Free Curse of the Legion by Marshall S. Thomas Page A

the galaxy hear about that, those who still have eyes to see and ears to hear, they're going to think, 'Got you, you bastards! Got you!' and they'll know it's them, their people , striking back, just as hard as we can, at those stinking, rotten bastards!" Tara was trembling. Her eyes were wet, but I knew it wasn't from weakness.
    "Go get 'em, girl," I said softly. "Go get 'em."
    ###
    "So what did she want?" Priestess asked suspiciously. We were back in our spotless stateroom. LiLo was preparing the kids for sleep and Millie had joined us in the lounge.
    "Nothing. She was just talking politics."
    "Nothing?" Millie asked. "Are you sure?"
    "What kind of politics?" Priestess asked.
    "It was just about ConFree. The wheel of history, that kind of stuff."
    "She didn't ask you to do anything?" Millie asked.
    "Nope. She was just talking out loud—using me as a sounding board."
    "Politics!" Priestess snarled. "She's getting her hooks into you. She's got something in mind for you."
    "I really don't think so, Priestess. I think she just wanted to talk."
    "You stay alert, soldier! And remember—the answer is no! We've done enough for the Legion. They've got a whole new graduating class they can use. Tell her to use them, if she wants bodies—not you!"
    "I'll do that, Priestess, if she asks. But she hasn't asked."

Chapter 4
The Santos Newhuman Socialrevolutionary Diversegalitarian Democooperative

    We were to learn soon enough what Tara had in mind. My orders arrived unexpectedly with the usual flurry of assignments and reassignments between courses.

    ACCESS BLUE MAGSEC GI IR OUTVAC STARCOM SECRET PERS

    CITE: GI QUABA 12990206

    FOR: LEG BT VELTROS PERS

    DATE: 328/09/43

    SUBJ: REASSIGNMENT LMV 34673002 THINKER

    TEXT: ORDERS: LMV 34673002 WN THINKER TO REPORT IMMED U/A TO GI QUABA PERS RE ONWARD ASSIGNMENT.

    ACCESS BLUE MAGSEC GI IR OUTVAC STARCOM SECRET PERS.
    I reread the document, stunned, sitting at the desk in my little cube in BT. Bitch! Anger and resentment surged through my veins. Calm down, Thinker, I thought. Let's just calm down. What does this mean? From Galactic Information Quaba—that's Tara, of course. Reassignment, immediate, unaccompanied, to Galactic Information Quaba. But it was for—onward assignment! Report to Personnel upon arrival for details. Deadman! It could be anywhere! It could be anything! Not a clue! Wait a mo—yes, look at the classification—ACCESS BLUE MAGSEC. What the hell—routine Legion personnel reassignments don't rate a classification like that. And SECRET PERS. PERS, fine, but why SECRET? Normal personnel assignments are unclassified and marked ROUTINE, not SECRET. Let's see, GI IR, that's Galactic Information and…Interstellar Relations. Why include Interstellar Relations? OUTVAC STARCOM, they're on everything, but why the Ministry of Interstellar Relations? What do I have to do with them?
    I knew the only way I was going to find out was to follow my orders and show up at Quaba 7—unaccompanied. Priestess and Millie were going to be very unhappy about this. Just say no! Well, you can't say no to Legion orders—Tara knew exactly what she was doing.
    ###
    I hopped a Fleetcom tacship, the Bad Girl , bound for Quaba with a load of Legion troopers on their way to the Asumara front. The transportation routes throughout the Crista Cluster were sparkling with artificial wormholes as the Legion prepped for war with Asumara. It sure didn't look good, I thought, lying in my wall bunk with my nose almost touching the bottom of the overhead bunk. I closed my eyes but all I could see were the tears, Priestess and Millie, hot tears running down their cheeks, unashamed, and then the kids, sensing disaster, crying as well. All I could do was hold them all tightly and fight my own tears and vow to return. We were going to war. What choice did I have, what choice did any of us have, except to fight for our own survival?
    I watched from a viewport as we approached Quaba 7. Two lovely white suns burnt