"Deadman," Dragon said. "Look at all the traffic!" I glanced at the orbital readout. The screen flickered with a bewildering array of brightly-colored, multilayered orbital tracks marked with ship designations, data readouts and warning notices. I had never seen such a crowded screen. Thousands of spacecraft were circling this world like deathbirds over a corpse. A dull wave of resignation slowly washed over me. We were home at last, I knew, and this was exactly where we belonged. A world was dying, momentous events were underway below; we were to be dropped right into it. Squad Beta was down there somewhere, in the mud, and we were going to join them. Only then would I feel complete, encased in an A-suit, with an E in my arms.
"A Legion cruiser—look!" Priestess was excited, trying to decipher the layers of rapidly changing data blinking on the d-screen. Priestess was a Legion medic and my eternal love. She was a slim, lovely girl with silky black hair and limpid brown eyes. I had no defenses against her.
"Legion fighters—look at all those fighters!" Dragon sounded pleased. He was back in his element, all right.
"Deadman, look—look at that carrier!" I said. "And that's a Legion battlestar!"
"Major Systie forces as well—I don't believe this! There can't be that many ships!"
"Some of those are deceptors, guys—a lot of deceptors. Don't forget, there's a war on."
"Who are those guys?" A shower of red sparks, falling slowly down to the atmosphere.
"Those are the O's," Tara said quietly. "You remember them from Mongera."
"Look—an engagement!" The screen lit up. Antimats, winking on and off, and a ship, suddenly gone.
"Who was that?"
"I didn't see it."
"Well, they're gone—whoever they were." Cosmic junk, sparkling on the screen. Blink once and you're gone. They taught us that in Basic, too.
"Legion fighters still locked on," the ship informed us. "System forces have lifted lock-on." This was certainly a first. The United System Alliance was cooperating with the Confederation of Free Worlds to combat the Omni horde. I disapproved—I didn't trust the Systies for an instant. But I was only a Legion trooper. Nobody cared what I thought.
Uldo grew slowly in the bridge viewport as we approached. It was a galactic jewel, an icy green pearl with a ring of diamond dust. I knew nothing of Uldo at that point except that it was absolutely beautiful and had been chosen as the battleground where the Legion was going to stop the Omni advance.
"Quite a battle in deep space—look at that!" Off beyond the orbiting spacecraft the screen sparkled with antis, as hunter packs of Legion fighters darted into swarms of Omni ships. The battle for control of the vac was still underway.
Well why not, I thought. If we are to die, let it be for Uldo. I had no home except the Legion. And Uldo was so lovely—symbolic, perhaps. An island in the vac, besieged by the Horde. Fine, let us die for Uldo. Our fathers died fighting the O's—now it's our turn.
"P.S. MAIDEN, STAND BY TO BE BOARDED BY LEGION UNITS! PREP YOUR PORTS FOR DOCKING, AND UNLOCK YOUR HATCHES! IF THERE IS ANY RESISTANCE, WE WILL BOARD YOU FORCIBLY. ACKNOWLEDGE!"
"Legion, this is P.S. Maiden," Tara said silkily. "We acknowledge the message and we welcome the boarding party. Please turn down the volume; we are complying with all its instructions."
"Commander, we have a very bad feeling about this. Remember we're still on the death list." Pandaros's image appeared on the comscreen, tense and grim. He was a Cyrillian, ebony skin, sharpened white fangs and slit eyes. He was not an admirer of the Legion, and the Legion did not think highly of him, either. After the Mongera raid, the Maiden had been released from Legion custody with promises that the ship would no longer be actively pursued. But the names had to remain on the list to cover the Maiden's assistance, and it made Pandaros very nervous.
"Sub will just have to trust us, Pandaros," Tara replied coldly. "We survived the last encounter with the Legion, and we'll get through this one as well. We have made certain arrangements which shall protect us all."
"We'll lose the Maiden, Commander."
"We expect that, Pandaros. But we'll get it back. Stop worrying, and make the Legion welcome. We will survive."
"If it's wrong, we die."
"We're never wrong, Pandaros. Sub should know that by now." Tara cut the connection abruptly.
###
"Looks fine, troopers. We'll shuttle you downside to the milport." The Legion officer handed me back our orders. He was fully armored, gleaming black cenite and dull red faceplate, balancing an E on one hip. The boarding party was securing the ship. Pandaros and the crew were under detention, and Tara had locked the man-ape Gildron into the brig, just to avoid any misunderstanding.
"May we speak with it, sir?" Tara shook her hair away from her face. Her arms were tied behind her back. Whit was beside her, also secured, cold sweat on her brow, hardly daring to breathe. Two Legion soldiers in A-suits had taken their places on the bridge.
"Shut down, Systie," the Legion officer snapped back, then turned to me. "How did you do it, guys? That's a hot drop, showing up in a Systie slaver—these people are all in the Black Book. You've done humanity a great service."
"Do you have a few marks, sir?" I asked quietly. "We'd like to talk about that."
"Sure, boys—this is one story I'd like to hear."
"Somewhere private, sir. I'd suggest the Commander sit in as well."
"The slaver? You're joking—what for?"
"It's important, sir."
"Well…curioser and curioser. All right, sure. I guess it won't matter. She'll be dead by morning."
Chapter 2
The Wheels of History
But Tara was not dead by morning. On the contrary, she was accompanying us as we headed deeper and deeper into the gaping tunnels of the Legion's Uldo Milport, underground tunnels carved by amtacs out of earth and stone. We were on foot, plodding through deep sucking mud, clad in new camfax coveralls, trying to make sense out of a dispo tacmod that was supposed to guide us to the replacement depot. Aircars whooshed past every few moments, rocking us with blasts of icy air. Crude lightmods crackled harshly from the dirt ceiling, dazzling our eyes and casting long black shadows as we trudged forward, Dragon and Priestess and Tara and me. We were followed by Gildron, his massive bulk encased in an extra-large camfax cloak. Gildron wasn't human. He was from some unknown world, but served as Tara's bodyguard and companion. His huge head appeared to be crudely carved from stone, and he peered out at the world under thick brow ridges. His body was covered in long, tangled hair. He didn't seem to be too bright, but you sure didn't want to make him angry.
The grav wasn't so bad on Uldo 4. It was heavier than Veda 6, but it wasn't so bad. I hated heavy grav.
"I can't make any sense out of this thing," I confessed, glaring at the tacmap screen for anything that resembled our surroundings. We were at a major intersection where two tunnels merged. A huge amtac rocketed past us, sirens shrieking, splattering us with a shock wave of watery mud.
"Scut! That retard almost hit us!"
"Deto!" Dragon exclaimed. "Let me see that thing! Can't you read a tacmap?" He took the tacmod and peered into the screen, shielding it from the light with one hand.
"The zero is shot," I replied, "as you can see." Two aircars blasted past, and Gildron snarled at them.