"Your Ensign Gyro thought I could help, "said Vazquez, breathing heavily in her soaked clerical robes.

  "She was right. Now let me get you inside where you can dry off and warm up."

  "No, "Vazquez said, "not until everyone has gotten in. They need someone to show them that their lives come first."

  Coeur sighed.

  "All right, "she agreed, now yelling so Crowbar could hear her as well, "but let Crowbar get you some dry clothes, okay?"

  "Got it covered. Red, "Crowbar yelled from the cargo ramp. "I'll take good care of her."

  You'd better, Coeur thought, as she headed around the starboard boom to enter the bridge by the crew ladder. A planet only gets so many lucky breaks, and she's one of the best ones Mexit's got.

  "Welcome aboard, Captain, "Deep Six greeted her as she stood by the pilot’s seal, removing pieces of wet vac suit.

  "Yeah. It's nice lo have some place to come home to. I feel sorry for those people back there, "she said, tossing her head to indicate the cargo hold. "We blew up the only home most of them have ever known—clean, safe, and healthy—and now we're transplanting them into a bombed-out city that just got blown into even smaller pieces."

  "Actually, sir, "Deep Six said, turning sideways in his roller-chair to lace Coeur, "I did some checking on that on the way down. The damage to the city is really much less serious than you might expect"

  "But I thought the city got pounded pretty hard."

  "Indeed. However, apart from the Defense Ministry and the hit on the rebel camp, every other shot landed on top of pre-Collapse military targets—targets that were already destroyed in the Final War."

  "Well, I'll be damned, "Coeur said, buckling her seats restraints. "When the depot computer transferred its intelligence into the fire control computer, it must have found only pre-Collapse data on targets of military significance."

  "Right, "Gyro said, "and once it lost its forward observers, it must have switched to those targets as logical alternatives."

  "Still, "Deep Six said, "It does make one wonder why such a devious computer would switch to a pattern of pure destruction."

  The answer to that question, Coeur supposed, was unknown, but she had a theory.

  "It's possible, "she ventured, "that it didn't have enough memory capacity in the fire control computer to hold all its original mind. I mean, for instance, down in the depot we heard its vocabulary change completely, as if it didn't have enough space to download its language routines and switched to the smaller vocabulary of the specialist machine instead.

  "So maybe, "Coeur went on, "It didn't have enough of its original mind left to be subtle. It just did what a lot of the simpler Virus strains would do—it took over the primary purpose of the machine it inhabited and started killing."

  "Or perhaps, "Deep Six said, "It was just angry that you'd defeated it."

  "Well, yeah, that too."

  Down below the bridge canopy, Coeur caught a wave from Crowbar signaling that all the slaves were aboard, and cut short the discussion.

  "Okay, that's it people. Let's get ready to launch."

  "Yes, sir, "Gyro said, retreating aft toward her laser turret.

  Coeur then paused a moment, thoughtfully looking across the Gutter of Blood at the G-carrier, ship's boat and intrepid, likewise standing by to launch.

  "Sixer, put me through to Zorn. She should be at the com of the ship's boat."

  "Aye, sir."

  "Zorn here, "the pirate captain answered a moment later, though with a voice clearly hoarser than usual.

  "Hey Vega, you all right over there? You think you can fly?"

  "Yes, Coeur, "Zorn replied, "I can fly. just because I lost my ship and my best friend doesn't mean I got stupid all of a sudden."

  Touche, Coeur thought, although she knew Zorn really was worked up over the loss of V-Max and Vi Et Armis. Having lost a ship, and a best friend, herself, she could empathize with Zorn.

  But now was no time to think about Darien.

  And there was still work to do on Mexit.

  "Well, then, if you think you're up to it, there's still one more mission I'd like you and the guys to take on. Do you remember the map in the control room that showed the approximate location of the last meson gun—the gun that was firing."

  "Yes, I recorded it on video, In fact."

  "Good. Because I want you and the rest of our crew to take it out Find the entrance and pull whatever slave crew is inside out of there. I doubt they have the initiative to start firing again without orders from the depot, but all the same it's better to be safe than sorry."

  "Understood."

  "Of course, "Coeur pointed out, "Drop Kick will be in charge of the mission, but I doubt he cart fly his tank into the meson gun chamber."

  "Understood. I'll make sure nobody gets hurt inside. "'

  "Well, try anyway. Red Sun out."

  ***

  The assault on the meson gun proved to be anticlimactic. The hidden entrance. In the floor of a desolate mountain valley, was unguarded. Once inside. Drop Kick’s Marines and Zorn's pirates found powered elevators obligingly waiting to serve them. These, in turn, took the spacers down two kilometers to the last of Mexit's functioning meson guns, and the 250 technicians huddled fearfully around the perimeter of its cavernous 300-meter-diameter cavity. The handful of nightjacks they found were in a state of electronic catatonia and were easily neutralized.

  Frightened by the extinction of the depot intelligence that had so long ruled their lives, the technicians offered no resistance and were peacefully herded to the surface. In shifts, the G-carrier, ship's boat, and then Hornet herself—after unloading its own payload into the arms of Cardinal Vazquez—began transferring these people to shelter in the city.

  "Well, that is some gun, "Coeur said later in the afternoon, looking up at the weapon with Red Eye, whom she'd brought back from Soledad to take charge of it.

  "Yeah, "the sergeant said, staring at it through a gallery window, "I'd have to give you that. What is she, 50, 000 tonnes?"

  "Actually, 70, 000 tonnes, "Coeur said, "with a discharge energy of 200, 000 megajoules and infinite traverse."

  "And you want me to take charge of it"

  "As far as you can, yes. When Hornet goes back to the Coalition, I'm going to take Drop Kick with me, so there'll be no excuse that I didn't have a guard on Zorn. You and the rest of the Marines I'm going to leave here, though, to get this gun in working order."

  Red Eye stood quietly, regarding the huge weapon.

  "Sir, is that really practical? It would take at least 1, 000 men to run this facility property—to gel the power plant back to full power and get proper maintenance going."

  He paused to take a breath.

  "In addition to which. I'm not a commissioned officer. Surely the Coalition won't approve of leaving a gunnery sergeant in charge of a planet smasher like that"

  "Well, we can fix that, "Coeur said, touching controls on her forearm to activate the audio recording function of her vac suit's computer. "Ship's log, RCS Hornet: As of this date, the 2nd of Taurus, 1202, Gunnery Sergeant Yorgi Mating, call sign"Red Eye, "has been given field promotion to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in the RCMC, with all rights and privileges pertaining thereto."

  Coeur then shut off the recorder.

  "Wait a minute, "Red Eye said, "can you do that?"

  "Well, I just did. I suppose it's another matter whether or not the Marine Corps command will accept it, but I think they will if they have any sense. After all, a commissioned officer should be in charge of Mexit Station."

  Again, Red Eye was silent.

  "Wait a minute, sir—aren't we getting ahead of ourselves? This isn't really our properly, is it?"

  "Actually, yes it is. I talked with Vazquez earlier at the Church of the holy Sacristy—she's moved the capital there, for the interim—and she's agreed to loan us the gun in exchange for technical assistance."

  "Oh, right, like we won t be busy enough trying to keep the gun running."

  "Oh, don't worry. We've got a handle on the manpower problem. Physic says Gremlin and Fubar should recover completely inside a week,. In addition to that, you'll have all the rest of Zorn's crew to help you look after the gun and train new gunnery technicians from the city."

  Red Eye laughed. "Okay, sir. I'll stop arguing. Any other impossible things you want to assign me before you go?"

  "No, that ought to do it, lieutenant."

  "In case anyone asks, what is the status of Zorn's old crew? Are they still covered by the charges against her, or are you summarily dismissing them?"

  "By the powers vested in me, I don't know. But they won't be going anywhere. Keep an eye on them until an official Coalition vessel shows up with instructions. Some court somewhere will decide, but those people are needed right here and now, and not on Ra just to be arraigned."

  "Yes sir."

  "Anyway, don't worry about legalities. This whole situation's so weird there are no regs for it anyway, just make sure you get this gun running, and don't be afraid to use it on any unfriendly powers that try to assault Mexit. If you can do that, nine'll get you 10 the Assembly will authorize construction of a forward naval base here, and then you'll have more help than you'll know what to do with."

  "Pie in the sky, sir, "Red Eye said, "by-and-by."

  "Yes, "Coeur chuckled, "I suppose that's getting ahead of ourselves. Right now, why don't you go find Whiz Bang and start a survey of the gun to see what^s beat up and needs servicing. Snapshot, Newton and Crowbar should be getting to work on a battery of sensor drones in the meantime, and we'll see that those get linked up to the depot's microwave comm net before we leave so you'll have some direct-fire capacity"

  "Yes, sir, "Red Eye said, saluting and then walking off to find Whiz Bang.

  Coeur remained behind, looking up at the fearsome gun. Flying over the city earlier, In Hornet, she'd seen the craters the weapon had left in the city—some as wide as 400 meters, full of rubble and soil melted into glass.

  And it killed Liu, she thought, remembering the particularly dense wreckage she'd seen in the crater of the Defense Ministry, wreckage that rescue workers were still sifting through in the dangerously intense sunlight of the afternoon. They'll probably dig her out of that mess before the evening, and then well have a swell night.

  Since Zorn wanted to bury V-Max this evening, right in the camp where he'd died—and which the spacers were still using as their own base—people would already be in a somber mood. Finding An-Wing, Coeur supposed, would only make it worse.

  Yes, well, they wouldn't call it the Wilds if it weren't dangerous. At least now this gun will be doing something constructive.

  Coeur's pensive thoughts were interrupted, however, when she heard the clatter of armored feet running toward her from the opposite direction Red Eye had gone. It was Widget, and she was excited.

  "Sir, "she puffed, "news. An-Wing's alive."

  "What? How?"

  "Didn't get all the details, sir, but I thought you'd want to know as soon as we heard. Physic's got her right now, at the same hospital with Fubar and Gremlin."

  Shocked by the news, Coeur didn't take the time to discuss it further.

  "Right, "she said. "I'll take the G-carrier."

  "Yes, sir. It's already warmed up."

  Coeur spared one last glance at the meson gun. Dwarfing the destructive power of the gods that the men of her own world had imagined millennia before, perhaps it was more than a god of destruction.

  Perhaps it could be merciful as well.

  ***

  The story was so unbelievable Coeur stiff didn't believe it when she'd heard it twice. But the proof was there, before Coeur,

  Physic, Widget and Masaryk. Picked up from the rebel camp. In a bed of old St Bernadine's Hospital, was Liu An-Wing, with no more serious injury than a fractured collarbone and a broken leg.

  "Let me get this straight, "Coeur said. "You didn't know how to fly the holy grav barge, but you managed to talk the pilot into turning on the contra-grav a split second before the building blew up. "‘

  "I told you I'm good, "An-Wing replied, a trifle smugly, propped up comfortably in her bed. "The field let us drift down gently, but then it cut out a few meters above the ground, and we crashed into the crater."

  "Lucky girl, "Masaryk said. 'I'll bet you just wanted to get a nifty arm-sling to match mine."

  "Hmph, "An-Wing said, looking down at the sling on her own right arm. "But mine will be black, "she chided, with the hint of a smile. "Someone has to light the way for you fashion-challenged. I'm curious about something, though. Did the search parlies ever find Kilalt?"

  "Yes, "Physic said, "as a matter of fact they did. Found a nightjack too, clamped onto his shoulder, but they were both dead."

  "Good, "An-Wing said. "Because you wouldn't believe some of the things I had to tell him to keep him there in the building..."

  "Like what?"

  "Oh, like... "An-Wing began, but then thought better of it Appreciative of the sudden feelings of the Aubani, she supposed they might not take kindly to the story she'd cooked up about Oriflamme invading them.

  "... Oh, let's just say things that people who know me well know I really don't mean. But it was hard work, believe me."

  "And much appreciated, "Coeur said. "What you did was selfless and heroic. "Coeur moved closer to the bed to offer An-Wing her hand. ‘Thank you."

  "Well, let's not get too sentimental, "An-Wing said, thought she did accept the handshake. "I still think Oriflamme has the most right to this planet"

  "Sure, "Coeur said. "And if the Assembly agrees to that, then more power to you."

  Politely, An-Wing nodded.

  "You know, there's just one thing I wonder about, "Widget said. "What happened to Graylord, Kilalt's lieutenant?"

  "Wasn't he blown up with Vi Et Armis? " Masaryk asked. "I thought he was in a trash bin in her berth."

  "He was, "Widget said, "but some of Zorn's men found the trash bin—thrown dear by the explosion—and Graylord wasn't in it The hasp was broken, too, as if it had been forced open from the inside."

  'Wow, "An-Wing mused, warming to the allure of further conspiracy, "you don't suppose he could have gotten away? Captain, that could be dangerous, a key lieutenant of Kilalt's loose in the city...."

  That's enough, "Coeur said, resting a hand on An-Wing's good shoulder. "One cloak or dagger at a time. All you need to worry about now is getting better."

  "But."

  Trust me. there will be plenty of intrigue left when you're back up and around. Anyway, even if he was an autonomous machine, he's two meters tall and looks like a skeleton. If, by some chance, he did survive the blast, he probably couldn't move around unnoticed."

  An-Wing nodded, and a silence fell upon the room, now turning yellow with the glow of sunset through polarized glass.

  "Say, Captain, "Physic said, "Isn't V-Max's funeral going to be soon?"

  That's right, "Coeur said, glancing at the chronometer on her vac suit's forearm. "Widget, Bela, we'd better get going if we're going to be there."

  "Right. "they agreed.

  "I suppose I'll have to stay here, "An-Wing said.

  "Yes, you will, "Physic agreed, "as will I."

  "You sure about that, doctor? "Coeur asked. "Someone could cover for you."

  "If it's all the same, sir, "the doctor said, "I'd rather stay."

  And from the look in Physic's eye, Coeur knew what she meant. V-Max and Zorn were the two people in Armis" crew who knew—from the outset—what effect the HF II virus would have on Ra. In Physic's mind, they were both mass murderers— regardless of the patriotic motives behind the slaughter of the Hivers, or the heroic deeds they had performed since on the Coalition's behalf. It was not surprising that Physic would want to skip V-Max's funeral.

  "You know what you have to do, "Coeur said. "I'll see you later."

  Physic nodded, and Coeur departed with her group.

  Makes me wonder if I should skip it myself, Coeur thought But a life is a life, and it people should respect the lives of Hivers, then I should respect V-Max's. He gave it up for his comrades and the people of this world, and I con acknowledge that, no matter what other mistakes he made. How do I know—maybe he was even trying to make up for what he did. It's not my place to judge.

  ***

  Not far from the tent city that had been set up for the former depot slaves at the edge of the rebel camp was the place where V-Max had died, and this was the place Zorn chose to bury her friend and comrade-in-arms.

  As Coeur expected, the funeral wasn't pleasant, but at least it was brief. Given Zorn's relationship to V-Max—Coeur and Drop Kick knew from their earlier time aboard Vi Et Armis that the two pirates were intimate—Zorn thought better of delivering the eulogy and left that to Vink instead.

  "... What it all boils down to, "Vink said, "Is that we came out here with Zorn for a reason, to get our freedom from a government we felt was coming under too much influence from foreign powers. Of course, that also meant we had to leave the friendship of our countrymen behind, but that didn't mean we didn't care enough about our country to risk our lives for it Pete Heron here—V-Max—risked his life for that cause wherever we went, and it is best that we remember he died in the service of that cause, so this city that's rubble today could live on and be free tomorrow.

  "And that's all I've got to say."

  "Company, "Zorn said, "salute."

  The other 13 pirates executed a crisp salute which was marred only slightly by the wavering of Carl Becker, who was crying openly. The body of her cousin was as yet unrecovered from the ruins of the Defense Ministry. Zorn engaged the winch that towered the sheet metal casket of V-Max into the earth. The Arses and Marines, meanwhile, stood a few meters back in respectful silence—out of their environment suits and back into regular body sleeves—though they did not salute.

  "All right, guys, "Zorn said afterward, when the casket hit bottom, "let's go ahead and cover him up."

  ' That the pirates did, with quick shovels of dirt, and the ceremony was officially concluded. Zorn went down on one knee at the side of her friend, and rather than remain close by, the rest of the pirates and most of the Arses drifted away with cautiously soft steps.

 

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