Legion Of The Damned - 06 - For Those Who Fell by William C. Dietz

hundred rounds per minute. It was shaped like a wedge with a peg-style grip mounted behind the muzzle, a combination pistol grip and trigger assembly to the rear of that, and a thirty-round magazine that protruded from the receiver. With the exception of the robots, the rest of those present had qualified with the weapon and were familiar with its capabilities. So, given the fact that none of them were armed, it made sense to wait and let someone else straighten the situation out.
    The maintenance shed’s service door was open, and just as Santana arrived in front of it, a wheeled vehicle screeched to a stop. Captain Gaphy swung a pair of highly polished boots out onto the tarmac. In spite of months spent on Adobe, his skin still looked like white parchment. He pointed a long thin finger at Santana. “Lieutenant! What’s going onhere? Why is that man pointing a weapon at Gunnery Sergeant Kuga-Ka?”
    There was another screech as a scout car full of MPs arrived. Santana sighed. If he was wrong, if the object clutched under Kuga-Ka’s massive arm was anything other than Haaby’s brain box, his career was over. “I have reason to believe that the Gunnery Sergeant removed Corporal Haaby’s brain box from her war form and brought her to this location to kill her.”
    Gaphy looked incredulous. “Are you out of your mind? Why would Kuga-Ka do something like that? I can only imagine that you have taken leave of your senses.
    â€œSergeant! Place that weapon on the ground! That’s an order.”
    Dietrich glanced at Santana, saw the officer nod, and put the CA-10 on the oil-stained duracrete floor.
    â€œAll right,” Gaphy said as he strode toward Kuga-Ka, “let’s settle this nonsense right now . . .”
    Kuga-Ka stood at attention and made no attempt to resist as the cavalry officer removed the package from his grasp, turned toward the crowd, and removed the wrapping.
    Santana held his breath as the duralon fell away, saw Gaphy frown, and heard someone gasp. “It’s a brain box!”
    Kuga-Ka made no attempt to run. There was no place to go. The Hudathan knew that his best chance, his only chance, was to pretend innocence and hope for some sort of break. “Sir! The gunnery sergeant thought it was an ammo box, sir.”
    Gaphy knew it was a lie, but didn’t want Kuga-Ka to reveal his addiction, which meant he had to be careful. “Really? Well, if so, the gunnery sergeant needs to have his eyes examined. It says ‘Corporal Mora Haaby’ right here on the box. Still, I suppose some sort of mix-up is possible.”
    â€œI don’t think so, sir,” Santana put in, as he felt a tremendous sense of relief flood his body. “Someone gave a fake brain box to the life-support techs. That makes some sort of mix-up very unlikely.”
    Gaphy swore silently. The Hudathan had been stupid, extremely stupid, but it was critical to maintain some sort of front lest the idiot spill his guts regarding the joy-leeches. “Yes, well that’s what investigations are for, aren’t they? It will all come out in due time.
    â€œCorporal!” Gaphy said, motioning to one of the MPs. “Take the gunnery sergeant into custody. I want full reports on everything you saw here. That goes for you, too, Lieutenant . . . I’ll be interested to hear how you came to be so knowledgeable about this situation, why you decided to keep such knowledge to yourself, and when you planned to let your superiors in on it.”
    â€œI look forward to that as well,” Colonel Kobbi said grimly, having arrived in time to hear the last few paragraphs. “All right, let’s break it up. I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but those transports will lift off in four hours and twenty-three frigging minutes. We don’t have time for distractions, so get your asses back to work.”
    Santana watched the MPs take control of