was chilling nonetheless.
“Fellow legionnaires,” she began, her voice rolling out over us with the booming power of an amplifier. “As many of you know, I’ve been transferred to Hegemony. I requested this opportunity to address my Varus cohort one final time.”
Carlos nudged me, his eyes shining with excitement. “We’ve finally lost the old witch!”
I slapped him away and stared at Turov in concern. She had a reason for all this—of that I was certain.
“Your new mission begins today,” the giant face told us. “You’ll ship out within hours, and you won’t be back for a year.”
A general chorus of groans went up from the assembly.
“Because last night’s vote was a failure,” Turov went on, “Legion Varus will not be joining Hegemony. As a direct result, Central Command feels Legion Varus should be deployed immediately to Tau Ceti. There you’ll serve as a color guard for the local aristocracy. The term of your contract will be, as I mentioned, one standard year.”
She said these words with emphasis, and I figured she knew they would cause every soldier who heard them pain. We normally didn’t deploy for more than six months at a time. A full year—that wasn’t going to be easy. Worse, Tau Ceti was known as a dull world. They were a merchant’s depot, a central clearing house for goods from twenty star systems. Most of the technology shipped to Earth these days filtered through Tau Ceti.
Although Earth legions often served there as bodyguards for rich merchant princes who wanted to show off to one another, service there wouldn’t be anything to write home about. Effectively, Legion Varus was being put on ice.
“Legion Varus will be relieving Legion Germanica,” she continued. “There will be a two week transferal period after which Germanica will be brought home aboard Minotaur .”
“Marooned on Tau Ceti for a year ?” Carlos complained.
I didn’t glance at him. No one did. Carlos was always complaining about something—but this time I had to admit he had good reason.
“I wish you all well,” Turov concluded with a smug smile, “and I regret that I’ll be unable to accompany you on this mission. On a final note, I wanted to assure every trooper who privately texted me concerning certain irregularities in last night’s voting process that the matter will be investigated. Thoroughly. The wheels of legion justice grind slowly, but in the end, no wrong will go unpunished.”
Carlos slapped my belly. “She’s talking about you, dummy.”
I caught his hand and went for a finger-hold, but he managed to jerk it away before I could break something.
Veteran Harris turned his head, glaring. “You two knock it off. Is this junior high?”
“Sorry Vet,” Carlos said. “McGill can’t keep his hands to himself.”
Shaking his head, Harris turned back around with a sigh. I was surprised he hadn’t injured one or even both of us. Maybe he was too depressed to do so.
When Turov’s giant face finally melted away, Graves made a speech about duty and honor, but I wasn’t listening. The briefing broke up shortly thereafter.
All I could think of was the long, long year stretching out in front of me. We’d won the vote. Legion Varus was still independent. But it seemed like Turov had had the last laugh. She was sending us off to Tau Ceti for an entire year—a gulag assignment.
After the briefing, Harris was the first to “congratulate” me. He clapped a heavy hand on my back. His open palm landed so hard between my shoulder blades that the blow might easily have been mistaken for a slap.
“Well played, Specialist,” he boomed in my ear. “Now I’ll get to cool my heels twenty lights from home. I’ll be wearing parade uniforms and accompanying drooling Tau while they go shopping in hostile townships. Lucky me. I’m so glad you kept us free and clear of the evils of Hegemony.”
I looked at him in surprise. “I didn’t realize you wanted to become a hog so badly,
“Fellow legionnaires,” she began, her voice rolling out over us with the booming power of an amplifier. “As many of you know, I’ve been transferred to Hegemony. I requested this opportunity to address my Varus cohort one final time.”
Carlos nudged me, his eyes shining with excitement. “We’ve finally lost the old witch!”
I slapped him away and stared at Turov in concern. She had a reason for all this—of that I was certain.
“Your new mission begins today,” the giant face told us. “You’ll ship out within hours, and you won’t be back for a year.”
A general chorus of groans went up from the assembly.
“Because last night’s vote was a failure,” Turov went on, “Legion Varus will not be joining Hegemony. As a direct result, Central Command feels Legion Varus should be deployed immediately to Tau Ceti. There you’ll serve as a color guard for the local aristocracy. The term of your contract will be, as I mentioned, one standard year.”
She said these words with emphasis, and I figured she knew they would cause every soldier who heard them pain. We normally didn’t deploy for more than six months at a time. A full year—that wasn’t going to be easy. Worse, Tau Ceti was known as a dull world. They were a merchant’s depot, a central clearing house for goods from twenty star systems. Most of the technology shipped to Earth these days filtered through Tau Ceti.
Although Earth legions often served there as bodyguards for rich merchant princes who wanted to show off to one another, service there wouldn’t be anything to write home about. Effectively, Legion Varus was being put on ice.
“Legion Varus will be relieving Legion Germanica,” she continued. “There will be a two week transferal period after which Germanica will be brought home aboard Minotaur .”
“Marooned on Tau Ceti for a year ?” Carlos complained.
I didn’t glance at him. No one did. Carlos was always complaining about something—but this time I had to admit he had good reason.
“I wish you all well,” Turov concluded with a smug smile, “and I regret that I’ll be unable to accompany you on this mission. On a final note, I wanted to assure every trooper who privately texted me concerning certain irregularities in last night’s voting process that the matter will be investigated. Thoroughly. The wheels of legion justice grind slowly, but in the end, no wrong will go unpunished.”
Carlos slapped my belly. “She’s talking about you, dummy.”
I caught his hand and went for a finger-hold, but he managed to jerk it away before I could break something.
Veteran Harris turned his head, glaring. “You two knock it off. Is this junior high?”
“Sorry Vet,” Carlos said. “McGill can’t keep his hands to himself.”
Shaking his head, Harris turned back around with a sigh. I was surprised he hadn’t injured one or even both of us. Maybe he was too depressed to do so.
When Turov’s giant face finally melted away, Graves made a speech about duty and honor, but I wasn’t listening. The briefing broke up shortly thereafter.
All I could think of was the long, long year stretching out in front of me. We’d won the vote. Legion Varus was still independent. But it seemed like Turov had had the last laugh. She was sending us off to Tau Ceti for an entire year—a gulag assignment.
After the briefing, Harris was the first to “congratulate” me. He clapped a heavy hand on my back. His open palm landed so hard between my shoulder blades that the blow might easily have been mistaken for a slap.
“Well played, Specialist,” he boomed in my ear. “Now I’ll get to cool my heels twenty lights from home. I’ll be wearing parade uniforms and accompanying drooling Tau while they go shopping in hostile townships. Lucky me. I’m so glad you kept us free and clear of the evils of Hegemony.”
I looked at him in surprise. “I didn’t realize you wanted to become a hog so badly,
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