Soldier of 'Tween1 - Chapter 1

In the year 2347 A.D., research on Earth into matter transmission led to the discovery of 'Tween. Neither a time nor a place, 'Tween is a state of existence equidistant from all times and places in the continuum. From 'Tween—a state of being literally in-between—one can, with the proper technology, travel instantaneously to any time and place in the universe. This discovery opened all of creation to the human race...

Atlas of the Confraternity Worlds

By B. B. Fhalron

146 edition, 12/7 2992 (Earth)

Five-Red's armor chimed in his left ear and painted a soft blue alpha-numeric line on the helmet visor's bottom edge: 010.3 degrees relative, 312.07 yards. The armor's computer had detected something.

An enhanced display, broadcast from a distal sensor, unfolded on the visor, overlaying the murky red landscape ahead without obscuring it. A fungus mound eight yards across rose five feet out of the mud, pulsating in dim light, its bioluminescence glowed sickly gray-green.

He pulled his disrupter from the quick-release stud on his armor's front and made certain its umbilical was secured. The umbilical had given him trouble this campaign, as had those of many others in his platoon; the planet's thick mud tended to foul the connection.

Holding the disrupter at the ready, he placed his mind on the level necessary to activate the comm-link embedded in his brain, then thought, *Red-One, Red-Two—ready your battle units. There's a mound up ahead.*

*Uh!* Red-Two's reply entered his thoughts, little more than a mental grunt.

*I copy, Red Leader,* came Red-One's thought, soft and alluring in spite of its content.

For perhaps the millionth time since she had been recruited into Red Platoon, he imagined how soft and luxuriant the fur lining her wings might feel on his own bare skin and fantasized her full, firm breasts pressing against his chest and her tongue darting into his mouth. The beginnings of sexual arousal stirred deep in his groin.

*How many?* she commed, her thought stimulating him further.

He forced the forbidden fantasy from his thoughts. He had a job to do, a job demanding his full attention.

*I don't know yet,* he replied. *I'm on visible, going to infrared now.* He tongued the appropriate button in his helmet, and instantly the world projected on his visor stood out in stark contrast. The mud was black as space itself, the sky a seething soup of various shades of gray. The fungus mound glowed a lighter gray. Superimposed on the mound's image were the nearly white, writhing shapes of several slugs.

Sight of them banished all remaining sexual desire from his mind and brought a sting of bile to the back of his throat. A mixture of hatred and disgust raged within him. It was the same reaction he experienced each time he confronted members of a race the Confraternity of Sentient Races considered its enemy.

*I have them now,* he told his squad leaders. *A standard grouping.*

*Roger, Red Leader,* Red-One responded, her thought losing its musical quality and going hard with hatred of her own. *My battle units are ready.*

*Red-Two, is your squad ready for battle?* Five-Red commed as he tongue-tapped the button to recall his armor's distal sensors. The infrared display disappeared, leaving only the visible light view from his own perspective.

*Uh,* Red-Two's response came, a mental grunt in the affirmative.

*Good. Hold your fire for my order. I don't want to lose one of those damned beasts.*