“Yeah,” Lon whispered to her.
“Let the universe recognize this couple, forever united,” Jae announced. “What do you give each other to signify your commitment within this lifetime? A symbol. It must be physical and unchanging,” Jae prompted.
“A ring?”
Jae beamed at his friend. “Yes. Perfect. That's right; Hal had rings at his wedding. Where're your rings?”
“Uh oh,” Lina said. She looked at Lon and he looked back blankly—maybe a trifle hysterical. No, he was just flustered. Lon didn't get hysterical. Yet there was a wild look in his eyes.
“Rings?” The edge of the word squeaked. Just a bit. He cleared his throat. “Computer, let's have—”
“Real rings, Londo,” Jae said. “They can't disappear when we leave the room. These must be permanent—”
“Oops,” Lina said. She held out her hand. On it lay a beautiful, large gold ring.
Lon opened up his clenched palm. There sat a smaller version.
“It wasn't me,” Lina said defiantly before Stoan could accuse her. She turned the ring this way and that. The band was sculpted as entwined vines. A large diamond sat snugly in the center of a crest or seal made up of a starburst that held a circle that held a triangle.
When she looked at Londo's ring, it was the same except that the stone was green. It was breathtaking. “Emerald?” she asked him.
He peered at it. “Diamond,” he said. “This metal doesn't look normal.”
“Why should it?” Jae asked.
“Starburst, circle, triangle,” Lina breathed. She caught Lon's eye and he cocked his head at her. These were the symbols that Lina had seen back on the island, a message from her guides.
“Are they behind this?” Lon asked.
Slowly Lina shook her head. “I think it was a relayed message. From Whoever it was with all the stars.”
Lon nodded. “Makes sense to me.” He turned his back on his commander's glare, faced Jae, and said, “Jae, pray continue with the ceremony.”
Jae patted the air down in a circle in front of him. “Calm down, calm down, everyone,” he told the muttering audience. “Just a little miracle in the midst of things. Nothing to get excited about. Let's go on.
“These rings act as a physical anchor and reminder of your vows. Put the ring on her finger, Londo, and repeat after me: This ring is a material symbol of my vows to you and commitment to any children resulting from our union in this lifetime. Wear it and remember.”
Did the universe always do things like this for soulmates? Londo would ask Lina later. He slid the ring on her trembling finger and repeated the words.
She licked her lips at the totality of the import. She was getting married. This faerie ring sealed her to Londo forever. His fingers held her hand in his and a slow smile came to his face. **With this ring, I thee wed,** he whispered to her.
He held his left hand out for her and she slid his ring over his knuckles. “This ring is a material symbol of my vows to you and commitment to any children resulting from our union in this lifetime. Wear it and remember.” **With this ring I promise I'll always love you.**
“By your vows and by the symbols you wear,” Jae intoned, “you show the universe that you are united for all eternity. Now turn and face these people.”
Lina and Lon turned, his hand around her waist, and Lina gazed out at the veritable sea of guests of all ages, strangers to her, then back at Lon.
This was his world, and now she was a part of it. Forever. There would be no more hiding two steps back from reality. From now on she would have to summon the courage to deal with life as God dished it out. As wife to Valiant she would have to do so with her head held high.
Jae held his arms out wide. “Who here bears witness to this marriage?”
“I DO!” The audience cried as one. Some of the younger children laughed and clapped their hands at the sudden roar that they were able to participate in. Why did Lina's gaze go to where Stoan stood silent with arms crossed?
Jae nodded. “Let the record so show. Now, witnesses: behold husband and wife!” He was about to say something else when Lon raised his hand in a stopping gesture.
“Terran tradition,” Londo announced. “Just one won't harm anything at this point. There is a sealing of the marriage contract.”
“Uh oh, here comes the orgy,” someone in the audience stage-whispered a little too loudly.
Londo pointed a warning at them and then turned to take Lina in his arms for a quick kiss. He went back for another much longer one, silently promising many more later. “Now it's official,” he declared for the cheering crowd.
Chapter 27
Lina's stomach clenched. Hundreds of eyes stared at her. Strangers. Famous people she'd never heard of. Courage, she reminded herself.
“We need a reception,” Londo told her as they descended the steps from the stage. “You can port in something from Earzh and we'll all go through quarantine again for three days here in the holosuite, all right? It'll be cozy.”
She made a tight sound like a cornered mouse.
The fingers of his left hand pressed into her waist. “Relax, chérie,” he whispered. “I'm with you. You're safe.”
“Luckily for us,” he declared in louder tones, “we're at AffSys Mega-Legion Headquarters, which just happens to be the most advanced fortress in the sector. Maybe even the entire galaxy. If we can provision an army at the drop of a hat, we can get some food for une soirée.”
The crowd of Mega-Legionnaires and their families pressed in. Lina clutched at Londo. He held up his free hand and the crowd went silent.
“Pardonnez-moi un moment, mes amis,” he announced, “but I must arrange for a reception. Give me a few minutes and then we can party!”
They ran into problems when the Legion's nutritional director objected not only to a fancy breakfast with “base proteins,” whatever those were, but also to the concept of a frosted cake being served to her charges. Subcommander Andri was nice enough to override some of the rules for them.
It took mere minutes for automated tables laden with breakfast to roll in through the holosuite's doors, followed by a squad of white-uniformed service personnel. By then Lon had programmed lawn games. The younger members of the crowd whacked at small balls with mallets as if they were in a death-before-dishonor version of croquet.
As odd yet familiar music filled the meadow, some of the adults began to break up into various patterns away from the games in order to hop and step in a line-dance.
“Isn't Donna Summer supposed to be singing to this?” Lina whispered to Lon as they watched the dance.
“I had to strip the vocals and half the instruments off,” Lon whispered back. “They don't go for singing here, chérie, but they like the beat.
“Voyons.” He rubbed his nose as he glanced around the springtime setting, evaluating his work and how people were taking it. Finally he glanced up and then nodded. “It doesn't look like rain. This place is perfect.”
But the first person to separate from the crowd to greet them was Aiko Fallow, aka the great heroine Orenya.
She hugged Lon and gave him a huge kiss on the cheek, then came over to Lina and did the same. Her gold-tipped hair batted softly against Lina’s cheek, along with an earring that more accompanied her ear than was attached to it. She too had pointed ears like Jae, though hers pointed toward the back.
She certainly seemed an elf princess. She had a bright China-doll smile and dark chocolate complexion. Cheekbones and a svelte figure that any model would die for. And a broken heart hiding behind it all.
Lina didn't know what to say when they were introduced. She could tell that Aiko knew that she knew what Aiko had been to Londo.
Lina looked at Lon.
“I talked to Aiko already,” he assured her.
When had he had a chance to—?
“He said you were in the shower,” Aiko said quietly. People around them were looking expectant, waiting for a scene. “Don't worry; I'll be f
ine. Mazeltov.”
Lina and Lon both startled at the unexpected translation and had to explain it to Aiko.
“So you're the lucky girl who finally got him.” Aiko raised her voice for the immediate crowd to hear. “I've been wondering what you all have been up to, quarantined in the lab. Now we know, hm? Congratulations. And Lina, I've got some great, embarrassing stories that you'll need to keep him in line. I'll talk to you later, all right?”
Lina did her best to form a genuine smile, and agreed.
“Don't believe anything she tells you,” Lon stage-whispered to Lina as Aiko turned to leave. Aiko laughed loudly in disdain, as did others around her.
Poor, brave Aiko. Lina knew she'd never have had the courage to be here if the situation had been reversed. Aiko even made her flight away from the newlyweds seem like a social stroll.
“Who's hiding the drinks?” Lon asked. The merriment had drained from him.
“Neutrino's in charge of ratchets!” someone behind them shouted.
“It's too early for ratchets,” Londo protested. “But I know a perfect morning cocktail—”
“No alcohol!” Andri's voice boomed unnaturally across the crowd, punctuated by writing in the sky that Lon confirmed to Lina reiterated what she said. “Ten demerits per glass!”
Two people in those white jumpsuit uniforms entered through the tree-doorway, guiding a table that contained a large, flat green thing to the dining area. It must be the cake. Andri had insisted upon a fruit glaze instead of icing. Guests who had lined up to be served from the breakfast spread, curiously scrutinized the new arrival.
“That was fast,” Lina said.
“We're efficient. We are the Legion. STAY AWAY FROM THE CAKE!” Lon dropped her hand and strode toward the cake table, pointing accusation. The server who'd been about to make the first cut dropped his knife with a clang, and everyone within six feet backed away hurriedly.
“The cake is for later,” Londo commanded. “Bride and groom have the first slices. It is a ceremony. But first—”
Over Lon's shoulder Lina glimpsed two familiar people halfway across the meadow. Stoan seemed to be questioning Wiley with great agitation. The scholarly Wiley calmly lectured in response but was being interrupted again and again. Of course they must be discussing mind control.
Lon nudged her in the ribs. That was all the warning she had before he tipped his head back and bellowed to the heavens, “TERRAN TRADITION!” Then in a more reasonable tone: “My lovely bride is going to throw the bridal bouquet.”
He waved the crowd back to create some space, then strode to a rise of the green and orated as they all listened. Lina could tell that he loved being the center of attention.
In his Napoleonic wedding finery, he made a stupendous figure against the garish colors of the crowd. His voice was rich and powerful as he wove his story.
“This is an ancient Terran custom, dating back—I don't know. Centuries. Millennia, maybe. Back before technology, to the mysterious Dark Ages of Earzh! These were the times between the fall of empires and the struggle to regain the knowledge that was lost. From this era came epics of heroes saving their maidens fair, of battles against fierce monsters using only swords and sheer bravery for defense!”
He began to fight an imaginary creature with an air sword, describing the battle and invoking both Robin Hood and Rapunzel in the same breath. He parried and thrust. The crowd ebbed back before him and followed not too closely behind him as the battle raged to a new spot. Finally he cut the—whatever it was—into bloody strips to lie dying on the ground and then cleaned his air sword with an imaginary rag.
“Alas, poor dragon,” he sorrowed, “I knew it well.”
Some of the people in the group applauded; Lina distinctly heard a “Don't encourage him,” from someone behind her, and Londo bowed to all corners, lastly to her.
“Everyone—you'll notice that flowers are used as the bouquet as well as the decorations for a wedding. This is all very traditional. Earzh is a beautiful planet, filled with flowers. Now—all eligible females try to catch the bouquet to see who's going to be the next bride. No exceptions!” Lon wagged his finger at some little girls in the front of the crowd who were watching him goggle-eyed. Apparently he had admirers of many ages across the galaxy. “Gather 'round! Gather 'round!”
Lina joined him and hefted her bouquet. “This won't go very far,” she warned everyone. The group of girls and women moved closer. Lina turned her back and gave it a hearty toss over her head. It arced over female hands to land at the back in Aiko's arms.
“Interesting air currents in here,” Lina murmured to Londo.
“Dragon wings,” he whispered back. “So are you wearing a garter under all that?”
“A garter?” Lina's eyes darted unfocused back and forth as she shifted her legs under her long skirt. “Um. I think I am. Just one, right leg.”
“Someone knew I was coming.” Lon chortled.
“Just like Someone knows you're French.” She fingered the lapel of his French Imperial outfit that was not a fashion out of Canadian legend. His mouth opened slightly as he realized the truth of it. An orphan with parents unknown—perhaps this was another hint at his origins?
It took a few minutes to explain the garter custom and get the eligible men gathered. Lon took great delight in divesting her of her garter (“This is not obscene,” he yelled at a gossiping clique. “This is wholesome Terran tradition! Get your minds out of the gutter!”), and when he threw it it landed on the top of Jae Rallene's blond head. Jae had not been a part of the receiving crowd. He hadn't even been turned toward them.
“Favoritism!” someone yelled, but Lon just laughed at them. “I don't think I'll tell them the part about how Jae has to put it on Aiko,” he told Lina. “Things might get too rowdy for the—”
Without warning, red light flooded the entire meadow, blinking quickly. The music abruptly stopped. For a moment, everyone froze.
“Clear program!” Stoan shouted into the silence.
The temple and meadow vanished. It was just a gray, auditorium-sized room now. The floor leveled out rapidly.
“Monitor!”
Instantly a huge screen appeared in midair, showing the tight face of a teenage girl. Somehow her image appeared straight on, no matter what angle she was viewed from.
“Hyperspace accident,” she reported tersely. “Territory 103-D. It's Purple-Class flight 324, the Travern out of Bragan, and the situation is critical. Over six thousand people trapped. Severe structural damage, environment barely stable. It was all they could do to fire a com drone into normal space to relay the message. They registered an explosion, maybe a bomb, maybe more than one—hard to tell. I have projected rendezvous coordinates.”
“Crisse,” Londo muttered. “Lina, they're going to need me on this. I can travel faster than the hyperspace ships. With the structural damage— I can deal with that better than most of the people here.” He paused to press her hands between his, apology spilling from his eyes. “Six thousand people, chérie. Three times the Titanic—and there are no lifeboats. They need my help.”
“Ohmigod. Are you ready for this? Do you feel up to it?”
“I'm one hundred percent.”
She took a breath. “Then of course it's okay, Lon,” she said, sick in the pit of her stomach. “How long?”
He nodded at the group of people beginning to congregate around Stoan. “Let me check,” he told her and rushed off with the others.
Now you could see the difference: which ones were Legionnaires and which, civilians. The ones with the identifying rings—they wore bands around their wrists and ankles, too, Lina noticed—gathered into a series of large knots, sorting themselves out, calling out to each other and pointing. Five to eight people made up a knot. One from each commanded a padd that unscrolled a screen for the group to view. The civilians held back. Parents used their arms as barriers so the little ones couldn't toddle to see what Mommy or Daddy were up to.
**Ch�
�rie, can you find my padd for me?**
Lina tried not to let Londo feel her anxiety as she got the image from him: the drawer next to his bed, and ported a little handheld computer to him. So carefully—mustn't scramble the circuits.
**It's fine. Don't worry about it,** he told her as he ran it through a quick calibration just to make sure.
He and Jae, Stoan, Wiley, Andri, and a few others conferred while screens slid into place all around them showing diagrams of some kind of vessel, star maps, columns of writing.
Londo pointed to this one and that while Stoan nodded his approval. Andri gestured at the screens, which changed their writing, as well as the angle of view for the vessel. Wiley made a few comments and then Jae said something and poked at one line, which changed as Londo rubbed the bridge of his nose, concentrating, and then nodded. He reached down to get something from his pocket and must have realized that he wasn't in uniform. Wiley handed him a small matchbox instead and Londo held the box up to one of the screens for a moment.
“Attention all,” Stoan said to the room. His voice carried throughout the holosuite, echoing slightly from all the padd screens in use. “This party is officially over. All Legionnaires, late yellowline or better—I don't think we have any injured in HQ anyway, do we?—are in on this except Doctor Mem-Bazer, of course. Everyone else back to Level 2 or below Security sectors. I remind our guests of Security Procedures for this event. Computer, security mark: ten minutes to standard systems again. Everyone have their assignments? Check-in in twenty minutes to lead ship. Right—go!”
One entire side of the holosuite bloomed open to the hallway outside. In a burst of activity, everyone hustled from the room. Parents herded their children out of the way. Some people took off ceremonial accessories and handed them quickly to their spouses. There were fast embraces, hugs for everyone, a few tears here and there, but no undue emotion. These people had been through it all before.
Lina hadn't.
She had just been married and now Londo was leaving. She blinked hard and set her teeth. Damned if these strangers were going to see her cry! Here he was, hurrying back to her with an apologetic expression on his dearest of faces.
Touch of Danger (Three Worlds) Page 56