Movement, down-tunnel. I raised the E, slipping the laser sight up to my eye. Deadeye and the others threw themselves into defensive positions instantly, shielding Moontouch and Stormdawn. I knew ConFree would meet no effective opposition on Andrion. The planet had been stripped of Legion forces because of the war. It had been a political hotspot before, because of the earlier ConFree assault, but the time was now right, at last, for ConFree and the System.
Gildron and a small army of warriors came charging out of the shadows, disorganized, excited and sweaty, torches dancing. Another series of sharp explosions rolled along the tunnel behind them.
"Three!" Gildron shouted joyously, "They are right behind us! Standfast, why do you delay! Take the Queen and the Prince to safety, immediately!"
Deadeye scrambled to obey, urging Moontouch and Stormdawn on. We all burst into a run, down a long straight tunnel that led to our escape.
"Do you have the Star, Gildron?" I shouted.
"It is safe!" he bellowed. I caught a glimpse of Redhawk and Valkyrie, sprinting along with Gildron's group.
"Stay close, guys!" I called out. "Gildron, is the Star with you now?" There was a flash of light up ahead and we skidded to a sudden stop. Someone was standing in our way, a male clad in an A-vest and camfax litesuit, no comtop, cradling an E casually in his arms. He was peering at us with some interest. I recognized him immediately as Lowdrop—Two Four One. My adrenalin exploded as I slipped the E up to my shoulder, centered on his chest, and fired auto x. The tunnel exploded in a terrific multiple bang, then flashed and cracked viciously as Deadeye's warriors let loose with their nerve guns.
As the dust settled Lowdrop reappeared, still standing there casually, an infuriating smirk on his face, looking right at me.
"Beta Three," he said, "I remember you. They said you were dependable. I guess they were wrong. Beta Three, you are engaged in a criminal enterprise and you are wanted by the ConFree Council for high treason and crimes against humanity. You and your gang are now completely surrounded by Legion units. Surrender and we will spare your lives—that's all I can offer."
"It's a holo!" I shouted, letting loose another horrendous burst of xmax. I knew it wouldn't do any good but it made me feel better, blasting his image with x. We charged forward, running right through the holo, supercharged with fear. They knew where we were. They were tracking us!
"Queen's maze, Slayer!" Deadeye stopped. The guards raised a rusty trap door set in the tunnel floor. It meant escape and salvation for Moontouch and Stormdawn and their defenders, but the rest of us had to go on, to draw off the pursuit.
"My King!" Moontouch tore away from her defenders and threw herself into my arms. "You must return to me! Do not forsake us! Your son needs a father, and I need you! Do not betray us, my only love!" And so many emotions were evident in her voice and in her lovely face that I was stricken dumb. Her dark eyes were brimming with tears. I kissed her, paralyzed with love and despair, and the world whirled all around us. Stormdawn latched onto an arm.
"Come with us!" he screamed, pulling me with him as a guard dragged him towards the escape hatch.
"Stormdawn! I cannot!" I reached out for him but he was gone, still looking back at me, I'll never forget him; and Moontouch was torn from my grasp and Deadeye gave me one last glance as he followed them into the hole.
"I will do my duty, Slayer, to the death!" he shouted. I knew he meant it literally. The trap door banged shut, sealing them away from me, perhaps forever.
"They are coming!" We ran blindly into the dark. Explosions lit up the tunnel behind us. Gildron was barking instructions into a comset. Southmark's communications system had gone from runners to comsets in one sudden jump.
***
We surfaced in a wet tangled mass of vines in a clump of dato trees, lost in the extensive forest that surrounded the city. The pungent scent of rotting vegetation assailed my nostrils as I cautiously crept out of the hole. I could see the stars through the dark leafy canopy. The night seemed to be holding its breath. Our scouts had reported the forest was littered with crashed aircars and teemed with angry Legion soldiers. All we had to worry about was infantry. Gildron and the Star had evened things out rather nicely.
Something boomed overhead—I got a quick glimpse of a Legion fighter, cutting across the sky at a high altitude. They weren't so easy to stop.
"Let's get a move on!" Redhawk suggested. The plan was for a brief run through the forest to link up with another tunnel that led to an extensive labyrinth where we would surely lose all pursuit. The run was dangerous, we knew, but it was the only way.
We ran without comment, crashing through the underbrush, heedless of injury. Gildron's massive form was right ahead of me, and Redhawk and Valkyrie were behind. That's when the forest lit up, a nova of harsh white phospho light freezing the trees in a haloed kaleidoscopic tangle of branches and vines. An ear-shattering blast splintered the tree limbs above us, and I heard them. Legion troopers, fully armored, crashing past the trees, lobbing stunstars our way.
"FREEZE! UNIDEN PERSONNEL, SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY OR WE FIRE! CEASE ALL MOVEMENT!" A steely nonhuman voice at tremendous volume burnt in our ears, echoing, "…Freeze! Freeze! Freeze! Uniden personnel…Surrender immediately…"
"Scatter!" I screamed. They were all around us and a flotilla of probes was suddenly seeking us out, ricocheting through the branches wildly, glittering with light. Probes! The eyes of the Legion, out to get us.
I ran blindly, adrenalin surging, terrified and hopeless. Doomed! No way out! We were dead! The Star!
The universe exploded in my face, a booming white-hot blast, overwhelming all my senses, dazzling my eyes, blinding me, hurling me into a roaring red wilderness of pain. I tried to scream but my throat was paralyzed and the world was fading, vanishing in a dizzying swirl of glittery hot stars. I fell, into the pain.
***
"Welcome back," someone said. I was returning to consciousness, still dazed and hurting but slowly becoming aware of my surroundings. Someone was removing a field syringe from my left arm. I was on my face on a cold metal deck. I struggled to get up and discovered that my wrists were secured together behind my back. I managed to squirm around until I was lying on one side. Harsh white lights burnt in my eyes, scorching my flesh. Sweat trickled down my face. I slowly realized that my ankles were in shackles. I was naked to the waist—they had taken my shirt. I made it to my knees and stopped, exhausted.
"We should have killed you before, instead of turning you over to the System," the voice continued. "It was a political decision—a compromise. They were nervous about executing one of their own. I wanted you dead after interrogation, but I was overruled. They were wrong." I recognized the voice now—Two Four One, warname Lowdrop. He had briefed us on the Mongera mission. I remembered him well. I tried to focus on him. He was a shadow, standing against a wall with several other people. Spotlights blazed down on me. I couldn't see much.
"You caused us a lot of trouble, Beta Three. We wasted valuable resources chasing after you. I'm pleased that it's all had a happy ending, however. You'll find it ironic, I'm sure, that you'll go down in history as the person who secured the Star for the Galactic Council, thus ensuring galactic peace."
I strained to make him out. "Galactic Council?" I croaked. I had never heard of it.
"You will address me as 'Sir,' trooper! Before and after!" His voice cracked like a whip. "Acknowledge!" This was the Lowdrop I remembered.
"Sir…yes, sir." I responded quietly. I didn't see any sense in provoking him. I suddenly realized we were on a starship. I recognized the no-slip pattern on the metal deck.
"That's better, sub. No, I don't suppose you've heard of the Galactic Council. You've been away on Dindabai, consorting with traitors. The Galactic Council is a cooperative undertaking between the Confederation of Free Worlds and the United System Alliance to coordinate humanity's response to the continuing friction with the O's. It's the brainchild of Commissioner Kenton Cotter-Arc, and it wil
l insure the most effective strategy on coping with the O's."
I knew he was lying, but I was silent. I recognized proprop when I heard it. The purpose of the Galactic Council was probably to weaken the Legion by strengthening the System. That's what Blue Gold had told us on Uldo, about ConFree's goal. And the fastest way to weaken the Legion and strengthen the System was to take the Star away from the Lost Command. I didn't like his comments on 'coping' with the O's, or his referring to the war as 'friction', either. That was Systie talk. The only way to 'cope' with the O's was to kill them, I knew. Anything else was suicide. His 'friction' had so far cost us over two billion dead humans.
"It is Beta Three?" A strange accent.
"Yes, Ambassador," Lowdrop replied. "You can tell your government that we have recovered our missing property. Please thank the SIS and the DefCorps for their efforts."
I was stunned. I could make him out now, a big, heavy Mocain, a Greenie, the dominant race of the United System Alliance. A Mocain, on a Fleetcom starship! This was the face of treason, and I was witnessing it firsthand. Any doubts I may have had about the Lost Command vanished as if in a puff of wind. I knew instinctively that the LC was on the side of the angels.
"Does it have the Star?" the Mocain asked. A ConFree trooper was beside him. I could see the insignia on his litesuit. He was standing next to a shelf, and on the shelf there was a dox cup with what looked like a ship's seal and the words—I could barely make them out—Pride of Alana.
"No, but it will lead us to the Star, within the hour," Lowdrop declared. "Get him up, troopers!"
Two shadowy figures pulled me to my feet and maneuvered me roughly out a door and down a corridor. I could hardly wait to find out why I was going to lead them to the Star, within the hour.
***
"I believe you know Beta Eleven," Lowdrop said. Valkyrie was standing before me, still in her litesuit, blonde hair dishevelled, a bruise on her chin but otherwise unhurt. She was barefoot and her hands and ankles were shackled. She glared venom at Lowdrop. A large ConFree trooper was standing beside her, a bodybuilder armed with a vac gun. He had the ConFree insignia on his fatigues, so I knew he was not with the Legion. There were only the four of us, in a little ship's cube with bare walls.
"We're it, Three," she informed me quickly. "They don't have anybody else. Tell them nothing! Make them earn it!"
Lowdrop showed his teeth. He reminded me of a reptile. I tried to remember what they had said about him. He had been around a long time—long enough to lose his humanity. It was an occupational hazard for an immortal. "Still begging for punishment, Beta Eleven?" he asked. "I swear, you must enjoy it. Didn't that Systie teach you anything? What was her name? Millina? She was soft. We're not. I'm not even going to bother asking Beta Three. You're going to tell me all I need to know."
In reply, Valkyrie spat in his face. I almost groaned. Valkyrie was hopeless. She was going to make it worse for us. Much worse.
Lowdrop patiently wiped the spittle away, still grinning. "You're going to tell me where to find the Star, little girl, just as soon as we walk in that door." His eyes hardened as he glanced to a closed metal hatch in the nearest bulkhead. "You're also going to get down on your knees and beg me to forgive you, for what you just did. You're going to beg me to permit you to sleep with me, to make me feel better. You're going to grovel, girl—you're going to kiss my feet. And a lot of other places, too."
"You're insane!" Valkyrie hissed. "I wouldn't sleep with you to save my life! I'd rather die!"
"That won't be necessary. Open the door," he ordered the bodybuilder. The goon hesitated, seemingly reluctant.
"You don't want it open, sister," he said softly to Valkyrie. "Do what he wants."
"Open the door!" Lowdrop barked, his eyes flashing. The bodybuilder began fumbling at the lock, slowly. He wasn't happy. I didn't like it. I didn't want to know what was on the other side of that door.
"Valkyrie," I said urgently. "It's all right. Just tell him. They'll find out anyway!"
"Shut down, Three," she replied. "He can burn in Hell! Don't you dare say a word!" Crazy—she was out of her mind. Didn't she ever learn? The hatch slid open. Lowdrop forced Valkyrie and me in the door, following close behind us. It was dark and it stunk, a deep, nasty odor that scared me badly.
"Stay out there until I call you. Close the hatch!" Lowdrop ordered the bodybuilder. The hatch clanged shut behind us. Before my eyes could even adjust, something exploded against my legs and I landed screaming on the deck. My legs were burning with pain and my muscles were twitching in agony.
"Stay down there and don't move!" Lowdrop ordered me, holstering his vac gun and flicking on a bright overhead light, momentarily dazzling us.
"You bastard!" Valkyrie was still standing, snarling at Lowdrop. She saw it the same instant I did. It was hard to miss. The cage took up most of the room, a massive cage of solid cenite bars, spattered with filth.
The creature in it stirred, huddled in a corner in some kind of awful nest, blinking at us. It had evidently once been human. A massive hydrocephalic head topped by sticky, matted, reddish hair. Dull glazed watery eyes. Wide wet nostrils, a puckered drooling mouth with dirty, broken teeth.
It moved one long hairy arm, revealing a bloated, loose belly and a flat, hairy chest. The creature was completely covered with hair, stinking filthy hair smeared with its own filth. It was looking out at us, deciding what to do. A low moan, almost a growl, was the only sound. There were pieces of bone and shreds of clothing inside the cage, scattered in with other debris on the floor.
"This is Bobo," Lowdrop explained. "Some people use psymons, or even psychers. I'm old-fashioned. I use Bobo. He's my truth detector. He's proven to be one hundred percent effective. Isn't that right, Bobo?" The creature shuddered, circled its nest once, and then crept forward, closer to the bars, cold eyes glittering, scratching its matted chest, fixing Valkyrie with an intense gaze. Valkyrie backed up until her shoulders hit the wall. Lowdrop approached her.
"Bobo is very strong," he told her. "He could tear your arms right out of their sockets if he wanted to—but he won't want to." He grinned once again, and ripped Eleven's tunic open. He raised a hot knife and cut the tunic away until it lay on the floor in smoking shreds. Then he cut her undertop off, exposing her breasts. He started on her litepants next, running the glowing hotknife along the seams, mils from Eleven's flesh.
"You have a nice, firm body," he said. "Bobo will like you." Valkyrie was helpless, paralyzed against the wall, wrists and ankles still manacled. When Lowdrop was finished she was naked. The creature moved up to the bars, its hairy arms hanging outside the cage. It was making more assertive noises now, its eyes alive with menace, biting at the bars with broken yellow teeth.
"Bobo is severely retarded," Lowdrop continued, dropping the remains of Eleven's panties on the deck, "but he's fully developed sexually. He gets very excited when we bring him a new friend—as you can see." The creature was drooling, snuffling, holding out its awful arms for Valkyrie, hooting, banging its great head against the bars, shifting its legs to reveal its awful, obscene arousal.
"So what do you say, Beta Eleven? Would you like to go into that cage—right now—and become Bobo's latest love object? Or are you going to tell me the exact location of the Star—right now—and apologize to me for your rude behavior, and get down on your knees—right here—and service me, while your friend watches? That's your choice. That's your only choice, girl!" He laughed, madly. "I'm looking better already, aren't I? A shame we don't have time to show you what happened to the last girl we gave Bobo. She told me the truth, of course, after taking a look at Bobo, but she left something out—something important. A bad move. When we found out, I gave her to Bobo. We have it all recorded. I watch it sometimes, on a slow day. Sometimes I let Bobo watch. He gets a big kick out of that. She died, of course. Bobo doesn't know his own strength. You could say he kills those he loves." He laughed again. I decided the man was completely insane. It was frightening to
think that he had once been in command of CAT 24. My mind was whirling. How do you reason with a madman? This was insane, I thought, it was like being in Hell. My heart was racing—I was beginning to panic. My legs were still burning from the vac. I squirmed, trying to get to my knees. Lowdrop whirled, with the vac gun out. Eleven was white with shock, trying to merge with the wall, icy sweat running down her face, eye to eye with the creature in the cage.
"Sir…" I choked. "I can…"
"Shut down!" he snarled. "We don't need your input! Shut down or I'll toss you in there as well! Bobo isn't fussy, he'll take anyone!"
"Sir!" I insisted, "I can take you to the Star! I can find it! There's no need for this! I can give you the Star!"
He paused, torn, suspicious eyes glittering. "Where is it?"
"Gildron knows where it is!" I said. "I don't know if he has it with him or not, but you're not going to find him without me. I can lead you straight to Gildron, and I can get him to give me the Star!"
"Why should you do that?" he asked quietly, gazing at me with hooded eyes.
"She comes with me," I said. "I don't give a damn for the Star, I just want you to leave Andrion alone. And don't put her in that cage. If I give you the Star, you take it and leave. That's all I really want. I was planning to do it anyway. The Star is nothing but trouble. I'll lead you right to Gildron, you can stick a c-cell in my skull. I'll get the Star for you, I'll give it to you, you take it and leave, and leave the girl with me, and don't kill any more Taka!"
"Three…" Eleven moaned. She was in torment.
"Shut down, Eleven!" I snapped. "Just don't throw her in there, Sir. Please. She comes with me, unharmed—and you get the Star."
"Why should I agree?" he asked. "You tell me where Gildron is, and we'll find him. We don't need you!"
"Yes, you do! I can't find Gildron, I only know the general area, but he will find me, if you let us loose down there. He'll come to me! He'll never come to you. You'll never find him! You'll never find the Star without us! I'm it—we're it. The two of us, we're your Gildron magnet."
Secret of the Legion Page 20