Tech World (Undying Mercenaries Series) (41 page)

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Graves chuckled. “You lucked out, McGill. Do you have any idea what kind of spot you put the Imperator in? She
had
to say it was her idea. How would this have looked back at Hegemony otherwise? What if they heard that some specialist managed to start a war while she was in command? What do you think the brass would have to say about that?”

“Nothing good
I’m sure, sir.”

“That’s right. Her new
pretty ass would be in a sling, and her recent promotion would be history. This way, she can make it look like the squids attacked the station and she decided to fire on them. A reasonable course of action a commander might have been forced to take—but not our Turov. She doesn’t like to get into something she doesn’t know how to win.”

I thought about it, and I had to agree with Graves. At first I’d thought maybe she was sweet on me—but I’d
since rejected that possibility. She hadn’t vetoed my execution for my sake. She’d done it to save her own skin.

I couldn’t help but compare her behavior now with the way she’d acted when she’d first been reborn. When I’d first helped her out of the revival she’d been all young and smooth-skinned to start with. But Natasha had been right, within a few days the Imperator had returned to her old ways. She was still young-looking on the outside, but in her heart there lurked the scheming rank-climber she’d become later in life.

“There’s another thing,” Graves said. “She wanted the video of her blaming you for everything at that trial. She’s keeping that vid just in case.”

“In case of what, sir?” I heard myself asking.

“Insurance. If the Nairbs eventually show up and want to know what the hell happened out here, she’ll show them the vid file. You’ll have the starring role. The renegade McGill was caught and executed. Case closed.”

I nodded. “And since we all look pretty much the same to them, we should get away with it.
I mean—they wouldn’t have to actually execute me. The Nairbs won’t know the difference.”

“Yeah, sure,” Grave
s said with amusement. “You’ll be fine when that day comes.”

I frowned as I didn’t think he was being sincere. Great. Now
I knew of another way for me to die in the future.

Graves cleared his throat and rattled a computer scroll. He smoothed it out flat and put his sidearm on one edge to hold it down.

“These new computer scrolls the Tau sold us are thinner, but they won’t lie flat,” he complained.

“I wonder if they’re knock-offs,” I said. “I suspect a lot of their goods are illegal copies.”

He looked at me sharply then shook his head. “Forget you ever had that thought, Specialist.”

“Consider it forgotten, sir.”

“Good… Ah,” said Graves suddenly, shaking his computer scroll flat again. “I see one more thing.” Working his tapper, he summoned Veteran Harris.

“What now
, Centurion?” I asked.

Graves waved for me to be quiet. I felt uncomfortable as Veteran Harris responded to the call and entered the room. Harris looked me over with disdain, while I avoided his gaze.

“Is this man bothering you, sir?” Harris demanded.

“I’m not a school girl in a city park,” Graves laughed. “But yes, McGill always bothers me.”

“I feel the same way,” Harris said.

“Then I’m going to make you happy. Veteran Harris, I hold here a warrant for McGill’s arrest, signed by Tribune Armel himself.”

Harris’ eyes lit up.
What a bastard,
I thought.

“What are the charges, sir?” Harris asked eagerly.

“Sedition. Acts unbecoming. Assaulting superiors from another legion. There’s quite a list, here.”

“I knew it!” Harris said, staring at me like a dog watching a hamburger. “I knew you’d blow it! Germanica doesn’t put up with your kind of crap. They’re fancy-boys, every last one of them—but they play it by the rules, you have to give them that.”

“That might be the first and only time I’ve ever heard you praise Germanica,” Graves remarked.

“A man has to give credit where credit is due.”

“Well said. Veteran Harris, place Specialist James McGill under arrest.”

Warily, Harris approached me and snatched away my sidearm. I thought about fighting with him, I really did. But something told me I had a better way to play my cards. If I went to the Imperator, maybe she could get me out of this. After all, we had a deal.

Harris was grinning at me like a kid on Christmas morning.

“All right,” Graves said, heaving a weary sigh. “Specialist McGill has now been placed under arrest.”

He lifted his tapper and began recording. He took vid of me standing there with Harris at my side pointing a gun at me.

“
I’m performing an inquiry,” Graves said. “McGill, did you cause the death of Germanica troops during our short stay on Tech World?”

“Uh—probably, sir.”

“I’ll take that as a confession. Did you disobey the direct orders of higher ranked Germanica legionnaires?”

“Sir, I worked with those people. I saved their sorry butts. If it wasn’t for me, they’d all be permed.”

Graves waved away my words as if they stank. “Yes or no will do.”

I sighed. “Yes, I suppose I did that.”

“And lastly, did you collaborate with one Adjunct Claver of Germanica to perform treasonous acts?”

Bristling, I shook my head. “That doesn’t make any sense, sir. First, they claim I disobeyed the orders of one of their officers then they say I’m in trouble for obeying the orders of another?”

“Just answer the question, McGill,” Graves asked in a bored voice.

“Yeah, sure,” I said. “I followed Claver’s orders. You sent me on the mission yourself!”

Graves glanced at me in irritation. He worked on his tapper, editing the recording. The absurd questioning was beginning to get to me. I began to feel a burning sensation around my neck.

“I’m
cutting out that last sentence,” Graves said. “Please keep your remarks to the point. Last question: did you or did you not assault and personally murder Adjunct Claver?”

My jaw
clenched, but I managed to answer evenly. “Yes,” I said. “I did kill that weaseling bastard. They should be glad I did it, too. He created the entire disaster on the megahab and caused the deaths of over a million of civilian.”

“Well said,” Graves muttered. “All right then, based on the evidence and your confessions, I find you guilty. I sentence you to imprisonment without appeal for an indefinite period. The manacles, Veteran Harris.”

Harris’ hands shook as he handed over the manacles. I put them on after he pointed his gun into my face.

“Excellent,” Graves said. “
Hold those a little higher will you, McGill?”

I did as he asked, but I didn’t know why I was cooperating any longer. This was bullshit.

“Sir,” I said. “I’ve done plenty that was off-script on this mission.”

Harris and Graves shared a dirty laugh over that.

“You’re a master of the art of understatement,” Graves said.

“But sir, I don’t think this punishment is just. How can you lock me up and leave me to rot? I’d rather be permed.”

Harris perked up and he lifted his gun meaningfully. “Maybe we should listen to his plea, Centurion.”

Graves looked at his tapper
. “Hold on.”

“Sir?”

He waved a finger to silence me, still staring at his tapper.

I heaved a sigh and stood there, baffled.

“One full minute has passed,” Graves announced at last, lowering his arm. “All right. Release him, Harris.”

“What?” demanded Harris.

“Did you not hear me pronounce the sentence?” Graves asked calmly. “I said I’d sentenced McGill to imprisonment for an undetermined amount of time. I’ve decided since then that his sentence is complete, and I’ve released him.”

“One minute?” asked Harris, aghast.

Graves motioned for Harris to get on with releasing me, and I lifted the manacles toward him helpfully. Harris grumbled curses, but he unlocked my wrists.

“Thank you, Veteran,” I said. “I’m sure I learned my lesson today.”

Harris rolled his eyes. Graves dismissed him, but he had me stay behind.

“Now, to our last order of business,” Graves said. “You’ve been promoted to candidacy for the rank of Veteran by the Imperator. Are you aware of that?”

“I am.”

Graves nodded
and eyed me in speculation. “I never would have thought you’d be so good at horse-trading. I can only imagine what you held over her head to get this perk on top of everything else.”

He grinned at me briefly, while I pretended not to get his implication. Without letting on, I found I was pleased by Graves’ assumptions. If people thought I’d promised to keep my mouth shut about Turov’s transgressions with an enlisted man in trade for rank—well, that was better than having them know the truth. No one needed to know about the Galactic key.

“Harris isn’t going to like this,” Graves said. “In fact, I wouldn’t give you the best odds of passing the trials. But, you’ve got the Imperator behind you—what can I do? I’ll sign it.”

Frowning, I nodded as if I understood—but I didn’t. Not really. What I did know was that getting to the rank of Veteran in Legion Varus wasn’t c
ompletely straightforward. The commanders announced new candidates for the rank of Veteran, but that alone didn’t guarantee the promotion. Each candidate had to prove himself to the other Veterans in the cohort first. The exact nature of the process was somewhat arcane and shrouded in secrecy. What I did know was that a lot of it depended on a man’s popularity with the other Veterans. Unfortunately, the Veteran I knew best downright hated me.

“You have the right to turn down this promotion to candidacy,” Graves said, looking at me expectantly.

For an honest second, I considered exercising my option of refusal. But then I felt a spark of anger. Harris had been so greedy to see me dead or imprisoned, and I knew there was hardly anything I could do that would piss him off more than gaining the rank of Veteran.

“I accept the promotion, sir,” I said formally.

Graves shrugged. “Your funeral. Dismissed, Specialist.”

Wondering about the nature of my future, I left his office and returned to my quarters.

* * *

We arrived on Earth several days later. Our mission had radically altered over the course of the campaign, and it had been decided that leaving Tech World early was the best option.

Going home solved many of our problems. Both legions Varus and Germanica had suffered crippling losses. Worse, due to the loss of all but one of our revival units, we weren’t able to rebuild our strength. By going home, we could regrow every trooper within a few days. Hegemony could then decide if they wanted to send us back or utilize our skills in some other capacity.

When
Minotaur
came out of its warp bubble and glided close to Earth, I gazed through a viewport thoughtfully. I wondered how long I would have here at home before I was shipped off to war again.

For the first time, I had another thought in the back of my mind. What if the war
followed me to here? What if Earth was the next battleground?

The thought was disturbing because I didn’t think we could beat the squids if they launched a full-out attack—not yet. Maybe not ever.

* * *

A month later, I was back at home in my shed. Things had improved around the homestead. Even though I was only a Veteran candidate, my pay had increased. I’d also collected my higher active-duty pay, and for once I had a good deal of cash on my hands.

Spending a few credits on extras, I bought a real environmental control unit. It was one of the new models that gently conditioned the air to whatever temperature, humidity, or even barometric pressure you wanted inside your home. It even had settable oxygen levels—and I found I liked mine just a little bit on the high side. It was an alien device, naturally, but it worked like a charm. Fall was setting in, with the cool breath of winter coming in on the wind behind it. I knew that even if it snowed I’d always be comfortable in my place.

Natasha showed up one night in November. It was cold outside, but warm and perfect in my shed. She came in when I invited her and marveled at the change.

“This is so different from the last time I visited here,” she said.

“Yeah, I even cleaned all the bloodstains off the walls.”

She gave me a wry face. “Don’t spoil it.”

“Sorry.”

She looked down at her hands for a second which were fidgeting with one another. Still looking down, she began to speak. “James…James, I came to tell you I’m sorry.”

This surprised me.
Really
surprised me. Of all the stuff I was expecting this girl to throw into my face, an apology had to be dead last on a very long list.