"It's all right, Speedy, we flamed the creeper. It didn't have a chance to burn through your armor."
"Say something, Speedy."
"He's all right," Priestess said again. "He's fine." The squad gathered around him.
"Speedy? You were lucky. We burned it before it was able to start the chain reaction. You're one lucky guy!"
"Fourteen, Beta to Fourteen, acknowledge please."
"Take five, Speedy, you deserve it."
"What a day, huh, Speedy?"
"Look at it this way, Speedy, chances are it'll be somebody else next time."
But Speedy didn't say anything. He just lay there in his A-suit, twitching.
###
We sloshed through the wetlands, cutting across icy streams and wading ankle deep through wet muddy turf. It was fairly open, but it sure was wet. Tall white trees towered around us, widely spaced. We were heading for the forest, still far ahead. The sky was full of heavy dark clouds and where we could see through the clouds, it was a slate-grey morning. The weak sun was still hidden behind the mountains.
It had been a long night, and it was going to be a long day—Uldo's day was thirty-three hours.
"Four, Three." I needed information, and Merlin always had information. Merlin was our tech, our lab rat, our wizard. He knew everything.
"Yeah, Thinker."
"Do you think the O's know where we are, after that scrap with the snakes?"
"That's a twelve, Thinker. The snakes just roam around and attack the appropriate genetic material. They're really quite primitive. There's no commo with the O's. The O's just program them to patrol a certain area, and then set them loose."
"I see."
"We're likely to run into more of them. I'd stay awake, if I were you."
"I'll do that, Merlin. Thanks."
One foot in front of the other, sloshing through the muck, mists rising from the water. It stopped raining. A flight of white birds rose from a tree, flapping into the air, squawking. It was a brand new day, and the clouds had borders of crimson and gold. It was incredibly beautiful out here. Uldo—we were to die for Uldo. Fine, I thought. I had no home—let it be Uldo. But meantime it was to be one foot after another, for hours and hours. Exhausting hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of stark terror. That was the Legion.
###
"Somebody's tearing the hell out of the at," Valkyrie announced. We had paused briefly on a great shelf of crumbling, unstable rock, hidden in the cold shadow of a tall, massive mountain ridge of red stone. In our camfax, we were virtually invisible but we all felt naked out on the rocks.
"Those are antis," Snow Leopard said. "That's the offensive."
I snapped my visor open and raised my canteen to my lips. The air was fresh and cold. The sky was clearing up—we certainly didn't need that. The ridge towered up to the sky above us, glittering like diamonds, totally magnificent and totally impersonal. It made me feel like a worm, wriggling along in the dirt. This was certainly God's country, and we were clearly intruders.
"Twelfth, Twelfth, Twenty-Second, respond please." It was very faint, and racked with static, but we heard it clearly.
"Did you hear that?"
"Why would the Twenty-second want them to break blackout?"
"That's our unit!" We were all shocked into attention.
"Twelve, Two Two, request you…" A roar of static. A vague flicker ran over the sky. Then the air moved around us, just a little. A gentle rush. Our tacmaps went dead.
"Deadman."
"That was a big one."
A burst of static, a burning roar, a metallic screech, a faint screaming; was it human?
"What was that?" We could only listen, helpless and horrified.
"Two Two, Ten…" A roar of static. "…lost the Twelfth, repeat; believe we've lost the Twelfth. We've got a strato anti burst coming at us. Nova, Nova…" A massive rush of noise, burning in our ears. I sat there frozen, unable even to move.
"Lost the Twelfth!" Speedy exclaimed suddenly. "What the hell does that mean? How can you lose an entire regiment?"
"Shut down!" Valkyrie snapped.
"But what do they mean?"
"Shut your filthy trap!"
I was stunned. The 12th was our regiment. And if the maxburst from the 10th was correct, they had just been snuffed out like a candle.
"Ten, Two Two, Two Two, respond please!"
But there was no response from the 10th—only static. Another regiment was gone. It was so horrifying I could barely comprehend it. The 12th was our family—the 12th was us! How could they be gone? All those people—all those soldiers! Immortals, bound for Hell. I looked over at Snow Leopard. He stood, his E in his arms, looking up to the sky, and I'd never seen a look like that before.
###
Exhausted, I picked at my rations. I was almost too tired to eat. We had climbed the mountain all day and now it was night again, another smoky night flickering with atmospheric deceptors just the way we liked it. We had made our way up the steep western slopes of the mountain ridge, then along one side of a ravine, and now we were on the eastern side on our way down. My legs were rubbery, twitching and weak inside the A-suit. And Sweety wouldn't give me any more mags, the bitch. I was so tired I just wanted to sleep. And that's precisely what we were going to do—Valkyrie had the first watch.
Gnats swarmed around my face and rations. Deadman.
I tried to brush them away. Gildron lurched into view and squatted nearby, resting his E on a rock.
"Trade you a fruit chew for a choco," Tara said. She was sitting right next to me.
"Sorry—I ate all my chocos."
"It's high energy," Tara said. "You should have saved some for tomorrow."
"I guess I live for today," I said. We all had our helmets off. We were covered with mud and dirt. Tara grimaced as a swarm of gnats attacked her face and settled on her fruit chew. I laughed. "How you doing, Tara?"
She waved listlessly at the gnats and gave me a dazzling smile. "You shouldn't ask questions like that, Beta Three."
"Why not? You're not happy?"
"On the contrary," she said dreamily, "I'm very happy. I've never been happier. You could even say I'm ecstatic. Yes—ecstatic!"
"Right—me too," I replied wearily.
"I'm not kidding, Wester. I mean it. I am truly happy, for the first time in many years."
"Yeah? Why's that, Tara?" I never knew what she was going to say. But it was usually illuminating—she was an unusual girl.
"Because it's right and proper that I be here, Wester. It's absolutely perfect. I don't know why the Legion sent me on this mission, Wester. It's as much a mystery to me as it is to you. But I know the real reason I'm here. This is my penance, my…purification…for all my sins. That's why I'm here, Wester, why I'm really here. This is my reward; this is what I deserve for my past, for all my sacrifices, for all my sins. I feel holy, Wester. I feel good."
"Sorry—you lost me there. What are you talking about?"
"You're so lucky, Beta Three—so lucky! It's so simple for you. All you have to do is carry an E. You have no idea how lucky you are."
"Lucky?" I laughed. "I'm a hired gun! There's no luck involved."
"No, you're an Angel of the Lord! You're the Sword of Deadman! Don't tell me you joined the Legion because you were bored. Stepping through that gate is a horrific act—it's almost like suicide. Why did you do it? Don't lie to me, Wester, I know you too well! What were you looking for? We're all serving the same God—what do we die for?"
"Justice—I suppose." I was so tired I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, but I knew what motivated Tara, and I knew it motivated the Legion as well.
"Justice! Exactly! That's what the Legion is all about, that's what they've been shouting into our ears from the very beginning, isn't it? And what do you think it means?"
"It means the oceans will run red with blood until all the evil is gone. Even if it kills us all."