Booly just stood there, eyes taking her in, heart in his throat. “I thought I would never see you again.”
Maylo walked forward until their parkas touched. She looked up into his face. There was no mistaking the look in her eyes, the way her hands caressed the back of his neck, or the almost palpable magnetism of her body.
Suddenly Booly knew what his grandfather had felt for Windsweet, what his father felt for his mother, and what had nearly been lost. Her eyes were bright with tears. “I’m sorry. Bill, sorry I took so long.”
Booly took Maylo in his arms, buried his face in her shiny black hair, and breathed her in. He whispered in her ear. “The Naa have a saying: “There can be no darkness when heart finds heart—for love lights the way.’ “
“I love you.”
“And I,” the legionnaire said truthfully, “will always love you.”
Outside, high above the windswept mesa, a spy sat passed overhead. It snapped a series of high mag stills. They were digitized, sent to the surface, and displayed on a monitor in Colonel Kirby’s office. She examined the shuttle, saw the dooth, and smiled. Every once in a while, something went right. Neversmile would be pissed, but it was worth it.
Miles to the north the sun caressed a mountain and the cycle continued. Rocks were warmed, snow melted, water gurgled, and the ancients continued to dream.
