With a few commands from the boss man, I was reinstated in Legion Varus at my previous rank. There were to be no reprisals or charges related to this recent debacle—he made that very clear, and Drusus listened.

  The experience left me impressed at how much sway old Alexander held over the top leaders at Central. Being the chairman of the Hegemony military expenditures committee… well sir, when it’s all said and done, the man in charge of the government purse strings is as important to the brass as the Almighty himself.

  It wasn’t all roses and lilacs for me, naturally. Dominus returned to Earth orbit about a month later, and there were a fair number of officers aboard who weren’t thrilled to hear that McGill was alive and well. They fussed and carried on about nonsense accusations. They claimed I’d caused countless human deaths and Blood Worlder permings. I shrugged it all off as nothing but sour grapes, but they were persistent.

  As the days went by, I grew tired of listening to the bitter grumblings of Graves and Winslade. The moment I was demobilized I headed back home. They’d pretty much driven me out of town with their bad attitudes.

  Southern Georgia in the fall was a glory to behold. I drank beer on my porch, played cards with my parents and chased skirts down at the local bars in Waycross. One fine evening when the crickets were out and chirping for mates, I sat under the stars on my porch. I’d struck out at the local bar, but I didn’t mind. It was as fine a night as I could remember.

  Around ten-thirty when I was thinking about going to bed, a light in the sky caught my attention. Normally, a passing aircar wouldn’t concern a man like myself. They were becoming more common every year, and they rarely came near my slice of the swamp anyway.

  This time, however, the vehicle began to spiral around our property. I frowned out from under my porch roof, and I told the house to turn the lights off.

  As if in answer to this move, the aircar did the same. The dark vehicle came gliding closer and landed quietly out in the bog.

  Hmm… I didn’t like that. The Tau, after all, might still have a bone to pick with me and mine. They’d never quite forgiven any of us for making their coins vanish during the sacking of Gelt Station, so long ago. Perhaps they weren’t fooled by news that the coins were all counterfeit because they knew better…

  Standing up and putting a hand behind me to stop the rocking chair from creaking, I moved quick as a cat to grab my shotgun. It wasn’t just a regular shotgun, either. It was a tactical assault model that fired slugs hard enough to kill a Rigellian bear with the shock of impact—right through his impenetrable armor.

  I left my door open and slinked away to the far side of my shack. Out there in the tall weeds, I waited quietly.

  Eventually, I heard footsteps. It didn’t sound like an army of Tau at least. If it was, they were being as quiet as mice.

  Coming around the corner of my shack, I saw a single small figure on my doorstep. It craned its neck to look inside the open door, taking the bait I’d set. Could it be a Tau? The general dimensions were right.

  I racked a shell and aimed. My finger was on the trigger when I heard a familiar voice.

  “James? Is that you?”

  It was Galina. I sucked in a deep breath and tried to shake off my tension—or at least hide it. I’d been about to blow her pretty can right off my porch—but she didn’t need to know that.

  Casually, I slid the shotgun to the ground and walked into view from the back of the shack. I told the robot minder to turn the lights on, and by that time I’d managed to change my killer’s mask of determination into a welcoming smile.

  “What are you doing back there? Why is everything so dark?”

  “Huh?” I asked. “Oh… I was just taking a piss. The toilet is backed up, see.”

  “That’s disgusting.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll fix it for you if you need to go.”

  She stood on the porch, blinking in the yellowy light. “This feels strange. Maybe I should go.”

  “Aw, come on. You just got here. Let me show you the new bottle of wine I picked up in Europe.”

  “Wine? What vintage?”

  “Uh…”

  I was bullshitting about the wine, of course. Galina liked wine, and it was an easy dodge. The only kind of wine I bought out here in Georgia tasted like diesel with fruit in it.

  “Come on in, and I’ll show you.”

  She hesitated, so I brushed past her and walked into the place. I ignored her, using the tiny slice of time I had as efficiently as I could. The place was a mess, but it wasn’t at its worst. I’d entertained hopes of bringing a lady home tonight, after all—I just hadn’t counted on one as pretty as this.

  Galina watched me from the doorway, and at last she sighed. She stepped in and sat on the couch.

  “It’s been a long time since I came here.”

  “Years.”

  “Where’s that wine?”

  I made a show of rummaging around in the kitchen, then suddenly straightened and snapped my fingers. “Damn. I forgot. I let my parents drink it for their anniversary. How about a beer instead?”

  She pouted a little, but she took the beer bottle when I offered it. Soon, we were sipping and talking in the quiet night. I leaned in to kiss her, but she evaded.

  “James, we have to talk.”

  “Huh? What about?”

  “About you and I. Tonight is a different night. I don’t know how I feel about it…”

  “Uh…” I said, utterly baffled. When women started talking about complicated feelings, I had trouble listening at all much less comprehending what they were saying. Accordingly, I did my best to shut up and let her talk. It was my only defense.

  Galina stood up and walked around a little, pacing on my crappy throw rugs and creaky floorboards. I liked that, as her figure was pretty near perfect. Her hips were hypnotizing when they were in motion.

  “It’s about my father,” she said. “He’s… he’s spoken to me about you. This has never happened before.”

  “It hasn’t?”

  “No—not like this.”

  I began to get a creepy feeling. Had that old buzzard told Galina of our joint shenanigans? Had he alerted her to the true nature of our mutual arrangement to rip off the Tau and the Galactics in favor of her family’s personal fortune? Not knowing which way to jump, I sat stock-still and watched her in silence. I didn’t even take a pull from my beer.

  At last, her attention shifted away, and she began pacing again. I took the opportunity to drain my bottle and replace it with a fresh one.

  Galina sighed. “Father told me that you impressed him. He said you’re a good man—a good man for me.”

  I hadn’t known what I’d expected her to say, but this sure as hell wasn’t it. “Really? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

  She stopped pacing and looked at me seriously. “I really don’t know. I can’t believe it, actually. He doesn’t like anyone near his daughters. He never has. That’s one of the reasons I left Europe and got myself stationed on the other side of the planet.”

  I thought about how her father had gotten her sister killed and a few of the wedding party permed for good measure just to get rid of that fiancé fellow. It did seem likely he was a man who held his daughters’ suitors in low regard.

  “I can hardly believe it either,” I said. “I don’t recall any father ever saying he liked me. Not now, not back in my school days… never.”

  “I know! It’s so strange. He never liked anyone I brought home as a kid. He’s never been impressed by anyone that I can remember. He hates and despises most people reflexively. What can it mean that such a man actually likes you?”

  Now, at last, I knew what I had to do. I stood up and approached her with a gentle touch on the shoulder and a warm smile.

  “Listen,” I said. “It doesn’t matter to me what that old buzzard thinks. I do what I want, and I don’t care how it’s judged by anyone. You should do the same—in fact, you usually do.”

  “Yes… you’re right. I don’t know why I care. I shouldn’t care.”

  She was staring off into space, and my hand was lingering on her shoulder. I thought about making another grab for her, but I sensed the timing would be off.

  Giving her shoulder the lightest of squeezes, I removed my hand and found another beer. When I got it out of the fridge, I walked out onto the porch. Less than a minute later, Galina joined me.

  “It’s a nice night,” she said. “Not too hot or cold.”

  “Sure is. What are you going to do?”

  She leaned against a post and gazed at the stars. “That nightmare scenario on Ice World… it damaged my career. I lost my rank, James.”

  “Oh… you mean, you’re not an imperator now?”

  “No. I was demoted again to tribune. I’m… I’m commanding Legion Varus again.”

  “Oh shit…”

  “Yes, exactly. All my hard work was for nothing. It also didn’t help that you killed Foam and left that spot open for me to fall into.”

  “Yeah, but it’s not my fault. I killed him because he was after you, remember? And I killed Fike for the same reason.”

  Galina turned away from the cold, cruel stars and the ugly dead Skay we called the Moon. “Yes. I’m grateful for that. Maybe my father read the reports. Maybe he likes you for exactly that reason. No one in the legion considers you a hero, you know. But for me, you are my hero.”

  She sat next to me on the swing then, and I slid my arm around her. We drank beer and when the time was right, we made love.

  Galina seemed troubled and full of weighty thoughts, but I was in an entirely different state of mind. I’d come close to the flame, but I hadn’t been burned.

  Not this time.

  THE END

  Thanks Reader! I hope you enjoyed ICE WORLD the sixteenth book in the Undying Mercenaries Series. If you liked the book and want to read more, please put up some stars and a review to support the series. Let me know what kind of world you’d like McGill to discover next!

  -BVL

  More SF Books by B. V. Larson:

  The Undying Mercenaries Series:

  Steel World

  Dust World

  Tech World

  Machine World

  Death World

  Home World

  Rogue World

  Blood World

  Dark World

  Storm World

  Armor World

  Clone World

  Glass World

  Edge World

  Green World

  Ice World

  The Star Runner Series:

  Star Runner

  Fire Fight

  Rebel Fleet Series:

  Rebel Fleet

  Orion Fleet

  Alpha Fleet

  Earth Fleet

  Star Force Series:

  Swarm

  Extinction

  Rebellion

  Conquest

  Army of One (Novella)

  Battle Station

  Empire

  Annihilation

  Storm Assault

  The Dead Sun

  Outcast

  Exile

  Demon Star

  Starship Pandora (Audio Drama)

  Visit BVLarson.com for more information.

 

 

  B. V. Larson, Ice World (Undying Mercenaries Book 16)

 

 

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