Slave of the Legion (25 page)

"What can we do, Slayer?" Deadeye asked.

"Nothing, Deadeye. There's nothing anyone can do now, except pray."

"Then we will pray. What shall we pray for?"

"Pray for the soul of my friend—pray for her life."

Moontouch went down to her knees immediately, chanting an eerie dirge, eyes closed, raising her arms to Heaven. Stormdawn began crying, frightened, and Willard clutched him tightly. I had never before felt so helpless, so totally useless. There was nothing at all I could do.

When the ship went nova, it lit up the sky like a sudden new sun, totally soundless, flashing to life in a blinding hot core, blasting a million glittery white tracers out to fill the entire sky in a horrific, apocalyptic vision of destruction. The ship had been passing overhead, rising from the north. I gasped in fascinated horror as the tracers lengthened, shooting out into space and down into the at. The core broke up, spitting and sparkling, spewing hot debris. As the first tracers entered the atmosphere we got the sound, a sharp crackling, multiple thunderous booms, and a high shrieking like a wild fireworks display.

The Omni ship had detonated.

Moontouch moaned and shrieked, still on her knees, hiding her face. Her slave girls appeared and clustered around her anxiously. Deadeye's soldiers were frantic, running around in circles, gaping at the sky. Gildron was with a group of soldiers, in shock, shielding his eyes, stunned by the sight. He knew exactly where Tara had been—I didn't need to tell him.

I closed my eyes and prayed to the Legion's savage Gods. All I wanted was for her to live—I had lost too many comrades. It was killing me as well. One life—was it too much to ask? Spare one life. Just one. Take mine, for hers. Just let her live. Please!

Moontouch rose, clutching her robe tightly around her, blinking her eyes, looking up to the sky. She took a deep breath.

"Alive," she said. "Your friend is alive." My heart leaped.

The tacmod crackled. "Wester! We made it!" Tara gasped, out of breath.

"Tara!" I shouted, snatching at the tacmod. "Are you all right?"

"By the skin of our teeth!" She laughed, almost hysterical. "We crash launched in the shuttle! When the D-neg went, it started to suck us in—so fast I knew we were going to die! Then it blew. What a ride!" A babble of excited voices in the background—it sounded like a wild party. "Got a lot of dings and hits but we're all right! Entering the at!"

"Love you, Tara!"

"Likewise—tell you later—I got to go!"

I gave the high sign to Gildron, along with a big grin. He leaped into the air and let out a joyous roar.

"Do you really love her, my King?" Moontouch asked me.

"I love you, Moontouch. Only you. And I thank your Gods—they are strong!"

"The dead are stronger than the living," she said sadly, "and the Gods of the Book are all dead."

Chapter 19
To Serve the Legion

"Alpha Station Comlink, unit Seven Zero Three. Are you sure there's nothing for me?" I was on the comset again, lying half-naked on a pile of pillows under the tent as two lovely little slave girls gently massaged me from head to toe, rubbing healing ointments into my wounds. Moontouch was by my side, propped on one elbow, sipping flowered tea, as content as a cat, watching the proceedings with lazy interest.

"Sorry, Seven Zero Three. There's a war on, you know."

"Nothing at all? No orders? Can I send a follow-up to my message?"

"Can't do it, trooper—you know it. Uldo is still on comdown."

"Well, how about my request for transport to Uldo? Anything from Command?"

"Look, Seven Zero Three—when we get anything for you, we'll call you. I promise. All right?"

"All right! Sure! Don't get so touchy!"

"I'm not touchy. It's just that you call me up every couple hours, and we're not even engaged."

"Yeah—right. Seven Zero Three out."

"Just relax, Seven Zero Three. If I was in your shoes, I wouldn't be so anxious to get back to Uldo."

"You're not in my shoes. Seven Zero Three out." I put the comset down, annoyed. One of the slave girls was working on my shoulders, the other one was massaging my legs. They were certainly switching me on, and Moontouch knew it. Soon she would order them out and move on me like a phantom, an irresistible, silken vampire, hungry for blood.

I still had no idea what had happened to Priestess—or the rest of the squad. Merlin was dead, that was sure. We had left Psycho badly wounded and facing the DefCorps; we had left Dragon behind us with his arms secured, also in the path of the Systies. Priestess had last been seen charging back into the starmass, the O's unholy breath, desperately searching for Scrapper, lost in the holocaust. Valkyrie had thrown herself at the O—surely to her death. And Twister, also wounded, also left behind to cover us. Only Snow Leopard had been untouched. But I knew Beta One wouldn't leave a single trooper behind—he'd have gone after them all, and probably not came back. Damn the ship! Damn that cursed ship! Now it was gone, and we were gone, too. We were finished. Beta was gone. And I was relaxing in a tent of perfume, a tent of girls. It was all wrong.

I sat up, angry. Why hadn't they answered? Snow Leopard would have answered, if he had received the message. Perhaps he had never received the message. Perhaps nobody at all had survived!

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.

A gleaming white aircar settling down to land, the jets cutting off. White? Cutting the jets? What in the world?

The assault door snapped open. I centered it in my sights.

A single trooper, unarmored—it was a girl with short wispy blonde hair, looking around into the darkness, puzzled.

"Beta Three!" she called out. "It's Whit! Cinta sent us to pick it up! Damn it! Where is it?"

"What's the story, Sweety?" I whispered to my tacmod. My laser sight lazily roamed over Whit's chest.

"The aircar is now empty, Thinker—she was the only occupant."

"Whit!" I stepped out of the dark. "What's the sit?"

"Beta Three! Thank God!" She appeared giddy with relief. "Cinta would have killed us if we hadn't found it! Get on board! We've got to move right now! Cinta ordered it!"

I turned, looking into the darkness. "Moontouch!" I called out.

It took a few marks for the word to be relayed and Whit was dancing from foot to foot in impatience.

"The Legion will be here in a frac!" she insisted. "They've got to be tracking our every move!"

Moontouch's guard suddenly appeared out of the dark, all shields and spears and tridents. Then the wall of warriors parted and Moontouch was there, clutching Stormdawn to her breast. I reached out and embraced them. A prickly wave of emotions rippled over my flesh as I inhaled her scent, for probably the last time. We kissed, feverishly. She cried silently, tears rolling down her cheeks. I kissed the child, my own lovely son. I prayed for them both.

I had given them eternal life, but it was not enough—it was certainly not enough.

"Come on, Three—let's go!" Whit, in the aircar. I tore myself away. Deadeye stood by the car, his fierce eyes gleaming. We embraced.

"Take care of her, Deadeye!"

"My life, Slayer—my life!"

I leaped into the aircar blinking, and the door slammed shut and we were off, max power, low and fast. I found my way to the cockpit and took the number two seat beside Whit. Trees flashed past us.

"This is crazy," Whit said.

"Why are you doing it?" I asked.

"We owe it," she reminded me.

"All right, what's the sit?"

"We have no idea," she said, "except people are starting to shoot at each other and Cinta asked us to get it on the Maiden."

"Shooting at each other! Where's Tara—I mean Cinta?"

"It's downside. We're going after Cinta once it's safely on board."

"The hell you are! We get her first!"

"No, we don't—we've got our orders!"

"Don't be stupid! It'll be a miracle if we get through once! It'll never happen twice!"

"But Cinta told us…"

"Where's your loyalty? Can't you see she's sacrificing herself so I can escape? They want us both! We'll have only one chance to make it to the Maiden."

"Sacrificing itself?"

"With the help of your blind obedience! Damn it, she's more important than I am!"

"No…we can't leave Cinta behind!"

"Then we get her first!"

"All right!"

"Where is she?"

"It's in Alpha Station."

"Wonderful! Right into the mouth of the beast! Well, then that's where we're going. Who controls the Maiden?"

"The Legion. But Cinta seems to think that bunch can be trusted."

"Any contact with her?"

"It ordered a comdown." A forested hill flashed by on our right. The aircar's comcenter was crackling with transmissions. I paused to listen.

"Seven, One. I want a tacstar on that target—now!"

"Scut! Who are these guys?"

"Shut down and do it!"

"Tenners! Scut!"

"Tacair, I've got a hot flight of incoming fighters from the Armageddon! They don't answer!"

"Shoot 'em down!"

"Alpha Station is to be held at all costs! Fire at all resistance!"