"I'm sorry."
"So am I."
"It doesn't make sense, you know."
"Yeah."
"It's not logical, Thinker. Why should you let the memory of this man torture you?"
"I don't know."
"He was a cheap, sleazy, third-class professional criminal who turned Whit over to the Systies for a handful of coins."
"I executed him," I reminded her. "I shot him through the back of the head. That's the problem." The nightmares are getting worse, I thought. We may have rescued Whit, but I left a little piece of my soul behind on Katag. Deadman is not going to let me forget this one. I deserve it, I thought—I deserve it!
"We had no choice, Thinker. It was him or us. Would you feel happy if we were in a Katag jail right now?"
"No. But I probably wouldn't have these nightmares."
"It doesn't make sense, Thinker. How many people did you kill on Andrion Two? How many on Coldmark? Or Mongera?"
"I don't know. Quite a few, I guess."
"Do you have nightmares about them?"
"No."
"Why not? Why Biergart? How do you feel about the Systies you killed on Coldmark?"
"The DefCorps? I feel only admiration for them." I thought about it, and the memories washed over me. "Yes, they were soldiers—they died facing us. They were heroes, for a bad cause. How else could I feel?"
"Heroes. But you don't have nightmares about them. Instead you regret the death of that fat slug Biergart, who would have sold us out in a microfrac for cold cash if he'd had half a chance."
"I never said it made sense, Priestess."
"Don't you love me, Thinker?"
"Of course I do. You know I do."
"If you hadn't shot him, I'd be rotting in a Katag jail—or worse. So would you. And Dragon."
"I know."
"It was Biergart or me. Think of it that way."
"I don't order these dreams, Priestess. And I can't make them go away."
###
"ALERT! DefCorps armor! Multiple DefCorps readings!" As my eyes snapped open, my faceplate filled with data. Green luminous DefCorps A-suits appeared on my tacmap, suddenly on us, my God, 20 mikes, so close I could already see one visually right through the silt, a wavering green ghost, leading the march. Adrenalin shot through my veins. I raised my E and snapped off the safety. We were still on the bottom of the river, sleeping in a great mass of tangled debris, almost buried in the mud and weeds, side by side, fields of fire already set.
"Nobody move!" Snow Leopard hissed. "They may miss us! Let them go if they don't spot us!" My heart thumped wildly. Fifteen mikes! How could they miss us? I snapped the E to auto xmax and the indicator lit up on my faceplate. Two of them now, walking upstream, fighting a swift current, leaning forward, their Systie armor a greenish bronze in the darksight, Systie SG's across their chests, the power of the cosmos. More of them! Three, four, five, emerging from the sparkling haze like phantoms, plodding forward patiently, intent on the march.
"I have nine…I have ten," Sweety whispered in my ear. "Ten DefCorps troopers, SG's on safe!"
SG's on safe! They were completely unaware of our presence! We were half buried in the mud, obscured by dead sunken trees and a forest of shimmering weeds and our own camfax and the swirling chaff from the mineral-laden silt.
"Easy, easy…let them pass," Snow Leopard whispered. "If they don't react, don't fire." I was bathed in ice cold sweat. I could see more of them now. They were so close I could almost have reached out and touched them. They were walking the riverbed, passing us right by, a whole DefCorps squad. Green ghosts slowly filing past, the river washing debris all around them, a school of silver fish parting to avoid them. One move, one twitch, just one SG safety snapping off and the river would explode and boil with xmax and laser and multiple tacstars, rising up at once, and it would be a river of blood. I knew Psycho was salivating behind his Manlink, all safeties off, set to fire auto tacstar, his evil blue eyes glowing in the dark.
"They don't see us, gang. Let 'em go, let 'em go."
There was only Snow Leopard's voice in our ears. Everyone else was stunned into silence. The Systie with the Manlink plodded along like the others, a long, long march, one step at a time, leaning into the current, just one foot after the other, for hours and hours and hours.
They passed us by. Passed us by! I could hardly believe it. We watched them move upriver, into the silty current and out of sight. A DefCorps squad! We lay there in the mud, the weeds swirling around us. In moments the Systies were only a vague blur on the tacmap.
Snow Leopard spoke again. "All right, they're out of range. It's over." I set the safety on my E. My muscles were all tied in knots.
"What the hell has a guy got to do to get some sleep around here?" Psycho asked wearily.
"There'll be no more sleep," Snow Leopard responded. "It's almost dawn. And our plans have just changed. We're not taking the river. We're going overland."
"In daylight?"
"In daylight. Let's go—everybody up!"
"What's the story, One?" Valkyrie asked. "What was that Systie squad doing here?"
"I don't know," Snow Leopard replied, "but I don't like it."
"But what do you think, One?" Merlin asked. "What are they up to?"
"I think they were looking for us," Snow Leopard said. "Let's go."
"Looking for us!" Speedy exclaimed. "But I thought we were on the same side, against the O's! How do you know they weren't reinforcements?"
"Cut the chatter," Snow Leopard snapped. "Tamaling, did you pick up anything useful back there?" We were up and moving now, following our One, heading for the east bank.
"I'm sorry, One. Nothing useful. I was asleep and… no, nothing useful." Tara was probably kicking herself for not being on top of things.
"But how can we go out there in the daylight?" Speedy continued. "They'll spot us for sure!"
"Silence in the ranks!" Valkyrie ordered. A DefCorps squad, I thought. Looking for us! It was bad enough fighting the O's. It would be twice as hard if we had to take on the Systies as well. The mission was looking worse and worse.
Chapter 5
Deadman's Cause
"That's where we're headed, gang—right into those mountains." Snow Leopard lowered the spotter. We looked down into a shallow valley, thick trees growing in swampy land at the bottom, then low rolling hills dotted with trees, the land rising gently, more hills, then the mountains, a great range of worn red stone, massive slabs of rock stretching to the horizon, fading to a dark blue, then a pale shadow. Uldo's sun rose blood red behind the mountains in a dark, smoky sky. A golden haze touched the horizon beyond the mountains, fading to pink and violet. A luminous sky, darkening to blue and purple. Black clouds streaked overhead and lightning flashed every few moments. I knew it was deceptors—half the planet's atmosphere was charged, and our tacmaps were close to useless. But at least we knew we were safe as well.
"Looks like quite a walk, Snow Leopard," Dragon said. "How long will it take?"
"That depends on how fast we move," Snow Leopard replied.
"It's all in the open," Valkyrie said.
"Let's do it," Snow Leopard said. We set off, recon formation, down into the valley. Snow Leopard hadn't said anything, but I could tell from the tacmap where we were going. The original plan had been to follow the river up the valley to the jumping off point just south of the target. But we were taking another route now—east into the mountains, then out the other side. Snow Leopard probably planned to follow the foothills north on the other side and approach the target from the east. It would take at least another day—probably more. But I was certain Snow Leopard knew what he was doing. Our One was always right.
Strange tall trees rose all around us, creaking gently in a light breeze, topped by masses of slender pale green leaves. In the half-light of that dark dawn, the trees glowed phospho white. A faint mist fell from the sky, and the grassy earth was springy and resilient under our boots. Two pale birds gl
ided overhead, calling to each other mournfully. A clap of thunder reverberated above us. It began to rain, hard.
"With luck, that swamp is going to flood," Psycho remarked.
"You always see the bright side, Psycho," I replied. "That's why we like you so much."
A flash of lightning lit up the sky.
"That's good," Merlin said. "Natural electrical activity is good for us. Makes us harder to spot."
"I can hardly believe this," Speedy said. "I thought we were going to walk the river. We'd be safer there."
"Have you ever walked into a DefCorps ambush, Fourteen?" It was Scrapper, Valkyrie's girl. She was normally quiet, no matter what.
"No—have you?"
"Yes! And I have no intention of doing it again. That DefCorps squad was probably looking for us. The river is suicide."
"But why should they be looking for us? We're all fighting the O's!"
"Speedy, the world isn't that simple," Dragon said. It was clear from his tone that he was getting tired of listening to Speedy's bitching. "The reason you're here is that you're replacing a member of our squad who was killed by the Systies in the first joint operation against the O's. I'd suggest you think about that and stop fighting the program."
Speedy shut down. The rain was icy cold and a fine mist rose from the wet ground. A faint whistling noise, a whisper in the air.
"ALERT! GENETIC ENERGY STRAND!" Sweety shrieked in my ears.
"Snakes! Fire!" It snapped in the air, dropping at us right out of the trees, genetic death, a long filmy snake-like strand of cells, barely visible, peppered with raindrops, cracking like a whip, wrapping itself around Speedy in a microfrac. He had only instants to live.
Speedy erupted in flame, burning like a star. Dragon and I had him, our E's on flame, spearing him like a bug on a pin. Great bursts of flame rushed over him, exploding, his A-suit spitting fire, the snake burning like paper, crackling, disintegrating to ash, whirling away into the air. Snow Leopard and Priestess joined in, E's on full autoflame, and Speedy's armor glowed red-hot. He fell onto his back, burning like a torch.
"ALERT! More strands!" My head snapped up. More of them came at us through the air, floating, seeking us out, snapping their tails, totally mindless and totally deadly.
"Flame! Use flame!" Snow Leopard cried out. Our E's spat flame and the snakes erupted in the air, exploding like gas. It was Dragon who first discovered that the snakes burnt, on Mongera. I swept the sky with my E, and the others did the same. Somebody shrieked with laughter. The snakes spit sparks, coming apart, rolling into fiery balls in the sky. We filled the air with flame and the trees burnt all around us.
"Any more?" My heart was thumping. It was quiet. A single flash of lightning. Light rain. The trees, burning. Speedy was on his back, his suit glowing, smoking, hissing as the rain hit it.
"Fourteen, are you all right?" Priestess was right by his side. So was I. She opened the visor. He was silent, trembling, as pale as death.
"Speedy, are you tenners?"
"Life signs ten high," Priestess said.
"It's all right, Speedy, we flamed the creeper. It didn't have a chance to burn through your armor."
"Say something, Speedy."
"He's all right," Priestess said again. "He's fine." The squad gathered around him.
"Speedy? You were lucky. We burned it before it was able to start the chain reaction. You're one lucky guy!"
"Fourteen, Beta to Fourteen, acknowledge please."
"Take five, Speedy, you deserve it."
"What a day, huh, Speedy?"
"Look at it this way, Speedy, chances are it'll be somebody else next time."
But Speedy didn't say anything. He just lay there in his A-suit, twitching.
###
We sloshed through the wetlands, cutting across icy streams and wading ankle deep through wet muddy turf. It was fairly open, but it sure was wet. Tall white trees towered around us, widely spaced. We were heading for the forest, still far ahead. The sky was full of heavy dark clouds and where we could see through the clouds, it was a slate-grey morning. The weak sun was still hidden behind the mountains.
It had been a long night, and it was going to be a long day—Uldo's day was thirty-three hours.
"Four, Three." I needed information, and Merlin always had information. Merlin was our tech, our lab rat, our wizard. He knew everything.
"Yeah, Thinker."
"Do you think the O's know where we are, after that scrap with the snakes?"
"That's a twelve, Thinker. The snakes just roam around and attack the appropriate genetic material. They're really quite primitive. There's no commo with the O's. The O's just program them to patrol a certain area, and then set them loose."
"I see."
"We're likely to run into more of them. I'd stay awake, if I were you."
"I'll do that, Merlin. Thanks."
One foot in front of the other, sloshing through the muck, mists rising from the water. It stopped raining. A flight of white birds rose from a tree, flapping into the air, squawking. It was a brand new day, and the clouds had borders of crimson and gold. It was incredibly beautiful out here. Uldo—we were to die for Uldo. Fine, I thought. I had no home—let it be Uldo. But meantime it was to be one foot after another, for hours and hours. Exhausting hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of stark terror. That was the Legion.
###
"Somebody's tearing the hell out of the at," Valkyrie announced. We had paused briefly on a great shelf of crumbling, unstable rock, hidden in the cold shadow of a tall, massive mountain ridge of red stone. In our camfax, we were virtually invisible but we all felt naked out on the rocks.
"Those are antis," Snow Leopard said. "That's the offensive."
I snapped my visor open and raised my canteen to my lips. The air was fresh and cold. The sky was clearing up—we certainly didn't need that. The ridge towered up to the sky above us, glittering like diamonds, totally magnificent and totally impersonal. It made me feel like a worm, wriggling along in the dirt. This was certainly God's country, and we were clearly intruders.
"Twelfth, Twelfth, Twenty-Second, respond please." It was very faint, and racked with static, but we heard it clearly.
"Did you hear that?"
"Why would the Twenty-second want them to break blackout?"
"That's our unit!" We were all shocked into attention.
"Twelve, Two Two, request you…" A roar of static. A vague flicker ran over the sky. Then the air moved around us, just a little. A gentle rush. Our tacmaps went dead.
"Deadman."
"That was a big one."
A burst of static, a burning roar, a metallic screech, a faint screaming; was it human?
"What was that?" We could only listen, helpless and horrified.
"Two Two, Ten…" A roar of static. "…lost the Twelfth, repeat; believe we've lost the Twelfth. We've got a strato anti burst coming at us. Nova, Nova…" A massive rush of noise, burning in our ears. I sat there frozen, unable even to move.
"Lost the Twelfth!" Speedy exclaimed suddenly. "What the hell does that mean? How can you lose an entire regiment?"
"Shut down!" Valkyrie snapped.
"But what do they mean?"
"Shut your filthy trap!"
I was stunned. The 12th was our regiment. And if the maxburst from the 10th was correct, they had just been snuffed out like a candle.
"Ten, Two Two, Two Two, respond please!"
But there was no response from the 10th—only static. Another regiment was gone. It was so horrifying I could barely comprehend it. The 12th was our family—the 12th was us! How could they be gone? All those people—all those soldiers! Immortals, bound for Hell. I looked over at Snow Leopard. He stood, his E in his arms, looking up to the sky, and I'd never seen a look like that before.
###
Exhausted, I picked at my rations. I was almost too tired to eat. We had climbed the mountain all day and now it was night again, another smoky night flickering with
atmospheric deceptors just the way we liked it. We had made our way up the steep western slopes of the mountain ridge, then along one side of a ravine, and now we were on the eastern side on our way down. My legs were rubbery, twitching and weak inside the A-suit. And Sweety wouldn't give me any more mags, the bitch. I was so tired I just wanted to sleep. And that's precisely what we were going to do—Valkyrie had the first watch.
Gnats swarmed around my face and rations. Deadman.
I tried to brush them away. Gildron lurched into view and squatted nearby, resting his E on a rock.
"Trade you a fruit chew for a choco," Tara said. She was sitting right next to me.
"Sorry—I ate all my chocos."
"It's high energy," Tara said. "You should have saved some for tomorrow."
"I guess I live for today," I said. We all had our helmets off. We were covered with mud and dirt. Tara grimaced as a swarm of gnats attacked her face and settled on her fruit chew. I laughed. "How you doing, Tara?"
She waved listlessly at the gnats and gave me a dazzling smile. "You shouldn't ask questions like that, Beta Three."
"Why not? You're not happy?"
"On the contrary," she said dreamily, "I'm very happy. I've never been happier. You could even say I'm ecstatic. Yes—ecstatic!"
"Right—me too," I replied wearily.
"I'm not kidding, Wester. I mean it. I am truly happy, for the first time in many years."
"Yeah? Why's that, Tara?" I never knew what she was going to say. But it was usually illuminating—she was an unusual girl.
"Because it's right and proper that I be here, Wester. It's absolutely perfect. I don't know why the Legion sent me on this mission, Wester. It's as much a mystery to me as it is to you. But I know the real reason I'm here. This is my penance, my…purification…for all my sins. That's why I'm here, Wester, why I'm really here. This is my reward; this is what I deserve for my past, for all my sacrifices, for all my sins. I feel holy, Wester. I feel good."
"Sorry—you lost me there. What are you talking about?"
"You're so lucky, Beta Three—so lucky! It's so simple for you. All you have to do is carry an E. You have no idea how lucky you are."
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