25

"We'll find something else for you to do."

"I'd rather not, thanks."

"There are people out there who could use your help."

"They don't want my help."

"They'd want your help if you signed the surrender, goddamnit!"

At Angilo's outburst, I stopped, in my tracks. Not the best of ideas; we were on the steps of a public building, exposed, in the middle of Chicago, at night. Not exactly the hotbed of twenty-third century liberalism, tolerance and understanding.

"No."

My voice was as cold as I could make it. He wasn't intimidated; he just got angrier.

"This is counterproductive, Rayne," he snapped. "The war is over. You lost. Accept it."

"I will never accept," I said, "the loss of this uniform, and what it represents."

"Mars lost the fucking war!"

"Mars hasn't lost until that," and I gestured, at the night sky, at the dull reddish glow of Mars, "until that glow is extinguished."

"You," he accused, "are the reason the war lasted as long as it did, claimed as many lives as it did -"

"You're one to talk about claiming lives," I returned, my heartbeat coming faster. I was going to start raising my voice, and it looked as though the security guards, already tense with the coming crisis, were just looking for an excuse to step in.

"The greatest good for the greatest number," said Angilo, tightly. "Ever wonder what it would have been like if I hadn't dropped that cruiser on your head?"

"We would have lost!"

He took a step back, a little stunned.

"We would have lost," I repeated, trembling. "We were no threat to you, just an army on the surface, you could have starved us out in a week and you started a slaughter-"

"Shut up," Angilo cut me off. "We shouldn't be talking here."

No kidding.

His hand closed on my arm, above the elbow, and I let him lead me to the car.

He was furious, upset; as the driver started moving, Angilo shot a glance at me, brief enough that maybe he hoped I didn't notice. It wasn't angry, it wasn't worked up. Worried, maybe?

"I'm sorry," he said, finally.

"Don't apologize to me."

"Goddamnit," he murmured, and he didn't meet my eyes.