Secret of the Legion
Page 45
"She owes you her life. She won't leave you."
"I hope you're right."
"Sure I'm right. I've gotten to know all you Beta people by now. What's the latest on Beta One?"
"Snow Leopard is fully recovered. So is Psycho. One's getting a CAT command—a Combat Assault Team. He'll have seven squad leaders reporting to him. He certainly deserves it. Dragon will be in charge of one of his squads. And Psycho—he just wants to haul a Manlink. He's asked for assignment to Dragon's squad, and Dragon agreed. It's funny, the two of them never got along, but Dragon told me he's thinking of making Psycho his Two. The little jerk may have a personality problem but he's a first class soldier. Even if he does still owe me a hundred credits."
"Well, it's nice to know everyone's getting on with their lives. What about Valkyrie and Scrapper? Are they staying in? I heard they were determined to leave."
"They were considering getting out, but One asked Valkyrie to stay, and offered her a squad. She's accepted. Scrapper will be her Two." Scrapper and Twister were lucky, I thought. Both had been evaced from the Star of Dindabai by Legion rescue crews.
"That's nice, I guess. Valkyrie was a very scary girl, as I recall."
"Yes, she's another lunatic. She'll make a great squad leader."
"And what about Redhawk? What's he doing?"
"He just wants to drive an aircar. He's been assigned to One's CAT. He'll get either Dragon's squad, or Valkyrie's—probably whichever one he wants."
"Reason I asked is Redhawk has asked Whit to marry him. Did you know that?"
"What? Oh no—no, I hadn't heard. What did she say?"
"She said yes. But she had already agreed to look after my affairs while I'm on vacation here. That's not negotiable. I really depend on her. I think it means they won't be living together. I hope they can work it out."
"They're big kids. They'll work it out."
The water break whistle sounded again, a shrill note hanging in still air. The guard reluctantly got to his feet. The prisoners began to stir.
"What about Twister?" Tara asked. "I feel kind of responsible for her. What's she doing?"
"She'll be working with Snow Leopard on his CAT staff. She didn't want to leave her friends in Beta, but wasn't sure she'd fit in with crazies like Dragon and Psycho or Valkyrie and Scrapper. Working with Snow Leopard is perfect. It's the best solution."
"Good. Good. Well, best of luck, Wester. I guess I've got to go. We'll see you again." She turned to leave.
"You know what, Tara? I'm glad we lost the Star and the D-neg. We weren't meant to have it. The universe is better off without it."
She paused and turned back, and a sad smile arose. "I suppose you deserve to know if anyone does, Wester. Keep this very much to yourself. We didn't lose the D-neg. We've got plenty of it."
A cold hand clutched at my heart. "What are you talking about, Tara? The D-neg drive was in the boom—it was annihilated by the scuttle charges. The one probe we had recovered was in the probe recovery tube, and that's almost directly under the bridge. That whole section of the ship was vaporized."
"That's true, Wester, but our scientists successfully extracted hundreds of samples of raw D-neg from the probe. It didn't all go to the D-neg drive in the boom. The samples were secured in the science lab—well aft. The lab and the samples survived, Wester. We put out the story that it was all destroyed, but it wasn't. The Legion has our D-neg. It's absolute power. It means we can build another timedrive starship, Wester. It means the Legion will triumph over its enemies. It means freedom for humanity and death to tyranny. It means our mission was successful. And it means Gildron didn't die for nothing."
"Let's go, number Six! Cut the chatter!" The guard's harsh tone interrupted us.
"Goodbye, Wester—see you again!"
"Goodbye, Tara. God bless you." And she turned and hurried away through the heat haze. I shuffled slowly back to work, stunned by her news. That cursed D-neg was still with us! I had never before realized how much I hated it. I hated it just as much as I hated the Star. I had been so relieved when I thought it had been destroyed. And now…it was loose, in the wrong universe. The stuff was unnatural. We shouldn't have it. It didn't belong here, any more than the Star did. And, just like the Star, I knew that nothing but trouble would come from it. It would probably destroy us, ultimately.
I sighed as I reached the rockpile and picked up my sledge. It didn't matter, I thought. Nothing mattered except Priestess and Moontouch and Stormdawn and Beta. And they were all all right, and I was going to see them all again—whenever they released me. How could I complain? We had all survived, after all—all that was left of Beta. Even the Systies we had rescued on O-Rock had survived, along with the humanoids. They had gotten out in an escape pod.
I raised the sledge to my shoulder, standing over the latest boulder. I had already split it in two. Now I was going to smash it into tiny little pebbles for the children. A fierce sun burnt at my flesh.
I brought the sledge down and the rock exploded again, raising a white dust cloud. Granite, all around me. Priestess and Moontouch and Stormdawn and Beta. My life was complete. Who could possibly ask for more? I didn't give a damn about the D-neg, or any fancy new starship. The Legion could burn in Hell, as far as I was concerned. Bastards! They'd probably ask Tara to help, once they let her out of jail. Sure they would! Well, I didn't care. It didn't matter! There was no way Tara was going to talk me into this one.
No way!
THE SOLDIER OF THE LEGION SERIES
If you enjoyed this novel, you will be happy to learn that…Secret of the Legion is the fourth book in the Legion Series but not the last. Cross of the Legion was released in October 2009 and is available now. Look for Curse of the Legion in 2011.
Soldier of the Legion
The Black March
Slave of the Legion
Secret of the Legion
Cross of the Legion
Curse of the Legion*
Forthcoming*
For more information visit
www.soldierofthelegion.com
About the Author
Marshall S. Thomas is a retired Foreign Service Officer who served in East Asia for most of his career. Marshall attended the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, the University of New Mexico and the University of Miami with a major in Government/ International Affairs and a minor in History. Marshall's 35-year Foreign Service career included postings in Saigon, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Manila, Canberra and Kuala Lumpur.
Marshall currently lives in Williamsburg, Virginia with his wife Kim Lien. His youngest son Alexander, 20, is now in college studying biochemistry. His eldest son Christopher is a graduate of Radford University who studied art and graphic design. Marshall loves to write science fiction but has also written on East Asian subjects including Lotus, the story of a refugee. He was a member of Nancy Mehl's original Write Stuff Writers Forum and is a member of C.E. Winterland's Midnight Forum.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1Out of the Oz
Chapter 2Illumination
Chapter 3The Priest
Chapter 4The Hand of the Legion
Chapter 5Dindabai
Chapter 6A Taste of the Past
Chapter 7Deep Dreams
Chapter 8Marching in the Mud
Chapter 9Every Crazy Bastard
Chapter 10Evil Gods
Chapter 11Lost Souls
Chapter 12K2
Chapter 13Crazy but True
Chapter 14Plane Prime
Chapter 15Perdition
Chapter 16Masters of O-Rock
Chapter 17Dust of the Gods
Chapter 18The Uldo Experiment
Chapter 19Nothing to Report
Chapter 20Blink Once and You're Gone
Chapter 21The Word of God
Chapter 22Granite
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