War Games (11 page)

There was only one way to catch her now.

I jumped.

My first jump carried me to the lip of the precipice. As I landed, I flexed my legs and jumped again. At the same time, I hit the thruster button in my mind, firing the gravtubes on both sides of my pack. Ten G’s tried to puddle my flesh into my combat boots. Polymermesh-reinforced skin resisted. But my balls starting hurting. Even though they were retracted into their pouch. They always hurt when I used thrusters, Maybe that’s why I avoided using gravtubes as much as possible.

Grychn was already halfway across the chasm when I gravved on. But that didn’t matter. She was flying on pseudowings. She could go no faster than muscle power could drive her. With a powered jump, I could overtake her easily. I chuckled to myself. I knew what a stupid blunder it appeared I’d committed. I looked as dumb as a poisoned kitten.

She still had her autopulsar!

I would be an easy target in midair.

Of course, you knew that all along. But then I’ve been giving you hints. So you’ve already guessed my ulterior motive. You know why I wanted to appear so stupid.

Grychn had planned it the same way. Of course, she thought I wouldn’t shoot her. If I followed her across the gorge, she could shoot me down. If I didn’t, she’d get away anyway. But I
was
going to shoot her. I had no choice.

She wheeled in the air to face me, hanging on the updrafts rising from the canyon floor. I saw her bring her weapon to her shoulder. Thin lips smiled beneath an oxygen bubble. Her eyes were hidden behind mirrored goggles. She took careful aim.

Now I was off the hook.

The way I figured it, I was safe. Because it appeared to be me or her. I would seem to fire in self-defense. My assault rifle already bore on the girl. I didn’t need to aim. She hung in the air like a fat butterfly. I couldn’t miss. But it would appear I shot in desperation, to save my life. The spook would see it all. Kramr would be mad as sheep. He’d have me vivisected. But he wouldn’t guess the truth. He’d think I had no choice. I’d lose my stripes for being so stupid. That was OK. It would be just as easy for a buck private to desert the Corps.

My finger tightened over the firing stud. For some reason, I paused. It occurred to me that I was about to fry Grychn, my childhood sweetheart. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go through with it.

I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I didn’t have to look. Sensors already confirmed what was happening. Another combrid streaked through the air under max thrust. Rings of p-grav streamed behind her. She was lucky she didn’t have any balls—they’d be screaming.

She must have paralleled my path through the forest and jumped at the same time I had. I was so concerned with Grychn, I hadn’t noticed her before. I must need some R&R. I was getting awfully sloppy.

I recognized her. She was Vichsn.

Grychn glanced away from me. The muzzle of her pulsar swung away as she tried to aim at Vichsn. But she was too late. She should have tried to shoot me first, then swung on Vichsn. Of course, I would have shot her then. Now I couldn’t. Not with Kramr watching.

Vichsn flashed past, knocking Grychn’s weapon out of her grasp with a chopping blow. The pulsar cartwheeled toward the ground. Grychn folded her wings and tried to dive after her gun. There was only one thing I could do. I kicked my thrusters to max acceleration for a couple of millisecs and rocketed across the distance between us. I tackled her in midair, putting my shoulder into her belly and wrapping my arms around her body. Breath whistled from her nose. She gasped. Then she went limp, knocked unconscious by tbe impact. I hardly felt the blow on my shoulder. Combat armor was designed to absorb shock. I could have blasted into a rock cliff and sustained only a few bruises. A lady guerrilla’s midsection was somewhat softer.

My momentum carried both of us to the far edge of the gorge. Kramr stood on the other side. He’d seen everything. There was nothing else I could try. I immediately jumped back, holding Grychn in my arms, not wanting her to regain consciousness before I had her back on the other side.

Kramr was waiting at the cliff’s edge. “She’s not ... ?” he asked, leaving the question implied. His tone told me she had better not be.

“Of course not,” I answered. “Just knocked out.” There was a coldness inside me. The game was over. I was going to have to run and hide. Before I ran out of time.

The spook clasped sonic manacles on Grychn’s wrists and ankles. Kramr’s eyes shone with inner brightness. Then he laughed. I didn’t like it.

Vichsn had jumped back. She joined us on the edge of the cliff. “Thanks, buddy,” she said, and laughed as she looked at Grychn. I wasn’t sure I liked her laugh any better.

I tried to smile. It was hard. I was already plotting an alternative plan. Some of it was unpleasant. And I was going to have to hurry.

Kramr had called for a bus to come and pick us up. While we waited, I looked at Grychn. I was glad I hadn’t killed her. Though that would have been a kinder fate. She was still out cold. She wore loose space coveralls, so not much of her body was visible. Her hair was as short and white as ermine fur. She had good cheekbones and a fine nose. She’d grown up to be a handsome woman. When I’d last seen her, just before I’d hit the road, we were both twelve years old. She’d cried when I told her I was going. But she wanted me to get rid of my timestone. I couldn’t do that for anyone. She wouldn’t go with me if I took the timestone. She said she loved me. Maybe she had. But she couldn’t come with me, my bridges were burned; my parents were murdered. And I had the timestone with which to manipulate events. A lot had happened to both of us since those days.

As I looked at Grychn, I had a pang of regret. I wished she’d stayed with me. She was a pretty lady. A shame she was headed for the cyborg factories. I was sorry I’d left her behind. But I’d had to choose between her and the timestone. There was no choice. I mean, pretty ladies could be found anywhere. Still Grychn was something special. A real shame the spooks had her. That meant I was going to have to run again. I’d have to hurry if I was going to find the timestone before they did. When Grychn talked, they’d find out about both me and it.

Kramr saw me looking at her. “So much for a Lord General’s daughter. Her nobility will do her no good before a Colonial court. They have become a little tired of terrorism.” He looked at me carefully. I got the creeps again. “Of course, she might not survive long enough to make it to trial. She has a lot to tell me. And not very much time in which to do it.” He smiled, “There may be other royal brats brought to task.” He laughed wickedly.

There was something in his voice I didn’t like. Was he suspicious of me? Had he I guessed my secret already? He couldn’t have. I had covered my traces too well. Too many years had passed. No evidence was left. All that were left were my nightmares and the image of my own dead face. And Grychn’s memories, No spook had glimpsed mine. But they were about to look into her head. I should be safe until that happened. She wouldn’t voluntarily betray me.

But there was a disturbing familiarity to Kramr. I had heard of him even before I got to Titan. Where? Then I remembered. The woman who had fingered me in the Bank of Telluride had been named Kramr. But they couldn’t be the same. No way. Besides, I had never been connected to the sailor. The spooks didn’t know it was me who’d had the timestone. All they knew was that I’d figured out a way to rob banks. They wouldn’t know any more without looking at Grychn’s memories. It would take time to dredge them out. And more time to make the necessary correlations. I had that much time left. I could make my plans. I could take care of another loose end and then desert the Corps to look for the timestone. I tried a show of bravado: “Frogging straight. She and all her kind deserve the cyborg factories. Even that’s too good for them.”
Forgive me, Grychn.

The spook laughed again, looking at me.

Bugs crawled up my back.

On the ground, Grychn stirred. She sat up. When she saw Kramr, she turned away, showing her face to me. Her eyes were like shattered amber. Something glittered from their facets.

She didn’t recognize me. Hybridization to a combrid had changed my face beyond recognition. That didn’t light up her eyes. Something else did.

But I couldn’t be sure the look of panic I glimpsed in her eyes wasn’t a reflection of my own.

The whine of a hoverbus approached.

NIGHT GAMES
had begun.

Somewhere, spooks were already interrogating Grychn. But they probably weren’t serious yet. They would start out just teasing her. Minds lasted a little longer if the questioning went slowly. The shock of sudden interrogation sometimes sent one into an autistic fugue. Then the questioning became a little more difficult. They wouldn’t want that to happen. So they’d be patient. I should have a little time. A few weeks, maybe. Enough to get away, in any case. Enough to cover my tracks. I had made my decision. There was no other way.

Soft laughter from many throats blended into background noise. Low moans rose to orgasmic shouts throughout the barracks. Skin slipped against skin. Leather creaked. Chains rattled. Whips snapped. Mnemone fumes wafted in the air. Privacy curtains were sometimes pulled, sometimes left open. Saturn-light gleamed from naked bodies.

Everyone was enjoying himself. A good firefight always made the nights randy.

Outside, yellow fog rolled across the compound. The force-field guarding its perimeter crackled green. Elves swooped from the trees beyond, howling and shrieking. Automatic pulsar beams stabbed out if they showed too much of themselves. But the targeting computer rarely hit one of them. They weren’t
that
slow. Faces from dreams formed in the mist. Wraiths melded into fog. Ghost-smiles curled into wisps.

Vichsn bit my earlobe. Breath whistled from her nostrils. “Yes, yes,” she said through clenched teeth. Her eyes were open. Passion shone from retinal reflections. She spread her legs wider, the deeper to receive my thrusts. Her fingers sought places she knew pleased me. Monomer sweat shone from our bodies. Her breasts rubbed against my chest. Belly muscles undulated against mine,

My mind wandered. I couldn’t concentrate on sex games. I had other worries. I couldn’t be sure how long Grychn could resist the spooks. I had to think about running. But I couldn’t even concentrate enough to make proper plans. I kept remembering a twelve-year-old girl who had said she loved me. I kept thinking of what she would be going through. But I was going to have to start making my own preparations. It was too late to do anything about Grychn.

Finally Vichsn’s moans quieted. Peristaltic contractions waned. Her breathing slowed.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked after a few minutes.

“Nothing.”

“You didn’t show much enthusiasm.”

“I’m preoccupied.”

“You’re telling me. Over her?”

“Who?”

“You know. Peppardine. I saw you looking at her.” She smiled secretly.

“No, not her. Why should she interest me?” I smiled back. I didn’t feel like smiling. But you had to play the game.

“Because she was once a Lady. And I’m just a commoner. But I don’t mind sharing you, lover. You will always come back to me. You know you will. I know all about you. So go ahead. Play around if you have to. I mean that.” She also meant something else. I had to think.

I got up from the wombskin bunk and padded on bare feet over to the window. I stood before it. A horde of elves had gathered at the edge of the base’s force-field. They kept well back in the trees, to avoid triggering our autopulsars. They howled furiously. Maybe they were mourning their dead—the ones we’d killed that day. Killing was always the easiest part.

Vichsn carne to stand behind me. She pressed her pelvis into my buttocks and wrapped her arms around me, “You knew the other Lady, didn’t you.”

“Who?”

“Grychn Willams. The guerrilla Lady. You once loved her, didn’t you?”

I said nothing. You didn’t ask that kind of question in the Corps. Pasts were supposed to be forgotten. Just because some fool tells you more than he should, that doesn’t give you the right to know anything else. I was sorry I’d told Vichsn as much as I had. She knew too much about me already. But you had to trust someone. You had to share the hurt sometimes. Nights were too long otherwise. Then I felt a sudden chill. Vichsn shouldn’t know about Grychn. I had never spoken of Grychn to anyone. I was sure of that.

“How do you know I knew Grychn Willams?” I tried to keep my voice soft, the tone casual.

Vichsn smiled sheepishly. “I have a terrible confession to make. You know when I filled in for the company clerk that time.” She paused. “I feel guilty about it. But I couldn’t resist. I pulled your personnel file and glanced through it.” She laughed. “Awfully wicked of me. But I couldn’t help it.”

“What did it say?” My voice was modulated perfectly. She would never detect the anger underneath.

“Lots of interesting things. They almost gave you a synthetic personality. The Corps shrinks thought you might be too sociopathic to make a good soldier—they thought you might not follow orders and would desert eventually. But they were overruled by the big brass. And I know about how you had to kill your own parents and about your career as a gambler and robber. There was even a report from the spooks. They seemed to think you had some kind of device that let you cheat at both gaming tables and bank vaults. But they had no proof. Just suspicions. So you see, I know everything about you. Terribly nosy of me. But now you can’t leave me behind, can you? You’ll need to take me with you. I only did it because I love you. Am I forgiven?” She wriggled against me.

“I don’t know. What else did my file have in it?”

Vichsn laughed, deep and throaty. “Don’t worry,” she said. “There was nothing about the other. Only I know about your plan to go to Chronus to hunt for a mindrider named Nels. Your secret is safe with me,” She laughed again. “As long as you take me with you.”

I said nothing. I shivered, even though I wasn’t cold. It didn’t make any difference. What had to be done would have had to be done, anyway. I knew that. I just had more reason now.

* * *

I watched Vichsn sleep.

Alabaster faces had bothered my dreamtime.

Her eyes were open, but they saw only inner images. A grimace contorted her face. Her mouth shaped itself into a scream that never sounded. Sweat beaded her face. She had told me of her dream. She’d had a man; he was a sculptor. He was also a pephead, and played the frenzied games of peptide. Sometimes he brought his other lovers home and made Vichsn play in a nasty
ménage à trois.
One time, a boy lover went berserk. He killed Vichsn’s man with a sonic whip. Before he could turn it on her, she hit him over the head with a mallet, splattering brains all over. She still dreamed of those brains. Since hers was a crime of passion, she’d been allowed to join the Corps. That was dubious mercy. There was no honorable escape from the Corps. The only way out was to run. That was what I was going to do. After I took care of a few loose ends.

Vichsn still slept. Her dream was recycling in another stage of REM sleep. I had not wanted to hear about it. She told me, anyway. The barriers had broken down. I told her how I was going to desert and go to Chronus, that I had to find someone there. I might have even told her about the timestone. I couldn’t be sure I had not. Confession was self-indulgent. Once it started there was no controlling it.

Now I had to run. I had no choice. I had to be long gone before Kramr hypnoed out of Grychn’s mind the images of the dream we shared: my parents sprawled in peptide stupor; me dragging them one at a time into the spa and floating them in the hot water; opening their veins; watching their faces turn white as blood drained into steaming water, staining it crimson. She’d tell him about the timestone, how it showed us my parents would have killed the two of us. Then she’d tell him there was another timestone. He’d come after me. He’d know then I’d killed the spooks sent to get the ring from the sailor. I was going to have to move fast if
I was going to find Nels before Kramr did.

Now it was time to run again. My plans were made; my bags were packed. I was ready to go except for one loose end.

Vichsn held me close in her sleep. I’d made a mistake once and left behind a witness who knew too much about me. A ghost to come back and haunt me. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. Spooks were too good at extracting images from minds. I’d trusted someone else once. Never again. You only got one chance with me. Another killing wouldn’t matter. They only sent you to the cyborg factories once.

I gently reached out, not disturbing Vichsn. My hand found my belt and removed a sonic knife. I snapped open the blade. Ultrasonic fire flared from its edge.

Vichsn moved in her sleep; her lips nuzzled against my chest.

Outside, elves shrieked their endless taunts. Fog swirled into the faces of wraiths.

I brought the blade near her throat, holding it a few centimeters from the soft skin there. One quick thrust and it would be over. She’d feel no pain. For some reason, that was important. There’d be no one left to talk about me when I was gone. No more ghosts to haunt me.

I realized I was making a mistake. If I deserted the same night Vichsn had her throat slit, the spooks would be damn suspicious. I had to be trickier than that. I must be getting rattled.

I closed the knife.

I remembered green fire sparking from retinal reflections. I saw claws reach out to play with mice.

There was an easier way.

But it would take a little time.

* * *

I crept out of the barracks, leaving Vichsn sleeping. I crossed the compound naked. Nothing unusual about that.

The chimera let me into her room. We lay down on a wombskin bunk.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” she said.

“How did you know I’d come?’

She laughed, but said nothing. We lay together for a long time—kissing, touching, feeling. Her eyes seemed to be someplace else.

Her fingers explored my body. They felt between my legs. There was nothing there. “Let it down,” she whispered.

I relaxed my cremaster muscle. My penis and scrotum slid out of their pouch. The chimera fondled them as she kissed my face. My penis stayed limp. She took it in her mouth, but even her tongue could not stir life into it.

“You bastard!” she hissed. “You’ve been with someone else already.” Her voice had changed. “How dare you come home after you’ve lain with one of your harlots. What’s the matter with me? Am I too old? Don’t I excite you anymore?” She began sobbing. “Who was she this time?”

“You’ve seen her,” I said. “The blue-eyed one.”

“You bastard!” She cried again, then stopped abruptly. “I only want my share. No more. Just what’s mine. You can give the rest to your other boys and girls. What’s wrong with me? Am I ugly? Do the stretch marks on my belly offend you? I can have them removed. They got there bearing your son. What’s the matter with me?”

“I told you. The blue-eyed one.” I smiled.

“I only want what’s mine.” Her fingers crept up my scalp. One poised over my CNS stud. I heard a claw slip out of its sheath. “Is that too much to ask?” Her claw touched the stud.

Blue fire flowed into my brain. Endophetamine blazed in my mind, then coursed into my body like bloody fire. Synthetic passion squeezed hormones out of endocrine glands. A testosterone storm soon raged. My penis stiffened, then hurt with tumid throbbing. My mouth and teeth worked cruelty on her breasts. She opened her legs to receive me. We coupled. With each thrust, air whistled out her nostrils.

“Oh, yes,” she said. “Give me more. I must have more of you.”

She had me until the peptide frenzy ebbed. Then we slept. I woke once to her talking in her sleep. Something about blue eyes.

After that, I slept uneasily.