"Pick it up, Wester."
I complied, using my left hand.
"What is it, Wester?"
"It's a Legion cold knife, Mark 1. As you well know."
"Priestess?"
Priestess took it from me, and examined it. "That's what it is, all right."
Tara held out a hand, and Priestess passed the weapon back to her, hilt first. I watched Tara angrily. "What now, Tara," I asked. "Are you going to stab me with that thing?" She's finally gone over the edge, I thought. It's the work—it'd drive anyone nuts. We'll have to call the medics. She'll finally get that long rest, in a padded cell—where we all belong!
"Sharp, isn't it?" She turned the blade over in her hands, looking at it. Little warnings were going off in the back of my mind. Off the edge! I could see Priestess tensing up as well.
"This blade would go right through my body," Tara said dreamily. She was still standing on the other side of the conference desk, now turning the blade toward her chest. I'll leap right over the desk, I decided, and tackle her. I could tell Priestess was going to do the same.
Just as I vaulted over the desk Tara slammed the black knife right into her chest with a little gasp, and disappeared with a shattering bang. I landed right where she had been, clawing at the air. Priestess fell onto me, screaming, thrashing her arms.
"What the hell!" I shouted from the floor, struggling to untangle my limbs from Priestess's. The knife lay on the floor where it had fallen. Tara was gone—totally gone! There was no blood—no body—nothing! Only the echo of that awful bang.
"Where is she?" Priestess shouted. "Tara! Tara!" Priestess held the knife, stricken. "Where did she go?" We were both on our feet, frantic, looking around the office wildly.
A door slid open and Tara stood there, pale and shaken. "I'm sorry!" she stammered. "I'm all right. I'm sorry, gang!"
"Tara!" I ran over to her and seized her, running my hands over her body. She was fine. No wound, not even a rip in her tunic—what the hell! I had seen her plunge that knife right into her chest!
"Are you all right, Tara? Are you hurt?" Priestess patted her down frantically, looking for the wound. Tara stood there compliantly, looking somewhat shocked.
"I'm all right. I'm sorry. I'm such a fool."
"Thank God you're all right!" I embraced her, thankful only for the moment. My heart was still pounding. Priestess held her tightly. When I finally broke away, Tara was blinking away the tears. That wasn't like her at all. I tried to calm down.
"I…I didn't think it would be this way," she stammered.
"We both love you, Tara. We're very pleased you're not hurt. Now…could you please tell us what the hell this is all about?"
"I was being stupid…and arrogant," she said. "I wanted to demonstrate something to you. I thought it would be more effective if I surprised you. I'm sorry."
"Just a frac," I said. "Do you mean—you weren't in any danger, back there?"
"No—not at all." She avoided my eyes.
"So you mean—this was just some kind of…game."
"Not exactly, Wester."
"A game. You were playing with us. People who love you. And we were only worried about you!"
"I'm sorry, Wester."
"You bitch."
"Thinker…" Priestess interrupted.
"You absolute bitch! Well, now you know just how much we care for you! Both of us! Are you happy?"
"Wester—Priestess. Please accept my profound apologies. I can see I was a fool. What I did was wrong. I had no idea it would be so…traumatic. I…I'm sorry."
I did not reply. Priestess still had her arms around Tara. She was trembling.
***
"Please…have some dox," Tara said, popping the tops on our cups. "We've got to calm down. I've got something wonderful to show you. And this time I promise there'll be no surprises!" We were in her personal cube, sitting at a good-sized wall table by a snackmod. It was quite a cube—the largest I'd ever seen on a starship, equipped with d-screens and comgear and starlinks that made the place look more like an office than a bedroom. Priestess and I sipped at the dox, silent, watching her.
"I'll cut it short. That wasn't me back there. It was a holo."
I looked at her without comment.
"Admit it, Wester. You've never seen a holo that good. You never even suspected, right?"
"Not until you disappeared."
"That's what I wanted to show you—our new holos! They can do anything we can. They can do it better! They're undetectable! You couldn't tell the difference, could you, Wester? Priestess noticed the skin—we're working on that. But that didn't give it away, did it, Priestess?"
"No. I had no idea."
"I was in the ES, the whole time," Tara said. "It's scary, Wester! It's just like being there! When I turned that knife on myself, I was almost too scared to do it, it was so realistic—for me, too! When something penetrates the image, it shatters, and the air rushes into the vac. It takes a lot to penetrate the image, Wester! X, or shrapnel, or a battle blade. The holo is very tough! As I demonstrated when we arm-wrestled. There's no way anyone can fight one of these babies—so don't feel bad. You couldn't possibly have won. We took vac technology and improved on it. The Star taught us how, Wester. It came from Gildron, and the Star, before they both…left us. You remember those vac-active holos the O's used against us on the Star of Dindabai?"
"I'm not likely to forget them." The O's had seized our ship and captured us all, using holos that focused vac to affect material objects. ConFree and the System could project holos, but those holos were just light images. They could not affect their surroundings. And holos—both human and O—were not likely to be mistaken for living creatures.
"We used that as a starting point," Tara continued. "We reversed the vac, we used its power to compress the air, to the point where we had terrific force—a force field. We call it the Holo-X project. It's so realistic it's scary!"
"That's a ten."
"Come on Wester, Priestess—let me show you! It's wonderful!"
***
"All right, Wester. We're ready. Priestess and I are going to go back to my office, but your holo is going to get there before we do. Now remember. This is very realistic. Just stay calm."
"Sure," I said. I stood in the center of a featureless E-sim room, a circular white dome overhead, a seamless floor underneath. The dome and floor were covered with tiny vac and image projectors. We had used E-sim in the Star of Dindabai to prep for the attack on the Mound. The technology was incredibly realistic. However, Tara claimed this latest system was much, much better. We'd soon see. Tara and Priestess stood in the open doorway to the ES room. A tech was monitoring the system in the control room.
"All right, Wester, we're off. No surprises, I promise!" The door slid shut, leaving me alone in the room. My surroundings blurred and then snapped into sharp focus. I froze, startled. I was standing by Tara's conference desk in her office. It was so realistic it was astounding. I took a step and brought my hand down on the desktop. I could feel the smooth surface with my fingertips. The cold knife was there on the desk, right where Priestess had dropped it. I picked it up gingerly. My fingers caressed the tiny crosshatches on the hilt. I ran a thumb over the saw teeth on the false edge. It was exactly like holding a real cold knife. I put it down carefully.
I looked down at my hands, my arms—it was me. I was there. I breathed. But I knew it was not this room's air I was breathing.
The door to Tara's office cube slid open. Tara and Priestess stood there, watching me in fascination.
"Well—how do I look?" I asked.
"It's amazing," Priestess said. "It's you!" She reached out a hand. I pressed my palm against hers. Flesh to flesh—I could feel her warmth! Was I imagining it?
"Good lord!" I said. "This is incredible!"
"Feels like you're right here, doesn't it, Wester?" Tara asked proudly.
"Yeah. Wanna arm wrestle?"
"No thanks. Now remember, Wester—you're no
t here! You're standing in an E-sim room, and our technology is projecting everything you see in this cube into the ES room, using the same vac techniques we use to produce your holo. Meantime, we see your holo in here. The closer you get to something, the more realistic its image becomes to you. But as for your holo image, here, it's close to perfect, at all times."
I gently pulled Priestess to me, and touched her lips with my tongue. Wet—it was wet! I cupped her head in my hands and gave her a deep, probing kiss, and it was hot and wet. We stood there, swaying, as the room slowly spun around us.
"Gang…if I could interrupt? Does the realism suit your expectations?"
"This is terrific, Tara! Could you leave the room for a little while?"
"Sorry…you're getting a little ahead of us. But you agree, it's realistic?"
"Come here." I reached out for Tara. I ran my fingers over her face, through her hair, down her arms. She giggled and shuddered, helpless in my grasp.
"Amazing!" I exclaimed.
"No need for the taste test with Tara," Priestess said, a trifle uneasily. "I can vouch it works fine!"
I looked around the room. It was hard to believe I wasn't there. Tara had really done it this time!
***
"You asked earlier why I had asked you to come," Tara said. We were at the observation deck, breathing in the dark and the silence, leaning on the railing, looking out at the stars—billions of glorious jewels burning in a hushed black velvet night, an infinite night of glowing nebulae, a cold silky road in the vac. It was a silent, stirring symphony, a magnificent panorama, a vision to die for, crawling slowly over my skin. I knew it was Atom's Road, and we were only atoms, plunging into the void.
"Wester?"
"Oh—sorry." The viewport was so realistic it was scary. It looked as if there was a hole in Atom's skin; it looked totally transparent. There were only the three of us on the deck. I knew why we were there. She wanted something from me—and the stars were going to help her. She knew me too well.
"What do you think of my holos?"
"They're very good, Tara."
"They're better than that, Wester. They're perfect!"
"Once the price drops, I'm sure every family in the galaxy will want one."
"Wester. The Legion didn't come up with this technology so you can kiss somebody long-distance. This is the ultimate weapon."
"Really."
"Really! Don't you see it? We can project these holos anywhere. We can set up the holo projectors on our cruisers, far overhead of the battlefield. We project the holos downside and airdrop weapons to them, and you'll have an indestructible army. Nobody dies! Your whole squad can move around in the E-sim rooms, safe and sound, recover the airdropped weapons downside and blast away at the enemy. And if you're hit, your holo disappears. Then we re-set your coordinates, project you back there, and you're picking up your weapon again! They can't counter you! Remember how the O holos kicked our butts on the Star of Dindabai? All they had was vac! We'll have everything—x, tacstars, lasers, canisters, chainlinks—everything! An army of Legion soldiers that can't be killed, carrying every known weapon—indestructible! Shoot them, and they reappear! Meantime, the enemy is dying! It's the future, Wester! It's the future of the Legion, the future of warfare. Remember, after O-Rock, I vowed we'd counter the O's holos? Well, I've done it!" She was positively glowing.
"Your vision of the future…" I paused, choosing my words carefully, "…has always been kind of scary, Tara. If you had dedicated your life to healing the sick, or bringing sight to the blind, or something like that, I think you would have accomplished…miracles. But you seem to be focused exclusively on coming up with more efficient methods of slaughtering your fellow man."
"Don't you preach at me, Wester! How many people have you killed? And how many of your comrades have died in your arms? You're not listening to me! There'll be no more casualties, Wester! At least not on our side. No more wounded, no more dead! We won't need medics any more—Priestess can retire! Now tell me about saving lives, Wester. How many lives have I just saved?"
I looked out at the stars. Nothing was going to stop her, I knew—nothing.
"It's the ultimate weapon, Wester." She was almost whispering it to me. Priestess was listening in horror, but Tara was ignoring her. "An invincible army—soldiers of the Legion: true immortals! Indestructible! The System is finished, Wester. The O's are finished. ConFree will triumph. Slavery will be banished from the Galaxy. A rebirth of freedom. Everything we've ever dreamed of, everything we've been fighting for, all these years. And I did it! The Legion will be triumphant, Wester—victory, at last. Justice, at last. My life's work! The galaxy in our…armored…fists!" She held up a fist and shook it, staring wildly out into space. "Justice, Wester. They're all going to die. And we're going to see it!"
I sighed. It was pointless to argue with her. "All right, Tara. Let's get to the point. Why are you telling us all this? "
She turned to me abruptly, and flashed me a dazzling smile. "It's a brand-new weapons system. It hasn't been field-tested yet. Not a real test, in combat. The highest levels of Starcom are very interested in the success of this system. I've chosen the best unit I could find to test the concept. I've chosen 22nd Recon, squads Jox and Cross. That's as close to Beta as I could get. You're going to field-test our system, Wester!"
"I see. Well, we'll do whatever we're ordered to do, Tara. But—again—why are you telling me? Have you told Beta One, Snow Leopard, our Chief Ops, or Dragon, or Valkyrie, our squad leaders?"
"I want you to lead this effort, Wester. You'll be Mission Commander."
"No. I don't want it."
"Why do we always have to argue, Wester? Look—I trust you more than anyone I know. You were magnificent on the Omni ship, on O-Rock, and in the Mound—both times! We would never have made it without you. I would have never made it without you—I'll admit it! You got me through the ship; you got me through O-Rock. And the Mound was all your idea. It was brilliant, it was insane, and it worked! You're tough, and flexible, and you never give up! I want you, Wester, for this effort."
"No. I won't do it."
"Wester—you refused the Star of Dindabai too, at first. But you went, later, and it's good you did!"
"Tara. I approve of your idea. It's terrific. I know it will work. But I'm not the man for this one. Two reasons. First, Snow Leopard and Dragon are both better than I am. Snow Leopard is a brilliant planner. He's perfect for Mission Commander. And Dragon is the ultimate squad leader, the natural tac man. It's his squad, Tara, not mine. He knows the squad. I don't. The same for Valkyrie. Second reason—I don't trust myself any more. I recently killed a man…because I was angry over something he said. He was tied up and helpless, Tara. And I shot him in the head."
"I know. I read the report. It doesn't matter, Wester."
"It matters to me."
"All right. Fine. Snow Leopard is Mission Commander, Dragon and Valkyrie are squad leaders. And you'll be a Starcom observer."
"What does that mean?"
"You'll be a special representative of Galactic Information, functioning solely in an observer capacity, and reporting back to me—whenever you want."
"I'm not going to counter orders given by One or Dragon or Valkyrie."
"That's fine, Wester. I just want your input. I just want to know you're there, for me. And you'll report your impressions to me. During the mission or afterwards. I'll certainly want a full after-action report."
"I stay with the squad—as a regular trooper."
"That's fine! No problems, Wester."
I turned to Priestess. "What do you think, Priestess? Am I missing anything?"
"It sounds reasonable to me."
"All right, Tara. I'll do it." I held out my hand, and she struck it lightly with her fist.
"Death," she said.
"Yeah," I replied.
***
I stood in the gateway to Hell, clad in black armor, pointing my E into the smoking dark, my spotlig
ht lighting up those awful, alien corridors. A grotesque, obscene pile of tangled, shattered Omni corpses lay scattered at my feet. We had blasted our way right into their base with tacstars, and slaughtered every O we found. They had thrown themselves at us, hitting us with everything they had. It was terrifying. My holo kept winking out, riddled with shrapnel, but Control just kept putting me back there, and I'd pick up my smoking E and go back to killing O's. And now they were just alien body parts, sizzling on the ground, and I was standing there, shaking, sweating, terrified and horrified and ecstatic.
This world was truly cursed. As if the Omni attack and the Legion counterattack wasn't enough, the White Death had also recently appeared here. There was now a growing variety of awful ways to die, on Camelora 7. We had been tracking down an entire elementary school that had been snapped up by the O's. They were coming out now—all those we had been able to save from the O's death camp. Psycho was hurrying them along. They blinked in the spotlight from my E. Women and children—a whole lot of them. They were still clothed, so they must have been recent arrivals.
"That way." I pointed to the exit. A swirling mass of children crowded around the adult females. They were pale and silent.
"Any men?" someone asked.
"Negative."
"All right, that's it. No more humans registering inside. Let's take out this mess."
"Opstar charge is set."
"Evac the site! Evac the civilians."
"Pits on the way."
"Pits, Mams, keep your heads down."
We followed the women and children out the glowing hole we had punched through the massive cenite gates with our tacstars. A blue-black sky rolled overhead. Off to the south, titanic phospho clouds of poisonous antimat debris flashed and glittered. The earth shook and a deep thunder rumbled through the sky.
"Keep the civilians moving! Let's go! The shuttle is on the way."
We urged the civilians along over a smoky treeless plain we had blasted to ash. There were hundreds of kids. The O's had scooped up whole schools—and now we were taking them back, teachers and students both.
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