by John Bowers
Hans stood perfectly still, but adrenaline chilled his blood. One reason for the adrenaline was excitement over being selected for this honor—and it was an honor; the other was that the very name of the new unit, Vegan Elite Guards, was frightening.
To Vegans around the planet the most dreaded Sirian organization was the Sirian Elite Guards, the men in charge of slave shipments, who made the rules dictating the fate of Vegan women.
Hans knew beyond a doubt that the term VE would turn disapproval into hostility; the word traitor would be applied behind his back, and in some cases, to his face. If he accepted this position, it would be the final break from his people. No longer could anyone excuse it as youthful idealism, nor would they want to.
Yet what choice did he have? Vega had lost the war, and the only real future open to its youth was to stop fighting the conquerors and embrace them. The older generation would never do that, and he understood why—they had known only the old ways, the old traditions, had invested their lives in them, and simply could not make peace with the new. But for his own generation resistance was not an option. A person only had one life, and to waste it crying over a lost past was almost criminal, even sinful. Hans understood the objections even before they registered in his brain, but already knew his answer.
“What exactly is the mission?”
“Law enforcement. The VE is a paramilitary organization, but primarily you’ll be involved in various types of enforcement. You’ll be trained in several areas, and spend a few months working in each. In two or three years you’ll be proficient. Then, if you’d like to try something different, we can talk about that. How does it sound?”
Hans smiled. “Thank you, Captain. I won’t let you down.”
Blackwell smiled and clapped his shoulder again.
“I never for a moment thought you would. Congratulations, Lieutenant.”
Chapter 9
Thursday, 9 January, 0200 (PCC) – Reina, Vega 3
The fog of the night before had surrendered to a cold front moving in off the NordZee. A light snow was falling in the street outside, making the cobblestones slippery in the growing darkness. The atmosphere inside the café was warm and cozy, the air smoky from roasted meats. Almost every table was filled, the room buzzed with conversation.
Valyn Kristensen shivered slightly, her bare hands wrapped around a cup of hot tea, as she watched students crisscross the university campus. She hadn’t been here since she graduated, but it was all very familiar. She longed for the old days, when life had been good and she didn’t feel threatened.
Gazing out the window, she didn’t see Erik until he sat down across from her. She blinked in surprise for a moment as he grinned at her.
“Erik!” she breathed. “I didn’t see you coming.”
“Invisibility is the secret of my success.”
She laughed, surprised that he could lighten her mood so easily.
“You look wonderful! I thought you’d be all hungry and gaunt.”
He shook his head and took her hands in his. “I had plenty to eat. It wasn’t gourmet, but there was plenty of it. How’ve you been?”
Valyn sighed. His large hands felt good, wrapped around hers.
“I’m surviving. It’s a challenge for women these days.”
“Have the soldiers bothered you?”
“No. Because of who my father is, I have an exemption. Not that I deserve it.”
“You do deserve it.”
“I feel bad for all the women who don’t have one. I know what they go through and I feel guilty.”
“Don’t. It’s a shame they don’t have one too, but be grateful that you do.”
She smiled. “How long has it been?”
He shrugged. “Five years, I think. I don’t remember exactly.”
“It seems longer. I didn’t think I would ever see you again.”
“Neither did I.”
“How long have you been home?”
“A few days. I was really surprised when Birgitt said you called the house. How did you know I was here?”
She lowered her head and hesitated—she was almost ashamed to tell him.
“I…saw your name in the computer.” She smiled weakly. “I work at SE headquarters.”
Erik’s eyes widened perceptibly. “You? I would never have believed it! How did you get that job?”
She shrugged. “They had an opening and my dad wanted me to apply for it. He said I would be safer there, and they have good benefits.”
“Your dad thinks you’re safer working for the SE?” Erik was frankly astonished.
“Yes. And he’s right—girls who work there have absolute exemption.”
“You already have an exemption.”
“I know. But my dad worries.”
Erik nodded. “Yeah. Well, what the hell. A job is a job. What do you do there?”
“Right now I’m still in training. I merge data files and distribute reports, things like that. That’s how I knew you were home. Your name was on a list of people just arriving in town.”
“No kidding!” Erik laughed. “Those bastards track everything, don’t they?”
“You have no idea.”
A waitress arrived and Erik ordered a cup of tea. Valyn requested a refill. The waitress moved away. Erik still held her hands in his.
“You look gorgeous,” he said.
“Thanks.” She smiled self-consciously. “I missed you. I prayed for you right through the war, every day. Toward the end your letters stopped coming, but we never got any notifications, so I didn’t know what happened.”
He nodded quietly, wishing she hadn’t brought it up. Being with her made him feel good, and he didn’t want bad memories to spoil it.
“I’ll tell you all about it,” he said. “Some other time.”
“Okay.” She gazed into his eyes for a long moment, enjoying the sight of him. He needed a haircut, but he really did look well.
“I had a selfish reason for calling you,” she confessed.
“Yeah? I had a selfish reason for coming.” He squeezed her hands.
She laughed. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I want you to do something for me.”
His eyes narrowed slightly in puzzlement. “If I can.”
“If you don’t want to, I’ll understand.”
“If I don’t want to, I’ll do it anyway.”
Suddenly nervous, Valyn glanced around the café, chewing her lip and searching for courage. The waitress brought the tea and that bought her a few extra seconds. Erik poured honey into his tea and stirred it with a spoon to melt it.
“You want me to kill someone for you?” he ventured.
Valyn’s eyes sprang wide as she looked at him. “Goddess, no!” she gasped. “What makes you—”
She stopped as she saw the laughter in his eyes.
“It’s the only thing I’m really good at,” he said. “Killing people.”
She sagged in her seat, laughing.
“Oh, Erik, I forgot how funny you are!”
His smile faded just a little. How funny I used to be, he thought. Maybe I can get that back.
“So what’s this big favor you need? Is it very expensive? I don’t have a lot of money right now. Just started a new job this morning.”
“Oh? Where are you working?”
“NordTek. Used to be a defense factory, but now I guess you’d call it an offense factory, since they’re contracted to the Sirians.”
“NordTek, sure, I’ve heard my dad talk about it. What do you do there?”
He shook his head. “You wanted a favor,” he said. “Suddenly you’re afraid to tell me what it is.”
Valyn’s heart skipped a beat and she felt her face growing warm. She gazed into his eyes for several seconds and he gazed right back, waiting.
“It’s…very personal,” she said. “I wouldn’t ask anyone else.”
His brow furrowed slightly. “What is it?”
“I—” Her lungs seemed to freez
e, she suddenly became breathless. She had trouble getting the words out. “I want you to—” Her face flamed red. “—have sex with me.”
Erik sat frozen, moving not a muscle. He just stared at her. Valyn misunderstood his reaction.
“I-If you…don’t mind,” she amended. “I realize it’s awfully forward, but—”
He gripped her hands again.
“What’s going on, Valyn? This is not you.”
At the kindness in his voice, her tears began to flow. She lowered her head and sobbed.
“It’s okay, Valyn. I’ll do it, gladly. But tell me why.”
She looked up, sniffed, and pulled one hand free to wipe her eyes.
“My dad was wrong about one thing. Working in the SE office protects me from anyone on the street, soldier or civilian, but—I’m not exempt from the SE senior staff. I’ve been there two days and I’ve seen three women raped. It isn’t violent, like a rape on the street, but the girls don’t have a choice. When they call you in, you have to go.”
“Have they called you in?”
“Not yet. But they will. Colonel Royer warned me about it the day I was hired. He said if I was a virgin, I should do something about it.”
Erik was frowning, his jaw muscles tight with anger. “Why don’t you quit?”
“I can’t. I tried to when I found out, but the colonel said it was a done deal. I can’t walk away from it.” She squeezed his hand. “Erik, I know it’s a sin! I know how we were raised! But I don’t have a choice. It’s going to happen to me any day now, and I don’t want to be a virgin when it does. I want my Moment of Awakening to be better than that. Can you possibly understand?”
Erik nodded. He understood very well. The girls in his Guard unit had felt the same way. One had approached him, and he had granted her request, just an hour before she was blown apart by a Sirian hovertank.
“I would never ask anyone else,” she told him. “I know it’s a sin, but—”
“That’s not a consideration,” he said, cutting her off. “After what I’ve seen and done, sin is the least of my worries.”
She still felt the need to convince him. “I never told you this, but I was always in love with you, even before the war. I think I still am.”
He smiled. “I kind of suspected that, but it didn’t make much sense to get involved back then.”
“And what about now?”
“I don’t know. Everything has changed. Maybe it makes even less sense now than it did then.”
“Do you love me? I always thought you did.”
“For the purposes of this conversation, yes, I do.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means let’s go to your apartment.”
Valyn Kristensen was a petite girl, just five feet four, with a round face and hair the color of spun gold. Before the war, she had worn it short and curly, but after the SE edicts she had let it grow—one of the SE rules was that women under forty must wear their hair at least shoulder length. Now, three years after the edict, it fell in a mane to the middle of her back.
Her apartment still looked like a college girl’s flat, small, cozy, and cluttered—but neat. Books lined her desk, her closet bulged with skimpy clothing; posters on the walls reflected her love of music and the arts, but everything political had come down. Pre-war patriotism was now illegal, and Valyn had no intention of promoting the Sirian Confederacy, except maybe at gunpoint.
Yet she lived in a precarious dilemma—her father, Peder Kristensen, was Regent of Vega. Before the war he had served Queen Ursula as Regent, but after the surrender the Sirians had elevated him to Top Man, a puppet ruler. The consequences for Valyn were mixed—she received a full exemption from rape and enslavement, but also had to bear the insults of people who hated her father, calling him a traitor. In truth, though his signature was attached to every edict issued by the SE, he simply had no choice.
It broke her heart.
And now her situation was even more precarious…her exemption would not protect her from the very men she worked for.
She led Erik into her apartment and locked the door behind them. It was a small flat—one bedroom, a small living room, and a tiny kitchen. It smelled pleasantly of exotic soap and Vegan perfume.
Valyn shed her coat and draped it over the sofa, then dropped her purse on the desk. Suddenly nervous, she busied herself brushing off the sofa cushions, though they were spotless.
“Would you like something to drink?” she asked, avoiding his eyes.
“No, I’m fine. Nice place.”
“Thanks. Go ahead, take a seat. I can get you some wine—”
“Valyn.” He took a step forward and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m fine.”
She looked up at him then, her eyes vulnerable. He lowered his head and gently kissed her. She closed her eyes and trembled, still nervous, but reassured.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I guess I’m just a wreck.”
“You don’t need to be. I’m not doing anything I didn’t already want to do.”
She smiled. “Really?”
“Really.” He kissed her again, harder. She slid her arms around his neck and pulled him tight, pressing against him. For three years she had lived in fear of men, all men—it felt good to not be afraid.
He wasn’t the most beautiful man on Vega, but he was easy to look at. She had always admired him; they had dated some in high school—chaperoned dates—and she had developed strong feelings for him. Then he’d gone into the Vegan Guard and she’d gone to college, working part time for the Vegan Guard. She’d seen him rarely after that, and whatever might have been had never come to pass.
Now he was here. And she still loved him.
“Erik…”
He pulled back slightly, watching her eyes.
“I think we better…”
“What? Did you change your mind?”
“No. But I’m afraid I’ll lose my nerve. We’d better do this before I do.”
* * *
For Erik it was like a dream. He hadn’t been with a woman until the war, and most of those had been in prison camp. His first time had been the college girl in his infantry unit, who hadn’t wanted to die a virgin. Their coupling had been quick and loveless, fifteen minutes in a foxhole while artillery fire burst all around them. He had taken the girl’s virginity and given her a climax, but it was far less than she deserved and he knew it. Still, she had been grateful, holding him as long as she dared until the approaching hovertanks forced them to take up arms again.
What he was about to do now was virtually the same thing, only it would be less frantic. Valyn was facing almost certain degradation at the hands of the SE, but at least her life was not in danger. As a child of Sophia she had been raised to view virginity as a virtue, to be surrendered only to her husband in her Moment of Awakening. Now she looked to Erik to give her that Moment, without the benefit of marriage. Erik, also a child of Sophia, had already surrendered his virginity, and no longer believed in Sophia, though he respected Valyn’s beliefs. No woman should lose her virtue to a man who used her body for carnal gratification with no regard for her feelings, as the Sirians did. Erik was not in love with her, nor any other woman, but of all the girls he knew, Valyn would have been his first choice. They had a history together and he was deeply fond of her.
In the dimness of her bedroom, a cold snow falling outside, they made love quietly. She gasped as he carefully entered her, clinging to his neck as her body reacted to his. The initial penetration caused her a little pain, but he moved slowly and carefully until the pain faded and other sensations replaced it. He knew they had reached that point when the breath exploded out of her and she whimpered; her muscles tightened and she began to move with him, her lips walking across his face, her heels digging into the backs of his knees. He took his time, drawing it out as long as he was able, and she cried out in ecstasy as orgasm rocked her.
When it was over, they lay gasping, clinging to each other, u
ntil their skin cooled and their breathing returned to normal. Finally he lifted his head and kissed her, long and deep, then buried his lips in the base of her neck and breathed deeply of her scent.
She lay quietly, enjoying him. He was in no hurry to disengage, but finally she kissed him on the cheek.
“I have to go tinkle,” she whispered.
And he started laughing.
“What!” She pushed his head back and glared at him in mock indignation. “What’s so funny?”
“Tinkle,” he said. “You have to go tinkle.”
“Yes I do! What’s so funny about that?”
He laughed again, and kissed her on the nose.
“Nothing. Except that I have to go pee.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled with him.
“I get to go first,” she said. “I’m a girl.”
He grinned and kissed her again. “Yes you are. You are quite a girl.”
He waited while she used the bathroom, flat on his back, gazing at the ceiling. He couldn’t stop grinning, and realized that was the first time he had laughed—really laughed—in a very long time.
Chapter 10
Thursday, 16 January, 0200 (PCC) – CSS Robert Byrd, en route to Vega 3
The final week at the Marlow plantation had moved at a crawl. Erika grew increasingly anxious, as the days passed, that this was all some cruel joke, that Brandon Marlow wasn’t really going to take her home. She packed and repacked everything she owned several times. She had so little that it only took her five minutes, but she had to occupy her mind somehow.
She didn’t tell anyone she was leaving until the day of departure and was surprised at the emotion she felt at leaving Jeeter, Maria, and the kittens. Everyone wept, including herself, and even Jason Marlow looked a little sad, though he only appeared long enough to shake her hand and wish her well.
Brandon Marlow called for an SE driver to take them to the spaceport in New Angeles.