He lowered his voice from gravely speech to a low rumble. “You know, in secret, I’m glad you did it. Serves those nerds right. Their robots aren’t even approved for deployment by the Galactics.”
“That’s what I was thinking. Given that the robots are a violation, why are they out here with us on this adventure?”
Graves shrugged. “We’re not in Province 921 anymore, remember? Mogwa laws don’t apply here.”
“Ah… right. I get it. Are we really going to have to fight with these things?”
“I don’t know. They’ll have to put them in rubber suits or something. You probably did them a favor by showing them that weakness.”
“That’s what I told the techies, but it was no dice. Arrogant sons-a-bitches.”
Graves chuckled and bought me my next brew. At least I knew I was good with him—and he wasn’t alone. Several others had come to secretly cheer me on. Everyone under the level of Winslade hated the robots. No one had ever liked getting a beat-down from a machine. No one.
To my surprise, Graves didn’t walk out of the place. Instead, he spun a chair around backwards and sat on it. He stared at me intently. “How are you feeling after that flogging?”
“Uh… not bad. It’s nothing a can of spray-on skin couldn’t fix up.”
He nodded, and he kept staring at me.
“Is there something else, Primus?”
“Yep. Can you guess what it is?”
I shook my head. “Give me a hint, sir. It’s been a long day.”
“Okay… you know how we don’t have the enemy position too well pinned down? Out on Green World?”
“Uh… yeah, sure. I heard some theories. The biggest landmass, south side—you told me yourself, sir.”
“So I did. Can you think of a quick way we can get some recon? Maybe even a fix on the enemy base? I’m talking about the actual location, so we don’t have to spend a day or two scanning the planet?”
I squinched up my eyes, giving it a hard think. “We could use probes, right?”
Graves smiled, but there wasn’t any humor in it. “Close—if you’re calling a tele-cast commando a probe.”
“Oh… oh now, hold on, Primus.”
He stood up again, and he clapped me on the back. That burned where my skin had been recently peeled back. “Tomorrow is your lucky day. Report to Gray Deck at 0600—and don’t be late.”
I nodded, and I didn’t even argue. Sure, I was banged up, tired, and this was a suicide mission—but that’s how things went in the legions. Graves had liked how I’d trashed the robots, but he turned around and volunteered me for this hell-ride to Green World anyway.
That night I flopped on my bunk, tuckered out. Something about fighting hard then being punished all day long with meetings and beatings took it out of a man.
But along about midnight, when I was snoring hard, someone tapped on my door.
I came awake with a snort, fumbling out my pistol. No one was in the room, so I set it aside. “Go away!” I shouted at the door. Then I began dreaming again almost immediately.
The lock snicked open.
My bloodshot eyes flapped open. I came up with a knife in my hand. I was growling like a bear.
“Sorry, Centurion,” said a soft voice. “I… I’ll come back some other time.”
My mind caught up quickly. I gave myself a shake and pulled open the door.
Jenny Mills stood there, eyeing me and the deck in turn.
“What’s up, Centurion?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “I thought maybe you needed some cheering up. I mean—they blamed you for the robots and everything. If I’d thought of it, I’d have done the same thing. Those machines chewed up my unit.”
I nodded, and I yawned. “Want to come in?”
“I don’t want to disturb your beauty rest.”
“You already have, and that’s a crying shame—but I’m a man who can accept apologies.”
She looked up at me for a moment. She was thinking it over. I figured I’d freaked her out a little by roaring awake telling her to piss off and all. Girls never liked that kind of greeting.
Finally, she relaxed and gave me a flickering smile. “I could use a nightcap—if you’re not too tired.”
I was tired. Bone-tired. But, when an attractive young lady is interested, there’s always a little more juice in my battery. I took her hand, led her inside, and fed her some spirits. We made a night of it, until I rolled out of bed around 0530 to get ready for my scheduled Gray Deck jaunt.
“Where are you going? Do you run your troops every morning, even after yesterday?”
“Usually, yes. But today is special. You know this place we’re headed to?”
“You mean Green World? I guess, but I’ve never been there.”
“Well, I’m going to visit the place early. I’m being fired out of a cannon to scout the planet for the brass.”
Jenny looked shocked. “You’ve drawn a suicide mission? Because you broke a few robots? That’s not fair.”
I shrugged. “Nope. These things never are. Wish me luck.”
She gave me a small kiss, and her voice was hot in my ear. “Luck, James.”
I gave her tight little butt one last squeeze, then she slipped away, saying she had to go before everyone in the unit knew she’d spent the night in my cabin.
Unfortunately, I was pretty sure they all knew by now anyway. When you’ve got two female techs in your unit, and they’ve both slept with you in the past, well sir, there’s no such thing as privacy.
-35-
Half an hour later I was still yawning and scratching. I found myself stuffed into a casting couch, and the damned thing was a bit too short for my lengthy person. I barely cared. If part of me strayed out of the field and I died, or whatever,
