of them," Merlin said.
"We'll deal with them one at a time," Snow Leopard replied. "Beta, on me." And he was off, his E balanced casually over one shoulder.
"One at a time," Speedy mumbled. "Great! It's obvious the place is completely surrounded by airsat. We can't fight airsat, can we? Can we?"
"Keep your comments to yourself, Fourteen," Valkyrie said. "When we want your opinion, we'll ask for it." Speedy did not respond. The fellow was starting to get on my nerves.
As we walked through the dust, Uldo's sun rose higher and higher, but it was only a vague glow behind the grey clouds. We kept the airsat on our left. I hoped there were no more of them lurking up ahead. Getting trapped between two of them would be most unhealthy.
###
"Anybody got any dog vomit?" Psycho asked. We were huddled in a tangle of wreckage inside a blown-out squadmod, taking a quick break for lunch. We had our visors up and freezing air was turning our noses and lips blue as we wolfed down our rations.
"Yeah," Dragon responded. "I've got one that I'm saving for tomorrow. You taking a survey, or what?"
"Give you two bat guano for it."
Dragon laughed. "You're a funny guy."
"I haven't finished! Two bat guano and a depth charge. Aw right?"
"I really like the DV," Dragon said.
"So do I. What do you want for it?"
"You got a sister?"
I tuned out. "Priestess," I whispered. "Look what I got." She sat beside me silently staring into space, an empty ratpack in one hand. I passed her a doxcup and popped it open. The rich aroma rolled over us.
"Dox!" Her eyes sparkled and an angelic smile transformed her face. It was so lovely that my heart just ached for her. She took a sip with trembling hands. It was so hot it burnt her lips. "You're a magician, Thinker. I love it!"
"Aw right, who's been hoarding the dox? Thinker, you scut!" Psycho was outraged.
"Don't badmouth my man," Priestess said. "He's just bought my soul with this dox."
"Thinker, I'll trade you two bat guano for a dox."
"Some mission, huh, Thinker?" It was Merlin, resting with his back up against a crumpled bulkhead, spooning up his rations. "Remember Mongera?"
"A memorable vacation," I replied.
"I never thought we'd get out alive," Merlin said. "I thought we were all cooked for sure." Merlin had survived Mongera without a scratch. It was miraculous, but he deserved it, after losing both legs on Coldmark. I had gotten through Coldmark all right but had lost an arm and a large chunk of my hide on Mongera. The Legion had grown it all back for me, just like Merlin's new legs. If you stayed in the Legion long enough, you could eventually become entirely artificial. There were some people like that, still walking around pretending to be human. You could generally tell by the things they said—they were seriously crazy.
"What are our chances for this one, Merlin?" I asked. It started to snow—wet snow sifted softly down through the gaps in the roof of the squadmod and evaporated on our armor.
"Snow—just what we need," Psycho said.
Merlin put his ratpack down and looked up at the shredded ceiling. "Technically, we're in much better shape this time, Thinker," he said. "We know how to kill the O's now, and we didn't last time. But it's going to depend on what we meet—and how many of them."
Merlin sounded so casual, so matter of fact—as if he had been killing O's all his life. It was truly miraculous. He had embraced death on Mongera; he had almost thrown his life away for Beta, for us all. I would never forget it. Mongera had changed us all.
"You've studied the O's, Merlin—what motivates them?" I knew that nobody knew the answer to that, but I respected Merlin's opinions.
"I think their motivations may be similar to ours. They are an aggressive, expanding power. They're migrating, hungry for new worlds, and as oxygen breathers, they want our worlds. They're an ancient race, with awesome psychic abilities that we cannot match. It appears so far that the differences between human
"We'll deal with them one at a time," Snow Leopard replied. "Beta, on me." And he was off, his E balanced casually over one shoulder.
"One at a time," Speedy mumbled. "Great! It's obvious the place is completely surrounded by airsat. We can't fight airsat, can we? Can we?"
"Keep your comments to yourself, Fourteen," Valkyrie said. "When we want your opinion, we'll ask for it." Speedy did not respond. The fellow was starting to get on my nerves.
As we walked through the dust, Uldo's sun rose higher and higher, but it was only a vague glow behind the grey clouds. We kept the airsat on our left. I hoped there were no more of them lurking up ahead. Getting trapped between two of them would be most unhealthy.
###
"Anybody got any dog vomit?" Psycho asked. We were huddled in a tangle of wreckage inside a blown-out squadmod, taking a quick break for lunch. We had our visors up and freezing air was turning our noses and lips blue as we wolfed down our rations.
"Yeah," Dragon responded. "I've got one that I'm saving for tomorrow. You taking a survey, or what?"
"Give you two bat guano for it."
Dragon laughed. "You're a funny guy."
"I haven't finished! Two bat guano and a depth charge. Aw right?"
"I really like the DV," Dragon said.
"So do I. What do you want for it?"
"You got a sister?"
I tuned out. "Priestess," I whispered. "Look what I got." She sat beside me silently staring into space, an empty ratpack in one hand. I passed her a doxcup and popped it open. The rich aroma rolled over us.
"Dox!" Her eyes sparkled and an angelic smile transformed her face. It was so lovely that my heart just ached for her. She took a sip with trembling hands. It was so hot it burnt her lips. "You're a magician, Thinker. I love it!"
"Aw right, who's been hoarding the dox? Thinker, you scut!" Psycho was outraged.
"Don't badmouth my man," Priestess said. "He's just bought my soul with this dox."
"Thinker, I'll trade you two bat guano for a dox."
"Some mission, huh, Thinker?" It was Merlin, resting with his back up against a crumpled bulkhead, spooning up his rations. "Remember Mongera?"
"A memorable vacation," I replied.
"I never thought we'd get out alive," Merlin said. "I thought we were all cooked for sure." Merlin had survived Mongera without a scratch. It was miraculous, but he deserved it, after losing both legs on Coldmark. I had gotten through Coldmark all right but had lost an arm and a large chunk of my hide on Mongera. The Legion had grown it all back for me, just like Merlin's new legs. If you stayed in the Legion long enough, you could eventually become entirely artificial. There were some people like that, still walking around pretending to be human. You could generally tell by the things they said—they were seriously crazy.
"What are our chances for this one, Merlin?" I asked. It started to snow—wet snow sifted softly down through the gaps in the roof of the squadmod and evaporated on our armor.
"Snow—just what we need," Psycho said.
Merlin put his ratpack down and looked up at the shredded ceiling. "Technically, we're in much better shape this time, Thinker," he said. "We know how to kill the O's now, and we didn't last time. But it's going to depend on what we meet—and how many of them."
Merlin sounded so casual, so matter of fact—as if he had been killing O's all his life. It was truly miraculous. He had embraced death on Mongera; he had almost thrown his life away for Beta, for us all. I would never forget it. Mongera had changed us all.
"You've studied the O's, Merlin—what motivates them?" I knew that nobody knew the answer to that, but I respected Merlin's opinions.
"I think their motivations may be similar to ours. They are an aggressive, expanding power. They're migrating, hungry for new worlds, and as oxygen breathers, they want our worlds. They're an ancient race, with awesome psychic abilities that we cannot match. It appears so far that the differences between human
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