by Gav Thorpe
Like everyone else, I gaze open mouthed as the albino twins walk back into the cell after their exercise break. Lorii is stripped from the waist up, displaying her perfectly formed chest to all and sundry, a sheen of sweat glistening on her alabaster skin. She's talking quietly to Loron, their heads
leaning together as they walk, totally oblivious to all around them.
'Okay, put your eyes back in!' I snap at the men close by, and most of diem avert dieir gaze. I notice Rollis still staring from where he's sat with his back against the wall, and I begin to walk over to remind him who's in charge when I see something even more pressing. Donovan, a real snake from Korolis, is sidling towards the twins, rubbing sweat from his hands on his combats. I head off to intercept him, but I'm too slow and he stands in front of Lorii, stopping her. My stomach gives a lurch of anxiety, because I know mat whatever happens next, this is going to turn out bad.
"That's a fine showing, Lorii/ Donovan says with a leer. He reaches forward and places his right hand on her chest, gazing into her eyes.
She snarls, slapping his hand away angrily and trying to step past, but he wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her back with a laugh. I don't see exactly what happens next - they've both got their backs to me - but half a second later Donovan starts screaming his head off and drops to his knees, clutching his face. Lorii spins apart from him and starts to walk away widi Loron. I call out Lorii's name and she stops and walks over to me. She smiles sweetly, holding her right hand out, closed around something.
'I don't like being touched by perverts/ she says lighdy, her blue eyes staring straight into mine. I feel her place something wet in my hand before she turns and walks off. Looking down, I see one of Donovan's eyes staring back at me from my palm. My interest in her body immediately drops to below zero.
Gazing out through the small round port in the Colonel's office, I can see the world we're orbiting. It's grey and cloudy, not particularly remarkable. The Colonel is watching me intently, as always, and I self-consciously avoid meeting his eyes.
'Hypernol penal colony is on the moon of die planet below us/ he says, confirming my earlier suspicions. 'We will be travelling to the surface at die start of the last pre-midcycle watch. The Pride of Lothus will be re-supplying at the orbital marshalling station. When we reach the penal colony, I will be dispensing with the services of certain members of your platoon who have failed to perform satisfactorily/
'May I ask who, sir?' I inquire, curious about this change of attitude. The Colonel's never mentioned expelling anyone from the Last Chancers before. Up until now the only options for getting out have been death or a pardon. It seems to me we can die just as well as anyone.
*You may not/ the Colonel replies sternly, reminding me that I'm still gutterfilth in his eyes, for all of the recent increases in my responsibilities. He turns to look out of the port, and as I look away from his back I notice somediing out of the corner of my eye, on Schaeffer's desk. It's a picture of Loron on a file, and with the Colonel's attention elsewhere I lean forward a little to try to sneak a look.
"You could just ask, Kage/ the Colonel says without turning around.
'Sir?' I blurt out, startled.
"You could just ask what crimes Loron and Lorii have committed/ he replies, looking over his shoulder at me.
"What did they do?' I ask uncertainly, wondering if this is some kind of trap or test being set by the Colonel.
'Disobedience/ the Colonel says simply, turning around fully. They refused an order/
'I understand, sir', I assure the Colonel, crowing inside because I was right and Slavini was wrong. Witches indeed!
'I am sure you will, lieutenant/ the Colonel says with an odd look in his eyes. 'Prepare for embarkation on the shuttle in one hour's time/ he adds before dismissing me with a waved hand.
'Okay,' admits Slavini when I tell him as soon as I get back to the holding pen. 'But that doesn't mean that's what really happened, just because tiiat's what the record shows/
'Emperor, you're a suspicious man, Slavini/ I say sourly, annoyed that he still won't admit that he's wrong. 'Come widi me, we'll settie this once and for all/
I grab die sergeant's arm and drag him over to where Loron is sitting against the wall, staring at the floor. I put him and his sister on different exercise details in the hope that it would force them to communicate more with the others, but it just seems to have annoyed and upset diem. Well, I've had it with their introverted ways, they're going to become a part of the unit whether tiiey like it or not.
'What are you in for?' I demand, standing with my hands on my hips in front of Loron. He looks slowly up at me with those deep blue eyes of his, but doesn't say a word.
'As your lieutenant, I'm ordering you to tell me,' I snap at him, furious at his silence. 'Or is that another order you're gonna refuse?' I add viciously. He stands up and looks me straight in the eye.
'It isn't what you think/ he says finally, his glance moving back and forth between me and Slavini.
'So tell us what it really is/ I insist. He looks at us both again and then sighs.
'It's true that Lorii disobeyed an order/ he tells us slowly. I look smugly at Slavini, who scowls back. 'It was an order to retreat, not an order to attack/ he adds, and we both stare at him in astonishment.
'Ordered to withdraw, you refused?' Slavini says incredulously. You'll fit in nicely with the Last Chancers. Are you suicide freaks or something?'
'I was wounded in the leg/ Loron explains, face sombre. 'Lorii refused the order for general withdrawal and came back to get me. She carried me over her shoulders for the kilometre back to the siege lines. They said she had disobeyed orders and dishonourably discharged her at the court martial/
They didn't get you on some crappy conspiracy or complicity charge, did they?' I ask, wondering how Loron had ended up joining his sister.
'No/ he replies. 'I insisted I be discharged with her. They refused, so I punched the captain of my company. They were only too happy to throw me out after that/
To stay with your sister, you punched your captain?' laughs Slavini. 'No mistake about it you're fragging weird, man/1 look at the albino's sincere face, seeing an odd look in his eyes that makes me wonder even more about them. About where they're from.
Very well/ I tell him. 'I'll keep you and Lorii together from now on, if that makes you feel happier/
'It does/ Loron replies with a slight smile. He takes a step to walk past Slavini and then stops. He looks back at the sergeant and the smile on his face is gone.
'I would suggest you don't use words like freak and weird around Lorii/ he says, his voice dropping to a menacing tone. 'She is more sensitive and less reasonable than me/
I bet she is, I think to myself as Loron walks off, leaving Slavini visibly shaken. In an unconscious gesture, the sergeant rubs his eye with a knuckle and then wanders off, thoughts obviously somewhere else.
'So, Lorii,' Linskrug says, leaning as far forward as the shuttle safety straps will allow to talk across Kronin's chest, 'I bet you didn't think you'd be going back to the penal colony this soon!'
"We've not been in a penal colony/ she corrects him. The twins have begun to lighten up finally, as everybody gets used to them and gives them some space. For their part, they've started talking a bit more, as if the both of them have resolved that they're not going anywhere, so they better at least try to get along with some of the others. In fact, I'd say Lorii has got a soft spot for Linskrug, though I can't think what she sees in the handsome and once wealthy and well-connected baron. Kronin's asleep between the pair of them, snoring gently, as the shuttle takes us down to the moon.
'Sorry?' I say, catching on to what she said. I look over to my right where she's sitting next to the aft bulkhead. You mean the Colonel hasn't just picked you up from the penal moon we're going to?'
'No/ she says with a fierce shake of her head. "We've been fighting with a punishment battalion on Proxima Finalis for the past eighteen mon
ths/
"Why has the Colonel singled you out?' I ask.
"We weren't singled out/ Loron says, and we turn our heads to the left to look at him. 4Ve were the only ones left/
'Only ones?' Franx croaks beside me. 'How'd that happen?'
'Cluster bombs from ork fighter-bombers dropped straight into the middle of the battalion as we made an assault/ says Lorii and everyone's gaze shifts back to her. 'Blew apart two hundred troopers - everybody except my brother and me/
'Woah/ Broker says from the other side of the shuttle, shock showing on his face. That's pretty awesome/
^Vhat happened then?' I ask Lorii, curious as to how they ended up with us.
The commissars weren't sure what to do with us/ Loron continues the story, dragging our eyes to the other end of the shuttle. That's when Colonel Schaeffer turned up again, had a word with the commissars and then brought us here/
Turned up again?' Gappo asks, before I get the chance. You'd seen him before?'
Yes/ Loron replies with a nod. 'It was over a year ago, when the punishment battalion was first formed. He came and met the captain. We don't know what they talked about/
I'm trying to work out what we were doing roughly a year ago. It's not that easy, for a number of reasons. For a start, in the past year or so we've been to five different worlds, and they all blur into one long war after a while. Added to that, what was a year ago for Loron and Lorii might not be the same for us, what with warp time and the rest. It's like this: a ship in the warp can travel so fast because time there doesn't flow the same as it does in the real universe. Well, that's how a tech-priest tried to explain it to me on my first trip off Olympas. In our universe, time passes normally, so the people on the ship might experience only a week to a month, while three months have really passed them by. I've not had any reference to, for want of a proper term, normal time since Ichar IV two of my years ago. For all I know, ten years might have really passed me by in that time.
The shutde suddenly lurches, slamming my head back against the hull and wrenching me from my reverie. Everybody's glancing about at each other, wondering what's going on.
"What the frag?' I manage to bark out before the shuttle dips to the right sharply, hurling me forward into my harness.
'Turbulence?' suggests Linskrug, the calmest among us. I twist my head over my shoulder to look out the viewport behind me. I can see the circle of the moon below us, too far away for us to be in its atmosphere yet.
'Nope/ I growl, pulling the release on my straps and hauling myself to my feet. 'Stay here!'
I try to work my way to the front bulkhead, leaning on people's knees as I pull myself along. The shuttle shudders and banks the other way, tossing me sideways and pitching me to my hands and knees. Clawing my way forward, I pull myself up the bulkhead and lean against the wall next to the comms-unit connecting us to the forward chamber where the crew and Colonel are. Pushing the switch to activate it, I steady myself some more as the shutde seems to waggle from side to side for a few seconds.
'What's happening Colonel?' I shout into the pick-up. The link crackles for about a second before I hear the Colonel, his voice distant and tinny.
'Get back to your seat, Kage/ he orders. The pilot has suffered a synaptic haemorrhage. Prepare for crash landing/
Everybody's looking at me, and they've heard what the Colonel said. Almost all of them seem to start talking at once, I can't make out a word diey're saying.
'Shut up!' I bellow, flicking the comms-unit off again and leaning with my back to the bulkhead. 'Check your harnesses are tight. Really tight. When we hit, get your arms over your face and keep your ankles and knees together. If we have to ditch after we land, Broker's squad goes first, followed by Donalson, Jorett and Slavini. I'll follow up. Until then, don't say anything/
The next few minutes pass agonisingly slowly as I stumble back to my place and strap myself in again. We're utterly helpless, just hoping that die pilot's back-up can regain some kind of control. The moon's got enough of an atmosphere to burn us up if we enter wrong, and even if we survive that we'll slam into the surface at something like a thousand kilometres per hour if die landing dirusters don't fire. Even if the dirusters do slow our descent, we could be spun around like crazy, smashing side or top first into the ground. Assuming the plasma chambers don't explode on impact and incinerate all of us, some of us might just get out of this alive.
It's about ten minutes after the first sign of trouble when I feel die hull vibrating widi die constant burning of attitude adjusters, altering our roll and pitch as we plunge towards the moon. That at least is a good sign, because it shows diat someone's regained some manoeuvrability. Looking out die port again, die moon is looming large, filling it up. It's a sandy yellow colour, orange wisps of cloud drifting through its atmosphere. The anti-glare shutters snap up, blocking my sight, protecting us from the blinding light caused by entry into the atmosphere. Half a minute later and the shuttle starts shaking violently, bouncing me a few centimetres or so up and down on die bench, despite die fact diat my harness is biting painfully tight into my gut and shoulders. I hear the whine of die engines turn into die customary roar as die turbo-jets kick in, and I realise we're not going to burn up. That still doesn't
help the fact that we were going twice as fast as we should have been. If the pilot hits the retros too hard he could snap the shuttle in half; if he goes too late we'll be flattened on impart.
The warning lights snap on, glowing a constant red, indicating imminent landing.
'Get ready everyone!' I shout. I wait a moment to check they're all braced properly before wrapping my arms across my face, cupping my hands over my ears to stop my ear drums being blown out by any explosive change in pressure. My heart is hammering, my knees trembling as I try to press them together. This has to be the most terrifying experience of my life, because I'm totally helpless to do anything. There's not a single fragging thing I can do to alter whether I live or die, except protect myself and try not to tense up too much. That's easier said than done when you know you're plummeting groundwards at high speed.
The air fills with a high-pitched whistling as we scream down through the air. I grit my teeth until I remember that you're supposed to keep your mouth open. I can hear some of the troopers praying to the Emperor, and I offer a silent one of my own. Please don't kill me this way, I ask him. Keep me safe and I'll never doubt you again, I promise.
With a near-deafening crash we hit, and the impart hurls me backwards. I feel like we're skidding, the shuttle is jumping and lurching, yawing wildly left and right.
'Fragfragfragfragfrag!' I hear Franz wheezing next to me, but I'm relaxing already, realising that we're down and still alive. Then suddenly I feel light again and can sense us plummeting downwards, like we slipped over the edge of a cliff or something. I pitch towards the front of the shuttle as we go into a nose-dive, and a wild screech forms in my throat, but I manage to bite it back in time. Everything is spinning wildly, making me dizzy and sick. There's a sudden jolt and the spinning changes direction. Across from me, Mallory gives a high pitched yelp and then dirows up across my boots. Then there's a sudden moment of calm and I can still hear Franx's cursing.
'Fragfragfragfragfragfrag!' he's spitting. I glance at him and see his knuckles are pure white, he's clenching his fists so tightly. It's then that I notice a pain in my palms and realise I've been digging my fingernails into my hand, even through the cloth of my gloves. Forcing myself to unclench my hands, I
stare fixedly at my knees, trying to ignore the nausea sweeping through me.
The next impart smashes my knees together and is accompanied by the wrenching sound of torn metal. And men we've stopped. Suddenly it's all over; there's no sense of motion at all.
'Frag me!' Slavini shouts, breaking the silence, punching a fist into the air, his voice shrill, a wild grin across his face. I'm grinning like a madman too. Someone starts whooping, I burst out laughing, other people are crying out wi
th joy. Feeling hysteria threatening to overwhelm us all I bang my head sharply back against the fuselage, the pain jarring some sense back into me.
'Stow the celebrations/ I bark. 'Is everybody okay?'
There's a series of affirmatives, and then I hear Lorii's melodic voice.
There's something wrong with Crunch/ she says, indicating the burly guardsman on her left. I release my harness and make my way over to him, telling everybody to stay sitting in case the shutde shifts or something. Crunch is flopped in his seat, his head against his chest. I crouch down in front of him and look up into his open eyes. There's no sign of consciousness in them. As I stand up again, I notice a massive bruise on the back of his neck. Fearing the worst, I put a finger to his chin and lift his head up. As I suspected, there's no resistance at all.
'Damn/ I curse to no one in particular. 'His neck's snapped/ Letting Crunch's face flop back to his chest, I go along to the comms-panel.
'Everything all right up there, sir?' I ask.
The pilot is incapacitated, that is all/ the Colonel tells me, his voice crackling from the comms-panel. "What is your status?'
I glance around for another check before replying.
'One dead, probably a few dislocations, sprains and bruises, but that's all/ I report.
"We seem to have broken through the surface into a cave/ the Colonel's metallic voice tells me. 'Organise ten men for a survey party, I will be with you shortly'
Switching off the comms-unit I turn back to the cabin. Everyone seems to have got over their initial delight, realising that we're stuck somewhere on this moon. We don't even know if the air outside is breathable, or anything else about this
place. There could be a fire in the engines for all we know, still threatening to blow us to the warp.
'Jorett, how's your squad?' I ask, stepping between the benches towards the sergeant. He glances back at them before replying.
'All present and able, Kage/ he tells me with a relieved smile. 'Fraggin' lucky us, eh?'
'Okay, when the Colonel gets here, we'll see where the frag we've ended up/ I say, dropping into the empty place next to Jorett and sighing heavily. Something always happens; the curse of the Last Chancers always manages to strike when you least expect it. Not even a simple shutde ran can go right for us.