“I’m an exact duplicate of Alex. I’m covering for him here while he tries to help the League against the Ko-Dan armada and Xur’s renegades. It’s my job, and it’s required by regulations. You can’t just yank some primitive off his world without replacing the resultant hole in the social fabric. It could be damaging to local development, especially when it involves someone who shows unusual promise of influencing his society, like Alex.”
Maggie listened to all this quietly, said by way of reply, “Huh?”
Exasperated beyond words, the Beta pulled open his shirt. Maggie watched uneasily, wondering what his intentions were, wondering how to cope if she had to with a drug-crazed boyfriend who might say or do anything.
However, those thoughts vanished when that same boyfriend followed the opening of his shirt with the opening of his chest. There was no blood, and after flinching in horror for a split second she found herself staring at a metal surface spotted with small ports and windows. Behind the transparencies, lights glowed steadily or winked on and off according to some alien pattern.
“Look, I’m a robot. Get it? How detailed a picture do I have to draw for you, you dumb human adolescent?”
“Gggg-gggg!”
The Beta spoke calmly as he refastened his artificial skin and clothing. “That is not in my vocabulary, but somehow I get the feeling it means I’m not making much progress. It doesn’t matter. Just keep down. I don’t want you killed by a shot meant for me.”
There would be no second shot, however. The ZZ-Designate had seen and heard enough. It rose and bolted for the stolen police car. The Beta detected the retreat. The assassin’s gait was quite human, but just stiff enough to confirm what was already suspected.
“There it goes!”
He took off in pursuit, cursing the slippery sand that slowed him while wishing Centauri hadn’t been too damn cheap to spring for installation of the optional levitation unit. No point in bewailing that omission now.
“Alex!” Maggie was struggling to follow. Afterimages of the Beta’s internal lights lingered like ghostly fireflies on her retinas. She stumbled up the slope toward the half-buried steps made out of old railroad ties. “Alex, or whatever you are . . . wait for me!”
The assassin was having its own problems. Not only had it been sent on a futile hunt, at great difficulty and expense, but its quarry had turned out to be a modern Beta Unit-and quite capable of killing it, the alien knew. What mattered now was reporting back to command and informing them that the switch had been made. As to the location of the real target, that wasn’t the assassin’s problem any longer.
But it had to make that report.
Back inside the stolen land vehicle, he fumbled with the primitive controls and finally succeeded in activating the smelly internal combustion engine. The police cruiser screeched backward, stopped, then roared out of the parking lot.
Without hesitating, the Beta jumped into the nearest available vehicle. This happened to be Jack Blake’s precious pickup. Information raced through storage chips located in the Beta’s torso.
Truck, land vehicle, activation of turn this bit of metal, engine function on, push this level, push down on this pedal.
The pickup burned rubber as it swung around in a curve that left it facing the exit. As the Beta prepared to shift into drive, the door on the passenger side opened.
“Wait!” Maggie yelled as the truck started forward.
“Let me go! If that assassin reports in to Xur and the Ko-Dan that I’m not Alex and that he isn’t here, then Alex is in big trouble. Stay here!”
“I’m not staying anywhere until I find out what’s going on!” She pulled herself up into the cab and dared the machine in the driver’s seat to throw her out. “And I am not a dumb human adolescent, tinman!”
“Stubborn, then,” said the Beta. There was no time for arguing. No time for anything except running down the assassin before it could file its report. “You may not like what you find out.”
“I don’t like it already.”
He nodded, and sent the big pickup thundering toward the access road leading to the highway.
The sound of the pickup pulling out of the lot galvanized Jack Blake into action. The assassin’s pistol had done its work silently, and even the Beta’s shouts and Maggie’s replies hadn’t been loud or violent enough to draw his attention away from the heated activity of the moment. But the sound of that particular engine was as near and dear to him as his own heartbeat.
He tried to throw himself clear of the sleeping bag, only to find himself held in check by a pair of clutching hands.
“Jack,” the sultry voice beneath him moaned, “Jack, for God’s sake, not now!”
“Dammit, Cindy, let go of me!”
“That’s not what you were saying a minute ago.”
“Let me go, Cindy!” It was amazing how strong those perfectly manicured fingers had suddenly become. He tried to stand. The bag rolled. Cindy started laughing as they headed for the lake, Jack Blake’s piteous cries fading as his mouth filled with sand.
“Hey! Come back! Scratch that paint and you’re dead, Rogan! You hear me, you’re dead . . . Cindy, let go of me!”
Activity of a different kind reigned aboard the ships of the Ko-Dan armada. Final preparations were underway. The crews worked in silence, speaking only to give or acknowledge commands. This was to be a landmark day in the history of the Empire, and they were privileged to be a part of it. Their names would be writ large in the history of Ko-Dan expansion and conquest. No soldier could wish for more.
In the command room a subofficer turned from his console. “All ships are at battle ready, Commander. Probes indicate there has been inadequate reestablishment of the energy shield around Rylos. We are ready to break through.”
Xur smiled, spoke the single word uppermost in his mind for many years. “Invade.”
Next to him one of the senior Ko-Dan aides spoke to Kril. “Commander, the Xurian ships have not yet answered the invasion code.”
Kril considered. “That’s odd. They were supposed to wait for our call while concealed on one of the large asteroids in this area. They are to precede the armada in the hope that they can convince the government to surrender peacefully and accept Xur as regent.”
“That is how I understand it to be also, Commander. The lack of a reply suggests some difficulty.”
“What difficulty?” Xur’s interruption was an unpardonable discourtesy which the weary Kril accepted silently. “The Frontier is nothing but an empty phrase now that the shield has been destroyed. As I said, the moon of Galan is eclipsed. The Starfighters are dead. Invade!”
Kril thought further. If anything went wrong, he was the one who would have to answer with his eyes to the Imperial War Staff, not this Rylan harlequin.
“We should wait for word from your people, Xur. It would be best if Rylos could be taken without fighting. It would make the other members of the League see the hopelessness of resistance.”
“Where is your love of battle?”
“My love is for my Emperor, for my family and for those who serve under me, Xur. And for conquest, yes, but at the cheapest price obtainable. As for attacking at the moment of the Galan eclipse, surely you can forego that juvenile dramatic gesture?”
“I will forego nothing! This was planned and timed to the minute. I will tolerate no delay.”
“Where are your ships?”
“I don’t know. What does it matter? Delayed, perhaps, or made suddenly afraid by your fleet’s demonstration of power. They may be unsure of you even if they remain sure of me, and are simply waiting for your armada to approach within attack range of Rylos.”
“How brave they are,” Kril observed sardonically. “Nevertheless, what you say makes some sense, and I am directed to obey your orders.”
“Then invade. Now.”
Kril executed a reluctant gesture and addressed his chief communications officer. “All ships forward at half sublight cruising speed, with all energy probes and detectors on. If there’s anything larger than an egg out there traveling in anything other than a standard orbit, I want to know about it immediately! Is that clear?”
“Yes, Commander,” communications replied instantly.
“The same thing goes for any object stable in relation to planets or other bodies that is generating more than a minimal amount of radiation.”
“There may be cargo vessels or transports in the area on their way insystem,” the communications officer suggested.
“If they’re heading outsystem we don’t need for them to give reports of what’s happening here, and if they’re going toward Rylos it’s their misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“You wish any such vessels detected to be taken in tow, Commander?”
Kril gestured negatively. “I don’t wish to waste the time. If they do not reply to any of the Xurian codes, they are to be destroyed.”