by C. Gockel
Steve sighs. “Our intelligence suggests that the Asgardians, Vanir, and Elves have turned the tide against the Fire Giants.”
Amy remembers Loki’s fears of Nari and Valli being captured by the Fire Giants. “I don’t think we want King Sutr to win either,” she says.
“No,” says Steve. “But we want to keep them busy.”
Amy raises her head. “A proxy war?”
“‘Cause that worked out well for the U.S. in Afghanistan against the Russians,” says Bohdi.
Steve’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t reply. Instead he takes a step closer to Amy. “We’re not trying to win any war. We’re trying to buy time. Humans are close to being able to stand up to Odin.” He gestures to his legs. “There’s what you’ve done, Dr. Lewis, and there is more.” Bending a little, so his eyes are closer to her level, he says, “We have physicists and Dark Elves working to create hybrid tech. Soon we’ll be able to destroy gates before they open and create gates that don’t exist. We’re working on better magic detection that won’t be susceptible to the likes of Freyja. We’ll be able to make our own Promethean wire.”
Amy’s eyes slip to the floor. Loki could destroy gates, Odin, too …but she knows of no other enchanters that can do it.
“Dr. Lewis,” Steve says, “Will you help us?”
Amy looks up at Steve without really seeing him. If they achieved such feats of hybrid technology, humans wouldn’t have to worry if Sutr, Utgard, or any other magical creature took the reins from Odin. Humanity would be independent—free to destroy themselves—but they’d never be the slaves of other races.
“Yes,” she says, her vision clearing. Steve is leaning over her, his expression gentle and kind. He nods at her.
“But how will you help us?” says Valli. And then to his mother, he says, “She can’t lead us through the Southern Wastes to King Utgard’s castle!”
Amy spins on her feet. “Yes, I can.” She looks to the window, darkened by Promethean wire. “I mean, I might, probably, depending on where in the Southern Wastes we arrive ... I’d need to get my bearings, but if we head toward the Canyon of Kings, then follow the trail over the mountains, we will arrive at the sea, which is frozen over most of the year at the Strait of Sorrows …we could walk across.” She rolls on her feet. “The trail through the mountains isn’t particularly hard, but it is cold, and you have to know what you’re looking for. And there are the Yeti—”
“How do you know this?” says Sigyn.
Amy’s eyes rise. “Errr … Loki went there?”
Valli lets out a long exasperated sigh. “We know that. The trouble is, The Canyon of Kings, and the very narrow trail through the mountains to the strait …are hard to find unless you’ve been there.”
“Ah …” says Amy, realization dawning.
Her eyes go to Bohdi, and he meets her gaze. “They’re sending a SEAL platoon,” Bohdi says. “Sixteen guys, Gerðr, Steve, Dale ... They’re going to go, whatever you say.”
Amy looks around the room at Loki’s family, feeling slightly sick. These are the last people she wants to reveal this to. It will lead to questions that she doesn’t really feel like answering. But people’s lives are at stake, and she has to get over it. She straightens her shoulders. “I remember the way …because Loki dumped his memories in my head.”
She takes a deep breath. Sigyn slips off the bed and comes forward, her elegantly coiffed head tilted to the side. She’s beautiful, can fire a gun, shoot a bow, raise babies, mend clothes and burns, cook better than Odin’s chefs, open World Gates, make herself invisible, and threw Loki’s bull poop right back at him. She’s not afraid of anything or anyone. How could Loki not have been in love with her?
“What? Why?” says Valli.
“To protect her,” Bohdi says and Amy almost sighs. He interprets it so much nicer than the truth.
Focusing on no one, Amy says, “No, because I was there. I figured out he was the incarnation of Chaos and …”
Valli takes a step forward. “How did you figure that out?” He sounds angry, insulted, and hurt.
Amy takes a step back, Bohdi steps closer to her, and Steve puts a hand on Valli’s shoulder. It must be a firm grip because Valli looks down at it, and then up to Steve, his face contorting into a terrifying snarl. Steve’s face is completely impassive—and somehow that is more terrifying. Nari puts a hand on Valli’s other shoulder, and whispers, “Brother,” but then his eyes go to Amy. He looks … distrustful maybe? Hurt?
Amy knows Loki was the incarnation of Chaos because Loki projected his other lives while he was sleeping. She sucks in on her lips. But that’s not all. “He was turning blue ... his hair becoming black ... And one day we were eating at an Indian restaurant, and it happened, and I saw a picture of Shiva, the Hindu God of Chaos, and I knew …” She raises her eyes. “And so did every person in the restaurant. They begged him not to dance.”
She looks to Sigyn. “I think, if he’d given the memories to you, he wasn’t sure Hoenir would explain, and you might not have any context …and he wanted to remember the next time, this time, that he isn’t evil. He doesn’t only bring destruction. He is change …wherever he is, whatever he is.”
Sigyn doesn’t look angry, only curious. She raises an eyebrow, and her lips quirk. “All his memories?” she says.
Amy’s jaw drops, and her eyes widen. She feels a blush spreading across her cheeks, and takes a step back, because now that Sigyn brings it up, the memories of Sigyn and Loki come back, too, and knowledge that there is one more thing that Sigyn is better at. She’s just all around …fearless.
Sigyn’s quirked lips break into a real smile.
Across the room, Nari says in a low, warning voice. “Mother …” He looks slightly ill. As does Valli. Steve and Bohdi are also looking at Sigyn. One of Steve’s eyebrows is up, Bohdi’s lips are parted, and he looks like he might drool. Amy’s brow furrows and she looks at her feet. Who isn’t Bohdi interested in?
A light hand lands on Amy’s arm. She looks up to find Sigyn standing next to her. “Forgive me,” the other woman says. “I made you uncomfortable. I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that.” Squeezing Amy’s arm gently, she whispers, “Truly, Dr. Lewis, you have accomplished amazing things.”
Amy blinks. This is why Sigyn is perfect. She’s fearless and kind.
Beyond her, Nari wipes his face with a hand and mutters. “After hundreds of years ... it’s still uncomfortable thinking about one’s parents … ” Valli sticks out his tongue and shudders.
Bohdi rolls his eyes. “This is why Amy’s hypothesis on magic and memories doesn’t work.”
Nari and Valli look at each other. “Because our parents—”
“No!” says Bohdi, stepping closer to Nari. “Because if magic was the reason thousand-year-old creatures could keep their memories, then Amy shouldn’t have all of your father’s memories in her non-magical brain.”
Amy feels heat rise in her. She’s just admitted to something that she’s pretty sure is going to lead to, “so you had sex with my dad …” and dug up memories that are, frankly, painful, and he’s worried about proving he’s right?
A triumphant-looking smirk on his face, Bohdi puts his hand on his chin. His eyes sweep over the walls and ceiling. “And how do you even have access to them in a Promethean wire room?”
Amy’s skin heats. “Is that the most important thing right now? Proving your point?”
Bohdi’s mouth makes a small ‘o’. Clenching her fists at her side, Amy turns to Steve. “I’ll help in anyway I can.” From down the hall she hears, a “Woof” and then a “Hey, that puppy is in the food cart!”
“I have to go now,” she says.
Spinning on her heels, she turns to the door. Her hand is on the doorknob when she has a terrible realization. Her skin goes hot. Turning around she says to Bohdi, “Fine, you’re right. My hypothesis doesn’t work. Are you happy?”
Bohdi winces. “That’s a trick question, isn’t it?”
&n
bsp; From the hallway comes a shout of, “That isn’t a therapy dog!” And then a shout of, “I’m calling animal control.”
Ire changing to alarm, Amy bolts from the room, the door slamming behind her.
x x x x
Bohdi jumps a little when the door slams behind Amy. “Sorry?” he says, not entirely sure what happened.
Carefully not looking at Nari—the bastard’s probably gloating—Bohdi turns around. Sigyn is eying him, one eyebrow arched. Steve’s massaging his forehead, giving Bohdi his patented “you are an idiot” look. Dropping the hand from his temple, Steve says, “That will be all for now.”
“You’ll take us, too, won’t you?” says Valli. “I want to be part of the struggle against Odin. You’ll find no swifter sword, and I am good shot as well. Nari … well he won’t slow you down, and mother is the Goddess of Victory!”
Steve turns to Sigyn, “Really?” His eyes seem too bright.
“No, Valli exaggerates,” says Sigyn, golden cheeks turning a few shades darker. “My name means victory woman, but I am no goddess.”
Steve rubs his jaw. “I could use all the help I can get.”
“You have my help,” Sigyn says.
“And ours,” says Valli, clapping his hand on his brother’s shoulders.
Nari’s eyes dart between his mother and brother. Clearing his throat he says, “Yes.” He looks paler than a few moments ago. Bohdi’s jaw tightens, his hand finds his lighter, and he gives Nari a smirk.
“Thank you,” Steve says. He shakes Valli’s and Nari’s hands, and dips his head at Sigyn. And then he puts a hand on Bohdi’s shoulder and says, “I need a moment with my right hand man ... If you don’t mind?”
Something makes both of Sigyn’s eyebrows jump, but she nods. “We will wait for you in the other room.”
From the hallway comes a shout. “Is that a wolf pup?”
“It sounds like Dr. Lewis could use some help,” Nari adds, heading with his family to the door. Bohdi’s hand tightens on his lighter, and his nostrils flare as the door shuts again.
“Have I ever told you how smooth you are?” Steve says.
Inspecting his lighter, Bohdi says, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Steve snorts. Glancing down at Bohdi’s arms, he says, “What happened to the book I gave you?”
Bohdi blinks at him and pulls out his phone. “I downloaded it, Steve. I’m not some primitive savage.”
Steve rolls his eyes. “Why haven’t you told Lewis?”
It takes Bohdi’s neural processors a while to catch up to what Steve means, and then to process his shock at Steve’s deduction. But Steve is Mr. On-top-of-things, isn’t he?
Flicking his lighter, Bohdi looks down and shrugs. “I’m not Loki.” When he looks up, Steve’s expression has softened. “No,” his boss says, “No, you’re not.” Bohdi feels his muscles loosen. He slips his lighter away.
“I’m going to need your help,” Steve says. “Can you tell when someone is telling a lie in a Promethean wire room?”
“I don’t know,” says Bohdi.
“Pretty useless to me if you can’t,” says Steve.
Bohdi sighs. “Yeah, sometimes I find it more of a burden than a gift. Especially when I was in boot camp and the guys were always lying about everything. I thought I’d developed an allergy to air.”
“That was a lie, Bohdi.”
Bohdi blinks. “Oh.” And then his eyes widen. “I can detect lies when I eavesdrop on the other side of Promethean wire!” Bohdi’s neural processors all shut down, and then light up at once. “Maybe the lie isn’t with the speaker, but in the lie itself. Wow, the philosophical implications of that—”
“Will have to wait,” says his boss. Bohdi feels some of the air go out of him.
Heading for the door, Steve says, “Right now I’m just glad it does work. We’re going to need every advantage we can get. ”
There is a knock at the door, and Steve opens it. His mother enters the room. “Steve,” she says, “Gennie Santos, the new candidate for mayor, is downstairs. The elves have her checked out. She and her entourage are all human. She wants to meet with you.”
Steve’s shoulders fall, and he takes a step back.
“Should I tell her now isn’t a good time?” Steve’s mom says.
Steve looks around the room. “No,” Steve says. “I’ll talk to her. Just give me ten minutes.”
Ruth nods and quietly leaves. Bohdi runs his hand through his hair. “How do your parents know so much about the elves?”
Steve sighs. “The World Gate the Dark Elf refugees are using is in their neighborhood. My mom found a little lost elf child in the alley behind the house.”
Bohdi snickers. “She invited him in and gave him cookies, didn’t she?”
Steve sighs. “And hot cocoa. She called me, and the next thing I know my parents’ house is the first stop in the Dark Elf Underground Railroad. I couldn’t convince them to stay out of it.” Steve frowns. Turning from Bohdi, Steve goes over to the window and looks out at the city. Bowing his head, he says, “At least the Dark Elves will give Claire magical protection when I’m gone.”
Bohdi’s heart falls. He doesn’t like the idea of leaving Claire, either. And she’s just an adopted kid sister to him. He remembers her look of fury earlier; she won’t be happy about this. “You know, I’m sure if you just walked out there right now, and told the world you’re recovered, they’d declare you the candidate, and you’d win, and have an armed guard all the time, and—”
“I had guards at the conference,” Steve says, putting his hands behind his back. “No, Odin wants me dead. And he’s already put civilian life on the line to achieve that. If I were mayor, every time I went out in public, I’d be putting civilian lives on the line. I’d be putting my family on the line.” He chuckles darkly. “And as mayor I might have more political capital, but I’d have less firepower behind me than I do at the FBI. The National Guard is controlled by the governor. I’d be at the mercy of politicians downstate.”
“Oh,” says Bohdi, feeling distinctly small. He hears someone walking by in the hall, most likely with a walker. Someone calls a nurse.
“Bohdi, why do people enter politics?” Steve says quietly.
“Patriotism?” Bohdi suggests. It seems like the safe answer.
Steve chuckles again and leans against the glass. “Vanity, power, and because they enjoy playing with people’s lives.”
“But not you,” says Bohdi.
“Don’t lie, Bohdi,” Steve says.
Bohdi’s mouth drops, about to protest, but Steve cuts him off. “It’s true. I always want to be in control.”
“Because you like to keep people safe!” says Bohdi. If it weren’t for Steve, he’d be in Gitmo. Steve is the most moral person he knows, next to maybe Amy, who wouldn’t let him go when he was falling to his death in Nornheim.
For a long moment Steve says nothing. And then, very softly, he says, “When I’m at my best.” He turns around. “But when I’m at my worst, I just find it ... fun.” His hands clench at his sides. “Doing this ... going to Jotunheim, will help keep people safe—my family safe. Maybe this is just the universe keeping me at my best?”
Bohdi shakes his head. “That sounds too much like fate to me.”
Steve’s eyebrows rise, but he doesn’t respond. Instead he looks around the room. “There are at least a half dozen reasons why it might be a good thing if the general population thinks I’m still incapacitated. Help me find me some hospital clothes.”
A few minutes later, Steve’s lying in the bed, a hospital gown thrown over his undershirt. Bohdi has Steve’s shoes and shirt in his hand. “Hide ‘em, will you?” Steve says.
There’s a knock at the door. Bohdi dives for the built-in cabinets, and Steve says in a very raspy voice, “Who is it?”
A little unnerved by how convincingly ill Steve sounds, Bohdi looks over his shoulder and whispers, “And you say I’m the trickster?”
From outside the door comes Amy’s voice, “It’s me.”
“Come in,” says Steve, in a clear voice this time.
Amy enters the room, carrying a bunch of medical paraphernalia and looking a little paler than usual.
Steve says, “What is it?”
“I need to collect some blood for some tests.” She shrugs. Not meeting his eyes she says, “The HIV strain you have shouldn’t show up on ordinary screens, but I should check.”
Steve’s eyes shift to the bag she’s carrying. “That’s fine …but that looks like a blood donation bag. How many tests are you going to perform?”
“A lot. Why are you in the bed? What is Bohdi doing?”
Stuffing Steve’s clothes in a drawer, Bohdi says, “Hiding Steve’s miraculous recovery from the general population.”
“Yes,” Amy says, going over to Steve. “We wouldn’t want to give quadriplegics undue hope.” Her voice has a touch of bitterness that Bohdi’s not used to hearing.
“It’s not about that,” Steve replies. “This is experimental technology that belongs to the United States government.”
Bohdi turns to see Amy hovering over Steve. He can’t decipher her expression. Scared? Angry? Both? “Of course,” she says, voice nearly inflectionless.
Steve rolls up his sleeve. “Go ahead and stick me. It will make this look more convincing. Bohdi, grab her that doctor’s coat, and then stand outside the room. Leave the door open, and keep your ears open …” Holding out his arm for Lewis he mutters, “After Gerðr tried to kill me yesterday I’d rather someone always be listening in.”
“What?” Amy and Bohdi say in unison.
There is at knock at the door, and Bohdi quickly throws the doc coat to Amy. As she slides it on, Bohdi opens the door. He finds himself face to face with a woman in her early fifties. She has medium length brown hair and is wearing a suit. She’s a little stout, but she’s not unattractive. Of course, Bohdi finds most women attractive ... Which paired with his ability to bring chaos, might be a reason Bohdi would make a very bad boyfriend.