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

sent to fetch or check on her. His failure to return would be noticed and acted upon.
    A weapon. She needed a weapon. Duck-walking her way around to the other side of the Hudathan’s body, she found his sidearm and removed it from his holster. She was barely able to get her hand around the grip. The handgun traveled about three feet and then stopped, held in place by a cable cum lanyard, useless without the power pak that it was connected to. Norwood considered trying to remove the alien’s utility belt and the power pak that was part of it, but remembered how heavy Keem-So was. So much for a weapon.
    The hatch was still unlocked and opened to her touch. The corridor was empty. Good. Norwood headed for the power section. She knew very little about spaceships but figured the engineering spaces would be a good place to perform some sabotage.
    Norwood straightened her clothes, held her head up high, and prepared herself to make eye contact with the first Hudathan she met. If she looked confident and acted confident, passersby would assume that she was confident and therefore okay.
    That’s the way humans would react anyway ... but how about aliens? And blood ... what about blood? Did she have Keem-So’s blood all over her clothes?
    She wanted to stop, wanted to look, but it was too late. A pair of Hudathans had turned into the corridor and were coming towards her.
    Norwood smiled, remembered that it didn’t mean anything to the Hudathans, but left it in place anyway. She nodded as the aliens drew near. Neither one seemed familiar.
    “Hello there ... does either one of you speak standard? No? Good. Eat shit and die.”
    The Hudathans gestured politely, made hissing sounds, and continued on their way.
    It worked! Norwood felt a sense of grim satisfaction.
    The hallway was long, oversized by human standards, and slightly curved as it followed the contour of the ship. Norwood encountered about a dozen Hudathans during the next ten minutes and bluffed them all. Or so she assumed anyway.

    Internally lit pictograms appeared at regular intervals and pointed the way to various departments and sections. Keem-So had taught her what many of them meant, including the fact that the circle-within-a-triangle symbol represented the power of the sun, harnessed by a Hudathan-made mechanical structure. Or, put in human terms, a fusion-based power plant.
    Norwood came to a T-shaped intersection, saw that the power-plant symbol had shifted to the right, and turned that way. She had traveled less than ten feet when Baldwin and Imbala-Sa stepped out to block her path. A pair of Hudathans grabbed her arms.
    Baldwin crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “Well, look who we have here. Out for a little stroll, Colonel?”
    Norwood tried to free an arm and found that it was locked in place. “Traitor.”
    Baldwin shook his head in mock concern. “Traitor ... hero ... words mean so little. Results are what counts.” He made a show of looking around. “What happened to Keem-So? An accident, perhaps?”
    “Frax you.”
    “I’d enjoy that ... but some other time. Poseen-Ka has requested the rather dubious pleasure of your company.” Baldwin gestured towards the power section. “This was stupid, you know. Your movements were reported by twelve or fifteen members of the crew. They would’ve detained you but weren’t sure of your status.”
    Norwood swore silently. So much for the bluff.
    Baldwin hissed at the guards. One said something into a hand-held communicator. The other turned Norwood around and pointed her in the opposite direction.
    Baldwin and Imbala-Sa led the way. That was the ironic part, Norwood thought to herself. Baldwin was as much a prisoner as she was. What was wrong with him anyway? What about the court-martial? Had Baldwin been railroaded like some people said?
    Norwood pushed the thought away. It didn’t matter. Nothing could justify what he’d done. Nothing.
    The journey to the command center was a blur. It seemed as if