by Logan Jacobs
All three of my alliance mates raised their hands.
“Nova,” Artemis said almost shyly. She hated bearing bad news. “Not only are you not one-hundred percent from your rather epic street battle, but this is going to be close, cramped quarters with probably a good amount of stealth involved.”
“Ah,” Nova said with a frown, “quiet is not one of my strong points. It is with a heavy heart that I withdraw.”
PoLarr lowered her hand as well and said, “While I do not mind close-quarter fighting, stealth is not a skill the Val’Keeyre excel at. If I were a Scath’o-Basnor, it would be a very different story.”
“Dare I ask?” I asked, but my memories were already kicking in.
“Death Shadow,” PoLarr said with an actual shiver. “My home world’s shrouded-in-secrecy wet work squad. I have never met one, but I have seen their work up close and personal.”
I suddenly had a flash of death like none I had ever seen. Death that was painful and cruel and without conscience. And then it was gone. I shivered as well.
“Yeah, you should all take PoLarr’s word for that,” I said. “Well, I guess that leaves you and me Aurora.”
“Oh, the anticipation is glorious, isn’t it sugar?” she said with a little too much vampiric glee. Her tattoos flared slightly and then went dormant.
“No more Anne Rice for you,” I said. “What can we bring?
“Looks like you’ve each got three weapons slots as well as a light armor allowance,” Artemis rattled off from the screen. “Marc, you will not want to go in as weighed down as you were for the last match.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said and winced as I stretched my back. It was sore and very stiff from where I’d taken the bat hit during the fight, and my arm throbbed. “Say, that reminds me, I’m going to need some regen pod time myself today. I took some damage during the Mortal Kombat portion of the evening.”
“What?” Artemis was up and at my side in a flash with a handheld scanner device that emitted a green cone of laser light that she passed over my arm and back. “Damnit. The vitals I got from you last night were just shit. I should have tracked you down and done a complete scan. Smooth move chocolate laxative!”
“Take him back to the med-bay, Artemis,” Grizz said as he tried to hide a concerned scowl. “I will continue to brief Aurora and the ladies and discuss potential tactics.”
Artemis led me across the gym floor and into a side room that served as our medical station. She then stripped me out of my coat and shirt and sat me down on the high tech gurney connected to a bank of futuristic medical equipment. Another cone of green laser light played over my body as I lay down.
This was the first good look I’d had to check myself out all morning, and I was a minefield of bruises, scrapes, and abrasions. I also noticed that I could see my obliques and I had a four and a half pack kicking. The whole nearly dying on a daily basis was a really good workout.
“So, hey?” I asked as the light danced over my battered torso. “Are you upset with me at all?”
“Yes,” she answered very quickly. “You should have told me you were hurting the moment you walked in. I don’t like you being in pain.”
“No, Artemis, I mean are you upset with me for hooking up with Fallon?” I asked as plainly as I could. I didn’t want to disrespect her by beating around the bush. Artemis had told me weeks ago that jealousy was a decidedly Earth human emotion and that since she hadn’t been socialized on Earth, she didn’t mind the fact that I was with other women. I guess I was just afraid that it was all an act.
“Don’t be silly, Marc,” she replied as she applied some spray bandages with a cool looking little gun. The bandage looked wet plastic but then molded to my body the second they hit skin and had both antiseptic and pain-relieving properties. “I told you, I will not get jealous, and I meant it. I am glad you were able to find comfort and release after such a stressful day. It is very important. Of course I want that to be with me as much as possible, but I don’t begrudge you for sleeping with Fallon. She is beautiful and seems clever.”
“Really?” My Earth male brain just couldn’t seem to wrap itself around the entire concept.
“Do you care about me, Marc?” she asked as she held her face just above mine. The light above us shone around her face like a halo, and she looked like an angel.
“Artemis, I love you,” I whispered to her as emotion welled up from my chest. It had been a long time since I’d told a woman, other than my mother, that I loved them. It was always a scary and vulnerable moment.
“I love you too, Marc Havak,” she whispered back and kissed me gently. “The capacity humans have for this particular emotion is staggering. At times I feel crushed by it, but the thought of losing it is unbearable. Just promise me you will not abandon me.”
I took her head in my hands and ran my fingers through her thick hair and stared deep into her sparkling green eyes.
“I will never, ever abandon you, Artemis,” I promised and meant it with every single cell of my body.
“Good,” she said, “because if you did, I’d find you. All I ask is that next time invite me to watch or maybe participate. Now stop squirming while I blast you with a cellular acceleration beam.”
“You won’t get away with this, Blowfeld,” I said in my best Sean Connery brogue.
“Why, Mr. Bond, I already have,” Artemis laughed and hit a button which triggered a purple light beam that started at my feet and slowly worked its way up my whole body. It tickled and itched at the same time and it was all I could do not to squirm around on the table like a worm. Once it reached the top of my head, it went back the way it came and a few giggles did escape my lips before it was all over.
The light faded, and I sat up and while I didn’t feel as good as I would have with about fourteen solid hours in a regen pod, the aches and pains had been reduced by about fifty percent.
“That was cool,” I said as I stood up and stretched. “Why don’t we do that all the time?”
“More than one time a month and your cells turn to jelly,” Artemis answered with zero sarcasm.
“Good to know, now give me a hug, woman.” I held out my arms and let Artemis fill them. She was warm and soft and smelled like home. “We should probably get back out there before Grizz has them ready to use me as bait for a battle tactic.”
I stripped the rest of the way out of my Thirties era street urchin outfit and slipped into a brand new jumpsuit and a pair of combat boots before Artemis, and I walked back out.
Grizz, Nova, Aurora, and Polarr were in the midst of a heated discussion.
“I’m telling you, he would make perfect bait for a trap,” I heard Grizz utter as we walked up. “Oh, there you are, Havak.”
“Were you just discussing using me for bait?” I asked incredulously.
“Yes,” Grizz responded, “we can take advantage of your naturally helpless qualities to draw enemies to your position while Aurora is veiled. When they get close because you are such an inviting target, she will pounce and suck the life from them.”
“That…” I started, “is actually not a bad idea.”
“The subterfuge feels like cheating,” Nova groused. “But I can see the tactical advantage.”
“I suggest you use the Equalizers, Marc,” PoLarr added. “They are compact for the close quarters and can be hidden from sight while you are drawing the enemy in to the trap.”
“I believe we have a solar grenade to complete your loadout, do we not, Artemis?” Grizz asked deep in thought.
“Yuppers,” Artie said as she checked our computer inventory. “Exactly one. It burns very hot, and very bright, so only use it as a last resort.”
“What about little ole me, sugars?” Aurora asked as she drew our attention. Her ability to stay silent and then command everyone's undivided focus was incredible. “I definitely want to strap on my little pea shooter. I’ve gotten quite handy with it if I do say so myself.”
There was a pegging joke in
there somewhere, but I let it lie.
“I can vouch for that,” PoLarr said with authority.
“As crazy as it sounds, I think you should take the dagger from yesterday’s match,” Artemis asserted.
“You think that’s wise after what we discovered?” Grizz asked her.
“I’m not sure,” Artemis said, “but my belly says yes. It just feels right.”
“Well, what did you discover?” I interjected.
“When exposed to sunlight, the dagger becomes incredibly powerful and will more than likely turn anything it touches to ashes,” Grizz explained. “But like many powerful things, that which burns bright, burns half as long, Artemis and I believe it can only be used once.”
“If only it was a Ginsu,” I quipped to crickets. “Man, we seriously need to get cable up in here.”
“There are many cables in this room,” Artemis said innocently.
“So, I’ll have a knife and gun,” Aurora concurred as she ran her finger slowly up and down the barrel of her pulsar pistol on the table. “And my stunning figure makes three.”
She smiled and winked at me. It was her attempt at self-deprecation, but it just came across as some kind of sexual double entendre.
“What about boosts?” I threw out. “We can bet that Irrus still has his bounty out on my head so who knows what he’s willing to give out. Did we earn any after yesterday?
Artemis tapped a few buttons and the boost tree popped up on the view screen.
“Stealth,” we all said in unison and then everyone burst out laughing. Sometimes the tension of constantly being on the verge of death just got to be too much and you had to laugh at the silliest of things. It was the kind of laugh my mom and I would share with my Great Uncle Joe when things got hard. It made me think of family and how this motley group of aliens, an AI program, and a freaking hologram had become my family. It reminded me that I desperately needed to get in touch with my mom. I had no idea what she thought of this whole Earth’s champion thing. Part of me was worried that she’d be too worried if she saw me. But I knew I needed to just bite the bullet and do it. Maybe after the next match.
“I guess that settles it,” I said once we’d all finished laughing.
The next few hours were filled with some light hand to hand combat training. PoLarr also showed me a function on the Equalizer that activated the guns built in silencer and muzzle flash suppressor. Instead of a loud, sharp crack when fired, with the baffler it sounded like a muffled cough.
About an hour before we wrapped up for the day, Nova called us all over to the command center.
“Since I cannot lend my warrior skills in battle tomorrow,” she said once we were all assembled, “I would like to help with another one of the abilities knights on my planet share. I would like to make you all a Paladinian feast tonight. Please arrive at Marc’s apartment at Moonfall and dress to fill your bellies.”
“Wow,” I said more than a bit surprised, “that sounds freaking great.”
Everyone else agreed, and Nova smiled and then left to begin to prepare.
“I have heard of Paladinian battle feasts,” Grizz said, and I could almost hear his holographic belly growl. “This should be magnificent.”
I had no idea what to expect when Aurora, Artemis, PoLarr, myself and Grizz stood outside my apartment door a short time later. Magnificent warrior knight meal sounded pretty damn awesome in my book, but the smells that met us in the hallway were beyond mouthwatering.
It felt weird to knock on my own door, but that’s exactly what I did.
“Enter with empty bellies and full hearts,” Nova called from inside.
The door slid open, and we walked into something out of A Knight’s Tale told by Flash Gordon. My living room had somehow been converted into a great hall from a twelfth century space castle. A large circular table hewn from a single tree took up the middle of the room with six chairs around it. In the center of the table was an entire roasted animal that was the size of a small moose as it still turned on a spit over red-hot coals that were in a firepit set in the table’s middle. All around the pit were bowls filled with fresh fruit, sauteed vegetables, and loaves of fresh baked bread with ramekins of what looked like home churned butter only neon purple.
“Welcome home, sire,” Woodhouse said in his robotically british voice from the kitchen where he still churned said butter in a large wooden barrel.
“Yes, welcome home,” Nova said from where she stood at the table, and she, by far, looked to be the most delicious dish on display.
She had on a floor length crushed velvet dress in her customary bright blue that had long oversized sleeves. It was tight and clung to every single curve of her body, and I could tell that apparently undergarments were optional at knight feasts. Her hair was for once not in a tight braid and flowed out around her shoulders and had small flowers woven into it. A belt of hammered silver suns cinched her dress in at the waist, and she wore a matching necklace that glimmered in the light of the fire.
“Come, sit,” Nova beckoned us, and we didn’t need to be asked twice.
“Nova, this looks incredible,” Artemis said as she sat.
“Seconded,” PoLarr added.
“Sugar, even my Shriike is hungry for this feast,” Aurora said as she languidly poured herself into a chair.
“You have made your elders very proud with this marvelous offering, Nova,” Grizz told Nova as he filled a chair as well as any hologram could.
“Nova, this is beyond words,” I said as I kissed her on the cheek and sat down. Woodhouse puttered over and filled all our chaleses, which is the only thing that could describe what our glasses looked like, from a very heavy pewter looking jug.
“On Paladin Prime,” Nova started as she picked up her chalice, “every knight, male and female, learns how to prepare a feast for his fellow warriors. We serve the meat of a beast felled by our hand to show respect for that which gives us strength. Fruit picked with our own fingers to give thanks to that which grows. Bread kneaded with the power of our arms to pay homage to the work of those who have come before us. And finally mead blessed with a prayer from our own lips to bind it all with the faith of those who take life so that others may live in peace. This is my gift to you all. My warrior kin. My friends.”
We all held up our chalices as she finished, the only sound the crackling of the embers in the fire, and drank deep of the honey spiced golden liquid.
“Now, devour this as you would ravish a lover!” she yelled and tore into the spit roasted animal with gusto. Not to be outdone the rest of us did the same, and I was awash in the flavor of grass fed elk, and heavily buttered bread, and the sweetest fruit I’d ever tasted.
While I could die a happy man because it was the finest meal I, or anyone, had ever consumed on this planet or any other, it was a good thing I had no intention of dying any time soon because I damn sure wanted to have it again.
Chapter Fourteen
“Marc, are you paying attention?” PoLarr scolded me lightly.
“Huh? Yup, totally,” I responded although my mind spun in a thousand directions. We were coming up on match time, and I found myself more nervous than usual. A shadow of a doubt hung in the back of my mind like a faded whisper. Forces far outside my control had conspired to take me and my whole team down. It was one thing to fight in the Crucible against unknown enemies but I knew the deal there. The schemes and secret plans by those I’d never met to destroy not only me, but those I loved, was not something I had bargained for. I didn’t like it one fucking bit.
“Good,” PoLarr said as she handed me my Equalizer pistols. “Remember the right pistol has a load out of short range cluster-shots, similar to double-ought buck shotgun ammunition on Earth. It will kick more but will obliterate anyone within a twenty foot distance. The left has high velocity incendiary rounds. They will tear through just about anything, armor included, and set your enemy on fire more than likely. You have one reload for each pistol.”
“Righ
t shotgun, left burning bullets of doom,” I said with a nod as I sheathed them in the well worn leather holsters strapped to my thighs like an old west gunslinger. “Got it.”
“War be with you, Marc,” PoLarr said as she held my gaze.
“And also with you, Inarra,” I said back and then turned to walk toward the teleportation pods.
Aurora was already in front of hers, waiting for the final warning bell to sound so we could step in and beam off to whatever dangers awaited us. Nova was by her side to help her double check her gear. Artemis, as usual, stood in front of my pod. She held one of my SVAs in her hands. The blue-grey metal tube looked fairly harmless until the flick of a button that would deploy the double axe heads.
I stepped up to the front of the tube next to Artemis.
“Turns out the guns only count for one weapon slot, so I thought you might like this,” she said and handed me the SVA. “I figured two would be a little cumbersome in the tight spaces on the ship but one should be just fine.”
I took the cool cylinder and placed it over my shoulder onto my back where it snapped home in its magnetic holder.
“Thanks, dollface,” I said and smiled at her. Once again we were at my least favorite part of any match. The potential goodbye forever.
Artemis, ever the dutiful attaché, began to check the straps and buckles of my armor. It was sleek, jetblack, and had noise cancelling properties. Artemis had modified a pre-existing armor loadout for stealth fighting. I looked like a cyber ninja, the molded, lightweight composite armor like a second skin. As per usual I left the helmet. I hated shit covering my face.
“Okay, everything looks secure and is charged at one hundred percent,” she told me in a business like tone. This was the hardest part for Artemis as well. Especially now that her human emotions were up and running full bore. “You’ll be hard to see and even harder to hear but won’t be able to take as much damage.”
“Good thing they have to see me in order to hit me,” I joked.
“Since you won’t wear the helmet, there isn’t much I could do to muffle your mouth,” she quipped back with a grin.