Legion Of The Damned - 01 - Legion of the Damned Read Online Free

responds.”
    Norwood looked at Baldwin the same way that a scientist might examine a not altogether pleasant specimen. She saw thick brown hair, parted in the middle and swept back on both sides, a high forehead, intense eyes, patrician nose, and an expressive mouth. A handsome man except for what? A weakness of some kind, which, like a flaw within a metal blade, reveals itself when stressed. Her eyes narrowed and her voice grew hard. “So this is a game? A sop to your ego?”
    Baldwin’s eyes flashed with pent-up emotion. A vein started to throb just over his left temple. “No! It’s proof! Proof that they were wrong! Proof that I’m fit for command!”
    Suddenly she had it. Colonel Alex Baldwin. Of course! She should have remembered earlier. His court-martial had been big news on Imperial Earth, and even bigger news in military circles, where it was widely believed that he’d been railroaded. Something about a massacre on a rim world, drug addiction, and the Emperor’s nephew.
    “Yes,” Poseen-Ka said, as if reading her mind. “Colonel Baldwin betrayed his people in order to prove his competence. That is what he claims anyway. There is an alternative explanation, however. Some of our best xenopsychologists have examined Colonel Baldwin and concluded that his true motive is revenge.”
    Norwood didn’t know which surprised her the most. The Hudathan’s calm, almost clinical description of Baldwin’s psychology, or the subject’s lack of visible reaction.
    It was as if the war commander had never spoken, as if Baldwin could filter things he didn’t want to hear, as if he was not entirely sane.
    Norwood looked at Poseen-Ka. There it was again, that ineffable something that she couldn’t quite put a finger on. Sympathy? Understanding? What?
    “Well, that about covers it.”
    The voice belonged to Martin. They turned. Norwood frowned. “Covers what?”
    Martin shrugged. His eyes were dark and flashed when he spoke. “What we came for. You heard the geek ... no negotiations until resistance ends ... and that means we have nothing to lose.”
    “Now, Martin, don’t do anything . . .”
    But the flight lieutenant closed his eyes, activated his implant, and sent a thought towards the shuttle. And, on a deck half a mile away, relays closed, power flowed, tolerances were exceeded, and an aircraft exploded. It was Martin’s ace in the hole, a little surprise that he and a crew chief named Perez had dreamed up.
    It worked like a charm. The first explosion caused a Hudathan attack ship to blow as well, which triggered more explosions, which caused the deck under Martin’s feet to shudder in sympathy. A series of dull thuds followed moments later and served to confirm what had happened.
    Martin opened his eyes and a lot of things took place all at once.
    Imbala-Sa put two low-velocity darts through Martin’s heart.
    Klaxons began to bleat, orders were issued over the ship’s PA system, and the surviving humans were dragged from the room.
    Norwood tried to memorize the maze of seemingly identical corridors but was soon lost.
    Crew members ran in every direction, shouted orders at each other, and did the multiplicity of things that they’d been trained to do.
    It was hard to think in the midst of all the confusion, but one thing was clear. Martin had managed to kill some Hudathans, and in doing so, had unintentionally reinforced their xenophobia. It would be a long time, if ever, before the Hudathans would agree to meet with human beings again. Other thoughts might have followed, but were lost when she was shoved into a freight elevator and herded into a corner.
    Then, after a very short ride, she was pushed, pulled, and prodded into a hallway, led to a small compartment, and secured to some wall-mounted rings.
    Baldwin was stripped, forced to lie on a metal table, and strapped into place. He said something in Hudathan and the technician made a hissing reply.
    Norwood was very, very frightened but did her best to