Chapter 7: The Mark of the Beast — 5

It was after that op that they pulled us back for a rest in the squadmod.

The next day, we were gathered around the tacsit console. “So this is the Hand of the Hand. I’m disappointed,” Snow Leopard said.

The Hand of the Hand was on screen, under interrogation back in Alpha Base. He was a very important priest of the Cult, second in rank to the supreme Hand of God, who was still on the run. CAT 23 had captured him by blind luck. The priest we had captured had been a nobody, but this fellow was number two for the whole Cult.

“He looks like a mildly retarded florist,” Merlin said.

“Except for the shredded chest,” I added.

“Plenty of kills,” Dragon said. “Wonder how many were babies.”

The priest did not look particularly formidable. He was a slight, shriveled old man with wet, expressionless eyes. His frizzy, thinning hair reached to his shoulders. He wore the Mark of the Beast on a medallion around his neck. He didn’t look like a mass murderer, but he certainly was just that. Somebody from CAT 23 was interrogating him, a young, brightly extroverted Legionnaire who spoke fluent Taka.

“But you must know the Book,” the Legionnaire was insisting, “the one Book of the Men of the Book, in which was written the coming of the Beasts.” I could understand most of it. Atom refused to give up on me.

“It is lies,” the Hand of the Hand replied, “all lies, written by the Unbelievers. We do not need the Book of Lies. Our book is the Road of Truth. God calls us through His Beasts. We need no book.”

“But have you read the one Book of the Men of the Book?”

“We do not read the Book of Lies.”

“I have not read it either,” the Legionnaire said. “I have heard it was full of falsehoods. And yet it is said that the Book speaks of the coming of God’s Beasts. Is it so?”

“I need not know what is written in the Book of Lies.”

“Your own book is the Road of Truth? Is it a book? Is God’s word written in a book?”

“God needs no book.”

“How do you know what God wants, if there is no scripture?”

“God speaks through the Beasts. It is the ending time for Sunrealm. All of our people must die. God wishes it so. It is our sacred duty to deliver all our people to God. This is clear. We need no book!”

“As a man of God, why do you not offer yourself to Him? Surely this would be a sacred act?”

“Of course. There is nothing that would please me more! But as a priest I am bound by my solemn vows. I must deliver my people up to God. If we priests were to offer ourselves, there would be no one to perform the ceremonies. It is a grave responsibility. We cannot be selfish!”

“You are an inspiration to your people. Tell me more about the Beasts. How does God speak through the Beasts?”

“What crap,” Snow Leopard declared, turning away from the screen. “That priest is the XO, and he doesn’t know anything. Nothing at all! He doesn’t know where the exos came from, or why they are here. All he knows is that it’s a great opportunity for him to slaughter all his enemies and live like a king.”

“Maybe he’s not telling all he knows,” Coolhand suggested.

“No, they’ve got him wired up. He thinks he’s telling the truth, but he doesn’t know anything!”

“Well, if he doesn’t know, who does?” Dragon asked.

“Probably nobody,” I said.

“There aren’t any Systies here,” Ironman said. “That’s becoming clear.”

“Then what are we doing here?” Priestess asked.

“We’re doing the Legion’s will,” Snow Leopard replied. “That’s what we do, gang.”

“Command doesn’t appear to know what it’s doing,” Warhound said. He appeared genuinely worried.

“Command knows,” Psycho laughed. “Command knows. It’s just not telling. But it will, when it’s ready. And I can tell you my safeties are off.”

“Beta, Deadeye!” The tacsite monitor spoke.

“Speak, Deadeye!” Deadeye called us from the nearby Taka camp in the forest. We had handed out comsets to some of our auxiliaries.

“The Lake People have come. They have left a gift for you.” He spoke in Taka.

Snow Leopard stood beside me at the console. “Ask him what kind of a gift.” He was suspicious by nature. All Ones were suspicious by nature. But I asked.

“It is a very nice gift, Slayer! I will bring it!”

“Meet him outside.” Snow Leopard turned back to the monitor, the green glow from the screens giving his pale face an unhealthy pallor. Even in Hell his skin had not tanned. The rest of us had been burnt brown, but Snow Leopard’s face had just turned purple and then the skin had peeled away. Now it was pale again. We had been very close, in Providence, but he had changed after they made him a One. He had more to worry about than the rest of us.

Coolhand joined me outside under a bright, clear sky. We were armed, but not armored. We wore whatever we pleased when on duty in the tacsite.

“A gift. Cookies with arsenic?” Coolhand speculated.

“We’ll have Psycho test it. He’ll eat anything.”

“I wonder if they know about explosives.” Coolhand smiled.

“We’ll find out soon.”

Psycho and Priestess drifted outside as well, curious. Psycho frequently hovered around Priestess, even though he knew she wasn’t interested.

Deadeye emerged from the forest, accompanied by a longhaired Laker girl dressed in a clean Taka tunic, young and quite beautiful. She carried a woven bag. Deadeye was grinning, his stabbing sword resting on his shoulder.

“She is for Longhair, Slayer! His girl. The Lake People send her.”

Then I remembered. This was the woman that Ironman had captured on our first Cult bust. We’d sent her back to her people. Her eyes rigidly fixed on some object on the ground, she stood silently. Obediently.

“Somebody get Ironman,” Coolhand suggested.

I went back into the squadmod and found Ironman on the weight machine, clad only in shorts, lifting.

“Ironman, I got something for you.”

He paused, let up on the weights, and brushed his hair back out of his eyes. “What’s that?”

“Outside. It’s a surprise.”

The girl went down on her knees when Ironman appeared, and bowed low. Ironman was speechless.

“She is yours, Longhair!” Deadeye said cheerfully. “You captured her. Now she is your slave.”

The word ‘slave’ caused a small commotion and Snow Leopard was quietly summoned. When he arrived, he pulled Deadeye aside and they talked for some time. It emerged that there was no easy solution. It seemed she could no longer go back to her people. She belonged to Ironman now, just as Deadeye said. Only it was not possible. The Legion had a thing about killing slavers.

Her name was Morning Light. Ironman took her hand and made her stand up. She would not look at him.

Snow Leopard made the decision. He looked at the girl, and at Ironman, and at Deadeye. “Well, she can’t stay in the squadmod. If she wants to orbit, fine. She can camp nearby. Deadeye, you make sure she’s set up right. Ironman…” he paused, looking into space. “You’re going to remain a member of this squad. When I call your number, you’d better be there.

“One more thing, Deadeye. She’s not a slave. If she wants to stick around as an auxiliary for Ironman, she can.” He paused, and made sure everyone was looking and listening before he continued. “But be perfectly clear about this. If her people feel she’s working off some sort of debt, that debt is over as soon as we move out of this area. When that happens, we expect her people to welcome her home.”

“Ten, sir!” Ironman seemed happy, although somewhat shocked. There were no guidelines for this situation. He was on his own. I did not envy him.

“So we’re into slavery now?” Priestess stood next to me. She did not look pleased by this development.

“Why, no…I think Snow Leopard is just trying to decide what to do.”

“This is very nice for you men, isn’t it? And what if I capture a Scaler man? Can I keep him?”

I could tell she was upset. “Priestess, the girl’s people won’t take her back. We have to do something with her.”

“The poor thing! I’m sure Ironman will make sure she’s nice and comfy.”

I decided to stop talking. It wasn’t going to accomplish anything. It troubled me. I expected more problems like this. Ironman’s girl was only the beginning.