Random smiled for the first time, reached across and took Savage's glass, and tried some of the wine. He shuddered and put the glass down Firmly. "God, you must be tougher than you look if you can drink that stuff voluntarily." But the smile didn't last long, and his face fell back into brooding lines. "I've been here before, you know. On worlds like this. Cold Rock, Mistworld… but what Loki reminds me most of is Virimonde. What used to be Owen Deathstalker's world."
"The world Shub destroyed under Valentine Wolfe," said Savage, nodding. "I've seen the holo documentaries. We all have. But that's not going to happen here. We have an army."
"Yeah. I'm just glad Owen isn't here. It would break his heart to see another world faced with such destruction."
Savage leaned forward, his eyes shining. "What's he really like? The Deathstalker? Has he really done all the things they say he has?"
"Most of them, yes. You'd be surprised. If there's a single real hero to come out of the rebellion, it's him, not me. He's never compromised, never once wavered from what he believed in. The best kind of warrior—the man who never wanted to be one, but fought anyway because he believed in the Rightness of his cause. I'd given up. The Empire had broken me. But he brought me back… What is he like, really? A good man in bad times. The only really honorable man I ever met."
"Would he come to help us? If we asked?"
"Probably. But I have no idea where he is right now. Once… I would have known, just by thinking about it. We were that close. But we've become distant since then. Grown apart. Because I gave up who I was to become somebody else. Someone I thought I was supposed to be. You don't know what I'm rambling on about, do you, Savage, but you're too polite to interrupt. It doesn't matter. Tomorrow we go out to meet the army from Hell, and all problems will be decided then."
"I can't wait," said Savage, raising his wineglass in a toast to Random. "It will be an honor and a privilege to fight beside the legendary professional rebel!"
Random looked at him sadly and said nothing.
The human army, Loki's only hope, gathered noisily in the great square before the main gates in the city's huge outer wall. Everyone had a sword, and some had guns too. Men and women wielded their weapons with grim enthusiasm, and struck bold poses for the hovering holo cameras, which would be accompanying them into battle. The war would be broadcast live to those unfortunate enough to be staying behind, those too young or too old, the sick and the lame and those necessary for the city's security. Like de Lisle and his people, who had chosen not to make an appearance. There were no flyers, no ground vehicles; the storm might be heading for a lull, but the winds in the upper atmosphere would still be strong enough to toss gravity craft around like toys, and the dust still floating in the air would short out the motors of any ground craft. Vidar's army would go to victory or damnation on its own two feet.
Jack Random and Ruby Journey stood with their backs to the great airlock and watched the excited confusion, knowing that enthusiasm wasn't enough to win battles. When the Vidar army finally clashed with Shub and the rebels, some would inevitably break and run, simply because not everyone has a killer in them. It's not something any man can know until he's tested. But most would stand and fight and die bravely, because they knew they were fighting for something bigger than themselves.
Peter Savage was darting back and forth, trying to be everywhere at once, browbeating and cajoling different groups into some kind of order, desperate for his people to look good in front of his hero, Jack Random. The crowd goodnaturedly let Savage get on with it. Bottles of booze were being freely handed back and forth, and Random decided he'd better get his army moving soon. Still, it was a six-hour hike to the chosen spot, and that would sweat most of the booze out of them. So he let them drink a little before they had to leave. For all their enthusiasm and commitment, this was a crowd of strangers, brought together by need and duty and desperation. They had to win this battle or lose everything. They couldn't retreat if things went bad, and hope for a second chance. If they fell back, the Ghost Warriors would pursue them tirelessly, to the walls of Vidar and beyond.
Savage came over to Random, who nodded approvingly. "Doing a good job, Savage. They're actually starting to look like an army."
"Good," said Savage. "Because I've just received some news, and it's all bad. The Empire has become concerned enough to send two starcruisers, but they're only D-class, so they won't get here for at least a week. Their orders are to negotiate with whoever has control of the mining equipment—the colonists, de Lisle and his people… or the rebels."
"Can they do that?" said Ruby. "Strike a deal with Shub allies?"
"Sure, they can," said Random. "Politicians are nothing if not practical people. They need the cobalt this planet produces, and they'll deal with whoever they have to, to get it. Hard times make for hard choices, or at least, that's how they'll sell it to the public. If the rebels win, and give the appearance of distancing themselves from Shub, Parliament would do business with them. It doesn't matter. It's just one more reason why we have to win this battle. Pass the word, Savage. It's time we were moving out. The lull will hit our chosen location in just over six hours, and we don't want to be late."
Savage bobbed his head and hurried off into the crowd, shouting orders. Men and women gathered in their companies and formed ranks, as they'd been trained. Random turned to Ruby.
"Off we go to save the day one more time. You know, Ruby, I've missed this. Things are so much simpler on a battlefield."
"This is where we belong, Jack. Right in the middle of things, in blood up to our armpits. Peace was just a dream. You can't fight destiny."
"Maybe," said Random. "Maybe."
The great gates opened, and the last army of Vidar filed through the huge airlock and streamed out into the raging storm, disregarding the violent weather in anticipation of the fighting still to come.
They made good time across the dark, jagged landscape, and five hours later they passed through a narrow valley to reach the open plain where the lull was supposed to hit. They set up a temporary camp of reinforced tents and waited impatiently for the storm to pass. When the lull finally came, it was like a kind of magic. The wind's voice fell away like the end of an oratorio, and suddenly there was utter silence. The air was still, like the eye of a hurricane, and the dust settled slowly to the ground. It was like the end of the world, the last pause before Judgment Day. The army emerged from their tents and looked around them, seeing their world with new eyes. Most had never known anything but the endless storms.
People laughed and joked and cheered and slapped each other on the shoulder, as though the lull was a sure sign of victory. Savage had them start stripping off most of their protective armor, so they'd have more freedom of movement once the fighting began. And when that was over, everyone just stood in place, looking expectantly out across the open plain. The world was very still, as though holding its breath, waiting for everything to begin. And then the holo cameras out on the plain sent back the first pictures of the rebel and Shub forces. They were on their way. Random, Ruby, and Savage crowded around a small monitor screen and nodded, satisfied. The enemy had taken the bait and committed all their forces.
The Vidar army surged out across the plain and the enemy came to meet them. There was no time or need for subtle tactics. Two opposite forces crashed together, no quarter asked or given, and blood spilled on the dusty ground. Human fighters threw themselves against walking corpses, and the thought of surrender was alien to both of them.
Within an hour, most of the living on both sides were dead.
The battle was a mess, groups of fighters surging this way and that, each concerned only with their personal part of the war. Swords rose and fell, hacking at living and unliving flesh. Axes chopped through human meat and jarred on bone. And from everywhere came the sudden flaring and roar of discharging energy weapons. Men and women fell and did not rise again. Ghost Warriors fell too, blown apart by energy beams or surrounded and cut to piec
es by howling warriors. The maddened mob surged back and forth on the blood-soaked ground, driven by rage and hatred that could be soothed only by victory or death. And among them moved the living dead, driven by cold disappasionate minds that killed and killed and felt nothing at all. The bodies piled up to every side, and still the battle raged on.
Peter Savage fell, unnoticed.
He'd stuck close to Random and Ruby, guarding their backs, awed and amazed. He saw men and Ghost Warriors fall under their blades, swept almost casually aside by superior strength and speed, and his heart swelled to be fighting in such company. He thought they were invulnerable, protected by fate and destiny, and because he fought at their side, he must be too. He never even saw the blade that came thrusting out of nowhere to slam into his rib cage and out again. Driven by servomechanism-assisted muscles, the blow threw him to the bloody ground, and ignorant feet stamped around him.
At first Savage thought he'd just had the wind knocked out of him, and tried to get up again. But his legs wouldn't obey him, and when he put his hand to his side, it came away dripping blood. Pain hit him then, and he cried out in spite of himself. He was no quitter. He kept trying to get to his feet, even as his lifeblood drained away. His place was at Random's side. But his body wouldn't listen. He died there, unseen and unremarked. Peter Savage was a brave man, and a hero, but he was never more than human.
Jack Random and Ruby Journey, so much more than human, fought savagely and tirelessly, dealing out terrible wounds and sudden death with every blow, and what small injuries they took healed almost immediately. They never saw Peter Savage fall, or even missed him until much later. They were too busy doing what they did best—surviving against impossible odds and killing everything within reach. The dead piled up around them, the blood-streaked skin of the fallen rebels lying next to the gray flesh of fallen Ghost Warriors. And Random and Ruby never even noticed that gradually, foot by foot, they were being separated from the main body of the fighting.
It took little more than an hour for the human forces on both sides to pretty much wipe each other out. They never even noticed that the Shub forces had moved away, so wrapped up in their own needs they never knew the real battle for the future of Loki was being fought somewhere else.
The long, narrow valley between the open plain and the city of Vidar hadn't looked like much when the city army marched through it, but Random had recognized its strategic importance. It was the only way to reach Vidar that didn't involve a days-long detour. If the Ghost Warriors were to reach Vidar while the lull still held, they had to pass through that valley. So when Random and Ruby finally realized how far they'd been herded from the rest of their army, they wasted no time in cutting their way out of the surrounding Ghost Warriors and ran like hell for the valley. All that remained was for them to defend the one strategic location that actually meant something. They soon outdistanced their pursuers and took up a position guarding the entrance to the narrow valley.
It was over a mile long but barely twenty feet wide, narrowing to ten at the entrance. Which meant two people could hold off an army. For a time, Random and Ruby stood together, leaning wearily on each other while they got their breath back. They'd had to cover a long distance at a dead run, and even more than human legs and lungs had their limits. And the fighting itself had been long and hard, with Random and Ruby having to operate at the very limits of their strength and speed. After a while their breathing slowed and their hearts no longer hammered quite so frantically in their breasts, and they were able to stand alone. They looked out at the army of walking corpses gathering in the open plain, and swore more or less in unison. There were almost a thousand Ghost Warriors, with swords and guns and a complete readiness to be destroyed if that was what it took to bring the enemy down.
"Can't say I like the odds," said Jack Random. "A thousand to two is just a little worrying."
"We've faced worse," said Ruby Journey.
Random looked at her. "If we have, I must have missed it. A thousand Ghost Warriors would cause even Owen Deathstalker to have doubts. However, they have to come at us from the front, so that means only a handful can reach us at a time. If we pace ourselves, we might just outlast the bastards."
"Unless they figure out some way to sneak up on us from behind. Or come down the sides of the valley."
Random looked back into the valley, frowning thoughtfully. "Unlikely. It would take them days to march around to the other end of the valley, and one way or another, we won't be here that long. And the sides of those mountains are pretty near vertical. No, Ruby, they have to come straight at us. Head to head."
"Best way," Ruby said briskly. "So all we have to do is hold the Ghost Warriors off until our side wins, and comes to relieve us, right?"
"No," said Random slowly. "From what I saw of the fighting, I don't think we can count on anyone joining us. We have to assume that we're all that stands between Vidar and Shub. If we can hold them off till the lull is over, and the storms return, then we'll have won. The city will be safe."
"What about us?" said Ruby.
"We made it to the city through the storms before. We can do it again."
"And the battle?"
"God knows," said Random. "Last I saw, the city army had the rebel forces on the ropes, but the real threat was always the Shub forces. And I don't think we made much of a dent in them. And there's something else that worries me."
"There's always something that worries you," Ruby said resignedly. "What is it this time?"
"I haven't seen any sign of Young Jack Random yet. He wasn't anywhere in the battle. I would have known. So where is he, and what is he up to?"
"Damn, you're right. That is worrying."
"If you don't like that one, you'll love this. Why aren't the Ghost Warriors attacking?"
"All right, I'll bite. Why?"
"Because they're waiting for someone. Most probably Young Jack Random. With reinforcements he didn't commit to the first battle."
There was a sound out on the plain, and they both turned to look. The sound quickly developed into the rhythmic hammer of marching feet and a second army of dead men came marching out of the distance, easily a thousand strong, with the shining silver, armor-clad figure of Young Jack Random smiling at their head. They joined up with the silently waiting first force, and then stood motionlessly in ranks, staring unblinkingly at the narrow opening to the valley—and the two flesh-and-blood legends who held it.
They ignored the two human forces still fighting doggedly some distance away. Shub knew where the real threat lay.
"Don't you ever get tired of being right all the time?" said Ruby almost angrily. "These are not good odds, Jack. We really might be in trouble here."
"If there's a choice between being taken dead or alive, I think we'd be wise to go for dead," said Random. "Vivisection is probably no fun at all if you're still alive when they do it."
"I'm glad I've got you to look on the cheerful side," said Ruby. "I suppose running like hell is out of the question?"
"Unfortunately, yes. We have to hold our ground to buy time. Time for Vidar's army to defeat the rebels. For the lull in the weather to pass and the storms to return. Or, if all else fails, for us to whittle down the number of Ghost Warriors to the point that the city might stand a chance. Either way, it's all down to us."
"Of course," said Ruby Journey. "It always is, isn't it?"
"We've got eight, maybe nine hours till the lull is over," said Random calmly. "We might last till then. After that things should get really interesting. Forget what I said earlier. They might just decide to come after us anyway, even through the storms. After all, they're dead. They don't feel the wind, or the cold, or the cutting dust. And Shub really does want us very badly. I wonder if that's why they sent Young Jack Random here, to be bait in a trap for us… It doesn't matter. No, Ruby, I think we have to accept that we're here for the duration. Until one side or the other has nothing left to gain."
"Hold everything," said Ruby.
"I think the curtain just went up."
The entire army of Ghost Warriors came surging across the plain toward them, while Young Jack Random stood to one side and cheered them on with a cheerful human voice. The dead men were silent, the only sound the rumbling thunder of their dead feet on the hard, unrelenting ground. Random and Ruby hefted their swords and stood at the valley entrance, waiting.
"If we do fall here…" said Random.
"Yes?" said Ruby.
"At least it will be a good death. A warrior's death."
"Yeah. We were never meant for civilization, Jack."
"But if by some miracle we do come out of this alive…"
"Yes?"
"I'm going to do things differently. No more politics. No more compromises. I'm going to follow my heart and my conscience, and God help anyone who gets in my way."
"Sounds like a plan to me," said Ruby.
And then the first of the Ghost Warriors were upon them. Random and Ruby stood together and wielded their blades with more than human strength and speed, cutting the Ghost Warriors apart, literally dismantling the animated corpses until they fell helplessly to the ground. Those were quickly hauled out of the way so that more Ghost Warriors could take their place, and the struggle continued. Only five or six could enter the valley at a time, and Random and Ruby had no difficulty handling that many. At first. But there were always more Ghost Warriors to take the place of those who fell, and the dead never grew tired.
Random and Ruby fought on, but after the first hour they had begun to slow, and their strength was not what it was. There was never any break, and they dared not retreat so much as a step. Enemy swords were starting to get past their defenses, and their wounds were taking longer to heal. It had been a long, hard day, even for two living legends. Their breath came raggedly now, burning in their lungs. Sweat ran down their faces, stinging in their eyes and tasting of salt on their lips. The ground grew slippery underfoot with their own blood. Still the Ghost Warriors came, and Random had to admit to himself what he had always known. That while two warriors could hold off an army for a time, they couldn't do it forever.
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