"Did you really die singing some old war song?"

"Yes," I said. "Thats probably what made the machines mob us. My singing is pretty bad. By the way, did the evac go smoothly afterward?"

"Well, I wouldnt call it smooth, but about eighty percent of the troops trapped in that valley made it out. The lifter could hardly fly by the time they boarded up."

I laughed. "What about Graves? Did he make it out?"

"No. He fought to the end, the same as you did. Centurion Belter died as well. Theyve both been revived already."

"What about-" I took a sly look around, seeing no one was listening, I continued, "What about that slippery weasel Winslade?"

"He made it to safety and was air-lifted out," she confirmed, making a face.

"I figured."

I looked down, thinking about the battle again. Id thought of another person to ask about: Della. But I didnt want to mention that name in front of Anne and freak her out all over again. Id have to check on Dellas status later.

Anne must have seen the serious look on my face, because she touched my hand.

"Dont let that smile you had fade, James. Its so rare to see a man come back happy."

"You know how to fix me," I said.

She sighed. "All right. Weve got a date. Wed better hurry, though. Weve got a curse hanging over us in that department. Dont forget this time-or start some new war."

"I swear I wont-and hope to die," I said, smiling again.

The rest of the day on the ship went relatively smoothly. Those of us who had lost our dragons had been issued newly refurbished mount, and best of all wed been given a full twenty-four hour leave. That was a rare reprieve for a man in the legions in the midst of a campaign. I knew it wasnt because wed earned it. The officers just hadnt gotten our troop strengths up enough to redeploy us yet. But I appreciated the break, nonetheless.

Anne and I headed to Green Deck to have a picnic. We shared our battle-rations as part of our dinner date. To flavor it up, I found a few packets of food from home that Id left behind in my locker the last time wed been ordered to evacuate in a rush. It wasnt much, just a pile of almonds, dried peaches and a few squeeze-bottles of wine. But compared to the insta-hot beige paste the processers were feeding people today, it was pretty good.

"This is so strange," Anne said, sitting on the gra.s.s in twilight, "we were down on that nasty, stinking planet for weeks. Now, were up here enjoying Green Deck."

"Did you die down there?" I asked.

"No. I was never in battle like the rest of you. I stayed back at the base camp with most of the lifters until Turov recalled us all."

"Do you know why they pulled everyone back into s.p.a.ce?"

"Well, not exactly, but I think they found another target to attack. Last time, we were just dumping troops on the planet in case the ships were knocked out. Better to get them on the ground than to lose them all. But now theres more of a plan, I gather. The command people have figured out a goal and want to do it right this time."

"Thats exactly what I was thinking," I said, reaching out a hand to touch her forearm for a moment. "I mean the part about having a plan and wanting to do things right."

It took a second for Anne to figure out that I was talking about her. She shook her head and smiled.

"Charming," she said. "Thats what the ladies all say about you. That youre charming for a date or two then you wander off and forget their names."

"Thats a dirty lie!" I complained. "Ive never forgotten the name of the girl Im going out with."

"Okay, okay-but you know what Im talking about."

"This is just a nice dinner, thats all," I said. "Why do people have to make these things so complicated? Lets talk about something else."

I managed to get her off the topic of my dating habits and our get-together improved. We had a little wine, kissed, and walked around past other couples who were seeking privacy.

Finally, she stopped and looked up at me. "I know what you want, James," she said. "But this doesnt feel right. This place is so artificial. You know that they built it just to let us relieve stress on a campaign?"

"Seems like a d.a.m.ned good idea to me. Just like a nice park in a small town."

"Yes, but...I dont know. It doesnt feel right to me."

"Okay. You want to go back to our quarters?"

"Thats not any more romantic!"

I was confused. Shed pretty much said it was over, so Id figured she wanted to go home.

"Hey," I said, "let me show you something."

I took her down to the little canyon with the waterfall and the lake. There were a few people down there, but not too many. I showed her where Id fought for my life against the other candidates and veterans of our unit. She seemed honestly impressed.

"You killed all of them?"

"Nah, not exactly. Some of them killed each other. I just finished off the last few that were still alive."

"Thats so gruesome. To tear each other apart, just to prove whos top dog. As a bio, thats the last thing Id want to see."

"Its supposed to be a secret contest, so youll probably never have to see one of these dog-fights in person."

"The officers went along with this barbaric ritual?" she asked, still eyeing the battleground. She might have been looking for old bloodstains, but theyd long since washed away in the artificial rains.

"They sure did. They stood up there on the path and watched."

She squinted in the gloom, eyeing the rocks and the lapping water. The waterfall never let the bubbling surface of the lake smooth over.

"You know," she said thoughtfully. "They turn all this off when we get into battle or engage the warp drive. They drain the water back down into tanks and turn off the pumps. Even the rocks are anch.o.r.ed in case we lose centrifugal gravity or-"

I was laughing, so she stopped.

"You remind me of Natasha," I said. "Youre always trying to figure things out. Look up there! Those are real stars tonight, not projections like when were in a warp bubble. Are those good enough for you?"

Anne was miffed, but she got over it. "Im sorry," she said. "Im not good on dates. I dont know what to do. I havent gone out with anyone for years."

Putting a hand on her shoulder, I smiled at her. "Youre doing fine," I said. "No worries. Im having a good time. Ive felt great since I came up off that table and saw your pretty face."

"That reminds me. Why did you wake up happy? You never told me."

I shrugged. "I think it was because I decided to die this time. I decided to take as many machines down as I could. My aim was to draw them to me and go down fighting. It was all for a good cause, too. The Solstice people had had a pretty rough time of it. I thought Id let the last thousand or so of them escape. The move saved a lot of equipment, too."

"Okay, you died bravely on purpose. That made you happy?"

"It wasnt just that. Allowing most of the troops to escape saved a lot of the alien machines, too. Turov was planning to bombard the place with the broadsides from s.p.a.ce. Shed decided to kill a thousand machines all at once-and us with them. But since we got away, there was no need. Maybe, in a decade or two, those machines will become our allies."

"That seems pretty far-fetched. Theyre like animals from what Ive seen and heard."

"No, theyre more intelligent than that." I described my communications with one of their younger members to her and explained my theory that the smaller ones were smarter or at least more reasonable to interact with.

"Thats fascinating," she said. "You actually talked to them, and one of them traveled to give you a message? To tell you that they were working with the squids?"

"Yeah," I said, "but keep that part quiet, would you? I think Turov will bomb them for sure if she finds out."

"Why should you care?"

I shrugged. "Graves says that machine life is just one more possible form. Were biological, based on carbon and water. Theyre different, but this is their planet, and they live here. Who are we to exterminate them without a good reason?"

She nodded thoughtfully. I stroked her hair, but she didnt even seem to notice.

"I didnt think you had thoughts like this, James," she said. "You surprise me, sometimes."

Her words were slightly offensive, but I didnt mind. At least her opinion of me was going in the right direction.

"I think I know what the ladies find attractive about you," she said at last, giving me a frankly appraising look. "Theres more to you than meets the eye."

"Uh...does that mean?"

"I dont know. Youve been with so many other women, its disturbing."

My eyes wanted to roll, but I didnt let them. Plenty of guys had been with half the girls in the unit. But I think my affairs tended to be more high-profile, and somehow Id gotten a rep. Shrugging, I walked off around the sh.o.r.e of the tiny lake.

After a few seconds, she followed me. I led her to the waterfall. There was a small alcove back there where everything was wet with mist. This was the spot where the fireplug lady and the guy with Harris gun fought to the death-but I was smart enough not to mention that to Anne.

"This is lovely," she said. "Ive never been back here."

"You know," I said, "this body of mine has never been with another woman. Im a fresh grow. You said it yourself."

"Thats right," she laughed. "Come to think of it, my body is virgin too."

That did it, I think. She finally relaxed, and we had a good time back there behind the waterfall. Afterward, we enjoyed the temperature-controlled perfection of our simulated environment. It didnt bug me that some engineers had put this place together, planning out our natural activities. Why should it? Every bed in the world had been put together by someone expecting someone else to make love on it. Where was the harm in that?

My reverie was cut short, unfortunately. The first sign of trouble was the waterfall. It stopped falling. The water just turned into a dribble, then vanished altogether.

We sat up, looking in surprise at the lake. It was disappearing, being sucked down into a dark circular drain at the bottom.

"Looks like trouble," I said.

Anne didnt answer. She threw her clothes over herself and let the smart cloth sort out the details. I followed her, both of us half-naked, as we rushed out of there and up the path to the top of the canyon walls.

She worked her tapper, and I couldnt help but notice it was blinking red. So was mine. Wed been summoned to battle stations.

-23-.

Somewhere in the officers command center on Gold Deck, Turov had decided it was time to have a crisis. At first, I was of the opinion that shed had a hard night without sleep, and she wanted to share the pain. But I was wrong. She wasnt launching this attack-the squids were.

"Listen up, troops," Graves voice buzzed out of my tapper. I didnt have my helmet with me, but my tapper could carry voice if it had to. "Weve got incoming ships," he said. "Their design indicates two of them are enemy vessels. They emerged out of a warp bubble in-system which suggests hostile intent. I want everyone to get to battle stations, fully geared. We might have to repel boarding attempts-or abandon ship."

"c.r.a.p," I said aloud. "See you on the other side, Anne!"

She caught my arm before I could run off. She gave me a single lingering kiss then disappeared without a word. She was going to Blue Deck, I knew. As a bio, her place was among her own kind. If there was going to be a battle, shed have plenty of cleaning up to do.

I was the very last man in my squad to hop into the c.o.c.kpit of my dragon and run a systems check on it. Something clanged on my spinal cannon, and I rotated the cha.s.sis to see who was s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g with me.

Carlos grinned. Hed bashed me with a gripper. I grinned back.

"Its good to see you breathing again, a.s.shole," he said.

"You better not have dented my new dragon."

"Its all good as long as you can still walk and shoot," he said. "How are we going to die today, Vet?"

"Its going to be squids today," I said with certainty. "All squids, all day."

"I just hope I get a few shots in before they blow up the ship. Id love to see the shock on their faces when they get a load of the twins." Carlos opened his chest panel and exposed two grenade-launchers.

I smiled at that. I hadnt ordered any equipment changes, but his seemed like a good choice right about now.

As heavy cavalry aboard a ship, we were about as useful as t.i.ts on a boar-unless the enemy decided to invade Cyclops. In that case, wed come in handy.

My screens lit up, and I fully expected a grim-faced Graves would appear and order me to head to the lifters.

Instead, it was Imperator Turov. She was making a funny expression, something of a cross between a snarl and a smile.

"Get up to Gold Deck, McGill!" she snapped.

I opened my mouth to ask why, but shed already cut the channel. As a mere veteran, faced with a direct order from a high-level officer, I knew what to do.

"Sargon!" I shouted. "Youre in charge of the squad until I return. Tell Graves Ive been summoned to Gold Deck."

"Was that Turov?" asked Carlos. "I dont frigging believe it. A booty call? Mid-battle, at midnight? That woman has no shame-and precious little sense of timing."

I could have belted him, but I didnt want to take the time, and he wouldnt have felt it anyway in his dragon.

Rushing out into the pa.s.sageways, I moved to the AI-driven lifts and rode the first one that noticed me up to Gold Deck. Thats where the command people hung out.

Clanking into the command chambers, I think I startled a few people. They were all in regular, soft uniforms. I was pretty much the only guy banging around in a dragon.

"McGill!" Turov shouted. "Get over here."

I stomped over to her position. She was tiny, shapely and standing next to a cool-looking three dimensional display system.