by John Bowers
"What happened to you, Ursula?" Onja asked a moment later. "I haven't seen you since Luna 9. What've you been doing?"
"The bastards caught me. I spent the better part of four years in their barracks."
"Oh, my god!" Onja gasped.
Ursula shrugged. "It's over now. It wasn't good, but it wasn't as bad as I remembered from my childhood.”
"How'd you get here?"
"The first time the fleet bombed Jefferson I got away. The whole place was on fire, so when the raid was over we just walked out!"
"And now you're working with the rescue people?"
"Right. The Southern Command. It's not an official military unit, but we're doing a hell of a job. What happened to you?"
"We lifted off from Glenville yesterday afternoon, and a laser battery hit us. We barely made it down here before we ejected."
Ursula walked over to the medrack and looked down at the badly injured pilot.
"How is he?"
"Not good. The doctor says he needs a sick bay if he's going to make it."
Ursula shook her head sadly. "He looks so young."
Onja nodded. "You remember Johnny Lincoln? This is his son."
Ursula's eyes widened. "Your son?"
"No. His mother is a girl Johnny knew before I met him."
"God, Onja! I hope he makes it!"
"If you still believe in the goddess, please pray for him."
"I don't. But I will."
"What the hell is going on here?"
Onja turned, her skin prickling at the familiar voice. General Jack Hinds stood in the entrance to the cavern, big and imposing and mean looking as ever. He took in the scene at a glance, and advanced into the cavern.
"Major Kvoorik. Are you all right?" His voice softened a bit.
"I'm not injured, sir." Onja felt the familiar tension in her gut as she gazed into his malevolent green eyes. "But my pilot needs evacuation."
Hinds nodded. "That's why we're here." He walked over to the medrack and looked down at the unconscious pilot. "So that's John Lincoln's son. I heard he was out here."
"Yes, sir."
The pharmacist's mate came into the room and conferred briefly with Hinds. Moments later, an evacuation team came into the room, transferred Johnny to a hoverstretcher, and took him out. Hinds turned to the two women.
"I expect you want to go with him?" he asked Onja.
"Yes, sir."
"All right. We'd better get moving, then." He looked at Ursula and nodded. "Captain."
"General," she replied, her blue eyes guarded.
Hinds walked out, and Onja turned to her friend again. "Let's get together after the war," she suggested. "I'll meet you in Reina. Temple of Sophia, first day of the Goddess Festival!"
"It's a date!" Ursula hugged her again, and Onja hurried after Hinds.
* * *
The moon they called Dog One hung high in the southern Sirian sky as Onja emerged from the labyrinthine maze of tunnels and stood in the starlight. Hinds waited in the shadows, and it took her eyes a moment to adjust to night vision.
"Where's the shuttle?" she asked as Hinds took her arm.
"It's a couple of miles from here," he said. "I have a hover over this way."
Onja allowed him to lead her down a sandy path between scattered boulders and natural rock outcroppings. After several minutes she was hopelessly lost, but he seemed to know the way. No doubt there was some hidden parking area for vehicles, as the Southern Command could hardly risk the Sirians finding this place.
Hinds stopped, looking around.
"Where's the hover?" she asked.
He didn't answer. Instead he took her by the arm, pulling her roughly against him.
"How badly do you want to get that boy back to orbit?" he demanded.
"What?" She was startled, then the implications of his question hit her like a railsled. "Goddess Sophia! I don't believe this!"
His mouth closed over hers in a rough kiss, his arms pinning her against his body. She struggled briefly, but it was hopeless, so she waited him out.
"I'm in control of this situation," he told her. "The shuttle doesn't leave until I'm on board. If you want that kid evacked, you give me what I want."
Unreasoning rage surged through her. She jerked free and slapped him across the face with the flat of her hand.
"God damn you!" she hissed. "What kind of a bastard are you? There's a young pilot who's going to die …"
"Unless you cooperate with me!" he finished for her, grabbing her again. "It's your call, Major! Your Johnny Lincoln is dead, and this one will be, too, if you don't make a decision right now!"
Her instinct was to kill him. If she could have reached her laser pistol she'd have done it, but he held her arms painfully in an iron grip. Her frustration was absolute, her hatred stronger than it had ever been. The man had lost his mind!
And yet … This time he did have control of the situation. It wasn't only her body at stake, not only her will and self-determination. Johnny Lincoln II's life was on the line this time. If it had only been herself, she'd rather let Hinds kill her than give in to him. But she'd allowed Johnny to get into this situation, and now his treatment would be delayed, perhaps fatally, if she insisted on holding out.
"What exactly do you want?" she heard herself say, feeling suddenly numb.
"You know exactly what I want. But one night isn't going to do it any more. I want two full weeks, the next time you go on R & R. Just you and me, locked in a hotel room. Those are my terms."
Onja closed her eyes in horror at the prospect. But she forced herself to nod slowly, sagging against him with the enormity of the decision.
"All right. But only if Johnny survives. If he dies because you held up his evacuation …"
Hinds pulled a portable comm unit off his belt and keyed it.
"This is General Hinds. I've been delayed a few minutes. Proceed with the mission. I'll catch a ride later."
Onja heard the pilot reply, and seconds later a military shuttle lifted off less than a half-mile away.
"Why did you do that?" she asked. "How are we going to get up to orbit now?"
"Worry about that later. You and I have more important things to do right now. I know you, Onja. You'll say what I want to hear just to get that kid into a sickbay, but later on you'll run to Osato and cry about it. I'll never get the two weeks in bed with you."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying right here, right now. Go ahead and get naked, because we're going to do it." He took her laser pistol, then began unbuttoning his shirt. He grinned tightly. "And you know what? When it's over you're going to wonder what you were afraid of all these years. Because I'm the best you've never had."
Onja snorted. "You're out of your fucking mind!"
She took a step backward and turned, feeling her way in the darkness. Her head exploded as Hinds hit her with the pistol. Lights flashed before her eyes as she hit the ground hard, stunned but still conscious. Too late, she realized she'd been a fool to turn her back on him. With her heart tripping in turbo she tried to roll over, to kick at him, but her muscles felt numb; her body wouldn't obey her brain.
He was bending over her; she felt him release her belt, then tug her pants down over her hips.
The bastard is going to rape me! He's really going to do it this time!
He pulled off her boots and then her pants. He rolled her onto her back, and she saw him dimly, a shadow looming over her. She tried to curse him, but heard herself moan instead. He ripped open her tunic, and filled his hands with her breasts. She tried to kick at him, but her legs only twitched. He finished removing his shirt, then unbuckled his belt.
"You might as well relax," he said quietly. "This is going to take a while. But you'll thank me in the end."
Fighting the blinding pain in her head, Onja concentrated, gritting her teeth, and managed to regain enough muscular control to resist when he tried to pry her thighs apart. She tried to clench her fists, but they w
eren't working yet. He applied muscle and gradually her thighs opened, exposing her to him. She arched her back and threw her head back, breathing hard, close to panic.
He leaned over her, his mouth working across her face. She closed her eyes and grunted, then let loose a scream of sheer frustration. No matter how badly she wanted them to, her arms still wouldn't obey her brain signals. He was going to rape her and she was going to lie there helpless and let him do it.
His mouth was on her breasts now, tonguing them, sucking them gently, and she managed to clench one fist as the numbness in her arms gradually diminished. She tried to hit him with it, but it was a harmless blow with no power behind it.
"God damn you!" she whispered hoarsely. "You'll … never …"
The effort to speak was too great, and she couldn't finish. Instead, she loosed another scream, venting her outrage into the empty Sirian night. Tears of helpless fury ran into the dirt under her head.
She tried again.
"Hinds!" she gasped. "Kiss me!"
He stopped what he was doing and peered into her eyes from inches away, then grinned slowly.
"So you can bite me again? Fuck you!"
She stared back at him, desperate for something, anything. She couldn't let him do this, couldn't let him win. But how could she stop him?
"I'll kill you," she whispered.
"I don't think so," he said. "But even if you do, it won't change anything. After I have you, nothing can take that away. You'll always remember it. You wrecked my career, so you owe me this one." He grinned savagely and lowered himself to her. "Are you ready for this?"
Oh, god! Don't let him enjoy it!
She closed her eyes in horror, panting rapidly in anticipation of the pain.
A stone rolled a few yards away and she felt Hinds tense as he looked up.
"I told you, Jack," Ursula Negus said in a voice heavy with hatred, "my grievance against you could keep, but we'd get back to it. Maybe now is a good time."
Hinds started to sit up.
"Ursula …"
The laser beam cut through the center of his chest in a brilliant flash. Onja gasped in surprise, then turned her head to the side as his body slumped forward, landing heavily on top of her. She felt hot blood pumping onto her bare skin, smelled the sickening odor of burned flesh, and struggled in helpless horror. Ursula quickly stepped forward and rolled Hinds to the side, then knelt by Onja and took her by the arm, pulling her into a sitting position.
"Was I too late?" she asked.
"No. Just in time." Onja looked gratefully into the other woman's eyes. "Just in time. How … how did you know?"
"I didn't. I just came out for some fresh air. Then I heard you scream." She looked at Hinds. "I'll get a star‑court for this, but I'm not sorry." There were tears in her eyes.
"No." Onja shook her head weakly, her motor control improving by the minute. "No star‑court. A medal."
"Can you walk?"
"I — think so."
"Come on. Let's get you inside."
Chapter 30
The Outback, Sirius 1
Back inside the cave, Ursula led Onja to her personal quarters. When the thoroughly shaken gunner had cleaned up, Ursula offered her a drink of Lightning to calm her nerves. Onja gratefully choked the stuff down, then studied her old friend for a moment.
"How much did you see of what was going on?" she asked.
"Not that much. Just that he was on top of you, and that you were struggling with him. It was obvious you weren't having much fun."
"You can say that again! God, I hated that man!"
"I heard you say you'd kill him, and he said something about you ruining his career."
Onja nodded weakly, sipping more Lightning.
"You heard enough, then. He made me promise to give him two solid weeks of sex in exchange for evacuating Johnny. He wouldn't let the shuttle leave until I agreed."
"So he put a laser to your pilot's head to force you to give in to him?"
"Exactly. Then he said he knew I'd renege, so he wanted it now."
"That bastard! I'm glad I killed him!"
But Ursula didn't look all that happy. Her words were brave enough, but a ragged quality in her voice suggested she was on the edge of hysteria.
"Ursula, I'll take the blame for this one. I killed him in self-defense. General Osato already knows that Hinds has tried to coerce me into having sex with him for years. I can take the credit and no charges will be brought against me."
Ursula smiled, her eyes glittering, but shook her head.
"Thanks, Onja, but I killed him. I owed him from away back. I'll face the music myself."
"Then you won't face it alone. I'll be at your side all the way."
Ursula nodded gratefully, pouring a glass of liquor for herself.
"I've got to let the Colonel know," she said. "We can't just leave the body out there."
"I'll come with you."
"No. You've been through enough the last few hours. I have to face the Colonel alone. He'll want to talk to you, but I should tell him myself. In the meantime, you look beat. Stretch out on that rack and get some rest."
Onja didn't argue. She crawled onto the rack and rubbed her face, fatigued beyond belief.
"Who is this colonel, anyway?" she asked. "Everyone talks about him as if he was some sort of god."
"To some of these people he is," Ursula replied. "He was captured years ago; he moved from camp to camp, and everywhere he went he gave the prisoners hope. He kept telling them we were going to win, kept them from giving up. And when the prisoners escaped from Camp Hope, he brought them down here and set up this operation. That was when I met him."
"How did you happen to come down here?"
Ursula laughed. "I helped break him out of Camp Hope. At first we just wanted to hide out here until we could be rescued, but then we started seeing fighter crews eject all over this region. They'd get hit up north, couldn't make orbit, and head down here. Sometimes the Sirians found them, but usually we got them first. We got our hands on some SpectraWav equipment and monitored combat frequencies. When we'd hear a mayday coming, we'd start watching. That's probably how they spotted you."
Onja yawned, so exhausted that Ursula's voice almost became a drone.
"What's his name?" she asked, her eyes closed.
Ursula didn't respond right away, and Onja took a deep breath, letting it out with a sigh. She sensed movement beside the rack, but didn't open her eyes.
"We just call him Colonel," Ursula said from across the room.
"But some people," said a man's voice at Onja's elbow, "call me Major."
Onja's heart stopped. Her eyes flew open.
"Goddess Sophia!" she whispered.
Robert Landon's mouth curved into a gentle smile, and there was fondness in his eyes.
"Hello, Onja," he said softly. "I hear you fought well."
"Goddess Sophia!" she repeated, still staring wide‑eyed.
He bent over and kissed her gently on the cheek.
"It's been a long time," he said. "I'm proud of you."
* * *
Landon's quarters were in another cave a mile or so away. It was primitive and Spartan, with none of the amenities a commanding officer might otherwise enjoy, but it was private.
Onja lay beside him on a tattered mattress on the cavern floor, as content as if it were the Princess Suite in the Sophia Hilton in downtown Reina. It had been a long and trying day, beginning at the DP camp where she'd visited Sonja; shot down and rescued; Johnny's serious burns; attempted rape by Hinds — and now this.
Landon was fifty‑nine now, ten or twelve Terra pounds lighter than she remembered him, greying at the temples, deeper lines in his face, especially around the eyes, but — he was still pretty good looking.
If anything, he was more relaxed than she remembered him. If the stress of AB-131 had taken its toll when she'd last known him, somewhere along the line he'd learned to deal with it; there was no tension here, tonigh
t, in this cave room. His lovemaking had been gentle, unhurried, as if he were savoring a long-awaited treat. Onja hadn't felt as sexually satisfied since …
Johnny Lincoln.
"Jack Hinds tried to rape you?" Landon asked quietly as they lay naked together, his right hand absently massaging her breast.
"Twice. Once back at 131, and again tonight."
"At 131?" His voice was incredulous. "You never told me!"
"It was four days before the evacuation. He caught me in the sauna and tried to persuade me to fly with him instead of you. When I refused, he got physical."
"He was twice your size! How'd you get away?"
"I bit his tongue half off."
Landon's eyes widened. "I remember that! He could barely talk for several days. When I asked him about it he said he tripped and bit himself."
Onja smiled and shook her head.
"Why didn't you tell me, Onja?"
"Major, I'd been trying to get a combat assignment ever since I came aboard. Things were just starting to go my way. I didn't want to rock the boat by bringing charges against your XO. Besides, without him you'd have been flying even less than you were already."
"Jesus! And I asked the guy to look out for you at the evacuation! I had no idea!"
Onja snuggled closer to him.
"I was there when 131 was recaptured," she said. "I hoped to find some clue that you were still alive, but there was nothing."
Landon gently kissed her on the temple.
"What happened after we left?" she asked.
"The Sirians came later that same day. The Star Marines made a fight of it. They mined the lower levels, blew the charges as soon as the Sirians had time to spread out a little, and fought them to a standstill. It went on for hours. The Sirians tried a couple of times to gain the upper levels, but the Marines cut them to pieces. Finally they flooded the upper levels with some kind of knockout gas; most of the noncombatants succumbed to it, but the Marines used respirators and kept on fighting."
He frowned at the memory.
"It got really ugly after that. The Confeds sent bombs up the lifts and followed them with shock troops. The fighting was hand-to-hand at the end." He shook his head grimly. "I don't know how many were killed, but there was shrapnel and shit flying every which way."
