probably occupied, Rebo opened the hatch, tossed a grenade through the gap, and pulled the door closed again. There was a muffl?ed scream, followed by the dull rattle of automatic fi?re and a series of unintelligible shouts. That was Rebo’s cue to toss a second energy bomb into the corridor. He pulled the door closed, counted to four, and pushed his way out into the hall. The badly pulped remains of at least three bodies were scattered about, and two humans plus a metal man were crouched not thirty feet up the corridor. Judging from the way some of the norms held their weapons, they weren’t too familiar with them. A couple of Tepho’s attendants perhaps? There was no way to know. But when they fi?red, the runner fi?red back, and it was his bullets that struck home. The robot went down fi?rst, quickly followed by both humans, one of whom took a burst of bolts from behind.
That surprised the runner until he saw something shimmery was standing farther down the hall, weapon in hands, fi?ring through his own men. And that was the last thing Rebo saw as Shaz shouted an order, the lights went out, and the combat variant made his way forward.
Norr had cleared the hatch by then, and even though the corridor was nearly pitch-black, the sensitive “saw” the manshaped blob of color coming her way. The shotgun roared, the aura staggered, and the variant felt a moment of elation. But that was when the target recovered, changed course as if to avoid a potential follow-up shot, and continued to advance. Some sort of armor perhaps? Yes, the sensitive thought so, and suspected that the oncoming combatant could see her as well.
Everything appeared green through the night-vision goggles, but both of his opponents were clear to see as Shaz pulled the trigger. That was when the variant felt something cold slither up his right leg and make straight for his genitals. Shaz couldn’t resist the urge to stop and attempt to grab whatever the thing was.
And it was then, as Shaz paused to deal with Sogol, that Norr removed her opponent’s head. The combat variant felt something tug at his neck, “saw” his head bounce off the fl?oor, and knew the rest of his body was in the process of falling. And that was when the man once known as Hoggles appeared in front of him. His form was different now, but powerful nonetheless, and there was nothing friendly about his smile. “Welcome to the spirit world, friend. . . . It turns out that there are worse things than dying . . . as you are about to fi?nd out.”
In the meantime, the lights came back on as the surviving members of Tepho’s force emerged to celebrate what they assumed to be the combat variant’s victory. Except that it wasn’t. All fi?ve of them were armed, but none was ready, and that was a mistake. One fell to Norr’s sword and the rest of them were still fumbling with their weapons when Rebo cut them down. Sogol made her way back to Norr, the humans reloaded, and the entrance to nexus was clear.
The only way Tepho could obtain sex was to purchase it from the whores of Seros. But pleasurable though such encounters had been, they didn’t even begin to compare with what the technologist felt as he sat in the thronelike chair and gazed at the 360-degree holo projection that encircled him.
The panorama had been conceived to look as it should when viewed from Zeen. All of the suns that had once been part of the Imperium were represented, complete with their planetary attendants, each orbiting exactly as it should. And some of those worlds, the ones fortunate enough to boast a star gate, were further identifi?ed by what looked like green jewels. One for each portal that remained operational. Sadly, in light of what had once been, such lights were few and far between. Although Tepho was pleased to see that the vast majority of remaining portals were under the Techno Society’s control, which was to say his control, given that the organization belonged to him. Still, the extent to which the once far-fl?ung network of star gates had deteriorated meant that the opportunity before him was that much greater. As Tepho stared at the panorama he could envision himself as humanity’s savior, the emperor who returned mankind to its rightful place in the galaxy and thereby earned himself a revered place in history. The sudden pressure of a gun barrel against the back of Tepho’s head brought the glorious dream to an abrupt end.
“Stand up,” Rebo grated. “And remove the vest.”
But Logos 1.1, who was busy downloading himself from the vest via a wired connection, didn’t want to be interrupted. Especially given the fact that the transfer was percent complete. “Remain where you are,” the AI ordered tersely, his voice booming through the overhead speakers. Fortunately, Rebo was standing so close to Tepho and Logos that when the hidden weapon pods began to fi?re it was impossible to score a direct hit on the runner without harming the AI as well. The norm felt a momentary sensation of heat as a ruby-red energy beam scorched his right sleeve, struck the deck beyond, and etched a black line into the steel plating.
“Stay close to Tepho!” Norr shouted, and was reaching for the power pistol when Sogol attempted to jump free. Not in an attempt to fl?ee, but to reach the console, where the AI hoped to download herself into Socket’s CPU. But Norr managed to grab hold of the construct before she could escape, said, “Oh, no you don’t,” and took aim at the nearest laser pod. The automated weapons couldn’t fi?re back, not so long as the sensitive had Sogol to protect her, which left the variant free to destroy the energy projectors one at a time. It typically required at least three energy bolts before a given turret would explode in a fl?ash of yellow light. And that meant precious seconds were coming off the clock.
Once Norr had neutralized all the pods, and Rebo was able to step away from Tepho, the sensitive carried Logos 1.2 over to the console. There was a small metal-rimmed hole off to one side, which was intended for her, and the AI went in headfi?rst. The variant saw Sogol’s tail wiggle for a moment, then disappear as the construct sought the evil twin within.
Tepho felt the gun barrel jab the base of his neck again.
“Stand up,” Rebo growled, “or I will blow what passes for your brains all over that console.”
The technologist stood, mind racing, while the runner tugged at the vest. Never in his wildest imaginings had Tepho visualized a situation like this one. But there had to be a way out, some means to escape the couple who had caused him so much trouble, and return with reinforcements. What neither man realized was that by the time the technologist passed the vest over to Rebo, Logos was no longer resident within it, which made them vulnerable. A fact that quickly became apparent as the surround rippled and three of the spherical enforcers appeared. The fi? rst energy bolt punched a hole through the garment that dangled from Rebo’s hand, the second took a chunk out of Tepho’s left arm, and the third severed the top of the chairman’s thronelike chair.
Tepho ducked behind the console while the others turned to engage the enforcers. Having already learned that the energy rifl?e didn’t have the power required to punch holes in the robot’s armor, Rebo dropped that weapon in favor of the dart gun, which he removed from its shoulder holster.
And, while Norr was ready with her sword, the sensitive was so busy ducking and dodging it was impossible to use it. The variant’s opportunity only came when the runner fi?red—and the fi?rst explosive round hit the enforcer nearest him. There was a loud boom, the robot belched smoke, and the acrid stench of ozone fi?lled the air.
Then, as the other machines turned to concentrate their fi?re on Rebo, Norr managed to roll under one of them. That turned out to be a mistake however, because the downward pressure generated by the enforcer’s onboard repulsor unit was suffi?cient to pin her down, and the machine clearly intended to crush her. But, thanks to the fact that the sensitive’s sword was pointed upward, the enforcer wound up impaling itself on the supersharp sliver of steel rather than killing the human being it was after. Norr felt the pressure disappear as the repulsor went off-line, knew the robot would fall, and hurried to roll out of the way. The variant felt the machine’s metal casing brush her
