"You're always so modest, Wester. Well, who was it if it wasn't you?"
"It was Moontouch. She's the one who told me."
"And how did she do that? I thought she was missing."
"She is. She's on…Mantis."
"Deadman! It's not possible, Wester."
"What's not possible?"
"What you're thinking. You want to do a recon snatch, and rescue her. That's what you're thinking." Tara was a psycher. She was a very powerful psycher. I knew I couldn't hide anything from her.
"Yes, that's right. And why is that not possible?"
"We're going to attack Mantis, very soon, with everything we have. And until Fleetcom suddenly appears in Mantis vac, attacking every O starship simultaneously, and dropping antimats on every O base simultaneously, we are going to ensure the O's have no idea we know where they are. There can't be any recons—of any kind. No further activity—of any kind."
"You had to do at least one recon, to confirm they were there."
"Yes, Wester, but it was a fully cloaked tacship. And it was not detected. We seeded the at with Q-link eyemotes—more new technology—and that's what we're using now. Undetectable!"
"We can do another recon—one more. Give me that tacship."
"No. It's out of the question! This attack must be perfect."
"She gave you the info! I gave you the info! You're going to let her die?"
"It can't be done, Wester."
"I gave you the site, Tara. You wouldn't be there without me. You're saying no?"
"We can't risk endangering the entire attack for one individual." Tara was pale—she appeared to be almost in shock.
"If you don't help me, I'll do it myself." An ice-cold rage, running through my veins.
"I know you will, Wester. And I won't permit it."
"And what will you do?"
"You'll be in the brig, incommunicado, until it's all over."
"You do that and I'll kill you when I get out."
"You mean that, don't you?"
"Yes, I do."
"I'm sorry, Wester."
"You are!"
"How do you know she's there? You don't even know she's there! Your thoughts are perfectly clear. You want me to risk the future of our civilization, the lives of all our brave soldiers, and you're not even sure she's there?" Her eyes were blazing.
"Give me access to those Q-link eyemotes. Tell me what ships are in orbit there. I'll find out whether she's there or not."
"Yes. I can do that."
"Then do it! I'll report today to GI."
"Not too many people know about Mantis, Wester. Don't even mention the name. The op is codenamed Lotus. Don't mention that either. Most people will not be briefed until after we're launched. I'll give you all the access you need. But if anyone asks, you're working on cosmic secret recon projects associated with the coming offensive on Mongera. The code for that one is Operation Lily."
"Fine."
"You've got to promise me you won't do anything stupid."
"I'll do whatever I have to do to get my wife back!"
"So will I, Wester. So will I. Come to me. I'll do…whatever can be done."
"Don't you throw obstacles in my way, Tara! I've got too many friends. And they owe me. They all owe me, just like I owe them. They're not going to say no to me, like you did."
"Don't you even think it, Wester. I didn't say no!"
"Yes, you did!"
"Work with me, Wester. We'll get it done. Let's find out what the situation is, then you come to me. Promise."
"Sorry I said I'd kill you."
"Sorry I said I'd jail you. It's just too much pressure, Wester. Too much! You can't imagine what's been happening. Come here—I want to show you." She leaped up, marching over to her wide conference desk, triggering a star holo. I followed. The holo lit up behind her desk as the lights faded until we had a God's-eye view of the inhabited galaxy. A buzzer sounded on Tara's desk.
"Yeah?" she snapped.
"General Rono," Tara's aide announced.
"No, Lori, no! I'm not ready! Tell the general to wait fifteen marks. No further interruptions, please."
"Yes sir."
"I'd better go, Tara," I said. "I'd hate to keep a general waiting."
"Stay, Wester. He's only a one-star. I want you to understand what's at stake here. Look—do you remember Asumara? Do you remember the Temple of the Sun?" She pierced a star system with a cold green laser. Tiny crimson letters appeared: ASUMARA HOLY COMMUNE.
"Oh yeah." A sudden flash from the back of my mind, wild red eyes and a gaping mouth full of yellow fangs, coming right at me.
"You remember we were searching for six Legion hotcars—Quasar Model 2B's—that had been left behind on Pherdos after the successful completion of the Pherdos Campaign, and that we suspected at least one of them may have participated in the raid on the Temple of the Sun at Asumara." The laser flashed over to Pherdos, and the caption PHERDAN FEDERATION appeared.
"I remember."
"We have learned that all six of those aircars—that we had turned over to the new Pherdan Government—were subsequently transferred to the United System Alliance." The laser shot over half the inhabited galaxy to trigger another glowing red caption: UNITED SYSTEM ALLIANCE.
"No kidding."
"And that's the last we saw of them—until at least one of them showed up in the raid on the Temple of the Sun. Or at least it looks that way."
"Interesting."
"They can't hide from me, Wester. I know the System is behind this. I know they did Asumara, and that triggered Fortuna. And once I can prove it—to myself—they're going to pay, in blood."
"Let's do one war at a time, Tara."
"No. You have to do it all at once, Wester. It all ties together. It's one great spider web. I can feel those silken threads, trembling. They think they have us, but they don't—we have them! Remember the man in the shadows, Wester? 'Think the unthinkable, plan the audacious,' he said. Yes! He was right. I've taken his advice. That Omni you gift-wrapped for me. We treated him right. We fixed him up and learned all we could about his body, and did all we could to scan his mind. We extracted so much from his mind, but it's so hard to read that we may never succeed. We still don't know why they attacked us. But there's an easier way to pass our message. Your O was strapped into a special chair we built for him while we explored his mind. But we introduced a second chair, for me, and I was strapped into that one, facing him, and my psybloc was turned off. Oh, we took every precaution, in case he tried to hurt me, but he didn't. We let him go into my mind. We let him read everything he wanted. You see, we hadn't done anything to warrant their attack. We had passed them the antidote to the plague. That's the last thing we had done. So we decided to let this fellow into my mind. Me, who knows pretty much all there is to know. I think you could call that audacious, couldn't you? We can't read them, but we know they can read us."
"Deadman! He could have killed you, Tara."
"He didn't. You know what we did next? We transported him to Mongera, landed, and let him go."
"Good lord. We're fighting a war with them, and you let them into the mind of a two-star general. And turned him loose? Are you crazy? What about the element of surprise? What about Mantis?"
"We didn't know about Mantis then, Wester. We had no plan of attack then, except for repulsing them from the Outvac, and maybe going after Mongera. And I don't mind if they know that. And our progress in learning how to kill them. I don't even mind if they learn that."
"What do you expect to accomplish from this…insanity?"
"I expect they will conclude that our intentions are not aggressive, and we are only protecting ourselves."
"Why should you care about that? Why should they? They're the aggressors, not us!"
"Maybe they don't know that."
"What does that mean?"
"Remember the man in the shadows?"
"Sure. How could I forget that psycho?"
"I took his
advice on more than the O, Wester. Remember that eyemote recording? That staff meeting?"
"Sure."
"I always thought it was a little…peculiar. The phrasing he used. Some of the things he said."
"Peculiar?"
"Very peculiar. I decided to send the recording to Durdreigh Darton, Chairman of the United System Alliance."
"You've lost it, Tara! First you're exposing every official secret you know to the O's and delivering it to them. Then you're sending our eyemote intercepts to the chief of the System. You're the one who should be in the brig, not me."
"I didn't do this on my own, Wester. We all agreed. Everyone in Starcom. We thought a lot about the implications. As for the O, it had to be me, because my psychic abilities, although primitive compared to the O's, might have made a difference. We had done a lot of analysis of that Omni message that I showed you. We concluded that they felt betrayed and aggrieved, although we're not sure why. And it seemed clear that it was ConFree that was the target of their anger. We wanted to show them that we had not done anything against them. Since we couldn't communicate with them, we made it possible for them to read my thoughts. And we're gambling that the result will be good. And as for the eyemote data, eyemotes are no longer secret. The System knows we have them. The System has them, too. And we don't care. But this talk that Jarzha Gwinn was giving—it was most interesting. Who do you think he was addressing?"
"A gang of Systie big shots, I suppose. Is it important?"
"It sure is. I can't tell you whether my strategy with the O's will have positive results. But sending the recording to the System seems to be working."
"How's that?"
"Some of our most sensitive sources in the System have just reported a major political purge is underway. Initial reports indicate many high-ranking System officials have been detained, interrogated, mindscanned and imprisoned—and the purge is growing."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"I think it's the direct result of that recording I sent to Chairman Darton. Think the unthinkable, plan the audacious—advice from the enemy, Wester. Good advice."
"Why do you think that? Who's being arrested?"
"I think it shows my suspicions are confirmed. It's the Ormans who are being arrested. All of the victims of this purge are Ormans. Jarzha Gwinn is an Orman—and he was addressing his Orman colleagues in that talk. That's who the audience was, I'm sure: Orman officials, and only Orman officials. They staff the highest levels of the System government, they wield great influence. And their comfortable little world is now coming unravelled. The Mocains have always been uneasy with the Ormans, and unless I'm badly mistaken, my recording has tipped the balance in showing the Mocains that the Ormans are a subversive influence, loyal only to themselves."
"Good lord. It's almost as if you've instituted the purge,"
"No, it's not me, Wester. It's the Mocains who are doing the purging, not me. I'm just a facilitator. I'm just shining the spotlight. The Ormans have gotten too powerful, too arrogant, too self-confident. They think they can do anything. But they're wrong. The System was unaware of that meeting. It was a Mocains-only show. I was just lucky enough to have caught it with that eyemote."
The buzzer sounded again.
"Yes?" Tara asked.
"It's General Rono, sir. He wants to…"
"I'll see him. Wester, take the back door. I think I've tried the general's patience long enough. Remember—any problems, see me."
"Thank you, Tara."
"Bless you, Wester. We'll find your wife—don't worry!"
Chapter 16
The Sword of Light
"Take a look," I said. We were facing a pale d-screen that focused on what looked like a stone hut built into a dirt hillside. It was the dead of night on Andrion 2, but a soft morning on the screen. "This is real-time. A Q-link eyemote. It's bloody miraculous," I continued. We huddled around the screen in an otherwise darkened recon comcen. I was in the chair, exhausted but elated—little beads of sweat were trickling down my temples. Deadeye and Stormdawn bent over the screen, soft green light illuminating their narrow faces. They both still wore death paint. It would not come off until the mission was over, or they were dead. Dragon was in another chair, a formidable presence, leaning forward as if to devour the image.
"We go in," I whispered. I touched the controls gently with one hand. The view focused in on the hut, then floated towards a wooden door that appeared to be firmly shut. I maneuvered the eyemote right through the crack between door and frame. The view darkened, then slowly adjusted. We floated near the ceiling, looking down. The view showed a large room, full of bulky wooden furniture, large chests and bins and oversized beds piled with bedding and evidently full of slumbering giants. A low fire flickered eerily in a wide stone hearth, casting the only light. Two figures tended the fire, adding tinder and setting pots and pans of food over the fire. Breakfast, for the family. The first figure was huge, clad in a dark robe. She was evidently female, but her body was almost entirely covered in short, curly dark hair. The firelight lit up her face, a giant female savage looking out past thick tangled brown hair that framed her head like a halo—a heavy brow ridge, deep-set liquid eyes, wide nostrils, and a wide, somewhat sensitive mouth. The second figure was considerably smaller—a human, also female. Her graceful bare arms glowed almost gold in the firelight as she adjusted the pans. She was also clad in a dark robe. Long straight black hair fell to her shoulders like silk. Her face was serene, and her dark eyes reflected the fire as the shadows danced over her high cheekbones and delicate, narrow face. I clenched my teeth savagely as the tears again filled my eyes.
"Mama!" Stormdawn's hand hovered over the d-screen. He was trembling, and I knew he couldn't see her any better than I could, at that point.
"Deadman!" Dragon exclaimed.
"I thank the Gods," Deadeye whispered in astonishment. I didn't have to say a word. I just let them watch her preparing breakfast. Some of the giants in the beds were stirring. It was time to get up. I tried to compose myself. I finally spoke.
"I told you I'd find her. She's alive. And we're going to go and get her!"
"Who are these creatures?" Deadeye asked. "How do we fight them?"
"We don't fight them. These are good creatures. They are friends. As long as Moontouch is with them, she'll be safe from the O's. You can think of them as angels, if you want. They are…holy."
"What's the target?" Dragon asked. He had not yet been briefed.
"I can't tell you yet. Except that this particular target is over 10,000 light years away. Nobody's ever been there—except the O's. And the O's are there. Plenty of them."
"How did she get away from them?" Dragon asked.
"She didn't," I replied. "The O ship took her to this world. They evidently sent their human cargo downside, and the natives welcomed the detainees into their homes."
"Why did the O's do that?"
"I don't know. Maybe they figure it's easier to let the natives handle their captives for them, until they need them back."
"This is Gildron's home world, isn't it?"
"That's right, Dragon. Here—watch this." I switched the view to another eyemote. It was floating high above the little settlement, revealing a series of stone huts built into low hills near a little stream of fresh water.
"Aren't you afraid you'll lose Moontouch?"
"No. I've got four eyemotes locked on to her. If we lose any, they'll be replaced. We've got plenty of eyemotes. We'll not lose her. Now look over there."
The eyemote showed a series of interlocking crystal-like structures not far off, reflecting the early morning sunlight. They were quite beautiful.
"What's that?"
"Those are Omni hives—it's where they live. Their version of squadmods, I suppose. As you can see, it's direct line of sight to our target. The Omnis are all over this world. This is just the closest hive."
"So if we drop here to snatch Moontouch, we can expect to engage the O's i
n combat."
"That's a ten. But that's not all we have to worry about. Moontouch is not the only Taka captive staying with the Daz'ra. We're still tracking everyone down, but so far we've got twenty-seven other Taka in this vicinity."
"I see," Dragon said.
"Oh, that's not all. There are also eight ConFree captives—in the immediate vicinity."
"Terrific. And how much time do we have to do this?"
"Maybe five marks. That's about it. That's all Tara will give us. After that, all hell is going to break loose, and the O's may lose interest in us quickly. But if we hang around too long, chances are high we'll run into an antimat."
"Do you have any good news for me?" Dragon asked.
"Yes. I've found my wife, Stormdawn has found his mother, Deadeye has found his Queen, and we're about to liberate twenty-eight Taka and eight Outworlders from the O's. And even if we fail, we're going to exterminate a great many O's, and leave a cleaner galaxy behind us. That's the good news."
###
"It all seems rather straightforward," I said, leaning over the tacmap that glowed on the circular holo table. It was a perfect 3D representation of the target, now zooming out to include the nearest Omni hive.
"That's what worries me," Dragon said.
"It is straightforward," Snow Leopard said. "The only problem is the time constraints." He was rubbing his hands together slowly as his hot pink eyes glared at the holo. Snow Leopard hadn't changed at all—straight white-blond hair, an icy pale face, blue veins throbbing at his temples and those burning pink eyes—nothing could escape them. It was terrific having him here, and in charge of the planning. He was my first squad leader, and Dragon and I trusted him with our lives.
"We should have Holo-X," I noted. "It's crazy not to have Holo-X. Why should we go in live? The op may fail without Holo-X."
"You need a platform to use Holo-X," Snow Leopard noted calmly, "and we ain't got no platform." He'd said it before.
"We should!" I'd said that before, too.
"Three, General Hanna says no Holo-X. You know why. The future of humanity may depend on a successful attack on Mantis. This will be our only chance to destroy the entire Omni fleet—at one go. By all rights she shouldn't even agree to your op, but she's giving you five marks. That's it. And we're not giving the O's any warning with some tacship suddenly appearing to serve as a platform for a Holo-X attack."
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