On ultra-low power, he shuffled toward the corner. He listened, but all he heard was his suit’s whine. Finally, he snarled to himself and bounded around the corner, to see two shock troopers aim heavy lasers at him.
When they didn’t fire, he washed his headlight over their helmets. Stenciled on the foreheads was LANCE, VIP.
Vip’s visor opened, although Lance’s remained shut.
Marten wanted to tramp the last few meters between them and hug the rat-faced little Vip. The crazy eyes jittered and the mashed nose was the same. Vip even managed a grin.
“Hey, Maniple Leader.”
“Hey, Vip.”
“I listened to your tape. Made some sense.”
“What about Lance? What does he think?”
“He thinks you’re crazy.”
“Is he going to shoot me?” asked Marten.
“I don’t think he’s made up his mind.”
“Where are the others?”
“Around.”
“How come you’re here, Vip?”
“Doesn’t this seem like the obvious place for you come?”
“Yeah, I suppose it does. So why isn’t everyone here?”
“They’re not as patient as me.”
Marten smiled.
“But you’re also out of luck,” Vip said.
“Why is that?”
“The other shock troops launched escape pods whenever they came upon them so the Social Unitarians couldn’t use them. Once Kang linked up with them and we took control of the ship, they launched the rest. I think maybe one got away with SU people aboard.”
Marten swayed as he felt his resolve beginning to crumble.
“Maybe that’s why some of the others didn’t stake out this area. They knew the pods were gone, so why should you try for them?”
“Yeah,” Marten said.
“So you’re out of luck.”
Marten nodded.
“If you want to come with me I’ll see that they treat you right.”
“Until the HBs show up.”
“You’ve burned your bridges, Maniple Leader. Which isn’t like you. Usually you have two plans going at once.”
“I’m a soldier. It’s what I’m supposed do.”
“Yeah,” Vip said. They looked at each other. “What should I tell Lance?”
Marten glanced at the dark visor, at the laser-tube aimed at his chest. That wasn’t a little las-rifle but the heavy-duty stuff that could penetrate battlesuit armor.
“Ask Lance if he wants it on his conscience that he’s the one who captured me so the HBs could put me in a pain booth.”
“I can answer that for him. It would bug him.”
“That’s it?” Marten said. “Just bug him?”
“Yeah. Lance is pretty set on making it out alive.”
Marten nodded. He was so tired. He wanted to quit now anyway. Instead: “I’m leaving, Vip.”
“Where can you go?”
“I don’t know. But I haven’t given up yet.”
Vip chuckled.
“If Lance’s wants to shoot now is the time.”
Vip glanced at Lance, and it seemed as if Vip listened. Then Vip grinned again. “Good-bye, Maniple Leader.”
“Good-bye, Vip. And Vip?”
“Yeah?”
“Why don’t you leave Omi somewhere I can pick him up?”
“Maniple Leader… it’s over, finished. You’re a dead man. Do you really want to take Omi down with you?”
Marten considered that. He finally nodded. “Omi would want me to.”
“Okay. I’ll think about it.” Vip cocked his head. “You’d better go if you want to stay free for awhile.”
Marten hesitated, and then he stood at attention and saluted Vip and Lance. When Lance saluted back, Marten hurried away into the darkness.
25.
A 623 Prowler Repair pod scanned the inner ring of the Sun Works Factory. Expelled hydrogen particles propelled it across the metallic surface, a man-sized globe with a small radar packet and searchlight that swept back and forth. It cut a twenty-meter swath as it first went fifteen kilometers one way and then turned around and traveled fifteen kilometers the other way. Twenty meters at time, searching, scanning, the white light washing over the station for signs of breach or meteor damage.
Then it braked. Its searchlight washed over a large hole. The tiny pod computer beamed a message to the main station comp. As it waited, the red strobe light atop it winked at ten second intervals. A message returned.
The Prowler pod acknowledged and logged the command, and then so very gently it applied thrust as it entered the gapping hole. The white light washed over a large cavity and over what appeared to be ship locks and oxygen pumps. Then two floating objects, highly reflective, man-shaped and secured by lines to the farthest reaches of the cave came to light. The Prowler pod paused, rotated and slowly withdrew from the gapping indentation. All the while, it broadcast an emergency code for the two lifeforms it had found outside the livable portion of the station.
26.
Anxiety on one hand and boredom on the other had turned Training Master Lycon irritable. He sat in front of a computer screen and checked report after report. He rubbed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. Outside his cubicle marched a platoon of monitors, barking orders and promising dire wrath to anyone that slacked off.
The anxiety came because too few shock troopers had made it aboard the beamship. The skill of the enemy in repelling so many space marines had surprised the Top Ranked Highborn and even more surprised Lycon. It was another dreaded indication that not everything went according to the great master plan. That in turn had weakened the Grand Admiral’s position—and that hurt Lycon because the Grand Admiral was his sponsor. The Bangladesh’s surprise proton-beam attack had already dealt the Grand Admiral a hard blow. That a premen spacecraft had been able to cause such damage and thereby throw the Highborn into such a crisis meant that someone had erred. Premen were inferior, a fact that no one could deny. Inferior beings do not deal superior beings such surprises unless those in charge are reckless or careless. Logic dictated as much. And since the Grand Admiral was ultimately in charge of all Highborn activity, this crisis hurt his exalted position.
Even worse, however than the weakening to the Grand Admiral’s position—in Lycon’s view and to his goal—was that because of the Bangladesh’s success the Sun Works premen had become restless. They stirred with hints of rebellion. And the scandal with the Chief Monitors, that they had been practicing drug lords, had hurt, too. Their daring was amazing and disconcerting to the Top Ranked. How Hansen and his chief aide had escaped was still a mystery. That there had been corruption among the most trusted premen and now with these hints of rebellion had proved to the Top Ranked that premen could ever be trusted. And that severely weakened the idea of the shock troops in space. In other words, the Praetor’s philosophy and those who held it had gained ascendancy. Except for the Praetor himself. That drug lords had worked under his administration undermined his authority. He thus pressured all Sun Works personnel to acts of perfect precision and relentless activity.
That meant the Training Master and his marshals helped suppress preman thoughts of rebellion. Thus the four ‘beta’ Highborn, Lycon’s training team, and he over-watched monitors who made sure premen repair teams worked to capacity.
Lycon read more reports. A few minutes later, a cough interrupted him. He scowled at a monitor, a lean man who stared at the floor.
“Yes?” asked Lycon.
“Highborn, there is a report that might interest you.”
“Yes, yes,” said Lycon.
Without looking up the monitor held out a paper.
For reasons he couldn’t explain Lycon hesitated. Then he snatched the paper. “A pod found two premen, so what?”
“The pickup ship did a bioscan, Highborn.”
Lycon dropped to:
Bioscan: Heydrich Hansen, Ervil Haldeman