Rocking with a gentle beat, he could almost feel the rhythm of her heart, and the way her eyes squeezed shut with each orgasm filled him with delight. He reveled in the warmth of her body everywhere they touched, each stroke lifting them higher as her love drowned him in desire. While that desire would be quenched in time, right now, he was on a level he wanted to maintain for as long as possible. The peak would undoubtedly satisfy them both, and the ensuing laetralance would soothe their souls.
Ah, but the rise to that peak was ecstasy itself.
It happened all too soon, of course, as such things inevitably did. His eyes snapped shut as his snard finally left his body, and he thanked the gods for the delay in her reaction, which gave him a few precious moments to recover enough to gaze at her exquisitely beautiful face. Her eyes opened wide as her pupils dilated completely, leaving only a luminous blue rim surrounding the soft golden glow from within. In that instant, he knew he would never see anything he could possibly love more.
He was at peace now. With Klara held safely in his arms, the world could go on turning without their notice. The revolution could continue to liberate the oppressed without their help. They had played their part. This time was theirs and theirs alone.
A time to know joy.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before the computer chimed with an incoming message, interrupting their peaceful afterglow.
“Must be one hell of a party going on in town. No one else is answering their comlinks,” Val reported. “So I’m calling you. I found the accounts exactly where I expected them to be.” He paused to inhale a long, ragged breath. “And it’s a shit-ton of money.”
Moe gave Klara a quick hug before sitting up in bed. “Kinda figured it would be, given that he’s essentially had three lifetimes to wring the wealth out of this planet. Probably didn’t do it alone, though.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Like I said, it’s a staggering amount. He must’ve had a stake in every region of Haedus Nine, exhausting the wealth in one area before moving on to the next.”
Moe glanced at Klara, noting her expression of dismay. “Can you withdraw it?” Finding the money was no help if it couldn’t be accessed.
“Yes. I have already set up one new account and transferred some of the money into it, although given the access I have, there may be no need to move all of it, unless we want to transfer everything into accounts on this world.”
Moe threw back the covers and stood. “Guess we’d better go find Velkma and Yirland and see what they want to do. They’ve been talking like they want to go on living here. I can see why they would want to stay on their homeworld, but this place is really the pits. I’m a little surprised Pelarus is still hanging around. If I had that much money, I’d buy myself a nice tropical island and sip piña coladas on the beach for the rest of my life.”
“The rest of several lives,” Val amended. “Money wasn’t the only thing I found. According to his files, he has two more clones lined up.
“Mother of the gods,” Moe whispered. “Can a crook get any more diabolical than that?”
“I don’t see how,” Val replied. “He could have lived on his wealth for centuries.” He cleared his throat. “Now for the bad news. There isn’t any record of where those two clones are located. I’m assuming Orpheseus Prime, but with Ilya Zolo in jail, someone else must be looking after them. One of them is in his late teens and the other is just a kid.”
Klara shook off her laetralant stupor and dragged herself out of bed. “No doubt Pelarus knows exactly where they are. He probably has plans to start all over again on another world now that he’s sucked everything out of this one.” Her jaw tightened. “Makes me even happier that we stopped him here, although I’m not sure banishing him from this planet will keep him from trying again. Obviously, he has the knowhow.”
“This is getting weirder all the time.” With a shake of his head, Moe added, “We’ll try to get some answers for you, Val. In the meantime, we’ll let you get back to it.”
“Understood,” Val replied. “Signing off.”
Klara picked up her dress, her lips forming a moue of distaste. “Don’t suppose you have anything else I could wear, do you?”
“I dunno… That’s a pretty fancy dress—and we are heading to a party.”
“Maybe, but I’d really rather wear something more…practical.”
Moe shrugged, thinking the dress was perfectly appropriate for the occasion, but what did he know about women’s fashions? “I should be able to find you something. Whether it would fit or not is the question.” He cocked his head to one side. “Actually, Mom would be the one to ask for clothes. She’s always got tons of stuff in the hold of her ship. She also has this Shoemaker in a Box thing that will make new shoes from old ones in a matter of minutes—at least, I guess it still works. She’s had it since before I was born.”
“Sounds useful. Can you get into her ship?”
Moe stepped into his trousers and pulled them up to his waist. “Unless she’s changed the palm lock since the last time I was aboard.” He buckled his belt and nodded toward the dress. “Go ahead and wear that for now, and we’ll see what we can find.”
Klara had never seen anything quite like the interior of the Jolly Roger. Like Moe’s ship, it wasn’t particularly fancy, and it also seemed to be showing its age, ever so slightly. A cacophony of smells greeted them as they went up the gangplank. Stuff was stacked everywhere, everything from engine parts to potted plants. The hold was even more amazing. Shelves filled with boxes of preserved food, medical supplies, and of course, clothing.
“How will we ever find what we’re looking for?”
She had no sooner finished her question than a dome-shaped robot with at least eight arms emerged from behind a stack of boxes and hovered toward them. Stopping beside Klara, it waved two arms in apparent greeting.
“What in the world is that?”
“Housekeeping bot,” Moe replied. “His name is Myrhm—stands for My Right Hand Man. Mom bought him a few years back. Said she was getting too old to remember where everything was down here.” He shook his head sadly. “Waste of a perfectly good bot if you ask me. Those bots can do—or make—almost anything. Just tell him what you want.”
Klara viewed Myrhm with a skeptical eye before figuring she had nothing to lose by asking. If nothing else, it would be interesting to see what he brought back. “I’d like a sturdy pair of boots, trousers, a pullover shirt, a plain jacket, and the appropriate underwear. Please.”
Myrhm beeped once and floated off. Klara was rummaging through a box of rusty weapons when he returned with her order.
“Oh, my giddy aunt,” she exclaimed. “This is absolutely perfect!”
Myrhm beeped twice and lowered itself to the floor, folding its many arms as though waiting for the next request.
Klara tugged on the trousers then asked—Moe, she presumed—to unbutton her dress, but it was Myrhm who did the job—almost as quickly as Moe had done when pressed for speed.
“He really is nice to have around. Do you have one of these on your ship?” She hadn’t seen one, but then, the tour she’d received was undeniably brief.
Moe shook his head. “Never saw the need. Plus, they’re really expensive.”
“I’m not surprised.” Klara pulled on the shirt and boots before donning the jacket. “Amazing. Everything fits like it was made for me.” The clothing even smelled fresh and clean—something she’d had very little experience with until being captured by Pelarus. “By the way, what’s a piña colada?”
“It’s a fruity alcoholic drink,” Moe replied. “Myrhm could probably make you one.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah. He’s a terrific bartender.”
Klara shrugged and turned toward the droid. “Myrhm, would you please make me a piña colada?”
“Better leave out the rum,” Moe cautioned. “Not good for the babies.”
“Right,” Klara said with a modicum of doubt. “No r
um—whatever that is.”
With a beep, Myrhm’s arms went into action. Seconds later, he stuck a straw in a tall, shapely glass filled with a frothy white liquid, slid a piece of fruit over the edge of the glass, and beeped twice as he handed it to her.
One sip had her going back for more. “This is absolutely delicious.”
Moe nodded. “Great party drink. We can take it with us. I’m sure Myrhm can make better drinks than anyone at the palace, but he can’t leave the ship, which is probably just as well. We don’t want to encourage the Nedwuts to drink too much.”
“You’re right,” she said, although somehow, Klara didn’t believe it would make any difference who was making the drinks. From what she’d observed, Nedwuts weren’t all that particular.
“Ready?” Moe offered her his arm—the right one, rather than the left, which was undoubtedly still sore.
“Absolutely,” she replied. “Let’s party.”
Chapter 29
There were things going on at the palace that Moe wouldn’t have believed possible only a few short hours before. Banquet tables had been set up in the enormous entrance hall, each of them laden with more food than he guessed most Haedusians had seen at one time in their entire lives. Judging from the level of giddy revelry, any store of alcoholic beverages in Pelarus’s cellars had already been reduced by half. There was even a band playing a waltz, of all things, albeit not particularly well, given their obviously homemade instruments. His mother and father were waltzing like they’d been prepping for a dance competition, the sight of which shocked Moe. Granted, his father in his boots and breeches had always been the romantic swashbuckling type, but to see his mother playing her version of the belle of the ball in combat boots and steel gray BDUs was nothing short of astonishing. The Nedwuts were dancing with one another, although a few had chosen to partner with the local women, which wasn’t an especially good pairing.
Moe, on the other hand, already had the perfect partner on his arm. “May I have this dance?”
Klara grinned. “As long as you don’t mind having your toes stepped on. I’ve never danced in my entire life.”
He gave her a smooch on the cheek. “I’m surprised you even know what dancing is.”
“I’m not entirely ignorant,” she said. “Just haven’t had much practice when it comes to enjoying myself.”
“That’s all about to change.” Moe placed his right hand on the small of her back and held up his left hand. “Just count one-two-three, one-two-three, and follow my lead.”
Not surprisingly, she was light on her feet and, after a few missteps, moved with him as though they’d been partners for years, which was exactly the way he felt. As if he’d known her all his life, and they could each anticipate the other’s moves.
“Have I told you I love you yet?”
She nodded. “Just a little while ago. Did you think I’d forgotten?”
“No,” he replied. “Just wanted to be sure I hadn’t been remiss. Have I told you how beautiful you are and how glad I am to have finally found you?”
Pursing her lips in a manner that begged for a kiss, she frowned slightly. “Possibly. I can’t remember.” She gazed up at him, her eyes filled with concern. “Have I told you how handsome you are and how much I love you?”
He thought for a moment. “I don’t know if you have or not.”
“Well, in case I haven’t, I’m telling you now—and also that I’m very, very glad you aren’t dead.”
“Sweet.” He dipped his head and captured her lips for an all-too-brief kiss. “Now that we’ve fulfilled all the requirements for romance, we can get started on our HEA.”
“HEA?”
“Happily-ever-after. Storybook stuff, but sometimes it happens in real life.” He pulled her close enough to whisper in her ear. “If you’re lucky, that is.”
“Right now, I feel extremely lucky. When I think of how easily we could have missed even meeting each other, it—”
“Boggles the mind?”
“I suppose so.” She hesitated. “Although it scares me more than baffles me.”
He steered them clear of a group of erratic and markedly exuberant Nedwuts. “Ah, well, most of these things are with the gods. All we mere mortals have to do is go with the flow.”
“Is that what we’ve been doing? Going with the flow?”
“Pretty bumpy flow,” he conceded. “But certainly worth the effort.”
When the waltz ended, Moe spotted Velkma and Yirland filling their cups from a huge punch bowl. “Guess we’d better go tell them the good news.”
“That much good news in one day might be more than they can tolerate.” Her gaze swept the room. “Wonder what they did with Pelarus?”
“I don’t see any gilded cages, so I’m guessing they threw him in the dungeon. Hope they put him in my old cell. Seems fitting, somehow.” Moe hadn’t really cared for the idea of putting Pelarus on display in the arena, but the more he thought about it, the more satisfying it seemed. “Let’s check out the refreshments. Dunno about you, but all I’ve had today is a wilted salad and a candy bar. I’d kill for a hot dog and a big pile of potato chips—or a burger and fries. Maybe even a bowl of popcorn. I’m not choosy.”
“Since I have no idea what any of those things are, I doubt you’ll find them on the table.”
“You might be surprised. After all, you were served roast chicken earlier today. No telling what else they found in the palace stasis unit.”
“I just hope they didn’t bring it all out at once. I can see the food supply dwindling in a hurry.”
Moe chuckled. “Once the word gets out about how much money there is to be made here, supply ships will start swarming the spaceport like yellow jackets at a lemonade stand.”
Judging by her frown, he suspected she didn’t get the yellow jacket reference, but she apparently chose to let it pass. “Did you mean all that stuff you said about reclaiming the planet? Would that really work?”
He shrugged. “Who knows? But I’ll bet Velkma and Yirland are itching to give it the old college try. The trick will be to keep from being scammed.”
“Yet another word I don’t understand,” she grumbled. “What does scammed mean?”
“Means being taken for a ride. Taken advantage of. Cheated by the unscrupulous.”
“My, that makes it so much clearer,” she drawled.
“Okay…” He thought for a moment. “It’s when bad people promise you something, then take your money and leave you with nothing.”
“That’s better. Got it, thanks.”
Moe waved at the two Haedusian women as he and Klara approached. “Good news! Val found what he referred to as a staggering amount of money, and he’s working on transferring it here. Sounds like it’ll be more than enough to keep everyone fed and maybe even restore the planet, if that’s still what you want to do.”
“I believe most of us would choose to save our world,” Yirland said. “However, we will do as suggested and take a vote.”
“Good plan,” Moe said. “In the meantime, I’m sure Mom can sell you all kinds of useful things. You wouldn’t believe how much stuff she has on her ship. It’s even more cluttered than it was when I was a kid.”
Velkma smiled as she glanced toward Cat and Jack, who were still dancing while the band played a lively tune. “It will be a pleasure doing business with her.”
“She’s pretty shrewd. Hardly anyone tries to cheat her anymore. Anyone who’s heard of her, that is. You’ll be able to get good advice from her, starting with ‘If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.’”
Velkma laughed—something she probably hadn’t done in quite some time, if ever. Although, in Moe’s opinion, even a happy Haedusian’s laughter sounded a bit grudging. “I’m certain we will make a few mistakes, but we will do our best to make wise use of the recovered funds. This was never a wealthy world. Perhaps with careful planning, we can become one in time.” She set down her cup and took Moe’s hand in a surprisin
gly firm grasp. “We cannot thank you enough for helping to free our people and return our stolen wealth to us.”
“Don’t thank me,” Moe said. “It was a group effort. You ladies contributed just as much as I did.”
“Perhaps,” Velkma said. “But you were the one who actually caught him. For that act alone, we will be forever in your debt.”
Moe didn’t think he could take much more of this without turning fifty shades of red. “You can pay the debt off right now if you’ve got any hot dogs.”
“We cannot be certain what some of these foods are,” Yirland admitted. “There were many things that were not recognized by those who prepared them.”
“I’m guessing the little bird women weren’t much help,” Klara muttered.
“If you are referring to the Zuterans, no, they were not.” A low growling sound issued from Yirland’s throat. “Even though they were threatened with the dungeons if they did not assist.”
“I’m not surprised,” Klara said. “They seemed pretty loyal to Pelarus.”
“They were perhaps the only ones who were,” Yirland said. “The Nedwuts seem as pleased as we to have him removed from power.”
“That’s the thing about Nedwuts,” Klara said. “They tend to side with whomever they believe will make them the most money. I’ve been paying them off for years.”
Moe nodded. “Classic mercenaries. They’re probably waiting for their cut of the loot, which might be the best way to get them to leave.”
“Perhaps,” Velkma said. “However, should they wish to make their homes here, we will not deny them the opportunity.”
Moe thought this would be a mistake, but considering that the revolution couldn’t have happened without their assistance, the Haedusians owed them some thanks. “That’s up to you, of course. Although, you might need some extra muscle to rebuild the city.”
Klara nodded. “The hard part will be deciding where to start.”
Once again, Velkma laughed. “We will need building materials first, most of which must be imported.” She shook her head slowly as her expression sobered. “We have a long, hard road ahead of us. I only hope we are up to the task.”
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