Moontouch motioned to the girls and they gathered up their ointments and slipped away. Gildron and Willard had departed the previous day by aircar, anxious to see Tara again. I was alone with my family.
"You set a bad example," I rebuked Moontouch. "There are no more slaves. You know it—and you keep these girls."
"They are free to leave, my King," she replied calmly. "Yet they stay. You are free to stay. Yet you will leave me. It is not a good example for your son. What shall I tell him?" Moontouch gazed at me with sad, faraway eyes. She was so lovely it was hard to look at her. Pure, fragile beauty—a cenite angel. How could I ever leave her? How could any human leave her? Maybe I wasn't human any more. Maybe the Legion had changed me too much. My left arm was artificial—maybe my heart had been changed, as well. Maybe they had put in a Legion heart—a heart without pity, without emotion, a heart that would pump for a thousand years to keep the dead alive, to serve the Legion.
Stormdawn entered the tent, standing there silently looking at me. The most lovely child in the galaxy. He would grow up without a father, and never die, and hate me for it.
###
"Wester, Tara." Tara! I picked up the comset. We had our own freqs now—nobody could interfere.
"Yes, Tara."
"I'm pleased to announce that the P.S. Maiden just hit the screens, fresh from Uldo."
"The Maiden! I'm on my way!" Surely they would have news about Beta!
"Uh, negative, Wester. It'll be another hour before they dock. And I'd like you to stay there for awhile."
"Stay here—well, why? I want news about Beta!"
"There's a few things I'd like to resolve first."
"What does that mean?"
"A few…non-events."
"Come on, Tara."
"They had a meeting about the ship—and I wasn't invited."
"I see."
"I thought that a little strange."
"I see what you mean. But the ship is gone—what are they having meetings for anyway?"
"There's plenty to do, Wester. We got enough info to keep the researchers busy for decades. Even without the ship, this is probably the most important scientific project in history."
"And you weren't invited." It was downright ominous. Tara was a Starcom psycher. She had been with the ship from the beginning, and she knew more about it than anyone else.
Nobody cared what I thought, but they shouldn't have had a meeting about the ship without asking Tara along.
"I'm also having a little trouble communicating with Starcom. Suddenly."
"Is that so."
"Just stay there, Wester—until I give you the word. I'll make sure you get any news about Beta."
"Keep in touch, Tara."
"You, too. Tara out."
Moontouch lightly raked her long fingernails down my arm. It sent a thrill right through my body.
"Is it so hard to stay here, my love?"
"It is easy to stay here, Moontouch. Too easy. But my comrades are lost in the war. I would be a woman if I stayed here while their fate is unknown."
"The Gods guide you, my King. We are dust in the wind. You will leave us when it is time. Until then you must make your family happy. Stormdawn, come here!"
He ran over to us and fell into my arms, laughing. Moontouch was perfectly right. The living always came first—the dead could wait.
###
"It's all right," Biergart said. "I understand." He stood before me in the shadows, completely calm, faintly smiling. We were back in the villa, in the cellar.
"Biergart…" I began.
"You don't have to say anything, boy," he said. "I forgive you. You did what you had to do. Come on in." He opened the door. It was the door to the room where we had interrogated him. It was dark inside.
"I understand," he repeated. "You shouldn't feel bad. I would have done the same in your place. See?" My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. Someone was strapped to a chair.
Biergart snapped on the light. It was Priestess, bathed in sweat, terrified. Biergart pressed a handgun up against the back of her head. Her eyes were pleading, but I was frozen, unable to move. He fired, and her forehead exploded. The scream woke me up.
"Wester! Wester, Tara! Damn it!" The comset crackled into my ears. I was in the tent, soaked in sweat, my heart racing, fumbling at the comset.
"Tara, Wester—what."
"It's ConFree, Wester—they're making their move. Damn it, damn it!" She was stressed, her voice shaking.
"It's Wester—yes, Tara." The nightmare was still swirling in my mind, and I did not understand what Tara was saying. Moontouch awoke, beside me in the dark.
"Get to the Maiden! Go to blackout!" The comset hissed and sputtered. And I heard someone else say in the background, quite clearly, "They're coming."
"Tara!" But there was no answer—only dead air. ConFree! They had to be coming after us—Tara and me. I snapped the comset off and scrambled to my feet, fumbling for my litesuit.
"It is time," Moontouch said. She clapped her hands twice. The front entrance flap snapped open and a Taka warrior stood there with his spear. Two slave girls appeared from the rear of the tent.
"Awaken the prince," Moontouch commanded. "He must say goodbye to his father." I was in my suit now, pulling on the boots. Deadeye burst into the tent with a torch.
"What is it, Slayer?"
"Trouble, Deadeye. Call out your soldiers."
When I was ready, I stepped out of the tent, my E across my chest, my comtop at my waist. It was a beautiful night, crisp and clear, the stars blazing above us, a magnificent panorama. The Taka soldiers were ready, hundreds of them, warriors of the Dark Clouds and Red Hands, their spears flashing in torchlight, ready to die for Moontouch and Deadeye. They were all that was left of Southmark, all that was left of the Golden March. And I knew they wouldn't last a single mark against a Legion squad.
"Deadeye," I said in Taka, "I need your fastest runner."
"Ghost!" he shouted. "Where is Ghost!" Ghost burst out of the ranks, a tall young boy with big nervous eyes.
"Take this," I said, handing him the comset. "Run with it. Go down into the darkest tunnels of Stonehall. The Legion will follow you. When they get too close, leave the talker and escape. Let them have it."
Ghost barked his assent and took off immediately into the dark.
"The Legion is coming," I explained to Deadeye. "They will be looking for me, but they are not friendly. They are my enemies. If they don't see me, they will follow the comset."
"If they go down into Stonehall, they will not return," Deadeye vowed.
"Do not fight them, Deadeye! You cannot win, and I want no Taka blood spilled. When they do not find me, they will go away."
"If they are your enemies, we will fight them!"
"No! I want no fighting! We can outwit…"
"Manbird!" The shouted warning electrified us all—an aircar! The torches went out in a shower of sparks.
"It's them!" I told Deadeye. "Scatter! Hide! Moontouch…" She snatched up our son. Taka warriors suddenly surrounded them, a bristling fence of spears and tridents hustling her off into the dark. I knew they'd be safe.
I went to ground in a rotting pile of leaves behind the exposed roots of a great flowertree, snapping my E to xmax auto. I could hear the aircar now, a faint whining. The diversion with the comset was not going to work—they'd spot me for sure, this close. There had not been time to get away. I hadn't even had time to put on the comtop. Damn it!
The aircar appeared, slowing, gliding cautiously through the dead city, stirring up a blizzard of dusty leaves. I raised my E. I knew the car would be armored so I was not going to fire until they discharged the troopers. A wave of sadness washed over me. They would be Legion troopers, fighting for ConFree—just as we had always done. I had served the Legion and ConFree my whole young life. I knew that once I fired at Legion troopers, everything would change, forever.