by B. V. Larson
Right then, I realized Graves was going to play ball. Maybe he’d been wondering why this war was stuck in low gear the same way I was.
“That’s great, sir! Can I get them inside the walls, now? It’s kind of—”
“I can’t approve that. You’ll have to get permission from Turov herself.”
“Uh… okay. I can do that.”
Graves was silent for another long moment. He knew I had a special relationship with Turov, and while he didn’t approve of it, he knew it could be valuable.
Finally, he sighed. “I don’t want to hear any more about any of this. You’re on your own. Is that clear, McGill?”
“Absolutely, Primus.”
“All right. Please control your native levies, and keep your own personal funny-business to a minimum.”
“You have my word, Primus. There will be no deviltry, mischief or vandalism of any kind. I wouldn’t stand for it.”
“Great…” he said in a tone of defeat.
The channel closed, and I saw to the needs of my swarm of salamanders. Using Graves’ name, I ordered up shelters, food and any other supplies I could think of.
Centurion Manfred doubted me. He contacted Graves personally to confirm. He was a friend, but I considered this to be a dick move on his part.
After listening for a few moments, he finally threw up his hands.
“I don’t get it, McGill,” he said, “but your lizards will get whatever they need.”
“They’re salamanders, man,” I said. “Didn’t they teach you anything in school?”
-38-
It was late at night by the time I reached Gold Bunker. With each step I took in the raging storm, my foot was pushed halfway back by the screeching winds.
Brushing past the guards at the bunker entrance, I went in search of Galina’s quarters under the unhappy eye of everyone who belonged down here. Despite the unfriendly welcome, her door swished open before I could even touch my tapper to the door to identify myself.
Galina was there, smiling.
“You lived,” she said.
“Sure did! Mind if I come in?”
Not bothering to wait for her response, I stepped forward. Her small hand came up to my chest and pressed there firmly.
I halted, frowning down at her.
She was still smiling, but it was a tense smile.
“Uh…” I said. “Are you mad or something?”
“Why would you think that?”
I wracked my brain quickly, but I was still baffled. I’m not good at reading women’s faces. If they try to fool me, or hide an emotion, it always works. I could only absorb the most obvious clues.
That tiny hand on my chest for instance, that was a clue. A bad one.
“Um… maybe I should come back later? You got that boy-toy of yours in here?”
She twisted up her face. “No, you idiot. I’m angry with you.”
“Oh…. can I ask why?”
“You’ve been scheming with Graves, that’s why.”
Galina pushed me back outside, and the doors clapped shut in front of my nose. I frowned in utter confusion. Getting a little pissed off, my hand went up to the door again to demand entry—but I managed to stop myself.
When dealing with a woman, I don’t read expressions very well, but I understand the rules that generally lead to success. One of the big ones was never to care too much. If you follow a girl around and beg for it, well, pretty soon she’ll become contemptuous.
Shrugging, I turned and walked away. I did so slowly, working on my tapper as if making another call.
I stopped then, just a few meters from her door, and I put on a little show of talking to someone else. I knew she was watching me. She’d opened that door too fast when I’d first arrived—that had given her away.
The more I thought about it, the more obvious it was. She’d known I was coming, which indicated she was keeping tabs. Then she’d flashed that door open so fast… The only way she could have done that was if she’d been waiting right behind it, watching on her cameras.
That meant she really did care. She wanted to dramatically reject me, and she’d planned it all out beforehand.
Whatever else she had planned, however, wasn’t going to happen. James McGill doesn’t play that kind of game.
Pretending I’d gotten through to someone on my tapper, I brought it up close to my face so no camera could see who might be on it. Then I grinned. I grinned hugely, and I began to talk.
“I sure will, young lady!” I said. “You don’t have to ask twice. I’m over in the gold-bricking bunker right now, so it will take a minute to get—”
Turov’s door swished open behind me. I felt a heat on my back. I was pretty sure that was due to Galina’s eyes, which were doubtlessly trying to burn a hole into my spine.
“McGill!” she shouted. “Report immediately!”
Turning around, I blew a kiss at my tapper and blanked the screen. Faking a slack-faced, dumb-ass expression, I spread my hands wide.
“What is it, sir? Is there a problem?”
She hunched her shoulders up angrily as I walked past her and into her quarters. Making myself right at home, I sank onto her couch. I don’t mind telling you it felt great against my butt. I’d been marching around in the mud for damn near twenty hours straight.
“Mmm…” I said. “This is one comfy couch.”
Galina parked herself as physically far from me as she could get. That wasn’t very far in what amounted to a studio apartment, but she did her best.
Propping her butt up against the tiny kitchen counter—I was surprised to see she’d had one installed—she crossed her arms over her breasts and glared at me.
“Do you expect me to buy this charade?” she asked.
I blinked, and I almost blew it by laughing aloud and coming clean. After all, I was in the midst of performing a charade of sorts, pretending to make a midnight booty call to another girl and all. But something told me to keep going with my pretense. It had already gotten me into her apartment, and I’m a man who likes to stick with what works.
“Uh… could you give a clue, sir? Concerning what we’re talking about, that is.”
“You’re trying to start a war, that’s what. And Graves put you up to it. Don’t try to deny it.”
Now, she really had me confused. My mouth fell open a little bit, and it wasn’t even an act this time.
“Uh…”
Angrily, she marched over to the wall near her bed. She swept her arm over it, and a bullshit image of sunny grasslands vanished. In its place, a map of Storm World sprang into existence. I saw our camp, the Blood Worlder camp, and several oily-looking areas that were labeled “Wur holdings.”
She tapped the nearest one, which zoomed in. A trail of red spots drew two thick lines through the forest, crossing each other like an X.
“This is the path your patrol took. This other path—this is the one the Scupper war party took.”
“Okay… but what’s all the red stuff?”
“Those are wakening trees. They’re releasing heavy defense pheromones. The wind is spreading them in this storm, far and wide.”
“Oh…”
Galina turned on me angrily. “Is that all you have to say? You’ve awakened over a hundred trees, McGill!”
“We were killing them. Can they produce defensive pods if their bark is cut off?”
“For a time, yes. But more importantly, they release chemicals. That will light up all the nearby trees as well.”
“That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? The walkers will charge the walls, get taken down, and that’s that.”
“No, you imbecile. That isn’t how it will go. This storm will carry the winds to other Wur forests. The entire planet will be alerted. You can’t kill this many trees without having them go into a frenzy.”
I knit my fingers behind my head and leaned back on her cushions. Damn, they were good for a sore back.
“You got anything to drink?” I asked.
“Not for you. Now, what I want to know is what Graves offered you to pull this stunt for him.”
“Um… nothing. There’s no stunt. I think both of us were just wondering why we’re sitting around doing nothing. You can’t win a war sitting inside a fort.”
Her finger came up, and it wagged in my face. I hated that.
“That’s where you’re wrong, McGill. I’m playing a different game.”
Now, we were getting someplace. I was mildly interested. Since talking about defeat had gotten her to talk, I decided to push that strategy.
I laughed out loud. “A different game? You mean like, the-piss-and-shiver game? We look pathetic. Even the local guys with their shock-sticks have more balls than we do. Everyone knows it.”
“They know nothing. We’re waiting for a reason. We’re waiting for the Rigellians.”
Out of all the answers she could have given me, this one wasn’t even on the list. The Rigellians were our arch-rivals out here in the frontier zone. They’d pretty much declared war on us back on Dark World.
“Uh…” I said. “We’re waiting for Rigel? Won’t they just send their fleet and wipe us out, like they did back on Dark World?”
A single thin finger sprang up again. Fortunately, it wasn’t her middle one.
“No,” she said. “The circumstances here are entirely different. The enemy risked it all back on Dark World, because the prize was so great. Here, things are different. Storm World doesn’t have much obvious use.”
“Right…” I said, not getting it at all. “So, why do you think Rigel would send forces out here at all?”
“Because they want this region. They want these worlds. Unfortunately for Earth and Rigel, the Wur are here. No one wants them to get a foothold on these planets. They must be eradicated.”
“Okay… but how do you know they’re coming?”
“Because these two-timing salamanders called for them.”
“They called for help from Earth and Rigel?”
“Of course. How could you blame them? They’re desperate.”
Suddenly, the entire situation had taken on a different aspect. If another player was about to arrive, we didn’t want to be found in a weakened state.
“Oh…” I said, staring at the map. “I think I get it.”
“That’s wonderful,” she said sarcastically. “I’m so glad I can get the support of a single junior officer. It thrills me when I have to give private briefings in order for my directives to be followed.”
“Well then…” I said. “I’m more than happy to stop that war party from cutting up a single additional tree. What’s more, no patrol I’m in charge of will do it, either.”
She looked at the map again. “Your change of heart might be too late.”
“Probably not. Look at it this way: I brought the Scuppers here, and they’re sworn to follow me. I thereby stopped them from cutting any more trees. I might have, in fact, averted disaster.”
Galina frowned at me. “They follow you?”
“Yep. Like ducklings.”
“Hmm… Why?”
“Uh…” I said, and I cleared my throat. “Their previous leader might have met up with an unfortunate accident.”
She laughed then, a very good sign. “An accident? A fatal accident?”
“Let’s just say he didn’t look like he was in good shape when I last saw him.”
She laughed again, and she stepped close to me. “I did miss you,” she said. “You were dead for a long time.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Did you really call another girl for a meeting tonight?”
I looked startled, which was easy. But then I managed to appear guilty. I was proud of that bit of acting.
“Well… you did throw me out. This McGill, he’s a virgin, see. Unfortunately, the girl said ‘no.’”
“You lying bastard,” she whispered. “I watched you. She said yes.”
She was really close to me now. I felt a certain hot sensation inside my head as I looked down at her. But I still didn’t reach out and touch her—not yet.
“There’s one more thing, sir.”
Her face flickered with annoyance. “What?”
“My new men… they need shelter. They need space inside our walls.”
“Why? Have them dig a hole or whatever they do to survive on this shitty planet during storms.”
Galina began to climb on me, to run her hands over me. But I stood firm, like one of the giant trees in the forest outside.
“Are you kidding me?” she demanded, jumping back and glaring. “You’re trying to hold out on me? I don’t believe this. You can go sleep with your frog friends!”
That was Galina Turov for you. She blew hot, then cold, then back again any day of the week.
Deciding to play hardball, I shrugged and turned away toward the door. To sink in the point, I glanced at my tapper as if I’d gotten a text.
Galina saw that. She was very perceptive, and she often jumped to extreme conclusions with alarming speed.
“You’re still going to her?” she demanded.
I looked back. “I don’t want to let my troops die in the storm. They want to help. They’ve got decent weapons, and they won’t—”
“All right, dammit,” she said between clenched teeth. “You can keep your skinny aliens.”
Flopping back onto her couch, I was all smiles again. She glared at me, so I knew another act was required. I tapped at my tapper decisively.
“I erased everything,” I said. “Take a look.”
She grabbed my arm and ran a fine finger over my screen. She rolled through the recent history.
“You deleted it? But she could still contact you.”
“Okay. When she does, I’ll block her. I promise, you can watch me do it.”
“I’m going to hold you to that, James.”
“As God is my witness, we’ve got a deal.”
Then she jumped on me, and we made furious love on the couch.
I’m a moth attracted to flame when it comes to evil women like Galina Turov, and I don’t mind admitting it. I’d long since made peace with this and marked it down as one of my many flaws.
She was on top the whole time, straddling my wide form. She looked like she was riding an elephant or something, but I didn’t mind the view.
While we were in the throes of passion, however, something happened that dampened my enjoyment.
Behind Galina, on the wall she’d turned into a tactical display of the region, the map began to change.
Contacts appeared. More and more of them showed up in the Wur forests. The red dots crept slowly toward our fortress walls. In reality, I knew that meant they were running at top speed, covering swampy ground at a startling pace.
My tapper began to light up seconds later, and so did hers. But her eyes were closed, so she missed it.
In the end, I decided to let us both finish our love-making. After all, this might be the last happy moment we shared for a long time to come.
-39-
When we’d finished up, Galina immediately figured out there was an attack coming. She ordered me out to the walls to meet the charge head-on.
“You started this, James!” she complained, struggling with a smart-bra that seemed to have a mind of its own. “You’re going to weather the storm on the front lines.”
“Can I have a kiss for luck?”
“No! Out!”
Less than half an hour later, I was walking on the walls.
My friends, the croaking, web-footed Scuppers, had managed to get inside just before the big wave was due to hit. Fortunately, most of my unit had returned from their extended patrol as well. They were surprise to see me back home on the walls—but they were even more surprised to see a small army of Scuppers wandering around.
“McGill?” Graves called on officer chat. “My display says you’re at the gates—that’s the gung-ho attitude I like to see. Get your native levies ready for action. We’ll se
e what they can do. I’m putting you in command of the frontline defense on the eastern side. Don’t let one frigging tree get over that wall!”
“Your faith in me honors my soul, sir,” I said.
Graves disconnected, and I noticed the gate-commander was eyeing me sourly.
“I’m taking command of this post, Centurion Manfred,” I told him.
“I heard,” he said bitterly. “So that’s the deal, huh? I stand guard out here on this snot-slick rock-pile for a month, and the moment battle comes, you and your frogs take over.”
“That’s about the size of it,” I agreed. My expression slowly transformed into a grin. I tried to stop that, sincerely, but it just wasn’t in me.
“I’m asking to withdraw,” he complained. “You’ve got enough troops in this sector.”
“More than enough… But hey, you weren’t a hog back on Earth when you started out, were you?”
Manfred’s face reddened. As his cheeks were already kind of red, this was impressive.
“Fuck you, McGill,” he said, and he stomped off.
I didn’t care, as he was a friend. He’d get over it.
Manfred’s unit of troops followed him, and I wished them all a good night’s sleep in the rear of the defensive lines.
“You ladies don’t have to worry tonight,” I told them. “Don’t piss the bed, or anything. We’ll stop the big, bad trees right here. I promise.”
They glowered at me as they filed by. At the same time, my own troops moved up to replace them.
Sargon hadn’t survived the ordeal in the woods, but he’d managed to rejoin the unit after catching a revive at Blue Bunker. That made me happy, as I figured we were going to have a glut of people needing a revive real soon.
“Congrats,” I told him. “You made it out of Blue Bunker before the rush hits.”
“Yeah… I’m requesting permission to drive one of these 88s, sir. I’d like to disperse some payback on these trees.”
“Permission granted. Get to your station.”
Sargon moved off, and then I had to deal with the salamanders. They looked kind of lost standing on a wall with their funny electric sticks.