“What’s that?”

  “About me joining your outfit on a permanent basis.”

  We both stared at each other for a few moments. Gary didn’t say anything. He just let his words sink in. I appreciated that approach, and I wished more people would operate that way.

  “Holy shit…” I said. “Are you serious?”

  “So it’s true? Barton is bailing out?”

  I shrugged. “She’s applied to Victrix. That much I can tell you.”

  Gary looked more stressed and nervous than ever. “Look, Centurion, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but—”

  “But you don’t want to serve in my unit forever? Are you sure about that? You’ll get to see a new planet up close and personal every year or two. Isn’t that the adventure you’re craving?”

  I was quoting the recruitment vids, but Gary didn’t seem to find that amusing. He looked like he was sweating.

  “Sir, I don’t want this to sound wrong, but I do not want to slog through any more alien planets with a rifle in my hands and a series of vicious deaths to look forward to.”

  “Harris was right. You are a big baby.”

  He bristled at that, and I was glad to see it. “Hey, look, I did my part. I served, I killed, I died. Isn’t that good enough? Do I really have to turn pro to impress you bastards?”

  I shrugged. “Nah, I guess not. You’re no longer a full-fledged hog, Gary. You’re a hog with an asterisk next to his name, now. That’s a good thing.”

  “Great… well, can you help me out?”

  “Uh… how’s that?”

  “Talk to Graves! Talk to Turov! Get me back to Earth in my nice, cushy office.”

  I considered it. “Hmm… you’ll owe me one if I can pull that off.”

  “Done,” he said, slapping a gauntlet on the table between us. The table was kind of flimsy, and it shook a little with the impact. “I’ll owe you one even if you just try to help.”

  Nodding, I got up and left. I was done with breakfast, and there wasn’t anyone else in the room who I wanted to talk to.

  Being a man who believed in direct action when it was warranted, I went to find Graves at the headquarters building. He wasn’t there, so I tried the lifters.

  At last, I found him in the loading zone. He was already packing troops and gear.

  “Uh…” I said, watching him shout and make windmill motions with his arms. “Sir? Can I have a word?”

  Graves looked at me. He didn’t look overly happy. The last time I’d seen him, the gremlins had just offed him and escaped to Blood World.

  “What do you want, McGill?”

  “I want to talk about transfers.”

  “Save it. I already talked to Primus Collins about it. Barton can go if she wants to, and Victrix agrees. We’re not going to hold her to any fine print in the contract.”

  “That’s good to hear, Primus. Now, about her replacement—”

  Graves looked at me. “I heard about that, too. I guess it will work, if Turov is willing to give up Gary. I’m surprised you think he’s as good as Barton, but… whatever.”

  I blinked a few times. I suddenly realized a lot of things had been going on under the waves around here. I’d gotten Collins to help with letting Barton go back home to Victrix, but I hadn’t really expected her to move so fast. She was all over this. She’d even lined up Gary as Barton’s replacement.

  “Uh…” I said, taking a moment to think it all over until my brain hurt. “Primus Graves, sir? I don’t think I want Gary on my team on a permanent basis.”

  Now I had his full attention. He turned on me and planted his fists on his hips. “What’s this bullshit? Are you doing all this just to get some other woman into your unit? I’m not going for that, McGill. Everyone wants to play musical chairs and—”

  “Wait, wait,” I said. “I don’t have anyone in particular in mind, sir. I’m just saying… not Gary.”

  “Who, then? I don’t have another officer to give you.”

  I thought hard for a second or two. Eventually, I came up with an idea. “How about asking Victrix if they have anyone they want to get rid of?”

  Graves snorted. “You want their trash?”

  “Well, it worked out before with Barton.”

  He grunted. “This isn’t a football team, McGill. We’re not horse-trading.”

  “No, sir. We’re gaining a good officer for another good officer. Or… maybe a questionable one for a good one. Anyways, what do you think of the idea?”

  He shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t matter. They’re only adjuncts. Go tell Collins.”

  I did, and after I sealed the deal with a kiss, she agreed as well. Collins was a lot easier to deal with than Graves.

  After all that rearranging, I was pretty pleased with myself. I’d gotten Barton what she wanted, and I’d gotten tacit approval from the brass to get Gary out of my face as well. That kind of maneuvering left a man thirsty, so I headed for the new victory bar the troops had already set up. It was on the sunny roof of a building that had miraculously withstood the war intact.

  Sitting up there, I had to admit the big city was impressive, and I knew it went on much, much farther than I could see. Now that most of the smoke had cleared, the skyline was glorious.

  As the afternoon wore on into the night, I held down my bench seat and slowly put away a lot of bad-tasting brews. The city lit up when darkness fell, and nearly half the buildings appeared to have power already. The Mogwa engineers were working hard, even if they were still wearing full environment suits.

  Once night fell hard, the view was even more pleasant. They’d yet to turn on the dome above, so I could see the stars clearly. They were absolutely stunning. We were a lot closer to the galactic Core here in the Mid-Zone. That meant the Milky Way wasn’t a faintly glimmering part of the sky. It was a full-on river of glowing gemstones. Even the rounded hump of the Core itself was visible.

  Enjoying some boozing and relaxation, I drank and stargazed for hours. Around dinnertime, I began to think about leaving. I didn’t want to ignore Cherish Collins for too long, as I had plans for some evening festivities.

  Accordingly, I stood up, swayed a bit, and almost pitched over the side of the building.

  “Whoa, Centurion! Careful, that’s a hundred-and-forty-story fall.”

  Turning and leering, I made out the shape of a tall, skinny officer. I didn’t know him.

  “Who are you?” I demanded rudely.

  He snapped to attention and threw a salute at me. “Adjunct Dickson, sir. Reporting for duty.”

  I squinted at him, taking in his whole look. He was in a clean uniform, but the wrong emblem patch was on his shoulder. Instead of the red wolf’s head of Varus, he bore the crossed swords of Victrix.

  “Adjunct who—?”

  “Dickson, sir. Oh…” He took a second to remove his patch. “I’m afraid I don’t have a Varus patch yet, sir.”

  Finally, the light began flickering to life inside my fridge. “You’re from Victrix? You’re transferring in?”

  “Um… yes, sir. It’s a prideful moment for me. I’ve always admired Varus from afar.”

  I shook my head and shook a finger in his face. “This unit already has an alpha-dog liar, Dickson. We don’t need another.”

  “Right. Sorry, Centurion.”

  We stared at each other for a second or two. At last, another question hit my beer-fogged mind.

  “Did you impregnate some officer’s poodle or something? Over at Victrix?”

  He looked evasive. His eyes studied the deck between us for a moment. “Something like that...”

  I laughed. “Okay, I get it. I don’t have to know anything else. I don’t even want to know. You’re here, and you’re mine. That’s all that matters.”

  It was the same speech I’d given Erin Barton about a decade or so back—but I was a little more boozy this time. Nevertheless, it had the same effect on Dickson as it’d had on Erin years ago.

  “Thank you, sir,” he said. He sounded both grateful and surprised.

  I guess in his old legion any officer would have dragged the sordid truth out of him—but that wasn’t the Varus way. If you wanted to serve in the worst legion humanity had yet to field, you got to serve.

  No questions asked.

  -59-

  The next day Governess Nox and Sateekas came out on a tour. It was your classic meet-and-greet with the troops after victory had been declared.

  Nox was really doing the kissy-stuff while Sateekas trailed after her, looking bored.

  “I really don’t see why this is necessary,” he complained. “These are slave-troops. They aren’t going to pass a referendum on your quality, or report back anything to the Core Worlds.”

  Nox turned on him in annoyance. “That kind of thinking is why you never got your fleet back. These animals are adored by the local populace. Those beaten-down citizens will be voting and sending notes home to any of their relatives who still recall their existence.”

  Hmm… Was there trouble in paradise? It seemed to me that there just might be. Or possibly, this was how a mated pair of Mogwa always treated one another. It was hard to know.

  My job was to tag along with the two aliens, simultaneously providing security and a walking photo-op. I’d gained some fame among the population of surviving Mogwa. In their own way, they were grateful for my efforts. In particular, they’d been impressed to learn that I’d pioneered the idea of stuffing gremlins into Mogwa marine power-armor.

  Marching after the two bickering VIPs, I tried not to make trouble. I was even a little flattered that they still trusted me over any of the other bodyguards they had to choose from.

  After watching Nox glad-hand a few thousand Mogwa citizens and human troops, however, I was getting just as bored as Sateekas. It was time to make a suggestion.

  “Uh… Lady Nox? Can I say something?”

  She looked at me sternly. “It seems to me that you’ve already begun speaking without permission.”

  “Huh? Oh… yeah, I guess so…”

  Sateekas made a calming gesture in her direction, so she relented. “All right, McGill,” she said. “Let’s hear your gem-like words of wisdom.”

  “Well sir, I’m afraid I’m fresh out of those. But I would like to know if you and Sateekas here are going to be flying back to Province 921 with us?”

  “No,” she said firmly.

  This seemed to startle Sateekas. “What’s this? You’re not going back? What of your governing appointment?”

  “What of it?” Nox asked him. “It’s a thankless job that I loathe. Here, we have a beaten people and a chance to start over. The Imperial officials in the Core will be hateful toward us—but that’s nothing new. They’ve already exiled us, and nothing is going to change that.”

  “This is… shocking…” Sateekas said. “What of our offspring?”

  She stopped walking and slapping foot-hand things with the endless procession of Mogwa citizens. She turned on him. “I just stated my intention to stay. Are you still thinking of going back?”

  He began to bristle. I winced as I watched this happen.

  “You said it yourself,” he pointed out, “how else will I ever gather a new fleet to my banner?”

  “You don’t even have a banner for them to gather around,” she said, and I could tell she was getting angry as well.

  She put a protective arm around her belly. Could she be pregnant again? Damnation, Sateekas was a randy old goat.

  Sateekas got angry next. He puffed up like a cobra and looked at her sternly. I could just tell he was going to go off, being a man who’d done the same with women on countless occasions.

  “Hey, hey…” I said. “How about this? What if you start building a new fleet right here, Grand Admiral, sir?”

  He turned an angry eye in my direction. Most of his orbs were still staring at his mate. “What are you chattering about, primate?”

  “Just this, sir. Right now, you’ve got a single battlecruiser. The pride of the fleet out here at Segin. That’s something to start with, and it’s better than nothing.”

  “He had to steal it,” Nox said. She wasn’t helping at all, so I made a calming gesture with my hand. This didn’t work on her any better than it had ever worked on any female.

  “It’s time,” she said, “to give up on childish fantasies of being a fleet officer again. You’re my consort, and you did a good job with this campaign. I plan to run for the local governorship of Segin.”

  “City World is… a democracy?” I asked, surprised.

  Nox threw a dismissive hand high in the air. “Of course. Why do you think they’ve been ostracized from the Core Worlds?”

  Sateekas looked upset. “It’s disgusting for personages such as ourselves to have to wheedle and beg for power.”

  “That part will only be for show,” Nox said. “Their entire system is a sham to make the populace more docile. Look at the bright side: the absurd notions of the locals have created certain opportunities for us to exploit.”

  “I see that your mind is made up. You might well have informed me earlier.”

  “Would you have listened? Would you have cared? All you want to do is mate and talk about past glories.”

  Sateekas began to sputter. He was so pissed he couldn’t even talk right.

  “Hold on, hold on,” I said, releasing a nervous laugh. “If you’re going to run for office, Lady Nox, I think you might need a war hero at your side. All you have to do is put him in charge of the military. He’s a natural.”

  The two looked at me, then each other. They seemed to calm down a bit. I could tell that there was friction just below the surface, just like there had to be with any power-couple like these two. They both had planet-sized egos and arrogance to spare.

  “McGill makes a good point,” Nox said at last. Being the politician, she seemed to be the one who was better at smoothing things over. She drew in a breath, and she lowered her hands to place all six on the ground again. “Ex-Admiral Sateekas, I would be happy to have you as my political appointee in charge of the military.”

  Sateekas scowled, and he shuffled around a bit like he had to pee or something. At last, he spoke up. “I will accept this offer—but I have conditions.”

  “What conditions?”

  “You must run on a policy of rearmament. This planet was woefully unprepared for a barbarian invasion. I propose that one percent of the population be placed into a pool for conscription. I also need a vastly increased budget for the fleet.”

  Nox mulled that over. “Agreed. Your points should be easy to sell to the people. They’ve suffered greatly due to their lack of foresight.”

  They went on like that for a long time, but as they were no longer at each other’s throats, I didn’t much care. I soon grew bored and began to play around with my tapper. Seeing an urgent message or two, I was goaded into action.

  “Uh… Lady Nox? Can I return to my unit? There seems to be a ruckus going on.”

  “Very well. We’re done with the charade of campaigning for today.”

  I ditched them and trotted back to my unit, which was in the act of packing up all our gear. What I found wasn’t what I expected.

  Adjunct Dickson was standing tall over a recruit, one of Barton’s light troops. Dickson had out a shock-rod, which he’d apparently used to discipline the man.

  “What seems to be the problem, Dickson?” I asked.

  “Ah, Centurion. Good to see you here. This man here,” as he spoke, he toed the inert recruit with tip of his boot, “lacks any sense of decency or decorum. I have corrected him appropriately.”

  Frowning, I came forward and nudged the man on the ground. He didn’t move, and after a quick glance at his tapper, I saw he’d red-lined. He’d been beaten to death, but Dickson didn’t seem broken up over it at all.

  Looking around my unit, I saw lots of angry glares. That wasn’t good for Dickson. Maybe in Victrix you could get away with anything you wanted—but here in Varus, well sir, people had a way of getting even.

  “Well, as I wasn’t here to judge, I’ll take your word for it,” I said. “Everyone get back to work. Dickson, call in the revive.”

  As the new adjunct worked his tapper, someone shouted out from the back of the assembled troops. I knew that voice in an instant. It was Carlos.

  “Hey, Adjunct,” he called out. “I bet I know what they called you back at the academy.”

  Dickson eyed Carlos warily. “What’s that, Specialist?”

  “A sharp troop.”

  Dickson looked surprised and relieved. “Well yes, as a matter of fact—”

  “I bet they said you had the stiffest spine on the training fields, sir. The hardest eyes, the longest—”

  Moller didn’t wait any longer. She cuffed him, and he shut up at last.

  As we all settled down for the evening, I had to wonder if I’d gotten swindled in the horse trading that had rewarded me with Dickson.

  -60-

  The long journey home began the next day. We took off on our lifter, firing up into the strange skies of City World. Looking down through camera feeds wired to my tapper, I saw the entire massive blot of the city, which spanned countless square kilometers of natural land. All around the city, a fringe of green appeared as we went higher and higher, punching through the clouds. Those were the farms and supporting regions. Eventually, it transformed into a bulbous hump on the side of the planet.

  Much of the city was wrecked, of course. The fires seemed to be out now, but the rebuilding and repopulating would take decades. Lowering my arm, I ignored my tapper. I was glad to see City World in my rearview mirror. I hadn’t much liked the place.

  When we docked with Dominus, I smiled. I was thinking of Primus Collins. We’d had a half-dozen fine nights together after the fighting had ended, and I wouldn’t mind continuing that adventure.

  To further that goal, I sent a note to Cherish the moment I stepped aboard Dominus and my tapper synched-up with the ship’s grid. A frown came to my face a few moments later.

  “No such person can be located in the…” I read aloud.

  My boots stopped marching, and I stood stock-still in the middle of a crowded gangplank. Plenty of soldiers bumped into me and more than a few of them cursed, but I didn’t care.