Several sets of boots tramped on the metal decks. They were behind me in the last side-passage I’d passed by.

  Whirling around, I took a knee and quietly slid back the bolt on my rifle. There was nowhere to run. They were too close behind me, and they would have heard my clanking boots anyway.

  “Could you have been followed?” a man asked, and I knew who he was at once. He had a French accent—it was Armel.

  The female voice spoke again, but I didn’t catch the words.

  The first shape walked around the corner up ahead. They had pistols out, and I’d expected them to be Claver types—but they weren’t. They were saurians.

  That was a shock. I’d been expecting bears, maybe. Or Class-Three Clavers. But saurians? I hadn’t seen them lately, except for a few bio workers like that lizard-puke named Raash.

  It didn’t matter. I opened up on them, firing a spray of power-bolts down the passage. The first two went down fast. They weren’t armored, and they only carried pistols. I left them piled on top of one another with one of their thick, alligator-like tails sticking up and thrashing weakly.

  For a second, the passage quieted. No one else came around the corner, but I didn’t hear any pounding feet, either. They weren’t rushing in or retreating.

  I took a fresh grip on my rifle—why did your hands always get sweaty and cramped at moments like this? I stared down the sights and tried not to blink.

  Then I heard something. A click behind me.

  Whirling around, I hosed the passageway with bolts. It lit up like the Fourth of July.

  Another saurian had come out of a doorway in the passage. Maybe he’d been checking to see what was going on—bad timing for him.

  I turned back toward where Armel had been approaching, but I still didn’t see anyone. I stepped over the body in the doorway and into the open door. I tried to close it, but there was about two hundred kilos of lizard in the way. Cursing, I struggled with the door, but then I stopped.

  This wasn’t any escape route. The door only led into a tiny cabin that smelled like snake-shit. It was a trap.

  Poking my head back out into the passageway, I looked and I listened. Everything was quiet. The hum of the big ship was all I heard.

  “Armel?” I called out. “I know you’re still there.”

  “Mon Dieu!” he said in response. “Can it be true? Has my fortune changed this day? James McGill… to what do I owe the honor of this visit?”

  “Uh…” I said, thinking of the monkey-logic that had brought me here. Reflexively, I came up with a poor lie and went with it. “I came to find Leeza. She left the ship, and my bed—I wanted to find out why.”

  There were a few moments of cold silence. Then, a very angry-looking Frenchman stalked around the corner. He placed his hands on his hips. He had a pistol, but it wasn’t aimed at me.

  His eyes… they looked a bit insane.

  “You take back your pathetic lie, McGill! I demand a retraction, this instant!”

  “I could gun you down right now, Armel.”

  He nodded slowly. “This is true. But it means nothing. I have revival equipment within a few meters of this spot. I rather suspect you do not.”

  “Uh…” I said. He had me there. Sure, I had the gun on him, but he had a ship-full of lizards and a way to come back to life if he felt like it. “All right,” I said. “I’m sorry. I haven’t been porking Leeza—that was a dirty lie.”

  Nodding, he seemed to relax somewhat. He wasn’t as tall as I was, so he could almost stand up straight in the passageway.

  He crooked his finger at me. “Whatever you are here for, you’d best come with me. The bears will have detected all this gunfire. They’re not likely to be as forgiving as I am.”

  So saying, he turned his back on me and walked calmly back the way he’d come.

  I was left crouching in some stinking lizard’s quarters. It was dark, and dank, like an animal’s den.

  I cursed a lot over the next half-minute while I considered my very limited set of options. I checked for power outlets, but naturally, none of them fit my harness.

  What had I been thinking, porting out here after Leeza like a lemming jumping off a cliff? What was there to gain from confirming the now-obvious fact she’d tried to sell my ass to Squanto?

  Nothing, that’s what. But I’d never been accused of overthinking my choices in life.

  Today was just another case in point, I supposed. With a long sigh, I slung my rifle and followed Armel.

  -48-

  An hour later found me sitting around a titanium table with Leeza and Armel. We all had drinks in our hands. I was told it was a fine red wine—but I wouldn’t know the difference between a good wine and horse-piss.

  Leeza wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at her wine glass—or maybe her hands. Armel was in a very different mood. He seemed to think we were in a staring contest. I got the idea he was still feeling jealous and prickly.

  I’d always suspected there was a relationship between Armel and Leeza that was way beyond inappropriate. Back on Tech World, when Armel had led Germanica, her unit had been the last to suffer out of the whole legion. Later, on Blood World, she’d served as Armel’s personal assistant and had once handed me a sword to duel with him.

  More recently, she’d joined him to lead Claver’s legions. Now that those legions were defunct, here she was again at his side—and not meeting my eye.

  “Isn’t this a lovely occasion,” Armel said. “Think of it, the three of us sitting in orbit over Rigel, discussing old times. It’s positively charming of you to drop by and visit us, McGill.”

  “Uh-huh,” I said. I wasn’t really listening to him. He often made snarky speeches. He enjoyed that, but I found it dull.

  I was trying to figure out what Leeza’s angle was. After all, she’d asked me for help back on Clone World. She’d wanted to leave Armel—or so she said. I’d killed her, gotten her revived and rehabilitated—sort of. She’d rejoined Fleet, and she’d seemed good at her job.

  All that part added up pretty well. What I couldn’t make heads or tails of now was why she’d gone back to Armel. There were only a few possible answers to that question that I could come up with.

  For one, she might have been playing a part the whole time. Maybe after she’d escaped a solid perming on Clone World, she’d bided her time until she could return to Armel. Once she got within jumping distance of Rigel, she’d ported out and returned to him.

  That was one possibility. It would even explain why she wasn’t meeting my eye. After all, it seemed like she’d sold me out six ways from Sunday, even arranging to have me handed over to Squanto before making her escape to Rigel.

  But some things about that story bothered me. As a near-professional liar myself, I thought I could detect the trait in others. All along, over the last few decades, whenever I met up with Leeza she seemed to be on the level. For example, she’d let me go when I was an embarrassment because she owed me one. Evil, duplicitous women who sell you out to be tortured to death by aliens don’t think they owe anybody anything.

  “Would you like another taste, McGill?” Armel asked.

  I glanced down at my wine glass, which was empty. I lifted it and frowned. “Have you got anything stronger? Some of that brandy you used to feed Turov, maybe?”

  Both of them froze for a cold second. Then they moved again. I knew that reaction—I’d touched a sore spot. That was what I’d meant to do.

  Armel cleared his throat and forced a smile. His thin mustache spread out like a stretching caterpillar.

  “Indeed, I might have something a bit stronger that is more to your liking.”

  He got up, and he went into the next room. A locker creaked as he dug in it. Bottles clinked—Armel always had a lot of bottles.

  I took the moment to lean over the table and glare at Leeza. “You sold me out, then you bolted. Here I am playing the fool again. I thought you were in trouble, so I came looking for you.”

  She finally looked up. Her lips parted, and I realized it was due to shock.

  “You came all the way out here because of me? I don’t believe it.”

  “I didn’t know where you’d gone. I didn’t think I’d end up on Rigel.”

  Armel returned then, and his grin faded as he saw we were both sullen and had clearly been whispering.

  Leeza dropped her eyes again. I sat back in my chair and waved my glass at him, gesturing for him to fill it up.

  A fine brown liquid poured, and I swigged it. “Now that’s real brandy all right! It’s not the bootleg kind that people make on ships, either—the stuff that tastes like somebody puked inside a rubber glove.”

  “Yes… it is real, and it is from Earth. Even a clod like yourself should be able to enjoy it.”

  I didn’t take his unkind words to heart. After all, he was half-suspicious that I’d nailed his girl. Even without that complication, we’d never been besties.

  “Okay,” I said after a final gulp. “Let’s discuss what I can do for you.”

  “What you can do for me?” Armel chuckled.

  “Yes. I need to bargain. I need a charge for my suit. It’s already programmed to take me home—and I figure a good turn like that deserves a just reward.”

  Armel’s cheek twitched. It looked like the shortest half-smile on record.

  “Do you know what I’m doing out here, McGill?” he asked.

  “Uh… yeah. Working for the bears—right?”

  “Yes, I suppose that much is obvious. You see, I’ve been a mercenary for a long, long time. Since before it was in style, one might say.”

  I waggled my glass at him again, and he pursed his lips before pouring me another dollop.

  “I am, therefore, a man who works for the highest payment he can get. I left Earth’s service when it was no longer in my best interest to be there. At that time, Claver’s legions offered me a better deal—we all know how that turned out, however.”

  “Yeah…” I said, laughing. “You really shit the bed that time.”

  His eyes flashed at me, but he kept his tight smile in place.

  “Yes… the deal went sour. However, even though Claver’s troops proved substandard, the Rigellians liked my services as a commander. They charged me with finding new troops to oversee.”

  “Ah… that’s why this place is crawling with lizards? You recruited a mercenary legion from Steel World?”

  “That’s right. Remember your first journey to the stars? On that fateful trip, you learned that the saurians wanted to become mercenaries—like Earthlings.”

  “Huh…” I said, beginning to feel the alcohol a bit. “That’s true.”

  “So, it was rather easy to get ten thousand or so of them to join me out here on the frontier.”

  “Okay, look Armel, that’s all fine and dandy, but since I’ve determined that Leeza here is not in any trouble, I should be getting back—”

  He raised a gloved hand, palm held outward. I stopped talking.

  “Indulge me,” he said. “After all, I’ve been an excellent host, no?”

  “Yeah…”

  “Good. As I was saying, I’m a mercenary, and that means I make critical decisions based on profit.”

  “Uh… okay.”

  “Today, I have a unique opportunity to improve my influence here on Rigel. Can you guess how I may accomplish this?”

  “Well…” I said, realizing how things were going.

  I reached for my rifle. Now, I’m a big man, but I’m also quick. Unfortunately, Armel was already aiming a pistol at my belly. He lifted it into view before I could get my rifle out. I froze.

  “Really?” I said. “After all this hospitality? You’re going to turn me in?”

  “I had hoped that you knew something of interest—but I was mistaken. I’ve wasted good brandy on you, and over an hour of my lifetime. Unfortunately, I cannot recoup these losses—but I can still profit from your idiocy at following Leeza out here.”

  “I see…” I said, and I did see.

  Armel had talked to me to learn things—maybe he’d wanted to know if I really had slept with Leeza, or if I knew about some kind of grand strategy from Earth. He’d struck out all around on those points.

  Armel nodded. “I gave you your life on a recent occasion for helping my lady friend, here. I cannot afford to do this again. You understand, don’t you?”

  “Oh yeah, you’re chock-full of compassion.”

  For some reason, this struck Armel as hilarious. He began to laugh—but in the middle of it, I heard a singing sound.

  Suffering from a sudden shock, he stiffened and stood partway up. Then his pistol clattered on the floor. He pitched forward on his face. His dying eyes locked onto Leeza’s. He tried to talk, reminding me of a fish gasping on the bottom of a boat.

  Leeza had shot him. She’d had a needler in her palm the whole time.

  She leaned toward him as he died, and she gazed into his face. There was a tear running down her cheek—I’d never seen that before.

  “I’m sorry, Maurice. I truly am… but goddammit, I told you I was through! You had to go and arrange all this, then you tried to get McGill permed and tortured—it’s just too much. I can’t take it anymore. I’m going back, even if it means prison.”

  She turned to me next. I wore a slack-jawed look of surprise and hardcore-ignorance on my face.

  “James… I’ve been charging a harness in the other room. We’ve got to port out of here now.”

  Armel was looking pretty dead, but he suddenly woke up with a gasp and an unnatural jerk. His gloved hand snapped out and grabbed her wrist.

  Automatically, my fist hammered down, and I broke his face. I’d seen that before—facial bones can actually break, you know.

  “Hold it!” Leeza said. My second punch was aiming to crush his ear to pulp, but I managed to stop it in time.

  She leaned close. “What is it, Armel?”

  “Did you…?” he asked in a gaspy whisper. “Did you…?”

  His eyes flicked up toward me. They rolled way back into his head so the whites showed, and with blood dribbling down over those staring orbs—well, it was kind of nasty.

  “Did I what…? Oh… oh no. I didn’t. I mean, we didn’t. James was just messing with your mind, right James?”

  “That’s right partner,” I said, leaning down, so he could see me. “There was no hanky-panky. None at all. Not that I didn’t give it shot, mind you. But she’s been colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra ever since I met her. I honestly thought she was… well… never mind.”

  Armel’s ruined face worked for a few seconds. He was trying to say something else. But instead, he gave a little sigh, and he died.

  Leeza and I charged up two suits, set the destination, and ported the hell out of there before the saurians could finish burning the door down. It was a close thing, but all they found when they broke in was Armel’s messy corpse and some spilled brandy.

  -49-

  When I arrived back aboard the U. E. Berlin, I was in for a shock. Leeza was there—but so was another woman I’d gotten to know recently.

  We were standing on Gray Deck, and the two women were having a heated discussion. I walked up, confused and bemused.

  “Uh… ladies? What’s all the fuss about?”

  They turned to look at me. Leeza was standing tall and pissed. Abigail, on the other hand, looked relaxed and snarky.

  “Did you bring this treat all the way back across the cosmos for me, McGill?” Abigail asked, pointing a finger at Leeza.

  That was when things went badly. Leeza lost it. She was, in her heart of hearts, a legionnaire after all. She took after Abigail with a sucker punch.

  To my surprise, Abigail ducked it. That whistling fist only grazed her right cheek. With a grab and a twist, she threw Leeza on the deck.

  That didn’t last long. Leeza bounced up, hissing. She came in again, going for a clinch.

  “What’s gotten into you two?” I asked, not knowing what to do. I took a few steps closer, but I didn’t grab them. After all, they weren’t shooting or knifing each other—not yet anyway. In the legions, it was generally considered rude to break up a fistfight unless one person was just cruelly hammering the other, or it was officer against enlisted. Otherwise, we usually let them get it out of their systems.

  “You arranged for McGill to be sent back, didn’t you?” Leeza demanded. “I didn’t do it, and someone had to. It was you!”

  Leeza faked left and punched right. This time, she caught Abigail on the nose. Blood flew.

  That seemed to break Abigail’s composure. She was no longer calm and collected. Each girl threw an angry flurry of blows. Some landed, some were blocked, but either way, there were going to be some serious bruises and clumps of hair on the deck after this one.

  After a bit, they caught onto each other’s arms and wrestled, trying to trip each other. They were both breathing hard. No one had a clear advantage yet.

  I winced once in a while, but mostly, I enjoyed the show. I didn’t really have a cat in this fight, and they seemed pretty evenly matched. As the growls and angry shrieks went on, I found I had to suppress a half-smile that kept creeping up on my face.

  At last, Leeza shoved Abigail, and she went staggering back. They both put their hands on their knees and panted.

  “That’s right, take a breather,” I said. “You can’t land a hard one if you don’t have your wind up.”

  Leeza glanced at me in disgust. “I don’t know why I’m fighting if McGill doesn’t even care. James, don’t you understand? This twisted creature sold you to Rigel. She’s the one that told them the LZ coordinates.”

  Surprised, I looked at Abigail. “Is that right?”

  Abigail glanced at the deck and shrugged. “Sometimes profit has to be taken. I thought you’d understand.”

  “When? While I was getting tormented by those bastard bears?”

  She blinked. “No, no, no—I didn’t think you’d actually be captured. I arranged for you to die midflight by giving them a teleport harness with a flaw in it. That way, after they captured you, I’d have my payment and they’d have nothing—but it would be their fault.”