"You disappoint me, James," Turov said. She had her sidearm out, and she was aiming at Drusus. "Ill have to shoot him myself.

The reason why Tribune Francisco had yet to be revived was suddenly clear in my mind. Turov liked complete power, and getting her next-in-command officers out of her hair would allow her a great deal of freedom.

Should I protect Drusus, disobeying Turov? The decision was a hard one, but fortunately, it was made moot by the content of the incoming message.

"Sir!" I boomed, cranking up my external speakers. Both the officers winced. "The enemy is moving! Theyre landing on the planet!"

The message on my tapper was from Graves. Hed included a screenshot. He might have had some kind of inkling of what was transpiring in Turovs office-or he might have simply wanted to get the message to her.

Turov shot Drusus at that moment. My jaw sagged.

"You disobeyed me," she said. "I will remember that. When I give a subordinate an order to kill, I expect it to happen immediately."

Rotating the cha.s.sis on my dragon, I stared down at Drusus.

"How about I do the same thing to you?" I asked her.

She narrowed her eyes and looked at me appraisingly. "Go ahead. I want to hear your explanation to the officers after you walk out of here. Whatever it is, Im sure it will provide me with a good laugh after Im revived."

Standing over Drusus like a loyal dog, I glared at her, and she glared back.

"What are you trying to accomplish, sir?" I asked. "Are you in on this deal with Claver?"

"What if I am?"

I nodded thoughtfully. "Of course. Why else bring me up here in a dragon? Why else put the other Tribune on ice then engineer Drusus death? Worst case, you blame it all on McGill and stiff him with the bill."

Turov bent down and pulled Drusus arm out of its sleeve. She fished out a sh.e.l.l-like device, the Galactic key. I knew that if she touched her key to his tapper, she could delete his latest mental backup.

Wed done the same thing to a Galactic, sure, but to a legitimate commander? I felt it was an unwarranted violation.

My grippers both extended themselves with sudden decisiveness. Turov gave a little squeal of pain and alarm when I grabbed her wrists and lifted her off her feet. She struggled and kicked my combat machine, but the dragons armor was such that I didnt even feel it.

"Youre under arrest, Imperator. Drusus will be revived with full memories and Ill bear witness to his testimony. Your command is finished."

Saying this, I wheeled around and marched her to the door. The officers were still outside, uncertain about what to do. They might try to kill me, but I figured Id get a chance to explain before they could get through my dragons armor. After that, theyd want to know the truth. They wouldnt let Turov erase my mind or Drusus.

"Stop!" shouted Turov. "James, STOP! Ill do anything!"

Maybe Im a weak man, but I stopped. Such an offer had possibilities.

Panting, staring at the door and struggling weakly, Turov tried to twist around to see my face. "Ill make you an adjunct-no, a centurion!"

"No, sir," I said. "I dont want that unless I earn it."

"All right. What do you want then, James?"

I thought about it. I felt like a guy on a beach whos been fooling around and rubbed the wrong bra.s.s lamp. I knew this genie was a vicious thing, and she would twist my words to her benefit. I had to get something out of her that she couldnt retract later.

"Fire on the squid ships," I said at last. "Blow them away and kick-start this war the right way."

Her eyes widened. I didnt think thats what shed had in mind. I set her down on her feet, and she rubbed her bruised wrists.

"Are you mad?" she asked. "Dont you understand what Im trying to accomplish here? Claver and I have worked on this plan for months. Were giving Earth a chance. Were aligning ourselves with the squid kingdom. Well be a much bigger ally to them than we could ever be to the Empire. Have some vision, McGill!"

"Im a simple man," I said. "Ive got simple tastes and more common sense than brains. What my dull mind is telling me right now is that any scheme hatched by the likes of you and Claver is poison."

"Youre a bully with the instincts of an animal!" she shouted. "I dont know what I ever saw in you!"

If the situation hadnt been so grim, I would have laughed at that. Wed been lovers once, briefly, but I still wasnt sure who had been more shallow about the relationship.

"I cant let you work this deal without approval from Earth," I said, "even if I am impressed by the sheer b.a.l.l.s of the whole thing."

"What if I show you I do have approval from Earth?" she asked.

"That would be different."

She reached nonchalantly for her tapper. Instinctively, I grabbed her wrists again. Shed already tapped one b.u.t.ton by the time I got a hold of her. The second b.u.t.ton, when I looked, was as I figured: security.

"I see," I said. "Theres no approval from Earth. You just wanted to call the MPs in here and tell them old McGill went nuts again, am I right? In fact, Im pretty sure I know now why Im really here. Someone had to be guilty of killing Drusus. Who better than that crazy redneck over there in the metal suit?"

Her face blazed with anger. "Let go of me, James."

"Cant do that. Order the attack on the squids, or Im frog-marching you out there onto Gold Deck. Everyone will see it. You cant erase all their minds. How would you even manage to kill them all in the first place?"

She bared her teeth, and her eyes darted from side to side. I could tell she was thinking hard. There was no escape, and I could see she wasnt having any luck coming up with another dodge.

The door began to chime again. The officers were probably freaking out, wanting guidance from their top bra.s.s.

"Youve got ten seconds," I said. "Then I open that door."

"All right, all right! Let go of me. I need to open a line to talk."

Instead of letting go of her, I used her tapper to open the general command chat myself. She looked at the red blinking transmission light. It was active and her words were being recorded. She breathed hard for a few seconds.

I nodded to her, prompting her to say something. I could see in her eyes that she was thinking about yelling for help. But she hadnt erased Drusus mind yet, and I still had her in my grippers. I might even pull an arm off or something. She had to know that was a possibility. Such things had happened in the past.

"The squids are breaking our truce," she announced at last. "Advance and destroy their ships. Leave the Galactic trade ship alone."

Her tapper beeped as the channel closed. I set her down on the deck as gently as I could. She glared up at me with baleful eyes.

"Ill get you for this, McGill," she said, rubbing her wrists and straightening her uniform.

"Looking forward to it, sir. Uh...what are we going to do about Drusus?"

"Can I erase his memory now, or are you going to man-handle me again?"

I thought about it. "Lets make a deal, Galina. All this will be one more dirty little secret between us. You dont blame me, and Ill back up whatever story you want to tell."

Turov frowned. "I thought you were in love with Drusus or something."

"No sir, you get me all wrong. This isnt about loving anyone. This is about hating Claver and the squids."

Turov nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe you can be useful in this new situation. Youve put me in a bad spot. Claver will take this as a double-cross. Im unsure as to how Ill proceed."

"Im always good in a war, sir," I said. "Just point me at something you want destroyed. Preferably a squid this time, though."

Turov gave me a half-smile as she erased Drusus mind. I have to admit, that look of hers creeped me out a bit. She was already working on an entirely new scheme. I knew I was a player in it, and I also knew I wasnt going to like my new role-whatever it was.

The ship lurched then, throwing both of us against the far wall of her office. Drusus body flopped like a doll. The ship was making maneuvers. I could only imagine what kind of firepower was flying around outside the hull that surrounded us.

My dragon automatically climbed to its feet. I helped Galina up as gently as I could, but she swatted my grippers away. She pointed to Drusus.

"Thats our chance she said. Snap his neck."

"What about the burn hole in his chest?"

"Let me worry about that."

I looked at Drusus. Sure, he was already dead, but I felt like a ghoul just contemplating breaking a dead mans bones.

"Come on, McGill, dont tell me youre squeamish now!" she growled. She got hold of Drusus, put her knee against his throat and twisted with both hands. The popping sound made me wince.

"There," she said, panting. "We have an accidental death on our hands. A terrible tragedy, a freak incident. Well avenge his loss upon the squids."

Shaking my head, I followed her next orders. We carried Drusus out onto Gold Deck. People looked at us suspiciously, especially Graves. I think he knew there was funny business afoot, and it made me feel a little self-conscious.

Like some kind of grim reaper, I carried my own tribune down to Blue Deck. There, a familiar face met me. It was none other than the high-ranking bio, Centurion Thompson. Shed always been a sidekick of Turovs. Her att.i.tude told me she wasnt shocked by Drusus death. Shed been tipped off and probably given orders as to what to do by Turov herself.

Thompson took the body from me with the help of two orderlies. "Cause of death, accidental injury," she said without looking. "Mark him as a shipboard battle casualty."

They walked away from me, hurrying down the pa.s.sage. The two orderlies looked at one another, frowning. One of them was already fingering the burn-hole.

"But sir, what about this-"

"You have your orders," Thompson said. "Have I been unclear in some manner?"

"No sir. Im clear."

"Good, now recycle the body immediately. We need to charge our protoplasm tanks with fresh material. He wont be the last to die on this ship today."

They disappeared into the bowels of Blue Deck, and I left them to their grim arts.

-25-.

The battle with the squid ships was brief but violent. The enemy vessels turned out to be troop transports, not true warships. They fired missiles back at Minotaur and Cyclops but only scored minor damage.

Each of our ships unloaded a full barrage from their broadsides into the enemy. The enemy ships were torn apart as they hung just above the atmosphere.

Treachery, thats what it was-in more ways than one. The fact that Claver and Turov had hatched this deal outside of government channels against the Empire was the work of two renegades. On the other hand, the squids had been screwed as well. Theyd doubtlessly been a.s.sured they wouldnt face resistance and hadnt sent serious naval vessels to protect their troopships.

Smiling, I watched the vid over and over again. I could only imagine what Claver must be screaming about Turov on his bridge right now. Unsurprisingly, his trade ship beat a hasty retreat from the system.

I knew Claver fairly well. He was a trader through and through. He wanted to make money, not war. In some ways I could approve of the goal. But hed always advanced his agenda outside of regular channels, and not for moral reasons. He wanted to cash in, thats all. Greed, pure and simple. He didnt care if a few million citizens lived or died as long as he got his paycheck.

Apparently, his plan had been to set up a trading outpost right here on Machine World, no doubt charging squids and humans alike for his services. The squids were to have military possession of Machine World, while Earth got all the mineral output. That way, both sides could save face and live together peacefully. Come to think of it, the arrangement wouldnt have been a half-bad one if wed been living with a different political reality.

The trouble was there was this little thing called the Galactic Empire to worry about. They had a million star systems while the squids had an estimated three hundred. Humanity? We were a joke with only two. Millions of star systems translated into millions of warships, and then an extinct species by the end of any conflict that came our way.

As things stood now, it looked like Humanity was going to expand our holdings by a dramatic fifty percent. This third star system would be ours, with all its mineral wealth. All we had to do was evict the squids that had already landed and pacify the ravenous native machines. It should be a piece of cake, really.

"McGill?" my tapper asked me. It was Graves voice.

I accepted the private connection without hesitation. "What is it, sir?"

"Are you watching this so-called battle? The enemy ships are both down."

"Yes, sir. I can see it. The squids have got to be p.i.s.sed."

Graves didnt say anything for a few seconds. I thought about closing the connection, but I didnt. It was still open, and hed made the call. He could decide when the conversation was over.

"McGill?" he asked finally. "What happened on Gold Deck in the Imperators office tonight?"

"You sure you really want to know about that, sir?"

"No..." he said. "No, I probably dont. Ill just let it go."

"Thank you, Centurion. Anything else?"

"Yes. Were you in on todays events before they began to unfold?"

It took me a few seconds to realize what he was talking about.

"No sir!" I said firmly. "I ended up playing a role in the drama, but I had no idea Claver was going to show up repping the squids, much less that Turov was going to try to play nice with him."

Graves gave me a dirty chuckle. "Thats what I thought. Those two should have made sure you were on board before they tried to include you in their schemes. I could have told them that much."

It made me happy to think that my superior had faith in me. I wasnt a schemer. I was an opportunist and a loose cannon, sure, and I didnt always follow orders. But that didnt mean I could be counted on to go along with the random crazy plans of others. I was glad that Graves knew that.

"I guess those two dont really understand me, sir," I said.

"I guess not. Graves out."

The connection closed, and I headed for Blue Deck. My date with Anne had been cut short, and I wanted to see if she was in the mood to continue our get-together.

When I got there, the place was shutting down. Anne had left to go to bed. I couldnt blame her. After all, it was only a few hours until dawn. I went back to my quarters, laid down, and pa.s.sed out.