dreamy voice. “I’ve missed you. Missed you for ages. We’re in the desert now. It’s incredible. I love it, Thinker. I only wish you could come with me.”
“We’ll get together. I’ll be out in no time.”
“And back in Beta. Nice, personalized service you get here. What’s she doing here?”
“She was injured. She just got out of the tank.”
“Then she should be back with Beta downside, not playing wet-nurse to my man. You stay away from her, Thinker.”
“Oh, come on…”
“Don’t you ‘Oh, come on’ me. I know you perfectly well. And I know her type too. ‘Yes, Sister.’ Such a sweet little girl. Sugary little drip! She does whatever you say, doesn’t she?”
“Valkyrie…stop it, will you? Just stop it. Forget about her.”
“You stay away from her! She almost got you killed, just because of her stupidity. She didn’t get a single shot in, did she? What was she doing, anyway?”
“It happened very quickly, Valkyrie.” She was right. But it wasn’t just Priestess. We’d both been stupid and slow.
“People like that shouldn’t be in the Legion. How’d she get through Hell? Was she everybody’s hot little dolly? I’ll bet Beta carried her all the way! You just stay away from her, you hear?”
“Yeah. Yeah, sure. Stay away from her. Tenners.”
“You remember that! You belong to me, and if she comes after you, there’s going to be trouble!”
“Right.” I looked into her cool green eyes. She smiled. I laughed. She knew me so well, it was scary. But it was good to see her again. Damn, she looks good!
###
Valkyrie knew me better than I knew myself. She also had a habit of showing up periodically to reinforce her claim on me. The visits were always intense and memorable. It occurred to me that there were other occasions when I’d been hurt worse and I’d never heard from her. It was as though she had some kind of radar that detected…
After she left, I thought about what she had said about Priestess. It wasn’t fair. I picked up my tacmod and called Priestess on private.
She answered, “Priestess.”
“Priestess, Thinker. Can you come by?”
“I’m sorry…I can’t. I have to stay here.”
“She’s gone. I want to see you. It’s important.”
“All right.”
She agreed! My heart leaped.
When she came, she hung her head. I reached out of the tank and took her hand. A warm rush shot up my arm. It was a bit scary.
“I’m sorry, Priestess. That’s the way she is.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m such an earther.” She sounded very depressed.
“No, you did right. I’m sorry she’s such a pain. I’m grateful for your help, Priestess. I’m sorry she gave you such a bad time. It was wrong. She’s just jealous.”
“Jealous? She’s jealous of me? Ha!” Priestess still hung her head, but she had not let go of my hand. Have I ever really looked closely at her before?
Priestess was dangerously attractive. Although a few years younger than Valkyrie, she was a Legion immortal like all of us, and nobody could call her a baby.
We were all immortals, of course. It was easy, with ConFree’s science, to keep people alive and young indefinitely-aging was a horror from the past. But getting shot through the head was just as fatal to an immortal as to a mortal-and our job description ensured we’d have plenty of opportunity to discover that.
We all held the knowledge of the Legion. She hid it well. She had delicate, very fine features. Warm smouldering brown eyes, a small mouth with ripe lips, and thick, gleaming black hair, almost covering her eyes. She called up the demons from the dark side of my soul, without even looking at me. It was hard to believe she had fought through Planet Hell with the rest of us.
It would be easy, so easy. I did not want trouble. Not between Valkyrie and Priestess. I owed Valkyrie a lot and I would never hurt her. I still loved her. Priestess remained silent and I held her hand and closed my eyes. I was in deep, deep trouble.
###
I woke up the next day, floating in the tank, with Priestess close by. My wounds were healing fast. Our lifies could regenerate entire limbs and organs, so broken bones and shrapnel wounds were easy. Priestess had somehow arranged a duty slot in the body shop to be with me. I didn’t ask how. Beta awaited us both.
I slept and dreamed. I was deep underground, in my armor. I could not move and I was burning alive in a lake of fire. Just as I was about to die, I awoke with a start, drenched with sweat.
Priestess was shaking me. I sat up and discovered that I was out of the tank and in a bed. The sheets were soaked but the bed was already drying them for me, soundlessly drawing the moisture away from my clammy skin. Priestess didn’t ask about my dream. Atom spied on our dreams and that was enough. We had enough demons of our own without worrying too much about anyone else’s.
I blinked hard and rubbed my eyes. “Anything on the Systies?”
She paused before answering. She seemed to have to force herself to return from some distant place. “Completely negative,” Priestess replied. “Not a sign.”
I scooted back on the bed and propped myself up on a pillow. “They’re out there…waiting. Blink once and we die. That’s what I think.”
She bit her lip. “You could be right.”
“How about the exosegs?”
“Nothing. The lifies worked on the remains of the one that…the one you killed, but they bitched that you didn’t leave much for them.”
I rubbed the back of my neck and snorted, “Oh yeah? I’ll try to be more careful next time. Next you’re going to tell me that Psycho wanted me to save him a mandible for his bulkhead.”
She didn’t laugh and she wouldn’t look at me. It was starting to get to me. “Snow Leopard asked how you’re doing.”
“When are they letting me out of here?”
Her voice was small. Distant. “Tomorrow. We’ll go together.”
“Hey, you don’t have to wait for me, you know. If I’m boring you…”
That brought her back. She closed her eyes for a moment, then wet her lips and looked me in the eyes for the first time. “I know.” She tossed her hair back, revealing her lovely, perfect face. Her dark eyes were burning, and the rest of the universe simply ceased to exist.
There was nothing else that mattered. My heart…I don’t know what it did but I know that it was something serious. The tech would be here in fracs, to check on my heart attack. It was as though I’d never seen her before and I suddenly realized that I would never see her the same way again.
“Priestess…” What could I say? I wanted to tell her that we were sworn, Valkyrie and me. I wanted to tell her all about it, to explain that I could not possibly have another lover. Not after Valkyrie, not after Hell, not after all that we had meant to each other. I wanted to say it. But I could not find the words. All I could do was look into her eyes and realize that this was different.
“I don’t care, Thinker. I don’t care.”
Lord, such beauty. “Care? About what?” I could hardly breathe. Surely the tech would come soon, to rescue me.
“About her! I don’t care!”
I had never seen her like this. “What do you mean…”
“You know what I mean! I mean Valkyrie!”
I fell right into those bottomless eyes. Trapped. I wanted to tear my gaze away, but I could not. She would not release me and I began to pray that she never would. I loved Valkyrie-cherished her. We’d been through so much together and…
