across the counter.
'Just a frac,' one of the troopers objected. 'We were told to report to the Third Amtac Support Squadron. We're techs, and they need us.'
'You were told wrong,' the admin clerk snapped back. 'You've just been reassigned. The Tenth needs bodies, and you're it. Now get moving.' He was a thin man with a narrow face and a shrill, raspy voice.
'We're techs!' another trooper objected. 'We fix amtacs—you can send somebody else to the Tenth!'
'Don't tell me what to do, trooper! You've just been assigned to the Tenth. Those are your orders. Now disappear! Next!'
I pushed my way up to the counter. 'We need the location of Squad Beta, CAT Two Four, Black Twelfth. We're returning to our unit.'
'How many of you?' His beady little eyes darted over our group, lingering on Gildron.
'Five. We've got orders.'
'Let's see 'em.' We handed over our orders, and he fed them into the system. 'Just a frac.' He consulted a d-screen, then made an entry.
'All right,' he said, 'you're reassigned to the Tenth Regiment, the Fourth, CAT Fourteen. Location is Axis Gold. Transport is…'
'Hold it!' I said.
'Don't interrupt, trooper! Transport is…'
'Whoa!' I objected. 'We already have orders, mister! We're going to Squad Beta of CAT Two Four, Second of the Twelfth, and all I need from you is the zero. Now how about it?'
'Your orders have just been changed, trooper,' he snarled at me. 'All loose bodies are now going to the Tenth. That's the way it is! So pick up your orders and get out of my sight!'
'May I handle this, Thinker?' Dragon asked me.
'Be my guest.' I turned away from the admin puke in disgust.
Dragon smiled at the puke. Then he placed one well-muscled arm on the counter, and cleared it of everything, sweeping it all onto the floor. The room was suddenly dead quiet except for a single dox cup, rolling around on the deck. Dragon reached over the counter, seized the clerk by his tunic, and pulled him over the counter until their faces were only mils apart.
'We're not loose bodies,' Dragon said through clenched teeth. 'We're with the Twelfth. We're returning to our squad, and we're not going to take any crap from you or anybody else. You are going to give us the location of our squad, and give us back our original orders, right now, or I'll rip your arms out of their sockets and feed them to our friend here.' Gildron showed his teeth. The room full of troopers burst into applause, shouting encouragement.
'You're not replacements?' the puke asked. He was sweating. Dragon shook his head, slowly.
'All right…all right,' the puke said. 'You're not replacements.' Dragon threw him back into his chair. The puke shakily pulled himself together again, and rolled the chair back to his post by the counter. 'Sorry…I thought you were replacements.' The puke tried a smile, but it didn't work. 'Squad Beta, you say.'
'We've said that several times.'
'All right! Don't get upset—I thought you were replacements. Replacements go where they're needed most. We'll find your squad—relax!'
###
'Aw right, who's in charge here?' I shouted. I knew damned well who was in charge, but I had to announce our entrance somehow. Beta was camped out in an enormous black hole torn out of the raw earth just off one of the main corridors of the milbase. It was a nightmare scene from the lower reaches of Hell, a few flickering lights casting long spooky shadows on wet dirt walls, a dead dark aircar surrounded by shadowy figures, piles of equipment stacked on a floor of mud, and someone approaching us out of the dark. It was Beta One—Snow Leopard.
'So you found us,' he said calmly. 'Good. That's good.' He was in camfax fatigues, his long blond hair brushed straight back, a comset clipped to one shoulder. His pale face was completely free of emotion, but his hot red eyes glittered with determination. Beta One was back with us, I could tell. For awhile there I thought we had lost him, after Mongera. 'Three, Eight, Nine, welcome back,' he said. 'They told me about your friends. Tamaling, welcome. I hope Three's visit was useful to you.' Cintana Tamaling was Tara's Systie name. One had obviously read her file, which urged us not to use her true name, Antara Tarantos-Hanna. It was a name that could lead to her death.
Tara looked around at our quarters. 'Yes,' she responded with a dazzling white smile. 'Most useful. I appreciate your letting them go.'
'We appreciate the help you gave us on Mongera. And this is Gildron.' He was looking up at the ape-man. Gildron showed his teeth, but remained silent.
'You'll find him useful,' Tara said. 'I can't get along without him.'
'It's Dragon and Thinker—and Priestess! They've brought the ape!' I recognized Psycho's obnoxious braying. It didn't even bother me—I was that glad to be back.
'Welcome back, guys!' Merlin materialized out of the shadows, smiling. He had a ration pack under one arm. Merlin was our brains. He knew pretty much everything.
'We missed you, Big Guy,' Scrapper said, sparkling grey eyes and a face full of freckles and a mop of tawny hair. I had never figured out why she insisted on calling me Big Guy. She had been Warhound's obsession. The last time I saw her, on Veda 6, she had marched up to me unexpectedly and said throatily, 'Thinker, I want you to know I'm sorry about Warhound.' Then she turned abruptly, to hide her face, and stalked away awkwardly.
Warhound had been killed on Mongera. It was hard to even think about it.
'Three!' It was Redhawk, pale splotchy face, tangled red hair, a scruffy beard. He threw an E at me and I caught the weapon in one hand. It was my own E—an old friend. Memories washed over me. Someone had picked it up out of the mud after I was hit on Mongera. I knew every scar on this E, every ridge, every chip, every burn. And now she was back with me. United at last, just as it should be, on Uldo. I could see the weapon had been re- engineered. More dark magic to confound our foes. I looked up at the dripping dirt ceiling. I was home—home at last. Who could ask for more? I clutched the E tighter. Me and my girl, together again, at last.
'All right,' Snow Leopard said calmly, 'briefing—now. Three, Eight, Nine, Tamaling. Over here.' We followed Snow Leopard over to a pile of dropboxes. Someone set off a hotstar and it crackled to life near the aircar. It was cold—my nose and lips were already numb.
'Have some dox.' Snow Leopard tore open a pack and we greedily helped ourselves, popping open the cups and burning our lips on the suddenly steaming liquid. We gathered around Snow Leopard, savoring the dox. Gildron stood off to one side, snarling at Psycho, who was staring at him. Psycho snarled back, making ape noises. Psycho was a little guy, blond hair, lunatic blue eyes and a wise-ass attitude. He was fearless in battle and a giant pain when it was quiet.
'You'd better terminate that, Psycho,' Dragon warned, 'or my friend will remove your head.' Psycho smiled. He liked to live dangerously.
'Nice quarters,' Priestess said.
'It's not the best,' Snow Leopard admitted, 'but we'll be moving out soon. You're just in time. All right, here's the sit—we've got a mission. It's a good mission. I'm very pleased with the mission.' He did not look very pleased, but it was impossible to read Beta One any more. He was just like a biogen. He was the ultimate squad leader.
'Have any of you been briefed on the sit here on Uldo?' he asked, 'the general situation?'
'That's a twelve,' I replied. 'We just got here.'
'I see. All right.' Snow Leopard looked up to the ceiling, then down at his dox. 'Well, let me tell you. I think our squad has been greatly privileged to play a leading role in some of the more important historical events of our time. The mission to Mongera was one for the books. We paid the price, gang, but when we're all dead and gone, our descendants are still going to be reading about that one. And this one—the return to Uldo—is destined to be even more significant.' He paused to sip his dox. His pale pink eyes were far away.
'This is humanity's first joint response against the O's. We have at last set aside our differences to unite against the common threat. And how ironic that it should be here, on Uldo. It's the wheels of history, gang—the Gods are laughing at us. It's a cosmic joke.' Snow Leopard stared into space, alone with his thoughts. It was
