“If I could, I’d execute you on the spot, right here and right now.”

  “Uh… what’s holding you back sir, if you don’t mind my asking?”

  He threw an arm out, pointing in the direction of the south wall. “The Tau are out there. They’ve assembled in their thousands. They’re covering the other two entrances to this miserable valley with small holding forces. But out there to the south, they’ve placed their real strength. Led by the bears, they’re going to drive their way right down into this valley in a matter of hours.”

  “You don’t say? Are you thinking that I can do something about it?”

  Graves nodded. “I’m hoping so. I’m sending you out there alone—as a gift to Squanto.”

  Those words made me blink a few times. “Squanto? He’s here?”

  Graves smiled grimly. I was glad I could at least please him sometimes. “Of course he’s here. Who else would have their hearts so filled with hate for humans as to join the Tau and come here to kill us all?”

  His statement made good sense. If a human-hater had ever been born, it was good old Squanto. Back in the distant past, some would say I’d had something to do with that—but I’d deny it now and forever.

  “Huh… what are we going to do?”

  “You’re going to walk, and I’m going to transmit. I’m going to bargain for our lives with you as my primary bargaining chip.”

  I shrugged. “Sounds like a plan—but have you cleared it with Turov?”

  “She’s not running this expedition. She’s aboard her ship and drifting around at the very edge of the Mintaka planetary system.”

  “So, she’s not… oh. She put you in charge and left you holding the bag, huh?”

  Graves nodded. No wonder he was in such a God-awful mood.

  I tried to convince Graves that his plan was unnecessary, and I even threw out a couple of great ideas of my own, but he didn’t bite on any of them. He rarely did.

  “I’m not getting involved in any of your cockamamie nonsense. Not this time, McGill.”

  “Okay then… What do you want me to do?”

  Graves eyed me with immediate suspicion. He had the intuition of a fox circling a henhouse. “You’re done complaining already? You’re not going to try to talk me out of this?”

  I shrugged helplessly, I bowed my shoulders, and I generally endeavored to look as defeated and forlorn as possible. “Let this be one last gift from me to Legion Varus—no, to Earth herself.”

  Graves nodded, and he looked happier. He wasn’t easy to fool, but he was a firm believer in self-sacrifice. Nothing seemed to impress him more.

  Taking a deep breath, Graves slapped me on the shoulder. “Good. That’s the way every soldier should go out. You might be an embarrassment, McGill. You’re a criminal, an idiot and God knows what else, but at least you’re taking permadeath like a man.”

  “Thanks, Primus. Good luck to you too, sir.”

  His guards stripped off my armor, gravity-cuffed my hands together, and dressed me in a thin spacers’ suit with no weapons of any kind.

  Then Graves directed me toward the southern wall. I started trudging in that direction.

  The wall looked a little worse for the wear. There were two new holes punched into it, up high. Apparently, things hadn’t gone smoothly while I spent the evening as Claver’s guest.

  -56-

  Throwing back my shoulders and standing tall, I marched through the broken fortifications and out into the open on the far side. There I found the broken siege tower and lots of death. Most of the corpses were Tau, burnt to stumps and ashes. Upwards of a thousand bodies were visible as strewn parts. Humps in the snow told of even more grim causalities scattered everywhere.

  I made it to the crackling edge of the force field that formed the dome over the stronghold when bears appeared—a lot of them.

  “Take the beast before it escapes!”

  The voice was that of a translated Rigellian. It was kind of raspy and wavering like all of their kind. To me, they always sounded like angry little men who were trapped underwater someplace.

  They’d materialized all around me. That was only possible if they’d just teleported here or been stealthed and following me for a while.

  “You guys have stealth suits?” I asked, impressed.

  “Of course, human!” a bear officer boasted. “We have every technology you talking-apes have and much more. You are our captive now!”

  That was a hard moment for me. I really wanted to kill a few of them and go out fighting right away—but I restrained myself. Instead, I let them march me into the crackling dome.

  During the slog through the force field, I decided to have a little fun. I couldn’t contain myself. I tripped two of the bears, and I did it in such a way as to have one land on top of the other.

  They bounced up, snarling, and started fighting each other. Before I could do much more than grin widely, the officer bear came up and began smacking them until they walked straight again. By the looks they gave one another, though, I reckoned there was bad blood between them.

  Bears are feisty. Being solo predators, they just aren’t as naturally cooperative with one another as pack-hunting types such as wolves and humans. This biological fact made them easy to piss off.

  When we walked out into the wasteland beyond the dome, it looked different. A snowstorm must have come in strong overnight as the land was sugar-coated white. Every burnt tree branch was hung with icicles.

  The big invasion ship was still squatting at the base of the mount—down there among the bodies of Tau and a few giants. The sight made me smirk. The bears must have crapped themselves when they saw those crazy giants charging at them. Too bad the big guys hadn’t been able to storm the ship and tear it apart.

  As we approached, a ramp lowered out of the guts of the invasion ship. A lone figure walked down the ramp to greet us.

  It was a bear, but a different kind of bear. He didn’t have a standard uniform on. Instead, he wore sort of a cloak decorated with some rings and other flashy details. I’d never seen a Rigellian wear this kind of costume before.

  “Hey,” I asked the bear officer. “Who’s the fancy-pants guy on the ramp?”

  “Do you not recognize your nemesis, creature? I’ve been led to believe that your kind possesses a certain degree of intellect. Perhaps the briefing was in error.”

  “Uh… huh? Can’t you just tell me—”

  But then the approaching foppish bear in the cloak began to speak, and I knew right off who he was.

  “The most evil of the speaking-apes,” the bear said. “He’s mine at last! Know, human, that your doom is at hand. I’ve been looking forward to this day for a very, very long time.”

  The bear was none other than Squanto. Although my list of dedicated haters was as long and distinguished as my pecker, this bear topped every roster. He hated me like no other being in the cosmos—and that was saying something.

  “Squanto!” I boomed like I’d met a long-lost brother.

  I took two steps forward, and the bears holding onto my chains were dragged, digging furrows with their heels. They tried to stop me, but it was hopeless. I stopped approaching the regal bear before they could use their shock-rods on me.

  “Long-time no-see, buddy,” I said. “How’ve you been doing over the years?”

  That’s when I noticed that Squanto was looking kind of… old. He was gray in the face, and his eyes were a little cloudy. I guess his kind weren’t into the endless cycle of death, life—and then another slice of death.

  “McGill…” the old bastard breathed. “I can hardly credit my eyes. You look exactly as you did decades ago on that miserable planet where the rains never cease to fall…”

  “What? Oh… you mean Storm World, right? M244-H?”

  “Whatever you call the place, it was a wet Hell. I wish I’d never gone to that place…”

  Squanto seemed kind of melancholy. I almost felt bad for the little frigger—almost.

  But as I thought things over, I became a little confused. The Storm World campaign was only—what? Fifteen years past? Something like that. Time and years meant less to a legion man.

  It seemed odd to me that Squanto had grown so old. He’d been strong and hale just a few years ago… Sure, maybe his kind didn’t have over-the-counter longevity drugs like Cell-stim and Nu-cream—but still, he shouldn’t be that old.

  “Uh…” I said. “How come you’re so old looking, Squanto? If you don’t mind my asking.”

  “No, not at all. Now that you’re in my power, I’m feeling almost magnanimous. My people do not live forever. Our lifespans rarely reach past forty of your standard years.”

  “Ah… I get it. We humans live to be about a hundred—that is if we’re careful. I’d never thought about a difference in our lifespans. It’s kind of weird.”

  Squanto came down the ramp fully, and we stood less than eight paces apart. He was almost in lunging distance, and my mind and eye automatically counted off the steps it would take to reach him.

  The guards holding my chains seemed to sense this. They tightened their muscles, winding their paws up in the jingling links.

  Unafraid, Squanto came closer. He seemed mesmerized. I peered down at him, and he gazed up at me. I could tell that for him, this was some kind of Zen experience. He’d been searching for me for too many years—such a vast chunk of his lifetime.

  “High Lord,” the bear captain said, “should we take the prisoner to the ship’s brig?”

  “Not yet. I wish to bask in this moment.”

  Squanto closed his old eyes, and I knew it was now or never. This was where I was supposed to pull my trick—but I couldn’t do it. I just didn’t have it in me.

  Sure, Squanto and I had both gotten our licks in over the years. If the truth were to be told, I’d gotten in at least twice as many as he had. Today was my chance to end our rivalry, to seal the High Lord’s fate forever. Claver and I had planned as much.

  I had a change of heart. Instead of rushing forward and hugging the little furry bastard, I committed suicide early. I gripped my two chains and used what little slack I had. I punched myself in the stomach with both my fists, hammering at the same time. That triggered a deadly reaction.

  “Squanto!” I called out while the two bear guards snarled and tugged and bit my arms savagely. Blood flew and the air was full of fur and howls as more bears rushed forward to help subdue me.

  But then a blue-white glow began to come out of my mouth, and a few melting rays shot out of my guts as I began burning and dying.

  “I could have taken you with me to Hell today, but I’ve decided to give that a pass. Farewell!”

  Then, me and my two guards began melting in a grav-plasma implosion. In my final moments, I saw Squanto backpedaling up the ramp into his ship.

  Even more pleasing, I saw the two guards who’d been trying to control me with chains and teeth were now wild with fear. They tried desperately to get away from the mad ape they’d been beating on, and the living bomb I’d become.

  They were unsuccessful, and the plasma grenade Claver had so lovingly implanted into my guts last night consumed all three of us.

  -57-

  When my bleary eyes opened again, they were full of grit. The world was a blinding white. I coughed and gagged, hacking up the plug from my lungs.

  “He’s alive. That’s all I can do.”

  I heard the clinking of coins. Real coins. That was odd.

  “Here’s your payment,” said an older man with an accent. “Forget what you’ve seen, or you’ll never see anything again.”

  “Of course, Servant.”

  That voice, it was vaguely familiar… and the bio called him Servant? Could it be Alexander Turov? The Public Servant of Western Russia Sector? I knew that it had to be. I’d recognize that accent and voice anywhere.

  It was Galina’s father, and apparently he’d taken the bait Floramel had offered him. She’d come out to Russia and begged for my revival. She was such a loyal friend—I didn’t deserve her. I really didn’t.

  My vision and motor functions slowly returned. I didn’t rush things, as I’d found over the years it was best to take in the lay of the land before demonstrating any kind of capacity for mischief.

  My first hint concerning my status was the strap on my right wrist. I tugged at it experimentally, and I found it to be sound. The left was tied down as well. So… that’s how things were.

  “Hello, sir,” I managed to rasp out. “I hope you’re feeling well today.”

  “I’m fine, McGill, thank you for asking. How are you feeling?”

  “Tip-top, sir.”

  “Good… You must comprehend that this revival is a private affair. The equipment we used is old but serviceable. You understand, yes?”

  “I sure do, and I’m grateful for the favor, sir. I won’t forget it. But… uh… what’s with the straps?”

  “They’re a mere formality.”

  By the sound of his voice, I knew old man Turov was lingering nearby. I could tell that much now. He was close, but not too close. Experimentally, I wriggled my feet. My ankles were strapped down just as tightly as my wrists. As I was naked, this left my Johnson and other important bits fully exposed and unguarded.

  Now, I’m not the chicken-shit type, but the situation would give any thinking man ample cause for concern.

  “So… what can I do for you, sir?” I asked.

  “McGill, I stand here today in judgment of your character. If I find you wanting… well, this revive will be a figment. An imagined event that no one can recall afterward—not even you.”

  “Uh… okay. How am I doing so far?”

  Alexander rumbled a laugh, but it sounded more evil than happy. “The matter is not yet decided. Tell me, did you find a fortune out there among the stars?”

  “I surely did. Thousands of golden coins—Imperial money, the real deal.”

  I could kind of see the old bastard now, and I thought his face became a little more intense.

  “Really? Were there any distinguishing characteristics to this hoard?”

  I thought that over for a few seconds… one coin pretty much looked like the next—but then, I thought I knew what he was hinting at.

  “Claver has them in an underground vault. They’re spilling out of special-made crates—crates with your family crest on them, sir.”

  Turov leaned closer still. I thought to myself that I could probably snap my knee up hard enough to catch him under the jaw and flatten him. There ought to be enough slack in the straps for that—but I pushed that thought right back down to Hell where it had come from. Even if I knocked him out, I’d still be strapped naked to a table waiting for someone to come check on us. That wouldn’t do anyone any good, least of all me.

  I forced myself to relax.

  “Centurion,” he said, “are you very sure the coins were in crates with my insignia on them? Did you actually see these items firsthand?”

  “With my very own eyeballs, sir. I swear it.”

  Turov straightened up and withdrew a few paces. He began messing with something on the chamber wall.

  “McGill,” he said, “my personal property is very important to me. Surely you understand this?”

  “I surely do, sir. I feel the same way. Why, I have this old machete, see. It’s not much to look at, but—”

  “Stop prattling, please. I need those coins returned to me. Not to the thieving government that operates this planet. Not to the grasping hands of Nox and her Imperial thugs—to me.”

  “Uh… okay. How do I do that, sir?”

  He stopped messing around with something on the chamber wall, and he showed me what he had. It was a teleportation harness. “My agents are known to you. They are the Tau. You’ll give them the cash that is mine, and you’ll have earned this return to life.”

  I finally figured out what the old buzzard was doing. He was strapping a teleport harness onto my bare body. I looked down at it in confusion.

  “Uh… but I’m still naked… you know that, right?”

  “Yes. I’ll give you a suit to pull on when you arrive on Ice World. It will be uncomfortable at first, but—”

  Along about this moment in our conversation something he said struck through my dull brain and provided evidence for something I’d only suspected before. “Mr. Servant, sir? Did you say you hired the Tau?”

  Alexander stopped fussing with the harness. His craggy face came into view. “McGill, that’s a thing you’d best not discuss with anyone.”

  “But… wait a minute… the Tau came here and attacked the wedding party. They killed your own daughter, and she forgot about her husband-to-be, and… oh.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “Just that… well, maybe you didn’t like your daughter’s choice in men.”

  He straightened his shoulders. “That is another matter best left forgotten. If you want to remember your own name the next time you breathe, you’ll never mention it from this day onward.”

  “Understood, sir.”

  The whole story was crystal clear to me now. Claver and I had been right. Old Alexander had played everyone for a fool. The Tau were working for the Turov family to recover the coins, and he’d staged the whole attack on his own mansion to throw everyone off his trail—and to fix a few family embarrassments.

  And here I’d been thinking all this time that Galina was extra tricky. Compared to her, her dad was downright diabolical.

  “Uh…” I said as the old geezer puffed and wheezed, suiting me up with the harness. “It would be easier if you’d just, like, take off these straps.”

  “It would, but I can’t trust you. Legend has it you’re a volatile and violent man.”

  “True words, Mr. Servant. I can’t deny it.”

  So, I let him work on me for a bit, but something about his plan didn’t add up. “Servant? Sir? How am I supposed to get these coins to the Tau? I mean, when they attack again, they’ll kill us all and take them. Isn’t that pretty much the win you’re looking for?”

  “I’m in contact with my agents at Mintaka. The situation has transformed into a stand-off. The Clavers claim they’ll destroy the coins before they give them up. Your job will be to serve as my agent on the inside. The Tau must acquire all the coins.”