"Can I take a picture?" Millie asked, pulling a little holscan from her shoulder bag.
"Sure."
"I want to take the two of us. But I need a place to put the holscan so it will take the picture on automatic."
We found an info sign telling us about the nearest tree, and set the camera on top of it. Millie set it to auto, and hurried back to get in the picture. We smiled. It cracked.
When the pix came out, it was not bad—the two of us, me cradling her protectively in my arms. She looked up at me through her big goggles, blinking, smiling, and slipped the holo into her bag.
"I feel so different since I met you," she confessed. "The whole world looks different. Do you feel the same?"
"Yes. It is…trouble."
"Trouble? It is trouble?" She was stunned. "You're married!"
I smiled. "No, I am not married," I lied. "We sit here." A wooden bench, by the side of the trail. I put an arm around her shoulder. She gazed at me through the goggles, almost pleading.
"I feel love for you," I said, looking into her eyes. She grasped my hand and squeezed. "This is trouble for me," I continued. "Big trouble."
"Why?" She whispered it.
"I am not from Peta Jaya."
"Where are you from?"
"I cannot tell you. It is very far away. Very far."
"Farther than Peta Jaya?"
"Farther."
"But Peta Jaya—that's the end of the world."
"We're beyond Peta Jaya—far beyond. I was sent here, on an important mission." I read the words in the text, mils from my eyes.
"A mission?"
"I was on my way into the college when I saw you. I was supposed to go into the research department, or the library, if there was one, to talk to someone there and get some information. But I saw you, instead. And I…walked away from the mission. I could not help it. But now I must continue the mission. It is very important."
"What is it you have to do?"
"My…community…is very isolated. We keep our existence a secret. The rest of the world does not know we are there. We chose that road many years ago. But it means we are…cut off. Now we need information, to survive. I must get that information, without revealing our existence."
"What is it you have to know?"
"About a hundred of your…uh, about a hundred years ago, a deadly plague appeared here. It was a fungus-based disease. Very deadly. Infection meant death. But it was brought under control quickly. That disease has now appeared in our community. We don't know how to fight it. We must learn how—or we will all die. And I have to do this without telling anyone about our community. We must remain hidden."
She blinked, behind her glasses. I had no idea what she was thinking. "How many of you are there?" she asked.
"Over a million."
"Over a million! Over a million, hiding from the world?"
"Yes. The disease—the plague—kills everyone who is infected."
"Your doctors?"
"We have good doctors, but—we are…alone. We have no information about this disease."
"Over a million! And you stopped, to talk with a girl?"
"Yes."
"You took me to dinner—while people were dying?"
"I am sorry. I could not help it. I…told myself I would do the research the next day."
She gripped my hands tighter. "We are sitting in the park, while this disease is raging?"
"It is wrong, I know. I wanted to tell you…and ask you not to reveal my secret."
"What is this disease? What is it called?"
"We don't know."
"You don't know? How can you not know? Why are you people hiding from the world?"
"I cannot tell you. We fear the rest of the world. We hide our community. We do not wish to mix with strangers."
A family strolled past us—husband, wife, two kids. Millie stood up.
"Why are you sitting there?" she asked me. "People are dying! Or is that just a story too, like Peta Jaya?" She jammed her glasses back to the bridge of her nose. "West One Outfam, you are more of a mystery than ever to me. But it doesn't matter. If you want to learn about a disease, I can certainly help you. That's what I do. I'm a nurse. I help people with medical problems. And I dispense medical knowledge, if anyone wants to know. Let's go. We're going to the college's research library. You can't do it by yourself. You can't even read a menu! I'll help you, West One Outfam, if that's really your name, or even if it isn't. I'll tell you everything you want to know. I'll be right by your side. And when you bring back this knowledge—when they ask where you got it, you tell them it was from Millie the Mole!" Her eyes burned with resolve behind those glasses.
I got up. I thanked the Gods.
***
"You have not heard of this disease?" I asked Millie. We were in the research library, sitting at a table piled high with massive volumes of medical lore.
"No," she said, scanning down a page. "Your information may be wrong. It could not have been significant, or I'd have heard of it. I've studied medical history. There were five great plagues: the Black Fever of years 10-12, caused by an airborne virus, the Blood Pox of 150-155, also caused by a virus, the great influenza epidemics that raged during the 3rd, 4th and 5th centuries—bacteria based. Then the Swamp Rot Fever of the 800's, caused by a mutant virus, and the immuno-virus, which devastated the homosexual community in the 11th Century. That's it. A hundred years ago would be circa 1186. I don't remember any fungus-based plagues at all, and certainly not a mere hundred years ago. But if it occurred, it will be here somewhere."
"Let us find it."
"Hand me that volume over there. We're going to go over every fungus-based disease that has ever plagued mankind. There's quite a few—but none as deadly as you've described."
***
Hours later, she closed the last book with a dull thud. "That's it. I've described them all. None of those diseases are what you're looking for?"
"No. It is not there."
"Well—perhaps you're facing something new."
"No. We know this disease was here before—about a hundred years ago."
"These histories couldn't have missed something that significant, a hundred years ago. Your information must be wrong. Perhaps we're going about this all wrong. Describe the symptoms to me—in detail. So far all you've said is it's an airborne fungal parasite and that infection causes sudden and certain death. I think our doctors would have noticed something like that!"
"Yes. The fungus spreads itself by airborne spores." I was reading from the text that Jason had prepared in Trib. "The spores are ingested orally or settle on the skin. The fungus then burrows down into the nearest blood vessel, and spreads throughout the body. It is a parasite. It requires oxygen and a host. It reproduces in the blood stream. When conditions are right it migrates back to the skin. It appears as a small pale spot on the exterior of the skin. Upon exposure to the outside air, it begins reproducing wildly. It very quickly covers the skin of the host—so fast you can see it spread. The host goes into convulsions and dies. It continues growing, covering and consuming the corpse. When conditions are right, it uses gases from the decaying body to expel its spores into the air, renewing the life cycle."
"You should have told me that before," Millie said. "I know that one. I can't remember the name but—you're right, it was about a hundred years ago. Only the hosts were animals. It didn't bother humans at all. Perfectly harmless to humans. That's why it's not listed in these books. This is all human medicine. Veterinary medicine is covered separately. Yes, I remember now. I never studied veterinary medicine but I remember reading about it somewhere."
"Perfectly harmless!"
"To humans. It was devastating to animals. It took awhile to get it under control, I believe."
"Why was it harmless to humans?" I was almost in shock. Had this variety been a strain that did not harm humans? Would the mission fail, again? I decided it did not matter. I must collect all the information available on t
he disease.
She pushed her glasses back to the bridge of her nose. "I remember reading there was great concern, because so many animal species were infected and dying. They launched a major scientific research project. It turned out that many humans in the concerned areas had also been infected, but the fungus did not replicate itself in humans. It died. It took a lot of detective work to find out how to fight the disease in animals. I can't remember what it was, but there was something…they found a fungicide that worked against the disease."
"What was it?" A little bell sounded twice, interrupting us.
"The library is closing," she said. "We'll continue tomorrow. I'll get what you need on this disease. Don't worry."
"Can't we stay anyway? Just an hour?"
"No, they'll toss us out. I've tried it before. They'll be open tomorrow."
"All right. Tomorrow."
"Your Trib has improved miraculously, Westo. You must be a very fast learner." I tried not to squirm under her gaze. She certainly knew there was a lot more I hadn't told her.
***
"I put our holo on my mirror," Millie said. "My roomies are so jealous." We were in a quiet little xeno house by lakeside, sitting at a little table with a candle on it. It was early evening. The room was illuminated only by candles. The place was packed, but the conversation was a low murmur. Someone was playing a double stringed instrument on a little stage, wailing away sadly. Xeno was evidently a bit like dox, a mild narcotic, consumed hot, but of course I couldn't taste it.
"They seem to treat me with a new respect," Millie continued. "I was nobody before. Now I'm somebody. They're so shallow!"
I took her hand. She really was very attractive, even with those stupid goggles and the silly haircut.
"Are they your friends?" I asked.
"No. I have no friends. Once people started to laugh at me for studying, everyone avoided me."
"You have no family?"
"No one. I am alone."
"You are not alone now." I meant it. I had vowed not to hurt her. How the hell was I going to manage that?
"You've been so direct, West-One Outfam. Perhaps I should be direct as well."
"Yes."
"I've never been happier than these last two days."
"Yes. Me, too."
"Are you going to leave me?"
"I must return to my people—with the information you give to me."
"Will you come back?"
I hesitated. Will I come back? Once I had what I needed I would be gone, across the mystical gulf of time—into the far future. But if what she gave me worked, our entire civilization would owe this girl—everything. And the Legion pays its debts. Would I be back? Billions of credits per trip. Incalculable resources dedicated to the mission. What would Tara say? I knew damned well what she'd say.
"Yes," I said. The message appeared immediately, hovering in the air before me: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
"I promise you," I said, "I will come back to see you." She squeezed my hand. Then she broke out the tissues again.
I THOUGHT WE WEREN'T GOING TO HURT HER.
Shut down, Jason, I thought. Just shut the hell down. I was furious with myself. All right, calm down, I thought. First, we do the mission. We can worry about the consequences later.
I smiled. She pulled something out of her shoulder bag and slid it over the table to me. It was a miniature holo—a head shot of her. She looked like an angel. She had written on the bottom: 'To Westo, with Love, from Millie. Don't ever forget me.'
I've been in the Legion too long, I thought. Once those words might have meant little to me—but now, after all the killing and deaths, after all the hatred and all the love, and all the struggle, after Mongera and Uldo, those were incredibly powerful words. '…with Love. Don't ever forget me.' It put a chill to my flesh. I knew exactly what those words meant. Love was the most powerful emotion, I thought. The great motivator. It could rip your heart out, it could drive you anywhere, it could send you rocketing all over the galaxy, into alternate universes, into the past—all for love. I picked up the holo and slipped it into a pocket.
"I will never forget you," I said. It was only the truth.
***
"Good night, my love," she said. We were under the trees, outside the S-Fam dorms.
"Tomorrow," I said, "at six." I removed her glasses and cupped her head in my hands. We kissed, and the world swam gently around us. I could feel her heartbeat.
I looked up from the ground, surprised, my vision snapping and popping—what the—the kiss? I tried to get up. There was a whining in my ears. My eyesight suddenly snapped back. The weasel stood over me, gasping, bristling, drawing back a long metal nightstick for another blow. Millie screamed, sprawled at the feet of that fat slug Mega. A large white bandage covered much of his swollen purple face, and his right arm was in a sling, but his left grasped a large blackjack. He slammed one large booted foot onto Millie's neck and laughed.
"Maybe we'll rape her, hotshot. You want to watch?"
The blond goon, Jocko, stepped out from behind a tree. He looked like some kind of demented Mega twin, for his face was also swollen with purple bruises, his nose was hidden by a fat white bandage and his right hand was bandaged. His left held an electric stun baton. It was live, crackling, and his eyes were full of hatred.
"Strip her, Mega," he said. "I want to watch him squirm."
I started to get up and the ferret swung the nightstick again, a vicious strike at my head. I stopped the blow with my left hand and snatched the stick from his grasp. His jaw dropped. I wrapped both hands around the nightstick and bent it double. It squealed as it bent. I glared at him as I tossed the stick away. His eyes almost popped out of his head. He bolted. I turned to the Mega and Jocko. They both gaped at me like newly-landed fish. Mega still had one boot on Millie's neck. I charged him, enraged, and bowled him over. We rolled in the grass and I pulled him to his feet and grasped his smock and threw him bodily against the wall of the cube bloc. You can do that when you're a Holo-X, even with a fat slob like Mega. He hit hard, whimpered, and slid down the wall. Jocko made one good hit with the electric baton, and the arc crackled over my holo but of course had no effect. I snatched it away and sent it ricocheting off into the dark. He whipped out a knife with his left and came at me. Potentially serious—he couldn't hurt me, but he could penetrate the holo and that could complicate things. He made two thrusts and I countered each with rising left side kicks to his forearm, connecting both times, but he held onto the knife. Then I grabbed a handful of earth with my right and threw it at his face. Blinded, he slashed wildly. I came up with a good high right roundhouse kick to his head and he dropped to his knees, stunned. I screamed and did a straight punch to his face. He rocked back, spewing blood. I did another, with all I had. He twitched and collapsed.
I staggered over to Millie. She was crying, trying to get up. I helped her stand.
"My glasses…" I looked around quickly and found them on the grass. She put them back on shakily and looked me over in shock. "Are you hurt?" She was trembling.
"I am fine. Did he hurt you?"
"I…"
"What's going on there?" A male voice. Four strangers, three males and a female, peered at us cautiously from the sidewalk.
"Millie, I must go. You are not hurt. Go home. Tomorrow morning at six!"
"Yes! I love you!" I darted into the shadows.
"Is the holo all right?" Jason's voice, in my ears.
"Think so. He hit me over the head with a metal nightstick. The shock must have short circuited something."
"We'll do diagnostics as soon as you're back."
"Where the hell were you?"
"I thought I'd give you a little privacy. Bad idea."
"Yeah. Take me back now." I paused, in deep shadows, surrounded by trees.
"There's still some people in the vicinity."
"Nobody can see me here. Do it!"
The scene flickered and popped, and I was suddenly in the ES chamber. T
he door hissed open. I collapsed into the airchair.
***
0600 local time. I stepped out of the trees by Millie's cube bloc. The sun was rising. It was a fine morning. There was no sign of last night's unpleasantness. The tacmap showed several pedestrians in the vicinity—early morning strollers? I was paying more attention to the tacmap now.
Millie came out of the dorm dressed in a silky pantsuit. Her face was pale and strained. She looked around fearfully.
"Jocko's dead," she hissed. "You killed him! The police are looking for you. They questioned me. I said you were from Peta Jaya—that's all. I didn't…"
"Armed locals approaching!" Jason's voice, ringing in my ears.
"Police! Hands in the air! Stand away from the girl!" I whirled around. Four, six of them, plainclothes, handguns and badges, coming at me from all sides. Deto! I backed away from Millie.
"Put 'em where we can see 'em!"
"On your knees! Hands high!"
"Do it! We'll shoot!"
I kneeled. I could have run, but they'd have fired and I'd have disappeared with a bang. I didn't want that. The mission was not over and I didn't want to spook Millie.
They kicked me to a prone position and cuffed my hands behind me. Millie was crying. I could hear her.
***
"Want to tell me what happened?" The detective sat on the other side of the table in the interrogation room, puffing on a noxious cigarette. I was on a little stool, my hands still cuffed behind me. He was in plainclothes, clean shaven—cops look the same everywhere. So do interrogation rooms. The little table lamp was pointed right at my face.
"Yes. The three goons attacked me. The…ferret…hit me with a nightstick. Mega said he was going to rape Millie." I was reading Jason's script, word for word. "I threw him against a wall. Jocko came at me with an electric baton. I took it away from him and he drew a knife. I kicked him once and punched him twice. He went down."
Cross of the Legion Page 21