remember your smooth rides, Ten. I think I've still got the bruises."
"I was still learning then! I've got it down now, Three—you'll love it! Wait'll you see the new bird. She's white-hot!"
I sat down and concentrated on my dox. So—Valkyrie and her squad gave all their salaries to the Legion. Get a life! But that was it. They knew they were all going to die. And it certainly wasn't any crazier than what I had done in coming here, or what Priestess had done in following me.
"Say, Thinker," Psycho exclaimed. "Remember, I'm the Two now. When I say 'jump' you ask 'how high'? Get it?" Psycho used to take orders from me, and probably viewed with great amusement my reassignment to his squad as a common trooper.
"That'll be the day, Psycho," I replied. "By the way, when are you planning on paying back that hundred credits you owe me?"
"I owe you? What? No, no, I believe it was you who owed me a hundred credits, wasn't it?"
"No, it wasn't. It was you, Five."
"If you're talking about Beta Five, that was ancient history, Thinker. My name is Jox Two. I'm not responsible for what that fellow Beta Five did. He was an irresponsible chap, always on the run, living on the edge. I'm not surprised he owes you money. You ain't the only one! Why I recall…"
I let it fade. Squad Jox—the Armpits. Thinker and Priestess. A new life—fine. The Gods compel me to do it, I do it. But after this, Priestess and I are quitting the Legion—getting out permanently and going back to Andrion 2. A clean break was obviously the only way to do it. But meanwhile—we go with it. We ride with the Gods of War across the Outvac, under deceptor skies, clad in Legion armor, fighting for the unborn—until the Gods get off my back and let me go home. I could do it. I knew I could. I'd done it before.
"I've got a new girl friend," Redhawk whispered in my ear. "Want to meet her?"
***
"She's beautiful," I whispered. Redhawk and I were alone with her, in dim light and a deep silence. I had never seen anything more lovely. She was stunning.
"She's perfect," Redhawk replied, running his hands gently over her satin skin. "She's an angel from Hell. I've fallen in love with her. I'll never love another." I could see it in his eyes as he gazed, hypnotized, at that unearthly, deadly, exquisite creature.
We were in the launch deck of the Spawn , and the object of his affection was poised above us, a great, chilling black cenite bat, with skin as smooth and featureless as a pool of velvet ink, and lines that never seemed to end, but just faded back into the body like some kind of eerie Mobius strip. I ran my fingers along the skin again. It was ice cold and seemed to move around my fingertips like liquid metal. The thing was huge, I realized. It dwarfed an aircar.
"This is our bird, Thinker. Her name is Kiss, because I kiss her awake every morning. She's magic, Thinker—evil magic. She's got everything the lab rats could cook up. Everything the Legion has is in this lovely bird. Aircars? Forget about aircars. Recon doesn't use aircars any more. This baby is so secret she doesn't even have a designation. Recon Mission Support Vehicle, they called her at one point. The Spawn has four of them—one for each Recon squad. We call them Phantoms. Kiss, Little Miss Miss, Hiss and Sis."
"What does she do?" I asked quietly. Delta-shaped wings, I saw—but the shape was hard to visualize. It kept…merging.
"She does everything." Redhawk looked up at her worshipfully. "She's a long-range shuttle. She's completely cloaked. It's state of the art, Thinker. You can fly this honey over a Legion starport and warn them she's coming and nobody will spot her. I've done it! The damned thing is invisible!"
I touched her again. A cold thrill ran along my flesh. Magnificent!
"We can approach the target planet undetected, drop right into the at, and proceed to the insertion point to drop off the squad. Then I'll serve as fighter backup if necessary or cruise in the at or hide
"I was still learning then! I've got it down now, Three—you'll love it! Wait'll you see the new bird. She's white-hot!"
I sat down and concentrated on my dox. So—Valkyrie and her squad gave all their salaries to the Legion. Get a life! But that was it. They knew they were all going to die. And it certainly wasn't any crazier than what I had done in coming here, or what Priestess had done in following me.
"Say, Thinker," Psycho exclaimed. "Remember, I'm the Two now. When I say 'jump' you ask 'how high'? Get it?" Psycho used to take orders from me, and probably viewed with great amusement my reassignment to his squad as a common trooper.
"That'll be the day, Psycho," I replied. "By the way, when are you planning on paying back that hundred credits you owe me?"
"I owe you? What? No, no, I believe it was you who owed me a hundred credits, wasn't it?"
"No, it wasn't. It was you, Five."
"If you're talking about Beta Five, that was ancient history, Thinker. My name is Jox Two. I'm not responsible for what that fellow Beta Five did. He was an irresponsible chap, always on the run, living on the edge. I'm not surprised he owes you money. You ain't the only one! Why I recall…"
I let it fade. Squad Jox—the Armpits. Thinker and Priestess. A new life—fine. The Gods compel me to do it, I do it. But after this, Priestess and I are quitting the Legion—getting out permanently and going back to Andrion 2. A clean break was obviously the only way to do it. But meanwhile—we go with it. We ride with the Gods of War across the Outvac, under deceptor skies, clad in Legion armor, fighting for the unborn—until the Gods get off my back and let me go home. I could do it. I knew I could. I'd done it before.
"I've got a new girl friend," Redhawk whispered in my ear. "Want to meet her?"
***
"She's beautiful," I whispered. Redhawk and I were alone with her, in dim light and a deep silence. I had never seen anything more lovely. She was stunning.
"She's perfect," Redhawk replied, running his hands gently over her satin skin. "She's an angel from Hell. I've fallen in love with her. I'll never love another." I could see it in his eyes as he gazed, hypnotized, at that unearthly, deadly, exquisite creature.
We were in the launch deck of the Spawn , and the object of his affection was poised above us, a great, chilling black cenite bat, with skin as smooth and featureless as a pool of velvet ink, and lines that never seemed to end, but just faded back into the body like some kind of eerie Mobius strip. I ran my fingers along the skin again. It was ice cold and seemed to move around my fingertips like liquid metal. The thing was huge, I realized. It dwarfed an aircar.
"This is our bird, Thinker. Her name is Kiss, because I kiss her awake every morning. She's magic, Thinker—evil magic. She's got everything the lab rats could cook up. Everything the Legion has is in this lovely bird. Aircars? Forget about aircars. Recon doesn't use aircars any more. This baby is so secret she doesn't even have a designation. Recon Mission Support Vehicle, they called her at one point. The Spawn has four of them—one for each Recon squad. We call them Phantoms. Kiss, Little Miss Miss, Hiss and Sis."
"What does she do?" I asked quietly. Delta-shaped wings, I saw—but the shape was hard to visualize. It kept…merging.
"She does everything." Redhawk looked up at her worshipfully. "She's a long-range shuttle. She's completely cloaked. It's state of the art, Thinker. You can fly this honey over a Legion starport and warn them she's coming and nobody will spot her. I've done it! The damned thing is invisible!"
I touched her again. A cold thrill ran along my flesh. Magnificent!
"We can approach the target planet undetected, drop right into the at, and proceed to the insertion point to drop off the squad. Then I'll serve as fighter backup if necessary or cruise in the at or hide
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