This is going to be the last teaser I get out for a while. My
phone lines are REALLY messed up, and US West is copping a dirty attitude.
(You want a reliable dataline? If you aren't satified with 2400 bps,
then tough. $200 a month for a special conditioned phone line, please.)
For those who are confused by all the teasers, here's the
timeline.
Quest 1, (set in Undocumented Features)
Quest 2, (set in Dominion Tank Police)
Tangled Skeins, (set in Twister's Twisted Path universe)
Time and Again, (Twisted Path)
In Dangerous Ground. (Twisted Path, again)
There are more plotted, but as they're set in another series, I
don't want to give away the plotlines as yet.
Here is the teaser and opening chapter for 'Time and Again'. Hope
you like it.
Wow. I've posted more in this week than I usually do in two
months.
Ed.
"Dreamers may die, but the dream is eternal..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off
the shoulder of Orion... I've watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the
Tannhauser Gate... All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in
rain... time to die."
- Roy Batty, "Bladerunner"
"Nothing's forever, now or ever. Never look back. Never say die."
- Iron Eagle: Never Say Die.
***********************************
"That's the last of it, then."
"It's all finished, boss. All the repairs are through, and we can re-open
tomorrow."
"Good. Once I'm back in business, I can start repaying Sylia." Ed shook
his head. "I _never_ want to cross her again. That is one _sharp_ woman,
Minerva." He blinked several times. "Sometimes I think that the folks on the
alt.fan.bgcrisis newsgroup were right. Maybe her father _did_ improve her
somehow."
"Would you like me to scan her?"
He shivered. "Hell, no. That might get her _angry_ with me."
"You're probably right. Oh, boss?"
"What?"
"Can you PLEASE do something about Mackie? He's constantly trying to
badger Nene into hacking into me."
Ed rolled his eyes in an exasperated manner. "I knew the little deviate
was hard up for female companionship, but really... All right, pretty lady.
I'll let Sylia know. She doesn't stand for his peeping ways, and she'll let
him have it with both barrels."
"Thank you, lover. Reminder: You have an appointment with Sylia today.
She wants you over at Doctor Raven's garage."
"Any idea what for?"
"I'm not supposed to tell you. She said you'd find out when you got
there."
* * *
STEEL BREEZE PRODUCTIONS
and
Industrial Might & Logic
Are Proud to Present
L E G I O N ' S Q U E S T
Time and Again
* * *
"This has to be the leading contender for the craziest idea of this or
any _other_ century! I know I promised to make restitution to you
personally, Sylia, as well as the city.. but this is.. it's.. arrgh!"
Ed spread his arms wide. "This is nuts!"
"Did you or did you not explain to me that you seem to be invulnerable to
all weapons you've encountered to date?"
"Yes, but..."
And you _did_ promise to try to make amends?"
"I.. well.. but this isn't.."
Sylia narrowed her eyes at him. "Given your abilities, and the needs of
the Sabers, this is both simple for you to do, and highly useful for us."
She waved at the pile of equipment lying at his feet. "Now please put that
on, and go to the training room. The rest of us will be waiting for you."
She turned and left, while he simply moaned.
Picking up the gear, and shaking his head, he wondered, *How the hell did
I let myself in for this?*
* * *
"You will notice the vest, helmet, and gauntlets Edward is wearing. They
will allow him to simulate the weapons of a typical C-55 boomer. The helmet
contains a low-power particle beam, the vest an array of flat-plate lasers,
and each of the gauntlets a rapid fire machine gun in 5 mm caseless. None of
these is powerful enough to cause injury to us while in our hardsuits, but
they _can_ be painful." Sylia paused, then raised the volume on her external
speakers to overcome Ed's pained groans. "In addition, our suits have been
programed to simulate the appropriate damage from any strikes he may succeed
in dealing to us. As tests indicate that he is highly resistant to physical
damage, _our_ weapons remain at 25% power. Enough to show damage, but not
enough to damage the training area."
"What about me?" he grumbled. "I won't get hurt, but it's still smarts,
you know... and I don't think Priss intends to pull any of her punches!"
Sylia shot a knowing glance at Priss. "You needn't worry about that, Ed.
I've programmed Priss' suit myself. And included an override, in case she
should become over-enthusiastic, mid-exercise."
"Gee, thanks!" came the sarcastic rejoinder. Priss simply raised her
visor and smiled at him sweetly.
"To continue...? Thank you. Given Edward's current physical state, he can
convincingly simulate anything short of a missile boomer. At my request, he
has reviewed standard boomer combat routines, and will be executing several
of then." She looked closely at Nene. "Do _not_ take this lightly. In order
to be more realistic about this exercise, I have promised him that for every
one of us he successfully defeats, he will have one day removed from his
`sentence'. So he will be highly motivated."
"It's the next best thing to really being there!" smirked Priss. "Who
needs holographic opponents, when we've got Punching-bag Man, here!" The
dark look Ed gave her at that moment could have killed several small
countries.
Nene smiled at him, and did her best kawaii thing. "He wouldn't hurt a
girl, would he?"
"A girl? No," he growled. "_Priss_ is a different matter."
"Are you saying I'm unfeminine?!" Priss snarled.
"Compared to you, a _grizzly_ bear is feminine, you hyper-agressive,
shoot-first, ask questions later, trigger-happy, hardsuited.. _lounge
singer_!!"
"LOUNGE SINGER?!?!"
Sylia sighed. *At just what point did I lose control here?* "Please calm
down, Priss. You too, Edward. The objective here is to _simulate_ a battle,
not to actually engage in one. Now, take your places. We'll begin at my
signal."
Darlene, who was watching on the monitors, snickered loudly. "This is
going to be entertaining."
/*
** battle scene in the Sabers training room
*/
"Sylia? The next time you find me standing in a crater in the street,
smoking?"
"Yes?"
"Leave me there to die, please."
Ed stomped off to the showers.
* * *
Ed groaned as he finished his shower and pulled on the spare clothing
from the gym bag he'd brought with him. The shirt and jeans he'd been
wearing in the training room now reeked of smoke and ozone. *Minerva is
never going to let me live this down,* he thought. *Ah, well... at least she
can't complain that I'm failing to get enough exercise.*
He slung the bag over his shoulder, and left the Saber's locker room. To
his surprise, Linna was waiting for him.
"To what do I owe the honor, Ms. Yamazaki?"
"Oh.. I thought I'd just walk you home." Linna frowned slightly. "Sylia
seems to know more about you than the rest of us, and I thought we could
talk as we walked."
Ed nodded. "Works for me." He held the door open for her. "There isn't
all that much to know, actually. I think Sylvie and Anri gave you most of
the story that night."
They turned down the street. "Most of it, but not all. Like.. where did
you get that _huge_ mecha you used?"
Ed winced. "The last universe I was in. That's how they fought their
wars. With war machines they called Battlemechs. From little 20-ton things
called Locusts, Wasps, and Stingers; all the way to 100-ton monstrosities
with names like Atlas, Grand Titan, and Behemoth." He shrugged, his face
growing somber. "I got involved in a stupid, senseless civil war, and my
conscience made me see it through to the end."
"I thought it might be something like that. Sometimes you seem almost as
grim as Sylia."
"Eh?"
"Almost. That warped sense of humor you have helps a lot."
He smiled. "Thank you."
"There. See? When you smile, you look ten years younger!"
He nodded. "Minerva keeps telling me I should smile more. But it's not as
easy as it sounds." They turned a corner, and he continued. "Linna, there
were a LOT of people in my native reality who would have considered all of
this a dream come true. I don't."
Linna looked confused. "All of what?"
He pointed to a nearby building where a boomer was serving as a doorman.
"That. The boomer. Your hardsuits. The high tech. The adventures. So many of
my friends would have, to borrow the words of a fellow author, `wanted to do
this in the worst possible way for a long time now.... Get dressed up in a
suit of powered armor and solve the world's evils, protect the innocent, and
all that jazz.'"
"Who said that?"
"An old friend of mine. Bert Van Vliet. You wouldn't know him. I don't
know if he exists in this reality."
"I think your friend had an overly romantic view of things. Fighting
boomers is hard work and not very fun."
"To you, yes. And to me. But most of the people where I come from long
for the good old days when a single person could make a difference, a time
of heroes and villians, an age where answers to problems were simple and
clear cut, coming in either black or white, no shades of grey." He snorted
"To them, what they saw of your world, _this_ world, it seems a simple one.
If someone does you dirt, you climb into a hardsuit and you fight for your
rights. A battle to the death, and may God grant victory to the righteous."
"And you don't see it that way?"
Ed shook his head. "Linna... I spent the last twelve years at war. Before
that, I'd been an officer with the Tank Police, a bounty hunter, and a
mercenary soldier of fortune. In my own world, I was a soldier with the
American army for eleven years, before a really stupid accident robbed me of
my career, my honor, and my future." He glanced her way, giving her a tired
look. "I haven't believed in simple solutions to anything for a very long
time now."
Linna frowned at that. "I see."
They walked along in companionable silence for a while, finally reaching
the street where `Rare Books' and `Flights of Fantasy' were located. He
turned to Linna. "Thank you. It was nice to have some company. Do you want
me to call you a cab? It is a stretch to your appartment."
"Thank you. And it was nice talking with you. See you at the re-opening
party."
***********************************
Personal Log: Entry 194, Year 20
I have _got_ to stop underestimating Sylia. That practice session might
not have been the worst hour of my life, but it certainly rated as one of
the most embarrasing. Priss has an evil sense of humor. I don't know where
she got the recording, but playing Lynn-Minmei's "We Will Win" from the
Robotech Perfect Collection was a _cruel_ thing to do. I wonder where she
got it from.
I haven't been _that_ nauseated in decades. Note: Tell.. no.. _ORDER_
Minerva to delete ALL copies of that song on this planet!!
Tomorrow I reopen the bookstore. I've invited everyone over to the
re-opening party tomorrow morning. It'll be good to get back to a normal
life. Okay.. sort of normal, anyway. Before the mistake I made in trying to
take on Genom the way I did, the months spent in the bookstore were some of
the best in my life.
I _am_ installing stronger security measures, though... I do NOT intend
to get caught off guard again. Letting that razor doll slip into the shop..
I still feel foolish over that. Sylia is advising me on that, however. The
sensor suite she installed over at her place after those boomers tore up her
store-front seems like the way to go. I could use some of the technology
from the Calypso, but it's mostly _generations_ ahead of anything this world
has. I don't want to take a chance on Genom's getting their grubby paws on
any of that. Goddess knows what they might try to pervert it into.
I do have an idea on how to get back at Priss.. one that Darlene gave me,
indirectly. Boy, is she going to regret her choice of music! I can't _wait_
until she shows up with the others for the party tomorrow morning!
Heh, heh, heh....
End Log Entry 194
***********************************
The next morning, Ed woke up in the apartment over the bookstore, with yet
another dead alarm clock resting on the nighttable by his bed. *I've _got_
to stop DOING that!* he thought as he rolled out of the bed with a groan.
*It's starting to get embarrassing. And I'm making the owner of the
appliance shop down the road a rich man.*
He cleared his throat with a rough-sounding cough. "Anything to report,
baby?"
"Nothing at the moment, b'wana. Are you certain you want to go through
with this? It's going to drive Priss crazy."
He grinned. "After all the glee she got out of playing that song at me,
she _deserves_ it."
"Let me guess.. you intend to go through this no matter what I say.
Right?"
"Got it in one, love." He yawned and stretched. "Shower, shave,
breakfast, then opening the shop." He blinked. "Hmm... been there, done
that. Life is getting rather monotonous."
Minerva laughed. "And you wouldn't have it any other way, would you?"
He chuckled. "Found me out, eh?"
"I found you out years ago, boss. If you get any more predictable, I
could set MY clocks by you. Now go get cleaned up. Breakfast will be on the
table by the time you're out of the shower."
* * *
"Hi, Sylia!" Ed smiled widely as the four women came through the door.
"What do you think?"
Priss looked around with a suspicious expression. "Books. Bleah." Sylia
shot her a quelling look and nodded.
"It's very pleasant. I see you've managed to completely restore
everything."
"Well.. not quite. I didn't want to put those scanners and the extra
security in, they make the windows look ugly. But you were right. I need
them." He bowed, and pulled a couple of packages out from underneath the
counter. "A few presents for you, in gratitude for your patience with me."
He handed a book to Nene. "The Compleate History of Chocolate. I thought
you'd enjoy it." A second book went to Linna. "An autographed copy of J. P.
Morgan's autobiography. I hope you like it. And to Sylia... this took a
little doing, but.. one of Isaac Newton's handwritten copies of Principia."
He grinned widely as Sylia's controlled expression slipped just a little.
"It is authentic. Not from a replicator. That's why it was so hard to get."
He glanced over to Priss. "And something _very_ special for you, Ms.
Asagiri." He grinned evilly.
Priss regarded him warily. "What is it? I don't like books."
"Oh, just a little piece of music from my past I thought you might
enjoy." He chuckled. "Here.. I'll play a bit of it for you." He slipped a
disk into the sound system and after a few seconds of staticky silence, a
man began to sing.
"Well, out here in the country, it's easy to get bored,
Seems like all there is to do is eat and sleep and chores.
But I found this here magazine, 'side the road 'bout a week ago..
Tells all about a wild, new lifestyle in San Francisco
And Junie May, it says the way we live's just a lot o' hokum.
Yes, where we're at is just old hat, we gotta get with the program
So I'll get me some leather overalls and get my teeth chrome plated.
Make you a necklace from a barbwire fence, our clothes are just
_outdated_!
And you can throw away that old housedress you made from floursacks.
And get you some wild, strange hotpants
with chicken feathers up the back!
I'll fire up that threshing machine, let it nibble on our toes!
And I'll wrestle that ring away from the bull and I'll wear it in
MY nose!
Yeah, and we can go out to the barn and whup the cows!
Paint all the animals purple, saftey pin the sow!
Staple all them chickens together, watch 'em flop around the yard!
And handcuff the hired man and grease him down with lard!
And I'll put on my black studded Stevens work glove.
And whup you upside the head with some Punk Country LOVE!"
Later, several innocent bystanders on the sidewalk outside swore to the
Highway Police that the screaming woman who ran past them to the waiting
motorcycle broke the sound barrier _before_ she got the bike started.
* * *
Nene looked at Ed, who was bent over the counter, laughing helplessly.
"What in the world was that? It was English, wasn't it?"
He just nodded, unable to catch his breath, and pawed at a coat pocket,
finally pulling out a sheet of paper with a Japanese translation of the
song's lyrics on it. He passed it to Linna, who read it, and began to giggle
herself. Nene peeked over her shoulder, read it, and joined in. Even Sylia
smiled when she saw the words.
Ed finally caught his breath. "It's called `Punk Country Love' by Ray
Stevens, and I don't think there's a rock and roll singer on the planet who
can _stand_ it." He broke out in fresh laughter and staggered to a seat.
"That'll show her for playing Lynn-Minmei at me in the middle of a fight!"
His laughter subsided, and he snapped his fingers. "Oh.. almost forgot. I
wanted to introduce you to the new assistant I have for the book store."
Sylia raised an eyebrow. "Given who you are, I'd had thought you would
avoid hiring anyone. It _is_ a security risk."
"Not this person," Ed grinned. "Minerva? You want to come down here?"
To the Sabers' surprise, Minerva came down the stairs. Not as
outrageously dressed as the first night they'd met, she was wearing a
conservative business suit not unlike Sylia's own. She smiled as she stepped
behind the counter.
"I don't think that I pose a security risk, Sylia. Do you?"
Sylia looked at her, then back at Ed. "I'd compliment you on your choice
of assistants, but I suspect that I'd merely be contributing to an already
over-inflated ego.."
He simply smirked.
***********************************
"Military intelligence - a contradiction in terms."
- Oswald Garrison Villard, 1920
In a small, shabby looking office located at the USSD's earthside
facilities, a man was reading a report that had just been delivered.
"This has been confirmed?"
"As far as it can be without endangering our agent, sir. Genom is aware
of the identity and current location of the person, if it _is_ a person, who
demonstrated what appeared to be a working form of teleportation. It seems
that the machine that attacked Genom plaza was piloted by the same person."
"Then Genom has gained another enemy." The man behind the desk shut the
folder, laying it on the desk.
"Yes, Colonel. But that doesn't mean as much as it should. From the data
our agent obtained, the target seems adamantly opposed to providing the
technology to anyone." The nondescript man sitting in the chair shook his
head slightly. "And if he's as difficult to persuade as the files seem to
indicate, then we may endanger the USSD in much the same way Quincy did his
company."
The Colonel nodded. "Then we need to find a way to control him, if one
exists. Have our agent continue as before."
"Yes sir. Are there any further instructions?"
"Not at present."
The nondescript little man nodded. "It will be handled, sir."
***********************************
Ed was enjoying a light lunch in his shop with Minerva, Anri and Sylvie
when the shop bell rang, announcing Mackie. He blinked, mildly surprised.
Sylia's younger brother had shown little interest in books, aside from the
occasional technical reference.
"This is a suprise, Mackie... What can I do for you? You need a technical
manual ordered or something like that? It's a little out of my line, but I'd
be happy to help."
The young man shook his head. "There's.. ahh.. something I'd like to talk
to you about, if you don't mind?"
Ed nodded politely. "Certainly. What can I help you with?"
Mackie looked at Minerva and the two sexaroids and flushed slightly. "If
you don't mind.. is there somewhere private we can talk?"
Ed raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm? It's like that, eh? Well, there is the
office." He nodded to the three women. "Be right back, m'ladies. Carry on
with lunch."
The women chuckled and deliberately watched Mackie enter the office,
causing the young man no small amount of distress. "I wonder what it's
about?" asked Anri.
"Knowing Mackie, do we really need to know? And more important, do we
really WANT to know?"
Anri made a face. "Good point." She listened to the faint murmmers coming
from behind the office door. "He's supposed to be a grown man.. but at this
rate, I don't believe he'll _ever_ learn to think with his brain, instead of
his..."
A loud CRASH interrupted her. The office door flew open, and Mackie
described an arc, flying through the air until his trajectory was
interrupted by a bookcase.
"You get out NOW, boy! AND NEVER COME BACK!! You just better pray I don't
let your sister know what you said, you sex-crazed idiot!"
Sylvie nodded to Anri. "He did it again."
As Edward advanced threateningly, Mackie scrambled to his feet and left
the bookstore at a dead run. He shouted after the boy, "And if you even
_think_ about something like that again, Sylia's going to end up as an only
child, you lech!"
He stomped over to the table and sat back down to his lunch, literally
glowing with anger. Minerva put a hand on his arm. "Calm down, boss. Relax.
What could Mackie have possibly said to get you this angry?"
A fork between his fingers suddenly became a piece of abstract sculpture.
"The little hentai wanted to know if it was possible to use the Calypso's
computers to reprogram you, Anri and Sylvie to fall in love with him!"
Three sets of female eyes went hard and cold at that statement. There was
a long pause as the women looked at each other over the table. "Revenge?"
asked Sylvie.
Anri and Minerva nodded together. "Revenge."
Ed just shook his head and sighed. "First that poster of Darlene, now
this. The boy just never learns."
***********************************
"The skies are filled with miracles.. and half of them are lies. Are you
real or not? It's a fine line... and I don't want to live this way."
- TekWar, End theme.
The bell over the door rang, and Ed looked up in time to see Sylia and
Darlene walk in. He Spock'ed an eyebrow at them. "Anything the matter, Ms.
Stingray?"
Darlene grinned. "We came to talk to you. Sylia and I were a little
interested in how you got here, and some details of your story."
Ed looked over to Minerva. "Hold down the shop, pretty lady." He nodded
to Sylia. "We might want to `talk' in my office. It's more.. private." He
held open the door as the mage and the scientist entered. He offered them a
seat and smiled. "You want to see the Calypso?"
"Yes," said Sylia. "I find the concept of a controlable, technological
method of crossing dimentional barriers fascinating. Not to mention the fact
the you have an FTL-capable spacecraft at your disposal."
Ed grinned. "I should have expected this.. you _are_ one of the great
minds of this space/time. I'm just surprised that you haven't asked me
sooner." His brows knitted together. "What I _don't_ understand.. is why
you, Darlene? You already know how to do it, and with your method, you get
straight to where you're going, instead of bouncing all over meta-reality at
random the way I do."
Darlene shrugged. "It never hurts to learn."
"True enough." He looked around, and touched a pad on the desk. "There,
we're shielded. If it's all right with you two, we can just beam straight
up."
The two women nodded and Ed's eyes went unfocused. A cool dislocation
gripped the three of them and Sylia watched, fascinated, as the world around
her dissolved into a glittering kalidoscope of light.
* * *
Appearing on the main transporter pad aboard the Calypso, Ed smiled, and
put out a hand for Sylia, who'd stumbled. "I'm sorry. I should have warned
you. A transporter's a bit different from Twister's teleportation."
Darlene looked around and began laughing at the architecture. "You bought
a _Klingon_ ship?"
"Not thlIngan, actually... but the basic design is partial theirs. I'm
told that this particular ship began life as a B'rel class scout, with a
compliment of 12, and the ability to carry about 6 more as passengers or
prisoners. Apparently, after I buy it from the shipyards at Utopia Planetia,
sometime in my far future, I'm going to extensively modify it, then take it
back to myself in my past." He held his head painfully. "God, I hate
temporal mechanics."
He began to lead them through the ship, pointing out items of interest.
When they walked through the cargo bay, Darlene nearly fell down in
hysterical laughter, and even Sylia smiled. It looked like an explosion at a
rummage sale. Pieces of combat armor of various types lay everywhere,
segements of Battlemechs that Sylia recognized from her recent research into
his background, small vehicles, even a huge, three meter high copper coin of
some sort. For some reason, the coin sent Darlene into another fit of
uncontrolable giggling.
"I'm sorry it's such a mess. I never got around to cleaning it up after
pulling the Chameleon out of storage, and I was too furious with myself to
have Minerva to it for me."
"If this is a Bird of Prey type ship, then why does the cargo bay look so
large, Edward?" frowned Sylia. "It seems larger than the ship itself would
be, if I recall the movies correctly."
"It is. That's a side benefit of using the Burroughs Irrelevancy Drive.
You can open pocket space warps. It's rather convienient for extra storage
when you need some," Ed grinned.
"It's been a fine tour, Edward." Sylia frowned. "But now I'd like to know
what you are hiding from us."
"I.. I have no idea what you're talking about, Sylia."
"Please.. don't insult my intellegence. Minerva has told us about the
dukedom you were offered, Edward. I've researched what I could of that
reality. From what I've learned, a Duke usually ruled at least an entire
planet, and as a rule several of them. The political and financial power
such a dukedom would have provided would have made it possible for you to
re-create the research project that resulted in your accident." She shook
her head, giving him a level look. "I want to know what you are withholding
from us, and I want to know now."
There was a long pause, and his face crumpled. He waved them towards the
cabin he used as a study, a cabin they hadn't yet seen. The two women looked
around, and noticed the unusual items adorning the walls. Darlene grinned at
the Vorlon encounter suit hung on a rack in a corner... then stopped grining
after she took a second, closer look. The suit was covered with a spiderweb
of tiny cracks and showed evidence of having suffered some sort of massive
electrical strike. She turned and noticed Sylia staring at an oddly shaped
armored mask mounted on the wall, with a circular discus-like blade hanging
from it by a cord strung through its fingerholes. Both were deeply scored
with what seemed to be acid burns.
Ed motioned them towards a seat and took one himself. He ran a tired hand
through his hair and begain to speak.
"Do you know what a hellburner is, Sylia?"
"I don't think so."
Ed smiled sadly. "When a star uses up all of it's hydrogen, and has even
fused all of its helium.. there is a further step, if it's the right class
of star. A star of more than 1.44 solar masses can begin fusing oxygen,
carbon, even silicon. It keeps going until all that's left in its core is
iron and the heavier elements. Those can't be fused without losing energy in
the reaction, you see. Then the star collapses and dies, in a violent
supernova."
"Elementary stellar physics," said Sylia. Darlene nodded in agreement.
"What you may not know is that it's possible - incredibly difficult, but
possible - to initiate and _sustain_ such a reaction artificially."
Sylia felt chill fingers of horror wrap themselves around her heart.
"You don't mean..."
He nodded bleakly, grief spilling across his face. "It's called a
hellburner. You drop it on a planet and it begins a Bethe-cycle reaction,
sometimes called a solar phoenix. A fusion reaction begins, feeding on all
of the lighter elements in the planet's crust. It continues burning until
nothing is left but the iron core."
In a faint voice Darlene whispered, "That's planetary genocide."
"It's worse, Darlene.. it's the total destruction of the planet as a
life-bearing habitat." Sylia's face was grim. "One was used, wasn't it."
"Yes."
Sylia's voice was colder than the space outside the Calypso. "Why?"
Ed stared at the wall behind her, his voice eerily distant. "We'd won the
war. We knew it, what little remained of the Clans knew it, everyone knew
it. And the Jade Falcons couldn't take it. It horrified them. One of their
own leaders said it flat out.. `The thought of the Star League being reborn
without our divine input and guiding hand is appalling.' Divine, he said..
and meant it. It had to be _their_ holy version of a reborn Star League as
envisioned by General Kerensky, or none at all. When they knew they had
lost, they decided that they'd take everyone with them."
"How?"
"You had to see one to really believe it, Sylia. They called them
annihilators. A thermonuclear device the size of a _ship_. You had to
measure its power in _teratons_. Not kilotons, megatons, or even gigatons.
Teratons. And the accursed things were jacketed in strontium. A strontium-90
bomb. Can you imagine that? A half-life of 29 years. The fallout would last
for centuries. They were designed to punch through a planet's crust before
detonating, giving a three-fold effect. Massive tsunamis of magma would
radiate outward, cracking tectonic plates like cheap china, causing
catastrophic planet-wide seismic convulsions. The acompanying seawater
tsunamis would simply be a lethal icing on the cake, so to speak."
"Second, an _uncountable_ number of cubic miles of vaporized seawater,
mud, and bedrock, well mixed with radioactive strontium-90 would be blasted
up into the stratosphere, eventually coming back down to shower the planet
in a lethal cloud. Strontium is a chemical cousin to calcium, and tends to
head straight for the same places when absorbed into the body. That means
the bones. Radioactive strontium is no different. Makes for a nice recipe
for leukemia and bone cancer."
"And lest we forget, the sheer _amount_ of crud it would throw into the
atmosphere would, in all likelyhood, guarantee a nuclear winter. If there
was anything left of a biosphere at that point, the resulting darkness and
deep freeze would do nicely to finish it off." He looked directly at the two
women. "Get the picture?"
Sylia nodded slowly, her face expressionless. "And these devices were no
doubt heavily defended."
"Yes. When you build a bomb the size of an aircraft carrier, you can
build in defences strong enough to insure that it WILL reach it's target, no
matter how hard fought the battle might be." A muscle in the left side of
his face began to spasm, and wouldn't stop. "Once they were launched, about
the only way you could stop them would be to hit them with something the
size of an asteroid." The twitch in his face grew worse. He continued on
in a controlled, brittle, horribly offhand manner. "So it was decided to
stop them _before_ they were launched. But Strana Mechty was too heavily
fortified. Millions of lives would have been lost in the assault and they
still could have succeeded in launching. So..." His voice trailed off.
"So they used a hellburner." said Darlene in stricken tones. The
disgust in her voice was palpable.
Ed continued on as if he hadn't heard her. "Promotions came thick and
fast during the war.. mainly because people kept dying a lot. It was
especially bad towards the end, when we followed the Exodus Road and invaded
the clan homeworlds. I hadn't managed to completely hide what I was from
everyone. No one suspected that I wasn't human.. but they had noticed that
I'd survived where others couldn't. It was put down to skill and an
incredibly sustained run of good luck. So by that time, they'd made me a
Colonel and I'd been assigned the job of running force recon on Strana
Mechty. I was the one who'd brought back the word about the annihilators."
His eyes turned to stare at Darlene. "I took down three fully loaded
Fortress class drop ships, Sylia. Are you familar with that class?" When she
nodded, he continued. "Each one carried a reenforced combined arms
batallion, consisting of a company each of 'mechs, vehicles, and power armor
infantry. And each drop ship mounted a Long Tom, a long range artillery
piece that was a match for the old 'Big Bertha' field pieces used by Germany
furing WW II. Enough to fight a medium sized war with.. or so I thought. All
of that, for a lousy recon mission." His eyes closed in pain. "I brought
_back_ one badly damaged drop ship and the remains of a single company. Less
than eighty men. But we had the evidence that the annihilators were real."
"I was certain we'd invade... but the council was split right down the
center. They voted half for invasion and half for using hellburners. General
Travis Correy was the supreme commander of the combined forces, second only
to the House lords. He went over the reconnaisance report, read the casualty
figures, then voted for using the hellburners." He gave a sick laugh that
sent shudders running down Darlene's back. "We watched from orbit as Strana
Mechty died. Afterwards, Correy returned to his cabin. When they heard the
shot, it was already too late."
He paused, memories he'd fought to deny returning with a vengance. "And
he wasn't the last. More than a few joined him, Sylia." He laughed again,
sounding slightly hysterical. "There were more marines guarding us from
ourselves than were guarding us from the enemy, afterwards. Prince Victor
had an entire company on his suicide watch. They tried to put some on me, as
well. Not that I needed any. I would have needed someone as powerful as
Darlene here to even begin to threaten me."
Sylia looked at him. "You did what was needed."
"No. I helped to commit an act of genocide." He raised a tired hand and
pointed to the items on the walls. "That's what this room is. A reminder
that no matter how powerful I think I am, I still make mistakes. And when I
make those mistakes, people die."
He stood. "And that's why I didn't want to show you this room, Sylia.
it's the living symbol of my shame."
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"Everything is funny as long as it happens to somebody else."
- Will Rogers.
Mackie looked over at Sylia. "I'll be right back, sis. I have to visit
the men's room. Too much tea." He turned towards the restroom, and failed to
notice Sylvie, Anri and Minerva begin to snicker and giggle.
Sylia looked up when she heard her younger brother scream. Alarmed, she
scanned the shop, but there didn't appear to be any danger. She quickly
stepped to the door and finding it locked, pounded on it.
"What's the matter, Mackie? Open the door!"
All she heard from him was a low moan and something that sounded like the
word `blue'. Then she turned towards the three laughing women standing in
the lingerie shop and waved a hand at the locked door. "I presume you three
had something to do with this?"
Laughing too hard to answer her, they nodded.
Sylia gave an annoyed sigh, and walked back to the phone. She punched in
the number for `Rare Books' and waited, tapping one foot impatiently. Ed's
face appeared in the screen. "Sylia? This is a surprise. What can I do for
you?"
"You can tell me what your assistant and her two friends have done to my
younger brother and why. He's locked himself in the bathroom, and won't come
out, muttering something about having `gone blue'."
Ed groaned. "Bloody naffin' hell.. I _never_ should've let Minerva read
my personal journals." He quickly explained about Mackie's earlier visit to
his shop and _why_ Mackie had made that visit. "All three decided that they
were going to get him for that little perverted fantasy, and it looks like
they just have."
"And the `gone blue' remark?"
He flinched. "Well.. years ago, some of my squadmates played a practical
joke on me. It's in my journals. Minerva must've gotten the idea from that."
Sylia's eyes bored into the screen. "_What_ idea?" she asked, her
patience growing short. Ed squirmed under her gaze.
"Methylene Blue, Sylia. It's an old, old drug. Probably from well before
your time. They used to use it to treat urinary tract infections." He looked
at the expression in Sylia's face and hurried, trying to get the words out
before she did something _he'd_ regret. Something painful. "It's not a
dangerous drug, Sylia, and it's not addictive, either. But it does have
one.. ahh.. slightly.. err.. _unusual_ side effect."
Liquid nitrogen dripped from Sylia's voice. "And that side effect is?"
Ed swallowed hard and muttered something in a very faint voice.
"ittrnsurrnbrtble."
"What was that, please?"
His face flushed an embarrassed crimson. "It turns one's urine bright
blue."
Sylia's lips twitched ever so slightly. "And you say it's otherwise
totally harmless?"
"Usually, yes. You should be able to get further details from any good
medical database."
She rubbed her chin. "And he did try something perverted towards Sylvie,
Anri and Minerva?"
"Yes."
"Thank you, Edward. I have all I need to know. I'll speak with you
later." She broke the connection, and turned towards the three, who were by
then giving her worried looks. "I have but one thing to say, ladies. And
that is... well done." She gave the bathroom door a long, thoughtful look,
then smiled faintly and returned to the lingerie showroom.
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