Touch of Danger (Three Worlds)

by Strickland, Carol A.

  “Consider it a wedding present, one that I'd better not have to take back. We've all been worried about you lately, Londo.”

  “In that case, how about Room 17?”

  She gave him a little frown. “Isn't that too big for this? How many witnesses do you want?”

  “Everyone. Drag in people off the street,” he grinned. “Send up fireworks.”

  “Security, Londo. Headquarters personnel only.”

  “I was just joking. Look, Andri, weddings are a big deal on Earth, the biggest parties in a person's life. Room 17?”

  Making a show of shaking her head and sighing, she nodded. “Okay, okay. Puter, change that to VR Room 17. You really want lots of people there? Grigach. Wiley, is this kosher?” (Lina started at the translation.) “Do they really do this on Earth? I remember Hal's wedding.”

  Wiley inclined his head slightly. “Hal's was an exception. I believe both he and Londo mentioned the oddness of such a small ceremony.”

  “All right, a big party—at this time of morning. Let's wreck everyone's sleep schedules and not just mine. Puter, activate non-emergency wake-up chimes for Legion members, families and assisting personnel in Headquarters, security level 2 or higher. Secure guests also, but level 3 and higher; no other civilians. No reporters no matter what their security level. Jae, do you want to explain to everyone what's going on? They'd probably forgive you easiest for waking them up. Who else? We need a secure judge with the contract—”

  “Jae's officiating,” Lon said quickly. “Jae? You've got to.” He turned to his friend.

  Jae chewed his lip as he considered. “Lunch tomorrow?” he asked.

  Lon nodded. “A very long lunch. We don't leave until you say we can. Officiate for us, Jae. Please.”

  Jae sighed and straightened his shoulders. “Oh, anything you say, Londo. Might as well join the rest of the lunatics here. So. We're having a wedding in Headquarters today.” He rubbed his hands together, his expression shifting into an expression of curious expectation. “A wedding! How many people are here?”

  “A wedding!” Londo swung Lina around, her skirt billowing around her. She grabbed at her train to keep it from sweeping lab tables clear. “Everyone put on their party hats—I'm going to marry the woman I love!”

  Lina laughed gaily as Lon's sparkling eyes erased any gloom from the day.

  “Jae?”

  “Sure, Londo. Let me get some proper—” As they looked at him, Jae's clothing suddenly changed. He gave a start when he realized what had happened and then peered down at himself.

  In contrast to Lon and Lina's outfits, his looked informal: a short-sleeved, cream tunic over a long-sleeved tan undershirt with a line of gold trim, and loose, mocha trousers that were gathered at the ankles. The symbols were subtly knitted into the soft material of the outfit, but the design also stood out stark and large on the priestly dark-brown stole that draped over his shoulders. The small blue-stoned earring he'd worn was now a simple, small gold hoop.

  “Eep!” The suddenness startled Lina.

  “What the—” Andri sputtered.

  Londo laughed. “Welcome to the club, Jae. What, nothing for the chief witness?” Everyone looked expectantly at Wiley, but nothing happened.

  “Thank you for that,” he said to Lina.

  Andri cocked her head at Lina. “I really could have used a new outfit. You sure you couldn't come up with something?”

  “I tell you, it's not me. I know when I'm porting. I think.”

  Wiley was skeptical. “Subconsciously—”

  “What, I could do something like this? With lights and voices and dressmakers? All hands, reality check!”

  Lon shook his finger at them. “Non non non, there's a faerie godmother lurking around here somewhere. Come on, come on, before the clock strikes midnight! Let's drag everyone out of bed. I've been up all night convincing Ms. O'Kelly to go for it. I don't want her to back down now.”

  “All Sagittarian tendencies on alert and committed, Cap'n Rand.” Lina saluted him smartly. She was deliriously drowning in his smile, the one that meant that he loved her. Forever. “I'm jumping.”

  “Good. Jae?”

  “Wiley, I'm putting you in charge of invitations and explanations. See who's up. Hell, see who's not up. It's not every day that Valiant gets married.” Jae laughed helplessly; this situation was impossible! “Give me a few minutes, Londo. I'm going to set up the VR room personally.”

  The Legion's subcommander said, “And I suppose I'll get dressed.”

  “We'd appreciate that, Andri,” Lon called after her as she left. He picked Lina up in his arms and kissed her. She didn't resist in the least.

  Between kisses, she did manage to say, “Lon, you better straighten up. I don't want people to say you were drunk when we got married. It might not look good.”

  He laughed. “You can't get me drunk. It's impossible. But I'll behave, Carolina, ma'am.”

  “Good. Now let's get this over with before I faint or throw up or something. I don't want the tape of this to make it on Funniest Home Videos.”

  “Nervous?”

  “As hell. How about you?”

  “Pas du tout. This feels right all the way.” He was suddenly very serious. He let her down and held her close. “Now, really, are you okay with this? Jae… Jae did bring up some valid points.”

  She looked into his warm eyes and took a breath. “I'm game if you are. Now and forever. Let's do it.”

  That slow and dazzling smile of his! “It's going to be rough at first, kitten. There's going to be a lot of media attention on this.”

  “Oh, Lon, does there have to be? Do we even have to announce? I mean, to the media? To our friends, fine.”

  “Ashamed of me?”

  “Londo—!”

  “Yes, dearest love, we have to announce. You don't have any idea how people are always trying to set me up or put me on those damned most eligible bachelors lists. I want to rub it into some people's faces that I'm marrying the most beautiful, most amazing girl on Earzh. And I want all of your suitors to know that you're taken.”

  “I don't have any suitors. Just one absolutely crazy fiancé.”

  “And I think you haven't been looking at your life clearly. You probably have hundreds of men following you with their tongues hanging out. You never even noticed.”

  “And you have the world's biggest imagination.” She smiled at him. Such a wonderful face. Such a wonderful soul. “Ohmigosh,” she realized. “We're getting married!”

  That stopped him. “Ohmigosh,” he said, too, his eyes open wide. Then they narrowed with mischief.

  “What?” she asked him. “Oh no, Londo, you're not doing this just for the shock value.”

  “You should know better than that, soulmate. It just occurred to me that this situation raises the potential for a lot of, shall we say, rightful repayment for some things. Merely in a humorous way.” He rubbed her back as he smiled to himself. “Ah, the fine art of the practical joke. Let me strategize for a while.”

  “A quiet marriage, Londo. Let's not get anyone mad at us.”

  “A quietly wild marriage, Lina. We'll have such fun. And we'll go everywhere together.”

  “I'm not comfortable in public.”

  “That's because you were afraid before.” He hugged her tightly. “You aren't afraid if I'm here, are you?”

  “No,” she whispered. “I'm not afraid. But Lon, do you really think—”

  He put his index finger on her nose. “No arguing with team leader,” he ordered.

  She grimaced at him. “Team leader is fine when you're doing your Valiant thing,” she told him, “but this is something else entirely. Eventually, Londo Rand, you are going to have to compromise.”

  “Com-pro-mise.” He tasted the word as if he'd never heard it before.

  “I'm serious. I'm not going out there and pledging myself to obey you. This isn't the nineteenth century.”

  “Actually, it's the thirty-fifth,” Londo said,
looking around. “Here, at least.”

  “Londo.”

  “Compromise.” He appeared to consider. At length.

  “Londo.”

  “D'accord, we'll try it. But if I don't like it, I reserve the right to change my mind.”

  “Seven cats.”

  “Seven cats, check.”

  “Pornographer.”

  He groaned. “How about we just pass you off as an artist? Until everyone gets used to you?”

  “Is it really going to cause that much of a problem?”

  “Maybe if you keep at it. But you hate the job, right?”

  “Darling, I was going to quit anyway. Really I was. That's what the whole vacation was about, the first step in getting away.”

  “Then how the hell is it going to be a problem?” He stopped as a sudden thought hit him. “Your employee discount is still in effect until you quit, right?”

  She chuckled. “They've probably fired me by now. I'm overdue at the office, I think.”

  “Let's hope not. Voyons. The headlines will read: 'Valiant Weds Porno Queen.'“

  “Oh, shoo. Headlines?” Once again, the fact that he was Valiant struck her unexpectedly and she wrung her hands.

  “Chérie, that's who I am. Marry me for that as well.” He paused. “Two kids, plus.”

  She started to say something, then nodded. “Two kids,” she agreed.

  “Plus.”

  “To be negotiated. Not guaranteed.”

  He considered and grunted his approval.

  “Oh, Londo, you don't smoke, do you?”

  “Horrible habit—never. You don't smoke, don't drink, no drugs…” His forehead creased as he tried to remember what he'd felt of her mind. “Right?”

  “Right.”

  “PC or Mac?”

  “Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip?”

  “Paper or plastic?”

  They went through a list of life's important choices, each satisfied with the other's answer until they got to: “Artificial or real Christmas tree?”

  “Artific—”

  “Aw, Lie—”

  “Now, Londo, why should anyone kill a beautiful tree just for a couple weeks of—”

  “Okay, okay, we'll talk about it some more. When the time comes.” He chuckled her under the chin.

  She beamed up at him. “Our first Christmas,” she said, visualizing them still together months from now.

  “Lots and lots of Christmases,” Lon assured her as he shared the vision of them together always. Then he grew serious. “Lina…I have to tell you something.”

  “What?” He was so solemn-looking!

  “Jae was… Jae…” As he was trying to get it out, Lon saw movement across the room. “Later,” he told her quickly. “When we have more privacy. We'll cover it at our lunch, d'accord?”

  “Whatever you say, honeybear.”

  Wilder was getting up from the personal consoles, turning to look at them. “Have you changed your minds? Or did you have some more special effects stored up that you want to show me?”

  “We have not changed our minds,” Londo replied with a sniff. “Puter, Lina O'Kelly is my guest. I vouch for security for her.” Two beeps. “Come, wife-to-be; you've been stuck in this messy old lab for too long.”

  He took Lina's hand and gave her a mental picture of a corridor many floors below them. One minute later they ported out into Mega-Legion Headquarters.

  Your Presence is

  Cordially Requested

  at the Wedding of

  Alpha Team Leader Londo Falcon (Valiant) Rand

  and

  Ms. Carolina Angelina O'Kelly

  Affiliated Systems Megaforce Legion Headquarters

  Sarastor

  The port meant that they arrived before anyone else except Jae. From a darkened hall double doors opened at their approach, and they stepped into Technicolor as a brilliant, rolling expanse of deep summer bloomed before them.

  Someone had found a meadow, surrounded it with a distant forest, placed it under an afternoon sun… and set it in the middle of Mega-Legion HQ. Lina knew it couldn't be real. But it was.

  The breeze was fresh and infused with the essence of warm grasses. The colors were just off Earth-normal, all under a green firmament. Jae stood nearby, his back to them as he studiously watched a circular white rostrum appear in the middle of the meadow. It then began to grow a perimeter of four slender columns.

  He turned at their approach and dusted off his hands as if he'd just finished all the landscaping with a trowel. “Is this appropriate?” he asked.

  “It's beautiful,” Lina breathed. “Was this…Feith?”

  Jae gave the sad ghost of a smile. “A little fancied up, but yes, this was Feith.”

  Lon looked at Lina in amazement. “You understand VR rooms?”

  “I thought I might not, but I know a holosuite when I see one.”

  “Holosuite. I like that.” Lon addressed the marble that hovered overhead. “Translator, from now on erase 'VR room' and substitute 'holosuite.'“ It double-beeped acceptance. “Jae, this is perfect, thanks. Does this mean a Feithi ceremony?”

  “I thought I might give it a try—if that's what you want.”

  “What other kind would we have in here, with you as the minister? This will make it even more special.”

  That obviously pleased Jae. “Open-air is all right? I remember Hal's wedding.”

  “This is much better. His was, ah, irregular.”

  Jae looked around, checking the perfection of his creation. “It will be informal but completely legal by Feithi custom. I don't know Terran law.”

  “It'll hold up there,” Lon said for Lina's benefit. “There's precedent.”

  Lina breathed a sigh of relief at that. “Thank heaven. I don't think I could go through this again.”

  “Are there any Terran traditions that you want mixed in?” Jae asked.

  Lina glanced toward the door, camouflaged as a tree leaning on another one. Through the gap in the middle came Wiley in a clean and surprisingly tailored yellow lab coat along with three other people in parahero costumes.

  “It's traditional on Earth for wedding guests to be naked,” Londo said loud enough so they could hear him. One of the costumed people opened his mouth as if to say something, though nothing came out. The other two looked at each other, then at Londo.

  “Right.” Wiley drew out the word until it whined.

  Lina half-turned to Jae as if she were speaking with him. Amid all this unreality and freedom from the lab she felt completely silly. “It's to honor the fertility of the couple,” she said, matching Londo in volume. “It makes the transition to the post-ceremonial orgy easier, too.”

  Jae began to lift his stole over his head. “Does the minister also get naked?” he asked.

  “He leads the orgy,” Londo announced.

  “They're kidding,” Wiley explained to his companions as the three on the podium frowned at him. “Strange Terran humor.”

  “Eh bien, if you're going to be so prudish, we don't want to see what you have under there! Go clothed for all we care!” Londo gave them a dismissing wave of both hands and then imperiously crossed his arms in front of himself. “Wimps!” He turned his back on them. “Are they getting undressed yet?” He grinned at Jae.

  Jae still held his stole in mid-air. “No,” he reported. “So much for the wedding of the year. No, of the decade. That would have gotten you some real publicity, Lon.”

  “Pas mal. Too bad.”

  “Real Terran traditions. What do you want?” Jae settled the stole back into place.

  Lina watched a swarm of topaz insects making their way across the wondrous landscape like traveling baubles of stained glass. All this for them. They shouldn't ask for any more.

  But Londo beat her to it. “No, Jae, no Terran accouterments. I'm not sure how far we can stray from the Feithi ceremony and have it hold up on Earth. An off-world marriage has to be the traditional form of the alien civilization involved.
”

  Two distinct spots of light in the sky caught Lina's eye: tiny moons. She gave a sigh. She'd almost been convinced it was Earth on a greener day than usual. So pretty, but odd. If only…

  “What, chérie?”

  “Nothing.”

  Londo squeezed her hand. “C'mon, Lina.”

  “Oh, Londo, this is fine. More than fine; it's gorgeous.”

  Londo glanced at Jae. “You are not going to hurt Jae's feelings. Jae?”

  “Depends on what kind of changes she wants.”

  “Lina?”

  “It's just that, um, back home it's spring.”

  Lon nodded. “Slush in the streets, icicles melting off the roofs.”

  “No, really spring. We're jumping so fast into this. It's a shame that we've jumped all the way into summer as well. When I left the trees were just starting to bud. My daffodils and crocus were blooming.”

  “Spring okay with you, Jae?”

  Jae turned around in a circle and scratched his neck thoughtfully as he perused his work. “Puter, change scene to springtime,” he said.

  As he talked specifics to the program and waved his hands in that conductor-like way people communicated with electronics, Lon told Lina, “See? It's okay to ask for what you want.”

  “But he was so kind to do it in the first place. I didn't want him to think I didn't— Oh.”

  The landscape changed like a cloud lifting. Thousands of shades of early greens washed the surrounding forested hills. Nearby small groups of trees covered themselves in glorious, full blossom. Wildflowers ran riot in the meadow in all the colors of the rainbow.

  “Oh my,” was all Lina could say.

  Garlands of flowers cascaded over the tops of the columns trailing white and pink ribbons that danced in the slight breeze. An occasional petal floated through the air. Lina pulled on Lon's sleeve and pointed out the changes so he too could admire each nuance.

  “Yes, I think he's been hiding a talent for landscaping from us, Lon said. “Very nice. Thanks, Jae.”

  Then Lina heard another sound of approval and realized it came from the growing audience. There must be three dozen people here. A handful of sleepy children gazed at the landscape as if still dreaming. These strangely-dressed adults weren't just paraheroes, they were part of families that happened to contain heroes like Londo.