Dark World (Undying Mercenaries Series Book 9), page 35
Claver turned to look out at his air-jellies again.
“McGill, you’re a black blight upon my existence. Did you know that?”
“Uh…”
“That’s right. I said a blight. A disease. A thing of less than no value. A thing that brings only pain and dissolution.”
This wasn’t going the way I’d hoped, so I reached for a distraction.
“What about the bio who birthed me just now?” I asked. “Was he a Claver too?”
“Naturally—but a smarter one. A class two.”
“Class two? You rate yourselves?”
“We have to. There’s no other way for a group fudged up from a single DNA strand to cooperate.”
“If he’s class two, what are these apes?”
“Class three. Loyal workers—the best part of me in human form.”
“Hmm… and you?”
“I’m the type of Claver who you’ve always dealt with. A Prime. Class one.”
“There’s nothing better, huh?”
He scowled and crossed his arms.
“For all intents and purposes, I’m the real Claver. The original. Most of the time, there’s only one or two of me in existence.”
I blinked at him, absorbing these new concepts and trying to make use of them. At last, I grinned.
“You made these guys big, dumb and servile on purpose, didn’t you?” I asked, jerking a thumb toward the face of the one on my left.
“That’s right. I guess I modeled them after you.”
“They don’t ever talk back?” I asked. Turning to the one on my left, I cocked my head. “Why does that little old man over there get to give you orders? You’re bigger than him, you know. Why don’t you give him orders?”
The ape didn’t respond, but the smarter Claver laughed again.
“Sowing discord, huh, McGill? Nice try, but these guys will be pretty darned tough to turn. They’re genetically predisposed toward loyalty and service. They believe in their job as strong-arm guards just as utterly as you believe in the defense of Earth.”
I turned back to the boss-Claver and squinted at him.
“Are there any girl-Clavers?” I asked. “And if there are, are you sick enough to sleep with them?”
Claver scowled at me. “Of course not, you disgusting mud-slinger!”
“You know…” I said, struck by a thought, “I think I found one of your female versions back on the space complex. She was dead, but her ripped-out tapper was still transmitting. A human down there… we couldn’t figure out who it could be, but now—”
“Shut up, McGill,” Claver said, taking a menacing step closer. “Why do you have to make it so damned hard to keep myself from killing you? I’d like to perm you six times over already, just for what you did back on Dark World, but here you go, trying to make things even worse.”
“How about you introduce me to one of your lady-friends?” I asked. “I know you’ve got to have some stashed here somewhere. No one could play god like this without—”
He signaled my guards somehow. They’d been motionless up until now, holding onto me like the metal arms of a crash-seat. But suddenly, an explosion of pain hit me in the gut.
I retched and tried to curl up, but I couldn’t.
“Maybe you should try a different line of inquiry,” Claver suggested. “Don’t you want to know what happened back on Dark World? What do you remember, exactly?”
After a choking, coughing fit subsided, I went along with his suggestion.
“I wasn’t with my unit,” I said. “I only remember arriving on the space factory and finding everyone dead.”
“That’s it?” Claver demanded. He squinted at me, and I let my face go slack.
My dumbass, clueless expression seemed to convince him. It was believable enough that I didn’t remember the details of my death.
“You wrecked the place,” he said, sighing.
“Wrecked the planet?”
“Not entirely—but you gave it your best shot. You wrecked the space-factory. One of the big power-generators blew.”
“You sure that was me?”
He blew out a disgusted snort.
“Who else? But there is proof. According to a recorded vid stream from the Rigellians, they found you trying to destabilize the field right before it happened.”
“Uh…” I said. “So… there was a power-loss? So what? The power’s dead and the place is drifting, is that it?”
“I wish. It was far, far worse than that. A dead power-generator? Ha! No biggee. But what you did brought the whole thing down.”
“Um… seriously?”
“Yes. That generator maintained one of several critical fields that held the massive structure in a stable orbit. It took about two weeks to fall, and the Rigellians worked around the clock to save it—but they couldn’t do it. The whole damned thing collapsed eventually, crashing into the Vulbites’ sorry excuse for an ocean.”
I stared at him for a moment, honestly dumbfounded.
Then, after that pregnant pause, I guffawed with laughter. I raised my knee and slapped my hand down on it, earning a grunt and a tightening of his grip from the Claver-ape on my right side.
“That would have been a great sight to see!” I boomed, smiling and shaking my head. “Too bad I missed it!”
“Yeah…” Claver said, eyeing me with discontent. “Do you know what a factory that size consumes in raw materials? Vast quantities of metals, gasses and radioactives. The shipping contracts alone would have been a big source of wealth for me for decades.”
“That’s what you were interested in? Merchant rights to the factory? Makes sense, I suppose. You probably didn’t care who won the factory, did you?”
“Of course not,” he snapped. “That’s why I kept out of this one. I figured I couldn’t lose. Either way, no matter who owned it and wanted to build starships, they’d need a supply network.”
“Oh…” I said, getting the picture. “I was thinking differently. I figured if Earth couldn’t own it, the Rigellians shouldn’t have it, either.”
Claver snapped his fingers and pointed at me. His hand shook a little.
“That’s it. Right there. The insanity of James-frigging-McGill. I didn’t figure on that—but I should’ve.”
I shrugged, not caring what he thought.
“Standard soldier protocol,” I said. “If you can’t use an asset, at least deny it to the enemy. Scorched Earth.”
“You know what, McGill? This whole thing was a mistake. I thought I could talk to you. I know you have connections, and I thought I could make use of them—but no. All you can do is make jokes. I’m afraid I’m going to have to snuff you out and let someone else revive you—if they care to.”
This statement had me honestly concerned. I’d died under very unusual circumstances. The legion Varus people who’d been on Dark World had probably fled by the time I wrecked the factory and died. I might very well have been the only human being in the star system by that point—so who would be able to verify I was dead?
Without a corpse, Galactic Law forbade a revival for anyone. The reason for that simple wisdom was on display right in front of me. Claver had built an army of himself on some planet tucked away in the middle of nowhere.
I’d long suspected he had a lair like this one. It explained how he was able to pop up and vanish at will—because he wasn’t just one person. He was more like an army of cockroaches, living in a swarm under your house and only sending scouts to venture forth into the light of day now and again.
“Um… hold on,” I said.
“Ah-ha!” he laughed. “Now you’re nervous? Not the almighty McGill? He fears nothing—especially not his long overdue perming.”
“Hold on—I know stuff.”
“You don’t know shit from a hole in the ground, boy.”
“Yes I do! I’ve got the book!”
There was a long silence after that. Claver studied me, and I studied him.
“What book?” he asked at last.
“Don’t play the idiot with me, Old Silver,” I said. “You know the book I’m talking about. The Eaters of Lotus.”
He blinked once, then twice.
“You don’t have it,” he said. “I would have heard by now. You’re bullshitting in order to keep breathing for one more precious minute. Sorry boy, but your luck has run out.”
He signaled the two muscle-bound Clavers, who promptly turned me around and began hustling me back toward the elevator.
I had the distinct feeling that if I rode that elevator down into the dungeon under this nine-story building, the odds were slim I’d ever awaken again.
“Wait,” I said, “do you know a lizard named Raash?”
“Hold on,” Claver said.
The twins halted, and I tried not to sweat.
Claver slowly walked up behind me and the two apes.
“What do you know about Raash?” he asked.
I smiled. Of course—it made too much sense. Raash, the saurian who had invaded Floramel’s apartment and gotten himself killed—he’d been working for Claver.
“I know he was looking for the book,” I said. “He found I had it—so I had to put him down.”
Claver hissed at my back. “You killed Raash?”
“Yep.”
“Damn! He wasn’t backed up. You permed a good agent!”
I shrugged. I didn’t care at all. “He attacked me—it was his last mistake.”
Claver began to pace around me and the two apes. I craned my neck to follow because I utterly distrusted him.
“Listen,” Claver said. “I’m going to make you a deal. For convenience’s sake, I’m going to send you back to Earth. That’s where the book is, right?”
“That’s right,” I said quickly.
“Okay. You go get the book. When I send an agent, you give it to him. You got that?”
“Sure thing. I owe you just for bringing me back among the living.”
Claver chuckled. It was an evil sound. “You might hold your thanks. I’m not a charitable man. I’m harsh, some say—but fair.”
“Whatever. It’s a deal,” I said.
Claver had stopped walking around. He’d paused behind me. With the two brutes holding on, I couldn’t turn back to see what he was up to.
When he spoke again, it was from directly behind me, up close. “In case you’re thinking about screwing me over, McGill, consider this: I know where your family lives.”
That pissed me off. “And I know what your headquarters looks like,” I said, even though it wasn’t the smartest thing to be tossing around threats. “You think about that at night.”
Something jabbed me in the back.
I grunted and squirmed. I felt a cold liquid pump into me, near my spine.
“Now,” Claver spoke into my ear, “when you wake up at home, cowboy, you remember our deal. Got it?”
My mouth opened to make a nasty reply—but I couldn’t get out the words. The world was going dark.
My last memory was of looking out all those bay windows at the alien jungle and the floating air-jellies…
In the end, I slumped forward and died in the heartless arms of two brutish Claver-clones.
-52-
I don’t mind saying that I was a little freaked out the second time I was revived.
“Orderly…” I gasped. “Orderly…”
“He looks good,” said a female voice. I was pretty sure I recognized her. “Neural-transmitters are responding normally—for him.”
“He’s trying to say something,” the orderly said.
“What is it, James?” the bio asked, and I knew who she was right off.
Centurion Evelyn Thompson had pulled me out of the oven once again.
“Hi Evelyn,” I croaked. “Why did they assign a centurion to do a simple revive?”
“I guess they wanted it done right.”
I smiled. Same old Evelyn. “Tell me, is it a nice day outside?”
“No. It’s February in Central City. That means it sucks outside.”
“February? It’s been that long? It was fall the last I remember...”
“You should just shut up. Have some shame. I can’t believe they ordered your revival at all. You killed the Iron Eagles, you know that don’t you?”
“Aw now, that’s a misunderstanding.”
“All of them…” she said, not listening to me, “just wiped out all at once. They’ve never wiped before. People say they should have left you dead forever.”
Wiping at my eyes and coughing, I got my naked self up off the gurney and staggered toward the shower stall. After spraying myself down, I pulled on a uniform.
Feeling better, I stretched and eyed Evelyn, but she didn’t look at me. She fooled with her instruments instead.
“There’s a formal hearing scheduled upstairs,” she said over her shoulder. “That’s why they brought you back—I guess.”
“Let me ask you something,” I said to her back. “Do you really think I’d commit mass destruction without a good cause?”
She mulled that over. “Maybe…”
“Fine then. Fine.”
A bit annoyed with her attitude, I walked out. Before I’d made it six long strides along the passageway, a door swung open and shut behind me.
“James?” she called out. “I—I don’t think you’d do it for nothing. Did you have a good reason?”
I glanced back and stopped. “I’ll tell you about it over dinner tonight.”
Evelyn puffed out her cheeks and shook her head. “I don’t know…”
“Suit yourself.” I turned around and started walking again.
“All right,” she said. “If you’re not permed by tonight, you’ve got a date.”
She vanished back inside the revival chamber, and I hit the elevators.
Two goons from Hegemony’s endless pool of such characters met me when the elevator dinged, and I stepped inside.
I touched a fingertip to the pad on the wall, and only a single floor number showed up on the options screen.
Four-oh-seven. That was a high number, up in brass country.
“Hmm…” I said. “I wonder where I should be heading…”
“Just press it, McGill,” said the hog on my left.
I looked at him. “Are you a clone?” I asked.
“What?”
“Never mind. I guess all you hogs look alike to me.”
They shifted uneasily, but they didn’t try anything. I could tell they were pissed off, but that was their problem.
I’d kind of hoped they’d give me an excuse to flatten one or the other of the pair—but they didn’t.
At last, the elevator dinged, and I was let off. Four-oh-seven was a high floor, but there was lots more building above me. The size of the Central was a downright spectacle, and my ears were still popping as I marched down another passage.
“Right here. These doors.”
I pushed open a pair of the biggest bronze doors I’d ever seen inside Central. Once inside, I realized I was in the praetor’s office. I’d been here once before, when I’d delivered a wrecked air car to him.
Three officers waited for me inside. Right off, I knew the roster wasn’t in my favor.
Praetor Drusus sat dead-center. To his right was Imperator Deech. To his left was Tribune Galina Turov.
You could hardly have gathered a group with less-friendly eyes to land on poor old James McGill. I stepped into the huge office, and after about fifty steps I reached the conference table.
Standing at attention on one side of it, I faced the tribunal.
Three officers was a bad sign. Under Hegemony Law, it took three superiors to order a man permed. I might have taken it for a coincidence—but unfortunately, I didn’t believe in coincidences.
“Adjunct James McGill,” Drusus began. “Here we are again.”
“Excuse me, Praetor,” Deech said. “Can we simply read out the verdict? I have several appointments to keep today, and we’re running over already.”
Drusus reached a calming hand toward her, but he didn’t quite pat her—I sensed he might have if I wasn’t present.
So that’s how it was. Deech and Drusus were still an item. As there was very little compassion between Deech and myself, I couldn’t see their love-affair as a positive.
“We’ll move quickly enough, I promise.”
He turned back to me, and I dared to frown.
“Um… sirs?” I asked. “I wasn’t exactly expecting a parade, but I’m confused about this lukewarm reception. Am I not one of a handful of legionnaires who bear the Dawn Star medal? Am I not the Hero of Blood World as well?”
“Here we go,” Turov said, shifting in her seat. “Is that really all you’ve got, James? Grandstanding?”
“Your past actions won’t absolve you of guilt in the present, McGill,” Drusus said. “This tribunal has been summoned to decide your fate. We have done so, and I’m afraid your trial in absentia didn’t go well. The verdict was unanimous. You’re to be executed for gross insubordination, incompetence, malicious—”
“Now, hold on a damned second!” I said. “My memory of events in no way matches with that particular list of crimes.”
Deech sighed and stretched her fingers. Drusus seemed entranced, eyeing her hands from his seat.
What the hell did that mean? I didn’t know, and I didn’t much care.
“Are you appealing the verdict, McGill?” Drusus asked.
“I surely am. I don’t even understand exactly what it is I’m supposed to have done.”
Drusus tore his eyes away from Deech’s hands and turned back to me. “When we last met, you told me a tale that was largely a fabrication. You reported that a fleet had arrived from Rigel and destroyed Nostrum.”
“That’s right,” I said.
“After that, you returned to 191 Eridani, better known as Dark World. Then, without orders or approval, you destroyed the space-factory and a very large number of personnel deployed on that same station.”
“Wait, wait!” I called out. “I didn’t kill anyone—no one human, anyway.”
They fiddled with their tablets and tappers. They clearly didn’t believe me.
That got me to look at my own tapper. Desperately, I searched the vid archives stored there. There wasn’t much, but some of the streams I’d captured as a matter of course during that harrowing hour were still there.
