Hito, he smiles and nods approvingly as if I’ve just passed some test.
“I’ve brought you a present,” he says. His words are addressed to an old woman who sits behind a counter.
“What have we got here?” she demands.
“An ex-legionnaire.”
“I didn’t ask who, ” she replies, more snippily than necessary. “I asked what. ”
“He’s human,” says the sergeant, his voice amused. It looks like they’ve known each other for a long time. “You can run tests.”
“We’ll all human, darling,” she says. “Or didn’t our beloved leader tell you?”
“Madie…”
“I know. All beings in the empire are human, even the ones that aren’t. It’s the new rules.”
“It’s been a hundred years.”
“Exactly,” she says. “The next emperor will probably change it. And then there’ll be no end of trouble…”
“ Strip, ” says the sergeant, and it takes me a second to realize he means me.
“God,” she says. “Couldn’t you have showered him first?”
“He’s been in the sergeants’ brothel.”
“You don’t say…Use that,” she orders, pointing to a cubicle door. It’s an oval tube made from glass, with a touch pad set into a shiny black console. There’s nothing to say what any of the buttons do. Choosing one at random, I tap it once; when that doesn’t produce an effect I tap it again.
A few seconds later I’m sitting on the floor clutching my hands to my eyes, blinded by a light brighter than any I’ve ever seen in the deserts south of Karbonne, and the sergeant is standing over me, swearing.
“What happened?”
“I’m fucking blind,” I tell him, trying to struggle upright and tripping over my own feet. Two sets of hands help me.
“Don’t tell me,” says the woman. “You looked at the light?”
“I didn’t know there was going to be one. No one told me.”
She sounds more serious when she speaks again.
“How long did you look?”
“A second.”
“You sure?”
“If that,” I say. I’ve been in enough deserts and enough battles to know that light blinds. Already I can see her silhouette peering hard into my face. My reflexes probably kicked in before any real damage could be done.
“I’m all right.”
“No, you’re not,” says the sergeant. “We need to get you down to the medical bay immediately.”
“I’m fine,” I repeat. “Look, I can already see both of you.”
Fingers grab my face and wrench it around. It’s the woman, and she has a grip like steel. Her face gets closer to me and I can smell sour breath as she stares deep into my eyes, peering so hard it feels like she’s trying to see through to the back.
“Fuck,” she says. “He’s a self-healer.”
They disappear into a huddle and return looking determined. “We’d like to do some tests,” says the woman.
“To tell you what you already know?”
Sergeant Hito grins.
I can see it already. She wants to be able to tell General Jaxx what she’s discovered without having to reveal how she discovered it: by potentially blinding his new pet.
“Okay,” I say, figuring I probably owe the sergeant. And the shower has killed the stink of living with the ferox, something even a spell in Paradise was unable to do.
As the woman sits me in front of a computer, Sergeant Hito begins to walk the length of a row of prosthetic arms, shaking his head every few paces. At the end of the row, he turns around and starts again.
“Nothing big enough.”
“Grow him one,” the woman says. “With this level of healing you’ll have no trouble at all.”
“He wants a metal one.” The sergeant looks at me. “That’s right, isn’t it?”
“Tell him he can’t.”
“The problem,” says the sergeant, “is that he probably can.”
“Ah,” she says. “Close personal interest, eh?”
For a second the sergeant looks as if he wishes this conversation hadn’t started, but I’m not really listening, because I’m sitting in front of a computer that seems to be doing nothing
“I’ve brought you a present,” he says. His words are addressed to an old woman who sits behind a counter.
“What have we got here?” she demands.
“An ex-legionnaire.”
“I didn’t ask who, ” she replies, more snippily than necessary. “I asked what. ”
“He’s human,” says the sergeant, his voice amused. It looks like they’ve known each other for a long time. “You can run tests.”
“We’ll all human, darling,” she says. “Or didn’t our beloved leader tell you?”
“Madie…”
“I know. All beings in the empire are human, even the ones that aren’t. It’s the new rules.”
“It’s been a hundred years.”
“Exactly,” she says. “The next emperor will probably change it. And then there’ll be no end of trouble…”
“ Strip, ” says the sergeant, and it takes me a second to realize he means me.
“God,” she says. “Couldn’t you have showered him first?”
“He’s been in the sergeants’ brothel.”
“You don’t say…Use that,” she orders, pointing to a cubicle door. It’s an oval tube made from glass, with a touch pad set into a shiny black console. There’s nothing to say what any of the buttons do. Choosing one at random, I tap it once; when that doesn’t produce an effect I tap it again.
A few seconds later I’m sitting on the floor clutching my hands to my eyes, blinded by a light brighter than any I’ve ever seen in the deserts south of Karbonne, and the sergeant is standing over me, swearing.
“What happened?”
“I’m fucking blind,” I tell him, trying to struggle upright and tripping over my own feet. Two sets of hands help me.
“Don’t tell me,” says the woman. “You looked at the light?”
“I didn’t know there was going to be one. No one told me.”
She sounds more serious when she speaks again.
“How long did you look?”
“A second.”
“You sure?”
“If that,” I say. I’ve been in enough deserts and enough battles to know that light blinds. Already I can see her silhouette peering hard into my face. My reflexes probably kicked in before any real damage could be done.
“I’m all right.”
“No, you’re not,” says the sergeant. “We need to get you down to the medical bay immediately.”
“I’m fine,” I repeat. “Look, I can already see both of you.”
Fingers grab my face and wrench it around. It’s the woman, and she has a grip like steel. Her face gets closer to me and I can smell sour breath as she stares deep into my eyes, peering so hard it feels like she’s trying to see through to the back.
“Fuck,” she says. “He’s a self-healer.”
They disappear into a huddle and return looking determined. “We’d like to do some tests,” says the woman.
“To tell you what you already know?”
Sergeant Hito grins.
I can see it already. She wants to be able to tell General Jaxx what she’s discovered without having to reveal how she discovered it: by potentially blinding his new pet.
“Okay,” I say, figuring I probably owe the sergeant. And the shower has killed the stink of living with the ferox, something even a spell in Paradise was unable to do.
As the woman sits me in front of a computer, Sergeant Hito begins to walk the length of a row of prosthetic arms, shaking his head every few paces. At the end of the row, he turns around and starts again.
“Nothing big enough.”
“Grow him one,” the woman says. “With this level of healing you’ll have no trouble at all.”
“He wants a metal one.” The sergeant looks at me. “That’s right, isn’t it?”
“Tell him he can’t.”
“The problem,” says the sergeant, “is that he probably can.”
“Ah,” she says. “Close personal interest, eh?”
For a second the sergeant looks as if he wishes this conversation hadn’t started, but I’m not really listening, because I’m sitting in front of a computer that seems to be doing nothing
Similar Books
