“Nice doggy. Where’s your master, boy?”
The stick came up again, and I thoroughly expected to get my second beating of the mission—but it didn’t come.
Instead, a small, feminine hand touched dog-boy’s elbow. The stick lowered.
“Let me talk to him, Sergeant.”
My mouth dropped open, but it really shouldn’t have. I knew that voice, I knew that hand—it was none other than Abigail Claver.
“Seriously?” I asked her. “You came out here to pick me up?”
“Of course, James. I know you pretty well. You told me about meeting the Wur out here at this lab complex, so I figured Central might get around to sending an agent here to take a look around. I’m kind of surprised to see it was you again, however. Weren’t you reassigned to doing some kind of fruit inspection at the docks, or something?”
“Something like that, yeah. I didn’t do too well. They didn’t like when the Sea Empress blew up, I guess, so they sent me out here to look around.”
“I see…” she eyed me, and I could tell she wasn’t entirely believing me. But at the same time, she didn’t seem to know about the approaching transport full of legionnaires, and I wasn’t going to tell her about that.
“Well,” I said clapping my hands on my knees and starting to get up, “I really should be getting back to Central. There’s nothing really to see out here, is there?”
Dog-boy twitched and rose up on the balls of his feet—if he had any. He was like a watchdog straining on his leash.
Abigail sighed. “No, there isn’t much out at your arrival spot. Unfortunately, you’re about to see something much more worthwhile.”
“Uh… maybe you could just fire me back toward Central? I’ve seen nothing more than a few two-legged hounds and this weird copter.”
She shook her head sadly. “You’ve seen me, too. Besides, I’ve got orders—I can’t just let you go again.”
“Let me go? Last time, you shot me.”
“Right. No more easy ways out for you, I’m afraid.”
I sat back and she gave me a tube of piss-warm water. This went well with a tube of greasy nutrient paste. I ate without gusto.
“What’s the deal with the dog-men?” I asked her. “I’ve never seen the like before.”
“You haven’t? Ah, well, I can see why not. You’re not from around here. You see, my brothers and I have gotten into a new trade.”
I eyed her, and I almost didn’t ask. But then, curiosity got the better of me. “What kind of trade? You running a puppy-farm?”
“Sort of. Remember when we used to use the revival machines to churn out primitive Claver Threes?”
“Sure do.”
“Well, we kind of ran out of gas on that idea. Revival machines are in short supply right now what with you Earthers having moved the manufacturing business away from the border.”
“Ah, so you’ve gotten into something else? How did you come up with this guy?” I jabbed a thumb at the hound, and he looked like he wanted to bite it off for me.
“He’s quite an achievement, actually. He’s a genetically designed hybrid humanoid. We’re quite proud of the breed.”
I nodded, finishing my breakfast paste with a grimace. As a prisoner, you never knew how long it was going to be before you saw your next meal, so I had a strict policy of finishing my food, even it if tasted like barf.
“Who’s your buyer?” I asked conversationally.
“The rebels, of course. They’ll take anything and anyone in their quest to put down Earth. Even humans are welcome, if they’re notorious enough.”
I thought about the Clavers and men like Armel. They were indeed renegades, traitors of the worst stripe.
Before I could ask for a place to piss, I felt the copter lurch and begin spiraling downward.
Outside the only visible window, I caught a glimpse of dark green seas and a long beach with crashing breakers. “This can’t be the same place you came from to pick me up. You reached me too fast.”
“That’s right. This is our main camp. I was out patrolling around when you tripped every alarm back at the old lab.”
Just my luck. If she’d been a few hundred kilometers farther away, I probably would have drowned myself out of boredom and been back home by now.
But noooo, I had to go and get picked up by Fido and his pack. Sucking in a deep breath, I was already planning out how I could kill as many of these jokers as possible. Maybe I’d even gain control of the copter—but I didn’t think I could fly it.
And Abigail? Well, if she got in my way and didn’t step aside, things might go badly for her, too. After all, we’d both killed the other more than once in the past.
One thing held me up, however. If I made a move, and I failed, well… I might be permed. Or at least, I’d be at the mercy of Abigail and her brothers. If they wanted to leave me dead, they could—for as long as they wanted.
Remembering an old lesson from Claver himself, I yawned and stretched. Abigail and the dog-dude eyed me. They both knew I wasn’t tame. Not by a longshot.
The copter landed, and the engines died. I climbed out with a dog at each side, and one behind me. Abigail led the way.
The base was impressive. There was hustle and bustle everywhere. I saw at least a hundred dog-men doing things—driving lifters and such. There were even a few squids helping out—and what was that? A team of Vulbites down on the beach? Damn, every human-hater I knew of seemed to be on these islands.
“Say,” I said loudly as we reached the warehouses, “you wouldn’t happen to be in a trading mood
