"We had no choice, Thinker. You shouldn't feel bad."
I thought about that. No, we hadn't any choice—we never had any choice. We did what we had to do. "I suppose you're right," I said. "We're rats, in a maze. It's all a cosmic joke."
"You'll feel better when we get back to Beta."
"I'll feel better when I'm dead."
"We're dead already, Thinker—everyone in the Legion is dead. You told me that yourself, remember?" Priestess was maddeningly calm. She was right, I decided. Immortal, dead—it was the same, in the Legion. We were Satan's spawn.
I hit the lights, and they came on slowly. It was a first-class cabin—the Lady Arbell would settle for nothing less. A cabin of spotless phospho white and pale rose crystal plex. It made me sick to see such waste. We were in the System Ship Nectar, bound for Monaro and worlds beyond. Monaro was our first port of call, and as soon as we cleared Customs there, The Mask would get his money. A King's ransom—it appeared that he had cut the anti-corruption boys in for a share of the loot, for we had been hustled onto the starship right after The Mask had spoken with the ICAC officer on the comset.
"We should thank that Warden fellow, don't you think?" Priestess asked.
"The Mask? Why thank him—he's getting a half million credits. He'd have happily popped us into a cell if somebody paid him more."
"I suppose you're right."
"Thank the Sandman, if you want to thank anyone. He found Whit for us."
"He should get the half-million—not The Mask."
"What did you give him?"
"Twenty thousand."
"Maybe Tara can come up with something extra for him."
"Did you make that call?" Priestess asked.
"I sent the message," I replied. "She'll know we're out, and headed for Monaro. Hopefully she can arrange a welcome, just in case the authorities have any reason to harass us."
"I must admit she was right. In the System, money talks."
"That's all that got us out. Tara's money—slave money."
"It's strange how things work," Priestess said sadly.
"All I want is to get back to Beta and have somebody hand me an E and point out the target," I said. "That's all I want. This civilian world is filthy. I feel unclean."
"I feel the same, Thinker. It's too complex out there. Our world is simpler."
"Yes—we're innocents, aren't we? Innocents." Professional killers, I thought, in the service of the unborn.
###
Tara didn't even meet us at the door when we finally made it back to her residence on Mica 3. The ape-man Gildron showed us into the sunny study overlooking the pool. Tara was there, poised by a comdesk, totally stunning and totally at ease, warm sunlight glowing off pale brown skin, lustrous auburn hair cascading down to her shoulders, a faint smile playing at her wide mouth, a warm light in her Assidic eyes.
"Well, well," she said calmly. "Welcome back, guys. Is this anyone we know?" Whit was still in her Ala-Ka-Sakara getup, olive skin, curly black hair and dark eyes.
"Hello, Cinta," Whit said timidly.
"That's a new look for Sub, isn't it?"
"We're so glad to see it, Cinta…we thought we'd never see it again."
"You've caused us a lot of trouble, Sub," Tara replied coldly.
"We're sorry, Cinta." Whit was trembling, her eyes blinking rapidly. "Did it…really pay a half million credits to get us back?"
"That will come out of your earnings, Sub. You can depend on that."
"We were foolish not to listen to it, Cinta." Tears, a river of tears, suddenly running down Whit's cheeks.
"The word is stupid. Now get to your quarters and clean up. We can talk later." Tara's face was cold and hard. Whit turned and left the room, crying silently. She looked back once at Cinta, then stumbled away.
"Weren't you a little hard on her, Tara?" I asked. "I thought you wanted her back."
Tara turned her face away from us. "Gildron," she said throatily, "bring dox."
"Are duance," Gildron replied, leaving the room. Tara turned back to face us, bravely, but she was blinking her eyes, and I could see they were wet.
"I wish to thank you all," she said. "You have restored my faith in humanity. I can't tell you how much this means to me. I thought I was completely alone. I asked for help and you came, without question, from across the galaxy. Yes, I wanted her back. When I saw her just now, I wanted to reach out and kiss her. But I don't want her to know that. I am in your debt, Beta Three. I am in debt to all of you. This kind of debt can never be repaid. The three of you have a claim on me, forever. If you ever need help, just call me. I'll come—you can bet your life on it!" A shudder ran over her slim body.
I was exhausted. Gildron came back with hot dox. My hands trembled as I opened the top. I could still see Biergart, sweating in the dark.
###
"This is hopeless! There's nothing going there!" I was at the comdesk in my room, scanning for a fast route back to Veda 6. It was another hazy golden summer day outside the window for Mica 3.
"There has to be something!" Priestess said. "We've got to get back to Beta."
"There's a lot of activity out there, but nothing seems to be going near Veda 6. There's a routine supply run, but that's not for another two weeks—we can't wait that long!"
"That's a ten," Priestess said.
"Alert, Gang," Dragon said, popping into the doorway. "Check out the local infonet on Fourteen. Ask for the news."
I hit the tab and the wall screen flashed and revealed a female news announcer, the background showing a pale, icy green planet girdled with a series of sparkling silvery rings. It was so utterly lovely and captivating that the words she was saying did not at first make any sense.
"First in the news, the Confederation has announced a major new military offensive against the Omni horde. According to a Starcom information bulletin released today, strong Legion units have dropped onto Uldo 4, a System world under Omni attack, to counter the Omni advance into Systie vac. The ConFree announcement stated that the Legion offensive was a joint operation in cooperation with Systie DefCorps units. This is the first joint Legion-DefCorps operation against the Omni threat, and may mark a significant new chapter in humanity's response to the alien challenge."
"Deadman!" I was transfixed before the screen.
"That's it," Dragon said from the doorway. "That's the offensive Snow Leopard was waiting for."
"We've got to get out of here—now!" Priestess stood up.
"Uldo," I said. "You can bet we're bound for Uldo."
"Maybe or maybe not," Dragon said, "but Beta's on Veda 6, and we'd better get our asses back there on antimat drive, or Snow Leopard's going to feed us to the bloodcats."
"What are we going to do, Thinker?" Priestess asked.
###
I found Tara that evening outside in the flowerhouse. It was almost midnight, and I hadn't found a ride to Veda 6. The night was soft and warm and the sky was full of stars. The flowerhouse was a wooden pavilion, heavy with exotic blooms, a rich musk saturating the air. Tara was a shadow, alone with the flowers, looking into the dark.
"Hello, Wester." She didn't even look at me, but she knew it was me. She always knew.
"Tara—what are you doing?"
"I'm thinking, Wester."
"You obviously work for a different Legion than I do. We're not encouraged to think. How's Whit doing?"
"She's fine. She'll be all right."
"We're having a little trouble getting transportation back to the Veda System," I said. "You know, our status limits what we can do on our own. I was wondering if you had any Legion contacts who could get us a non-sked to Veda, or anywhere nearby."
Tara didn't answer at first. She just continued gazing out into the night. Finally she spoke. "You know what I was thinking?"
"No—what were you thinking?"