'That's Tara.'
'I want you to sleep with me tonight.'
'Well, I'll check my sked.'
'It's not funny. You keep your distance from her! I know we owe her a lot—but there are limits. And you belong to me—remember that!'
I reached out and touched her hand and gently pulled her to me. She came, reluctantly. Morning rain, the scent of wildflowers, her heart beating against mine. She was all I ever needed from life. Only Beta Nine, and nothing more, forever.
'Priestess…if I had wanted to play house with her, would I have asked you to accompany me?'
'Well…no. I guess not.'
'That's right. So let's just get the job done and get back to Beta, where we belong.'
###
We had a light lunch on the patio by the pool. It was warming up a little, but the air was still crisp and clear. Dragon had found some swimjox in his closet and was trying out the pool after lunch.
'Thank you, Gildron,' Tara said.
'Nartsing.' Gildron was clearing away the trays. Dragon sat on the edge of the pool, spraying water off his hair just like a dog. Dragon had a hell of a build, and the swimjox didn't hide much. His brown body rippled with hard, wiry muscles, and strange dark-blue tattoos covered his shoulders. Fantastic dragons crawled down his arms, green armored beetles marched over his chest; and indecipherable symbols and runes covered his ears and hands, hieroglyphs from doomed worlds. Ghostly faces looked up from his knuckles.
'Where'd you get him?' Tara asked me, gazing hungrily at Dragon. She liked what she saw, I could tell.
'Where'd
A shadow passed over Tara's lovely features. 'It's a sad story. Too long to tell. He's lost his world. And he's a faithful companion.'
'I guess I could say the same about Dragon.'
'You'll have to get rid of those warnames. Have you had a chance to get into the ops plan?'
'Yes, it should allow us to move around. You've gone to a lot of trouble, Tara…Cinta.'
'You be careful with ProScan. That crim Biergart is a real snake. He's the contact. You go to him first.'
'I'm more worried about the Systies.'
'Money talks. Just stick to the plan. It should work.' Some birds were chirping from a tall tree in the yard. We could see them in the branches, pale blue birds.
'It's so beautiful here,' Priestess said.
'Yes, it's very quiet,' Tara responded. 'It's a Legion world; there are no problems here.'
'Idyllic, wouldn't you say?' I asked.
'You could say that.' Tara looked up into the sky. Her pale brown skin was flawless, toasting in the sunlight.
'Paid for in blood,' I said.
'That's affirmative,' Tara said. 'A lot of people died here. Yes, we paid the price.'
'We?'
'The Legion. I mean the Legion.'
'Is this your home?'
'No, it's just a hide-out. I'll be back in Systie vac as soon as you get my exec back.'
'Back in business?'
'No, I'm through with all that. I've done enough. They can't make me go back. I'm going to make a new life.'
'In Systie vac?'
'Yes…in Systie vac.'
'Why don't you stay here?' Priestess asked. 'It's so beautiful! Why leave?'
'You'd like to stay, wouldn't you? No, you wouldn't be happy here.'
'Why not?'
'You don't belong here.'
'Why not? It's a Legion world, after all.'
'Yes—so it is.' Tara looked off into space, again.
'Isn't that what we're fighting for?'
'Yes—but the people who live here are not part of your world.'
'What do you mean?' Nine was insistent.
'What I mean…is that if people like you and me decided to settle down in places like Mica Three, it would not be peaceful for long. We might have some peace and quiet for awhile, but our children would pay the price. The O's are out there, cruising, ready to pounce on the slightest sign of weakness. Without the Legion, Mica Three would be extinguished like a candle, and the dark would rush in, and ConFree would die.'
'You mean we just fight forever? Is that it? There's never any rest? It just goes on forever?'
'You already know the answer to that,' Tara said calmly. 'You don't need to ask me. You know the answer better than I. You came from a Legion world, too. Why did you leave? You could have stayed. And now you're a part of it. Do you think you can just walk away? There's nothing to stop you—try it. You're welcome to stay here. I'll extend the lease on the villa, if you want. Try it for a few months. But I warn you—you'll have to look up at the stars, every night. The stars are beautiful here—dazzling.'
Priestess was quiet for awhile. I took her hand. Finally she spoke. 'I never told you I was from a Legion world. How did you know that?'
'I know everything,' Tara said carelessly, 'except what happened to my exec.'
Chapter 15:
Biergart
'Take you bag.' He was a short, nasty looking creature with dark leathery skin, filthy greased hair, yellow eyes and dirty hands with long jagged fingernails.
'No, you don't.' Dragon maneuvered the bag away from him. It was Nine's bag, an elegant plum-colored armorite creation that shrieked privilege and expense. We were out of Customs and heading for the aircar bay. I was on my comset to the hotel.
'The Lady Arbell does not appreciate waiting!' I shouted into the set. 'Why is your aircar not here yet?' I was having a little trouble breathing. There didn't seem to be enough oxygen in the air, and the grav was too damned heavy.
'Take you bag!'
'You touch that bag and I'll remove your arm!' Dragon growled to the persistent porter. We were attracting a crowd. Several dusky, silent men drifted over to our vicinity, glowering. They appeared to be the same race, dark skin, yellow eyes, and thick matted hair.
'They say the aircar is on the way,' I reported.
'You give the bag!' one of them demanded, pointing at Dragon. He was tall, with a wild, greasy head of hair. 'We are porters—federal porters! You must give the bag!' The others growled in agreement. The short one reached out for the bag with a dirty hand.
Dragon hit him with a hard right to the face that came at him from above like a falling tree. I heard the cartilage in his nose crack. The porter bounced off the floor once and lay there stunned, blood smearing his face.
The tall greasy one snarled and came at Dragon with a metal pipe. I hauled out my vac gun and shot him in
