I showed her the top of the vid collection Id saved previously. I played the most meaningful one. The movie Id chosen displayed the world that was different from all the others.

"Look," I said, "see the skyline? There are more buildings up on the landma.s.s, structures that are completely dry."

"So what?" Carlos demanded. "Maybe their oceans dried up. Maybe theyve got global warming or something."

"No, I dont think so. I think those buildings arent built like the rest of them because theyre built for different beings. Land-based aliens of some kind."

Natasha was fooling with the controls and rubbing her hands on the clear surface of the globe.

"What are you doing?" Carlos asked.

"The surface of this device is touch-sensitive," she explained, "but the interface doesnt operate in quite the way were used to. They have tentacles, not fingers. I think the squids-there! Ive got something!"

The image blurred and zoomed. We were taken away from the street scene wed been watching, which showed squids wandering their spires over the waves on ramps between the buildings. We were taken over the ocean at an alarming pace to the landma.s.s nearby. We zoomed in on a cl.u.s.ter of squatty buildings that were entirely dry.

"Howd you do that?" Kivi asked Natasha. She sounded jealous to me. "Ive been working with this thing for hours. It never let me select a portion of the image and jump to that focal point."

"You have to think like a cephalopod," Natasha said. "They have tentacles, which are a lot different than hands. I laid my hand down like a single curling appendage, using my forearm, actually, to simulate-"

"What the h.e.l.l?" Carlos interrupted. "I know that guy! See that freak? Hes one of the slavers from Dust World!"

Sure enough, we were treated to a shambling giant of a man. He was tall and thin, almost nude, and I knew from experience he smelled bad.

"Thats one of their slavers all right," I said. "Id know their kind anywhere. Lets look for a littermate. Humans-just think of it-altered humans are living among the squids on this planet."

We kept working with the system and found evidence not only of the humans theyd specially bred as slaves, but also a dozen other types of beings. They all seemed to live in relative squalor on the land.

"Lets go over what we have so far," Natasha said in her best imitation of a college prof. "This world does seem different. Its more built up than the others weve seen. Far more of the areas are urban and they have enslaved beings from many other planets living there with them. Ive noticed many of the enslaved aliens are wearing collars and working at manual tasks."

"Just like the machines here in this mine," Kivi said. "The squids are consistent, at least. They seemed bent on enslaving others."

I nodded thoughtfully, remembering the words Id heard in conversations with various squids over the last few years. "I remember the guy we met up with on Tech World," I said. "We were calling him an amba.s.sador, but he told us that was wrong. He called himself the Conqueror or something like that. He said he wasnt an amba.s.sador or an emissary. He made it very clear his job was to enslave all aliens he encountered. He seemed to think the idea he was a friendly, talkative representative of his race was amusing and maybe a little insulting."

"A slave culture," Natasha said, nodding. "A kingdom based on slavery and expansion. Its nothing new, but it might help Hegemony understand what were up against. This is an excellent find, Carlos. And you Kivi, youve shown real progress. I bet when the next exams come around for elevation into the ranks of the techs, youll be chosen."

Carlos and Kivi both beamed. This made me smile. Natasha was anything but dumb. She had to know that such praise was exactly what they were seeking. I couldnt see any harm in it, all the way around. They were doing exactly what their officers wanted, bettering themselves and making themselves more useful to the legion they served.

Earths Legions didnt handle promotions quite the way militaries of the past had done. In the old days, most armies depended on a steady diet of new recruits. The best of these became experienced and were elevated in rank. The rest were discharged as they got older and they were no longer in top physical condition.

In our small independent legions, people didnt age. You could stay a regular in a combat unit more or less forever. Eventually, most people got sick of fighting and dying and left the service. Some did stick with it and eventually rose in rank.

The difference was we didnt use seniority as the primary means for deciding who was promoted. Sure, it was a factor. But the promotional system was largely based on skills and performance. As anyone could stay young and useful to the legions for decades on the front line, an individual had to demonstrate they were special to gain rank. Kivi and Carlos were attempting to do just that, and I had to agree with Natasha, theyd shown promise.

"As your veteran," I said in a formal voice, "Id be willing to sign any letter of candidacy you might be awarded. Based on what Ive seen today, you two have shown youre ready to move up in rank."

"Thanks for your support," Kivi said to me. This time, I could tell she meant it.

Carlos looked like a kid whod finally gotten the cookie jar out of the kitchen. But he wasnt completely satisfied yet.

"Weve still got to get an officer in our chain of command to kick things off in the first place," he said. "I think thatll be the hardest part. Leeson is a p.r.i.c.k and Graves only cares about capturing points on maps. But first, we have an arrangement of our own to conclude."

The two left, but they didnt head down to the main chambers. Instead, they went into the dark, unexplored tunnels behind the water tank. There was machinery back there that pumped and heated the water in the tank, making it slosh and gurgle.

I looked after them, smiling. Just before they turned the corner and disappeared, they kissed.

"Thats cute," Natasha said, looking after them with me. "Looks like Carlos has learned a few tricks from you."

I glanced over my shoulder at her, eyebrows upraised. She went back to curling her arm into odd positions, trying to get the globe to recognize various touch-commands. Carlos and Kivi were making out in the tunnel for a minute, but then vanished.

"Hes bettered himself," I said to Natasha. "Hes made himself more useful to the legion. h.e.l.l get rank, just as I have."

"Thats not what I meant," Natasha said. "Carlos isnt out to become a tech. Hes after Kivi. Hes hunting tail not stripes, and to me it looks like hes managed to get what he really wanted."

"Oh-that. I dont think he learned that from me. I never had to work so hard to get with a girl. Women just come and go naturally."

Natasha gave me a wry glance. Somehow, I figured my words hadnt made her happy.

She might have said something rude, but right about then a big ruckus began in the room with the squid tank. Carlos was shouting, and Kivi was making a strange, screeching sound.

I ran into the tunnels with Natasha right behind me. In my mind, I figured Carlos had gone too far with Kivi. Maybe hed grabbed the wrong part of her, and p.i.s.sed her off so badly she was killing him for it. Thats what I honestly thought.

The truth was far stranger. When Natasha and I got to the chamber with the pumps and filters, we found Kivi was in the curled tentacle of a ma.s.sive squid. The thing must have been hiding somewhere-probably down in that stinking mess at the bottom of their bathing pool, or maybe it had managed to cram itself into the pipes to hide.

Either way, the tank of water must have run deeper than we thought. I didnt care where it had come from at the moment, because a squid the size of a school bus was killing Kivi before my eyes.

Without our dragons, riders like us didnt have much in the way of armor or weapons. We had less equipment than your average light trooper, in fact. But what I did have was the knife Id always carried at my side. I drew it now, climbed up onto the edge of the tank and slashed at the tentacle that held Kivi aloft.

The whole tank sloshed wildly as the squid shivered in pain. I got the feeling it wasnt used to being cut like that. The giant squid dropped Kivi, who lay limply on the edge of the tank. Natasha and I backed away, dragging Kivi with us. The foot-thick tentacles lashed overhead, but didnt strike us. I figured the ma.s.sive squid hadnt liked getting a limb amputated.

On a hunch, I raised my knife again, letting it glitter in the monsters eyes. Those eyes showed a malevolent intelligence. But unlike every other squid Id ever met, this one seemed less interested in self-sacrifice. It didnt want risk being injured. Normally, squid troops were more than ready to die to kill a man.

"Thats right," I said to the squid, even though I doubted it could understand me. "Dont even think about whacking one of us. Ill cut you apart."

Waving my knife to keep it at bay, I dared to glance at Natasha. "Is Kivi still alive?"

"Yes. She might have some broken ribs, but sh.e.l.l live."

"What do you think this thing is?"

"A fantastic opportunity. Hold it here, James. Ill run down to the main chamber and get a translator. We have the squid language loaded on our bigger computers. We can interrogate it."

"Okay, go," I said, backing away further and standing over Kivi. Unless the squid came out of its tank, it couldnt reach me now.

Natasha ran off, and I looked around quickly. "Where did Carlos go?" I asked Kivi.

She groaned in response, trying to stand. I helped her to her feet. She had both arms wrapped around her mid-section, where the squid had squeezed her with its powerful tentacle.

The squid watched us balefully from its tank, one eye lifted up into the air with a hump of brown flesh around it that looked wet and slimy.

Carlos returned to the scene shortly after that. He had a belcher with him-lord only knew where hed gotten it. Before I could say anything, he charged up to the tank and blasted the squid in the face with the weapon.

The creature popped, sending chunks of flesh, steaming entrails and boiling blood everywhere.

"Boom! I got that fugly mother!" Carlos exclaimed in triumph.

"Was that necessary?" I demanded.

"What? Seriously, McGill? The biggest ugliest squid of them all shows up and youre suddenly in love? Is that it?"

"I didnt think it was dangerous, thats all. It was unarmed. Natasha wanted to talk to it."

"Typical bleeding hearts," he said. "Ive got news for you: aliens with tree trunk-thick tentacles dont need weapons. It would have killed you all if I hadnt shown up and blasted it."

And thus ended my one and only chance to converse with a super-squid on Machine World.

-35-.

After wed searched the place carefully and made sure no other squids were hiding anywhere, Natasha and I went back to examining the data-displaying globe. Carlos took Kivi down to the main chambers to get her some medical help.

Whatever I thought of Carlos actions, Kivi seemed impressed by his efforts to defend her. She was smiling at Carlos, and even gave him a hug as she limped back down the tunnels.

Natasha and I watched them go, and we exchanged smiles. We both figured Carlos might get lucky more than once after all.

The alien globe was a fascinating device, but I sensed I was distracting Natasha somehow. Usually, shed have been so interested in a new bit of alien tech like this shed think of nothing else. But she kept bringing up remarks that were strangely off-subject.

"Youve been doing pretty well for yourself on this campaign," she said wryly, "as usual."

I didnt bother to say anything because I could see where this was going already. Shed always been the jealous type. Shed never liked the way I wandered from one girl to the next on a whim.

Her next question, however, surprised me.

"Have you ever fallen in love, James?" she asked.

"Uh...yeah. Sure. Lots of times."

She shook her head. "Forget I said that. It was an unfair question."

"Okay," I said, and I really did forget.

There was a brief, uncomfortable silence between the two of us. Finally, I thought of another thing to ask her.

"What are you doing with the globe-thing now, anyway?"

"Im trying to get a good look at their sun. If we can get a spectroscopic reading and a few other elements of data, we might be able to pinpoint where the star is. Thats critical intel, in case this war expands."

"Ah, great thinking," I said, and I meant it. We worked together on the globe for a while, and Natasha got her readings.

"Im not getting an easy match-up," she said. "d.a.m.n the Galactics. If they would only let us use their computers and their nets, wed have this figured out in seconds."

"Youll get it. Im confident in your technical abilities."

She rewarded me with a thin smile and a glance. It was the first smile Id seen on her face lately.

"You want to go back to camp and have dinner?" I asked. "Its getting late, and Im hungry."

She snorted. "Dont you have a date with Anne going?"

"No, probably not. On this planet Im always fighting, and when Im not, shes busy reviving the aftermath of battle."

"Right," she said thoughtfully. "Its like you work on opposite shifts."

"Exactly. So, how about dinner?"

She sighed resignedly. "All right."

We had dinner, and it was better than our usual fare. When a battle was over and wed won, the legions always brought out the good stuff. The Legion Solstice people had the best food of all. They had shipments of real meat, like whole hams, plus bottles-real gla.s.s bottles-of wine and liquor.

One of the best parts of camping in the mines was the increased privacy. We had s.p.a.ce and warmth to spare. Id pitched a private tent in an alcove that once held an alien smelter, and wed enjoyed the relative seclusion. Natasha used her transmission blocker, and we were on our own all night.

Natasha and I ate, drank and kissed a little, but in the end we didnt make love. Natasha had given me mixed signals on that front, but Id ignored them. After all, it had only been a few nights since Id been with Anne. I would have been with Anne tonight if Id been given the chance, but Id tried to find her and discovered she was dead tired after reviving hundreds of dead soldiers.

I didnt mind missing out on making love to Natasha. Just being with her was good enough. She was different than the other women in my life. She was pa.s.sionate, and she felt like home to me.

I woke up the next morning feeling great. Natasha was still there, sleeping off the wine wed consumed together, and I let her sleep in. I stretched out my toes in my spider silk bag, sighing in comfort. The morning was a lazy affair. I figured we were done on Machine World.

Slipping out of our shared coc.o.o.n hours after my usual waking up time, I dressed and pa.s.sed through the flaps of the tent into the cool tunnels. I walked a few steps away, looking this way and that. No one was around.

I kept walking down toward the mess tents, where I was hoping to find some breakfast leftovers. No sooner had I done so than my tapper began beeping.

"McGill?" demanded Graves. "Where the h.e.l.l have you been? We figured you managed to get yourself killed or fell down a shaft of t.i.tanium."

"No sir," I said. My mind raced, and I came up with a dodge instinctively. Even first thing in the morning, I was always ready with a glib excuse. "I pitched my tent in a private spot. Maybe I was too close to one of those stacks of t.i.tanium bricks, and my tapper was off the grid. Sorry, sir."

The real truth, of course, was wed used one of Natashas toys. Techs like to build things, and one of the things they built the most often was a cloaking device that scrambled signals in their immediate vicinity. They knew all too well that officers could check on them twenty-four-seven, and they didnt like it. They knew how to turn off their cameras, their tappers-the works. Whenever Natasha slept with me, she did this as a matter of habit.

"Dammit man, we need you. Our situation has changed. Get to the command module right now."

My dreams of breakfast ham vanished. Moving at a fast trot, I reached the command module about five minutes later. Frost and loose gravel crunched under my feet with every stride.

As I ran, the cohort server downloaded all the texts and emails and warnings Id apparently acc.u.mulated while Id enjoyed myself with Natasha. My arm was vibrating and beeping like there was no tomorrow. I didnt even bother to stop and read them all, I just kept running and saying "s.h.i.t" to myself every few steps.

"Theres McGill," Graves said the second I came in. "Get over here, Veteran."

I trotted to his side. Grim-faced officers were everywhere. I was beginning to worry. What kind of c.r.a.p was I in the middle of this time?

"Its the Nairbs," Winslade said, staring at me with hooded eyes and crossed arms. To me, he looked like my dad when I came home extremely late on a Friday night. "Theyre in-system, and they want you on the line before theyll talk."

The Nairbs. Those words struck me with a chill. They were the bureaucrats of our Empire, the proxies of the Mogwa. They were pitiless and precise. If there was a tin credit-piece missing when they finished up their accounting, theyd order everyone in town permed. Id dealt with them before on several occasions, and Id have to say that neither the Nairbs nor I had ever enjoyed the experience.