'Damn it!' I exclaimed. 'We don't need this!'
'It was a good aircar,' Whit said, 'but I guess we lose it. We certainly can't identify ourselves.' It was chilly and wet and dark. I slipped the comtop over my head, and Sweety lit it all up for me.
'Follow me,' I said. 'I've got Alpha Station up ahead. The sky is full of junk.' I could see it all on the scope, flocks of aircars circling over the station just like birds and fighters dropping through the at like cenite bricks. A blinding flash lit up the sky, dazzling my eyes. A sharp explosion followed.
'What was that?'
'I don't know,' I said. We crashed through the brush noisily. 'Tell me about Uldo! What happened to Beta?'
'The Legion was tracking down O's and killing them off one by one when we left,' Whit gasped. 'They had over-run large chunks of the O's territory. We had the vac and the at when we left. It was just a matter of exterminating them—but it's going to take a long time to do it. They were freeing thousands of Uldo prisoners—and uncovering horrors we don't even want to think about.'
'What about Beta?'
'What does it mean, what about Beta? Doesn't it know? They never told us a thing about what Beta was up to. And we had no means of communicating with Cinta. When we got the message from Andrion Two, we found it hard to believe at first. But when we got orders to proceed there, we believed it.'
'Aircar approaching!' Sweety warned me.
'Aircar, Whit! Freeze!' We groveled in rotting leaves, crawling like worms into the darkest shadows of the forest. An aircar passed overhead, then started to turn back. A bright light flickered through the tall black trunks of the flowertrees. It was cold and my heart was hammering.
I activated the E.
'Aircar returning,' Sweety reported, 'probing, mags, thermo, infra, searchlight.'
'Don't move, Whit!'
'We're too scared to move!' Blazing white light cut into hundreds of flashing segments by the trees, the air full of flying leaves, the aircar closer and closer.
'Sensor lock! We've been spotted!' Sweety gave us the word.
'Run, Whit! Run or die!' I burst to my feet and ran, dodging from tree to tree, gasping for breath. I knew we'd be hard to hit in the forest, but a stunstar might bring us down. Whit was back there, darting through the shadows.
The aircar did not follow us. It settled into the trees, an eerie, glittering volcano of light. I skidded to a stop by a tree and brought Whit down by an arm as she hurtled past.
'Ow! We think it broke our arm!'
'Shut down and don't move!'
'Aircar discharging troopers,' Sweety said, 'two, four, six, nine. Squad of Legion troopers in pursuit! Recommend flight or fight.'
'Deadman! Damn it damn it damn it!' A Legion squad—we'd never get away from them!
'Flight sounds good to me!' Whit exclaimed. I knew it was hopeless. We couldn't outrun them—the aircar was already rising and soon it would be on us as well. Flight or fight—absolutely right, Sweety. I could fight, maybe take out some of them—maybe even a lot of them—but the aircar would get us. Hopeless!
'Let's go,' I said. 'Run!' We took off again and the aircar whistled over the tops of the trees, probing with the searchlight.
'Uniden intruders, halt or we will fire!' The message crackled in my ears.
'Troopers approaching—we have been spotted—aircar has locked on again!' We crashed down a steep cliff covered with shrubbery. Whit did not get up. I staggered back to find her laid out, gasping.
'We can't!' she said. 'We don't want to die! Leave us! We're surrendering!'
I turned and ran into the dark, frantic. The searchlight flickered wildly all around me, a nightmare light show. I flashed to another time, also on Andrion 2—we had hunted down two Systie troopers through a cold forest just like this one. They had both died—and now it was my turn.
A deafening blast behind me, and the shock wave knocked me off my feet—stunstar! The forest blazed, glittering with hot raw light. I staggered on. Vac bolts burst off the trees around me. I went to ground and crawled to the closest tree.
'Target, Sweety!' I raised the E, set to auto xmax.
'Target marked!' A Legion trooper, A-vest and comtop, right in my sights, icy laser sights, my finger gently caressing the trigger, just a tad more pressure and he dies.
A Legion trooper! Insanity! Am I insane? Are we all insane?
I dropped the E onto the leaves.
'Legion squad, I'm surrendering!' I choked out. 'I will not fire on you!'
###
I guess we were both in shock when they hustled us into the aircar. Whit was pale and splattered with dirt but unhurt. The squad's One was a young Outworlder who looked like he was in shock himself.
'You're Beta Three!' he accused me. 'Admit it!'
'All right, I'm Beta Three. So now what happens?'
'And this is Maralee Whitney, exec of the Maiden—right?'
'Right. So?'
'Terrific! We did it, guys!' The squad was excited and hyper, packing into the aircar. The assault door snapped shut and we lurched up into the dark.
'Three Three, Elektra, mission successful, we've recovered them both, request instructions!'
'Elektra, Three Three One, good! We've got a little trouble in the airpark, go directly to the port, acknowledge!'
'Those people are shooting anything that moves!'
'You'll be covered, Elektra, I'm calling them right now. I'm ordering Alpha to the port as well.'
'Does anybody know what the hell is happening?'
'That's a twelve. Just get them in the shuttle.'
'Tenners.'
The squad's One handed me back my E. I gaped at it stupidly.
'I don't know who you people are,' he said, 'but there are a whole lot of seriously disturbed individuals out there who want to get ahold of you in the worst way. And all I can say is that's not going to happen on my watch. That right, guys?'
A murmur of assent from the Legion squad. They were clad in litesuits and comtops, fully armed and fully confident. Arrogant, foolish young troopers, spoiling for a fight. There were even a few girls. I could see Beta in their eyes. Had we ever really been that innocent?
'You mean you're not with ConFree?' I asked carefully.
'ConFree? We're with the Legion! We've been ordered to get you aboard the P.S. Maiden. What do you mean, ConFree? We're all with ConFree, aren't we?'
'Never mind.'
'Do you know what this is all about? Who are those crazies? Does it have something to do with ConFree?'
'All I can say is don't trust anybody.'
'That part we've already figured out!'
'Firefight at the Port,' someone reported.
'Well, scut!' Elektra One exclaimed. 'That's where we're going, guys. Iden targets and suppressing fire, Ten—then we roll in and drop off, by element—Death!'
'You got it!'
'Death!' The car snapped to the left and we fell into the dark. Tracers floated past outside. A chainlink screeched wildly—the pilot was prepping the zero.
'Two, you take the third,' Elektra One was saying, 'with the two specials. Escort them to the shuttle. Kill anyone who tries to interfere. Alpha should have the sit in hand. We'll cover you. You two—' he turned to Whit and me—'stick with Elektra Two here. He'll do you right.' Elektra Two was a young Assidic male with fierce slit eyes
