The Legion
Book III
William C. Dietz
ACE®
ISBN: 044100735X
Dedication
For my dearest Marjorie ...
Here’s to the Lizard!
Acknowledgments
My thanks go to Joel Davis, coauthor of Mirror Matter for the concept of “White Holes,” and how to harness them, to Dr. Sheridan Simon for his help in building this particular universe, and legionnaires past, present, and future. Vive la Legion.
Chapter 1
Grand Marshal Nimu WurlaKa (ret.)
Instructor,HudathanWarCollege
Standard year 1957
Planet Earth, the Confederacy of Sentient Beings
The assassin moved quietly, as if her life depended on it, which it definitely did. The house had been constructed more than five hundred years before, back whenPortugal was a nation rather than an Administrative Region (AR), and the floorboards had a tendency to squeak. The killer paused for a moment, assured herself that it was safe to move, and gestured to her companions. They wore black hoods, black bodysuits, and black slippers. They glided over the hardwood floor.
A shaft of sickly yellow moonlight came down through the transparent bubble roof to pool on the rumpled bed. Maylo ChienChu was awake, staring up through the plastic, listening to her lover breathe. He was asleep and had been for an hour now.
The sex had been good, very good, but something was missing. Was it her? Was it him? Or, and this was what she feared most, was it them!
Something creaked—and her thoughts continued to chum.
The hallway was long. wide and dimly lit. Huge pieces of furniture and statuary lurked in the heavily anchored gloom.
In spite of the fact that Earth’s legally constituted government had been restored, and most of the mutineers had been placed in prison, where they awaited military trials, there were still plenty of renegades, outlaws, and psychopaths who would like nothing better than to assassinate Legion General William “Bill” Booly IFI, who, along with Admiral Angie Tyspin and a number of civilian resistance groups was credited with winning the battle for Earth. That being the case, Naa commandos, the best special ops troops the Legion had to offer, were assigned to protect him night and day. Corporal Hardswim had served with Booly in Africa, where the officer had not only managed to restore discipline to the 13thDBLE, but had won a number of battles against the mutineers, and led the famous raid onJohannesburg . A raid the Naa had been part of—and had a medal to prove it. The legionnaire grinned at the memory, looked down the dimly lit hall, and turned to the window. It was a likely point of entry and a way to break the boredom. There wasn’t much to see outside, just the moon, and the lights of Sintra.
The assassins glided from one pool of shadow to the next, careful to make no sound, weapons at the ready.
Each and every Naa was gifted with a supersensitive sense of smell. The invaders knew that and had gone to considerable lengths to counter it. Each assassin had bathed repeatedly prior to the mission, used scentless soap, donned specially prepared clothing, and been sprayed with an essence derived from the house itself, A not altogether unpleasant combination of furniture polish, fresh flowers, and a touch of mold.
Protected by their clothing and carefully honed skills, the assassins continued to advance. Maylo turned onto her side, felt Booly stir in response, and examined his face. She couldn’t really see it—the moonlight wasn’t bright enough for that—but didn’t need to. The short hair. steady gray eyes, and determined chin were etched in her memory.
