by B. V. Larson
Sateekas and the Nairb looked at me in surprise. Since I had their attention, I ran with it.
“McGill…?” Drusus said in a plaintive tone, but I didn’t even look at him. I was in the zone, like when you’ve had your third or fourth beer at the pool hall and can’t seem to miss a shot.
“The Skay have developed a poison,” I boomed out. “They tried to give it to us, hell, they sprayed our ship Legate with it.”
“A poison?” the Nairb said. “Are you confessing to my next charge before I can even state it? This is new territory for me as a prosecutor.”
“No, you damned fool. The Skay came here to take over. You know that much, don’t you?”
“That has been established, insolent human,” the Nairb said primly.
“Right. They came out here, but they had more to the plan than just sending one ship at us. Do you think they’d dare to challenge the fleet strength of the Mogwa if they didn’t have an ace up their sleeve?”
“Analyzing colloquialism… ah yes, a secret advantage. Are you stating you were aware that—?”
“The Skay are planning to do a lot more than just take over this backwater province. They plan to take you out, Sateekas—all of you. They’ve created a bio-terminator that kills only Mogwas.”
“The existence of this biological agent is known to us, human,” the Nairb said. “Your attempts to avoid responsibility for—”
A sweeping limb knocked the prosecutor from his perch. He flopped onto the deck, squirming weakly. It looked like he would live, but he was probably broken-up inside. His kind came from a low-gravity planet, after all.
Sateekas pressed forward, leering out of the hologram at us. “What proof do you have that this was a Skay plot?”
“It would have to be, sir,” I said. “We don’t have thousands of ships to fight our way to Mogwa Prime and dust your home world with the stuff. We don’t even have the biochemical expertise to create it in the first place. No sir, this was the work of an evil mastermind above and completely beyond our lowly capacities.”
Sateekas seemed to consider. At last, he made a definitive chopping motion with his foremost limbs.
“I believe the McGill. With my own orbs I watched you kill another human—your superior officer, no less—to avenge me. How could such a clear act of slave-love for one’s rightful master escape the Nairbs? They never understand loyalty. Their mindset would blame firemen for starting every fire because they’re always on hand when a building is blazing.”
“That’s exactly right, sir. They just don’t get the warrior spirit.”
“Just one more thing,” Sateekas said. “We require that you furnish us with a sample of the bio-terminator that the Skay gave you so we can study it.”
“Oh…” I said, turning slowly to look at Drusus.
He looked like he was going to puke, but he managed to nod in a stiff-necked fashion.
“We’ll do it, Grand Admiral,” I answered for him, since he seemed to be feeling poorly.
Hearing the title he liked much better than governor, Sateekas seemed to ride a little higher on his limbs when he next moved.
“This inquiry is at an end,” he announced.
The channel closed, and I heard explosively loud exhalations all around me.
For my own part, I located Drusus’ brandy cabinet and poured a round for everyone. They all drank a few, even Graves.
* * *
After the Mogwa ship left our skies, Galina was dragged through a series of investigations and trials, but she eventually was acquitted and returned to her rank and status. They just couldn’t pin anything specific on her.
That didn’t really surprise me. She hadn’t seemed particularly guilty to me, but she had been involved in things like this in times past, which always brought her under suspicion when something new went wrong down at the capital. She had friends and enemies in high places, so in some ways she was like a ragdoll the politicians liked to fight over.
Even if she had been guilty, I figured there was a good chance she’d get away with it in the end. She hadn’t gotten this far in life solely due to her looks.
She was not, however, promoted to imperator again. I knew that’s what she’d really wanted, so after I checked in with Etta, who was happy with her new life at Central, I skipped town and went back home to Waycross. I figured Galina could cool off for a while on her own.
I lived without bloodshed after that for nearly a month. But one hazy night in late summer, I was sitting out on my creaking porch having a brew. The fireflies were winking, and the bugs out in the swamp were working it like a brass band, but I didn’t mind. It was good to be home.
One set of fireflies, I noticed, were high, high up in a pine tree to the north. Twin glows, blinking, coming lower and lower, becoming bigger and bigger…
That was no firefly, I realized. It was an air car.
Now, for normal people, the arrival of an air car on their rural property was a cause for excitement. Maybe even for celebration. People around these parts simply didn’t have that kind of money.
But I was a different sort. Often, when people came down to visit me, they did so with ill intent. Accordingly, I killed all my lights, got out my gun, and sat on my porch swing in the darkness.
The car landed out in the swamp. Not on the road, or in my parents driveway—it was in the bog itself.
Not moving, barely breathing, I watched the area to see what would come. In particular, I watched the foot-tall grasses that encircled my house. People often thought I was just too lazy to mow, and although that did factor in, there was more to it than that. The grass was a warning system for me in case someone came sniffing around my place in a stealth suit.
Don’t laugh, it’s happened before.
Waiting for maybe ten minutes, I was almost bored and annoyed enough to go out into the swamp to look for the driver—but then I heard something.
It was a curse. A female voice, releasing a series of very foul words. Thirty years back, that tirade would have turned my face red.
Finally, a splashing came up to the edge of the lawn, then walked onto dry land. She was young, small and wearing white pants.
I winced at that. Nobody down in Waycross was shit-off stupid enough to land in the swamp in white pants. It took a northerner to even think of it.
Straightening herself up as best she could, and still cursing now and then, Galina Turov made her way to my door.
I sat there still as a stone in the dark, like a gargoyle on a cathedral.
“You’d better be home, dammit McGill,” she whispered to herself, and she knocked on my door.
“Boo!” I said.
She almost leapt off the porch, and I brayed with laughter.
Angry as can be, she stormed back off into the night. I went after her, caught her up in my big arms and swept her into the air.
After a few seconds of struggling, she let me carry her back to my place. We kissed, she slapped me once, and then we went inside.
It was a nice night for it, so we made love until the sun came up.
THE END
From the Author: Thanks Reader! I hope you enjoyed ARMOR WORLD, the eleventh book in the Undying Mercenaries Series. If you liked the book and want to read the story to the finish, please put up some stars and a review HERE to support the series. Let me know what kind of world you’d like McGill to discover next!
-BVL
More SF Books by B. V. Larson:
The Undying Mercenaries Series:
Steel World
Dust World
Tech World
Machine World
Death World
Home World
Rogue World
Blood World
Dark World
Storm World
Armor World
Rebel Fleet Series:
Rebel Fleet
Orion Fleet
Alpha Fleet
Earth Fleet
Star Force Series:
Swarm
Extinction
Rebellion
Conquest
Army of One (Novella)
Battle Station
Empire
Annihilation
Storm Assault
The Dead Sun
Outcast
Exile
Demon Star
Starship Pandora (Audio Drama)
Lost Colonies Trilogy:
Battle Cruiser
Dreadnought
Star Carrier
Visit BVLarson.com for more information.