The words were hardly out of her mouth when the formation alarm reverberated in the passageway. That gave everybody just thirty seconds to line up with their units in the assembly hall, and my escort of girls plunged on ahead of me. When I reached the great spiral-shaped hall at my own more deliberate pace, the gang already stood in formation.
I paused at the entrance, for this is always an impressive moment on barren Callisto. The hall was a natural cavity half a mile deep, palely illuminated by the artificial sun hanging from a ceiling stalactite. The place was warm and moist-smelling like a greenhouse. Generations of girls before us had gradually modified the rock interior with hand blasters, carving out a series of broad, steplike plateaus along one rim. On each level a unit kneeled at attention on one knee, forming a circle around their respective hussies (our term for captain) who stood rigidly erect holding a green nuclear torch, emblem of our gang. To me it was a beautiful sight, especially the raising of the degravity dais.
Up, out of the verdant depths of the cave, overgrown with Earth-style trees and tropical foliage, rose the great ceremonial platform reserved for the gangleader and her administrative aides. As this cleared the rim and stabilized in midair, Naomi became visible to all and a raucous female cheer went up from the ranks.
Jeanette, my former protocol officer, stepped forward waving the 'parade rest' command. She was a tall lanky farm girl with lots of common sense, and evidently she'd been promoted to second in command.
"Girls," she said in her steady, emotionless voice, amplified a hundred times by her throat piece projector, "just a brief announcement before we hear from our leader. Yesterday a brawl took place in the Spilka Skating Palace in Ganny City, and one of our girls failed to return. Some of you may remember what a beautiful job Phyllis did of poisoning the Io gang's food shipment a while back, and we think the boys must've found out she was the one. Anyway, they kidnapped her and we have every reason to believe she's being tortured right now in that fort of theirs on Io.
"Let's just assume she'll crack eventually and tell them our code. From now on all external communication will use code O-97, and you new girls will have to see your hussy right after this formation ends if you expect to have it memorized by tomorrow morning."
Jeanette nodded with the barest trace of a sadistic grin as a murmur of consternation rippled through the ranks of our rookies. "That's all from me," she added, "and now here's Naomi."
I hadn't moved from the entrance. Now, as Naomi spoke, I began my calm, unhurried, and, I hoped, supremely dignified march towards the dais.
"Girls, I want to add this to what Jeanette told you," Naomi began. "We're going to revenge this outrageous kidnapping at the earliest possible moment. My staff and I are working countermeasures that will make the Ios rue the day they ever pulled this stunt on one of our girls."