”

“O’s outside the control room!”

“They’re holos!”

Two of them appeared suddenly in the corridor before us shimmering in a field of light, two frighteningly tall, ghostly figures looming over us like specters, clad in bright armor, limbs bending in all the wrong places, long spidery arms going up

I fired on autovac, convulsed. Gildron fired at the same instant. The holos dissolved in the vac, flickered, reformed, dissolved again.

“Vac works!” I shouted. The O’s were trying to overrun us with holos. They knew we could kill O’s, but nobody could kill holos. And these holos had one big advantage. They projected vac force. They had the power to affect material objects, and they were equipped with some kind of energy weapon that was most effective. The Legion could do holos, but they were only projected light images. They couldn’t hurt the living. Gildron and I knew all about Omni holos. We had fought them before. We knew that only vac would stop them.

The light fields swirled and reformed. We blasted them again with vac. It was deafening. I shot out a few psybloc, just to be sure. The psybloc grenades ricocheted off the walls and rolled down the corridor, spitting white-hot sparks, dazzling my eyes. As far as we knew the O’s holos couldn’t project psypower, but if they did we were done for.

Another O suddenly materialized, floating in the air. I hit it with vac and it dissolved into sparkling fragments of light. We knew the O’s couldn’t get into the bridge with holos. The bridge was lined with a vac field that holos could not penetrate, but the rest of the ship was vulnerable.

Gildron and I were all that stood between the bridge and the O’s.

Three more O’s materialized before us. Now there were six of them appearing at random, floating freely, carrying strange devices, running at us along the walls and ceiling upside down, charging into our autovac and disappearing. All they needed was a few fracs to energize their exotic weapons but we weren’t giving it to them. The whole corridor was a blazing sheen of flashing light, autovac exploding everywhere, O’s appearing and disappearing, light fields fading and flickering and reforming, Gildron and I with our backs to the door of the bridge, firing without pause.

I saw it coming. A long, gleaming, metallic arm, momentarily there, materializing out of the chaos. An alien hand, opening. A hot sparkling point of light, burning in the O’s palm, then flashing right to us at blinding speed.

It was a soundless burst of light, brighter than a sun. I looked up weakly from somewhere. I seemed to be floating in a field of sparkling stars. They were orbiting all around me. The corridor was spinning gently and I could not understand why everything appeared to be upside down. It was suddenly as quiet as a tomb. The O’s were all there, fully formed, ignoring me. This was a big surprise to me. Why was I not firing? It was really strangeI should have been firing at the O’s. Then I realized my E was no longer in my grasp. I stared stupidly at my empty, gloved hands. No E! What the hell! And everything was becoming darker and colder. The dark was rushing inand there was nothing at all I could do.

Chapter 15

Perdition

I awoke to chaos. It was totally dark and I was rolling around in a tangled mass of bodies. As I slowly regained my wits, I realized that I was being smothered in bodies. Hands and arms and feet were thumping against me. We seemed to be falling slowly together, an avalanche of people. And there was a low moaning, all around me, a despairing whimper of hopeless protest.

I brought my arms up to block my face. I couldn’t see a thing and I had no idea where I was. It was terrifying. There was a massive shudder, a minor earthquake, and the movement slowed and seemed to stabilize. It was only then that I realized ship’s grav had been restored.

Then the fear overwhelmed me, a bolt of icy terror that I remembered well. It was irresistible. People were crying out in horror.

“What happened?” I choked.

“The O’s are here,” someone replied. “The holos overwhelmed us. They took the ship.”

And then I understood. The holos had overrun our ship, neutralizing all opposition, probably by sheer numbers, and then the O’s had arrived in person to examine their captive prey. The O’s were strutting around our ship, projecting psypower, and we were all disarmed and helpless. Psypowerit was the end for us. Without psybloc, no human could counter the O’s tremendous psychic power. Not even a strong psycher like Tara could come close. We were puppets of their will, terrified and cringing, anxious only to avoid their wrath. I knew. I had met the O’s before.

A blue-white light flicked on. Someone still had a flashit illuminated us harshly, a great tangle of bodies, pale frightened faces like wet mushrooms trapped inside a gritty, sweating metal cylinder. There must have been twenty or thirty of us, I thought, bodies packed tightly together. Our comtops were all missing, but we still had litesuits and boots.

“What is this place?” I whispered to the person next to mehe was almost lying on top of me.

“Don’t know. We had to go in here. I think it belongs to the O’s.”

“Is everybody all right?”

“Eighteen is bleeding pretty bad. Has anyone got a medpak?”

“I’m a medic. I’ve got one.” A girl, fumbling at her waist. “Could you get off me, please? Where is he?”

“Anybody else hurt?”

“They’re going to kill us.”

“Shut down.”

The cylinder rolled again, a grating sound, moans and cries of protest, and we shifted places, slowly tumbling head over heels to a new position.

Light suddenly flooded in, a large hatch had popped open at one end of our prison. Terror rushed in like a cold breeze and a hard hand crushed my heart. I could hardly breathe. I shrieked, trying to hide behind the others, terrified one of the O’s would spot me. Four people come scrambling in, whimpering, climbing over those closest to the opening. The hatch clanged shut behind them. We breathed again. The O’s were out there! I knew it was impossible to resist them once they had you in their mental grip.

The fellow with the flash had it on again. It was getting very, very crowded in our new home.

“Have you got the bleeding?”

“Therethat’s better.”

“We’re really screwed.”

“Do you think it’s true the O’s eat people?”

“They drink blood. They’ll keep us alive for that.”

“Shut down!”

“Who are you? Morale officer? You’re out of a job!”

“Has anybody got psybloc?” I asked.

“Are you joking? That’s the first thing they took.”

“Thinker, is that it? It’s Whit!”

“Whitare you all right?”

“Oh, we’re fine! Scut! How is it?”

“I’ve still got a boot knife,” somebody said.

“I’d suggest suicide,” somebody else responded.

The cylinder rolled again, then lurched giddily. It almost felt as if we were floating, gliding gently through the air. Then there was a harsh clatter, and a mysterious hissing. The cylinder shuddered again, and seemed to lock into position somewhere. All movement stopped.

“Any guesses?”

“It’s dinnertime, and we’re in the oven.”

“It’s not over,” I said.

“Who said that? Aren’t you one of the geniuses who thought up this mission?”

“It’s not over until it’s over,” I said. “And it’s not over yet. Nobody in the Legion should ever give up hope. Stick togetherand don’t ever give up.” Silence greeted my statement. I could hardly believe I had said it myselfbut I guess I had meant it.

***

More than ten hours were to elapse before we were to get a glimpse of our fate. Most of that was spent in stardrive, we were pretty sure. Then there was another ordeal of rolling around inside our prison and an intense period of violent shaking. I was designated Acting One for our pitiful cylinder full of defeated soldiers. Tara had appointed me Deputy Mission Commander earlier, so there was no way I could say no.

Someone passed around a canteen. It was surprising how much equipment we still had, even after the O’s took from us all they wanted. They appeared to be primarily concerned with biobloc and energy weapons. A lot of people still had cold knives and toolpaks.

I organized the unit as best I could. We had one wounded, but we also had a medic and a medpak, and the casualty was soon stabilized. I instructed everyone to conceal everything that might prove useful, like canteens, toolpaks, ratpaks and knives. I didn’t know where we were going, and I didn’t want to lose anything. I didn’t know anyone else except Whit, but that didn’t matter. We were all soldiers of the Legion.

Whit crawled over to me and snuggled up close. It felt good. We’d certainly been through a lot together. She’d gotten me off Mongera, I’d gotten her off Katag, and she’d gotten me off Nimbos. Neither one of us would have made it without the other.

The last portion of our ride was quite bumpy. When it was over we seemed to be gliding smoothly for awhile, then we settled once again.

The pressure suddenly began to build, while hidden vents hissed violently. It built and built. I clapped my hands over my ears. Someone screamed. My eyeballs were ready to popsurely they were going to kill us!

The hatch snapped open and a heavy blast of gas shot us all out of the cylinder, human cannonballs, arcing out into whatever was to be.

I looked up from where I had fallen, stunned and blinking, my eyes adjusting from the dark. I was lying on my back in a pool of mud. A dark angry sky hung close overhead, spitting a cold nasty rain. My companions were all around me, looking up from the mud. And the cylinders were everywhere, a dirty field full of rusty metal containers, hatches still open, leaking gas, discarded and forgotten. A massive black ship loomed beyond the cylinders, motionless, winking a single evil red eye. I had never seen anything like it, but concluded it was a shuttle, and had transported the cylindersand usdownside.

I got up cautiously. Harsh cold air burnt in my throat. Icy, poisonous black rain stained my litesuit. The grav was crushing. It was tough just to stand. An oppressive dark sky covered with rolling clouds. A hopeless landscape of mud and rocks, as far as I could see, inhabited by

us. There were plenty of cylinders, and they had all been full with our shipmates, and now hundreds of Legionnaires were rising from the mud and looking around and organizing themselves for whatever lay ahead.

That’s when the terror hit us again. I fell back to the mud, stunned, straining to breathe, my limbs twitching and helpless.

Two of them came striding up, sloshing through the mud, terrifying visages, taller than any human, clad in great dark cloaks, impossible split faces thrust forward, glaring hatred and radiating power. One of them shrieked at us, revealing a black maw full of needle sharp teeth. I collapsed, a twitching mass of neurons, totally helpless, whimpering in the mud.

When they were gone I slowly recovered, and looked to the smoky horizon. That was where we had to go. I knew it was the O’s that had told me, and I knew we had to go. I shakily got up. The others were doing the same. It was still raining, a miserable, fitful drizzle.

“All right, let’s go,” I said. “Keep the goodies hidden.” We moved out. The gravity was horrible. I hated it. I could see individual O’s here and there, accompanying our marching columns. We had to go to some place that was over the horizon. I could feel it, calling for us. It was very, very urgent that we get there quickly. We wouldn’t be able to stop, or even slow down.

We sloshed through the muddy fields briskly. From time to time little shivers of psypower would flow over us briefly, from the O’s, and we would shudder and walk faster. I wondered why the O’s were walking toosurely they had transportation.

As we continued our march, I tried to learn as much as I could. We had no idea where we were. It was evidently daytime on this world, for night would have been darker, but it was pretty dark for daytime. The sky was a continuous mass of heavy dark rainclouds, and a rising breeze was blowing an acid rain right into my face, burning my eyes. There was no sign of a sun, although there must have been one out there somewhere. It was cold, and seemed to be getting colder.

For as far as I could see, there was only a bleak wilderness of grey, gritty soil, clinging mud, and rocks. There was no sign of vegetation. Not a shrub, not a blade of grass. Only an elemental, blasted wasteland, soaking up an eternal rain.

A boom of thunder rolled overhead, and it began to rain harder. We continued walking, obsessed with our mysterious destination. We were as well-organized as possible. I had ordered a couple of heavies to serve as bodyguard for our medic. I viewed her as our most important asset for now. She didn’t have any gloves, so I gave her mine. Our one wounded was having no trouble walking, so we were set so far.

“Thinker! Whit! You all right?” I looked off to one side. A gust of rain hit me in the face. It was Dragon, striding towards me from an indistinct column of Legion stragglers.

“Dragon! You made it! What happened?” I seized him by the shoulders. It was great to see him. His face was a welt of purple bruises, but he appeared as strong and vigorous as ever. Whit rushed up and embraced him.

“We fought like hell, Thinker,” Dragon said over Whit’s head. “Nobody can say the Strike Force didn’t do its best. We put out so much vac we blew out the corridor walls, but those damned fireballs did us in. Whatever it was, it was powerful stuff. It shorted out our A-suits, and shorted us out as well. When we came back, they had stripped our A-suits off, and the O’s were there. Then it was into the tubes.”

“What about the ship?” We were continuing to slog towards that awful horizon. We didn’t dare stop.

“I don’t know. It was a mess, but it was still there when they put us in the tubes.”

“How about the rest of Beta?”

“I haven’t seen anybody.”

“What about Redhawk?” Whit asked hopefully.

“Sorryno.”

“Oh, I hope he’s all right.”

“Me too.” Dragon put one arm around Whit’s shoulder protectively and we continued marching forward, and Dragon’s people joined ours. I guess it said a lot about our little band of intrepid, inter-universe explorers. The situation was hopeless, but we weren’t giving up.

The horizon was shrouded in dark blue sheets of rain under a stormy black sky. We kept marching. It was impossible to stop. The O’s had psyched us good. I was totally determined to keep going, as fast as possible. I knew the O’s had psyched me, but that didn’t matter.

Several sharp explosions drew our attention off to our left. Two tall O’s were herding along a large group of shadowy creatures unlike anything I had ever before seen. A bolt of light burst in their midst and they hurried the pace. Apparently psyching did not work on them. They had large, strong legs, massive, swollen heads, thin wiry forearms, and small wrinkled bodies. Were these animals, or some higher life form? Whatever they were, they appeared to be heading for the same destination we were.

We had been marching for over five hours when another group of strange travellers loomed out of the dark. There were scores of them, refugees from an unknown world, tramping along silently without escort. These were huge creatures, as tall as the O’s but almost human in shape. They had massive, muscular bodies, great arms and small heads, and wore ragged tunics that reached to their knees. They ignored us, and continued plodding blindly forward. There was something awful about seeing these great, strong creatures reduced to helpless automatons by the O’s.

We eventually drifted apart from them, and the dead plain was once again full of marching Legionnaires and the occasional O, lashing out at us mentally, consumed with hatred, leaving its victims writhing in the mud but unhurt physically.

I couldn’t see anyone from Beta, but there was no time to conduct a search. We had to get there as soon as possible.

After seven hours we were still plodding along wearily under a drizzly dark sky, but something had appeared on the horizon. At first it was just a confusing blur of shifting movement, but as we got closer it took on form and substance. We were approaching a vast campground, inhabited by the doomed. Bizarre creatures from scores of worlds were shuffling or scratching through dirty fields of wet sticky clay, wandering aimlessly or squatting in the muck. I could not recognize any of these alien species. They did not appear to be from our universe, and they were totally unlike anything I had ever seen, but as I watched them in amazement I slowly came to the realization that every single one of these strange creatures looked perfectly natural. Like a dog or an ape or a fish or a bird, they were very different from us, but they did not look strange. Each one of these creatures had evolved to survive in its own environment and, even though I could not tell what that environment had been, not a single one looked like a monster or a mutant. Even the thing with the tentacles growing out of its head around the eye stalks looked perfectly natural, just as nature had designed it.

We walked right through them, and even as I was awed by every new creature there, I could feel no fear, but only sympathy for them. They huddled under that awful smoky sky, and chattered at us as we passed. Some of them had erected primitive shelters of rocks and mud and what looked like skins. I did not see any fire.

A pack of large and formidable-looking predators trailed our column through the chaotic campsite, bilegged, vaguely reptilian creatures with razor-like beaks lined with sharp teeth, and two long grasping arms equipped with barbs. They made a few passes at the rear of our column, but backed off when they ran into our cold knives.

“Stay togetherknives on the outside!” Quite a few of us still had knives. The O’s did not seem to regard them as weapons. I still had my Legion combat knife, a massive, brutally utilitarian blade.

“Up ahead,” Dragon warned us. It loomed out of a cold mist like a mirage, then solidified as we approached. It was a line of tall, massive angular beams of dark metal, thrusting up to the sky like a megalithic, iron-age tribute to some great mad God. As we approached, the gigantic size of these metal columns became frighteningly clear. They were tremendous beams of rusting metal, possibly steel, thrust deep into the earth, disappearing into the cloudy sky. I could just barely make out a crossbeam overhead.

We were to pass between two of the beams. Everyone from our ship was converging on this great entrance, and other creatures were appearing as well. We left the campsite behind us. This was our gate. Armored O’s lounged around it, armed with energy weapons. It appeared that we would soon discover our fate.

It was raining lightly as we sloshed through that awful gate. The massive columns were covered in rust. The O’s ignored us, but our hearts were thumping as we passed by them. Their very presence made it hard to breathe.

Another seemingly endless wasteland stretched away before us. We kept marching. It was cold, and it seemed to be getting darkerthe sky was black with clouds.

A small group of O’s appeared, herding a large flock of outlandish birdlike creatures with long thin legs and necks and plump, fuzzy little bodies. The O’s blasted us with psypower and left us whimpering in the mud.

We got up after they passed, and continued the march. I had killed O’s, I thought, in a better world than this. It was a comforting memory.

***

It slowly appeared out of the dark, another great structure, glowing mysteriously. As we grew closer we saw more mighty vertical steel beams, set with brightly burning torches. The area was teeming with O’s and alien creatures. It was a swirling, chaotic circus of frantic movement. As we approached, squads of O’s in billowing dark cloaks ran out of the mist, paralyzing us with terror and forcing us into a run. All our columns were joining up now, coming together in one gigantic mass of bodies.

We trotted past the flaming beams, caught up in the mob, herded by our dark-robed O’s toward a misty mass of lights, the brightest thing I had seen in that dark world. We were in a vast, crowded field facing a slightly elevated steel platform crowded with O’s and defended by a strong line of O troopers in full armor, equipped with energy weapons. The stage was brightly lit with harsh torches spitting sulfurous fumes into the evil night. A great tent roof of silky material had been set up over the platform to ward off the rain. I looked far above it and saw a gossamer webbing of shredded cloth, hanging limply from a horizontal beamthe original roof had disintegrated, and they had set up their own shelter below.

Jostled and frantic and cringing from the O’s terrifying psypower, I tried to comprehend what was up on stage. The torches were smoking heavily, and the figures of the O’s appeared indistinctly, lost in the fumes. I could make out a central cluster of O’s that seemed to be the focus of attention. One particular O loomed above the others, clad all in black, not even moving, its long arms folded strangely over its concave chest like some kind of giant exoseg, its cold split face thrust forward aggressively as if seeking something to kill. The others clustered around it anxiously, shifting positions, looking around nervously, shrieking commands or epithets, gesturing with long spidery arms. But it stood there like a rock, motionless.

The damned rain wasn’t going to quit. As I watched the activity around us, I began to understand what was happening. A small delegation of O’s approached the stage, leading the group of large humanoids we had seen on our march, the bunch with the huge bodies and small heads. One of the O’s made a little speech, hissing and shrieking, complete with a lot of arm waving. I knew he wasn’t really speakinghe was telepathing, but he was making a lot of noise as well. The gang up on stage watched passively, consulted among themselves briefly, and then dismissed the petitioner. The unfortunate captives were then led away by the O’s to an unknown fate.

“Dragon,” I said. “This isn’t what I thought.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought we’d been captured by the O’sby their central authority. But this bunch that captured usI think they operate on their own. And this is the central authority, here. They’re presenting us, as a tribute.”

“You think so?”

“I think so.”

“If you’re right, it’s not the most promising scenario to negotiate our release, I’ll give you that.”

A babble of alien voices arose all around us. Another group of creatures was being led toward the stage. Damn, I thought, we have truly had it. Bitter black rain continued to run down my face, stinging my eyes. The torches splattered sparks and smoked heavily. We were being jostled to and fro by masses of terrified alien captives. It’s no wonder the O’s are migrating into our universe, I thought. They probably hate this place. Who wouldn’t? A burnt-out cinder of a planetoid, nothing but rock and mud and rain, circling a dark sun, billions of light years from anything. And that’s probably it, this is probably their ultimate ruler, a mad emperor standing under a wet, flapping tent, in the ruins of a once-mighty civilization, unable even to repair the roof, looking out over the remnants of his dying realm with hatred and resentmentand, probably, fear.

My eyes were drawn to the figure of the dark emperor. He had moved. One of the O’s was telepathing from down below, waving his arms before a group of stolid, shaggy captives. The emperor made a quick gesture, and a blast of flame suddenly engulfed the O in mid-speech. One of the O guards had fired. The speaker erupted, his shrieks drowned out by the roar of the flames that were consuming him as he ran around blindly, then collapsed, spewing sparks, his long arms outstretched, burning fiercely.

“I think your negotiating option is out,” I told Dragon grimly.

“I think you’re right. Abject grovelling might be more effective.”

“That won’t be a problem.”

The gang that had captured us urged us forward. Hundreds of Legionnaires jostled each other, spurred by icy waves of psypower from the O’s. I was having trouble breathing again. One of the dark-robed O’s approached the stage. We were certainly the largest group of captives therethe mad emperor would probably love it.

We couldn’t understand the O’s telepathic speech, but it was evidently successful, because our captor left the emperor’s presence alive, along with the rest of us. We were led along a muddy path lined with torches, urged on by the O’s. We came to another pair of mighty vertical steel beams, guarded by a heavy force of armored O’s. We were herded between the beams, urgently. The stink of ozone was in the air.

We headed down a slope slick with mud. It was raining again, and all we could see was more barren land, fading into the rain and mists. The O’s had remained behind. We were on our own. There was no further compelling urge to go on. The psyching was over. It was cold and wet and generally miserable.

“Element leaders, front and center!” I shouted. “Conference!”

It came leaping out of the dark and landed right on my chest, knocking me to the ground, ripping frantically at one shoulder with its teeth, tearing at my litesuit with its barbed arms. I rammed my combat knife up, right into its body, just as Dragon buried his knife in its throat. It screeched, thrashed around and bounded away into the dark on thick legs. I got up, stunned. Thank Deadman for the litesuit! The creature had not been able to cut through the spun cenite.

“We’re under attack!” Dark forms were dashing out of the shadows into our ranks.

“Knives on the outside!” Our troopers reacted quickly, swarming around the reptilian creatures as they appeared, slashing at them with cold knives.

In moments it was over. We could see the beasts out in the dark, croaking at us, but they seemed reluctant to attack further.

“They’re slow learners. That’s the same bunch that attacked us earlier, isn’t it?”

“Looks like the same species, yes.”

“Form defensive positions!” someone was ordering. “Knives out!”

“Element leaders, front!” I shouted again.

We had a tense little conference, looking around nervously. I did not recognize most of the element leaders. These were people who had found themselves in charge of their group by sheer chance of rank.

“Is this all?” I asked. “Surely there’s more!”

“There are. There are a lot of people back there who haven’t gotten the word yet. Some are busy tending their wounded.” It was a Strike Force officer.

“All right, first thing is I want a head count, and I want everyone to reorganize by ship’s units, to make it easier. I want the Strike Force to have all knives and flashes, if we’ve got a shortageand I want an immediate defense and perimeter patrol. Work it out. I want reports of our casualties, and all medics working on the wounded. Med Unit is to do a sitrep to me as soon as possible. I want a master list of all equipmenteverything we haveand who has it.”

“Done. I’m on it.” The Strike Force officer turned, and a hail of rocks pelted us viciously.

“Now what?”

“Scut! Attack! Get those people!”

We charged out into the darkness, shouting fiercely and waving our knives, probing the night with our flashes. I caught a glimpse of several hairy bipeds with long arms and ape-like faces, snarling at us, hustling away into the dark.

We stopped, breathing heavily, splattered with mud, blinking in the acid rain. The grav was a bitch. We hadn’t laid a hand on them. They appeared to be gone.

“Re-form! I want a defensive perimeter. It’s getting darker. I don’t know how long this night is going to last. Get some fires going.”

“What do we burn?”

“You tell me. Get busy!”

“Tenners!”

“It is getting darker,” Dragon said, looking out at the gloom. “I think you’re right. We’d better stay put until we can see again. Then we can decide what to do. All right, I’m off. I’m going to help with the Strike Force.”

“See ya.”

***

It was to be a long night, but we did get a perimeter organized. Whit and I wandered from group to group, taking down designations, when I spotted Valkyrie. She was huddled with a group of wounded around a brightly burning magnesium emergency strobe, tended by a medic. A medpak was pasted around her eyes.

“Valkyrie! What happened?”

“Thinker! You’re alive!” She stuck out her arms blindly, flailing the air, and I pulled her to her feet and embraced her. And we were together again, back in our own world, ever so briefly. It felt so good it was almost holy.

“I’m blind, Thinker,” she said throatily. “The O’s got me right in the faceplate with one of those fireballs. It burnt out the polarizers and I haven’t seen a thing since.”

“You’re not blind any more, Valkyrie. You stay right by my side. I’ll be your eyes.”

“I fought to the end, Thinker. I fought until I was blind.”

“It’ll be all right, Valkyrie,” Whit said.

“Whit! You’re all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“Good. Is it getting colder? It seems to me it’s getting colder.” I could see her breath in the air. It was getting colder, and darker.

***

The next attack came four hours later, in the icy pit of the night. The rain had stopped and the pools of muddy water had all frozen solid. The air was so cold it hurt to breathe it, but most of us had settled down into an uneasy sleep. I was awake with the Strike Force when something whispered past my head and impacted with a dull thud against a sleeping Legionnaire. He came awake screaming and flailing.

“Help! Get it off!” We fell on him, and a black scaled creature flapped away abruptly skyward.

“What the hell!”

“It was on my

throat.” He was on his feet now, staggering, bleeding heavily from the throat. Something small and dark shot past us overhead, totally silent. Another scream arose from behind us.

“Get up!”

“Get them off!”

“We’re under attack!”

“Get a compress on that

” I began.

“I can’t

” the trooper who had been attacked collapsed slowly, into our arms.

“Medic!” We laid him out on the icy ground.

“Deadman, what’s that?” I looked out into the dark. Red eyes, a whole constellation of evil red eyes, glaring at us out of the dark, circling us.

“Lights!” Something large and furry darted out of the darkness snarling, sank a muzzle full of teeth into the wounded man’s collar, and backed off swiftly, dragging his prey away so quickly we were left standing there with our mouths open.

“Get him!” We charged after him. I threw myself on our casualty, who appeared to be totally paralyzed. My weight caused the dog-like creature to release his grip from his victim and leap at my face. I had an instant’s frenzied impression of two glowing red eyes, a mouthful of fangs and a matted fur coat covered with scaly parasites. Then Eight smashed the beast in the face with the shaft of his flash. It yelped, and scampered away. We recovered our casualty and dragged him back inside the perimeter.

“Medic!” I called again. A blood-chilling howling and yapping broke out. We could see red eyes everywhere, surrounding us. Our flashes revealed scores of shaggy, drooling wolf-like predators, their backs covered with dirty winged parasites. And the parasites launched themselves into our ranks, gliding soundlessly to land on our throats. We ripped them off as soon as they landed and battered at them with our flashes and slashed at them with our knives. But everyone who was bitten collapsed, paralyzed. A neat arrangement, I thought. The parasites paralyze the prey, then the wolves come in and drag it away, and they probably share the meal.

“This really is a charming world,” Dragon said.

“I was thinking the same,” I replied.

***

A reluctant dawn eventually came. The temperature slowly rose, but we got to enjoy a little sleet storm as the sky lightened into a slate-grey, cloudy morning. The faint light revealed our squalid campsite in all its misery. I could see the two vertical steel beams through which we had passed, misty in the distance, and the muddy slope down which we had walked. Our surroundings appeared to be a total wasteland, devoid of life. The only bright spot was that everyone had recovered from the paralytic agent used by those flying rats.

I stalked through our campsite, passing hundreds of Legionnaires, until I found her. She was squatting in the mud with a couple of Strike Force troopers and a medic, her hair dishevelled, her arms wrapped around her knees.

“Tara!” She did not stir. One of the Strike Force troopers looked up at me.

“She tried to kill herself last night,” he said. “Slashed her wrists.”

“Get up, Tara.” I stood over her. Her wrists were bandaged.

“Get up!” I reached down and pulled her to her feet. She avoided my eyes. She appeared to be drugged.

“What the hell’s going on, Tara? Where were you last night? This is no time for you to fold. Talk to me, Tara!”

She sighed, and looked away. “There’s nothing to talk about,” she said.

“Nothing to talk about? Are you crazy? Wake up, Tara! Look around you!”

“I’ve seen it, Wester,” she whispered. “It’s my fault. I did it. I’m to blame. I did it all. I’ve lost our lovely ship. I’ve lost my command. The mission has failed. I’ve failed.”

“What the hell is this?” I snarled, seizing her arms and shaking her bandaged wrists before her face.

“I’ve disgraced myself, and the Legion. I want to die. I don’t want to go on.”

I looked at her, for an instant, astounded. Then I brought one hand back and slapped her hard across the face, knocking her right off her feet down to the mud. She looked up at me, stunned, my handprint white on her face. I seized her by her collar and dragged her violently to her feet and pulled her face to mine. I was not happy.

“You absolute bitch!” I shouted in her face. “Every person in this command is depending on you to get us out of this. And you’re worried about the ship? You’re worried about the mission? You’re worried about your stinking reputation? You absolute bitch! You’re not getting out of this that easy! You’re right, it was your blind ambition that got us into this. You’re right, it is your fault, all of it. You are totally responsible for this stinking mess! You and only you! And you want to check out? You want to give up and leave the rest of us stuck here? No way! You’re not getting out of here, Tara. This is your mess, and you’re in command, and you’re responsible for us all. You owe us! And I don’t give a damn about the ship, or the mission. All that’s important now is our people! Now get your brain back in gear right now or I swear by Deadman I’ll knock your teeth right down your throat! You’re back in command, as of right now! And if you don’t do it right, I’ll put you on a leash! The rest of you” I turned to the SF troopers and the medic. “Not a word of this! Not a word!” They nodded. Tara was staring at me. I shook her, like a rag doll. “Do you hear me, Tara? Do you hear me?”

She nodded, weakly, stunned.

“Get to work!” I snarled. “Right now!”

“Yes,” she said. “Yes, of course. Inspection.” She looked around, dazed, at our awful campground. “We have to do an inspection.”

“Move your butt! I’ll follow!”

“Yes, Wester. You’re right. Of course you’re right. How could I be so weak? I’m sorry.”

“Shut down! And don’t apologize. It’s a sign of weakness.”

And we did the inspection.

***

“They don’t look too happy to see us,” Redhawk observed. Redhawk had survived without a scratch. He was glaring at our latest potential adversaries, a large pack of hairy ape-like creatures rushing around atop a rocky hill, gathering up stones to fend us off. This species had attacked us briefly the previous night. We were on the move, a great column of defeated troopers, adrift in a hostile world, anxious to move to higher ground.

“We can certainly take these guys,” I said. Tara considered the hill silently. It was just what we needed for a bit of security and refuge from the miserable, flooded lowlands.

“No,” Tara said. “We pass it by. We’re going to need allies. Leave a canteen.”

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll go.” I took one of the canteens and headed towards the hill. I wasn’t sure I agreed with Tara, but I was pleased to see she was making decisions again. I knew she was smarter than I was. We could certainly afford to lose another canteen. A canteen was part of the litesuit E-pak, and everyone except the SF had been in full litesuits and comtops when captured. The O’s had confiscated the comtops, presumably because of the tacmods, but they had left us with most of the rest of the gear. The canteens generated ultra pure drinking water. They were bottomless reservoirs, so drinkable water was not one of our problems. I had never really appreciated the canteens before, but I knew the apes would, once they discovered that the canteen slowly refilled itself after it was empty.

Several males were dancing fiercely on an outcropping of rock, showing me their fangs. One of them hurled a stone. I avoided it. I placed the canteen on the ground and retreated.

We continued into the wilderness. The air was wet and the sky was dark, but it was not raining. This was probably what passed for a pleasant day on O-Rock. That’s what we had named itO-Rock.

Most of us had survived the nasty battle with the O’s on the ship. Their tactics were certainly effective, and seemed designed to maximize captives rather than corpses. It made me wonder why, but I’ve always been kind of paranoid. Almost everyone was here, with a few troubling exceptions. What bothered Tara and I the most was the absence of Gildron. I had seen him last during the battle. But after that, he had just disappeared.

“Am I the only one who’s getting hungry?” Whit asked from Redhawk’s side. She had transferred her affections from Dragon to Redhawk as soon as Redhawk had appeared. I could tell Dragon was not happy about it. I’ve never been able to figure out what goes on inside a girl’s head. Dragon was a brutally handsome, fearless warrior with a body as hard as cenite, while Redhawk was pale, splotchy, scruffy and sometimes smelly. Whit had sampled them both, and evidently preferred Redhawk.

“That’s a troubling question, Thinker,” Redhawk said. “What are we gonna eat when the E-rats run out?”

“Well, let’s find out what the rest of the critters eat.”

“They probably eat each other.”

“That’s something to think about.”

“Visitors, gang!” They had suddenly appeared from behind a slight rise, a long file of strange, graceful creatures that looked vaguely like great spiders, flowing along on four large, hairy legs, two extra-long pincers in front tipped with barbs and a cone-like head with a sharp snout swivelling on a thin, jointed, whipcord neck. They were bigbigger than us. They came at us quickly, all at once, almost gliding over the dirty, rock-strewn field. There were a whole lot of themtoo many to count.

One of them collided with Redhawk, and in an instant the creature had seized Redhawk in its pincers and dragged him underneath its stinking body, frantically trying to pierce the litesuit with the razor-sharp tube that extended from its snout, snapping its head up and down with the effort.

I got a death grip around the creature’s long neck and forced the head back and around. The pincers released Redhawk and snapped all around me. The thing was dancing wildly as Tara sunk a knife into its body and Whit pounded at its head with the shaft of a flash. I kept twisting the head around until something snapped. The creature shuddered, threw us off convulsively, and staggered away, its head flopping loosely. It was then promptly attacked by one of its own.

“Go for the head!” I shouted. Our entire column was engulfed by the creatures. Redhawk was struggling to his feet. I went after the next beast. It was besieged by a mob of Legion defenders. This is madness, I thought. We’re back in the Stone Age, the law of club and fang, where the only path to survival lies in crushing the skulls of your enemies before they can crush yours. We’ve lost our soulsthis is Perdition.

Chapter 16

Masters of O-Rock

“It’s quite a zoo,” Tara remarked. An inter-universe zoo, I thought. We hadn’t the slightest idea where these species came from, this universe or ours, but here they were, all of them, swarming in a mysterious ballet around a large rusting pipe that was poised over a long metal trough. As we watched, the pipe coughed and expelled a stream of sticky grey fluid. It shot out to splatter into the trough. The zoo exploded into activity, frantic to get at the stuff. Each species had carved out a place for itself at the chute. The man-apes were carrying rocks and bent pieces of scrap metal to fend off the othersthey had chosen a choice spot near the pipe. The lizard-like creatures that had twice attacked us also had a good spot, but they were avoiding the apes. The big spider vampires appeared unconcerned with anyone else. The parasite-bedecked wolves were making little rushes in and out, gobbling at the paste hurriedly, then retreating. A whole lot of other bizarre species were milling around as well.

“Lunch time!” Dragon grinned. “Who’s hungry?” He was accompanied by a sweet little Legion honey with silky chestnut hair and big brown eyes. Dragon had not wasted any time in picking up another admirer. Whit was quite obviously consumed with jealousy but there wasn’t much she could do, with Redhawk at her side. With a bit of luck, the experience would teach her a little humility.

“Let’s get a sample of that stuff,” Tara said. “If it’s edible, our long-term problems will be solved.” Two Strike Force troopers moved down to the trough with a sample tube from a medkit. We were a recon team, mapping our new world. The pipe was certainly an important discovery.

“What’s the sit, Thinker?” Valkyrie asked. Her eyes were still bandaged. A lifeline connected her left wrist to mine. I had decided nothing was going to separate us. I was tired of leaving Valkyrie behind, and Tara had not been able to talk me out of it.

“The O’s are feeding their slaves, Valkyrie,” I said. “Everybody’s here.”

“Look at those guys!” Dragon said. A new group had appeared. They were the extra large humanoids we had seen on our march, the ones with massive chests and arms and small heads, clad in ragged tunics. They stood in the distance, observing the activity around the pipe.

“They’re new meat, like us,” I said. “Come to watch the show.”

“Give them a canteen,” Tara said. “I want these big guys on our side.”

“I’ll do it,” Dragon said. We watched him walk over to them, fending off a curious biped lizard at one point with his combat knife.

The tall humanoids gazed at him stolidly. They did not move. Dragon held up the canteen, took a drink from it, then held it out to the nearest humanoid. The creature reached out one massive hand and took it. Dragon backed off, then returned to us.

“Good work, Eight,” Tara said.

“They could use a bath,” he said.

“So could we. We’ve got our sampleslet’s get back to camp.”

***

Our new camp was somewhat better than the old. It spread over a slight upcropping of rocky land that had been home to a gigantic species of twelve-legged carnivores. These creatures were truly scary, but they had scampered off hurriedly when we moved into their nesting area. We learned laterthe hard waythat each “leg” was tipped with a poisonous barb.

As a medic analyzed the food sample, Redhawk came up to me clutching something in his hand.

“Take a look at this, Thinker!” He was holding a human skull. It was worn and weathered, but unmistakable. There was a jagged hole in the skull.

“Damn. Where did you get this?”

“Up there, in the nest. There’s more bones as well. They look human, too.”

“Damn. Then where are they?”

“Dead, maybe?”

Tara was stood there, glaring at the skull. “We’ve got to continue the recon, once we solve the food problem. I want a complete map of where we are, and what’s here. And if there are any other humans here, I want to know about it.”

***

I slept that night with Valkyrie in my arms. The temperature crashed and it rained ice, pattering off us, bringing a faint, almost pleasant chill to my flesh. I didn’t mind. We were tough as cenite, and I was warm and comfy in my litesuit. It had been worse than this during Basic on Dindabai. I blessed that single-minded, fanatic Assidic primitive who had whipped us into shape. He had done a first-class job. I knew we were going to survive, but I wasn’t certain if that was good or bad. That night my dreams were a frenzied mélange of all the creatures we had seen in this strange world. But they weren’t pursuing me, in my dreams. They were all crying out for release.

We were up early the following morning. The night watch had kept on the move, lighting up the dark with magnesium flares and flashes. It must have scared off the opposition because we were not attacked. Perhaps the word was getting around that there was a new gang in town that wasn’t taking prisoners.

“Sure you want to come?” I asked Valkyrie.

“I wouldn’t miss it, Thinker!”

“Let’s get going,” Dragon said.

“All right,” Tara said. “You’re in command of the base, One Five. We’ll be back as soon as poss.” One Five was the CO of the Dindabai’s Strike Force, and Tara was leaving him to defend our camp. Tara seemed determined to accompany any mission into the field.

“Watch yourselves, guys!” Redhawk called out. He was remaining behind with Whit. We waved farewell and marched out under a stormy sky. We were a strong recon party, and the mission was to clarify our situation by direct observation. We had no idea what we were doing here, or even where “here” was. A secondary mission was to locate any humans who might still be alive out there. We weren’t worried about our base. The tests on the food sample had shown it to be edible protein. The base would be fine. We had taken the last of the E-rats with us. I was happy to postpone the moment when I would have to force down that awful gruel.

Lightning flickered overhead, but the rain held off. It was cold and much of the mud was still frozen. It crackled as we walked over it. I described everything I saw to Valkyrie as we walked side by side. She squeezed my hand. The medics thought she might recover her sight, but they weren’t certain.

The terrain was low and rocky, with occasional small hills and gullies. There was no vegetation at all. It appeared to be a perfectly dead world. We were breathing oxygen, which is normally produced by plant life, but we had no explanation for this. Perhaps another part of the planet contained oxygen-producers. They certainly weren’t here.

Various species cut across our path from time to time, appearing and disappearing, watching us warily. Once we thought a group of lizard bipeds was going to attack, but they apparently thought better of it. Once a pack of parasite wolves closed in on us, and the furry little parasites started to take to the air. We charged the pack, screaming and waving our flashes, and the wolves broke and ran, and the parasites wheeled in the air and flew after them. We stopped and laughed. We were starting to understand the place.

***

“There’s something over here,” one of the SF troopers said. We followed him into a rocky gully, ankle-deep in freezing slush. It started to rain. One of the O’s vertical metal beams could be seen some distance away, off in the mist.

Four dead lizard bipeds were scattered around the gully, their savage mouths still open. We poked at them with our flashes. They had all been seriously burnt. The skin was charred black in places, but normal in other places. Two of the corpses had single sharp puncture marks on their ribcages. It was raining harder.

“All right, what the hell?” Dragon asked.

“Those puncture wounds have got to be from those quadruped vampire species that tried to drill us,” I said. “Remember, the spider legs, the skinny necks and the razor tubes?”

“So, spider cooks and eats lizard? I repeat, what the hell?”

“What’s that smell?” Tara asked.

I could smell it nowunmistakable.

“Ozone,” I said. “That’s ozone.”

“Ozone?”

I got out of the gully, pulling Valkyrie with me, and looked around. The rain hissed and vaporizing in a great sheet before us. An invisible wall stinking of ozone, crackling and popping all the way back to that great steel beam.

I tossed a handful of clay at it. The clay exploded, spraying fragments of mud. I tossed a stone. It flashed, and bounced off. I recovered the rock. It was hot to the touch and scorched black.

“I think we’ve found one wall of our prison, gang,” I said. “Anyone want to bet me this thing doesn’t lead back to the gate we came in?”

***

We continued our trek, keeping the invisible wall to one side. The rain slowed. We could sense the presence of the wall, even when we could not see it. When we got too close our hair would start to stand on end, and we could hear a very faint humming, and smell the ozone. We moved away from it. The lizards had probably been trapped between the wall and the predatory spider vampires, and we didn’t want the same thing to happen to us.

A small pack of man-apes cut across our path on the horizon, breaking into a run when they saw us. One of them, taller than the rest, fell behind and finally went to ground. We hustled to surround the creatureits companions had abandoned it.

We found a very human girl, sprawled in the mud, dressed in filthy rags with long matted hair and wild eyes, rail-thin, covered with cuts and sores, baring her teeth at us, then watching us silently. Somebody handed her a canteen and she snatched it and drank greedily.

“Do we speak Inter?” Tara asked.

“Yes.” She was looking at us each in turn, taking it all in carefully.

“Where is it from?”

“We’re from the Fort,” the girl replied. “Where is it from?”

“We’re from Dindabaiwe’re ConFree citizens from the Lost Command, recently arrived here. What was its world?”

“ConFree

” she appeared lost in thought. “We’re from Ardoth. It’s a System world. The V invaded and killed all the defenders, and took the rest captive and brought us here.” The Vthat was what the Systies called the O’s.

“So there’s more of its people? What happened to it? What was it doing with those apes?”

“They captured us on a hunting party. They killed our companions. They kept us alive, for

they kept us alive because we’re female. Disgusting subs! We’ll smash their skulls when we have a chance!”

“What’s this about a fort? Can it take us there?”

“Yes. We should join forces to kill the apes. They breed like lice. We should find their nests and crush the skulls of their filthy young!”

“Medic, let’s take a look at this young lady,” Tara said.

***

“The Legion is very well equipped,” the Systie leader said, eagerly accepting a gift of four canteens from Tara. He had a beard, long tangled hair and bright eyes, and was clad in disintegrating civvies. We were standing in the midst of the Fort, surrounded by over fifty pitiful, ragged humans, male and female, young and old, dressed in shredded rags and armed with metal spears, painstakingly manufactured by hand from scrap metal ripped from the feeding chute. We must have looked like Gods to them. One big-eyed little boy-child stepped forward and cautiously touched Tara on the thigh.

“Just like a Princess,” he said. We all smiled. Their fort was quite impressive, considering their limited resources. They had built a wall of rocks and mud, taller than a man, completely surrounding their settlement. Many of their adversaries could scale the wall, the leader said, but it was harder when the wall was defendedand it was always defended. They had built some stone shelters inside the walls for the women and children. A smoky fire burnt in a pit in the center of the camp. They were cooking something.

“There’s no wood here,” the Systie explained. “But we found an oily stone that burns. Seems to be oil shale. It’s all we need. We don’t eat that crap the V feed their captives. Several of these species are edible. We eat them. And they eat us, when they can.”

“What’s the purpose of this place?” Tara asked. “Why are we here? Why are all these species here? What do the Othe Vdo with them?”

“We call it the Zoo. The V come in, once in awhile, and select certain creaturesand lead them back through the gates. And that’s the end of it. We don’t see them again. Sometimes they take our people as well. There’s nothing we can do except watch. We don’t know what happens to them. All we know is we lose wives, sons, daughters, husbands

“

“Our thanks for bringing our daughter back.” A second bearded man confronted Tara. The girl we had rescued was in his arms. “We had given up hope. We are forever in its debt. We will never again speak ill of the Legion. What can we do to assist it?”

“We need to know everything about this world,” Tara said. “Tell us all it knows. Teach us how to survive. We wish to join forces with it to ensure our joint survival.”

“We will tell it all we know. We will help it survive!”

“And then we kill the apes!” the girl hissed from her father’s arms.

***

We moved our camp, occupying the area adjoining the Fort. All humans were now united in this strange world, and our numbers made us a formidable force to everyone except our captors. The Systies showed us the borders of the Zoo. It was quite extensive and full of creatures from other worlds, but it was totally enclosed by the deadly, invisible wall of raw power that we had discovered on our recon. The wall seemed to extend up the full height of the steel beams that channeled it. Going over it was out of the question. The wall also extended into the ground. An effort by the Systies to tunnel under it had resulted in one fatality. An effort to determine how deeply the beams were buried in the ground had also failed. We were considering all these factors, but we knew nothing could be done to alter our situation without psybloc. And we did not have any psybloc. The situation was not promising.

***

The large humanoids with the small heads showed up one day, all eighteen of them. We watched them as they set up camp next to us. That night they were attacked by the lizard creatures, and we reacted by helping them fight off the attackers.

The following morning a delegation of the humanoids confronted us with strange gestures and open hands. I reached out gingerly for one of the creatures and we linked fingers. I looked right into those alien eyes and I saw a deep sorrow, and a solemn promise. That night we extended our perimeter to include the humanoids, and they walked guard duty with us and our lights pierced the dark, all night, and the attacks stopped.

We were masters of O-Rock in no time at all, within the confines of the Zoo. Even the vampire spiders seemed reluctant to take us on. I felt very sorry for most of the species trapped in there with us. Some of them were so exotic, so different, that we had no way of communicating. One species had great gossamer wings, a long tube-like snout, and flaring antennae. They kept holding up their wings to fly, but they couldn’t, not in that grav. The rain was washing away their fluffy skin. It was a shame. They must have been graceful and beautiful in their world.

I knew we were in the same situation as them. It appeared there was no way out for us, ever. Our mission had failed, spectacularly, just as I had told Tara it would. We were going to spend the balance of our lives here, waiting for the O’s to haul us away, one by one, to meet our end. It was certainly over for us. It was foolish to think otherwise. But as long as life remained in our bodies, we were going to continue to act as soldiers of the Legion.

***

And then one dark day two O’s walked in on us, accompanied by Gildron. We only had enough time to panic before the icy tendrils of their psypower paralyzed us with terror. Two tall O’s, wearing long dark cloaks, glared ferociously at their surroundings with Gildron between them. He was also wearing a cloakan O cloak.

His boots stopped before me as I grovelled in the dirt.

“Get up, Three,” he said. “Where is Cinta?”

He helped me up. The O’s were so close, so totally evil, so totally powerful, that I was having trouble breathing. Gildron put a heavy hand on my shoulder, and I led him to Tara.

She was cringing in a foetal position, surrounded by her stricken comrades. Gildron reached down and pulled her to her feet. She threw herself against his chest, embracing him frantically, wild with relief but still terrified. I was sticking pretty close to him myself. Gildron seemed strangely unaffected by the O’s psypower.

Valkyrie cried out in horror as they led Tara and me away and Redhawk informed her. My heart burned for her.

The O’s took us back to the gate, up the slimy mud slope and between the two massive steel beams that marked the entrance to the Zoo. Several O troopers in full armor were guarding it. I could smell the stink of ozone, again.

The O’s marched us back to a muddy field and I looked up and there it wasthat great metal stage, wreathed in mist, illuminated by smoky torches, crowded with O’s and surrounded by armored O’s wielding energy weapons. This time, however, the field facing the stage was deserted. We were alone, just Gildron, Tara and me. Our Omni escorts had faded away. We stood there, in that vast muddy plaza, awaiting our fate. The Emperor showed himself, stepping forward up on stage, peering out of his black cloak. The sky was dark and threatening with low-hanging clouds spitting a faint mist, but there was a bright light directly overhead. A single star, flickering, ice-cold, brilliant, right over our heads.

It was the Star. My skin crawled. And I suddenly realized that the psypower was gone.

“What’s the sit, Gildron?” I hissed.

“This is our only chance, Three. They wanted to deal with me, because my people are the only ones they can trust. They offered me freedom, and I refused. I told them only Cinta and Beta Three could make this decision, and I told them there must be no psypower. Cinta, you must speak for us all. You must be strong.”

“That’s the Star,” Tara said slowly.

“Yes. The Star is our salvation. At first I tried to hide it, but they found it. They were horrified when they saw it had returned to them. They do not want it even for a day. They fear its power. It almost destroyed them, once. They want us to take it and leave. It is the only solution for them. They know they cannot destroy it. They know they cannot trust themselves with it. They do not want it here. It is too dangerous.”

“What must I say?” Tara asked.

“The Benevolent Supreme One, the All-Knowing, offers us freedom. You, Three, and I. We will take the Star and leave. They will help us return to our universe.”

Freedom! Salvation! It would have been so easy, then, to say yes, yes, yes!

Tara’s face darkened. Her shoulders went back, and she stepped away from Gildron, facing the emperor bravely, shaking back her hair. Her defiance was obvious, even before she spoke.

“No. The answer is no! It’s all of us, or none! Tell him that!” I closed my eyes. I was never prouder of Tara than I was at that very moment, waiting for the O troopers to blast us to atoms. She had redeemed herselffor everything.

The stage erupted. I knew Gildron had communicated the message telepathically. The Emperor raised his great spidery arms and shrieked his rage. His flunkies trembled in concern. I was expecting a blast of psypower, or worse, but it did not happen.

“The Compassionate, the All Powerful, the Creator, has ruled that all humans from your ship are to accompany the Star,” Gildron said. The mad emperor and his court were frozen on stage, glaring at Tara. I saw her lips form the word, and I could hardly believe it.

“No,” she said. “No! All humans are to accompany usnot just those from our ship. All of them!”

The Emperor remained frozen, but his evil eyes blazed with hatred. Nobody was moving. A light rain fell. The Star hung there, overhead, crackling slightly, illuminating us all. I was wide-eyed with amazement and horror. I did not think I would have had it in me to so brazenly defy the will of the O’s lunatic emperor. We were surely dead nowTara was a fool!

“The Living God wishes to purge his realm of all evil,” Gildron said. “The Star is evil, and all humans are filthy, diseased carrion, carriers of evil. God decrees that all humans are to be banished from his universe, with the Star, immediately.”

“And the humanoids. The ones living next to us. They’re evil, too. Tell him!” I cringed. Tara had gone insane, that was obvious.

The Emperor leaped forward to the edge of the stage, his cloak swirling around him. One long arm went up, trembling, a mailed fist, poised to strike.

“You don’t want his hand to come down, Tara,” I choked.

“The humanoids are evil as well,” Gildron said. “They are banished! Now go! Speak no further! Leave our realm, or face our righteous wrath!”

“Tell him his terrified slaves hasten to fulfill his commands,” Tara said. “And hold me up. I think I’m going to faint.”

***

Gildron accompanied us back into the Zoo on his own. It didn’t take us long to break camp. We were highly motivated. So were the Systies, once we told them what was happening. We made our humanoid allies understand by gestures that they were to come with us and they showed no reluctance.

Valkyrie was overjoyed at my return. She still could not see, but I threw an arm over her shoulders and pulled her tight. Together! We were all to walk out of here together. It was incredible.

Just as we were leaving, a strong delegation of man-apes showed up. There must have been close to thirty of them. They stood there together for awhile, hunched over and scratching, watching us. Then they pushed forward one of their number. He approached us reluctantly, shambling forward. He was holding a canteenour canteen. He placed it on the ground gingerly, before us, then rapidly retreated to his fellows. They all turned and left, anxiously, almost running. One of our medics recovered the canteen.

“What the hell was that all about?” Redhawk asked.

“I think I know,” I replied. “It was the canteen. The damned thing was too advanced for them. It was probably wrecking their society. They were probably having power struggles over it, bashing in each other’s skulls to possess it. They finally decided they’d be better off without it.”

“Well I’ll be damned.”

“You know what? Those apes are smarter than we are.”

***

The O’s weren’t too gentle with us when we trooped back through the gates. They lashed at us with their psypower and reduced us to a flock of terrified, quivering slavesonce again. All except Gildron. The Star accompanied him, floating gently a few mikes over his shoulder. The psypower did not seem to be directed at him, but the rest of us were herded like doomed mumpups, under that dark sky, into a great black ship. They had agreed to set us free, but they hadn’t agreed to be nice about it. They forced us down a narrow, icy metal corridor lined with locked hatches, and when we were all there they sealed us in. It was dark and cold and crowdedthere were so many of us packed in there we could barely move.

The shuttle launched suddenly and I knew we were on our way. Gildron did not seem to be with us.

“Thinkerlook at this!” It was Whit. We had been underway close to a half hour. I found my way forward to her position by one wall. She had found a sliding metal panel that opened to reveal a viewport and a black, dead sky. But there was something there, out in the vac, a tiny, silvery speck. It grew as I watched it, into a miniature dart, shining like a star, floating alone in the immensity of that awful, empty vac. I had never before seen anything so lovely, so captivating, so welcoming.

“It’s the Star of Dindabai,” I announced. “It’s right out there. They’re taking us back to our ship!” A tremendous cheer burst forth from our ranks.

Chapter 17

Dust of the Gods

It’s hard to describe the mixture of rage and relief and apprehension that we all felt when we sealed that last airlock door, cutting us off from the O’s, leaving us in the dubious safety of our own ship. We ran to our stations, frantic to bring the ship back to life, and Tara and I found Gildron already on the bridge. Throughout the ship, corridors were warped and blistered by the vicious battle that had raged there. The air still stank of smoke and burnt wiring. We ripped open our armories and tossed out new E’s and Manlinks and pouches full of psybloc grenades, and everyone snatched them up eagerly. We felt disgraced and helpless, and we were determined that it not happen again. I drifted aimlessly around the bridge with an E and a beltpak of psybloc grenades as Tara and Gildron reviewed the damage reports and oversaw our efforts to get all systems back on line.

Nobody could have missed that view, out the forward viewports. The O’s dark world hung in the vac like a diseased plum, a massive orb, eerily luminous but covered with an impenetrable soup of dark clouds. And out in the infinite ocean of space, two tiny feeble stars were barely visible, one white, one yellow, probably at the maximum distance to sustain life on the O’s awful rock.

Looking down at O-Rock, I wondered if we would ever know the true identities of our captors. Was the mad emperor really the O’s maximum ruler, or just some local bandit chief? Surely the endless hosts of O ships that plagued our galaxy did not originate from this pitiful rock? Whoever they were, the guys who attacked us had certainly kicked our asses. We knew how to fight O’s, we knew how to kill O’s, but we couldn’t kill holos, and the O’s had never before used their vac-active holos in such overwhelming numbers. The tactic had proven most effective.

I could only shudder, thinking of that obscene zoo. There was nothing we could do for the other species. We had tested the emperor’s patience as it was. Perhaps the Legion could return here some day, in force, and set all those pitiful creatures free. But I knew it was a foolish dream. We had enough problems in our own universe to occupy the Legion for several generations, and nobody was going to mount an expedition into another universe to liberate creatures we knew nothing about.

“What do you think, Systems?” Tara asked.

“Better than I expected,” Systems replied. “The stardrive can be repaired, but it will take some time. The Ship estimates fifteen hours. Otherwise, there’s lots of superficial exterior and interior damage but no other major systems problems. We could limp out of here on vac drive and make the repairs underway if you’d like to get away from this place before they change their minds.”

“I was thinking the same. How many O ships in orbit here?”

“Twenty-six total.”

“How odd. Only twenty-six ships. Surely this can’t be their home planet.”

“They don’t have a home,” I said. “I believe they lost their homegenerations ago. Can we get out of here, please?”

“Yesof course. Gildron, do the O’s understand it’s going to take us awhile before we can leave their universe?”

“Yes. The Living God has decreed we are not to be hindered. He does not want to see the Star again.” Gildron took the Star out of an inside pocket and released it. It floated up to the ceiling, casting a pale glow. I despised the damned thing. I realized it was the only reason the O’s had set us free, but it was also the reason we had gone there in the first place.

“All right, vac drive, build to max velocity. I want the antimat systems techs to have absolutely everything they need to get the job done ASAP. That’s number one priority. Tell them to get to work right now.”

“They are,” Systems replied.

“Vac launch,” the pilot said, “with pleasure!” O-Rock slowly fell away from the forward viewport as the Star of Dindabai glided smoothly into the vac. I reflected on what we might have learned down there. A little humility, hopefully. But there was the Star, the cursed Star, still with us. We were still putting all our hopes in the damned thing. I knew we would be better off without it.

“We’ll have to use the Star to counter those holos,” Tara mused aloud. “First thing we’ll do when we get back to Dindabai. We can do anything with the Starbut we can’t do everything. This will have to be next on the list, Gildron. We can’t have this happening again.”

Gildron did not answer. He seemed lost in thought. He had been very quiet since our disastrous visit to O-Rock.

***

We met in the Commander’s Dining Room with the Systies and the humanoids. The Systies were wearing brand-new ship’s fatigues. We were all still a little giddy at the mind-numbing luxuries available on board after our Stone Age lifestyle on O-Rock. It didn’t matter that the corridors were all shot up and half the hatches were blown off. It was miraculous that we had hot and cold water, toilets, warm beds and as much food and drink as anyone could want.

“We never thought we’d say this,” the Systie leader said, raising his glass, “To the Legion.” We got up and drank. It wasn’t often that a Systie toasted the Legion.

The humanoid leader reached out one great arm and linked hands with Gildron. Such a human gesture said everything. Gildron had insured the humanoids were comfortable on board. They were wearing new tunics fashioned in their own style from material taken from ship’s stores. Gildron learned they were from our own universe, from a world we had not yet discoveredbut we knew where it was now. The humanoids zeroed it on a star chart. If we did get back to our own universe, we could return the humanoids to their own world. Gildron told them that, and they were grateful. I felt good about that. I decided I had been wrong about Tara. She was the reason they were here; she had risked us all, the whole ship, for them, for beings who were not even human, for creatures who had done nothing for us. Except

they had stood the night watch with us, back on O-Rock. Was that enough? Was that it? Was it just because they stood together with the Legion, against the rest of creation? And wasn’t that enough?

Maybe that was enough, in Tara’s mind. She was a dark angel, I decided, dedicated and fearless. System Goodlibs would say she was totally immoral, but they would be completely wrong, as usual. Just the opposite. She was totally moral. No wonder people like her scared the hell out of the System.

Tara and I met with Gildron alone later in the Conmod. His puzzling silence was troubling. Something was up. He told us, hunched over a cup of Dinda Highlands blue tea, scowling at the conference table, avoiding our eyes, clenching and unclenching one beefy fist.

“The O’s recognized me,” Gildron said. “They accepted me as a friend and equal. Ever since we seized that first ship, I have known that the O’s held the secret of my origins. My heart has been heavy for many years, ever since the slavers tore me away from my family on my home world. I never knew where my world was, but I can still see every detail of our happy home, all my relatives and friends, our whole community. We were blissful and content until the slavers came. They took me away, and nobody among your people had ever seen anything like me before. Only the slavers knew the location of my world, and they weren’t telling. I had no idea where it was. Our people are not concerned with their place in the Cosmos.” He shook his massive head, and a faint smile arose.

“Then my lovely Cinta brought me up out of that dark pit where the slavers cast me. Out of the dark and into the light. Your people were so primitive you could not even communicate, except by chattering like monkeys. I gave up. I was content to live the rest of my life with Cinta at my side. She was a good companion, even though I thought her quite retarded.” He looked at her fondly, and she placed a hand on one of his.

“Then we met the Legion on Uldo,” Gildron continued, “and boarded that Omni ship, and the O’s could have killed me and you but they did not. They told me the story of their people, and it was an endless odyssey from the death of their universe into a new existence. They had been migrating for hundreds of years across the great gulf, and they met only fear and resistance along the way. They became cold and hard. Only in one world were they welcomed, without qualification. My world. Picture it as our history describes ita heavy recon squad of armored O’s, wielding fearsome weapons, glowing in purple force fields, stalking through a peaceful little forest village that was only instants away from transformation into a flaming, howling wilderness. My ancestors held out gourds of fresh spring water in welcome. And the O’s paused, and drank. They lived peacefully with our people for many years, and then moved on. In all their travels, only we had welcomed them. That is why we are all still alive. That and the Star.” He paused, and sipped at his tea. His gaze was lost, focused somewhere in the past.

“I know where my world is now.”

“Gildron!” Tara squeezed his hand.

“Yes. They only now told me, back there. I can go home now. After all these years.”

We were speechless. I could imagine his joy. I too wanted to go home.

“You have no idea how difficult it was for me to kill those two O’s for you, when we seized their ship, after they had told me about how my people had welcomed them. The O’s on O-Rock knew what I had done. They understood, about my loyalty to Cinta. Can you comprehend it? They understand loyalty, and respect it. They told me where my home is. You humans are wrong about the O’s. Most life forms respond to kindnesseven the O’s.”

“It’s kind of hard to kiss and make up after they’ve killed two billion of us,” I said. “We can respond to kindness. We can respond to cruelty, too. All we’ve ever seen from the O’s is hatred. Talk is meaningless. Only a brain-damaged Systie Goodlib would respond to words. The O’s can end the war anytime they want, by ceasing their attacks on our worlds. And until that happens, the war will continue.”

“Yes. Yes, I know,” Gildron said. “It’s a pity.”

“Life is a pity. But we’re in it. And there’s no sense in deluding ourselves about it.”

***

Valkyrie left the Body Shop on her own, blinking her eyes, feeling her way to the door. I met her there.

“Valkyrie. It’s Thinker. How did it go?”

“I can see, Thinker!” Her face brightened. “It’s still just light and dark, but my vision’s coming back. The medics say I should completely recover. It should get a little better every day.”

“Wonderful! Gimme a squeeze.” We embraced, happy again, lost for just an instant in our private world.

“It’s amazing what they can do,” Valkyrie said as we walked along the corridor toward her cube. “They said even if my eyes had been completely destroyed they could replace them with biogenned eyes, and I’d get my sight back.”

“I’m glad you’re all right.”

“I have to be all right, to go on the mission.”

“Eleven

I’m afraid that’s not possible. You can’t go on the mission if you can’t see.”

“I’ll get better. I’m going on the mission.”

“Valkyrie. You remember what the Mound was like. It was a bloody madhouse. We’re going right into itand we must be one hundred percent efficient, or people are going to diemaybe us. If your vision is not perfect, you’ll be a liability. I’m sorry. You can’t go. It’s out of the question. I’ve lost enough friends already. I don’t want to lose you as well.”

“I’m going. You don’t understand. I have to go! My vision’s getting better! I’ll be fine!”

“You just walked right past your cube.”

“Don’t try to stop me, Thinker! You can’t do that! It’s not fair! You’re not leaving me behind!” She touched the lock, and the door to her cube snapped open. “You just wait. I’ll get better.”

She broke open a couple of dox, and we sat there on the bunk in her cramped little cube with the wall table down, looking into each other’s eyes. Cool emerald eyes, I thought. But the whites were solid red. The cross of the Legion was burnt onto her forehead. She was crazy, but absolutely captivating.

“What’s the latest on the drive?” she asked.

“Work is proceeding on schedule. Looks like they’ll get it done.”

“How about the probe?”

“It was rotten with D-neg. They’ve successfully isolated and extracted a sample. They should be feeding it into the reactor soon.” We had been incredibly lucky. The very first probe, the one we had successfully recovered, had been peppered with raw D-neg. If only Tara had listened to Gildron, we could have avoided that nasty vacation on O-Rock.

“And what happens if they slip up somewhere?”

“We all die. Instantly. But as Tara said, there’s nothing to worry about. We won’t feel a thing.”

“If it does happen, I’ll see you in Heaven, Thinker.”

“How many fingers?”

“Pardon?”

“How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Two.”

“Three.”

“I’m going, Thinker! And nobody’s going to stop me.”

“We’ll talk about it later. You said something on the com about Dindabai. Something you wanted to tell me. What was that?”

“Do you remember the waterfall? When we were all alone, just you and me?”

“Of course I do.”

“I want to go back there, Thinker. Right now. Right here, while I still can’t see what’s around me.” She reached out for me, and ran a hand gently down my chest. “Love me, Thinkernow. Rip my clothes off, and love me, and we’ll pretend we’re back on Dindabai.”

“Valkyrieyou know I love you. But I told you, we can’t. We have to be strong. We’ve got to be as hard as cenite, where we’re going. We’ve got to be biogens, totally focused, or the mission will fail. We don’t have time for love.”

She tore open my tunic, abruptly. “No time for love? You’re so boring sometimes, Thinker. Fanatics are really boring. There’s always time for love.” She leaned forward and ran her tongue over my chest. A surge shot through my body.

“You can’t even see.” I was weakening, I knew.

“That makes it more exciting. You could be anybody!”

“You really are shameless.”

“Shut down and strip meslowly.”

“Well, maybe just this one time. I mean, since you’re so insistent and all.”

“You’re aching for me, Thinker. You don’t fool me. Go ahead and walk out that door. Let me see it.”

“A little later.” I reached out and bit her gently on the neck, and she squealed in delight. She was an angel. And why shouldn’t we enjoy ourselves, in the face of near certain death? I closed my eyes, and imagined we were back by the waterfall, on Dindabai.

***

“Antimat drive is one hundred percent functional.” Tara took the news calmly, leaning her head back against the command chair, her slightly slanted eyes barely open. I could see the patches on her wrists from the VIP chair. 100 percent functional. That was a phrase to ponder, all right.

“Commander to the antimat techs,” Tara said into the SA mike. “Thanks. You guys are all right. I’ll never forget you

” A sad smile appeared, and she looked over to me.

“Success,” she breathed. “Victory, Wester. Victory, from disaster.”

“We’re not there yet.”

“No, but we’re on our way. Pilot, initiate antimat drive. Please zero the stargate and reenter the vac five light years short. We’ll just take a little look at the neighborhood before we go charging in.”

“Initiating stardrive.” There was a queasy feeling in my stomach and an icy tingling on my skin as the Star of Dindabai smoothly stretched a hole in the fabric of spacetime and leaped into hyperspace. There’s nothing like itnothing at all. It’s hard not to feel superhuman when you can do things like that. But the O’s had certainly given us a new perspective on things. I was smiling as we entered the hole. We were getting closer. Closer, every moment. Death, or immortality. Disaster, or victory. And either way, we were doing what was right. I prayed for Moontouch, and Stormdawn. Moontouch had it right. We were grains of dust in the wind.

***

“Vac remains clear. No enemy units within detectable range.” The ship was whispering sweet music to usit was just what we wanted to hear.

“It’s a little scary, isn’t it?” I asked. I was standing with Gildron and Tara by a viewport on the bridge, looking out to the sinister, dead vac of Plane Prime. Our starjump had been perfectly successful, and now we were cruising silently in the vicinity of the stargate, the magical road back to our own universe.

“It is a dying universe,” Gildron said sadly. “An ancient universe, older than we can imagine. Winking out of existence over billions of years as the stars slowly burn out and die, transforming into cold dwarfs or black holes or neutron stars. The O’s are an ancient people. We have much to learn from them.”

“All I’d like to learn from them is how to counter their holos,” I said.

“It feels

cold,” Tara said, looking out the port. A shiver ran over her body.

“Commander, Engineering!” Tara jumped, and slapped at her shoulder com.

“Commander here.”

“Sir. The D-neg plasma has been successfully injected into the unitium containment field. All readings are stable. We are fully prepped for Stage Three.”

Tara did not answer, at first. I glanced over to her. Her eyes were closed and an angelic smile had appeared. “You’ve got to have good people, Wester,” she whispered. “You can do anything, with good people. And we’ve got ‘em. That’s excellent news, Engineering! Congratulations! Please proceed with Stage Three immediately.”

“Initiating Stage Three.”

“Stage Three?” I asked.

“That’s when they place the active containment unit with the D-neg into the power compartment in the boom. Then after that there’s Stage Fourwhen they integrate everything.”

“Which stage is the most dangerous?”

“They’re all dangerous. Our techs are heroes!”

“Why don’t we power back into our own universe on antimat drive, and do all this fancy engineering on the other side?”

“Don’t you remember that somewhat bumpy ride we had, coming here? It may have been blind luck that we made it through. There’s no guarantee we’ll make it back at all, on antimat drive. We’re going to do this, Westerno matter what. If it fails, I don’t think it matters if we die here or there. Do you?”

“I don’t know,” I said, looking out at the dead, dark skies of Plane Prime. If you die in another universe, I thought, is your spirit trapped there forever? That would be the ultimate loneliness.

***

“Are you ready, Wester? Are you ready for the future?” Tara was hesitating, putting off the moment of truth. She sat in the command chair, and I occupied the VIP chair behind her. Stage 4 was done. Everything was done, and it all looked good. All Tara had to do was give the word, but she wasn’t doing it. She was nervous. I could tell.

“You’re having some doubts, Tara?” We were all strapped in, all set to go, but Tara had not yet ordered comtops on.

“If it doesn’t work, we probably die,” she said. “You understand that.”

“Sure. The alternative is O-Rock. Want to go back?”

She looked over her shoulder, fixing me with a surprisingly calm gaze. “It’s not that, Wester. It’s just

so much depends on this. If the D-neg drive works, and gets us back to our own universe, it means our mission was successful. It means we will change the future of the galaxy. The System will die like a rotten fruit, and I will have done it. We will have done it. It’s my life’s work, Wester. It means the death of galactic slavery. It means freedom and liberation for billions. Because of us.”

“I don’t care about that,” I said. “Just get me to the other side. I’ve got things to do there.” She looked at me sadly and turned away.

“Attention the ship,” she said. “This is the Commander. We are about to initiate starlaunch on our newly installed D-neg drive in an effort to return to our own universe. We have zeroed our former position and all indications are that the D-neg drive is functional. However, as you all know, nobody has ever done this before.” She glanced back at me, and flashed a quick smile. “We have recently had a very traumatic experience. We lost some of our closest comrades in the Fighter Force, who gave their lives for us. We were then militarily defeated, captured and imprisoned by a brutal enemy and thrown into a primitive, barbaric world. We were able to survive and return to our ship only by trusting to ourselves, and to divine providence. Now, after all these trials, we are at the threshold of final victory. We have located, isolated and installed the D-neg that was the object of our historical quest, and we are about to test our D-neg drive the only way it can be testedwith us on board. If we succeed, we return to our own universe, bearing with us the dust of the Gods, total victory for the Legion, and the death of the System. I said it before and I say it again. I am proud to be serving with every one of you. You are heroes. I know I am not worthy to lead you, and I feel honored to be doing so. Now, with the grace of Deadman and all the Gods, I pray for a smooth journey. Please secure your comtops and say your prayers. Pilot, initiate D-neg starlaunch.”

I slipped my comtop on, secured it, and closed my eyes. Tara certainly had a way with words. She had not mentioned the possibility of instant annihilation if anything went wrong, but I think we were all very much aware of it.

***

“In the red

in the red

in the red

” the pilot was whispering it, an insane chant, a mantra for lost souls. We were into the out, rushing to an unknown fate, powering into the eye of the hole on D-neg drive, blind and helpless, totally out of control, in the hands of the Gods. My skin was ice cold. The viewports were dark and it looked to me like the black dust of the hole.

“What’s the sit, Thinker?” It was Valkyrie, hissing in my ears from far away.

“We’re in the hole,” I replied. “Looks good so far.” I hardly dared say it. We had launched into hyperspace, and it had been smooth as slick. We were inand going deeper and deeper.

“Pressure dropping

still in the red

no deflection yet

we’re riding the beam

this is incredible

look at those readings! We’re on minpower and look at those readings!”

I knew there was no way back. We would succeed, or die miserably.

“We’re past vortex recovery with zero deflection!” the pilot said. We were in the wormhole, stretching Plane Prime, reaching out blindly for U1. If it wasn’t there, we were going to be in big trouble.

“Good,” Tara replied. “Just keep going. If it’s there, we’ll run into it. If it’s not there, we’ll never find it again. Turning back won’t solve anything.”

I prayed to Deadman and all the Gods of Hell. Let the damned thing work, I thought. Get us back where we belong. Get us out of this insane, dead, starless void. I’ve got things to do, I thoughtthings to do! I was trying not to think about the universe we were leaving behind, but I kept getting little flashes from O-Rock. What if we fall back to Plane Prime? What if U1 has shifted? We’ll be trapped forever in an alien universe, doomed and hopeless, never to return.

“Zero deflection. Riding the beam.” We were going further and further into the hole, straight as a laser, and there was not the slightest hint that we were going to arc back into Plane Prime. We were hurtling directly into the hole, and if our universe was not there, we would probably be lost in hyperspace for all eternity.

“Gliding on beam.” The pilot was thrilled with his marvelous new toy.

“Might as well relax, Wester,” Tara remarked. “Looks like a long trip.”

Relax? I was sitting down, but my heart was going like a trip hammer. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down. And Priestess came to me out of the past, a faint dreamy smile, a child’s face, dark hypnotic eyes and vulnerable lips. She was sitting on the squadmod steps on Andrion 2, clutching her knees, looking out at me, completely content. I was sitting beside her under the stars, and I knew the tacsit console was going to sound in an instant, and our whole world would never be the same afterwards.

“Attention the ship.” Tara was maddeningly calm. “This is the Commander. We have successfully starlaunched, and it appears that we are not returning to Plane Prime. It is still too early to know if we will succeed in penetrating our own universe. Please maintain the alert, but you may remove comtops if you like. I will inform you of any change in our status.”

I did not bother to remove my comtop. Three hours, I thought. It had taken almost three hours for us to find our way from U1 to Plane Prime, completely out of control, on antimat drive. Would it take less time, or more, on D-neg drive, to return to our own universe?

Less, surely.

Unless, of course, the stargate had shifted. In which case

we would never get there. But we had to get there. Beta Nine was calling me, again.

***

“EXITING STARDRIVE!” The sudden announcement shocked me awake from a dozing stupor in the VIP chair. My eyes widened as I focused on the viewport.

“We’re on track, stargate locked on and openexit!” The pilot barely had time to say it before the viewports flickered, the ship shuddered slightly, and stars filled the ports.

Stars! A velvet sky, burning with billions of brilliant diamonds. Yes! I ripped off the links and shot over to the viewport, convulsed with joy.

“Stars!” I announced over the net. “Stars!”

We could hear the cheering from the bridge. My skin was crawling. I had never seen anything more beautiful in my life. Stars, as far as I could see, a universe of lovely stars, burning hot and bright, stars of every hue, blue-white giants, golden primes, red supergiants, white dwarfs, bright young blues. Stars, the dust of the Gods. What a wonderful place was our universe!

“We’ve done it,” Tara said to herself. “We’ve done it!” Her voice was so cold and scary it was hardly human.

***

“You’re in command, Wester. Let’s hear it,” Tara said. I knew she was not going to give me an instant’s slack, and if I did or said anything wrong I was going to hear about it immediately. We were sitting around the conference table in the conmod, all seven of usGildron, Tara, myself, Dragon, Redhawk, Whit and Valkyrie. We were cruising peacefully in the vac, taking our time. Our return to our own universe had been incredibly lucky, the D-neg freaks told us. We had returned to U1 on the far side of the Gassies, quite a distance from the Outvac. It meant that the link with Plane Prime had shifted quite dramatically in our universe. Fortunately, it had retained the same general position in Plane Prime.

“Thank you, Tara,” I said. “I want everyone in Squad X to memorize every detail of the tacplan, and every corridor, every door, every room of the interior of the Mound.” I triggered the control and an image of the Mound appeared on the wall screen. It rose from a treeless plain, a great earthen mound, a huge circular structure, squatting under a luminous cold grey sky. The top, dusted with a layer of fresh snow, glittered in the sunlight. Faint plumes of smoke drifted from vents on the roof, floating away in a light breeze. Blackened cenite doors could be seen at ground level. The Mound appeared to be dead and deserted, brooding silently on the horizon like a frightening, fossil remnant of some merciless prehistoric totalitarian state. But there was nothing prehistoric about it. The Mound was an Omni base, a bewildering maze of halls and rooms and corridors, and the last stop for thousands of hopeless human captives. It was one scary place.

“I’m not likely to forget that place,” Dragon remarked dryly.

“We’ve got to know it a lot better this time than we did last time,” I said. “In front of each of you is a package that includes everything we know about the Mound. It also includes a tacmap showing the exact routes we all took during the operation in the Mound. The positions of all DefCorps Systies, ConFree Spec Ops troopers, O’s, and concentrations of civilians are also shown. In red, I have marked the proposed route each of us will take to accomplish our individual missions.”

“This looks

rather complex,” Redhawk said, pulling out a detailed, multicolored foldout tacmap.

“It is,” I said. “You weren’t with us the first time, Redhawk, and I expect you to know just as much as the others, so memorize it all. The lives of our closest comrades depend on that. We’re the team. Gildron will remain behind, with the ship and the Star. He’s not happy about it, but he had to admit we could not bring the Star into the Mound, and we could not leave it with anyone but him. That leaves six of usand there are five of them. Valkyrie, if your vision doesn’t improve dramatically in the next few days, you’ll have to stay behind, too.”

“I’m not staying behind! I can see perfectly well.”

“How many fingers?” I held up a hand.

“Five.”

“Four. I’m sorry, Valkyrie. It won’t do. The timing of this op is critical. Our reactions will have to be razor sharp to avoid disaster. Otherwise, people die. You can’t go.”

“I’m going. You can’t stop me!”

“Yes I can. I’ll not risk this missionnot even for you. I’ll put you in the brig if I have to.”

“I’ll tell you why you’re going to agree to let me come with you.”

“All right. Tell me.”

She sighed, and looked down at the pile of material before her. She had pulled out two ID snaps from her folder, lovely, clear head shots of herself and Scrapper, Beta Twelve, her fem lover.

“There’s something I’ve never told anyone,” she said slowly. “I never told anyone because I didn’t think anyone would believe me. And everybody I could trust was gone. But the time is right, now. I’ll tell you all.” She bit her lower lip until it turned white, then she resumed. “When that O had you trapped in the Mound, Thinker, you and Tara and Gildron and Twister, Snow Leopard saw it on his tacmap. He was on the wrong level, but I was in the same corridor, some distance behind the O. I was the only one within range. One called out to me‘Get that O!’ he said. I acknowledged, and said I was on it. I ran up and fired at it from behind just as it opened up on you. I fired a tremendous barrage of auto canister x. I saw it had blasted you with the starmass. Then I saw the O’s force field flicker and fade. I poured it on, and the thing turned on me and hit me with a wall of starmass. I figured I was dead. My tacmod was screaming at me, my A-suit was melting. I turned and ran, blind. I ran into a wall and fell, burning like a torch. I got up and ran againright into another wall. I fell again, and I tried to get up. I couldn’t. My suit was going. I was trapped in the starmass, I was right inside, the flames were swirling all around me. It was terrifying. All the lights in my helmet were bright red and the plex was bubbling. Black bubbles were forming on my faceplate, and the temperature was shooting up. My armor was white hot. I remember thinking that I was going to die.”

Valkyrie’s face was twitching and her eyes were wet. We were all dead silent, sitting frozen around the table listening to her account.

“And then someone appeared in the flames. An A-suit, glowing red. All I could see was the outline, a flaming red A-suit with an E strapped to the chestplate. I watched in fascination as the trooper reached down and grasped both my wrists and pulled me to my feet. The starmass was still swirling madly all around us and I got a glimpse of a corridor wall, melting into slag. The trooper pulled me away and guided me out of that hellhole with one arm over my shoulders. I could barely move the A-suit’s legs, but somehow we got out of the flames. Once we were out, we stood in a burning corridor, and the trooper released me, and turned to leave. I couldn’t tell who it was, and I didn’t see why we should split up, so I snatched at a wrist and held on. The trooper turned back to me and I looked into the faceplate. It wasn’t easy to see, because my own faceplate was all burnt. But I know what I saw. For just a frac, one frac, the light from the flames lit up the inside of that helmet and I saw who it was, and it was as clear as sunlight.”

She looked down at the table, and continued. “It was me,” she said. “It was Beta Eleven, looking back at me out of that faceplate. I’m not likely to be mistaken about myself. It was megreen eyes, pale skin, blonde hair, Legion cross as big as life on the forehead. It was meand it wasn’t a reflection, and I didn’t imagine it, either. I was so startled I released my grip on her wrist, and she turned immediately and faded into the smoke.”

We all just sat there, stunned.

“So you see,” Valkyrie said, “that’s why you have to let me go on this mission. I have to rescue myself from the starmass. It’s already happened. So it’s going to happen. And there’s no sense in arguing about it.”

Silence greeted her statement. I was lost in thought. “This is incredibly important,” I finally said. “It means the time jump is going to work! It confirms it all! The ghost ship the Legion saw near the Mound is the Star of Dindabai! And at least one of usValkyriemakes it to the interior of the Mound and contacts herself. This is a perfect example of what the spacetime physicists told us. You can’t change the past, but you can fulfill it. You can contribute to the present and the future. Valkyrie is here today only because she rescued herself in the past. Now all we have to do is determine what happened to the othersOne, Five, Nine, Twelve, and Thirteen. Perhaps they’re dead and vaporized

or

just possibly

we get to them first. If we can do that, we don’t violate any of nature’s lawsit’s possible. It’s really possible!” I was trembling with emotion.

“It’s more than possible, Wester,” Tara said quietly. “It’s going to happen. The last pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. Yes, we’re the ghost ship and that’s why ConFree and the System both panicked when you stopped washing dishes on Nimbos. They probably didn’t even know what the ghost ship was at that point, just like we didn’t, but they knew damned well it was important. And they didn’t want you getting your memory back and talking about the interrogation, especially when they didn’t know what it meant.”

“So I can come on the mission?” Valkyrie asked.

“Of course you can,” I said. “You must!”

“We’ve never understood,” Whit interrupted, “the original purpose of Beta’s mission to the Mound. Cinta has always been very close-mouthed about it. ” She flashed Tara a quick smile. “We thought it was just a recon. What was the real story?”

“We also thought it was just a recon mission,” I said, “at first. Snow Leopard knew the truth, but he didn’t brief us until we were there. The Mound was an Omni installation the O’s had built during the occupation of Uldo. When the Legion counterattacked, Beta was ordered to recon the Mound, far behind the lines, and determine its function. But that was just a cover. The actual mission was to confirm the presence of an Omni ship that was believed to be disabled inside the Mound. If we could confirm the ship’s presence, we were to seize it, and heavy Legion forces would then be diverted to reinforce us. The Legion was quite busy right then, with a major offensive against the O’s on Uldo. Regrettably, word of our mission, and the Ship, leaked. Both the System and Kenton Cotter-Arc’s ConFree Special Mission Strike Force sent squads to track us down, neutralize us, and secure the ship for ConFree and the System.”

I looked up at the wall screen showing the Mound. It brought a faint chill to my skin. “The Mound was a processing plant for human captives. It was pretty awful. We had to fight a squad of psyched DefCorps troopers who were processing the prisoners for the O’s. Later, another squad of DefCorps Systies arrived, and after them, the ConFree Strike Force showed up. By then, we were fighting the O’s inside the Mound. Everyone was out to get us. We were even fighting ourselves, at one point. It was

intense. Merlin was killed, in a firefight with the ConFree squad. Psycho was wounded, bad; Twister was disabled; and the others were all lost or separated. Tara, Gildron and I made it to the Ship. Then the damned thing launched, with us inside. And that’s where we got the Star, that enabled us to build this lovely ship, and construct a D-neg time drive that is going to take us right back to the Mound, on the same day we left. Is it clearer now?”

“Sorry we asked.” Whit said quietly.

“The point is that the interior of the Mound is a howling, flaming battleground, with O’s, Systies, ConFree troopers, and Squad Beta all blasting away at each other with every weapon available, as hundreds of terrified Systie captivesmen, women and childrendodge the lasers. Visibility is generally as far as the end of your fingers, tacmods are useless because of deceptors, starmass, and micronukes, and sudden death awaits you at every step. The starmass is especially dangerous. We have to decide in advance exactly what each of us is going to do, exactly where we’re going to go to do it, and exactly how and when we’re going to get back to the ship. And we have to realize that some or all of us may be killed doing this. That’s why our preparations must be perfect. The Star of Dindabai is equipped with ten interlocking envirosim rooms, and five of these are now set up to sim the Mound. I’ve walked through one, with Tara. It’s scary as hell, but it will prepare us for what we have to face. The reason we’re on vac drive rather than stardrive is that we’re not going to approach Uldo and do the time jump until we are all totally prepped for the Mound. I want everyone to make all their mistakes herenot in the Mound.”

I glared at everybody. I suppose I was getting carried away, but this was the ultimate mission, for me. I knew it was just a test, for the Legion, but to me it was my entire life. We weren’t being permitted to do this because the Legion sympathized with me about my missing comrades, although they surely did, but because the Legion wanted to test a new weapons system with a crew full of suicidal volunteers.

It didn’t bother me at all. I knew it would never have happened without the Legion.

“No mistakes,” I repeated. “Open the folders.” Everybody fumbled with the bulky packages before them, pulling out tacmaps and tacmod printouts and ID snaps. I opened my own, and gently laid out the ID snaps before me. Five targetswell known to us.

“We’ll have to add Valkyrie as a target,” I said. “I’ll amend the plan. We’ll have to get her out of the starmass, then leave her. You’ll do that, Valkyrie.”

“Thanks.”

I was examining Snow Leopard’s image. Beta One, our maximum leader. A Legion squad is a small world, I thought, and it starts and ends with its One. He gazed sternly back at me, a chunky, ghostly pale face with hot pink eyes and straight white blond hair and blue veins standing out at his temples. Snow Leopard. He was the ultimate squad leader, and he led from the front. He was our heart, our soul, our brain. We were nothing without him. He had led us on Andrion 2, on Coldmark, on Andrion 3, on Mongera, on Uldo. He was our fearless, invincible leader. He had always thought of us first, and himself second.

And all they had found of him was one leg, severed by a laser. It was not promising.

“The tacplan has it all,” I said. “You each have your targets. The plan tells you exactly where to go, and what to do. Today you memorize it. Tomorrow we do it, in the envirosim rooms. It’s difficult. It’s very difficult. But we’re going to do it until we get it right.”

Psycho looked up at me from his ID snap. Short blond hair, luminous pale blue eyes, an evil child’s face. The little punk always knew how to get to me. He was always bugging me, but I had to admit he was a magician, an artist, with the Manlink. Beta Five was a little man with a great big gun, and when he raised that lovely Manlink it was all over for our enemies. He had saved our asses more than once.

The Systies had blown off his leg in the Mound. We had left him behind to cover us. I could still see him lying there behind an E, flying on mags, one leg a bloody stump, crudely bandaged, waiting for the Systies. The little creep owed me a hundred credits. As we were leaving I had told him he couldn’t die until I collected that hundred credits. “Either way I win,” he had replied. “Now get outta my sight.” And those were his last words.

Psycho. Tara had said he had moved. It was all on the tacmap.

“Dragon, you’ll go after Snow Leopard. We know exactly where they found the leg. He may be dead, butif he is alivehe never knew you were the ConFree psychee, so you should have no trouble there. Our A-suits will be exact duplicates of what we wore to the Mound, sohopefullyno confusion will arise in the minds of those we’re attempting to rescue. Redhawk, you are responsible for Psycho. Get him to the rally point. It’s not far.” Redhawk and Psycho had quarreled about everything. I knew it would not make any difference.

I was holding Priestess’s ID snap in my fingers. She was looking into space, completely calm. A cascade of shiny black hair, a fine, delicate child’s face. Big dark eyes, deep pools to another dimensionvulnerable ripe lips. Priestessmy eternal love. I could almost feel her warm embrace, a touch of velvet skin and the beating of her heart in the still of the night. How many years had she been calling out to me from the past? How many light years was it, from Uldo to Nimbos? Even when they had locked up my memory, even when I didn’t know who I was, she had been crying out to me. And how far is it from Uldo to Dindabai? Past all the years and light years, flashing through the immensity of interstellar space, hurtling through the Outvac faster than light, her spirit was a silent lightning bolt of infinite power and infinite purity, drilling me right in the brain. How could I ignore her? I loved my family, I loved Moontouch and Stormdawn, but I loved Beta Nine as well. She was my girl, my love, my future. I loved her totally; I would love her forever. And I was going to do everything in my power to save her, to get her backeven if it killed me.

“I’ll go after Priestess,” I said. “Valkyrie, this is going to be tricky. Both Priestess and Scrapper disappeared in the same burst of starmass. We’ll go in there together. You’ll be tracking Scrapper. If we do find them, I’ll take custody of both Priestess and Scrapper while you go after yourself. You remember your own problem occurred a bit later. I’ll put it in the tacplan.”

“All right,” Valkyrie said.

“We’re all going to be there,” I said. “I mean

our past selves will be there. In order to save Priestess and Scrapper and Valkyrie, we’ve got to arrive well before Tara and Gildron and I enter the O ship and launch. It means there’s the danger of meeting ourselves. There’s also the danger of friendly fire. Our presence here tells us we won’t shoot our past selves, but there’s nothing to prevent our past selves from shooting us. Keep that in mind. You remember how jumpy and suspicious we were. We were shooting anything in armor that moved. We could very easily have wasted some time travellers without even realizing it. The tacplan should avoid these problems, but you all know it’s a very fluid situation in the Mound.”

They were all there in my package. Scrapper, Beta Twelve, was looking out of her ID snap, completely unreadable, a mop of thick tawny hair, striking grey eyes, her lips firmly set. She had been Gamma Five, Valkyrie’s lover, and the two of them were the only survivors from Gamma’s apocalypse. Nobody was more highly motivated to save Scrapper than Valkyrie, I knew. Valkyrie would walk into Hell, half-blind, for her fem lover, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

“Tara, you will recover ThirteenTwister. Whit will accompany you. Twister will be the last one, timewise. By then we should all be in a position to assist the woundedTwister and Psycho and, hopefully, Snow Leopardin returning to the Star of Dindabai.”

“I’ll bring her back, alive or dead, with or without help,” Tara said coldly. I knew she had been shattered when she learnt that Twister had moved from where Tara had left her, supposedly disabled. And I knew that Tara was the best choice for this one.

I didn’t need the picture to remember Twister, but I looked at it anyway. She was a tall, awkward, bony girl, a face full of freckles, chocolate eyes, dark hair with a touch of red. She was new to the Legion, a replacement for our dead, just out of training and probably just out of a training bra as well. She had been rushed into the war along with plenty of other young, green troopers. She had been petrified. I remembered holding hands with her in our aircar as we rushed through a terrifying Uldo night, over an icy river, through a poisonous rain, and her teeth had been chattering uncontrollably. She had conquered her fear. She had fought bravely by our side. She didn’t deserve to die. Nobody in Beta deserved to die. Enough of us had died already, sacrifices to the bloody Gods of war. And now we, the survivors of Uldo, were going to do something about it.

***

The envirosim rooms were terrifying and exhausting. I had set the simulators to reflect everything that could possibly go wrong. We did it all. Three days were not enough. I stretched it to four, then five, then six. We were on straight adrenalin for six days.

The warped genius who designed the system should get a medal. When we started out we were surprised and blasted, again and again, by Systies, ConFree, O’s, and our own squad, ripped by auto x-max, shredded with canister darts, sliced by lasers, blasted by tacstars, annihilated in starmass, blown to pieces by mines and grenades. When we finished we were doing it right and our reflexes were razor-sharp. The envirosim concept is wonderful. It took us from the beginning to the end of the mission, from the instant the airlock door snapped open in the Star of Dindabai to the moment it closed again behind us. We ran to the Mound, fought our way in and shot up everything that moved with our weapons, and it was exactly like being there. The sim adjusted itself all around us, no matter how fast we ran. And if you think they can’t sim starmass, you’d be wrong. Getting trapped in that stuff in sim was almost as scary as the real thing, I guarantee. The damned A-suit heats up inside and scorches your flesh, and gets worse and worse until you fight your way out. It was terrifying.

Six days of hell. We did it, and by the end we were exhausted but ready. All we needed was some sleep.

***

“Westerwake up!” It was Tara, shaking me awake. We had all crashed in the A-suit locker as usual after the last simulated mission, struggling out of the A-suits and collapsing onto the sleeping bags lining the deck. The place still stank of hot metal and burning gas and sweat and fear. What the hell was Tara doing up? She had been with us. I blinked and tried to focus on her.

“What?”

“Get up! It’s important!” She was still beaded with sweat, her hair was stringy and plastered over her forehead, and her face was red with burns.

“Yeah.” I forced myself to sit up. The others were all out. Some were snoringothers were twitching, still in the Mound in their nightmares.

“The D-neg time drive tested out perfectly. The techs told me they believe it will work.”

“Can you tell me about that after I wake up?”

“No! Get up, Wester. Come with me.”

I followed her groggily out to the cold lights of the corridor. She sealed the door behind us, then turned immediately to face me. “I’ve just received a message from Dindabai Command,” she said. “From Two Two One.”

“Yes? What did he say?”

She clutched a printout in one hand. She glanced at it nervously, then looked back at me. “You remember I sent a text alert earlier, about the success of our mission and the fact that we have a workable D-neg drive.”

“I remember. Isn’t the vid working correctly yet?”

“Not yet. I also mentioned that we have one probe that is rotten with D-neg.”

“Yes.”

“This is his response. He congratulates us on the success of the mission. We are to proceed directly to Dindabai. The Uldo Experiment is to be postponed. What we have is too valuable to risk, he says. We are to turn the probe over to Dindabai Command, get debriefed on our mission, and allow the Legion to examine the D-neg drive in detail. He regrets having to postpone Uldo, but adds that the history of the Galaxy hangs in the balance.”

I was wide-awake by then. My whole existence seemed to rush in on me, focusing right then, right there, on Tara’s stricken face. My flesh was suddenly ice cold.

“It’s a direct order, Wester. From Dindabai Command. From Two Two One.”

“If we don’t do it now, it won’t get done,” I said, slowly and carefully. “They’ll always find something more important, some good reason not to do Uldo. Do you agree?”

“You’re probably right.”

“What did they call it? The Uldo Experiment?”

“That’s what it says.” She was holding the printout up, and her hand was trembling.

“It’s not an experiment to me,” I said. “It’s a rescue mission. And it’s the most important mission we have ever undertaken. Those are our brothers and sisters in Beta.”

“Yes. Yes, I feel the same.” She was obviously stunned, still staring at the offending orders. They had promised us Uldo. They had promised!

I looked at her, and she looked back at me. And all our years together and all our years apart were in that glance. We didn’t have to say a word. I think we both knew, instinctively, what we were going to do.

“I’m still in command, aren’t I?” I asked her.

“Yes, Wester. You are in command.”

“Will you obey my orders?”

“I will obey your orders without question.”

“Even if my orders are clearly illegal?”

“Even if your orders are clearly illegal.”

“Tara. I don’t give a good Goddamn for the history of the Galaxy. All I care about is Beta. Don’t answer that message. Turn off that damned starlink. I need six hours so we can get some sleep and wake up in top form. Then I want you to do the time jump, and land us on Uldo next to the Mound, just as planned, at 0804 hours on 314/06/17 ConFree Galactic Standard. We’re doing the mission. We’re doing what’s right. And I don’t care about the consequences!”

“God bless you, Wester. I’m with you, all the way!” We embraced and I closed my eyes and we were together, for one eternal moment in the onrushing flow of time. Tara crumpled the message in one fist.

“Death!” she hissed in my ear.

“Death it is,” I whispered back.

Chapter 18

The Uldo Experiment

“We’ve never done anything quite this crazy before,” Whit declared. Five of us were strapped into the fold-down emergency seats lining the bulkheads in the loading dock by one of the Strike Force airlocks. We were in full armor, helmets on, clutching our weaponry. We all had E Mark 3’s except Eight. He had the Manlink.

“Aren’t you the same girl who insisted on coming along?” I asked.

“Yes, but we’re so scared we’re about to pee in our pants,” she responded shakily.

“Wester!” Tara’s face filled a d-screen on the wall. “Are you people all set?” Her helmet was off, but she was in her A-suit, strapped into the command chair up on the bridge.

“Ready as we’ll ever be,” I replied. I was balancing the E between my knees. I swear I could feel the damned thing, icy cold, right through my cenite gloves. It was comfortinginstant death, on tap. The tacmap field was blank, a faint green phospho ghost, lower left plate. A quick glance around the inside of my helmet revealed all greens. I had so much ordnance strapped to my A-suit I could have started a war all by myself. A single bead of sweat trickled down one temple.

“We’re going to do it, Thinker,” Dragon said calmly. He was almost lounging in his A-suit behind the massive Manlink. I could see into his faceplate, two deep, sunken eyes, glittering with menace. Only Dragon could appear to be relaxed in an A-suit. I had never known anyone with more raw confidence than Beta Eight, or better reason for it.

“You’re damn’ right we are!” I choked. Redhawk was looking around nervously, fully hyper. I knew he would be as cold as ice once the shooting started. Valkyrie was frozen in her seat, silent, but her fingers were running gently along her E like a lover’s caress. I could make out the Legion cross on her forehead and a hint of her cold green eyes. I knew her thoughts were far away. She was going after herself and Scrapper, and anyoneor anythingthat got in her way was going to regret it.

“Attention the ship,” Tara announced. “We are about to do a field test on the Star of Dindabai’s D-neg time drive. As you all know, this is not just a field testit’s a rescue mission. Five Legion troopers are in terminal trouble, and we’re coming to help them. Past all the barriers of space and time, past all the years, past history itself. We’re comingjust as we’d come for any one of you. As overall mission commander, I take full responsibility for this mission. We have locked on to our target, a hot zero on the surface of the planet Uldo, deep in enemy territory, in the morning of 06/17 in the year 314 CGS. I’d advise everyone to stand by. If the drive works as advertised, we’re expecting some unusual effects. Comtops on. Pilot, initiate time drive.”

“INITIATING TIME DRIVE!”

I closed my eyes, leaning my head back in the helmet. Initiating time drive! Now it is to besuccess, or failure. Victory, or defeat. I prayed to Deadman and cursed the Gods of Hell. We’re coming, Satanright out of nowhere. Do your damnedest! I’m going to drill you with explosive canister darts, I’m going to nuke you, Satanyou and all your evil dwarfs. All the crap is finally over, all the training, all the delays, all the problems. Now we’re going to kick in the door, at last, and all our enemies are going to dieSysties, ConFree, O’sanyone who opposes us. Anyone at all!

A shiver ran over the ship. A vibration, in the cenite bones of the hull. Building. A deep humming. It grewlouder. Louder. Louder!

“The D-neg chamber is spinning, Wester.” Tara whispered a progress report in my ears. “It’s building the field. It’s almost infinitely dense, Wester. And it’s rotating faster and faster. When the grav field is strong enough, spacetime will warp, and the D-neg will pull us along, all the way to Uldo, all the way into the past. It’s like having our own black hole.” The D-neg drive was up in the boom, swirling around madly, building on its own momentum, speeding ever faster, eventually approaching the speed of light. Only the unitium stasis and the effects of the grav field itself protected us from being instantly annihilated along with the entire ship. Our own black hole! TerrificI had never quite thought of it that way.

My A-suit was vibrating. The cenite armor was singing to me. I thought I could hear the music of the stars again. The vibrations were running through my body, now. I could feel it in my bones. We were doing the impossible, ripping a hole in time, turning back the clocks, laughing at the Gods. One tiny error and we’d die, winking out of existence in a blinding flash, a microfrac, and then it would be just as if we had never been there. The Gods probably never even noticed us.

I prayed again. I pledged my soul to Deadman for the lives of my comrades. Just get us there, Deadman. We’ll do the rest! Just let my feet touch the soil of Uldo, on that fatal daythat’s all I ask.

The vibration built to a massive, booming hum, a thunderous hum. The ship was ringing like a great bell and I felt as if the tremendous cosmic forces that were building all around us would rip our bodies apart.

“FIELD IS FORMED!” I could barely hear it above the roaring of the ship. A great surge rushed over us. All the lights in my helmet blinked off. Something seized my body in a massive, invisible grip. And we were falling, blind and helpless, into the past. I could feel it rushing over us at the speed of light. My heart was pumping wildly.

A titanic bang rattled the ship, almost deafening us. It was like the crack of doom. It echoed, for a long time, the sound rolling down the corridors. My adrenalin was at max.

“What the hell was that?”

An eerie silence followed the time boom. I thought I could hear a faint whispering, but it might have been the ringing in my ears from the boom.

“EXITING TIME DRIVE!” There was a faint shudder, gradually fading.

“Perfect! Stabilizedland it!”

“What’s the fix?”

“The date! Look at

“

“The time, the time!”

“Look at that!”

“Touching down!” Voices, from the bridge. We were paralyzed, trapped in our A-suits, listening with all our concentration.

“Westerwe did it. We’re here!”

“Get your butt down here!” I snapped. “Links off! Safeties off! Tac mode! Psybloc on! Prep to exit!” The loading dock exploded with activity as we scrambled to our feet, loaded down with weapons and gear. All the lights inside my helmet were once again a soothing green.

“I am ready, Three. All systems fully functional. Weapons integrated. Tacmap ready. Awaiting your commands.” It was Sweety, Persist, my tacmod, a calm clear feminine voice. I had lost the original on Andrion 2, but I had reproduced the voice as best I could. How could I fail, with Sweety at my side once again?

Tara burst into the loading dock, fitting her helmet over her head, an E strapped to her chest.

“What’s the time?”

“Countdown on

37

36

35

34

“

Timing would be critical. We paused there briefly before the airlock door, awaiting the count.

“Are we really here, Tara?” I could hardly believe it was real.

“Yes!” Her answer left no doubt.

I glanced around as the clock ticked down. Six fully psyched troopers, soldiers of the Legion, in cold black armor and sinister red faceplates, wielding a fearsome array of weaponry, the psybloc units on top of our helmets faintly pulsing on ready status. A system check showed all weapons systems were activated. If terror has a name, it is a Legion squad ready for action. I didn’t even notice it. My whole being was focused on that door.

“

three

two

one

“

The airlock door popped open abruptly, admitting a cold breeze, revealing a luminous pale grey sky and a flat, treeless plain, covered with a thin layer of dry packed snow. My eyes were drawn immediately to the horizon. It was right there, clearly visible from inside the airlockthe Mound! A great, dark earthen mound, dusted with a light layer of snow, glittering in the sunlight. Smoke was drifting from hidden vents on top. I was paralyzed, transfixed by the sight for just an instant. The Moundthe source of all my troubles. It was actually there. And wewe were actually here! It hit me right in the stomach. The Moundit was exactly as we had last seen it!

“Death!”

“Exit! Squad X initiating operation!” I reported. We burst from the airlock, guns up, and my boots hit the gritty soil of Uldo. The Star of Dindabai loomed above us, a massive presence, landing skids sunk deep into Uldo’s earth, the ship blasting out a merciless barrage of deceptor and cloaking images to mask its presence downside. I knew it would be only partially effective. It was crazy, landing a starship downside, but we had no choice.

We ran, starbursting to attack formation out from under the Star of Dindabai into Uldo’s weak sunlight. Not a single word was necessary. We had done this many times in the sim rooms, but this was realoverwhelmingly real.

“Movement! Unarmored personnel, no weapons, as marked!” Sweety’s voice rang in my ears. The Mound was bouncing around in my faceplate as I ran, the suit assisting me, and it was almost as if I was a spectator, trapped in an invincible cenite running machine. My eyes were rivetted on the Mound. I could see the doors now, a dark opening at ground level. I noted the movement, off to one side of the doors.

“Max magnification!” Sweety brought it up to me on the faceplate, top right. The view was jerky but clear. The main doors were open! We had practiced blasting those massive cenite gates open, again and again, in sim, but I had always expected them to be open, after Blue Gold busted their way in. A ragged group of hopeless, skeletal Uldo civilians were clustered together outside to one side of the gaping entrance, waiting for death. Men, women and childrengood Lord! These were the same people we had left outside when we had originally blasted our way into the Mound. We had used them as cover to approach it. It was true. It was all true! It was 314/06/17 CGS, and Squad Beta, Black Jade, was back to reclaim its own!

“X, Base, report!” Gildron was calling us from the ship. We had a different name now, we were X instead of Beta or Black Jade, but we sure as hell weren’t a different squad. Tara had insisted Gildron stay on board to command the ship, and to stay with the Star. He was not happy about it, but he recognized the logic.

“Base, X, nothing to report!” I replied. We were sprinting, spraying clots of snow as we ran. It was a clear, cold day.

“No psyprobe!” Tara gasped. She was behind me, to my left.

“Movement inside

” Sweety began.

“Permission

” Dragon interrupted.

“Fire!” I ordered. Dragon was just ahead of me, now suddenly dropping to one knee, bringing up the Manlink. The Manlink spoke and reality split, a gut-wrenching shriek. A tacstar flashed inside the open doorway of the Mound, an artificial sun of elemental power, spraying shredded wreckage out the door. The shock wave almost knocked me off my feet, but I charged forward heedlessly.

The Mound was closer. Massive, dark, still, intimidating. Closer. Closer! Looming over us now. The gaping doorway was glowing, aflame.

“Fire auto xmax!” I ordered. We approached the doorway behind a deafening hail of autofire. The interior erupted, again, flashing like a fireworks factory going up, the xmax concussions blasting a wild tracery of phospho shrapnel out the door. I could feel little pieces of cenite, pinging off my armor. Nothing could possibly be alive in there.

We entered, stepping into a great smoky hall illuminated only by the fires that were smouldering on the deck and walls. This was Reception. The walls were scorched and riddled with x and the floor was littered with bloody, mutilated body parts. It was a charnel house. We stepped gingerly between severed limbs and smoking bodies. A decapitated head stared at me with sightless eyes, grey brains spilling from a shattered skull. Two Legion A-suits were sprawled by one wall, the armor still glowing red. My adrenalin gave me a jolt. I approached the two prone figures. Dragon was with me, the barrel of his Manlink hovering just above the two stricken A-suits.

“No insignia,” Dragon said. “These guys are ConFree.” I turned one of them over. The cenite chestplate was split open, the armor burnt white and still smoking. The man’s head moved stiffly behind the scorched faceplate, but fortunately I could not get a good look inside.

“The other one’s dead, too,” Redhawk said, crouching over him. Tara and Whit and Valkyrie were against the walls, guns up and scanning. The ceiling was wreathed in mist. We could barely make out great coils of blackened cenite.

“Base, X Three,” I reported back. “Entry successful. Going to blackout.” My chron read 0816 hours.

“X, Base, confirm. Good luck!” Gildron replied. He had all the power of the ship behind him, but we could barely hear the transmission. Interference was fierce. I could feel vibrations, like metal butterflies, tickling my toes. There was a lot going on in the Mound, even if we could not yet hear it.

“All right,” I said to the squad, “these are two of the Blue Gold troopers who were after us. They must have been left behind to secure the doorway. Note what happens when you don’t pay attention. There are more of these guys, right up ahead. Plus that Systie squad. These other bodies are the Systies we killed when Beta first entered the Mound. Advance!”

A cenite door was frozen open at one end of the hall. We darted in, one by one, covering each other without a word. My tacmod flickered and diedwe could forget the tacmap. Vibrations ran up through my boots, and the echoes of auto x and tacstars rattled down the corridor. A terrific battle was raging somewhere up ahead. My back was against an icy sweating wall, my finger twitched on the trigger of my E. The psybloc units on our helmets cracked to life, spitting sparks, lighting up the corridor. O’sscut! I shot off a couple of psybloc grenades. They bounced off the walls, shrieking, illuminating everything. We moved down the corridor cautiously. All freqs were spitting static. I knew time was ticking away very quickly.

“I detect three humans! Unarmored! Unarmed! As marked!” Sweety had them zeroed now. As we approached them, our laser zeroes roamed over their bodies. They were not moving.

“Correction, Three,” Sweety informed me. “No life.” We stood over them. Three Systies in fatigues, arms secured behind their backs, ankles tied together. Their lifeless eyes were glassy, focused on eternity. Each one had been shot neatly, once, in the forehead.

“These are the three Systies from Processing that we secured after we busted into the Mound,” I said. “Blue Gold was herethey did this. ConFree didn’t want any witnesses. Watch out, gang. They’re up ahead, and so is the DefCorps squad.”

“Why didn’t the DefCorps free them?” Tara whispered. Nobody answered her. Our psybloc units abruptly shut downgood! We moved forward carefully against the corridor walls, twitching, leaving the three dead Systies where they lay. Smoke drifted past us. A titanic bang rocked the walls, dust and debris rained down from the darkened ceiling. A lighting element was flickering eerily.

“Black Jade, Blue Gold!” The voice ripped through the deceptors, on Legion combat freqs. “We’ve secured the ground floor! Systies are one level up! Repeat, we’ve secured

” A shrieking roar overwhelmed the transmission. Blue Gold was the ConFree Special Mission Strike Force, and Black Jade was Beta. The bastards were still pretending to be assisting Beta.

“It’s 0824 hours,” I warned the squad. “Beta Five has already been wounded and left behind, and Blue Gold is engaging the Systies and pursuing Beta. Blue Gold is right up ahead. They won’t be expecting an attack from the rearlet’s do it!”

“

Seven, Eight, report!” We were rushing forward. Blue Gold’s frequency was illuminated on my faceplate, upper left plate. We had the freqs for Beta, Blue Gold and the Systies, as well as our own channel. If it got through the deceptors, we could hear it. This was Blue Gold, probably trying to raise the two troopers we had killed in Reception.

“Door is open

” Sweety reported. There was only one way inthrough the door to the column room, then up the elevator floor to the next level. But Blue Gold was forcing their way in as well, against Systie opposition. They would be moving fast, but they would certainly have secured the column room, or mined it. And if the door was open

Dragon was by my side, raising the Manlink.

“Legion armor

” Sweety began. The corridor flashed and erupted, a dazzling, soundless blast. I found myself on the deck, totally deaf, scrambling to regain my feet. My faceplate had gone black for an instant and my sight was slowly returning. The first thing I saw was Dragon, walking slowly forward, Manlink at his shoulder, firing auto xmax into a raging firestorm that was still swirling and crackling where the doorway had been. Dragon had evidently fired his tacstar at the same instant the ConFree trooper had fired.

I leaped up, sending a hailstorm of x into the fading tacstar. Redhawk and Valkyrie and Tara and Whit were right there firing, walking forward into the room behind a deadly hail of high explosive shells and merciless laser bursts.

My hearing came back as we ceased firing. We were dispersed against the walls of the room. A tremendous din roared in my ears. The doorway was a ragged, glowing wound in the wall, liquid cenite pooling onto the deck, hissing and smoking. The room was thick with smoke, dominated by a large cylindrical column pierced by vertical slits oozing with sticky liquid. We had never figured out what it was. Everything was riddled with hits, smoking and burning.

“One Blue Gold dead,” Dragon said without concern. I could see the victim now, glowing smoking Legion armor, torn brutally in two. His blood was still dripping from the ceiling. ConFree had psyched Dragon during our mission to the Mound, and he had betrayed us. Dragon had no sympathy left for Blue Gold.

“Dragonlet’s disappear that ceiling,” I ordered, “right now.” I knew how dangerous that room up there was and I wanted to make sure anything in it was dead before we entered. Dragon raised his Manlink and fired right into the ceiling. A tacstar erupted, a blinding, horrific, phospho white flash, turning our faceplates black, deafening us again, the blast drilling me to my knees, my armor ringing with multiple hits, an array of red lights flashing inside my helmet.

Total silence. I struggled to my feet. Dragon stood there, a rock, his armor smoking, burnt black. The ceiling was gone. A hailstorm of metallic debris rained down on us as a firestorm raged above.

“No life,” Sweety reported. I raised my E and fired the lifeline. It shot up into the smoke, whirring. The rest of the squad did the samesix gleaming cables whirled through the air.

“Line secure.” I clipped the cable fix into the locking mechanism on my chestplate. The warning indicator flashed green. I gripped my E tightly, then shot into the air with explosive force, right into the flames above, smoke flashing past me, impacting heavily into a cenite bulkhead and falling to the deck. I scrambled to my feet, oriented myself quickly, and fired a burst of auto x blindly down the corridor. Someone bounced off me, knocking me to my knees. It was Whit. I clicked the recovery mechanism and the line ejected itself out of the wall and whipped back to my A-suit like a demented mechanical snake. It was dark and smoky and the tacmap was dead.

“X, Three, count!”

“X Eight!”

“X Ten!”

“X Elevendamn it!”

“X Whit!”

“X Tara. We’re running out of time!”

“Faster!”

We ran gingerly down the corridorit was all strangely familiar to me, but different as well. I suppose it was the most horrible little run we’d ever made. The corridor was full of mutilated bodiesSystie civilians, torn to shreds by X and laser and tacstars, and Systie soldiers, DefCorps troopers, their bronze-colored armor blasted white, still smoking, ripped open like paper by unimaginable forces. The deck was littered with bloody clothing and burning tacpaks and shattered weaponry. I saw a child, a little girl of pale angelic beauty, seemingly untouched, outstretched near one wall, dead as a stone. My boot crushed a baby bottle. Nine had run through these halls before, desperate to save a room full of children and babies. Then Blue Gold had swept through here, overrunning the DefCorps, tracking down Black Jade. And now we were here, again. It was a madhouse, and anything that moved was going to die. We would see to it. O, ConFree, DefCorps, man, woman, childwe didn’t have time for mercy. We had tried it, in sim. It didn’t work. We were a brotherhood of unholy biogens, totally focused and totally merciless, come to join the party.

“That access panel is

” I began.

“Movement! As

” The corridor wall erupted, showering us with smoking ricochets, pinging off my armor. I fired, convulsively, on full auto xmax. X snapped past me as the rest of the squad fired, the rounds arcing past just under the roof, guided straight to the target by our tacmods.

“Target down!” We rushed forward along the smoking walls and found a DefCorps trooper on his back, his armor peppered and glowing. His faceplate had been shattered. He stared up at me with tortured eyes, blinking from a face of bloody, raw meat. His nose and lips were gonehis whole face was shot away. He was horribly wounded, but still alive. An awful, croaking moan arose, and I knew it was a plea for mercy. He was a soldier, and I wasn’t going to leave him like that. I moved the barrel of my E over to his face, and a soft glow of peace entered his eyes. It was almost like a blessing. I switched to single fire xmin, and shot him once in the forehead.

“Tacstars!” One shouted. Snow Leopard! I was paralyzed. It was just a brief, flickering burst of sound, but his voice had been totally clear. Beta One!

“They’re in the O’s city,” I said. “Redhawk, Psycho is right up aheadgo get him! Watch out for Systies and ConFree! The rest of you, on me.”

“I’m on it,” Redhawk growled, setting off alone into the smoking wasteland.

“I’ve got the access panel!” Tara shouted. The damned thing was almost invisible, set into one corridor wall, a metal panel higher than a man. Tara was working on the locking mechanism with a techscan. Dragon and Valkyrie and Whit were against the walls, securing the corridor. We were jumpy as cats. Something always happened at this point, in sim. But all that was happening now was the fire, slowly consuming everything that could burn. Our big advantage this time over last time was that we knew the Mound. We had it all on tacmap. We were going to drop to sublevels, blast our way into the O’s inner sanctum, and immediately go after Priestess and Scrapper. Blue Gold had not followed Black Jade into the O’s city. They had avoided Psycho and forced their way in elsewhere, ending their quest in a bloody firefight in sublevels with Merlin, Tara, Gildron, Twister and me. I could still remember every frac of that encounter. Merlin had been killed.

“Open!” Our armored fingers pulled it open and the door creaked in protest, revealing a tall, dark slot in the wall. I stuck in an E and scanned above, then below. It was a dizzying drop. Several dirty pipes, beaded with moisture, took up most of the space, but there was just enough room for a soldier of the Legion.

“Line secured!” Valkyrie tossed in a lifeline. It rattled down, falling into the void.

A tremendous bang shattered our ears. The corridor ahead of us flared, and faded. A burst of auto x followed.

“Scut! X-Ten, I’ve got opposition!”

“That was Redhawk!”

“Nothing we can do! Time is gone! Follow me!” I scrambled bodily into the access port, secured the line to my chestplate and shot downwards, totally adrenalized, one hand on the controls, the other on my E. Dirty, icy walls flashed past. I hit the bottom hard in a filthy little hole where the pipes shot out horizontally into slots in the walls. I was facing another tall access panel and time was running out. I fired vac right into the lock and the panel popped open. I fired auto xmax through the doorway and it erupted white-hot out in the corridor, spraying shrapnel. The others were landing behind me as I stepped through the opening.

“Beta One, count!” Snow Leopard’s voice convulsed me. Time, time, we were running out of time!

“Split up!” I shouted. “We’re here! Valkyrie, come with me. Dragon, Tara, Whit, go, go, gofaster!” I was running frantically down another dark tunnel now, evil black coils overhead dripping with moisture, a slick icy deck, and my psybloc unit suddenly cracked to life, illuminating the corridor, burning yellow glare and inky shadows. Valkyrie ran up against me from behind.

“Move! Move!” It was Snow Leopard again, urging Black Jade on. We were getting his transmissions clearly. I knew the squad was running blindly down the underground tunnels under the O’s city in the Mound, pursued by the O’s. And I knew we had only instants to go, before the O’s unleashed the starmass that would trap Priestess and Scrapper.

“Halt!” Sweety called out. “Access to the O’s inner base is through this wall. Recommend immediate forced entry.” I whipped the barrel of my E over to the wall.

“Get out! Get out!”

“Run!”

“Heads down!” The transmissions were all from Black Jade, from Beta. I recognized my own voice. It was like being stabbed in the heart, listening to them, listening to myself.

“Omni approaching!” Sweety warned me harshly.

“Thinker!” The last was a screech, right in my ears. Valkyrie was standing in the center of the corridor, snapping her E up to her shoulder in horrifying slow motion. There was something rushing at us irresistibly, down corridor, flickering a violet force field, lighting up the walls and ceiling. It was like a cosmic train from the heart of Hell, and I knew it was not going to stop until we were dead, or it was. It was an O, fully armored, fully armed, fully shielded, and out for our blood.

***

VIEW: VISOR BETA X-10 REDHAWK MISSION ULDO X D/T 314 06 17 0832

Redhawk moved through the acrid smoke like a predator, stalking dangerous prey. All his sensors were on max and his adrenalin was flowing. He was so alert his eyes were almost glowing in the dark. His E was shouldered, scanning for the slightest hint of movement, his finger twitching on the trigger, the weapon set on auto xmax. The corridor walls were burning. A battle had raged there not long before. The bloody deck was littered with horrific, shredded body parts. A great many unfortunate Systie civilians had been caught in the crossfire. A DefCorps trooper in full armor lay on his back, gaping hole cut into his chestplate.

Something always happened at this point in sim. But now, in real life, it was deadly quiet. Redhawk was covered with icy sweat. He could hear the crackling of the flames and the moaning of some unfortunate survivor.

“ALERT! DEFCORPS

” the warning from Redhawk’s Persist was cut off by the blast of the tacstar. Redhawk found himself on his chest on the deck, deaf and half blinded. A searing glow flickered all around him and the warning lights in his helmet shone red. He jabbed the E forward and fired auto xmax.

“Scut! X-Ten, I’ve got opposition!” Redhawk shouted. His hearing was coming back. He scanned the tacmod hurriedly. Multiple hits, no penetrations. The target suddenly appeared on his tacmap from out of the deceptor haze and Redhawk fired another burst.

“DefCorps, Ten.” his Persist informed him. “We got some hits. Target is retreating. Probably a survivor from the earlier engagement with Blue Gold. I saved your butt again.” Redhawk hated talking to a machine, so he had put a little life into the programming.

“You were asleep!” Redhawk chided the tacmod. Redhawk hosed the corridor with bursts of glittering, deadly laser, and advanced, covered in icy sweat. The mission! He had to accomplish the mission or die. He had sworn it to himself on his knees, in tears, in his cube, and nobody had known except himself. He had sworn to all the Gods of Hell that he was not coming back without Psycho. He had made out his will, pledging his pitiful possessions to Whit or anyone else in Beta who survived.

Psycho should be right up ahead, lying in ambush behind a sealed cenite door, gravely wounded and hungry for blood, ready to blast anyone or anything that entered.

“That’s Five’s door,” the tacmod highlighted it for Redhawk and it appeared through layers of smoke, a cenite door, glowing briefly in pink on Redhawk’s faceplate. Redhawk could see the message the Systies had scrawled on it, a single word: EXPORT. The deck had been completely blown away directly in front of the door. It was a gaping hole, smoking like a volcano. A corpse in DefCorps armor was draped over the edge and the armor was riddled with scores of xmax hits and several ragged laser tracks. This fellow had been in sim as well. He had tangled with Beta earlier, and lost. The door was still secure. It confirmed that Blue Gold had found another entry into the O’s inner domain. And it probably meant that Beta Five was still there, on the other side of that door, waiting for something to kill. Redhawk swallowed hard, looked around nervously, and spoke on Beta’s tacnet, low power.

“Five, Ten. Are you there? Acknowledge.”

Silence. Only the hiss of deceptors on the net and the crackling of the flames, all around him.

“Five, Ten. I’m here to evac you. Answer, damn it!”

“Screw you, O. Come and get me!” The answer adrenalized Redhawk. Alive! Psycho was alive, and he thought Redhawk was an O, toying with his mind.

“Psycho, it’s me! If I was an O, your psybloc would have activated! Open the damn door! We’re evacing Beta! The mission is over!”

“Burn in Hell!” It was an evil hiss. Psycho did not believe him!

“Open the door, you demented little blond dwarf! Retard! Runt! Mutant! What have I got to do to activate your tiny brain? Open up or I’ll kick your ass!”

“Ten? Is it really you?”

“Scut! You’re just as slow as ever! Open the goddamn door!”

“I can’t! It’s welded shut!”

“Blast it open!”

“Aw right, stand back!”

The door came down in a blinding flash, glowing around the edges, and promptly fell into the ragged hole in the corridor floor, sweeping the dead Systie soldier off the lip and crashing down to the next level. Redhawk stepped carefully around the hole and into the open doorway. As the smoke slowly cleared he could see the top half of a Legion A-suit helmet, behind an E, peering over a massive, solid metal table.

“Laser sighting! We are targeted!” Redhawk’s Persist warned him. A tiny laser spot was roaming lazily over Redhawk’s armor.

“Quit targeting me, Psycho! It’s meRedhawk. I’m here to evacuate you. You and the rest of Beta. The mission’s over! Come on. We’ve got to fight our way out. This place is crawling with crazies.”

“Redhawk! Scut! I can hardly believe it! What the hell are you doing here?” Psycho lowered his E. He was sitting on the deck with an open medpak and an SG across his lap, surrounded by grenades. His right leg had been shot off above the knee. The bloody stump was crudely plastered with medgel and sealant. Psycho was clearly flying on mags. His face was pale and sweaty behind the faceplate. Redhawk reached down and hauled Psycho up by the shoulders.

“Come on, Psycho. We’re going for a little walk. Did you ever participate in one of those three-legged races when you were a kid?”

“Yeah, but I cheated.” Psycho gritted his teeth. He had one arm around Redhawk’s shoulder, and Redhawk had him around the waist.

“Cheating is all right,” Redhawk replied. “We’re doing a little cheating ourselves.” We’re cheating time, he thought. We’re cheating the Gods. And they hobbled out the door awkwardly, stepping around the hole in the corridor deck. Redhawk had his E pointed ahead of them and he was 100 percent alert. He knew they had a long way to go, and anything could happen. But he had Beta Five nowand he wasn’t letting go for anything.

***

The O launched the starmass just as Valkyrie and I fired auto canister x. The corridor boomed, transformed instantly into a raging blast of starmass, a mighty firestorm from the face of a star. It hit us like a great fist and blew me right off my feet. I ricocheted along the deck and finally stopped against a wall. I forced myself up. I was inside the firestorm, totally encased in deadly, swirling plasma. I raised my E and fired again, blindly, auto canister. Time was gonewe had no time!

“NOVA WARNING!” Sweety shouted in my ears. “TOLERANCES EXCEEDED! Turn and run, ThreeNOW!”

I ignored her. We couldn’t run. Priestess and Scrapper were on the other side of that wall, and time was running out.

“Fire, Valkyriefire!” I shouted, desperate that she would hear me. I knew her own Persist would be urging retreat, and I prayed to Deadman that she would ignore it. If we ran, Priestess and Scrapper would die. It was that simple.

The starmass flickered and faded, swirling over the walls, running along the deck to reveal Valkyrie, crouching in the center of the corridor on one knee, still firing her E. Her armor was white-hot, burning like a torch.

“Attack!” I staggered past her, firing. She got up jerkily and walked forward by my side, still firing. Down corridor it was flickering violet, crackling like a dying star. The air buzzed with thousands of explosive canister darts, a deadly hail that put a chill to my flesh. It was all exploding, hundreds of violent flashes shooting off phospho-white tracers to bounce off the walls and ceiling, ricocheting everywhere.

The O was torn to shreds, armor pitted and shattered, the remnants of the force field still flickering. Valkyrie put another burst into a gory mess that looked like its head. I turned my E to the wall and fired auto xmax. It exploded in our faces, riddling our armor, almost knocking us down. I didn’t care.

“One, Three, I’m

” it was me, calling out to One on Black Jade’s freq. The wall was gone. I stepped through the glowing hole, E up. Valkyrie was right behind me. We were in one of the O’s evil corridors, a twisted dark coiled ceiling overhead, lined with alien devices.

“Beta, One! Split up and get that ship!” Static, fading, and then Snow Leopard’s voice returned. “

the upper levels! Get out of here, and get to

“

“Three, your position is correct,” Sweety informed me. This was it. We had broken through; we were in the right corridor!

“Run!” Valkyrie said, charging past me. I ran. She was just in front. I was suddenly shaking uncontrollably. I knew this was it. We were going to succeed or fail in the next few marks.

“Look out!” someone screamed.

“Oh my God! Help! Help!” It was Scrapper, shrieking, the tacnet roaring with static. I was running blindly just behind Valkyrie. Up ahead, the corridor flashed and glowed, white-hot. Starmass!

“Run! I’m coming!” It was Priestess, calling out to Scrapper. Priestess! She was running into the starmass up ahead somewhere, running right in to rescue Scrapper. My guts were churning.

“Priestess!” It was my voice, but I hadn’t said it. “Priestess! Where are you?” Beta Three, lost and desperate. I had been nowhere near her. But I was now!

A screamterrified, primal, piercing me like a cold knife. Valkyrie and I ran into the starmass. It whirled around us violently, blinding us with an impossible glare. The warning lights in my helmet popped to red, Sweety was shouting in my ears. I let go of the E and it snapped back to my chest and I stretched out my arms and one hand glanced off Valkyrie, to my left. We staggered forward, leaning into the starmass against every human instinct, ignoring our frantic Persists.

“I’m dying

” someone said, a feeble protest in a mighty ocean of static. My adrenalin exploded, again.

“I’m coming!” I shouted. “Priestess, I’m coming!”

“TOLERANCES EXCEEDED! YOUR ARMOR IS FUSING, THREE! RECOMMEND RETREAT!” We continued into the starmass, ignoring the warnings. I could feel Valkyrie’s armored fingertips with mine. The armored plex on my faceplate was beginning to bubble. Black bubbles, slowly forming. I had seen that on the faceplates of dead troopers, cooked by starmass. Death, right there!

And suddenly Valkyrie was gone.

“I’m down, Thinker! Someone

” I whirled around wildly, striking out with my arms, completely blind in the whirling starmass. One hand bounced off something hard.

“Get up! Get up!” I had a vague glimpse of two armored figures moving in the flames. I reached out an arm and latched on to the closest one.

“This way!” I urged them. The starmass faded abruptly, whirling around our legs, hissing, then licking along the deck. We were walking in a brilliant, fiery river. Just to my left were two troopers in glowing, smoky armor, staggering forward. Valkyrie and

I had the other one by a wrist. I strained to make out the designation on the smoky helmetB12. It was Beta Twelve! Scrapper! Alive!

Ahead a brilliant violet light crackled. The starmass lazily spilled from the light, licking along the deck. As my dazzled eyes adjusted to the glare I could see it clearly. A gigantic Omni, fully armored and shielded, standing in the corridor clutching a formidable blackened weapon that was dripping starmass. The psybloc units on our helmets were spitting sparks. The force field was blinding, but just behind the O I could see something, faintly visible as the starmass faded. An A-suit, white-hot, flaming, down, moving, one arm grasping helplessly at the air. The O noticed it at the same time, swung the weapon around, then hesitated

it saw us!

Valkyrie and I fired at the same instant. Just as the starmass hit us, I saw the prone figure by the O fire tooright up into the O’s force field at point blank range.

The starmass knocked me flat. I was screaming, raging, convulsed, adrenalized, foaming at the mouth, totally insane. I clawed my way to my feet, charging right into the blast. I had released my hold on the EI would not take a chance on hitting Priestess.

I ran right into a crackling purple mass, and bounced off itthe O! I got up again, flailing wildly at the deck. Priestess! Priestess! Where are you! Where the hell are you!

Another burst of starmass hit me from behind, knocking me head over heels along the corridor. I staggered to my feet and the starmass was everywhere, swirling all around me.

And for an instant, just an instant, a glowing A-suit appeared, floating in the starmass.

“Priestess! It’s Thinker!” I lunged at her, and my armored fingers scratched at her A-suit. Priestess shrieked in agony, burning alive. Her eyes were wide in shock, through a faceplate rippling with black bubbles. Her A-suit was burning, flaming like a meteor, melting, spitting off globules of white-hot cenite. Starmass blazed like the heart of a sun, a raging holocaust, a river of destruction all around us. She reached out both arms for me, flaming metal arms. I ran for her, I almost had her but a blast of starmass caught her in the chest, blowing her away from me like a fleck of glowing ash. She screamed again as she saw I was not going to reach her.

“Thinker! Thinker! Help me! Help me! Help me!” The starmass overwhelmed us, and I could see her no more. She was gone!

“No!” Convulsed, I ran for her blind, half swimming in that raging river of absolute destruction. The starmass knocked me off my feet again. I fought it with a blind fanatic total will, lurching to my feet like a dying biogen, using the last fraction of energy in every muscle to combat the A-suit’s rapidly failing hydraulic system. I staggered forward, a blind robot walking through Hell intent on its imprinted task, that and nothing else, Beta Nine, Beta Nine, Beta Nine, Beta Nine

I was in Hell. I stretched out my arms and they locked there, the hydro fluid boiling, and I rocked forward, crashing from foot to foot, a human scythe encased in a star, the flames burning my faceplate black mils from my eyeballs, the temperature rising to intolerable levels inside the suit, my flesh scorching, extreme pain rushing over my tortured body. I prayed for a merciful death, but I did not stop my fevered search.

I stumbled over something and went down hard. I considered not getting up again, but only for an instant. The starmass was still raging, a white-hot river rushing over me. I lashed out with the last of my strength, forcing the arms and legs of the A-suit to bend. One hand hit something hard, and my armored fingers closed around it. It was the locking mechanism for a lifeline, set in the chestplate of an A-suit, and I’ll swear till the day I die it wasn’t my hand that found it. It was the hand of God.

I pulled with all I had. I struggled to my feet and pulled, and I knew I had ahold of an A-suit, and there was nothing in Hell or Heaven that was going to force me to release my grip. I dragged that A-suit after me like a crippled crab and the starmass faded and swirled down around us, a falling river, finally licking feebly along the deck, smoking, spent. The cenite walls and ceiling glowed, melting, globs of metal dripping like magma. I collapsed next to the other A-suit, one hand still gripping the locking mechanism. Our armor was white-hot, still burning. My faceplate was blistered black. I could hardly see. I pulled her to me. It had to be Priestess! She was not moving. Her faceplate was blasted black, the limbs of the A-suit were stiff and locked, just like rigor mortis. I sat there exhausted, clutching her to me. If I had died right then, I think I would have been happy.

Movementdown corridor. I could barely make it out. An evil, violet glow. It was coming closer. Now it was clear. The O, untouched, secure in its force field, its image wavering behind virtually impenetrable layers of wildly swirling vac fields. The O approached, raising its weapon once again to finish us off.

I clutched Priestess closer and raised my E with my free hand. There was a flicker of movement behind the O. Valkyrie, A-suit glowing, rushing at the O like a mad dog. An angel, a flaming angel, and her E was the sword of God.

Virtually impenetrableburn in Hell, O! I fired, auto canister x. Valkyrie fired at the same instant. So did the O. The starmass erupted again. It rushed over us, irresistible and final. I kept one arm locked around Priestess, a cenite vise. With the other I continued firing in the general direction of the O, finger locked on the trigger, the E bucking and kicking wildly. I prayed Sweety would guide the rounds away from Valkyrie. I could hear the canister darts buzzing even above the roar of the starmass. I didn’t even have the energy to stand up. I sat there with Priestess in the starmass, cooking.

And suddenly the flames were gone, fading again, burning along the deck, and I saw the O. Even through my blistered faceplate I could see it, collapsed, stricken, half on the deck and half against a corridor wall. The force field was spitting and crackling and fading, the armor glowing white, smoking, one great arm outstretched, long fingers clawing at nothing. Yes! The field was down! Valkyrie approached from the other side, a flaming A-suit, a vision from Hell firing laser, lovely bright golden bursts slicing the O like rotten meat. I forced myself to my knees and slammed the E against my shoulder and fired auto xmax and the O erupted as the x hit it, exploding outwards, blasted to bits, torn to shreds, spraying evil green blood over us all. Scrapper was behind Valkyrie, another glowing A-suit staggering forward, raising her E, firing x, once, then falling to her knees, exhausted. The O was dead.

I turned back to Priestess immediately. She was lying on her back in a little trickle of fire that was licking along the deck. I knelt by her side awkwardly, fighting the failing hydraulics, one armored arm behind her shoulders, forcing her to a sitting position. Her armor was still glowing, smoking heavily. The faceplate was cooked. The arms and legs were stiff. I pressed my faceplate against hers. It was hopeless, I could see nothing. I broke down and cried like a baby, embracing my lost love, faceplate to faceplate, two glowing, burning A-suits, gently rocking back and forth. We were together at last. Together in Hell. My mad odyssey was over, and I was too terrified to investigate further. What if she were dead? What would I do if she were dead?

“Move, Thinker!” Valkyrie pressed a field syringe into an access port on Priestess’s armor. “Nine, Nine, it’s Eleven. Respond! Are you alive? Respond, damn it!”

There was silence from Beta Nine.

“Get up, soldier! We don’t have time for this! Nine, Eleven, respond!”

“Nine here.” It was a ghostly whisper, almost not there at all, but it gave me a jolt of pure adrenalin.

“Nine!” I shouted. “Priestess, it’s Thinker! Get up! Can you move your suit? You’ve got to get up right now!”

“Yes

yes. It’s so hot. Let me try

” Alive! I was overcome with emotion. I helped her stand. She was unsteady, but she stood.

“Thinker, we’re running out of time!” Valkyrie said. “I’ve got to get in place!” Scrapper had appeared at her side, silent, watching over the glowing, smouldering remains of the O. I looked at my chron and pulled myself together very quickly. We had work to do.

“It’s only 0877 hours,” I replied. “You’ve got time. But I don’t! Come with me, now! Nine, Twelve, follow us and no questions!”

“What’s this, Thinker?” Valkyrie asked. “We’re supposed to split up now! You’ve got to get them back to Reception! I’ve got to

“

“Black Jade, Blue Gold! Warning, we’ve got at least one O in the underground complex!” The announcement energized me.

“Stand back!” I warned. “We’re going straight down! We’ll hit Blue Gold from the rear!” I fired directly into the floorplates, auto xmax. The deck erupted, spitting phospho shrapnel.

“What the hell are you doing?” Valkyrie screeched. “This isn’t in the tacplan! Have you gone mad?”

“Blue Gold is closing in on Merlin,” I said. “Right now! He’s still alive, do you hear me? Alive! They haven’t killed him yet! Blue Gold is below. If we kill them first, they can’t kill him!”

“You can’t do that!” Valkyrie gasped. “It’s impossible! You can’t change the past! Dragon saw his body! So did Redhawk! So did you! He died in your arms!”

I pulled her to me, faceplate to faceplate, looking right into those icy green eyes. “I don’t care!” I said. “Merlin is alive and so are his killers! If we kill them first, they can’t kill him! I don’t care about the rules! I don’t care what’s possible or impossible! I’ve worked it all out. We can hit Blue Gold from the rear. Are you coming or not?”

“Will somebody tell me what the hell is going on?” Scrapper asked hoarsely.

“Shut down!” Valkyrie snapped. “Twelve, Nine, follow us! I’m with you, Thinkerfaster!”

We dropped through the glowing hole in the deck past a tangle of severed wires and a miniature waterfall of hissing molten cenite, landing with a splash in a great darkened chamber full of knee-high water. The water boiled instantly on contact with our superhot armor, filling the air with steam. The filthy, blackened walls were lined with pipes.

“Follow me!” We were in the sewers. I knew exactly where to go. I ran, convulsed, sloshing through the water, an insane robot in a red-hot A-suit, leaving a cloud of steam in my wake. Valkyrie and Scrapper and Nine struggled to keep up, hampered by their own damaged A-suits. Around a bend, a burst of firing rolled down the corridor.

“Targets on scope!” Sweety reported. The tacmap was dead, but I rammed my E out and fired auto xmax right into Blue Gold’s position, still charging forward, frantic and exhausted, and I knew I had to kill them all, every last one, or Beta Four was going to die.

“Cease fire, Black Jade! You’re firing on a friendly unit!” The announcement came over Beta’s tacnet.

“Wester, Merlin is hit bad!” Tara said in my ear on Beta’s net. I staggered to a stop, stunned. I ceased fire, but the firefight continued, rising to a frenzy up ahead, a fusillade of x and laser and ricochets, whistling and snapping wildly along the corridor, and the water was peppered with hits. Valkyrie and Priestess and Scrapper were suddenly beside me, panting.

“We’ve failed,” I said. “Merlin has been hit. He’s going to die. The bastards were rightyou can’t change the past. Let’s go.” It felt just as if a grenade had exploded in my guts. I felt physically sick, I wanted to vomit.

“You tried, Thinker,” Valkyrie said. “You tried! God bless you! “

“If Merlin is hit we’ve got to help him,” Nine said. She had me by an elbow. “They need a medic. Come on!” She was clutching a medkit pouch that resembled a smoking piece of lava.

“No,” I said. “Valkyriego! Faster! You’ve got a mission! Straight down this corridor, that way, then right. You know where you are?”

“Yes!”

“Go!” She took off quickly. She had a date with a green-eyed blonde.

“I’m going to help Merlin!” Nine said. The firefight was still raging, up ahead, crackling blue-hot x, flickering, deadly light.

“That’s a twelve, trooper!” I ordered. “Shut down and follow me, both of you, right now. We retreat! Back, back, slowly. Keep alert!”

“But we should help Merlin! How can you abandon him?”

“Merlin is beyond help. Cover the ceiling.”

“Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on?” Twelve pleaded again.

“No! Just follow orders! On me!” And we moved away from Blue Gold’s position. I knew Tara and Twister and I were attacking Blue Gold from the other side and I did not want to meet myself. I knew Merlin was dying and I had failed to prevent his death. I cursed the Gods. I cursed myself.

Chapter 19

Nothing to Report

VIEW: VISOR BETA X-11 VALKYRIE MISSION ULDO X D/T 314 06 17 0885

Valkyrie was holed up in a little cubicle full of mounds of greasy filth behind a panel of alien cenite that did not even lock. She did not know what the little room was for. It appeared to be a garbage receptacle. She was down in the sewers and her heart was pounding raggedly. 0885 hours. The psybloc unit on top of her helmet was crackling, lighting up the awful walls of her chosen coffin. The O was close. So was Beta Eleven, her earlier self. She had made it just in time. She was in place.

“Darksight has failed,” her Persist whispered in her ears. “Weapons system guidance has failed. Tacnet is damaged, I am repairing. Hydraulics are

“

“Shut down,” Valkyrie ordered. “Just keep track of that O and Beta Eleven.” She was shaking with tension but she felt no fear. A burst of scrambled noise roared in her ears. The floor shook and rumbled. A dull boom echoed off the walls.

“O rising!” Valkyrie could not tell who had said it, but she knew what it meant. The O was in pursuit of Beta. “Run!” Valkyrie twitched in impatience. Thinker and Twister and Tara and Gildron were fleeing the O, and now they registered on Valkyrie’s scrambled tacmap. They had entered her corridor and turned away from her position with the O on their heels.

“Wester!” It was Tara, a shriek of horror. The O was coming at them now, ready to blast them to cindersthey were cornered where the corridor ended.

“One, Three! We’re trapped and done for! It’s all up to you! Death!” Thinker’s transmission was icy clear. Valkyrie was still in the cubicle, holding herself back like a coiled snake poised to strike.

“It’s them, Valkyrie.” Snow Leopard’s steely voice echoed in her helmet. “Get that O!”

“I’m on it, One!” Valkyrie heard herself call out. “Goodbye and God bless you!” Valkyrie could see herself on the tacmap, rushing past outside the cubicle, hurling herself at the O from its rear, and then she heard the mighty eruption of starmass booming like thunder, and Beta Eleven’s E, a tremendous barrage of auto canister x. Then the x stopped, and the starmass blasted past right outside the little cubicle, and the metal panel began to glow red-hot. Valkyrie caught a glimpse of herself on the tacmap. She had just stumbled past outside, retreating, cooking in the starmass. One more time, for the Gods. Valkyrie took a deep breath, kicked open the panel, and threw herself into the starmass. It knocked her down, a titanic blast of raging plasma, an invincible river of flame. She forced herself to her knees, oriented herself by the blinking tacmap, and fired canister, blind, towards the O. Then she turned and ran, blown along by the force of the gas. The starmass continued, cooking her armor red-hot. The tacmod was frantic, but Valkyrie ignored it. Beta Eleven was gone from the tacmap, but she was right up ahead somewhereshe had to be! The damned O was still alive, flooding the corridor with starmass. For an instant Valkyrie thought she had lost her target, and then the tacmod pinged once.

“Target zeroed, as marked,” it said, calmly. Valkyrie staggered forward to the site, and the starmass was still raging. The cenite walls were melting; the ceiling was spitting globs of molten cenite. The tacmod was marking out escape routes, flashing them at her in phospho pink.

Beta Eleven appeared, a white-hot A-suit on the floor in a foetal position, buffeted by waves of starmass. Valkyrie reached down and pulled her former self to her feet by her wrists and gently guided her to an intersecting corridor, out of the starmass. It was right where it was supposed to be.

They stood there for an instant. Valkyrie gasped with fatigue. Beta Eleven’s A-suit was still white-hot, but she was standing. Valkyrie was suddenly overwhelmed with savage satisfaction. She had done it! She turned to leave abruptly, but Beta Eleven snatched at a wrist and pulled her back, and looked right into her faceplate. There was a momentary shock of recognition, and Eleven released her grasp, stunned. Valkyrie turned away again, and moved off down the corridor, hurriedly. She knew Beta Eleven would make it nowand she would keep the secret until it was time. She was suddenly flooded with emotion, and exhaustion. Done itshe had done it!

***

VIEW: VISOR BETA X-8 DRAGON MISSION ULDO X D/T 314 06 17 0901

Dragon tracked Beta One like a jungle cat, all his superhuman Legion senses set to max, gliding soundlessly from dark to dark, his E scanning for any life at all. Even an insect would have registered. Dragon crept through a gigantic hall lit only by the fires of Hell. His darksight gave him the ceiling above, massive coils of alien cenite hissing steam. A fantastic firefight had raged through here not long before. Scores of heavy mysterious structures dangled from the ceiling and a dizzying array of cenite cables hung down loosely, faintly tinkling. Some of the ceiling structures had fallen to the deck, lying in luminous rivulets of hissing, low-grade molten cenite. Walls and ceilings were scarred with multiple laser tracks, still smoking, and pitted with hundreds of x hits. Evil white pockmarks were everywhere and the walls still burned. The molten cenite ran past Dragon’s boots, hissing and spitting. Beta One had been here. Dragon knew it in his bones. It had been quite a battle, Dragon thoughta battle worthy of his leader.

Up ahead a giant hole had been blown in the ceiling and deck and the entire hall was wrecked, peppered with shrapnel. A portion of the ceiling had fallen down right through the hole in the deck, leaving a frozen trail of cenite beams and cables and assorted wreckage. Molten metal was running into the hole. It looked as if a tacstar had detonated there.

Dragon’s psybloc unit was still off. He was happy about that. Deceptors were still at maxthe tacmap was trash. He crept up to the lip of the hole. It was a chaotic mess of tangled wreckage, dangling precariously into the drop. This hole was exactly where they had found Beta One’s severed leg.

“Target zeroed! Beta One, as marked!” Dragon tried to maintain his composure. The tacmod now showed the target down at the bottom of the hole, and the phospho ID lit up Dragon’s faceplate. B1, it readBeta One. Snow Leopard!

Dragon leaned out over the hole, one hand grasping a twisted cable, the other wielding the E, looking down into an awful pit like a semi-dormant volcano, faint flames glowing from below, glittering molten cenite falling over the edge, splattering into nothingness.

“One, Eight! Respond! I’m right here! What’s the sit!”

“Nothing to report.” The words came in a rush of static, but they electrified Dragon. He triggered the flash on his E and the brilliant spotlight revealed a twisted mass of wreckage below, tangled in a spiderweb of warped cables. It was raining water and molten metal, and everything was wreathed in smoke and steam. Dragon could not see Snow Leopard.

“One, Eight. Say again!”

“Eight, One. Nothing to report. Get to the Ship!” It was a chill whisper that raised the hairs on the back of Dragon’s neck.

“Give me the target,” Dragon ordered his Persist. He couldn’t see a thing below, but the tacmod outlined Beta One on his faceplate, a confusing pink glow.

“I’m coming down, One.” Dragon snapped his lifeline around a jagged cenite splinter and launched himself down into the dark, sliding carefully past the tangled wreckage.

“Eight, One. Your mission is the Ship! Get out of here and secure the Ship right now, trooper!” Snow Leopard broke into a coughing fit.

Snow Leopard lay underneath a massive pile of wreckage, twisted cenite beams and buckled floor plates and broken pipes and wildly tangled cables. As Dragon touched down he saw One’s cold pink eyes glaring at him out of a deathly pale face.

“Nothing to report, huh?” Dragon inquired calmly.

“Get out of here, Eight! I’m giving you a direct order. Get to the Ship and secure it! The mission, Eightthe mission!”

What the hell happened to you?”

“Forget me! I’m not important! You can worry about me later! Right now you’ve got to take the Ship. Why are you still standing there, trooper? Get the hell out of my sight!” Snow Leopard broke into another awful coughing fit, and then just lay there gasping.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Dragon replied, examining his One’s predicament. A faint stream of molten cenite was splattering onto a twisted overhead pipe, then dribbling down onto One’s leg. Dragon lasered the pipe off and the cenite began to fall harmlessly off to one side.

“The Ship!” It was a plea, from Snow Leopard. His eyes were closed. He was in agony.

“Forget the Ship,” Dragon said. “Three and Cinta and Gildron have got the Ship under control. They don’t need my help. I’m here to evac you. When did this happen? How bad is the leg?”

“About fifteen mikes ago,” Snow Leopard said through gritted teeth. “Omni probesa bunch. I got them allbut they got me.”

Fifteen mikes. Dragon understood immediately what it meant. When Snow Leopard had ordered Valkyrie to attack the O that was closing in on Thinker, Tara, Twister and Gildron, he had already tangled with the O probes. He must have called out his orders from the bottom of this hopeless pit, trapped and seriously wounded. And he had not said a word to anyone about his problem. He had not wanted resources drawn away from the mission. He knew the squad would have immediately diverted from the mission to rescue him. “Nothing to report”that was our One, Dragon thought. He was the ultimate One, the ultimate squad leader, the ultimate warrior.

“Are you sure we’ve got the Ship?” Snow Leopard asked anxiously. “Are you sure? It was really there?”

“It sure as hell was. It’s done, One. The mission was successful. Now we’ve got to get you out of here. Looks like your right leg can be moved. How bad is the left?”

“The ankle and foot are crushed. Also my knee. The fibula and tibia are both broken. The tacmod has stopped the bleeding. Trouble is

that big cenite beam is not moving, and it’s fused with the A-suit.”

“Fused?”

“The molten cenite has been falling onto the beam and onto the armor on my leg. It’s fused the beam to my armor. The damned water hasn’t helped either. We’ve got a kind of a natural foundry here.” Dragon lit it up with the flash. It was an ugly mess, still glowing. The beam was solid structural cenitevery tough. A light spray of water was falling gently over it all from above. Fusedscut! Dragon glared at his chron. 0914 hours. They were running out of time, real fast.

“Any chance you can withdraw your leg from the A-suit if I unlink your suit?”

“Can’t be done. I’ve already asked. The only thing that’ll get me out of here is a grav crane and some delicate laser surgery. Dragon, we have to inform Recon Control that we have secured the Ship. They must reinforce us! It’s critical! Do they know? Have you informed them?”

It was at that very instant that Thinker’s message came through on Black Jade’s net. “One, Three. Cinta, Gildron, Three are entering the Ship. Repeat, we’re entering the Ship! Goodbye and God protect you!”

“I thought you said they had already secured the Ship!” One said.

“They had. Don’t worry, Onewe get the Ship! Listenwe’ve got one big problem.”

“What’s that?” Snow Leopard gritted his teeth again. He was pumped full of mags and biotics, flying high.

“We’ve only got twenty-five marks left.”

“Before what?”

“Before ConFree antimats the Mound.”

“Antimats the Mound! Why in Deadman’s name would they do that?”

“Because the Ship is launchingvery shortly. And once it’s gone, ConFree will want to destroy the evidence of its treason. For example, those dead Blue Gold troopers.” The antimat part was all fiction, of course. Dragon knew he needed a damned good reason to get One to agree to what he was about to propose. The O ship was going to launch shortly all right, but the Star of Dindabai was also launching on schedule, with or without Snow Leopard and Dragonand Dragon did not want either of them to miss it.

Snow Leopard closed his eyes. His pale face was covered with icy sweat. “Launching

you’re losing me! You said

“

“One, I’ve got to get you out of here, right now! There’s only one way.”

“Ahhh

what’s that?”

“You’re right, that beam’s not going anywhere. It’s fused to your A-suit. My Persist tells me it may take ten marks to cut through it with my laser. We don’t have ten marks. But I could cut through your armor, and your leg, easily, just above the knee, in just a few marks, with the laser.”

“Cut off my leg! Dragon

listen, if you’re still upset about my promoting Eleven as our Two instead of you

maybe we could talk about it.” One burst into another coughing fit, but Dragon could see he was laughing. Laughing! Dragon shook his head in wonder. He had served under a lot of Ones in his short and violent career as a hired gun, but Beta One was without doubt the best.

“I’m serious, One! It’s the only way. Your tacmod will top off your mags and gel you up. I’ll carry you out of here, Redhawk is here to evac us. And the Legion will grow you a new leg. We’re running out of time, One!”

“Ten is here? I must be missing something. I must be hallucinating. How sure are you about this antimat thing? How do you know it?”

“We’ve got about twenty-four marks! If there was any other way I’d do it, One. What do you say, One? Give me the word.”

“What happens if I say no?”

“I’ll stay with you. And we both die.”

“You crazy bastard! Go aheaddo it. But you’ve got to promise me we don’t leave anyone behind! If all of Beta doesn’t evac with us, I’m not going.”

“If all of Beta isn’t at the evac point,” Dragon said, “I’m not going either. Let’s see nowwas it the left or right leg?”

“Cut it off and quit clowning around!”

“Yes sir!” Dragon switched his E to laser.

***

VIEW: VISOR BETA X-TARA MISSION ULDO X D/T 314 06 17 0918

“Cease fire! Cease fire! Stop it, damn it! Have you gone insane? Stop it!” Tara was crawling like an armored worm on the deck as everything around her erupted in vicious bursts of auto x. A blinding stream of laser screeched past just over her head, drilling a nearby wall and freezing her blood. Shrapnel pinged off her armor. They were in a large chamber with an insane ceiling of glassy vertical tubes dangling from above, swirling madly, tinkling eerily.

“Make it stop! It’s gonna kill us!” Whit was trying to scratch a hole in the floor without success.

“Thirteen! It’s Cinta! Stop shooting at us! It’s Cinta and Whit! Acknowledge, over!”

Another horrific burst of x exploded off the ceiling, showering them with smoking metal and shards of glassy splinters from the tubes. Tara cringed inside her suit. “Scut. She’s out of control. She’s not even aiming. What the hell is wrong with her?”

“Cinta! We hate to add to its troubles,” Whit said, “but have we looked at our chron lately?”

“Yes, yeswe’re running out of time, we know. Thirteen! Twister! Acknowledge, damn it! What the hell is the problem?” They had zeroed Twister all right. They had first found the section of wall that she had lasered out, saving Tara and Thinker and Gildron as well as herself from a pursuing O, and then they had zeroed Twister herself. But she had zeroed them as well, and was doing her level best to blast them out of existence.

“We’d better retreat, Cinta!” Whit urged.

“No! We’re not leaving here without Beta Thirteen!”

“Well, it had better think of something quick!”

“Twister! It’s Cinta! I’ve come back for you! Do you hear me? I’ve come back! Answer me, damn it!”

The response was a sob, clearly audible, followed by a hopeless moan.

“Twister! We’re here! Answer!”

“Liars

liars

liars. Come to me. Come to me. Embrace me.”

“It’s out of its head, Cinta!”

“Silence! Twister, I’m coming. I’m coming to help you right now. Don’t shoot me, Twister. It’s Cinta!” Tara carefully stood up, right in the center of the chamber, and stepped forward. The zero from a laser sight flashed past her faceplate and chest, danced jerkily over the floor and walls and was lost in the glassy forest dangling from the ceiling. Tara walked forward cautiously, almost paralyzed, her skin ice-cold, both arms raised, completely open to the angels of death. Whit held her breath, terrified. What would she do if Thirteen killed Cinta? She would kill Thirteen, she suddenly realized. She had never even met Beta Thirteen. Did that make it all right? Whit began trembling. She had never killed anyone before. She prayed to Deadman, Cinta’s new God, for Cinta’s life.

“I welcome you, O. Come. Touch me. We die together.” Twister was out of her head, Tara thought, walking grimly forward to Twister’s position. The laser zero flashed past her eyes again. Tara’s face was covered with icy sweat. We all pay for our sins, she thought. She had abandoned Beta Thirteen to near certain death, and now she was paying. A laser burst in the heart would be merciful, she thought. Let it happen!

But it did not happen. Tara found Beta Thirteen huddled in an alcove just off the main chamber. The walls were scorched and burning. Twister’s A-suit was still glowing red-hot. Her faceplate was burnt black. She was seemingly frozen behind her E. Tara knelt beside her and ran her armored fingertips over Twister’s faceplate, gently.

“Twister. It’s Cinta. I’ve come back, and you’re going to be all right. What happened?”

“Cinta! Is it really

Thinker said you made it to the Ship. I thought

I can’t see. I thought you were the O’s.”

“Thinker was wrong. I’m here, with Whit. We’re here to evac you, Twister. The mission is over. Can you move?”

“Can’t move. So hot! I can hardly breathe, it’s so hot in here! The O

it blasted me with starmass, then moved on. It was chasing you. I fired at it; I gave it all I had. It just blasted me and went on. My suit’s cooked. Can’t move

I was going to shoot you, but I can’t even move my fingers now.”

“We’ve got to get going, Cinta!” Whit urged her.

“We’ve got a little problem, Whit. It’s just as we feared. My tacmod tells me Twister’s hydropak is empty. There’s a big puncture in the unit itself, and all the hydro has drained out. Twister can’t move her suit.”

“Fine, let’s carry her, drag her, now! Let’s go!”

“How much time do we have to liftoff?”

“Twenty-two marks!”

“And what’s the best time we ever made carrying her in sim?”

“Twenty-five marksscut!”

“We’re not going to make it. It’s impossible.”

“What do we do?” Whit squeaked.

“Give me a solution, Tess,” Tara demanded calmly.

“Beta Thirteen will have to be fully mobile to meet the time requirement,” Tara’s Persist responded, with infuriating logic.

“Thank you! Implementation, please!” Tara replied through clenched teeth.

“Access Thirteen’s hydropak, spotweld the damage, access your hydropak, transfer fifty percent hydro from you to her. As hydropaks contain twice what is required as a safety measure, this should allow you both to be fully functional. I can instruct you on implementing the procedure, which should not take more than six marks, assuming no interruptions. In view of the time constraints, I would suggest beginning immediately, should you agree.”

“Good idea! Yes! Begin immediately! Twister, I’m going to unlink your chestplate. What the hell is the external temperature? Stand by!”

“So hot

is it really you, Cinta? Who’s that with you? I’m so tired. Are we really leaving? What about the mission? We can’t walk out on the mission.”

“You’re the mission,” Tara replied throatily, as she frantically unlinked Twister’s chestplate with trembling fingers. The firefight had seriously delayed them. How could they possibly make it in time? Tara did not know, but she did know she would never stop trying, as long as there was life left in her body.

***

“I’m giving her four marks,” I said, “and if she doesn’t show by then, I’ll be going after her.”

“I’ll be going with you,” Scrapper said.

“Me too,” Priestess added. We were exhausted and hyper, our backs to the wall, gasping but totally alert, pausing in a murky corridor with a ceiling that was lost in the darkness above. It went straight up four levels and was slowly filling with smoke from the battles that had been raging in the Mound. We were only a few mikes from Reception and salvation, but I wasn’t going on without Valkyrie. I knew she had to come this way. Time was flashing past too fast. If we missed the ship, I knew something terrible was going to happen to us.

“What is Valkyrie doing?” Priestess asked. She was right next to me. So close. I could only stare at her. I raised a hand and touched her armored shoulder. Her A-suit was a wreck, pitted and scorched, but still functional. The Legion built them tough, and it wasn’t the lowest bidder that got the contract. She turned to me. I could barely see through her blistered faceplate, but it was Priestess all rightbig dark liquid eyes, pale fragile perfect face, all covered with sweat. Vulnerable, tender lips. My God. My holy God. I could only touch her scorched faceplate with my armored fingers. My whole body was suddenly flooded with emotion. Priestess! My holy God, Deadman, I thank you, from the bottom of my immortal soul.

“Thinker,” she said, raising her hands to my helmet. Just that one word, and it was all I wanted in my whole life. It wouldn’t matter if we were killed in the next few fracs. It wouldn’t matter. Priestess was mine, once more. I had gotten her back. Victory, I thought, just as Tara had said. Victory over everything, over everyone. Total victory, for Beta Three. Who could ask for more?

“Legion armor!” I snapped my E to my shoulder and Sweety zeroed the target for me. A little notice was flashing on the tacmap: BX11.

“Valkyrie!” I shouted. She came at us in a rush, trailing a cloud of smoke, her armor still glowing. “You made it!” I met her in a clash of armor.

“I did it, Thinker! I did it!” Her face was shining with joy. “Scrapper! Scrapper! Come here!” Scrapper fell into her arms, gasping, and I put an arm around Priestess, pulling her close. Victory, for Beta. Victory, against the curse of time. Victory, over the Gods!

“Let’s go, gang,” I said. “We’re short on time. Move it!”

“One, Three.” My voice was unmistakable, echoing in my ears. “Cinta, Gildron, Three are entering the Ship. Repeat, we’re entering the Ship! Goodbye and God protect you!”

The effect was electrifying. The interior of my helmet was suddenly bathed in red. I looked over at Priestess in horror. Her E was pointed right at my faceplate, and the laser spot was crawling over my face.

“They’re O’s!” Priestess choked. Scrapper broke away from Valkyrie as if scorched, snapping her E up to her shoulder, and the muzzle was point-blank at Valkyrie.

“Nine is targeting you, auto canister x!” Sweety informed me briskly. “Recommend no sudden movements.”

“Priestess!” I gasped.

“They’re O’s!” she shrieked. Her E was shaking. “They’ve taken our minds!”

“My God!” Scrapper gasped. “No! Val

.”

“Priestess! It’s me! It’s Thinker! I’m realValkyrie is real! We’re not O’s! If we were O’s your psybloc would have activated!”

“Scrapperit’s Valkyrie! I love you, Scrapper! I’ve been through Hell to get here for you! Just for you! Don’t do this!”

“No!” Scrapper cried, but the E was still zeroed on Valkyrie.

“Don’t you see?” Priestess shouted. “They’re O’s! They’ve taken our minds! It’s not real! This is just what we’d want! Thinker for me, and Valkyrie for you! It’s from our own minds, Scrapperour own deepest desires! It’s impossible! The bastards are psyching us! It’s a cruel joke! Thinker just entered the Ship! You heard the transmission! He can’t be here, too!”

“Priestess,” I said. “I love you! My whole life has led me back here, to you. I’ve lost everythingexcept you. You can’t imagine what’s happened, how many years have passed, how long I’ve been dreaming about you and longing for you, since you and Scrapper ran into that starmass.”

“Thinker!” Valkyrie cautioned me.

“No,” I said. “No, I’m going to tell them.”

“They won’t believe it!”

“Priestessyou are everything to me. I’ve risked everything for you. And I’m here, only for you. It’s just as Valkyrie said. We’ve both been through Hell. Look at me.” I reached out a hand.

“Don’t touch me!” Priestess shrieked. She jammed the barrel of the E right against my faceplate, and it scratched over the armored plex. My helmet was flooded with awful red light but I felt no fear.

“I’m not an O, Priestess. I’m Beta Three. I’m your eternal love, and I’ve returned, just for you. Look into my eyes.”

“No!” Scrapper cried out in agony.

“Scrapperit’s true,” Valkyrie said. “Every word is true! Long, lonely years have passed, and I’ve been dreaming of you, mourning for you, the whole time. And now I’m herefor you!”

“Evil lies!” Priestess choked out. “You’re both O’s, and you’re here to kill us!”

“Priestess

” I moved forward and my faceplate was almost touching hers, and the E was still there, the laser light almost blinding me. “If we were O’s, you’d both be dead by now. You may not believe what I’ve got to say, but I’m going to say it anyway. It’s true, I did just enter the Ship. But I’m here as well. It’s me, Priestess. I love you forever, and I’ve come back in time, to pull you free from the fires of Hell. So has Valkyrie, for Scrapper. It was the Ship, Priestess. It gave us the power to cheat time. Now look into my eyes. Can you kill me, after all we’ve been to each other? Do it, Priestessif you must. I don’t mind dying by your hand. My whole life has led me here. If you won’t come with me, I have nowhere else to go. Kill me. Do it! But first I want you to look into my eyes and tell me you don’t trust me.”

Her face was twitching and her eyes were brimming with tears. I was ready for death. I had meant every word. But she only gasped and dropped the E.

“I can’t do it,” she choked. “I’m not strong enough. Kill me, if you’re an O. Kill me!” I reached out my arms and embraced her, gently. We stood there in each other’s arms and I couldn’t see a thing through the tears, and I guess Valkyrie and Scrapper were doing the same.

***

“We’re almost out of time!” Valkyrie was dancing in impatience. We were in Reception, in defensive positions, ready for anything. The massive main gates were frozen in the open position, a pale sky glowing in blinding contrast to the sullen, smoky interior of the great darkened hall. Redhawk crouched by the entrance with his E, kneeling next to Psycho who was lying on a field stretcher. Priestess and Scrapper were against the wall, their E’s scanning for targets. I had just tossed out a deceptor and a psybloc grenade. Our tacmods were trash.

I had been overjoyed to see Psycho. I had been speechless with joy. But Valkyrie was rightwe were very quickly running out of time, and there was no sign of Dragon and Snow Leopard or Tara, Whit and Twister.

“Twenty marks! Twenty marks and the ship disappears! We’ve got to be out that door in ten marks!”

“Redhawk, do a visual on the ship,” I ordered. Redhawk leaped out the main doors and reappeared almost immediately.

“I can see itbarely. Cloaking is good. It’s still there.”

“Good. I want everyone to move out, right now. Get to the ship! I’ll wait for the others.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Psycho said.

“Neither am I,” Redhawk added.

“I’m not going without the others,” Priestess said.

“That’s right,” Scrapper said.

“I’m scared to go by myself,” Valkyrie said calmly, “so I’ll be staying here too, Thinker. Sorry!”

“Damn it, I’m giving you all a direct orderget to the ship! Now!”

“Huh?”

“Something’s wrong with my comset. Hello? Hello?”

“Can’t hear a damn thing!”

“Nineteen marks! Where the hell are they?”

“Alert! Legion armor! As marked!” A massive armored creature came staggering out of the smoky corridor that led to the interior of the Mound. It was Dragon, with Snow Leopard strapped to his back. Dragon kneeled, and we unhooked Snow Leopard and lay him on a field stretcher as Priestess examined the bloody stump of his missing leg. One! I was transfixed with joyBeta One! Our One! I could only stare at him, in utter amazement. I had assumed he would be dead. He was alive!

“We’ve got to get him to the ship, now!” Priestess said.

“Go!” I ordered.

“No!” Snow Leopard gasped. “Where are the others? Who’s missing?” He forced himself up on the stretcher, looking around, a pale sweaty face and hot pink eyes.

“Tara and Whit and Twister,” I said.

“Where’s Merlin?” One asked. “Where’s Gildron?”

“Merlin is dead,” I said. “Gildron has secured the target.”

“Merlin! Deadman!” Snow Leopard gritted his teeth and eased back down onto the stretcher.

“We’re not going to make it!”

“One?”

“We go together!” he gasped. And all I could do was stand there, looking at my One in silent admiration. We go together. Yesit was perfect. Beta would live or die together. We were one, and we would share whatever fate was written for us together.

“I’m doing a full power burst,” I said. “We’ve nothing to lose. X Tara, X Whit, X Three. Return to evac point! Evac, evac, evac!” The burst would pinpoint our position to anyone within range, but at this point I was no longer worried about it.

“What is this X crap?” Psycho asked through clenched teeth.

“I thought you had secured the ship, Thinker,” Snow Leopard said slowly, struggling to rise from the stretcher again.

“Sixteen marks!”

“Who’s got the Ship? Who’s secured the Ship?” One could not sit up. He was flat on his back, fading fast.

“Gildron’s got the Ship,” I said. “Don’t worrythe Ship is ours!”

“Fifteen marks! The O ship should have launched by now!” Valkyrie said.

“X Three, X Tarawe’re on the way! Don’t leave us!” I almost jumped out of my skin. Tara!

“Get the stretchers up! Ten, Nine, take Five. Eleven, Twelve, take One. Eight, you’re on point, I’m on the rear.” We scrambled into position.

“One has passed out. Sit is stable.”

“Fine.”

We waited, poised to rush out the main gates. Time was running out.

“Twelve marks!”

“We’ve got to leave by ten!” I stood there, in the doorway to the inner corridor, sweating, gritting my teeth, nervously lighting up the smoky corridor with my E. Come on, Tarafaster! I knew the Star of Dindabai was launching into time drive at exactly 0940 hours, and nothing at all could stop that. Recon Control had already spotted the ship, a Legion fighter was diverting to the site, and the Star of Dindabai had to be gone by the time it arrived.

“Nine marks! It’s hopeless, Thinker!”

“Legion armor! As marked!” Sweety spotted them for us on the tacmap. Three A-suits, coming at us quickly from the corridor.

“Dragon, blast the outside with deceptors!”

“Deceptors away!” A multiple crack echoed through the hall. We had to leave no trace of our passing, no matter what was to happen.

Tara and Whit appeared out of the smoke, supporting a third figure between them. Her A-suit was scorched and blistered and half-melted, but she was walkingThirteen! Beta Thirteen, Twister, our holy lost innocent, back from the dead.

“The time, Wester!” Tara exclaimed.

“Run!” I shouted. “The ship is launching!” And all of Beta burst out of the doorway to the Mound, past those awful blackened gates into Uldo’s weak sunlight. There was no sign of life. The Systie civilians were gone. The air was shimmering with deceptors. We would have made a pitiful, almost comical spectacle, had anyone been watchingtwo stretchers cases, one walking wounded, and everyone hustling along in armor that looked like it belonged in a junkyard.

“Thinker!” Dragon had stopped, and Redhawk and Priestess almost ran him down from behind with Psycho’s stretcher. A shattering boom echoed across the sky like thunder.

“What the hell!” I screamed, enraged at Dragon for stopping, running up to see what was wrong. Dragon stood there calmly, his E casually draped over his folded arms.

“It’s gone,” he said quietly. “The Star of Dindabai is not there. It’s launched.”

I stood at Dragon’s side, looking across the snow-covered plain to where the ship had been. At that distance we should have been able to see it clearly, even with the cloaking. Dragon was right. The Star of Dindabai was gone. We were trapped in the past.

Chapter 20

Blink Once and You’re Gone

We stood there stunned, soldiers of the future, trapped in the past. Five was struggling to sit up in his stretcher but One was still out. There was a roaring in my ears. I felt like a trapped rat. I glanced at my chron, just to be sure: 0942 hours. The Star of Dindabai had left right on schedule. Tara came crashing up against me, staring wildly out of her faceplate.

“No!” she gasped.

“Gone!” I confirmed, pointing shakily to where the ship had been, a flat lifeless plain covered with a thin layer of fine snow, under a dead white sky. A light breeze blew a fine spray of glittering snow past us. I reached out one arm to Priestess and touched her. She turned her face to mine.

“What does it mean?” she asked quietly. Of course, they would not understand. How could they?

“What are we going to do, Wester?” Tara did not know what to do! A bolt of fear hit me in the chest. It was all up to me, I knewour future. I knew something terrible was going to happen to us if we did not complete the time hop. I knew there had been no record of us in the past. Nobody had found a marooned squad of time travellers when the Legion retook the Mound, and they were going to retake the Mound very shortly. You can’t change the past! It meant, I was convinced, that we were going to be annihilated from history in the next few marks, one way or another. I did not know what was going to do it, and I did not want to find out.

“Thinker?” Dragon turned to me. I knew he would do whatever I said. They all would.

“Run,” I said. There was only once chance.

“What?”

“Run! Run for the ship!” I started trotting forward, pulling Tara with me.

“But the ship isn’t there any more!”

“Run! Run! As fast as you can!” I broke into a run, and the others were right behind me, charging forward, Redhawk and Priestess struggling with Psycho’s stretcher, Valkyrie and Scrapper on the other stretcher with the unconscious Snow Leopard, Tara breaking off to help Whit with Twister while Dragon sprinted along with his Manlink up and scanning. We were running wildly, recklessly, the blood pounding in my earscloser, closer, closer. We were there in a few marks. I staggered to a stop and checked my tacmap. This was right where the ship had been all right. The others came stumbling up, exhausted. And we stood there, totally exposed on that awful plain. The Mound was right on the horizon, an evil presenceand there was nothing else at all except us and a faint breeze.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” I said, raising my E and slipping off the safeties. “Stand by.” The others put down the stretchers gently and raised their E’s again, and we formed a pitiful little defensive perimeter around the two stretchers. It was Beta’s last stand. We were going to go out fighting, I thought, like soldiers, instead of dying like slaves, with a whimper, on O-Rock. The Gods had given us that, at least.

The snow stirred around us. A great breeze suddenly arose and the snow exploded into powder, swirling madly in the air. A great roar assailed our ears, and a deep shadow blotted out the sky and rushed over us. A gigantic presence was screaming over our heads, coming right at us, a cenite sky, falling on us like an asteroid, blazing with lights. I could only gape above us, stunned.

It settled over us like a huge bird returning to its nest. We were blinded in a whirlwind of snow and peppered with dirt. A brilliant spotlight illuminated us harshly from over an airlock that was suddenly sprouting a crash ramp. A couple of A-suited Legion troopers leaped to the ground, hauling Manlinks, trailing lifelines.

“GET IN! FASTER! FASTER!” A voice like artillery, totally powerful, totally inhuman. We seized the stretchers and ran for the ramp. The Star of Dindabai had returned for its missing children.

***

When that airlock door sealed behind us and the ship leaped back into time drive, it was just as if we had all suddenly gone insane. We had fallen into the airlock in our eagerness to get in. The stretchers had skidded along the deck and the two SF troopers at the doors had been yanked in automatically like armored fish at the end of their lifelines, crashing right into us, and then the outer doors snapped shut and the ship lurched wildly and I knew we were off. I scrambled to my feet, snapped off my helmet and dropped it. The others were getting up too, weaving drunkenly, gathering around One and Five on the stretchers.

“We did it!” I seized Tara by her shoulders. She unlinked her helmet and dropped it with an air of finality. She was smiling giddily, covered in sweat but glowing in triumph, and it was as if she could hardly believe it. She just held out her arms and I embraced her, armor to armor, cheek to cheek, sticky wet hair and salt sweat skin, and I guess it was our ultimate victory. Tara and Wester, triumphant over two universes, the past and the future. My blood was flowing ice cold as I realized what it really meant, as I realized it was really real.

“Cinta!” An inner door snapped open and Gildron was there. Tara discarded me immediately, throwing herself at Gildron.

“Medics

we need

” A medteam burst in the door, swarming around us to get at One and Five, hauling life support stretchers. Priestess rose from Snow Leopard, unlinking her helmet. When she got it off, she stood there as the medics pushed past her and her eyes turned to me. She was still panting in exhaustion. Her flesh was scorched pink and white blisters were forming on her neck. Icy sweat was dripping from soaking black hair and her big brown eyes were focused right on me. An angel. She was a holy angel, dropped right from heaven. I walked to her as if in a dream and everything around us became an indistinct blur of moving figures. She opened her mouth, trying to say something, but nothing came out. I cradled her head in my hands and pulled her to me and we stood there, heart to heart, after all that time. A silent wave of prickly heat crawled over my body and I crushed her armor in mine, and I closed my eyes and thanked the Gods, and vowed I would never leave her again.

“Thinker! We did it!” It was Dragon and he was dancing, crashing from one person to another, delirious with joy. I had never seen him so happy.

“We did it! We did it!” Redhawk and Dragon were bashing at each others’ armor and Redhawk was beaming, overjoyed, his eyes glazed, breaking away from Dragon to approach a dazed Whit, snatching her up and pulling her along with him in a strangely graceful dance, swirling all around us, circling the airlock. The medics had Snow Leopard and Psycho plugged into the life support stretchers and they were taking them away and Psycho shouted something at me but I could not hear him.

Twister removed her helmet. Her ruddy dark hair was curled and smoking, her heavily freckled skin was raw and pink and her big brown eyes were blinking back tears of pain.

“Twister!” I exclaimed. She was just a kid. On Uldo, on our way to the Mound, I had promised her it would be all right. And now, at last, it was. I pulled her over and Priestess and I embraced her together. Valkyrie and Scrapper were kissing passionately against one wall, and it didn’t look like they were planning on coming up for air for some time. Beta was together again, at last.

“Wester!” Tara pawed at me with Gildron in the background. “How did you know it? How did you know the ship was going to come back? The plan was for the ship to launch into time drive at 0940 exact, to avoid that Legion fighter. There were no plans to come back! The whole op was predicated on our making it back on time!”

“That Recon Control desk jockey,” I replied. “I remembered what he had said when we were interrogating him. The ghost ship disappeared, and when the Legion fighter passed over there was nothing there. But then

he said there was another reading shortly afterwards and it looked like it had returned, for just a frac. Then it was gone again. That was all I hadthat, and the realization that Gildron was not going to abandon us. After all, he was in a time machine. I figured he had all the time in the world to get it right, and come after us at exactly the right instant after the fighter had left the scene.”

“I would never have left you, Three,” Gildron rumbled. “I just wanted to avoid that fighter. I knew you would understand.”

I breathed out heavily. Gildron’s confidence in me was satisfying, but it had been a lot closer than he realized. After all, he was dealing with an inferior species.

***

The time drive functioned perfectly. We powered back into the vac shortly after we had left, out in the Gassies, and we were back in the future. I’m convinced my heartbeat slowed down just a little when they announced that. The mission had been totally successful. We had spirited our missing troopers out of the past directly into the future. We had shaped the future, without changing the past. My heart grieved for Merlin, but there was nothing that could be done for himDeadman knows I tried. Now he had joined our other missing squadiesCoolhand, Warhound and Ironman. I knew the four of them were awaiting us in another world, and we, temporarily missing in action, would be joining them soon enough.

We all gathered in the body shop. Snow Leopard and Psycho were in the same bay, floating in separate recovery tanks on cushions of warm air. The Legion was growing them new legs and the new ones would be better than the originals, I knew. They were just getting started in their Legion careers. Eventually, their entire bodies might become artificial. The Legion was working on biogenning entire brains and transferring all your memories from one to the other. They were already storehousing individual memories, just like a ship’s database. That way, even if your brain was destroyed you could continue. The big problem was the spirit. That was the essence of life, and even the Legion had not yet been able to contain it. Once we did that, we could really start to play God.

“I’d like some explanations,” Snow Leopard said. He lay there in the tank, seemingly relaxed, a deathly pale face with hot pink eyes and white-blond hair combed straight back. Nobody outside Beta could possibly understand how we felt about him. To us, he was the Prince of Darkness, our guide to Hell. He always knew the road, and we knew all we had to do was follow him and all would be well. I knew the back of his helmet better than the front, for that’s the view we had of him in combat. He led from the front, always.

“Five and I have been talking it over,” he continued. “And we’ve noticed everything is wrong, starting with the date. The date is very wrong. This ship is wrong, too. And you’re wrong, Thinker. You and Tara and Gildron and Dragon and Redhawk and Valkyrie. You’re not the same as before. You’ve all changed, a great deal. I want an explanation, right now.”

We were all gathered around them, against the walls. I had one arm over Priestess’s shoulder, Valkyrie was with Scrapper, Tara and Gildron were by the door, Redhawk was with Whit, and Dragon was standing by Psycho’s tank with Twister. We all looked considerably better after the opportunity to wash up and have our wounds tended.

“You’re right, One,” I said. “You’re absolutely right. Things are not exactly as they seem. Years have passed since we entered the Mound with you. Long, lonely years in exile for all of us, for Eight and Ten and Eleven and me, for Tara and Gildron. Years of regret and hopelessness, years of mourning, for you and our missing comrades. It’s a long story. I’ll try to keep it brief, but I’ll warn you in advanceyou’re in for a big surprise.”

“Let’s hear it,” Snow Leopard said. And I told him what had happened to me, since the mission, and Redhawk and Valkyrie and Dragon told him what had happened to them, and Tara and Gildron and Whit told their stories. When we were finished there was a long, long silence. Nothing more needed to be said. The mission was over, at last. Beta was victorious.

***

A blinding white sun gently toasted my flesh as I lay on my back in the warm sands, my eyes closed, the sun burning a white glow right through my eyelids. I could hear a soothing rush as the surf broke gently against the beach. I was maxing out, floating away on pure sensory overload, pure pleasure. A faint breeze touched my skin and it was like ice. Priestess stirred in my arms.

“This is incredible!” she whispered. I opened my eyes. She was sitting up, looking around. The sky was a blinding blue, except for that one glittering white star. We were facing a great ocean that receded into the distance, possibly forever. Gentle swells were rolling in from the horizon, breaking softly onto a deserted beach of blinding pink coral sand as fine as powder that stretched away as far as we could see. Behind us a thick, cool forest of tropical palms offered shelter from the heat.

I sat up, and my eyes were only for Priestess. She had flesh patches on her neck and arms and legs and she was still slimy with medgel, but I hardly saw that. I saw only Priestess, inky hair like wet silk, faintly alive in the soft breeze, a perfect child’s face sculpted by the Gods, soulful liquid eyes of deep, dark chocolate, small tender lips like ripe cherries, a slim, supple body with long, luscious legs. She was looking out at the ocean, far away. My voice was paralyzed. I couldn’t reply. I could only look, worshipping her, numb with love. We had been swimming and the water was warm and salty. Her light skin had tanned to a pale brown, now powdered with sand. She had on a sleeveless top, wet and clinging to her breasts, but her panties were long gone, somewhere out in the ocean. We had been making love on the beach in that glorious sunlight for hours, totally shameless. We had been starved for each other, and now we were making up for our time apart. For Priestess, it had been just one terrifying day, but for me it had been years. I thanked Deadman and all the Gods for bringing her back to me.

“I heard you calling me, Priestess, even when they took my memory. Even when I didn’t know who I was, I could hear you calling me.”

“Good! I’ll never leave you, Thinker. They can kill mewhatever. It won’t matter. We’ll meet in Heaven.” I knew she meant every word.

“Give me a kiss.” I pulled her to me, and we floated away again, lost in love. I knew it wouldn’t do any good to try and get her top off. She had taken x-max in the chest on Mongera, and they had to rebuild her chest and ribs and breasts. There had not been time to properly heal the wounds, and the scars were extensive. She wouldn’t let me see it.

“I want you inside me,” she hissed in my ear. “Again!”

“Turn over,” I said. She stretched out on the sand on her flat belly and I let a hand roam down her back to her lovely, dimpled little rear. Long, long legs, toasting in the sunDeadman save us!

“This place is amazing,” she said. “Are you sure nobody can see us?”

“This is state of the art,” I replied. “You won’t find better than this anywhere. We trained for the Mound here. And nobody can see us. This room is ours. Nobody can see what goes on in here except the techs.”

“What!” She scrambled to her knees instantly, enraged, whipping a towel around her hips, spraying sand. “The techs!”

I was on my back, howling in glee. “Only kidding! Kidding! Calm down, Priestess, Deadman, what a prude! The techs can’t see usrelax!”

“Are you sure?” She was not amused.

“Priestess, nobody can see us except Tarait’s all right.”

“What! Tara!”

I collapsed again, rolling in the sand. She threw the towel at me. I tackled her, pinioning her against the sand.

“Nobody can see us, Priestess. Not even Tara.”

“If you do that again, I’m going to pinch you where it hurts!”

“Priestess, the only record of what goes on in this sim room is the program disk, and I’ve arranged to purchase a copy from the girl who’s in charge of

” Nine lunged for my most vulnerable part.

“Priestess! Don’t you want a record of our most intimate moments? Don’t you care?”

She stopped struggling, and looked up dreamily into my eyes. “You’re treading on thin ice, buster,” she said weakly.

“I love you forever, Priestess,” I said. “I’ll never leave you.”

“Really?” She was looking into my eyes, sadly.

“Really.”

“And what about Moontouch and your son?” My heart gave a little jolt. She was still looking at me. She was incredibly beautiful. How could I possibly live without her? Impossible!

“You know about Moontouch?”

“I’ve known about her from the beginning. Did you think it was a secret? There are no secrets in Beta.”

No secretsyes. She was certainly right. I had been deceiving only myself all along, trying to avoid this very moment.

“I’m sorry, Priestess. I know it’s stupid to say it, but I’m sorry. I was afraid to tell you. I couldn’t face the thought of losing you.”

“So you thought you’d keep us both.” She was looking down, running a finger idly through the sand.

“It wasn’t that way at first with Moontouch. I was weak, I’ll admit it. But I thought I’d never see her again. I thought I had no choice, that the Legion would make it impossible. But then she had my baby. Good Lord. I wasn’t ready for that. It certainly made a difference. I guess it changed my life.”

“Do you love her?”

“Yes.”

“And your son?”

“YesI love him, too.”

“And me?”

“Yes! More than ever! Stronger than ever! I sacrificed everything for you, Priestess. I travelled into another universe for you. I leaped time for you. I left Moontouch and my son behind, maybe forever, for you. It was all for you. You were calling to me all those years, from the starmass. Instants, years, it’s the same. You can’t question my love for you, Priestess. I’ve given you everything I have. I’m your love slave. You own my soul.”

“You’re going back to her, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“And what about me?”

“You’re coming with me. I told you. I can’t leave you, Priestess. It would kill me. I won’t leave you. And I can’t abandon my family. You’ll have to come with me.”

“You’ve got it all figured out, haven’t you?”

“Do you want me to beg you? I’ll do it. What else must I do to prove my love? Haven’t I done enough?”

“So what’s my position in Moontouch’s courtroyal concubine? How does she feel about that? Or have you forgotten to tell her about me?” She was glaring down at the sand again.

“Moontouch knows all about you. I showed her your picture. She said you’re beautiful. She doesn’t mind. She agrees I can take you as Second Wife. But she ruled out a Third Wife. She was very insistent about that.”

“I don’t believe it! I was rightI’m to be your concubine!” A flash of anger smouldered in her eyes.

“No! Don’t you say it! You’ll be my wife, Priestess. My eternal love. I’ll stay with you foreverI’ll never leave you!”

“Except for every other day. Is that how it’ll work? Or do I get alternate weeks?” She shook her hair back and blinked those big brown eyes at me. I think she knew it made me dizzy. “Or do all three of us share a bed? You really are something, Thinker. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“I’m going to kill myself if you leave me, Priestess. I’ll shoot myself right through the head.” I meant every word.

She looked away, out over the artificial sea, then turned back. A faint breeze toyed with her silky hair. Her tender skin was turning a toasty brown.

“Can we have a baby?” she asked me. I leaned over and kissed her, passionately. My heart was thumping. I felt an overwhelming gratitude and love for Beta Nine. I knew living with the two of them was going to approach the level of tension we had felt in the Mound, but nothing scared me any more.

“Tell Moontouch she’s going to have to be Second Wife, not me,” Priestess said. “I found you first.”

I was supremely confident. Tara’s words were still ringing in my ears“Victory, Wester. Total victory! ” Yes, I thought. Total victory, for Beta Three. I thanked Deadman and the Gods of War.

***

I tapped on the door to Tara’s cube. It slid open. She was sitting at a small conference table, alone under a wall full of d-screens. Her face was deathly pale and her eyes were far away. She had never before invited me to her cube. It was about four times the size of mine.

“Nice cube,” I said.

“I didn’t want it,” she replied quietly. “I wanted one the same size as everybody else’s. They said as Commander I needed the extra space.”

“You don’t look so good. What’s up?” I joined her at the table.

“I just spoke with Two Two One. The link is working perfectly. I told him exactly what we had done.”

“I see.”

“It’s not good, Wester.”

“I didn’t think it would be.”

“We’re in deep trouble.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s done. It’s over.”

“He was actually quite understanding. He was pleased that the mission was successful. He was pleased that we got our missing squadies back.”

“And?”

“We deliberately disobeyed a direct order, Wester. In time of war. We risked the entire ship and the crew and the D-neg and the time drive and the Legion’s future. We risked everything. We gambled with the future of all mankind, for Beta.”

“I’d do it again.”

“So would I. That’s the problem.” She sighed, and her eyes went to one of the wall screens. “It’s a shame. My greatest triumph will also be the end of my Legion career.”

“We were totally successful. You’ve got nothing to regret. You’ll go down in history as the greatest Legionnaire of all time. Besides, what are you worried about? I was in command, not you. I gave the orders, not you. That’s what I’ll tell them.”

“No, Wester. Nothing we say will make any difference. I was the overall Mission Commander. We’re both responsible.”

“Wonderful. We return with all the secrets of the Cosmos plus a missing squad and they’re not happy. Fine. What are they going to do to us?”

“You know the penalty for disobeying orders in wartime.”

“Court martial and execution.”

“Correct.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I really don’t care, Tara. We were successfultotally successful. We did their mission and we did ours. I don’t care. I’ll die happy. I really will! If you want to look at the big picture, you can say we made a difference. To the galaxy, to Beta, to those we love. You and I weren’t just along for the ride, Tara. They can execute us, but it won’t change history. Everyone is going to remember us!”

“You’re right there, Wester. But the picture is not quite that gloomy. As I said, Two Two One was sympathetic, although he did point out the seriousness of our situation. We’ll certainly be arrested upon arrival at Dindabai, and relieved of our duties and imprisoned. But it won’t be that easy for the Command to decide what to do with us. There are provisions for people who display initiative by disobeying orders that are rendered unrealistic by a rapidly changing combat situationassuming that disobeying the orders leads to victory and not defeat. It’s hard to tell if we can use that argument in our case, but it’s one possibility. Another problem facing the Command is that it’s going to be very, very difficult to execute us for rescuing Legion troopers. This is a very emotional issue with the Legion. The Legion risks everything for its troopsjust as we did. We disobeyed orders in order to rescue Legion troopers. I don’t think the Legion has ever grappled with an issue quite like this one. They’re going to think long and hard before executing us.”

“What do you think is going to happen?”

“We’re going to be facing some serious stockade time at a minimum. How are you at breaking rocks?”

“Never really tried it.”

“I think we’ll both get a chance. I understand it builds character.”

“That’s the last thing you need. You’ve got enough character already.”

“We’ve been ordered to return to Distant Orbit Delta Ochre around Dindabai. It’s the designated orbit for dangerous cargo. We’re certainly that.”

“Fine.”

“I just wanted to let you knowso you won’t be surprised when they arrest us.”

“It doesn’t matter, Tara. We were successful. Nothing else matters.”

“I suppose you’re right. We’ll be exiting stardrive in

” she looked at her chron. “

twenty one marks.”

“See you at the rockpile.”

“Thank you, Westerfor everything.”

“I didn’t do anything, Tara. It was you.”

“It was both of us, Wester. And Gildron. I told you beforewe make quite a team.”

“Well, it’s over nowat last.”

“Tenners on that. Good luck, Wester.”

“You too. See ya.” And I left her cube. I had to tell Priestess that she was married to a jailbird.

***

“Exiting stardrive.” I was on the bridge in the VIP chair, totally relaxed. I wasn’t at all concerned about being arrested or even at the possibility of being executed. My life’s work was done. Nothing scared me any more, not after what we’d already been through. If they decided to execute me, I’d make arrangements for Moontouch and Stormdawn to inherit my savings. They’d be all right. And Priestess would be all right, too. I’d advise her to find some nice, stable desk jockey and hook up with him, and have a baby and stay home. We had all done quite enough.

“CRASH STARLAUNCH! RED ALERT! BATTLE STATIONS! UNDER ATTACK! AUTOFIRE ALL WEAPONS! ALERT! TWO-THREE ENEMY ANTIMAT MISSILES LOCKED AND CLOSING, EIGHT-SEVEN-SIX” I was paralyzed with shock, unable to twitch a muscle.

“Get us outta here, ship!” Tara shrieked. I only had time for a brief, frantic glance out the viewporta brilliant infinity of icy stars and a single, red-hot spark, trailing a sparkling phospho tail, coming right at us. I saw itI actually saw it.

The viewport flashed white hot, searing us with antimat glare and harsh black shadows, dazzling my eyes. I didn’t even have my comtop on. A massive, soundless detonation hurled us into the gates of Hell. It happened so fast I did not even have time to breathe. One instant all was well; the next super heavy gravs were trying to rip my body apart. I tried to scream, but my vocal cords were paralyzed. Terrifying vibrations ran right into my bones. Then the grav cut off.

We floated, adrift and helpless. I was still strapped into the VIP chair behind Tara. It felt as if we were upside down. As my vision slowly cleared I tried to see out the viewport. It was ConFree, I decidedtheir last chance! And it was our fault as well. Dindabai had told us where to orbit, and Tara had confirmed the orbital instructions. Fools! ConFree had to have a psychee in Dindabai Command. They surely couldn’t read the starlink so they had to have someone in the Command. And wewe were stupid. Off guard, relaxedstupid! Blink once and you’re gone, they had told us that in Basicin Basic! We had blinkedand now we were gone! ConFree had been waiting like a spider for its prey.

A fighter shot past outside the viewport, an evil metal bat. I had only an instant’s glimpse, just enough to freeze my blood. It looked like a Legion fighter but I knew it was ConFree. Our own fighters had all been lost in the Plane Prime engagement.

My hearing was coming back now. An awful grinding, rumbling, tearing noise echoed through the bones of the stricken ship. I could suddenly hear the Star of Dindabai, summarizing the sit for us all.

“

direct low power antimat hit amidships, ship totally immobilized, decks nine through thirty lost, over eight thousand penetrations and counting, all surviving compartments sealed, massive losses of air and pressure, stats as noted, we have fired suicide burst, awaiting results, skin charging is only partially effective, total deceptor failure, three enemy cruisers have ceased firing on us, no evidence of mother ship, we have successfully locked on all three targets, they are firing on our missiles, thousands of enemy deceptors are masking a fleet of assault craft, prepare to repel boarders, we are engaging the assault craft

“

“Identify the enemy!” Tara demanded.

“I have identified three Loyalist Fleetcom cruisers. Enemy is ConFree,” the ship replied. ConFree! In the LC’s back yard! Bastards!

“Dindabai Command is crashlaunching all units. Dindabai’s Fighter Force is already attacking the enemy ships and fighters, first enemy assault craft have reached us, recommend activation of scuttle charges

“

“Activate scuttle charges!”

“Scuttle charges activated! Strike Force is engaging enemy. Enemy assault teams are breaching defense in two, three locations, as marked. ABANDON SHIP! ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP IMMEDIATELY! SCUTTLE CHARGES ARE ACTIVATED! COUNTDOWN IS 45 MARKS!” The horrifying bleat of the abandon ship claxon crawled over my skin. I had heard it before only in training. Outside the viewport the stars were gone, replaced by a wild, glowing tracery of missile tracks lit up by the hot electric flashes of antimat bursts. We were in the heart of Hell.

“Tell us what to do, Cinta!” Whit demanded. She was just to my left in the second VIP chair. “We don’t want to die!”

Tara answered her by addressing the crew. “Attention the ship! This is the Commander. We have been attacked and disabled by ConFree forces. I have activated the scuttle charges! Abandon ship immediately and watch yourselves. We’re under attack by ConFree boarding parties. Kill any uniden troopers you see! Strike Force, make the bastards pay but don’t sacrifice yourselves. The LC is on the way but now I want everyone off this ship! ConFree is not going to inherit our ship. It’s going up in an antimat stratstar in exactly forty-four marks and anyone left on board is going to be vaporized. Get out now! Get in vac suits, E-suits or armor! Launch all lifeboats and shuttles! Detach all escape pods! I want

“

I was out of my chair and shot myself over to the E-suit locker, which had popped open automatically. I ripped out the suits and sent them floating through the bridge. Gildron was out of his seat and so were the pilot and copilot, Ice Two and Slambang Sue. Tara hit the links and floated free of her chair. We struggled into the E-suits. They were light and flexible and were not made for extended wear, but they’d get us through the vac in an emergency.

“It’s the Star, Wester!” Tara gasped. “They want the Star! That’s why they only disabled us. They know they can’t take the ship this close to Dindabai! Gildron, they want the Star!” I was all zipped in, slipping the helmet over my head, locking it in place.

“Never!” Gildron snarled. “They will never take the Star from me!” A flash of movement out the viewport. A ConFree trooper in full armor had just stepped over the viewport outside, disappearing from view.

“They’re coming in! The skin charge is shot!” I shouted, snapping the pressure on in my E-suit. It activated. “They’re right out there! They’re going to blast their way in!” Gildron tossed us weapons from the arms locker. We were all floating in zero G. I seized an E and slipped the sling over my helmet.

“I’ve got ConFree troopers in the corridor! They’re right outside the bridge door!”

“Do something, Cinta!”

“The master control tunnel!” Slambang Sue exclaimed. “There’s a crawlspace for accessit’s still fully pressurized! It leads to the heart of the ship!” She snapped open an access panel on the deck and popped in head first. Tara urged Gildron and Whit in next. Gildron finished snapping his helmet on and crawled into the control tunnel, just barely fitting in, and the Star was suddenly free, whirling around us like a bee, glittering, dazzling my eyes. Then it shot into the tunnel at blinding speed, going after Gildron.

“Damn!” Tara exclaimed. “Don’t lose the Star!” I urged her into the tunnel. Ice Two followed. I was last, slamming the panel back in place and sealing it.

The tunnel was dark and cramped, lined with master cellplate mods and neuropath cables. The cellplates faintly glowed as I floated along in zero grav, shooting from handhold to handhold. My claustrophobia was no worse than usual. Stark terror didn’t bother me any more. Ice Two’s boots were right in my face and the abandon ship claxons were still shrieking, crawling over my skin.

A deafening explosion rippled down the tunnel.

“Entry! Bridge has depressurized! ConFree forces have breached the bridge! Recommend

“

“We’ve got to get out of this tunnel!” Tara declared. “They’ll be after us!”

“Take the upper access tunnel to midships,” Slambang gasped. “Right here! It leads to an emergency repair locker. Ice, come with meI’m going after Alpha and Four Three!”

“They were on Deck Twenty. It’s gone!”

“Are you coming or not?”

“Midships!” Whit cried. “That was where they hit us!”

“Up there!” Ice floated down the tunnel after Slambang, but he showed me our escape route. I looked up and Tara was overhead, holding a hatch open for me. I floated up into a vertical tube after her and let the hatch slam shut under me, sealing us off from the control tunnel and leaving Ice and Slambang to their chosen fate.

I floated up past a useless access ladder into a crowded little spherical chamber with dropboxes full of repair gear secured to the deck and a few unsecured cellplates drifting aimlessly. The four of us just barely fit in there. A sealed hatch was set in a wall and Tara had her faceplate up against the readout.

“What the hell is this place?” I hissed. Gildron took up most of the space in his extra-large E-suit, his helmet up against the ceiling. The Star was up there too, hissing and crackling, lighting it all up for us with a harsh electric glare. It really set me on edge. Whit’s face was blue behind her faceplate. I think her teeth were chattering.

“Quiet!” Tara ordered, raising one hand. “Someone’s out there!” I set my E to x-min burst. Trapped! It was like a coffina cenite coffin. We froze, weightless, with the claxons still wailing away in the background. A sharp explosion shook the ship, setting off my adrenalin.

“ConFree troopers,” Tara whispered. “They’re trying to find us. It’s a mess out there, everything is destroyed, there’s no pressure. They don’t know we’re here. ConFree has secured the bridgethey’re desperate to find us!”

“Let’s attack them!” I urged.

“There’s

at least eight of them. They’re in armor. We’re not. They’re after the Star. We can’t take the chance! We can’t lose the Star.”

“Deto!” I glared at the Star. “We should let the bastards have it! They deserve it!” I knew Tara was right. We were all clad in bright orange survival E-suits. One speck of shrapnel in vac and we’d die. We certainly had no business getting in a firefight. They’d win, we’d die, and they’d get the Star.

“Which way are they headed?” I asked.

He came right through the cenite wall, materializing beside us, peering at us curiously. Only the upper half of his body was visible in the shimmering field of light that accompanied him. He was in an A-suit, but his helmet was off. It was Lowdrop. A spasm of adrenalin shot through my heart. I almost fired my E, but I knew the ricochets would probably kill half of us inside that cenite chamber.

“I’ve found them!” he snapped. “Mark my zero!” His eyes were glowing as he took in the scene. “They’ve got the Star!” he shouted. And then he laughed, a high shrill laugh that was a heady mixture of relief and delight.

“Don’t fire!” I told the others. “It’s just a holo.” Just a holo! ConFree couldn’t hurt us with a holo, unlike the O’s, but they sure as hell could locate us with it and call in the dogs.

“Beta Three!” he said. The bastard was smiling. “Fancy that! And you would be Cintana Tamaling. Alias Antara Tarantos-Hanna, alias Whiteline Six Two, alias Ladywhite, alias Black Lotus, alias Blackstar, etc., etc., etc. I’ve heard a lot about you. You’re one notorious bitch! My name’s Four One. Sorry we can’t chat under more comfortable circumstances. Ah, and that would be Gildron. You are one big ugly ape, just like they said. And the little blonde would be Maralee Whitney, intergalactic criminal and hopeless nympho. And the Star! Oh, it’s lovely. Beautiful! Miss Tamaling, you have only one chance. Listen carefully!”

“Burn in Hell!” Tara snarled.

“To the contrary, it is you who will burn in Hell, you and all your friends, unless you do exactly as I say. All I want is the Starthe Star and the D-neg. There’s no need for any more needless deaths. We’ve got the Star alreadyyou’re surrounded and trapped. If you resist, we’ll kill you all and take the Star, no matter what happens to the D-neg. But I’d like the D-neg, too. Give me the code to cancel the scuttle charges, Tamaling. Give me the code and everyone lives. We’ll take what we need and leave immediately. My men are standing by at the controls to the detonators. Give me the code and we open your hatch, peacefully, and you give us the Star, and nobody gets hurt. The alternative is you all die and we take the Star anyway. Think about itquickly! I need your answer right now!” The continual bleating of the abandon ship claxon added urgency to his words.

“You’re a traitor to ConFree, to the Legion, and to humanity,” Tara said calmly. “We’d all rather die than assist you.”

“I’ve ordered my troops to recover your body,” he said. “I’m going to skin you, and make a doc case out of your breasts.” He cried out sharply in pain and snapped his head back, disappearing from view.

“What the

” I began.

“I gave him a little mental jolt,” Tara said. “He’s on a nearby ship. They’re all around here now. They’ve located usthey’re approaching!”

“What the hell do we do?”

“Pray!”

“All right,” I said. “We pop the hatch and come out firing. The pressure will blast us out like a cannon. They’ll be surprised!”

“We’ll have no control. We’ll be firing wildly. They’ll slaughter us. They’ll get the Star! They’re here! They’ve

they’re going to put a charge on the hatch!”

Whit reached out and linked fingers with Tara. “Goodbye, Cinta,” she said. “I’ve always loved you.”

“We’re not going to die like this,” I said, shouldering my E. “Pop the hatch!”

“They’re going to take the Star,” Gildron said quietly. “We’ll have to destroy it.”

“Destroy it?” I gaped at him. “I thought it couldn’t be destroyed! Can you destroy it?”

“Destroy the Star?” Tara gasped.

“It can be destroyed,” Gildron said. “There is one way to destroy it.”

“Do it!” I demanded.

“How can it be destroyed?” Tara was radiating suspicion.

“You have to want it to die. You have to want it very badly.”

“I want it to die!” I snarled. “I’ve always wanted it to die!”

“Your desire may not be strong enough, Beta Three.”

“I hate the damn thing! I want it dead!”

“They’re placing the charge on the hatch!” Tara hissed. “What do you mean, Gildron? I don’t want to lose the Star, but I’d rather see it lost than inherited by ConFree and the System. We all want it to die! What do you mean?”

“Your desire may not be strong enough either, my dear. But mine is. You see

you have to be very, very strong.” He opened one great hand and the Star flew into his palm, just like a bright little bird.

“Explain!” Tara demanded tensely. I was watching Gildron with a growing dread.

“You have to be willing to go out with it,” Gildron said. “You have to sacrifice yourself. Then it

understands. Goodbye, my darling Cinta. I will love you forever.”

Tara shrieked, a spine-chilling screech of horror and despair, and threw herself at Gildron convulsively. I seized her in mid-air and pulled her away, struggling in zero gravity, and Tara screamed hysterically, fighting me with almost superhuman strength, begging and pleading with Gildron not to do it, thrashing out wildly with arms and legs as we bounced off the walls and ceilings. Whit tried to restrain her as well, crying and sobbing, and Gildron was encasing the Star in his two hands and they were glowing blue-hot. A phospho sheen ran over his whole body. For an instant he was like a great glittering God, blazing like a star, blinding us with his glory. Then they both went out with an ear-shattering bang, and there was only a ringing echo and dancing blue-hot ghost images burnt into our eyes and a glittering haze of dusty metallic debris floating all around us. Tara wailed and moaned, devastated, crying like a baby. Gildron and the Star were gone. My arms were locked around Tara and I was choked with emotion. I knew this was the end of Tara’s world. She had just lost her only love. Now there was only despair for her. A sudden rage ran over me like a bolt of lightning.

“We’re going out!” I announced, releasing Tara and raising my E. I wanted to die freenot cowering in a tomb. The hatch readout was warning us the vac was right on the other side but I did not care. I flipped up the safety cover and hit the emergency escape tab.

It opened in microfracs and I had a frenzied, blurred glimpse of a ConFree trooper in armor, his widening eyes coming right at me as I smashed face first right into his faceplate and hurtled over his head upside down, flashing like a bullet past a row of frozen ConFree troopers with E’s at their shoulders, poised weightless by a wall, my heels shooting past darkened light panels on a corridor ceiling and all around me was a shredded spiderweb of cenite wreckage, the ship blasted to junk by the antimat hit. For a single frac, everyone was so startled by our explosive ejection that there was no firing. Then there was a flurry of x bursts and I was frantically trying to figure out which direction I was facing and sort out the two orange E-suits from the tangle of black A-suits when a ConFree trooper suddenly appeared, upside down, looking up at me in surprise. I fired into his helmet just as a blinding, soundless flash erupted from the direction of our emergency repair locker. The charge that ConFree had placed on the hatch had just gone off. Blood spattered over my faceplate and then broke away in weightless globules, and suddenly I was floating freely in the vac and the ship was gone.

Chapter 21

The Word of God

The transition was so sudden that a burst of panic shot through my veins. I was adrift in space, a tiny chip of life in a magnificent, starry Cosmos. I twisted around and the ship was there behind me, a gigantic presence, a massive cenite wedge filling the vac. It was the Star of Dindabai, our lovely, invincible ship, crippled by a massive antimat hit, torn almost completely in two just aft of the bridge, split wide open, the skin ripped off, the interior decks exposed, an ugly cloud of wreckage drifting out into space. I had somehow been ejected through a gap in the hull. I was drifting in the vac over the ship, looking down at that awful catastrophe like someone’s soul, fled from the body. For an instant I wondered if I was dead, but then I realized that all the lights in my helmet were green. They hadn’t touched me. Alive! Cursed by the Gods, again.

I floated there, frozen in horror, taking it all in. The stricken starship was surrounded by a cloud of smaller ships hovering like gnats, assault craft and shuttles and escape pods and lifeboats. And the smaller ships were surrounded by another cloud, individual E-suits and vac suits and A-suits, some of them launching themselves into the vac, others headed for the ship. Lasers snapped here and there, and luminous bursts of x arced out into the vac as Legion and ConFree troopers shot it out. Two Legion fighters slashed past me, totally silent, icily beautiful, utterly deadly. A titanic, soundless explosion lit up the vac behind me, and I struggled to turn. Something was blazing like a new star, an antimat star filling the heavens, lighting us all up with an unholy glare.

I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t even care. My eyes turned back to the Star of Dindabai. I fumbled with the steering jets and launched myself gently towards the ship. It was a jumbled mass of wreckage. Which hole had I come out of? I had to find Tara and Whitalive or dead, I knew I had to find them. But where were they? The closer I came to the torn, tangled wreckage of the ship, the more hopeless it appeared. I was never going to find them!

A ConFree trooper in an A-suit floated out of a gash in the hull. I knew he was ConFree because there was no Legion insignia on his armor. I raised my E and gave him a burst of laser. It burnt right into his armor and he raised his arms stiffly and tumbled away awkwardly, dead. I watched him drift away into the vac, and I felt absolutely nothingnot anger or regret or remorse or guilt or anything at all. There was only an overwhelming sense of fatalism, and fatigue. I knew, in another situation, I might have shared a drink with him, and chatted about girls. But that wasn’t the situation we were in. ConFree was attacking the Legion. It was insane. Who the hell did they think they were, to attack the very people who gave their all, every day, to protect ConFree from the System and the O’s? Did they think there would be no consequences? Fools! Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Didn’t they know it? Fools!

I reached the ship and drifted lazily over an incredible gutted wasteland like an orange vulture cruising for bodies over a landscape of total destruction. How many dead, I wondered, how many good Legionnaires killed by ConFree? I gently touched down on the ship, my momentum pressing me up against the hull. I turned, my back to the hull, and looked out to the vac.

It was so lovely it took my breath away. An endless expanse of stars stretched away before me to infinity, cold and clear, so absolutely glorious, so totally remote, so utterly beautiful that I was struck dumb. It was the face of God. I could hear the music of the stars again, roaring in my mind. My skin was crawling and my blood was ice in my veins. I was a bacterium, I knew, squirming in a drop of water, struggling for life. What did it matter, I thoughtwhat the hell did it matter? Who were we, to object to the word of God? We were fools, trying to cheat time and space, laughing at nature’s laws, taking our own back from the bony hands of the Angel of Death. But, by Deadman, we had done it all right! Nobody could deny us that. The Gods were certainly laughing at us now. Everything we had striven for was gone. The Star was gone and the D-neg was about to be annihilated from our universe, along with our lovely ship. And all our comrades, stolen from the past, taken back from the Gods, were now dead or dying. It was all overwe had lost. But we had sure as hell tried! And maybe that was all we needed, on the memorial for Beta Two Four, Second of the Ship, just those two words“They Tried.” And then that final line, earned by all Legion soldiers: “Died in Service.”

Two bright soundless eruptions of light caught my attention out in the vac. It was getting very busy around the ship. Fighters darted past at blinding speed and phospho missile trails cut a colorful, complex tracery around them. The Legion fighter force was certainly here, from Dindabai, tracking down ConFree fighters and ships. I could not even see Dindabai. Delta Ochre was a respectable distance from the planet. Dindabai’s sun must have been on the other side of the ship. I couldn’t find it.

I wondered, vaguely, if ConFree was going to somehow recover the D-neg before the scuttle charges blew it all to hell, but I was not overly concerned about it. Somehow it did not seem particularly important any more. I suddenly felt overwhelmingly weary.

As I floated there motionless another starship appeared, drifting past the Star of Dindabai’s shattered bulk. It was a cruiser, and it had been hit, too. It was a shattered wreck, trailing a cloud of debris. I could even read the name, up on the nosePride of Alana. My heart gave me a sudden jolt. Pride of Alana! Where had I last seen those words!

A flicker of movement to one side caught my attention. I whipped my E around. An orange E-suit. Someone was emerging from a gap in the hull of the Star of Dindabai, carrying an E.

“Watch yourself,” I said on the E-net. “ConFree is shooting anything that moves, and these orange suits don’t help much.”

“Thinker! Is that you?”

“Valkyrie! Get over here!” I could hardly believe itBeta Eleven, emerging from the holocaust! She drifted over and I pulled her to me.

“Who’s alive?” I demanded.

“I’ve no idea,” she replied. Her pale face was sweaty behind the visor. “I was off duty when it happened. Dragon was on duty. I just barely had time to get into an E-suit before ConFree busted in. I haven’t seen anyone else from Beta. It’s an awful mess in there.”

“Valkyrie, we’re going over to that shipyou and me.” I gestured to the derelict cruiser. We could see people in E-suits and A-suits abandoning ship. A shuttle broke away from the cruiser. People were hanging onto the outside like fleas on a dog. Laser bursts flickered like lightning, and a few of them drifted away, stricken. Someone was shooting at them from the Star of Dindabai. No mercy, from the Legion. An equal and opposite reaction.

“Why are we going over there, Three?”

“That’s the Pride of Alana.”

“So what?”

“The Pride of Alana is the ship ConFree took us to when they captured us on Andrion Two.”

“It is? How do you know that? I never knew its name.”

“I saw the insignia on a dox cup, when we were inside. That’s Lowdrop’s ship, and Lowdrop’s here. I’ve talked to him!”

“Deadman!” Her green eyes blazed. A massive chunk of twisted metal debris drifted past us, and I knew the Gods were giving us one last chance to strike back at our enemies. I knew Deadman was just toying with us, but I didn’t care. One last chance! I reached out and pulled the wreckage to me. It looked like a section of an internal bulkhead. It was our chariot, I thought, our suicide shipa gift from the Gods.

“We’ve got transportation, Eleven. Are you coming?” I crawled onto one end of the structure.

“Try and stop me!” Valkyrie attached herself to the other end. It doesn’t take much to move around in zero G. A touch of the jets from my E-suit and we were drifting towards the Pride of Alana, huddled against the wreckage. With luck, we’d look like just another chunk of orbiting debris, and ConFree would be too busy to notice the two orange bacteria, hitching a ride.

***

“Heads up, Valkyrie! Inner lock door opening

now!” We were in an airlock on the Pride of Alana, seemingly ignored. The ship had grav, and the bridge and a considerable portion of the inner core were still pressurized. We were about to join whoever was still in there. The inner airlock door snapped open suddenly and we stepped out gingerly behind our E’s. We found ourselves in a large vac suit locker. E-suits and V-suits lined the walls but the place was completely deserted, seemingly untouched by the attack.

We glided through there like two shadows, without a word, and paused by the open corridor door. A wisp of smoke hung outside, a gentle hint of the horror that was raging through the ship. We could hear the transmissions now, assaulting our ears, a terrifying blend of grimly shouted commands, cries for help, pleas for mercy and the shrieks of the dying. I tried to ignore it.

“Let it be

” Valkyrie prayed.

“Doubtful,” I replied. “But we can try. Cover me!” I rolled into the corridor and took a position against the opposite wall. The E-suits had commo but no tacmods. We were at a serious disadvantage. Valkyrie joined me and we crept forward. The exterior of the ship had been peeled away like an onion, but here everything seemed normal.

“Help me

” A ConFree crewman in a litesuit, chest-down on the deck, trembling in a pool of blood, raising a pale, frightened face, trying to hold in his guts with scarlet hands. We stepped past him carefully, ignoring his plea. All I could feel right then was an icy rage, and it had nothing to do with the ConFree crewman.

Now the corridor was shot up like shredded cheese, riddled and smoking. We came upon two great A-suited figures, glowing and crackling on the deck, tangled together, almost in each other’s arms. One was Legion, from our own Strike Force, the other was ConFree. Both were dead.

We continued, past OQ, past the rec rooms, past Stores, past OM

closer and closer to the bridge. There were a lot of bodies and the tacnet was frightening. The Legion must have entered unopposed through the airlocks during the confusion of the evac. It was stupid to fight at that point, but ConFree had chosen to fight.

“It sounds like the Legion’s in control,” Valkyrie said.

“I believe you’re right,” I replied. “Strike Force, we’re two survivors from the Star of Dindabai, approaching the bridge. We’re in E-suits. Don’t fire, all right? Have you secured the bridge?”

“Survivors, SF. We’ve got the bridge. We’ve got you on tacmap. Feel free.”

The pressure door to the bridge was open. Two Legion strikers in black A-suits were bending over a stricken comrade as other armored troopers dragged the dead and wounded away. The bridge was burning. Legion soldiers moved around in the flames while ConFree prisoners crawled out of the bridge into the corridor under close guard. Some of them were in vac suits, some were in E-suits, but all were helmetless. Those who had been in armor had been stripped to their fatigues, totally unprotected. The deck was slick with blood.

“He’s dead, sir.” The Legion striker continued to embrace his dead comrade. The other trooper rose slowly and looked around. Then he stepped over to the disorderly sprawl of ConFree prisoners stretched out face-down on the deck.

“The ones in fatigues were in armor?” he asked quietly. I recognized the voiceit was Dragon! He was standing over one of the prisoners now, aiming his E at the back of the man’s skull.

“Dragon! It’s Thinker and Valkyrie! Where are the others?”

“Three. Eleven.” He turned to face us, but his eyes were somewhere else. “Glad you survived. I don’t know about the others. You’d better get on the shuttle. The Star of Dindabai is going up soon. Excuse me.” He fired a single round of x into the ConFree prisoner’s skull. I jumped back, startled. The other prisoners were begging, pleading, crying for their lives.

“We’re with the Legion!” someone shouted. “We’re just like you!”

“You’re not like us,” Dragon said, moving over to another fatigue-clad prisoner. “You’re not anything like us.” A third prisoner started to scramble to his feet. He was shot down immediately by a Legion trooper. His blood spattered over my faceplate. The echoes of the x were deafening in that enclosed space and the shrieking of the prisoners was like the howl of souls being cast into Hell.

“Dragon, what are you doing?” I finally managed to stammer. “Why are you shooting these prisoners? They’re not resistingit’s a war crime! The Legion will execute you!”

“They killed six of us in the assault,” Dragon replied calmly. “They offered to surrender, then turned on us. I’ll take no more prisoners.” He took aim at another cringing ConFree striker.

“Dragon, stop!” Valkyrie shouted. “We want to examine these prisoners! Give us a few fracs.”

“Fine,” Dragon said, “but make it quick. We’ve got to get out of here.”

We looked at every one. It was pretty awful. They were all looking death in the face. One of them was a female, paralyzed with fear. She was in an E-suit, so maybe she wouldn’t die. I tried not to think about it.

Valkyrie found him face-down next to the corridor wall. She pulled his head up by the hair, and his pale sweaty face was twitching with terror.

“Two Four One!” I said, thrusting the barrel of my E into his face. “Fancy that!” He was clad in fatigues. We cuffed him and hauled him to his feet.

“Mind if we borrow this one?” Valkyrie asked.

“Are you going to kill him?”

“Yes.”

“Go ahead.” We pulled Lowdrop roughly along the corridor. Another shot echoed behind us.

“Do you remember where it was?” I asked.

“I know exactly where it was,” Valkyrie replied.

We found it and forced Lowdrop into the room. Bobo was wild, frenzied, almost out of his mind, howling, shrieking, banging at the bars of his cage, driven to distraction by the strange noises and vibrations that were rippling through the ship.

I fired vac into the back of Lowdrop’s legs. He screamed and fell face first to the deck.

“Hello, Bobo,” Valkyrie said. “Remember me?” Bobo seized the bars with two massive hands and roared, spitting fury, bristling with hatred.

“Aww

what’s wrong?” Valkyrie asked. “Is it a little cranky this morning? No sex last night? Well, we can fix that, Bobo.” Valkyrie turned to Lowdrop and pulled a cold knife from the E-suit’s survival pak. I kicked Lowdrop over onto his back. He stared at us wildly, glancing over at Bobo’s cage with unconcealed terror. Valkyrie reached down with the knife and ripped his fatigue tunic open, leaving a trail of blood on his chest. Lowdrop finally found his voice.

“Don’t do it, kids!” he gasped. “Listen to me! You’ve got the most important prisoner in Legion history! Turn me over to Two Two One! He wants me more than anything else in the world! All his problems are solved with me as a prisoner. Your damned Lost Command’s problems are solved as well! My presence here is irrefutable proof that he was right, and Kenton Cotter-Arc was lying to the ConFree Council when he said the problem would be resolved peaceably. You don’t want to put me in that cage. You want to hand me over to Two Two One! He’ll give you anything you want! Wealth, power, securityanything!”

Valkyrie brought the knife down to Lowdrop’s trousers, ripping them open.

“What are you doing?” Lowdrop shrieked. “Are you crazy? I’m proof of KCA’s aggression! Two Two One will be overjoyed to hear I’m a prisoner! He’ll be enraged if anything happens to me! Take me to him! Don’t you understand? This will change the balance of power in the Galaxy! The Con Free Council will probably execute KCA, and forgive the LC. It’ll change history!” He was almost naked now, his fatigues in shreds. Valkyrie bent over him and gave him a chill smile.

“We don’t care about that,” she said. “We just want to see you die.” His eyes widened and his face froze into a slab of ice, almost like rigor mortis. We dragged him roughly over the deck to the cage. Bobo had calmed down a little. He was watching Lowdrop with fascination. He knew what it meant when somebody’s clothes came off. Bobo was terrifying if you were about to go into his cage, but I didn’t hate him. I felt very, very sorry for him. The one I hated was Lowdrop.

“Give me a hand with this door,” Valkyrie said. It was a double door of cenite bars. We got the outer door open. Bobo waited patiently behind the inner door. Lowdrop was paralyzed, unable even to speak. I hauled him to his feet and looked into his terrified eyes.

“By the way,” I said. “We’re not kids.” I released his cuffs, shoved him into the cage, and locked the outer door behind him. Bobo was drooling and whimpering urgently. Valkyrie hit the control and the inner door snapped open. Lowdrop screamed. And I did not feel the slightest spark of pity or regret, then or afterwards.

***

We paused in the tangled wreckage of the Pride of Alana’s outer fuselage, back in the vac again. We carefully emerged from a twisted, ragged hole, blinking at a larger world. Our crude life raft was still there, secured to the ship just where we had left it.

I had not even returned to the scene on the bridge. It was terminally depressing. This was not the way I had wanted things to end, with Dragon gunning down ConFree prisoners in cold blood, and Valkyrie and I feeding Lowdrop to a savage beast. It was not supposed to end this way at all. We were going out in a futile, mindless spasm of violence, striking out blindly at everything in one last, hopeless protest.

The shattered hulk of the Star of Dindabai glittered coldly against a magnificent field of crisp stars. The shooting had stopped, and the only activity I could see was shuttles and lifeboats and escape pods, heading briskly away from the Star of Dindabai. From this distance, the ship’s skin was like a checkerboard. A whole fleet of escape pods had separated from the ship, leaving gaping holes behind. Valkyrie was beside me now, silent. We had not exchanged a word since the cage. I glanced at my chron. Nineteen marks to Armageddon, for the Star of Dindabai. Dragon was right, I thought sadly. We all die, just like he predicted back on the Stardust. He was a visionary, I thought. It must be terrifying to have such a clear view of the future. No wonder he had ice in his veins.

“I’m going back,” I sighed, reaching for our improvised raft. “You want to come?” What a shame, I thought. What a damned shame, after all we did, to die like this, like bacteria.

“Sure,” Valkyrie said listlessly. We clambered onto the chunk of wreckage and I pushed us off the Pride of Alana with one foot.

***

It didn’t take too long to get back to the Star of Dindabai. Fourteen marks to annihilation, I noted as my mag soles touched the skin of the ship. I let our improvised lifeboat drift away into space. It was obvious we were going to die here, and there was no sense in fooling ourselves. Valkyrie was at my side as we picked our way carefully around the holes in the ship’s skin. The E-net was busy, although most of the rescue craft and lifeboats had already fled the scene.

We came across a group of Legion soldiers in A-suits, standing in evident frustration in a crumpled mass of cenite fuselage that had telescoped in upon itself.

“There’s nothing further we can do,” one of them said.

“It’s not going anywhere,” somebody else confirmed.

“We’ve got twelve marks,” a third trooper added.

“Attention all Legion personnel!” The announcement crackled over the E-net. “The Star of Dindabai will self-destruct in twelve marks! Anyone within 100 K of the site will be vaporized. All personnel are to leave the area immediately! There’s no sense in risking your lives pointlessly. If anyone is still inside at this point, they’re not getting out before detonation. Please evac nowyour comrades don’t want you to die needlessly!”

“What’s up?” I asked the nearest trooper.

“They’re trapped,” he said, turning his face away abruptly. I looked down at his feet. There was a viewport there. We were standing on an escape pod. In an extreme emergency, if the ship is doomed, explosive bolts blow away portions of the skin and a fleet of escape pods separate from the ship. This one had run into trouble. It was blocked by the wreckage. And everyone within was certainly going to die.

The viewport showed the interior of the pod. I kneeled to look in. I could see people moving around in there.

“Can’t they get out another way?” I asked.

“The escape hatch is fused and blocked. We can’t get to it from here. Neither can they. Is that lifeboat going to stop here? Uniden lifeboat, please pick up survivors here!” One of the troopers shot a nova flare out into the vac. It burnt like a golden star, lighting up the entire ship in an icy electric glare. A lifeboat glided slowly past, seemingly ignoring us.

“How much time we got?”

I peered into the viewport. It was dark and murky in there. Somebody came over from inside and looked up at me, a girl with a pale face, not even wearing a helmet. And she was a vision from my past, from my dreams, big dark liquid eyes and tender lips and black silk hair. It was Priestess, looking right up at me. Priestess! My heart leaped.

“Priestess! It’s Thinker! Can you hear me?”

“Thinker! Yes!” Her voice came over the E-net. “You made it! Is that Valkyrie? Oh Thinker!”

“We’ll have you out of here in no time, Priestess!”

“Don’t lie to me, Thinker. You were never good at it. How much longer have we got?” She was gazing up at mebreaking my heart.

“Attention! Attention! Ten marks to detonation! Nova! Nova! Evac! Evac! All personnel abandon ship immediately! All rescue craft are ordered to depart the area immediately!”

“Uniden lifeboatwhat the hell is his number? Pick up survivors immediately! Can’t you see us?”

“Where the hell is he going?”

“Forget it. We’re going to fry like microbes.”

“Thinker? I always loved you.” It was Valkyrie, kneeling contentedly by my side.

“Yes, Valkyrie. I love you, too,” I replied.

“Priestess?” Valkyrie looked down into the viewport. “I have a confession. I love you, too. I’m sorry I hit youback then.” The two of them had fought over me oncea real catfight. It seemed like a million years ago now.

“It’s all right, Valkyrie,” Priestess replied. “I love you, too. I guess I love everyone in Beta.” She put one hand up against the viewport, and I placed my hand against the outside, palm to palm, separated by only a few mils of armored plex. “Goodbye, Thinker,” she continued. “I’ll see you in Heaven.” I could see her eyes were wet but she was smiling bravely.

“We’ll go together, Priestess,” I said. “We’ll go through the gates together.”

“No!” she said. “Thinker, you’ve got a wife and son. You shouldn’t leave them. I’ll see you in the next world, but you have to think about your family now. Get on that lifeboat!”

“I can’t do it, Priestess,” I said wearily. “I don’t want to die, I know I should think about my family, but I can’t do it. I can’t leave you.”

“Oh Thinker! You were always such a foolish idealist!” The tears were flowing down her cheeks now. “Valkyrie, get out of here! There’s no need for you to die.”

“I kind of like it here,” Valkyrie said, looking up at the stars. “My squad is here. I’m not leaving Beta. Where are the others, Priestess? Have you seen Scrapper?”

“Snow Leopard and Psycho are here in the body shop,” Priestess replied. “I don’t know about the others.” We were still pressing our hands together on the plex. We would go out that way, hand to hand, as close as we could get, into the next world.

“Seven marks to detonation!”

“That’s it, we’re history,” one of the Legion troopers said. They were standing around in resignation. “That lifeboat’s still screwing around out there.” I didn’t bother to look up. I was looking into Priestess’s eyes. It was all right, I thought. It didn’t matter. We were going to be together forever. I prayed Moontouch and Stormdawn would be all right on their own.

“It’s all right, guys,” one of the Legion troopers said to his buddies. “We saved a lot of people. We did all right.” His voice broke at the end.

A brilliant flash lit us up suddenly, and a shudder ran over the ship. For an instant I thought the end was at hand, but my chron revealed we still had five marks. I looked up in annoyance. The lifeboat was firing at the Star of Dindabai, blasting laser and chainlink into an area just forward of midships. Junk was flying everywhere.

“What the hell is he doing? Isn’t that one of ours? Hey, retard, quit clowning around and pick us up! Damn you!”

A massive, soundless blast flashed icy green and the shock wave rippled over the fuselage. The lifeboat was still firing at us. A gigantic chunk of wreckage ripped off the ship and arced over our heads, whipping off wildly into the vac.

“What’s the sit, Thinker?” Priestess asked. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” I said. “It was nothing.” One of the troopers was praying. His words echoed over the E-net:

“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

“

Another big jolt shook the ship. The E-net was counting down to destruction. Nothing could stop it now; it was too late for the code or anything else. Death was at hand for us all.

“Seventeen

sixteen

fifteen

fourteen

“

Priestess was still looking up at me, glowing in a pale light just like an angel, completely calm, completely at peace.

“Thinker,” Valkyrie said. I ignored her.

“Thinker! Look!” I looked up. Valkyrie was pointing out into space. A silvery delta-shaped structure with a long power boom on the nose was rapidly receding into the distance, tumbling in the vac, getting smaller and smaller as I watched. It took a few fracs before I understood. It was the front end of the Star of Dindabai, dwindling into insignificance. And then I saw the flat cenite tail of the lifeboat, protruding up from our own portion of the ship, spitting nuclear exhaust. The lifeboat had cut the ship in two, rammed us, and was now ferrying us away from the front portion of the ship.

“Valkyrie,” I asked. “Where are the scuttle charges located?”

“

three, two, one, ignition.” The vac erupted, a brilliant soundless nova dazzling our eyes, filling all creation with a glittering white-hot core, shock waves of blue and green rings rippling through space, dancing sparklers of gold and orange, a brand new star crackling out of nowhere, a Legion star, the Star of Dindabai, lighting us all with its glorious rays.

“I’d sayoffhandthe charges were in the front of the ship,” Valkyrie replied.

Chapter 22

Granite

Great heat, rolling over me in waves. Blast furnace heat, hammering at me without mercy, without pause. A fierce yellow-white sun, burning my skin, sapping my strength, turning the sky to a throbbing white haze.

I raised the sledge and brought it up to my shoulder. I was standing in a field of granite boulders, breathing lava air. My sweat-drenched skin was burnt almost black and had turned as tough as leather. My muscles were whipcords, and the fat was long gone. I was clad only in ratty shorts, a disintegrating sweatband, and tough armorite field boots burnt white with age. My hair was long and ragged, scorched almost blond by the sun’s merciless rays, and I had a full beard. I guess I must have looked pretty scary.

I swung the sledge, and the cenite tip smashed onto a huge chunk of granite. It split with a sharp crack, raising a cloud of white dust. I lifted the sledge again. Good, I thought. Good. It was all I did, all day, smashing boulders into pebbles. They had told me the pebbles were to be used for a children’s playground, and I had to make them very, very small. I didn’t quite believe it, of course, but on another level I was kind of glad they had told me that. It was a noble goal, I thought. I often had visions, as I worked, of the children playing in the playground, running over my gravel. I would be standing there in the sun, smashing away at the rocks, and the children would be all around me in my mind, laughing, running, playing tag, having fun. Sometimes one of them would fall down and get hurt on the gravel, and I would stop working, in concern, until a teacher came running up to help the child. The teachers were always there. Then I would go back to work, determined to make the gravel even smaller.

A shrill whistle pierced the heavy air. Water break. I dropped the sledge and trudged wearily back to base, through sullen waves of heat. A small group of prisoners was there already, clustered around the water tank. Normally there was only me, but once in awhile they brought people in from the desert to work the road. The road was another fun project. Dindabai didn’t have many prisoners so we all got to play every game.

A tall female caught my eye. She was burnt so dark that at first I thought she was a Cyrillian, and her muscles were so hard and defined it almost looked as if she was wearing a skin-tight metal suit. Her auburn hair had been cut short and glinted red in the sunlight. She was wearing a torn sleeveless top and loose, ragged shorts. As she turned, I saw slanted Assidic eyes squinting in the blazing light, a bronze face with high cheekbones, and a wide mouth. Tara!

“Wester!” A flash of even white teeth, as she lowered a battered metal ladle dripping water. “I was hoping you’d be here.” A hot rush of emotion ran over my skin as we embraced. How many years had I worshipped this girl?

“You look terrific, Tara.”

“Yeah, you too. Don’t worry, Westerwe’ll get out of this.”

“I’m not worried. I kind of like it here.”

“Have some water. It’s exceptionally good today.”

“It’s always exceptionally good.” I scooped up a ladle full and let it run down my gullet. Cool, clear, sweetindescribably wonderful. I had never really appreciated water before. It was the drink of the Gods.

“How’ve you been?” she asked.

“Can’t complain. Lots of fresh air and sunshine, no responsibilities, no need to deal with people. No, I can’t complain.”

“I know what you mean. I think we need this, Wester. It’s therapy.”

“Do you think two years will be enough to cure us?”

“Oh, I don’t think we’ll do all that time, Wester. Things are changing in the galaxy. Things are going our way. Those gates will open for us sooner than you’d think. Don’t worry.”

“I’m not worrying.” I didn’t bother asking her what it was that was changing in the galaxy. I did not really care. I was taking life one day at a time.

“Justice is the Legion’s obsession, Wester. What we did was beautiful. It shines like a star. Our motives were pure. Only the Legion could have conceived it, and only soldiers of the Legion could have carried it out. The Legion knows that. There’s no way we’re going to rot here much longeryou’ll see!”

“It doesn’t matter.” The other prisoners milled around the water tank, watched over by a bored Legion guard squatting in the shade of the tank. We ignored them.

“I enjoy the work,” Tara said. “Do you?”

“Yes.”

“I wonder sometimes, about life.”

“So do I.”

“There’s something I never told you about our escape from the Star of Dindabai, Wester.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“It’s about

that squad from Dindabai’s Strike Force that freed us. I’ve been thinking about that lately. You know, right after those ConFree troopers captured Whit and I, the SF attacked, and we were trapped. By the time the ConFree troopies surrendered, it was too late. We were deep in the interior of the ship, there was no time to escape the scuttle charges, and we suddenly realized we were all going to die. Time seemed to slow down, Wester. It was really eerie. The Legion squad leader brought his E up, and his eyes were pale and cold. My powers have been fading, Wester, but I could read him like a book. He thought

we were plunging into Hell, because of them, ConFree, and executing them was like

a last act of defiance. It was like

cursing the Gods. I don’t know what happened, Wester, but I didn’t want to see any more blood. I stepped in front of him, and reminded him that he was a soldier of the Legion. It worked. I don’t know why. He lowered his E, and we all faced death together. We prayed, ConFree and Legion, together. Whit embraced me. I held hands with the SF squad leader as the ship counted down to destruction.”

“I see.”

“Then Redhawk came after us in that lifeboat and blew the ship in two, and ferried the whole aft of the ship away from the detonation.”

“He certainly saved our butts.” Redhawk had not wasted any time during the engagement with ConFree. He had been ferrying survivors away from the Star of Dindabai when he had realized that the ship had been cut almost completely in half just aft of the site of the antimat scuttle charges and our one surviving D-neg probe. A little further work and he succeeded in severing all connections and then ferrying the aft of the ship to safety, along with everyone trapped inside. We all owed Redhawk our lives.

“It’s strange, isn’t it, Wester? One moment we’re ready to kill each other in cold blood, the next we’re praying together. Gildron said it best. He said we’re a very strange species.”

“He was right. Tell mewhat if the Strike Force had executed the prisoners? Would you have informed on them?”

“I don’t know. Maybe not.”

“Why not? It would have been murder! That’s not justice.”

“I don’t know, Wester.” She turned her eyes away, uneasily. “Life isn’t that easy. The SF rescued Whit and me from ConFree. They were about to die for us. Anyway

they didn’t do it. The SF squad leader visited me here. He thanked me for

staying his hand. He thinks I’m some kind of angel, Wester. If only he knew what a cold, evil bitch I am! He says his squad is mine, whenever I want it. I’ve got my own private strike force, Wester.”

“Give it up, Taraenough people have died for you already!”

“You’re right, Wester. I’m so tired.”

Tired. I was tired too. I had not informed on Dragon, but his ConFree prisoners had. Dragon and his surviving SF troopers had escaped the Pride of Alana in an SF shuttle, and had rescued all those ConFree troopers who had not been in armor. The court-martial had exonerated Dragon, ruling that ConFree’s deception in feigning surrender classified them as active combatants, and justified summary executions. It made perfect sense to the Legion.

Dragon had visited me recently. He said the Legion was giving him his own squad. It was long overdue. Dragon was a natural leader, a warrior’s warrior. He would make a perfect squad leader. He was one of the reasons the Legion was so feared. He was a child of the Legion, a human wolf, and anyone who got in his way was going to regret it. Accusing him of murder was like accusing a starship captain of evading the speed of light. Murder was his profession.

“I think I’ll settle down after we get out of here, Wester.” Tara scooped up another ladle of cool water and poured it over her head. I watched it evaporate in the heat.

“Sure you will.”

“I will. I still have Willard. I’m going to devote myself to Willard, and raise him up to be a good person. Someone who has no desire to join the Legion. He loves me, Wester.”

“How does he feel about the Legion?”

“It’s all he wants. I’ll have to educate him.”

“You may not be the best person for that task, Tara.”

“He misses his Daddy so much.”

“Gildron?”

“Yes. So do I. I feel Gildron’s presence every dayevery single day. There isn’t an hour that I don’t think about him, there isn’t a night that I don’t long for him.”

“He was a true hero. He saved us all. He rid the Universe of a ghastly evilsomething we were too weak to do.”

“Yes. He did the right thing. But so did we, Wester. The ConFree attack wasn’t our fault. We did it right! We did the mission and we did it right! It was Dindabai Command that blew it. They violated standard Legion security practices by ordering us to appear at a specified time and place. Without that, the ConFree psychee would never have been able to betray us. It was an effort by the LC to control us, and I didn’t dare resist because I thought it would be misinterpretedbut it resulted in disaster. And they were also at fault for allowing ConFree to infiltrate LC vac with stardrive sensors. That’s all ConFree needed. The LC was fat and secure and happy.”

“Blink once and you’re gone.”

“What?”

“It’s something they taught us in Basic.”

“Well, I’m sick of that kind of life. After all our work, can’t we slow down a little? Can’t we live a normal life?”

“I’ve heard this from you before. Just before you cooked up that scheme to rocket us into another universe. Forget it, Tara. You’re too far gone for that. I don’t know what your fate will be, but I know it won’t be normal. I think you’re insane.”

“Really? And what about you?”

“Me, too. I’m insane, too. We’re both raving lunatics. So is everybody in the Legion. It’s a refuge for suicidal, murderous, maladjusted psychotics.” I took another drink of cool water, and poured some over my head. It was just like a steam bath. Waves of heat blurred the air.

“Maybe you’re right. But I’m going to try, Wester. I’m really going to try and make the break. How about you?”

“I’m going back to Andrion with Nine, as soon as the Legion retakes the place. If the Legion will reassign us both there, we’ll stay in. If not, we’re both resigning.”

“Nine doesn’t mind sharing you with Moontouch?”

“She mindsbut she’ll do it. She’s an angel. I know I don’t deserve her. I pray to God she’ll wait for me.”

“She owes you her life. She won’t leave you.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Sure I’m right. I’ve gotten to know all you Beta people by now. What’s the latest on Beta One?”

“Snow Leopard is fully recovered. So is Psycho. One’s getting a CAT commanda Combat Assault Team. He’ll have seven squad leaders reporting to him. He certainly deserves it. Dragon will be in charge of one of his squads. And Psychohe just wants to haul a Manlink. He’s asked for assignment to Dragon’s squad, and Dragon agreed. It’s funny, the two of them never got along, but Dragon told me he’s thinking of making Psycho his Two. The little jerk may have a personality problem but he’s a first class soldier. Even if he does still owe me a hundred credits.”

“Well, it’s nice to know everyone’s getting on with their lives. What about Valkyrie and Scrapper? Are they staying in? I heard they were determined to leave.”

“They were considering getting out, but One asked Valkyrie to stay, and offered her a squad. She’s accepted. Scrapper will be her Two.” Scrapper and Twister were lucky, I thought. Both had been evaced from the Star of Dindabai by Legion rescue crews.

“That’s nice, I guess. Valkyrie was a very scary girl, as I recall.”

“Yes, she’s another lunatic. She’ll make a great squad leader.”

“And what about Redhawk? What’s he doing?”

“He just wants to drive an aircar. He’s been assigned to One’s CAT. He’ll get either Dragon’s squad, or Valkyrie’sprobably whichever one he wants.”

“Reason I asked is Redhawk has asked Whit to marry him. Did you know that?”

“What? Oh nono, I hadn’t heard. What did she say?”

“She said yes. But she had already agreed to look after my affairs while I’m on vacation here. That’s not negotiable. I really depend on her. I think it means they won’t be living together. I hope they can work it out.”

“They’re big kids. They’ll work it out.”

The water break whistle sounded again, a shrill note hanging in still air. The guard reluctantly got to his feet. The prisoners began to stir.

“What about Twister?” Tara asked. “I feel kind of responsible for her. What’s she doing?”

“She’ll be working with Snow Leopard on his CAT staff. She didn’t want to leave her friends in Beta, but wasn’t sure she’d fit in with crazies like Dragon and Psycho or Valkyrie and Scrapper. Working with Snow Leopard is perfect. It’s the best solution.”

“Good. Good. Well, best of luck, Wester. I guess I’ve got to go. We’ll see you again.” She turned to leave.

“You know what, Tara? I’m glad we lost the Star and the D-neg. We weren’t meant to have it. The universe is better off without it.”

She paused and turned back, and a sad smile arose. “I suppose you deserve to know if anyone does, Wester. Keep this very much to yourself. We didn’t lose the D-neg. We’ve got plenty of it.”

A cold hand clutched at my heart. “What are you talking about, Tara? The D-neg drive was in the boomit was annihilated by the scuttle charges. The one probe we had recovered was in the probe recovery tube, and that’s almost directly under the bridge. That whole section of the ship was vaporized.”

“That’s true, Wester, but our scientists successfully extracted hundreds of samples of raw D-neg from the probe. It didn’t all go to the D-neg drive in the boom. The samples were secured in the science labwell aft. The lab and the samples survived, Wester. We put out the story that it was all destroyed, but it wasn’t. The Legion has our D-neg. It’s absolute power. It means we can build another timedrive starship, Wester. It means the Legion will triumph over its enemies. It means freedom for humanity and death to tyranny. It means our mission was successful. And it means Gildron didn’t die for nothing.”

“Let’s go, number Six! Cut the chatter!” The guard’s harsh tone interrupted us.

“Goodbye, Westersee you again!”

“Goodbye, Tara. God bless you.” And she turned and hurried away through the heat haze. I shuffled slowly back to work, stunned by her news. That cursed D-neg was still with us! I had never before realized how much I hated it. I hated it just as much as I hated the Star. I had been so relieved when I thought it had been destroyed. And now

it was loose, in the wrong universe. The stuff was unnatural. We shouldn’t have it. It didn’t belong here, any more than the Star did. And, just like the Star, I knew that nothing but trouble would come from it. It would probably destroy us, ultimately.

I sighed as I reached the rockpile and picked up my sledge. It didn’t matter, I thought. Nothing mattered except Priestess and Moontouch and Stormdawn and Beta. And they were all all right, and I was going to see them all againwhenever they released me. How could I complain? We had all survived, after allall that was left of Beta. Even the Systies we had rescued on O-Rock had survived, along with the humanoids. They had gotten out in an escape pod.

I raised the sledge to my shoulder, standing over the latest boulder. I had already split it in two. Now I was going to smash it into tiny little pebbles for the children. A fierce sun burnt at my flesh.

I brought the sledge down and the rock exploded again, raising a white dust cloud. Granite, all around me. Priestess and Moontouch and Stormdawn and Beta. My life was complete. Who could possibly ask for more? I didn’t give a damn about the D-neg, or any fancy new starship. The Legion could burn in Hell, as far as I was concerned. Bastards! They’d probably ask Tara to help, once they let her out of jail. Sure they would! Well, I didn’t care. It didn’t matter! There was no way Tara was going to talk me into this one.

No way!

THE SOLDIER OF THE LEGION SERIES

If you enjoyed this novel, you will be happy to learn that

Secret of the Legion is the fourth book in the Legion Series but not the last. Cross of the Legion was released in October 2009 and is available now. 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.