Prophet and the Blood March (Prophet of ConFree) (59 page)

Blackie gently picked up an unopened dox cup in his jaws and dropped it into my lap.

"Well, thank you, Blackie," I said. "I guess he knows I'm a dox freak." Blackie seemed very calm and relaxed. What a beautiful creature he was!

Δ

When Bees returned to us I was hopeful that the old times could return and we would be one big, happy family again, but it was clear that things had changed – at least for Bees. "Come on, gimme a squeeze," I said, as we were all greeting her upon her arrival at the starport terminal. She smiled weakly as I hugged her but her thoughts seemed to be elsewhere. When Ice embraced her warmly, Bees seemed downright sad. Ice caressed her just like a lover and whispered secrets in her ear but it was clear that something was wrong. When we arrived back at Delta Research, Bees went right into the chapel and stayed there for an hour on her knees, praying silently. When she finally came out, Ice was waiting for her and accompanied her to her apartment.

"What the hell's the matter with her?" I asked Ice, when she finally showed up in Delta Lounge.

"She's worried about Scout. And a lot more. But she won't share it with me. She told me to tell everyone that she's glad to be back, but she's tired and worried and not feeling well."

"Well, that's clear. So what is it?"

"I really don't know. She's changed a lot. She seems very – withdrawn. And very emotional. She almost broke into tears when I touched her. She only said one thing that might give us a clue. She said 'God thinks I'm strong, but I'm not. I'm very fragile.' And she wouldn’t say any more."

"You take good care of her, Ice. Don't you let her suffer in silence. Help her out – whatever it is. If it's true that she is a direct link to God, or even if she only thinks she is, that's going to be a terrible burden to bear. Be there for her."

"You don't have to tell me that, Prophet. I'll be right by her side. I've already moved into her apartment. I wouldn't let her say no."

Δ

Bird returned with a giant grin and a flurry of excitement.
General
Bird, I reminded myself. The man was a national hero to ConFree, for the work he did in exploiting the secrets of the Demon saucers on Pandaravos, and for his brilliant design of the Andraste starfighter. His wife, Mary, was still serving as a nurse on the
Andrion Deep
in the war zone. We gathered in the Viking, with Fred serving us ale. It was so good to see Fred there. It was as if the war had never happened, and life had gone on normally at Delta Research while we were gone. Arie and I, Bird, Saka, and Blackie were all there. The Prof normally did not attend these adult beverage sessions, and neither did the ladies, but Blackie was always invited and he happily lapped up ale from his bowl on the floor as we drank ourselves silly and said whatever popped into our minds.

"I really miss Nan the Man," Bird said. "Remember he used to pontificate about politics in a most un-Greenie way."

"He was terrific," I said. "He showed me there was hope for the UMC. If he could rise up the Mocain chain of command, he'd kick ass, take names, and get things done."

"Kicking ass and taking names is easy," Arie said, "but getting things done is the difficult part. It has to be the right things that you get done."

"To Nan the Man!" Saka said, raising his tankard. We drank.

"Look at him," I said, gazing at Saka. "He's fat and happy. He's got his woman. And we don't."

Saka grinned. "Sorry, guys. I'm not sharing."

A short silence followed. I guess we were all thinking about our girls. Honeyhair seemed to float gently in the air all around me, a hazy mist of wonderful memories.

"Lan Hwa," I said, raising my tankard. We all drank.

"Honeyhair," Saka said. We drank.

"Mary," Arie said. We drank.

"Blondie," Bird proposed. We drank, and we were all awash in soft dreams.

"So tell us about your experiences, Bird," Saka said. "Were you flying Andrastes on Vulcan?"

"Yeah," he replied softly. "Andrastes. What a wonderful starcraft. If I do say so myself. It was pretty much non-stop. There were thousands of enemy fighters coming at us – Dark Silver Birds and saucers, Demon saucers, Commune saucers and modified Pterosaurs. But the Andraste met the challenge. It was autodog all the way, and we learned how to take on and defeat the Silver Birds. It was a costly lesson, but we learned it. A lot of my friends were killed. And I came pretty close. At one point, I remember concluding that I was doomed and could not possible survive any more engagements. At that point, I accepted it. My death was pre-ordained. That's when everything kind of calmed down and I stopped worrying. I accepted death, and was working towards it. Yet somehow I survived."

"Wow," Arie said. "What was your score? How many kills did you get?"

"Kills? I dunno. Plenty. But I stopped counting after about twenty. There just wasn't time. You know, I didn’t mind killing Darks or Demons, but I felt vaguely troubled every time I shot down a Commune fighter. How many kills did you get?"

"I'm sorry, Bird," Arie replied. "I guess I shouldn't have asked that."

"Ah, don’t worry about it. If we didn't keep track of kills what would the generals put in their after action reports?"

"But you're a general, Bird," I objected.

He laughed. "So I am! Here's to victory." He raised his tankard.

"Victory!" We all drank. Blackie howled, a long, stirring cry that could have been a declaration of victory.

Δ

Meeting our returnees at the starport got to be a routine. This time I was very hopeful. Scout was due in from wherever the B's had been fixing him up. And I was looking forward to this event to revive Bees' spirit. She had been moping around in a dark, solitary mood even though Ice was always right at her side. She spent a lot of time in the chapel, talking with God, I guess. But as far as I was concerned, her lights had gone out. She just didn’t appear to be there anymore.

A whole lot of troopers were returning home on the CS
Cosmic Sea
and the terminal was all set, swarming with people, signs of welcome overhead, civilians and kids waving little flags and another honor guard from the Quaba Military Academy and a big band striking up "The Black March" as soon as the troopers began to appear. The Prof and Saka and Bird and Arie and I were there, and Ice was right by Bees' side.

I watched Bees as we waited for Scout to appear. She was clutching a little ConFree flag in one hand and a tissue in the other. At first she seemed as cold and distant as ever, but as more troopers appeared and the crowd burst into sustained applause her attitude seemed to change. She peered anxiously ahead at the arriving soldiers. Her face began twitching – just a little. She was leaning forward slightly, pressing against the people just ahead of her. She took a deep breath. Her hands were trembling, the fingers tearing at the tissue, moving the flag around. Her arms seemed animated as well, moving as if no longer under her control. Her face became strained and alert. It looked like she was gritting her teeth. Her eyes were filling with tears. Her throat twitched, as if she was gasping for air. She pressed forward, trembling, focused like a laser beam on the arriving troopers. The tissue was shredded now, forgotten, little paper fragments floating away. Ice had an arm around Bees' shoulders. She was looking into the troopers' ranks as well. Then Bees spotted Scout, gave a strangled cry and charged forward, tearing away from Ice, blinded by tears, the tissue gone, the flag gone, her whole life, her whole being, focused on that one soldier, her eternal love. Bees launched herself at Scout, right into his arms, wrapping around him like a boa constrictor, her feet not even touching the ground. They stood there like that, fused together, as the other soldiers moved around them. And plenty of other women were doing the same as Bees, greeting their long-lost lovers in a moment they had feared might never come. There were hundreds of separate miracles.

It was really inspiring, and I hoped Scout would bring Bees back to us. If he couldn’t do it, nobody could.

Δ

Delta slowly re-formed. About a week later, Doggie and Smiley came back from the Brights on the same starship. Christine was ecstatic to see her lover, Smiley, safe and sound even though he was covered with battle scars. Delta's smart wolf, Blackie, was clearly delighted to see his favorite pet human, Doggie, again. Scout and Doggie compared their regrown legs as the girls looked on. Ice's husband Kwan was still on assignment for the AC – possibly still in Vulcan – while Honeyhair, Blondie and Mary continued their nursing assignments in the war zone. Once all the official players were here, the Prof called a meeting.

"Good morning, boys and girls," he said cheerfully. We were in one of the smaller conference rooms and he was behind the lectern with the Delta Research seal on it while we sat facing him. It was only the core – Bird, Doggie, Saka, Scout, Ice and Bees, Smiley, Arie and me. Nine of us, with the Prof making ten. We were all in our blacks. It was Delta's duty uniform. I could hear the doors hissing as the Prof sealed the room. My ears popped. Now what?

"All of you now have access to the Bubble," the Prof continued. "The Bubble is Delta Research's new installation. It is Cosmic Secret. You will not talk about it outside the Bubble except in officially cleared spaces such as this conference room. You will not discuss anything that goes on inside the Bubble, even with your wives or husbands. The Bubble has nothing to do with the new construction that is underway for the Ministry of Science and for the medical researchers. You may have noticed that about half of the third floor has been rebuilt. There are no more exterior windows. That's the Bubble. It is completely secure and security sealed from the outside world. You cannot enter without proper clearances. This is where you will be spending most of your time – in the bubble. First you will be training, then you will be – well, let's call it researching. You will be producing." He paused for a moment. We were all silent.

"The Bubble is the result of Doctor Dimension's amazing research into Dimension X. It has opened up new – opportunities – for all of us. Doctor D will be briefing us all shortly, once we enter the Bubble. In the meantime – for those of you who may not know – our staffing has changed. Let's face it, we are no longer a Legion squad, even though you are all Legion officers. Squad Delta has long been gone for us, so we may as well dispense with those squad numbers that have followed us everywhere we go. I haven't been Delta Eight for quite awhile. You are all now officially members of Delta Research, which is a research institution that reports to Galactic Information through Ambassador Wester. We have a new security squad to protect us, you'll meet them later. Delta Research now consists of the chief, myself, a Brigadier General, the Deputy, Brigadier General Bird, and the following prophets: Commander Saka, Commander Ice, Commander Bees, Commander Prophet, Major Doggie, Captain Nitro, Captain Smiley, and Captain Scout. Our research has shown that all our personnel now have DX brain structures except for Bird who probably does not have extra room in his brain for anything else. Now as for the ranks, forget them, they are just for use with the outside world but will be meaningless inside the Bubble.

"Oh, and I'm sorry for that tough initiation into prophet status. We may be the only organization in the world where getting killed can be part of the entry exam. You are all very remarkable people and I am proud of each one of you. All right, let's visit the Bubble."

We followed the Prof up to the third floor. A large, colorful entry hall faced a wall that stretched from one side of the building bloc to the other. There was only one entrance to the rest of the third floor, a large metal door set right in the middle. Two Legion troopers in A-vests snapped to attention as we approached the door. They were each armed with E's. A third trooper appeared suddenly from a room off to one side. Intense, eager, taking everything in. He also carried an E.

"Morning, Trails. Folks this is Captain Trails. He's the head of our security element. It's not just a squad. His resources are infinite. His job is to secure this site and ensure that nobody enters the Bubble without authorization. And he's authorized to kill anybody who tries. So be nice. Trails, these are the principals. They're the ones on your list." Trails was going through his list and comparing pix as we stood there, hoping not to get shot.

"Let's see if we can get in now," the Prof said. "That button is a DNA lock. Just touch it for access. Bird, you first."

Bird touched the button set in the door with his fingertip and it slid open immediately, revealing nothing within. He stepped in and the door slid shut.

"One at a time now. Saka?"

Δ

Once inside, we were greeted by Doctor Dimension, Paula Deep and Doctor Dorak in a large, airy entry hall. I had dismissed all three of them at one time as ding-a-ling weirdoes with deep psychological problems but later learned the truth – they were geniuses, each in their own way. Doctor Dimension had pioneered initial research into Dimension X and had now evidently cracked the code, whatever it was. Doctor Dorak was not a bumbling ghost enthusiast as I first thought but had proven himself to be a fearless Christian warrior who took on Satan's evil spirits face to face and offered his life to protect his comrades. And Paula Deep was perhaps the galaxy's finest psycher, fanatically devoted to Delta Research and working tirelessly to turn us all into talented psychers, even bonehead rejects like myself.

The large entry hall was beautifully decorated and flooded with sunshine. Huge picture windows let in the light from all sides.

"This is great, Prof!" Ice gushed. "I was expecting to be working in a bunker. What's with the windows?"

"Those are all simports," Doctor Dimension replied, with a big smile. "We've made extensive use of simports throughout the Bubble. It changes the mood entirely. No. there's no need to work in a bunker. Welcome to all of you! It’s wonderful to see you all again – and now we have so many new DX subjects! So many new prophets! Such noble goals! And I'm sure you will love your new working environment. There's hardly a need to leave the Bubble. We have our own cafeteria, dox shop, lounges, whatever you need. You'll only be working in here half the time, of course, the other half the lifies and meds and medtechs and doctors and nurses will be poking at you over in their section. Here, follow me, I want to show you your offices." And we followed him through a wide hall that led to a section that was lined with very large cubes.