Thank God, Coeur thought I just hope Fubar and Gremlin are alive.

  "So, " Mexit Depot said. "Now that that's all over with, I assume you'll want some favorable terms for access to the surviving depot hardware."

  "No, "Coeur said, "I just want you dead. Pull his plug, Zorn."

  "With pleasure, "Zorn said, pumping no less than three grenades into the computer's brain before the machine could raise any last, compelling objection. Detonating with shattering, concussive force, they not only obliterated the heart of Mexit Depot's intelligence, but also shattered several holographic display panels in the adjacent control room as well, showering Coeur and Zorn with debris as they dove for cover on the floor.

  A single thought, however, flickered in the consciousness of Mexit depot before it faded out entirely.

  It serves me right, It thought, for trusting a human.

  ***

  After the room exploded, Coeur and Zorn lay a long moment below the debris, waiting in the sudden darkness to see if the room itself would collapse on them. The command room appeared to be solidly built, though, and Zorn finally ventured to whisper a question.

  "Think I got him?"

  "Yeah, "Coeur said, pulling herself up onto her knees and drawing a lightstick from a leg pouch, "I think you got him. Now let's see if any of the systems are still on line."

  "I don't see how they could be, "Zorn said, drawing her own lightstick and rising to her feet along with Coeur. "According to the circuit diagrams in here, the main computer was linked into everything. ”

  "Yeah, maybe, "Coeur said, checking bank after bank of instruments, now dead. "But there's just one thing that bothers me. Why would this station only have one computer?"

  "What do you mean? "Zorn asked. "It's not a spaceship. It's not like it's going to crash if it doesn't have a computer."

  "Well, okay, I'll tell you why. If the people who built this facility went to all the trouble to install a meson screen—which these schematics say they did—then they should have installed a backup computer as well, just to make sure the screen never went down."

  "An oversight, maybe?"

  "Maybe. Or maybe there « another computer that doesn't have its wiring displayed in this room."

  "Possible. What say I go check back with Drop Kick and see if power's out throughout the depot?"

  "Right, but I'll go with you. I don't want people moving around alone in here."

  A few minutes later, the women returned to the main hatch leading back to the depot floor, after passing through myriad corridors gone completely dark.

  "Well, I'll be damned, "Zorn said from the rear seat of the broomstick, when they flew through the hatch and found themselves hovering high above the main depot floor, illuminated only by the flames of burning ordnance. "We must have shut down all the station's power when we shut off the computer."

  "Well, good, "Coeur said, activating her suit's integral radio with a forearm switch. "Drop Kick, do you read me? ”

  "Loud and clear, skipper. But boy, you had us worried when all the lights went out."

  "Sorry about that. Are the people still evacuating?"

  "Roger that. They were leaving by elevators before the power went out, but now it looks like they've switched to leaving by hidden maintenance shafts. Whiz Bang and Widget noticed that when I sent them to scout around."

  "Good job. They have any idea how long it'll take for the slaves to reach the surface?"

  Widget herself hopped on the line to answer that.

  "Hard to say, sir, but based on the distance to the surface. I'd have to guess a couple of hours."

  "Outstanding, "Coeur said. "Stick close to Whiz Bang, corporal. Some of these people may still be unfriendly."

  "I don't know about that, sir—mostly they seem confused. But I'll stick close to Whiz Bang, like you say."

  "Roger that. Red Sun out. ’

  "So, "Zorn said, "think we can go now?"

  "Affirmative, "Coeur said, pushing the broomstick back into motion and diving toward the distant spacers at the far end of the depot floor. The sooner we get out of this place, the happier I’ll be."

  "Hey. skipper! "Vink called to Zorn when she and Coeur sailed in gently to a soft landing. "We about ready to leave?"

  "Almost, Vink. What do you think, Red, about an hour?"

  "I think so. If we give the slaves a one-hour head start, then set the bomb for a four-hour delay, that should be plenty of time to let them get out."

  "I hope we're not going to just assume that everybody gels out, "Physic said, rising from the prone forms of Fubar and Gremlin.

  "Actually, Physic, "Coeur said, "It's going lo be a problem checking all the lower living quarters, because that fire down there's blocking all the access ports lo the lower floors. But we'll check all the access tunnels to the surface before the bomb goes off all the same."

  "All right."

  Physic's pleasure with the present slate of affairs would last no more than another 15 seconds, however. That was when red emergency lighting blinked on overhead, and a strangely laconic voice boomed out over the depot loudspeakers.

  "Spaceship commander... 1 require that you remain within the safe area... You have not neutralized me.... My ordnance is operational, and I have displaced my... operations center to a reregistered location so that you can not interdict my missions.... Your maneuvers and countermeasures are ineffective.... My range and area of effect allow me to counter your operations.... Observe the effect! if you fail to support and coordinate with my missions.... I am equipped with the power of destruction and no-fire over all targets within this defended sphere... Observe..."

  "Oh crap, "Zorn said, "Red Sun, you were right! There was a backup."

  "Hm, "Bonzo mused. "The way its speech has changed, it must have moved to some system with smaller and more specialized language abilities."

  Like a fire control computer, Coeur thought. Oh God, don't let it be a fire control computer.

  "Fikk, "Coeur swore under her breath, rushing to the elevator shaft so she could a clear transmission to the ship's boat and G-carrier above. "Boomer, you read me?"

  "Hell, yes, Captain O’ Esprit, and you won't guess what I just picked up on the ship’s boat sensors—a huge mother of a meson blast over in Soledad!"

  Damn it! Coeur thought. Damn it, why didn't I know this was going to happen?

  "Understood, Boomer. Continue monitoring the situation. Red Sun out"

  "Oh fikk, "Zorn said, speaking for the knot of both her own and Coeur's people that had suddenly formed around the elevator door. "What are we going to do? It would take us hours to find the hidden entrance to that meson gun!"

  "Maybe we could try reasoning with the computer, "Physic offered.

  "Yeah, right, "Drop Kick offered, from his open turret hatch. "Our people are probably getting nuked right now in the city. I don't think the depot computer's in any mood to negotiate."

  "No, "Coeur said abruptly, "there's only one thing we can do. That backup computer has got to be part of this facility, so we're going to have to nuke the depot"

  "But what about the slaves? "Physic asked. "We can't just them be pulverized in those maintenance shafts when the bomb goes off!"

  "Fikk that" Vink said. "Even if that meson gun only fires once every couple of minutes, it could kill everyone in the city by the time all the slaves get to the surface."

  "But not, "Coeur said, "If we hurry them along. All right here's the plan—we've all got guns, so Whiz Bang and Widget are going to show us where all the exit passages are, and we're going to split up and cover every passage the slaves are in. Shoot at 'em, kick at 'em, do whatever it takes to get 'em up to the surface faster."

  Addled, perhaps, by the magnitude of the task, neither the Arses nor the pirates moved for a moment.

  "God dammit what do you want me to do, draw you a map? Move it!"

  That snapped the spacers out of their confusion. Coeur, Zorn and the spacers closest to Widget followed her toward the north wall of the depot and the spacers closest to Whiz Bang followed him to the south wall, leaving only Physic behind to begin preparing the two stretchers that would hang from the side of the intrepid for the transport of the comatose Marines.

  God, I hope this works, Coeur thought, Imagining the destruction just one meson Mast could cause, because I sure don't wont to trade 800, 000 lives in Soledad for 200 in this depot....

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  According to the plan agreed on earlier, An-Wing should expect to hear the warning to take cover from the rebel headquarters about an hour after she got to the Defense Ministry. She therefore reasoned that the rebel assault was still a half-hour away when Resguardo the nightjack finally decided to stop taking orders altogether.

  By this time the discussion between An Wing and Kilalt, both reclining on leather ottomans—had turned from vague talk of Oriflammen-Mexitan alliance to particular details of an Oriflammen invasion of Aubaine, supported by weapons from Kilalt's depot.

  Yeah, An-Wing thought, I can just imagine what the captain would think if she heard us discussing that idea.

  Oh well, she told me to do whatever it takes to keep him listening. I Just hope the rebels start their assault soon, because sooner or later I'm going to run out of BS to sell this guy.

  Either that, or he's gonna get tired of it and wont to see some proof.

  "Lady An-Wing, "Kilalt said, "I really must admit you are a refreshing person. You really seem to have a g rasp of the meaning of power."

  "Perhaps. But it will be much easier for both of us to exercise our power when Aubaine is neutralized."

  "I think that calls for a drink, "Kilalt said. "Resguardo, fetch us a bottle of one of the better vintages."

  "Yes, Your Holiness, "the nightjack said, moving over to a massive wine cabinet and drawing a bottle from it. "Will this Blanco Espinoso 1123 be satisfactory?"

  "Yes, quite. But pop the cork, too, Resguardo."

  Whether or not this was one command too many to r Resguardo An-Wing couldn't guess, but for whatever reason the nightjack abruptly stopped and dropped the wine bottle.

  "Hey! "Kilalt exclaimed, jumping sideways from his seat to escape the glass of the shattering bottle. "What the hell's the matter with you? "'

  The nightjack did not answer. It merely stood mute, frozen in place.

  "Your Holiness, "An-Wing said, also sliding off of her seat to take cover behind it, "I think you need to have somebody look at your robots."

  "Yes, they do seem to be acting up a bit lately."

  "Is it possible that they're having their command signals jammed somehow? From Hornet maybe?"

  "No, that's impossible. Graylord assured me the microwave transmitters between here and the depot are too powerful to be jammed."

  Ah, so these machines aren't autonomous, An-Wing thought. Good. Then maybe this one being frozen means Red Sun's nuked that depot Neither An-Wing nor Kilalt was so confident of the silent machine's state that they dared to move, though, so both were still frozen in place a minute later when Resguardo spoke again.

  "Attention... this building... has been targeted... for demolition. Do not... attempt.. to escape."

  "Oh fikk, "both An-Wing and Kilalt gasped, realizing simultaneously that their only hope was to dash for the door. Closer to the door, An-Wing got through it first, millimeters ahead of the grasping hand of Resguardo. Kilalt was not so lucky, being grasped across the collarbone and forced to his knees by the robot. " An-Wing!" Kilalt cried, through the open doorway, "Help me!"

  But something suddenly flared in the window behind Kilalt and Resguardo, a blazing flash in the direction of the old starport so bright it turned the night for a second into day, then shook the entire Defense Ministry with its propagating shock wave.

  The meson gun, An-Wing thought in a moment of blind panic, oh my God, the meson gun does work...!

  But An-Wing didn't stand there long enough to see the gouts of flame rising from the berths of the starport, or the abject terror in the face of Kilalt as he clawed helplessly at the metal arm that still pinned him to the floor of his apartment.

  Instead, she ran—her heels clacking across the marble tiles spelling out Kilalt's name—for the elevator she'd come up in, hoping it still worked and further hoping that the holy grav barge was still berthed on the roof.

  Good Cola, she thought, collapsing against the inner wall of the elevator when she got it moving, I'm never volunteering for anything ever again...

  ***

  Twenty kilometers away, Red Eye felt the same rumbling blast from the area of the old starport and immediately dashed out of Lemos’ headquarters tent with the general, Masaryk, V-Max and a gang of rebel officers.

  "Defender preserve us, "Lemos gasped, watching a tower of flame rise up from just over the horizon, "what the hell is that?"

  "Could it be a nuke? "a junior officer asked.

  "No, "Red Eye said. "The blast area is large, but the fireball's not intense enough. That's a meson gun blast."

  "A meson gun? "Lemos asked. "But I thought that was knocked out!"

  "Apparently it's not, ” Newton said, stepping out of the communications tent with Cardinal Vazquez. "We just received a signal from the rebels preparing to assault Kilalt. They say that blast was in the vicinity of the Vi Et Armis."

  "What! "V-Max exclaimed. "Why would anybody target her?"

  "Unknown, "Red Eye said, "but you can be sure of one thing— there's probably nothing but a black spot where that ship used to be."

  Utterly demoralized, V-Max staggered a few steps in the direction of the blast and then stopped, too stunned to say any more.

  "Well, whatever it's targeting, "Lemos said, "I don't like that it's going off so close to my men. I'm going to cancel the assault."

  "General, "Vazquez said, "do you think that's wise? This might be our best chance to defeat Kilalt, while the young lady has him detained in the building."

  "That may be true, Your Holiness, "Lemos said, "and I don't want to sound like I don't believe that the Defender is watching over us, but we have no idea what's being targeted out there. Our men will have to take cover."

  Vazquez reluctantly conceded the point with a nod, and Lemos hurried back to the radio tent with Newton.

  "I still don't get it, "Masaryk said to Red Eye. "Why would anybody target a perfectly good starship? I mean, it wasn't as if it could escape with its drives all torn out."

  "I don't know, "Red Eye said, turning to the most senior of Lemos' aides, "but I think we'd better watch our own butts out here. Major Badillo, we've got to make sure no nightjacks even so much as get at look at this place. They could be directing fire, and even a close miss from that gun could destroy this whole camp."

  Major Badillo, a bearded tittle stump of a man, didn't have to be told twice. He had two children and a wife among the civilians at the camp, hidden in and among the area's nibble.

  "Right I'll see that the perimeter guard is doubled immediately. "'

  Badillo then ran off toward his task, dragging along a couple of rebel sergeants to help him gather up more forces.

  "V-Max, "Red Eye said abruptly, "snap out of it. I need your help. ”

  "For what?"

  "To keep these people alive, damn it! Now move."

  "All right, all right, what do you need?"

  "I need you to fly one of the broomsticks for me. We're going up hunting for nightjacks."

  Perceiving, perhaps, that this was a way to do something other than mourn for his lost ship, V-Max quickly followed Red Eye to the one broomstick not already in use.

  "You know, of course, "V-Max said, piloting the broomstick into the air from its front seat, "those nightjacks are masters of camouflage. I don't think we'll spot one if it wants to stay hidden."

  "You just let me worry about that, "Red Eye said, checking the magazine of his fusion rifle and commencing a careful scan of the base's perimeter with his suit's synthetic vision.

  He managed to scan about a quarter of the camp's perimeter when the next meson blast hit—not a kilometer away from the camp.

  Neither Red Eye or V-Max knew what had happened at first. The shock wave from the blast—less forceful than the supersonic hammer of a nuclear explosion, but powerful all the same— slammed into the front of the broomstick, snapped its central trunk and flung both riders headlong into the ground.

  Walloped into unconsciousness by hard contact with a collapsed concrete wall, Red Eye nevertheless recovered quickly, thanks to the incredible strength of his battle dress, and rolled over as soon as he discerned that none of his more critical parts were broken."

  Oh, man—thank God and the guys who made this or mot Red Eye's relief evaporated, however, when he saw the flaming detonation at the edge of the camp—a meson detonation—and its effect on his surroundings. Both the headquarters and communications tents strained against their guy wires as a steady wind howled across the camp, and chunks of churned-up debris pelted both Red Eye and V-Max, who lay inert on the rubble nearby.

  "Hey, V-Max, "Red Eye said, crawling up to get a closer look at his pilot. "V-Max, snap out of it."

  V-Max would not snap out of his present condition, however. At closer range, Red Eye saw that his neck was broken, and his eyes were rolled up lifeless in his skull.

  Poor fikk. Red Eye thought, pulling off one of his armored gloves to feel for a pulse at the pirate's neck and wrist. First you lose your ship, then you lose your life.

  Well, don't worry, pal. I'll get the bastard who did this.

  Red Eye then pulled his glove back on and, rising back to his feet, found his fusion rifle lying a few meters away. The broomstick, he saw, was snapped clean in two, so he gave up any hope of repairing it. Instead, he hefted the battered rifle—which was at least in one piece—and moved off to find the meson gun's spotter.

  Not having a way to get airborne. Red Eye knew, was a clear disadvantage. Nightjacks were not only masters of camouflage, but fair flyers as well, and could quickly elude a pursuer.

 

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