a new pair back on Atom. Atom was all we wanted, just to see Atom, again. Atom's Road was a holy place to us, our only home in a hostile galaxy. Atom held Beta Four; and Beta Eight, Dragon; another casualty from Coldmark. Deadman, I missed them! Merlin was a genius—we could sure use his insight here! And Dragon—he was like a force of nature, he was simply unstoppable. I'd rather have Dragon covering my back than anyone I knew, but Dragon was not with us either. Serious internal injuries, and a clenched fist, to show he'd pull through. There was not much left of Beta now—Two and Seven—Coolhand and Ironman—were also back on Atom, in the Body Shop. Coolhand was my blood brother, from Providence and Hell. It was not the same without his calm, faint smile. I wondered how Ironman was. We all had a soft spot for Ironman, the Kid. But he was long gone now—Two and Four and Seven and Eight were only memories, here in the guts of the beast. Whatever was to happen here would depend entirely on us: our leader Beta One, warname Snow Leopard; our Manlink Beta Five, warname Psycho; our medic Beta Nine, warname Priestess; our pilot Beta Ten, warname Redhawk; and yours truly Beta Three, warname Thinker, the Fool, the Fatalist. Lastly was Beta Six, Warhound, now missing in action. Six soldiers, out for a walk in the dark. We were still on Atom's Road; believe me, we all knew that.
Priestess sat up, her hands moving against the corridor wall. A faint reflection from a cold knife. Now what?
'What're you doing, Priestess?' She did not answer. I moved closer. Her pale face held no emotion. She was scratching something into the dark cenite metal of the corridor wall with her cold knife. I moved the lolite closer. It was a Legion cross, spidery silver lines cut into the black grime of the centuries. She wrote her lover's name under the cross: 12/22.
She put away the knife, and contemplated her handiwork calmly. I wondered if Beta Nine was going over the edge. I pondered the cross. 12/22, the 12th of the 22nd, the 12th Colonial Expeditionary Regiment of the 22nd Legion. The Black 12th, we called it, and the 22nd was the Black Legion, the Rimguard. The Legion was Priestess's lover, and my rival.
She always had a Legion cross on the wall in her quarters. I wondered about that, but I thought it a harmless eccentricity. Priestess was a believer, I knew. And here, in the cold jaws of death, she still believed. I took a deep breath.
'You planning to be here long, Priestess?' I whispered.
She slowly turned her head and focused on me with a sad little smile. 'No, Thinker…no, I hope not. I just wanted to show we had been here.'
'Who do you think is going to see it?'
She sighed wearily, and let her eyes stray back to the cross. 'It doesn't matter, Thinker—it doesn't matter. Probably nobody. But it means we were here. It shows we came this far. This far, at least, into the camp of the O's.'
Into the camp of the O's. Lord, that we were! The Twenty-second's motto was 'Deliver us from Evil,' only in the Legion chant, it was 'I will deliver us from Evil.' Well, this was it, all right; the O's were all the Evil you could ever want, and it was up to us to do the delivering. It was all up to us—one under-strength squad, Beta of CAT 24, Second of the Ship, Atom's Road, 12th CER, 22nd Legion. And maybe Beta Nine was right; why shouldn't we mark this place with our sign? It might be our epitaph. But even if we were never heard of again, at least we knew we had done it. Perhaps a million stellar years in the future, an intrepid band of brave archaeologists would come probing into a cold, dead world; full of extinct volcanoes and dead lava seas; and billions of bizarre, petrified, monstrous fossils; and come across our Legion cross and the notation: 12/22. What would they think? What sort of lunacy, they would wonder, could have drawn intelligent life to such a violent, savage, primeval world?
What sort of lunacy, indeed? The Second had stated it clearly, back on the
My faceplate lit up. 'Alert! Movement!' It was Sweety's clear, metallic voice, right in my ears. My adrenalin exploded.
'Don't move,' I hissed. The visible lights vanished, but to me, it was as clear as daylight, a cold green invisible light, my faceplate's darksight illuminating the corridor with its magical glow.
'Life form!' Sweety whispered in my ear. A red glow on my faceplate, outlining the target somewhere down tunnel. 'Exoseg Gigantic, species unknown. Advancing as marked.'
'Nobody move!' I repeated. 'It's an exo—I've got it on scope.'
'Scut!' Psycho cursed. 'Scut!'
'No movement!' Snow Leopard ordered. 'Not a muscle! Thinker, try biobloc. If that doesn't work, go to flame. No energy weapons! The rest of you, as soon as Thinker fires, attack, but until then don't move a frac!' Exos could see in the dark and they could spot the slightest movement. If nobody moved, they would not detect us. I was positively relieved it was only an exoseg. Only an exoseg! The creature could tear us all to shreds and have us for breakfast, armor and all, but they were a lot more fun than the O's—that was a definite ten.
'Species unknown! Exoseg advancing! Recommend no movement!' Sweety was absolutely right. The O had already demonstrated their mastery over these nasty exoseg buggers, and we had no way of knowing what kind of exo this was; we could not let it escape. I was frozen inside my suit, on my knees, the E in my arms. Priestess was on the deck before me.
'One, can we forget the biobloc?' I asked. 'Let me go to flame right away.' We all know the biobloc would probably not work, and it might spark the creature into fleeing. We did not dare try laser, or xmax. We were afraid the O would detect it—we did not know their capabilities.
'Negative, Three. Do biobloc, then flame.' One knows best, kiddies!
'Exoseg Gigantic approaching, species unknown!' Sweety had it on scope. I could see it vaguely now, a green blur twitching on my faceplate.
'Thinker, you earther, don't screw this up!' Psycho was angry, probably because he wanted the exo himself. I ignored him.
'Blackout, Five,' One ordered. One put up with Psycho only because the little lunatic was totally fearless in combat and a genius with his Manlink. He had saved us on Andrion 2, even I had to admit.
'Exoseg within range! Biobloc is set!' Sweety had it under control. I could see the exoseg clearly now, magnified on my faceplate. A grotesque bulbous head, glistening with compound eyes, topped with a mass of spiky, coarse bristles. Gaping, pincered jaws; long antennae, trembling, probing. Flashing black forelegs, snapping out in front of it. Exoseg Gigantic, species unknown. These were the natives of Andrion 3, and this one had probably found its way in from the outside after we did the starport. On the other hand, it could be a watchdog.
I was frozen with terror, but it did not matter. By this time, we could all deal with terror. I watched the creature twitch, coming closer and closer. I could hear it now, clicking and snapping. I raised the E and fired on biobloc. Biobloc was soundless. The creature stopped, stunned.
'Firing biobloc!' I informed the squad through clenched teeth. 'No effect!'
'Thinker, give it a few more fracs!' A frantic scrambling, all around me, armor clashing against armor. I stood up and stepped over Priestess and walked forward, into the green, and that mindless horror filled the tunnel ahead of me—Deadman, it was big! I watched myself as if from far away, ice cold and paralyzed. My body functioned perfectly. I leaned into the biobloc, the E at my shoulder, aiming right at the exo's massive head. The creature twitched once, then the antennae cracked forward and the forelegs snapped to life. It came straight at me, berserk. My very own death, my image glowing in every facet of those dead compound eyes; multiman, microman, a whole squad of Thinkers, cold black armor and winking red faceplates.
I fired and the corridor exploded in a thunderous boom and a great rolling ball of fire hit the exo with a mighty fist of flame, enveloping it immediately in spitting, blue-hot sheets of sticky, burning gas. The exoseg exploded in flames, stopped in its tracks; now burning brightly, an obscene, fiery monstrosity, doing a dance of death. I took a few more steps, hypnotized. I had the E on autoflame and I directed the stream right at its awful head. It melted like wax right before my eyes. The corridor walls glowed white-hot; the filth spitting and burning; my black armor now glowing white in waves of superheated air, a great roar in my ears; the exoseg's massive legs curling and melting, burnt black, the entire exoskeleton one great sheet of flame.
I stopped. I released the trigger, and raised the E. I stood in a river of fire. Flames licked up my A-suit; and the corridor walls were afire and the massive exo burned like paper, crackling and spitting sparks, its insides popping open, its head all burnt and melted, evil greasy smoke rolling over me. I was frozen, hypnotized. I felt nothing except a cold, mute terror. Psycho appeared beside me, the barrel of his Manlink probing ahead of him.
