Slave of the Legion

by Marshall S. Thomas

  "Tara!" But there was no answer—only dead air. ConFree! They had to be coming after us—Tara and me. I snapped the comset off and scrambled to my feet, fumbling for my litesuit.

  "It is time," Moontouch said. She clapped her hands twice. The front entrance flap snapped open and a Taka warrior stood there with his spear. Two slave girls appeared from the rear of the tent.

  "Awaken the prince," Moontouch commanded. "He must say goodbye to his father." I was in my suit now, pulling on the boots. Deadeye burst into the tent with a torch.

  "What is it, Slayer?"

  "Trouble, Deadeye. Call out your soldiers."

  When I was ready, I stepped out of the tent, my E across my chest, my comtop at my waist. It was a beautiful night, crisp and clear, the stars blazing above us, a magnificent panorama. The Taka soldiers were ready, hundreds of them, warriors of the Dark Clouds and Red Hands, their spears flashing in torchlight, ready to die for Moontouch and Deadeye. They were all that was left of Southmark, all that was left of the Golden March. And I knew they wouldn't last a single mark against a Legion squad.

  "Deadeye," I said in Taka, "I need your fastest runner."

  "Ghost!" he shouted. "Where is Ghost!" Ghost burst out of the ranks, a tall young boy with big nervous eyes.

  "Take this," I said, handing him the comset. "Run with it. Go down into the darkest tunnels of Stonehall. The Legion will follow you. When they get too close, leave the talker and escape. Let them have it."

  Ghost barked his assent and took off immediately into the dark.

  "The Legion is coming," I explained to Deadeye. "They will be looking for me, but they are not friendly. They are my enemies. If they don't see me, they will follow the comset."

  "If they go down into Stonehall, they will not return," Deadeye vowed.

  "Do not fight them, Deadeye! You cannot win, and I want no Taka blood spilled. When they do not find me, they will go away."

  "If they are your enemies, we will fight them!"

  "No! I want no fighting! We can outwit…"

  "Manbird!" The shouted warning electrified us all—an aircar! The torches went out in a shower of sparks.

  "It's them!" I told Deadeye. "Scatter! Hide! Moontouch…" She snatched up our son. Taka warriors suddenly surrounded them, a bristling fence of spears and tridents hustling her off into the dark. I knew they'd be safe.

  I went to ground in a rotting pile of leaves behind the exposed roots of a great flowertree, snapping my E to xmax auto. I could hear the aircar now, a faint whining. The diversion with the comset was not going to work—they'd spot me for sure, this close. There had not been time to get away. I hadn't even had time to put on the comtop. Damn it!

  The aircar appeared, slowing, gliding cautiously through the dead city, stirring up a blizzard of dusty leaves. I raised my E. I knew the car would be armored so I was not going to fire until they discharged the troopers. A wave of sadness washed over me. They would be Legion troopers, fighting for ConFree—just as we had always done. I had served the Legion and ConFree my whole young life. I knew that once I fired at Legion troopers, everything would change, forever.

  A gleaming white aircar settling down to land, the jets cutting off. White? Cutting the jets? What in the world?

  The assault door snapped open. I centered it in my sights.

  A single trooper, unarmored—it was a girl with short wispy blonde hair, looking around into the darkness, puzzled.

  "Beta Three!" she called out. "It's Whit! Cinta sent us to pick it up! Damn it! Where is it?"

  "What's the story, Sweety?" I whispered to my tacmod. My laser sight lazily roamed over Whit's chest.

  "The aircar is now empty, Thinker—she was the only occupant."

  "Whit!" I stepped out of the dark. "What's the sit?"

  "Beta Three! Thank God!" She appeared giddy with relief. "Cinta would have killed us if we hadn't found it! Get on board! We've got to move right now! Cinta ordered it!"

  I turned, looking into the darkness. "Moontouch!" I called out.

  It took a few marks for the word to be relayed and Whit was dancing from foot to foot in impatience.

  "The Legion will be here in a frac!" she insisted. "They've got to be tracking our every move!"

  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 cried 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 enough—it was certainly not enough.

  "Come on, Three—let's go!" Whit, in the aircar. I tore myself away. Deadeye stood by the car, his fierce eyes gleaming. We embraced.

  "Take care of her, Deadeye!"

  "My life, Slayer—my life!"

  I leaped into the aircar blinking, and the door slammed shut and we were off, max power, low and fast. I found my way to the cockpit and took the number two seat beside Whit. Trees flashed past us.

  "This is crazy," Whit said.

  "Why are you doing it?" I asked.

  "We owe it," she reminded me.

  "All right, what's the sit?"

  "We have no idea," she said, "except people are starting to shoot at each other and Cinta asked us to get it on the Maiden."

  "Shooting at each other! Where's Tara—I mean Cinta?"

  "It's downside. We're going after Cinta once it's safely on board."

  "The hell you are! We get her first!"

  "No, we don't—we've got our orders!"

  "Don't be stupid! It'll be a miracle if we get through once! It'll never happen twice!"

  "But Cinta told us…"

  "Where's your loyalty? Can't you see she's sacrificing herself so I can escape? They want us both! We'll have only one chance to make it to the Maiden."

  "Sacrificing itself?"

  "With the help of your blind obedience! Damn it, she's more important than I am!"

  "No…we can't leave Cinta behind!"

  "Then we get her first!"

  "All right!"

  "Where is she?"

  "It's in Alpha Station."

  "Wonderful! Right into the mouth of the beast! Well, then that's where we're going. Who controls the Maiden?"

  "The Legion. But Cinta seems to think that bunch can be trusted."

  "Any contact with her?"

  "It ordered a comdown." A forested hill flashed by on our right. The aircar's comcenter was crackling with transmissions. I paused to listen.

  "Seven, One. I want a tacstar on that target—now!"

  "Scut! Who are these guys?"

  "Shut down and do it!"

  "Tenners! Scut!"

  "Tacair, I've got a hot flight of incoming fighters from the Armageddon! They don't answer!"

  "Shoot 'em down!"

  "Alpha Station is to be held at all costs! Fire at all resistance!"

  "Alpha Command, Armageddon! You will cease resistance immediately or we will antimat the station! Repeat…"

  "Alpha, Armageddon! That was an unauthorized transmission! Armageddon will support you! Fire at any hostile targets!"

  "Get those bastards!"

  "Don't believe anybody!"

  "Uniden troopers, identify yourselves immediately or we will fire!"

  "God damn it, it's us—Delta of CAT Four One! The hostiles are in C corridor!"

  "Well, shoot 'em!"

  "Armageddon fighters, if you enter our DZ we will fire on you!"

  "Negative Alpha, those are friendlies!"

  "They're going to be dead friendlies if they don't turn aside!"

  "That was an anti!" The sky lit up, flickering an eerie electric green.

  "Tenners, we need a…"

  "I want autofire on all unidentified air traffic, repeat…"

  "Scut!" Whit exclaim
ed. "That's us!"

  "Land!" I shouted. "Now!"

  ###

  We glided to a stop in a blizzard of dead flowers and leaves in an ancient forest of incredibly tall flowertrees. We popped the door and got out fast.

  "Damn it!" I exclaimed. "We don't need this!"

  "It was a good aircar," Whit said, "but I guess we lose it. We certainly can't identify ourselves." It was chilly and wet and dark. I slipped the comtop over my head, and Sweety lit it all up for me.

  "Follow me," I said. "I've got Alpha Station up ahead. The sky is full of junk." I could see it all on the scope, flocks of aircars circling over the station just like birds and fighters dropping through the at like cenite bricks. A blinding flash lit up the sky, dazzling my eyes. A sharp explosion followed.

  "What was that?"

  "I don't know," I said. We crashed through the brush noisily. "Tell me about Uldo! What happened to Beta?"

  "The Legion was tracking down O's and killing them off one by one when we left," Whit gasped. "They had over-run large chunks of the O's territory. We had the vac and the at when we left. It was just a matter of exterminating them—but it's going to take a long time to do it. They were freeing thousands of Uldo prisoners—and uncovering horrors we don't even want to think about."

  "What about Beta?"

  "What does it mean, what about Beta? Doesn't it know? They never told us a thing about what Beta was up to. And we had no means of communicating with Cinta. When we got the message from Andrion Two, we found it hard to believe at first. But when we got orders to proceed there, we believed it."

  "Aircar approaching!" Sweety warned me.

  "Aircar, Whit! Freeze!" We groveled in rotting leaves, crawling like worms into the darkest shadows of the forest. An aircar passed overhead, then started to turn back. A bright light flickered through the tall black trunks of the flowertrees. It was cold and my heart was hammering.

  I activated the E.

  "Aircar returning," Sweety reported, "probing, mags, thermo, infra, searchlight."

  "Don't move, Whit!"

  "We're too scared to move!" Blazing white light cut into hundreds of flashing segments by the trees, the air full of flying leaves, the aircar closer and closer.

  "Sensor lock! We've been spotted!" Sweety gave us the word.

  "Run, Whit! Run or die!" I burst to my feet and ran, dodging from tree to tree, gasping for breath. I knew we'd be hard to hit in the forest, but a stunstar might bring us down. Whit was back there, darting through the shadows.

  The aircar did not follow us. It settled into the trees, an eerie, glittering volcano of light. I skidded to a stop by a tree and brought Whit down by an arm as she hurtled past.

  "Ow! We think it broke our arm!"

  "Shut down and don't move!"

  "Aircar discharging troopers," Sweety said, "two, four, six, nine. Squad of Legion troopers in pursuit! Recommend flight or fight."

  "Deadman! Damn it damn it damn it!" A Legion squad—we'd never get away from them!

  "Flight sounds good to me!" Whit exclaimed. I knew it was hopeless. We couldn't outrun them—the aircar was already rising and soon it would be on us as well. Flight or fight—absolutely right, Sweety. I could fight, maybe take out some of them—maybe even a lot of them—but the aircar would get us. Hopeless!

  "Let's go," I said. "Run!" We took off again and the aircar whistled over the tops of the trees, probing with the searchlight.

  "Uniden intruders, halt or we will fire!" The message crackled in my ears.

  "Troopers approaching—we have been spotted—aircar has locked on again!" We crashed down a steep cliff covered with shrubbery. Whit did not get up. I staggered back to find her laid out, gasping.

  "We can't!" she said. "We don't want to die! Leave us! We're surrendering!"

  I turned and ran into the dark, frantic. The searchlight flickered wildly all around me, a nightmare light show. I flashed to another time, also on Andrion 2—we had hunted down two Systie troopers through a cold forest just like this one. They had both died—and now it was my turn.

  A deafening blast behind me, and the shock wave knocked me off my feet—stunstar! The forest blazed, glittering with hot raw light. I staggered on. Vac bolts burst off the trees around me. I went to ground and crawled to the closest tree.

  "Target, Sweety!" I raised the E, set to auto xmax.

  "Target marked!" A Legion trooper, A-vest and comtop, right in my sights, icy laser sights, my finger gently caressing the trigger, just a tad more pressure and he dies.

  A Legion trooper! Insanity! Am I insane? Are we all insane?

  I dropped the E onto the leaves.

  "Legion squad, I'm surrendering!" I choked out. "I will not fire on you!"

  ###

  I guess we were both in shock when they hustled us into the aircar. Whit was pale and splattered with dirt but unhurt. The squad's One was a young Outworlder who looked like he was in shock himself.

  "You're Beta Three!" he accused me. "Admit it!"

  "All right, I'm Beta Three. So now what happens?"

  "And this is Maralee Whitney, exec of the Maiden—right?"

  "Right. So?"

  "Terrific! We did it, guys!" The squad was excited and hyper, packing into the aircar. The assault door snapped shut and we lurched up into the dark.

  "Three Three, Elektra, mission successful, we've recovered them both, request instructions!"

  "Elektra, Three Three One, good! We've got a little trouble in the airpark, go directly to the port, acknowledge!"

  "Those people are shooting anything that moves!"

  "You'll be covered, Elektra, I'm calling them right now. I'm ordering Alpha to the port as well."

  "Does anybody know what the hell is happening?"

  "That's a twelve. Just get them in the shuttle."

  "Tenners."

  The squad's One handed me back my E. I gaped at it stupidly.

  "I don't know who you people are," he said, "but there are a whole lot of seriously disturbed individuals out there who want to get ahold of you in the worst way. And all I can say is that's not going to happen on my watch. That right, guys?"

  A murmur of assent from the Legion squad. They were clad in litesuits and comtops, fully armed and fully confident. Arrogant, foolish young troopers, spoiling for a fight. There were even a few girls. I could see Beta in their eyes. Had we ever really been that innocent?

  "You mean you're not with ConFree?" I asked carefully.

  "ConFree? We're with the Legion! We've been ordered to get you aboard the P.S. Maiden. What do you mean, ConFree? We're all with ConFree, aren't we?"

  "Never mind."

  "Do you know what this is all about? Who are those crazies? Does it have something to do with ConFree?"

  "All I can say is don't trust anybody."

  "That part we've already figured out!"

  "Firefight at the Port," someone reported.

  "Well, scut!" Elektra One exclaimed. "That's where we're going, guys. Iden targets and suppressing fire, Ten—then we roll in and drop off, by element—Death!"

  "You got it!"

  "Death!" The car snapped to the left and we fell into the dark. Tracers floated past outside. A chainlink screeched wildly—the pilot was prepping the zero.

  "Two, you take the third," Elektra One was saying, "with the two specials. Escort them to the shuttle. Kill anyone who tries to interfere. Alpha should have the sit in hand. We'll cover you. You two—" he turned to Whit and me—"stick with Elektra Two here. He'll do you right." Elektra Two was a young Assidic male with fierce slit eyes and a nervous tic.

  "We're not ready for this!" Whit squeaked.

  "Hostiles on the pad!"

  "Elektra, Alpha, engaging the enemy!"

  "Hot zero! Decar!" The assault doors snapped open and the troopers leaped out of the car on both sides, screaming. We followed Elektra Two out into the dark, hitting the pad. I had a death grip on Whit's arm, running hunched over after our Two, a series of flashes off
to the left—laser, crackling right over our heads, drilling jagged patterns into a nearby hanger. Two opened up, the entire element opened up auto xmax, the flashes dazzling my eyes. A line of parked airtrucks exploded, lighting us up, a deafening, shattering blast, a glowing fiery mushroom cloud rising above the port.

  I released Whit and snapped the E to my shoulder and fired auto x into the holocaust.

  Armored troopers ran at us right out of Hell, fully armored Legion troopers. I fired at them, convulsed with fear. Elektra Two exploded, ripped to shreds, spraying blood all over me. A titanic blast flashed white-hot and I winked out like a gnat caught in a volcano.

  Chapter 20

  Fate Unknown

  "So that's it—that's all of it," I said to the datapak. I was alone in my cell with the little device as it autotyped my words across the glowing d-screen. "You asked me to record it all, so I did. And it's also what the Legion told us to do if we're captured by the enemy. Cooperate, they said, and stay alive. Tell them everything you know—they'll find out anyway. And if you know anything the Legion shouldn't have told you, it's the Legion's problem, not yours. Your problem is staying alive. And Legion troopers aren't supposed to know anything important."

  I paused, for a moment. It was a cold, dark, miserable metal cell and the datapak was set on a battered metal table. My datapak girl—my only companion. Confess, they had said. Tell us everything. I didn't mind. I felt good. I was beginning to enjoy the task, after all this time. I was so far away from them, there was nothing at all they could do to harm me. I resumed speaking.

  "Stay alive, they said. Stay alive, for we will get you back and they will pay, in blood. Maybe not right away—maybe not for a very, very long time. But the System is doomed, and we're going to recover you, sooner or later.

  "Your name doesn't come off the list, ever, and we don't stop looking, ever, until we find you. Even if it takes a hundred years. Or 200 years. Don't forget, you're an immortal.

  "Survive, they told us. Survive—and believe.

  "But what if it's ConFree that has snatched you? Nobody ever thought of that. After all, we were fighting for ConFree. Why should they be taking Legion prisoners?