Free Legion Of The Damned - 01 - Legion of the Damned by William C. Dietz

challenging task that he’d ever undertaken ahead of him, Poseen-Ka was filled with doubt.
    He leaned back in his chair and gloried in the command center’s complete emptiness. There were no holograms to demand his attention, no superiors to flatter, and no subordinates to coddle. Just him, and an almost overwhelming angst that nothing seemed to ease.
    The victory over the humans had been too easy. Even though the human traitor maintained that his kind were frequently lazy, cowardly, and slow to reach agreement, the humans should have responded by now.
    How could they fail to recognize the situation for what it was? A life-and-death struggle in which no quarter would be asked or given. Yet they had failed to recognize the situation for what it was, and he should feel happy.
    But the same attitudes and beliefs that caused his race to attack every potential threat raised doubts as well. Doubts that a war commander could ill afford to have. What if the human race was like a sleeping giant? A giant that once awakened would rise up to destroy those who had disturbed it?
    The pilot was a good example. Crews were still working to repair the damage it had caused. Twelve members of the crew had been killed. What if the vast majority of humans were more like the pilot than the treacherous Baldwin? What if each one of them killed twelve Hudathans? The war to protect his race could become the war that destroyed it.
    Worber’s World had been caught by surprise. The next planet would be ready. Unless Baldwin was correct and the humans decided to pull back from the rim. There were too many questions and not enough answers.
    Poseen-Ka made a decision. He would talk to the female soldier. She had shown every sign of possessing some of the qualities that Baldwin lacked. By speaking with her, he would better understand the human race. A large gray finger touched a button.
     
    Norwood braced herself as the door hissed open. She’d been lying on top of the ductwork for an hour and a half waiting for this moment.
    Keem-So, the Hudathan assigned to guard her, stumped in and looked around. The door hissed closed.
    “Hu-man?”
    The standard was heavily accented but not bad for someone who’d been studying it for less than a week. The attempt to speak Norwood’s language removed Keem-So from the category of “disgusting alien thing” and made her task that much harder.
    Norwood steeled herself, rolled off the ductwork, and fell feetfirst towards the deck. The garrote had been fashioned from a length of insulation-stripped wire, acquired during one of her daily walks. The noose passed over the Hudathan’s head and tightened as Norwood’s feet hit the deck and she pulled on the makeshift handles.
    Her stylus provided one handle while the Hudathan equivalent of a toothbrush filled in for the other.
    Being shorter than Keem-So, and with the inertia of her fall to help her, Norwood was able to pull the Hudathan back and off his feet. This seemed like a victory until the huge alien landed on her chest and drove the air from her lungs.
    Now it became a competition to see who could breathe first: Keem-So, who made gargling sounds and clawed at his throat, or Norwood, who was trapped beneath a mountain of alien flesh.
    But the wire was thin, and Norwood was strong, so the Hudathan was the first to pass out. His body went limp but still pinned her down.
    Her head swimming, Norwood pushed the alien up and away, creating sufficient room to roll out from under. She felt a moment of remorse as Keem-So lay there, fingers trapped under the wire, blood trickling from his throat. His sphincter had loosened and the stench of alien feces filled the compartment.
    Still, his death was nothing compared to the millions who had died on Worber’s World, and would die over coming weeks and months.
    Norwood made it to her knees, sucked air into her lungs, and knew that whatever amount of time she had left could be counted in minutes, or seconds. Keem-So had been