“Should I challenge him, Sarge?” asked Double-X, picking up the microphone.
“Nah, I’ll hail him on his private frequency,” said C.H. “The Renegades might be able to rig somebody up to look like him, but they can’t jigger the whole comm system without a lot of work. That ain’t their style, anyway-more likely they’d walk up to the door and call me out.” He reached to activate the wrist communicator, but before he could do so, Phule’s unmistakable voice came from the speaker.
“C.H., are you in there? I have something we need to talk about.”
“Sure, Cap’n,” said the supply sergeant. “Come on in-we aren’t gonna shoot you.”
“Oh, I wasn’t worried about you shooting me,” said Phule’s voice. “But you might start trying to shoot the people I’ve got with me, and get careless.”
“What do you mean, Cap’n?” said Chocolate Harry. Then, as he saw who stood next to Phule, his voice went up an octave. “Look out, Cap’n! It’s the Renegades!”
Phule’s calm voice came back: “They’ve promised not to try anything, C.H.-I think they’ve realized they’ll get more by talking to you than any other way. Will you let us come in and talk?”
Chocolate Harry said nothing for a long moment, his face impassive but his mind racing. At last he said, “You vouch for ’em, Cap’n? They ain’t carryin’ heat?”
“They’re clean, Harry,” said Phule. “Are you going to let us in?”
“OK, Cap’n. Yo, Double-X, Cap’n comin’ in, with hostiles. Keep ’em covered, but no shootin’ unless they make the first move. Got it?”
“Yeah, Sarge,” said Double-X, and he went to unbar the door.
Phule and the three Renegades picked their way through the obstacles outside the supply depot, and finally entered the door. Inside, the Renegades stopped and stared. Phule stepped over to the side of his supply sergeant, who stood with his fists balled at his sides. “Relax, Harry,” he said in a low voice. “I think we’re going to solve your problems.”
“I know these guys,” said Chocolate Harry, his eyes fixed on the intruders. “Stonecutter Johnson, ain’t it? And your old sidekicks, Joe the Blade and Asteroid Annie. Never thought I’d see your nasty faces up here.”
“Not a bad setup you got, Harry,” the big Renegade said, nodding appreciatively. “Anybody starts a rumble with you boys, he better know how to take care of hisself”
“The Legion knows its business,” said Phule calmly. “You saw a sample of that.”
“You put on a pretty convincin’ show,” said Johnson, with a grudging nod. “Them cats can move. And they’re only part of what you got. Make a dude stop and think.”
“Yeah,” said Harry. “You do that, Stonecutter, and maybe nobody gets hurt. OK?”
“Hey, Harry, we been thinkin’. OK?” said Johnson. “When we got word that you was on this station, the club took a vote. Maybe it’ll surprise you to know that some of, the new guys didn’t think it was worth comin’ after you, after so many years. But us old-timers remembered what you done to our bikes, and payback is payback, no matter how long it’s been.”
“Don’t matter if there ain’t but two of us left alive,” growled Joe the Blade. His fingers twitched in the vicinity of his vibroblade sheath, but then he remembered it was empty. He punched his fist into his empty palm, with a curse. Behind him, the Synthian guard took a tighter grip on his shotgun.
“What the hell is this?” said Chocolate Harry, turning to Phule. “Cap’n, you said they was comin’ to talk!”
“We’re talkin’, ain’t we?” said the woman Renegade, with a gap-toothed grin that conveyed very little warmth. “Didn’t say we was gonna talk nice.”
“Easy now, all of you,” said Phule. “I don’t ask you to be friends after so long, but I do think we can arrive at some way to solve your problems. You Renegades have brought a grievance against Chocolate Harry, perhaps a legitimate one-I don’t think he denies that there was some incident in the past.”
“Damn straight there was a freakin’ incident,” growled Stonecutter Johnson. “Harry’s a freakin’ liar if he says anything else.”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d do without the profanity,” said Phule, his voice suddenly cold. “Whatever the merits of your argument, that sort of language adds nothing to it. Now, what we’re here for is to find a way to end this feud, because frankly it’s an impediment to the Legion’s operation.”
“It shouldn’t be too hard to end the feud,” said Asteroid Annie, sneering. “Give the three of us five minutes alone with the fat boy, and no interference. We’ll settle it right fast.”
“Harry might surprise you,” said Phule, calmly. “But that’s not how we’re going to solve this. The Legion looks after its own. If you attack my sergeant, you’ll find out what it means to take on a full Legion company. And the same goes for any other member of my command.”
Stonecutter Johnson put a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “That’s right, Annie, the Cap’n told us that before, and I believe him. It’s the same way we’d be if somebody came after one of our own-or at least, that’s how it was in the good old days, before all the snot-nose kids came into the club and let all the biker traditions go to hell.”
“A-men, Stony. Things ain’t like they used to be,” agreed Joe the Blade. His face took on a wistful expression, and he added, “It must be five, six years since I last cut somebody’s ears off.” He scratched his scraggly beard, and gazed speculatively at the supply sergeant.
“Cap’n!” Harry squawked. “You gonna let ’em threaten me like that?”
“Kick ass!” came Louie’s translated voice, and the little Synthian brandished his shotgun. “Blow them away!”
“Now who’s makin’ threats?” snarled Stonecutter. “Cap’n, I didn’t think you was lurin’ us into a ambush, but if that’s how you’re playin’ it, I’m ready to snaggle.” He struck a defensive martial arts pose, and his cohorts followed suit.
“Everyone calm down,” barked Phule. “Louie, put that weapon away. These people came here unarmed, in good faith, and that’s how we’re going to play it. Now, Chocolate Harry, if I understand the situation, these people accuse you of tampering with their hovercycles.”
“Well…” Harry began.
“Tamperin’ ain’t the word for it,” shouted Asteroid Annie. “He reversed the wires on the hover circuit, so they flipped over when we went to ride ’em.”
“And he poured Insta-Stick glue on the seats, so we couldn’t get off without taking off our jeans,” said Joe the Blade, shaking his fist.
“And he put helium in the reaction tanks and burned out the mass converters,” said Stonecutter Johnson. “Any man that’d do that to somebody else’s hawg…well, he ain’t fit to ride, Cap’n. He ain’t…fit…to ride.”
“Is this true, Harry?” Phule turned to his supply sergeant.
“Well, Cap’n, it was like this…” Harry began again.
“The explanations can wait, Harry. There’s only one thing I need to know right now: Is what they’re saying true?”
Chocolate Harry pulled himself up to his full height and saluted. “Yes, sir!” he barked.
“That’s all I wanted to know,” said Phule. “At ease, Sergeant. I told you the Legion protects its own, and I meant it. But these people are entitled to some recompense for what you did to them, and I mean to see that they get it. It’s the only way to end this standoff, and to get back to our real business.”
“What you gonna do, then?” asked Chocolate Harry, his gaze shifting warily between Phule and the Renegades.
“Yeah, man, what you gonna do to him?” said Stonecutter Johnson. He and his fellow Renegades cast suspicious looks toward the Legionnaires.
“Nothing,” said Phule. Then, as the others’ mouths opened in protest, he held up a hand. “Nothing to ham, that is. We’re going to follow an old maxim: `Let the punishment fit the crime.’ Sergeant, where is your hovercycle?”
“Cap’n!” Harry dropped to his knees like a felled ox. “Cap’n, let ’em cut my ears off! Let ’em tattoo me paisley from head to toe with a dull needle! Let ’em throw me out the airlock, but Cap’n, please don’t let ’em have my hawg!”
“Cuttin’ them ears off would be fun,” said Joe the Blade, grinning evilly. Asteroid Annie’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah, go ahead, cut ’em off,” bawled Harry. “Cut ’em both off, and shave me with a ripsaw, and then boil me in Chinese mustard. But don’t mess with my hawg!”
“Where’s the hovercycle?” repeated Phule. “No more delays, Harry. I’ll have the cycle or I’ll have your stripes.”
“Sure, bust me back to buck private, Cap’n,” said Harry, still on his knees. “Bust me all the way back, and throw me in the stockade, and dump the key in a black hole, and feed me on sawdust and battery acid. I won’t complain, no sir, not one word, long as you don’t let ’em have my hawg.”