Mark Reinsberg

“ Twenty-five feet away, Naomi came out of the huddle and signalled for silence. While the clamor was subsiding I saw Jeanette jump off the dais onto one of the lower plateaus and disappear in one of the tunnels. I poised myself for the leap.
"Now look, gang," said Naomi. "Jeanette is our protocol expert and it's her opinion that no challenge is in order. She doesn't remember any precedent for a leader returning from Matrix, but she's just taken off for the archive room to look up the records." A chorus of boos and catcalls broke out, and this got under Naomi's skin. ”

“ Naomi clarified.
I again managed to sit up and felt the strength begin returning to my limbs. If you aren't stone dead, modern medicine can heal almost anything nowadays in a matter of hours, which I find reassuring. "What do you propose, another duel?"
"That doesn't make much sense," said Jeanette. "Why fight among ourselves when there are so many of those stupid boys buzzing around?" ”

“ Our hussies and aides greeted us in the First Hall with a wild cheer, crowding around us to beg for details.
"Later," said Naomi, flushed with triumph, "we'll call a formation later. We'll tell our story to the entire gang."
"Back to your posts, now!" I shouted. "You hussies get your girls ready for battle. We can expect the boys to counterattack at any time."
The First Hall cleared rapidly of all except a few of our top officers.
"Confidentially," I said, "I won't go for any more of this shared leadership stuff. This gang can only be run by one boss at a time. ”

“ But the minute the Ios broke-off pursuit we renewed our antagonism.
"Say," said Naomi over her helmet phone, "this isn't the right course for Callisto."
"No, dear, I'm landing on Ganymede first. I don't think it's safe to go on until we get that fuel leak fixed."
"Why should we pay good money to a mechanic when our own girls can do the job?"
"We'd never reach Callisto. You don't realize how dense the fumes are in this cabin. We could explode just like that." I tried futilely to snap my clumsy spacesuit fingers.
"Look," said Naomi irritably, "let me do the worrying. ”

“ Naomi launched the first missile straight for their airlock. It struck just before the emergency siege gate slid shut, blasting jagged holes through the outer and inner locks. Air whooshed from the dome, hurling men and debris into the vacuum. ”

“ Naomi continued, "a girl who has just returned from the Matrix Center, and is once again ready to do battle for the glory of our gang. This great Callisto had the misfortune to be killed in a fight with private detectives during that costly, but on the whole successful, raid on the ration warehouse on Eros. I refer, of course, to our own immortal Vera ... whom I believe is ..." (here Naomi peered out into the darker recesses of the hall) "... among us right now." ”

“ Naomi smiled craftily. "Steal it, eh? All right, I'll go along with you for the time being."
I left her at the public library and headed, with serious misgivings, in the direction of my family home.
Ganymede City is a drab industrial town of a million or so people, with very little excitement or glamor beneath its turquoise dome. The chamber of commerce used to give a big buildup to the view of Jupiter and the good job opportunities when they first wanted to attract workers from Earth. ”

“ The gals in our ordnance crew would rig it up with missile launchers, turn it into a killer, flagship of our fleet.
But just now my ship was unarmed, defenseless. And as I approached our base on airless, rocky Callisto I again had the feeling I was being followed, trailed in space.
Not by any of the Io boys; I was pretty sure of that. Because that brave gang will always attack when the odds are five to one in their favor. And not by the police either: They've always left us alone. Someone else. ”

“ Naomi showed surprise. "Right now? In our condition?"
"Sure. What this gang needs is a little boost in morale."
Naomi nodded, her brown eyes flashing. "Good. We'll go in my ship."
Together we strode from the sickbay, through the tunnel to the airlock. Ginger intercepted us at the First Hall. Her guards held a man at pistol point.
"Naomi ... Vera ... whichever of you is in charge now. We've just caught an Io spy!" ”

“ Because war is our way of life, and someone is liable to kill you just for the fun of it. Bad situation for a man like yourself who can only afford to die once."
I strode to the door. "Ginger, escort the professor to his ship."
It was a good thing we got rid of him then. Minutes later, our instruments detected ships within a quarter of a million miles, and the alert was sounded. Shortly afterwards, we made positive identification: the Io gang!
Naomi and I quarreled for a second over strategy. Should we split up, each leader piloting her own ship and responsible for half the fleet? ”

“ For that is, after all, the meaning of your immediate past."
"What are these two alternatives?" My voice was quite small. I felt as though my life was warped into this moment like a mobius sheet.
"You will go to Mars University, and there train yourself to become a laboratory technician, as you originally promised your parents. This is a useful profession, of service to society. Sufficient funds will be provided." ”

“ You see, I'm seeking to understand—and it would be a contribution to social science if you'd help me find out—just why you teenagers are striking out at each other, scorning adult society, rejecting the opposite sex. ”