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of things I don t like me very much for. I hurt people. Frog taught me never
to hurt people.
Storm moistened the reed of his clarinet, startled Pollyanna with a couple of
rollicking Hoagie Carmichael pieces.
She smiled when he finished. I didn t know that thing could be happy. You
never . . .
It could be happier. I didn t have my heart in it.
That was really strange music. Kind of wild and primitive.
It s very old. More than a thousand years.
Thanks. I feel better. Come here.
They made love once more, and fell asleep lying side by side, reading
Ecclesiastes.
His comm s shriek wakened him. An almost incoherent Helmut blurted, They
took the Fortress! It just came in, Gneaus. From Frieda. She sent a personal
message . . . You d better come here . . .
Grimly, Storm began dressing.
What is it? Pollyanna asked, frightened by the sudden hardness of him.
We lost the Fortress.
Oh no! Not . . . Your wife! And your children . . .
Be quiet. Please. Feeling numb, he finished dressing. He did not remember
the walk to the war room. Suddenly, he was there. Something within him would
not allow him to react completely to the news. It felt like another in a
parade of disasters that had happened to somebody else.
Bring me Frieda s tape, Helmut, he said when he realized where he was.
Gneaus?
He looked up. Helmut was standing beside his chair, holding the microtape.
Time had stolen away on him again.
He loaded the cartridge with the exaggeratedly careful motions of a drunk. It
began with a continuous status report from Fortress Combat. He advanced it
till Frieda s pale face formed on screen. Her thin, severe, colorless mouth
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writhed, but he did not hear anything.
What s happened to Mouse?he wondered. He had not been visible in the Combat
views.
Don t take him, too, Storm prayed.He s our only tomorrow .
Frieda was saying something about there being fighting on Dock Level. He
upped the sound.
. . . penetrate Residential. They re tough, Gneaus. Primitives, I think.
Definitely human. I ve put the kids into theEhrhardt . She s set to boost
whenever the computer decides she has her best shot at breaking through.
The Seiners say they ll try to cover her. We ll lose contact with them soon.
The raiders are getting close to our wave guides. There it goes. The cruiser.
Wish them luck getting through.
Gneaus, I m going to cut this short. I want you to remember me as a good
soldier, but I m so damned scared I might make a fool of myself. Forgive me
now for whatever hurt I may have done you over the years. Remember my love,
such as it was. And remember me to Father.
We ll hold them as long as we can. Tell Navy to come get them.
She smiled weakly, pursed her lips in a last long-range kiss, then secured
her screen. The instel relay continued. An old man calmly chanted ordnance
data from the Fortress s Combat Information Center.
Storm sighed and closed his eyes. Getting the youngsters out was something,
anyway. He shuffled around the dark places of his mind, collecting the old
scraps of rage and hatred and hiding them in an out-of-the-way dust bin for
nonproductive emotions. More than ever, now, he needed to keep a tight rein on
his feelings.
Helmut, give me an update on the situation here.
The news from the Whitlandsund was little better than that from home. Havik
faced virtual human wave assaults. Michael appeared to be growing desperate.
The shade station was sending reinforcements, but only in driblets. Most of
the functional crawlers were still far out the Shadowline.
Helga s World was the bright spot. The Fishers said the Sangaree raiders had
been obliterated. Marines were taking over for Ceislak s commandos. The latter
were taking ship for Blackworld. Already.
Storm sent Thurston to find Blake.
Mr. Blake, he said when the man arrived, I m down to my last gasp. The one
option I have left is to scratch Dee s base of operations.
Colonel . . .
It s not open to debate this time. We re not going to argue about it. It s
past that stage. I m going to do it. I m telling you so we can observe the
proprieties. I m going to do it even if you insist on a vote. Remember, I
control the proxies. One of my ships will be here soon. When it shows, I ll
use it to jump to Twilight.
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Colonel . . .
Blake, it looks like we re going to lose the Whitlandsund. If Cassius is
going to have any chance to break through and save your ass, I m going to have
to destroy Dee s logistics. Can t you understand that?
Won t he just grab Edgeward?
He might try. I can t guarantee that he won t. He ll have a lot of trouble
doing it now. You re ready for him. And he s been outside a long time, without
much coming down from Twilight to support him. Yet. He didn t count on heavy
resistance.
So?
So he s going to run low on munitions before he gets new stocks. I think
he s going to take the Whitlandsund no matter what we do. But if we do hit
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