Queen of Hearts

by Michael-Scott Earle

  “No,” I said as I gently pulled my arm away from her grip.

  “Ohhh,” she purred. “I am intrigued.”

  “Don’t be,” I said as I hit my transponder.

  “Zea?” I asked.

  “Yeah?” the hacker replied.

  “What is your location?” I asked.

  “Just made it past the guard station and jumped on the tube. We should be in the center of the city in fifteen or twenty minutes, the map here is a bit stupid, and it is hard to know how long it is all going to take.”

  “Continue on with your mission,” I said. “Sivaha and I are going to head to my old apartment and contact my mom.”

  “Uhh, what? Why? I thought the plan was--”

  “The plan is the same,” I said. “Find the database and make sure I’m off it. I don’t want to waste anymore time. I’ll meet you all back at Persephone when I am finished.”

  “Okay,” Zea said. Her easy acceptance caught me a bit off guard, and I wondered if Eve had said something to her that I couldn’t hear.

  “Good luck,” I said.

  “You too. Love you.” The transponder beeped to signal that Zea had closed the connection, and I felt Sivaha’s fingers wrap around my bicep again.

  “Perhaps we can make a stop for food along the way,” she said. “No need to feel rushed. I want to have a tour of your home. Did you live here all your life?”

  “I was in the Jupiter Marines for six years,” I said as I pulled my arm away from her again. We were reaching the end of our gate tunnel, and I motioned for her to stand back so that I could glance out into the main building of the airport.

  There were some three hundred gates connecting to the fifteen different spaceport terminals. The walls were an apologetic gray, the lights a dull fluorescent, and the walkways were polished concrete that reflected the poor light with a harsh retort. Metal chairs were attached to carpeted sections of the terminal like islands with clusters of palm trees floating in a concrete ocean, and a gentle saxophone song played in the speakers above my head. The Pacific Section spaceport wasn’t a shithole, it was just in need of an update that it should have gotten ten or so years ago.

  It looked exactly as I remembered it.

  The area where we docked was relatively empty, and I only saw a handful of travelers move left past us in the direction of the ground transport location. I turned my head to the right to look toward the end of the terminal, and I saw a half dozen guards standing in a circle some hundred yards away. A few other groups of travelers walked past them, but the guards didn’t pay them any attention.

  “Let’s go,” I said to Sivaha, and she followed me out of our gate and into the terminal.

  “How far will we need to travel to reach your mother’s home?” she asked.

  “An hour and a half by train,” I said, “but I think we’ll exchange some rhodium for cash and then take a taxi. I don’t want to waste any time.”

  “Good,” she said as she glanced around the terminal.

  “Something wrong?” I asked as I saw her lips purse.

  “I always believed the Earth system civilizations would look nicer.”

  “This spaceport isn’t bad,” I said as I looked at the walls and walkways. “Just needs an update.”

  “My servants sleep in grander quarters,” she scoffed. “That reminds me, once your war is over, will we live in the castle aboard Odin Geirr, or the fortress on Nordar - 13, or somewhere else? I have not seen any of the Vaish castles, and I want to plan my redecorating.”

  “Security checkpoint up ahead.” I ignored her question and nodded to the line of twenty or so people that were waiting to be let into the center terminal of the spaceport.

  “Ugh, lines. I should tell them of your and my standing. They will let us pass without difficulty.”

  “I’m sure you could sweet talk your way past any of the male guards,” I said, “but--”

  “And the females as well,” Sivaha interrupted me. “They are almost as easy. Perhaps even easier. I just compliment them on their outfit, or cosmetics, or whatever I think is important to them, and then ask for advice. They become grateful that someone as impressive as me is actually asking for their opinion or assistance, and then they do my bidding.”

  “I’m sure your powers help some,” I said as I glanced to the left of the distant checkpoint. There was a service tunnel where I had remembered it would be, and a group of chairs positioned near the doorway. I reached out to touch Sivaha’s arm, and I pulled gently on her so that she would follow me toward the door.

  “My abilities help,” she continued, “but I almost never need to use them.”

  “You tried to use them on me,” I said.

  “How did you resist them?” she asked with a sly smile. “Most cannot.”

  “I’m used to fighting against my desires,” I said as I nodded to the chairs by the door. “We’ll wait there.”

  “Desires?” she asked as her smile turned into a Cheshire Cat’s grin. “So, you do find me attractive.”

  “Of course,” I said as I adjusted my shotgun under my coat, sat down near the door, and tapped the seat next to me.

  “Then why have you not--”

  “There is more to life than physical attraction,” I said as I watched the light crowd walk toward the security gate.

  “Of course,” she said as she sat beside me and crossed her long legs. The center of her dress skirt fell off to the side of her waist, and I could see her skin where her thighs met her hips and then began their ascent to her narrow waist.

  Even though we were a good thirty meters from the main flow of traffic, every man that walked by still turned to stare at Sivaha.

  I was used to my women getting looks, but Sivaha seemed to pull eyes like a black hole pulled light, and I wondered if I should have just left her behind. She was right when she said that no one would be looking at me, but she was still getting way more attention than I would have thought.

  “Why are we sitting here when the checkpoint is over there?” she asked.

  “We are going to take this door,” I said as I nodded to my right. “As soon as someone opens it, we’ll duck through and walk in the back halls of the spaceport. There will be another security checkpoint for employees, but we can avoid that if we got through the shuttle equipment bay.”

  “You have done this before?” she asked.

  “Couple of times when I was a kid, and once when I needed to escort someone out of the terminal without being seen. They don’t really care that much about people leaving Ganymede, they just want to keep tabs on who is entering.”

  “So we will sit here until someone opens that door?” she asked with annoyance. “That could take forever.”

  “It won’t be that long,” I said. “It’s better than walking to the security checkpoint, getting spotted by their facial recognition tech, and then having to hide back in Persephone.”

  “I suppose,” she said as she bobbed her crossed foot in the air and let the heel of her shoe come off. “Waiting just annoys me.”

  “I can tell,” I said.

  “What about that janitor,” she said as she motioned to a uniformed man walking past us with a sweeping drone.

  “Looks like he isn’t coming in here,” I said. “I’d prefer someone coming out so we can slip in right behin--”

  “I will speak with him. Wait here.” Sivaha leapt to her feet, and then quickly walked after the man. I thought about grabbing her hand to keep her from talking to the man, but part of me wanted to see if she could convince him to open the door for us.

  She came up behind him and tapped on his shoulder before addressing him. I strained to hear what she said, but I could still make out most of it with my advanced hearing.

  “Hello, I was wondering if you could help me. Do you work here?” Her voice was dripping with honey, and I noticed it was about an octave higher than she normally spoke.

  “Yes, ma’am, how can I help?” The man was about ten, maybe twe
nty years older than me, and his eyes fell down to stare at Sivaha’s perfect cleavage.

  “I was at the employee security checkpoint and I accidentally left one of my rings behind.” She gestured to her ringless hand and then slumped her shoulders. The movement made the janitor blink a few times and forced his head up to look at her face with jerky movements that made me wonder if his neck was rusted.

  “Oh, I see,” he said. “I can walk you back there? I mean, can I walk you? Ugh. What I am trying to say is that I’ll take you back there.” His face turned so red it almost looked purple, and I saw sweat start to pour down from his forehead.

  “You would? That is quite nice of you.” Sivaha’s fingers lighted on his arm, and she turned him around so they both walked toward me. The man didn’t even notice me as we walked to the door, he was just staring at Sivaha with glossed over eyes.

  “This was the door I came out of,” she said as she gestured to the keypad. “I’m such a bad girl, forgetting my ring like that. Can you please help me?” When she said “please” her voice came out in a purr, and the man’s mouth fell open. I almost expected his tongue to roll out of his mouth like a cartoon wolf, but it didn’t happen.

  “Yes,” the man said as he fumbled with the keycard leashed to his belt. When he finally grasped it, he held it out toward the lock pad with trembling hands. He was obviously nervous, and he actually missed putting his card in the slot.

  “Here,” the silver-haired woman said as she grabbed his hand. “Let me help you slide it inside.”

  The man’s eyes grew as large as dinner plates when she touched him and his face began to turn dark purple. With her help, he got the card into the data pad, and then the door popped open with a soft hiss.

  “Thank you,” Sivaha said as she caught the edge of the door. “Can you continue on with your work, please? You are doing such a great job. I don’t wish to interrupt you any more than I already have.”

  “Y-y-y-yes,” he stuttered, blinked, and then turned around to walk back down the walkway toward the rear of the terminal.

  As soon as he had walked three meters or so, I stood up from my seat and followed Sivaha into the service hallway.

  “Impressive,” I said.

  “You think so?” she replied, and I could feel her pleasure.

  “Yeah. Your ability is powerful.”

  “I didn’t even use my ability,” she said with a shrug.

  I was about to tell her that I found her statement hard to believe, but then I remembered the words she used on him. She had appealed to his worth and asked for his help. Most people tended to want to help if they could.

  And I could understand helping a beautiful woman who asked me. That was how I had met Eve.

  The hallway beyond the door was as I remembered it: poorly lit and pathed with concrete blocks that smelled slightly of salt water. Parts of the metal wall were rusting a bit, but I couldn’t recall if they had been that way when I was here last.

  “If we continue along this path, we’ll hit the employee security checkpoint,” I said. “But if we head left at the second turn, we’ll get to a loading zone. The door there is normally unlocked but--” I stopped talking when I saw a pair of men walk around the corner up ahead, they wore mechanic jumpsuits, and both of their eyes bulged when they saw Sivaha.

  “Excuse me, gentlemen, do either of you have the time?” she asked smoothly as we walked toward them.

  “Uhhh, it’s, uhhh,” one of the men said as he patted his pocket for his phone.

  “It’s two o’clock in the afternoon,” the other man said as he lifted his wrist to look at his watch. His voice also quivered when he spoke, but was calmer than the other man.

  “Oh, a watch,” Sivaha said as she stepped near the man and rested her hands on his arm. “I haven’t seen one of those in a long time.”

  “It was my father’s,” he gasped as Sivaha touched him.

  “Well, he had great taste, and so do you for wearing it. You both have a great day.”

  “Thank you,” they both stammered, and then we walked past them in the dark hallway.

  The men started talking when they thought we were out of earshot, but I could still hear them.

  “Holy shit, did you see that or did I imagine her?” one of them hissed.

  “I think we both did, I can’t even believe she touched you,” the other one said.

  “I wished she would’ve touched me more. I can’t even breath. Fuck me sideways.”

  “I’d like to fuck her sideways.”

  “Albert, you couldn’t even handle looking at a woman like her.”

  “Yeah, but I’m going to pretend I could tonight when I’m nailing my wife.”

  “Next left?” Sivaha’s voice pulled me away from the maintenance workers’ words, and I turned to the brown-eyed woman.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I just hope it’s unlocked.”

  “We will find a way together, Husband.”

  “Hmmm,” I said as we reached the second left turn. I motioned for her to stand back and then glanced around the edge. No more spaceport employees were walking, and I saw the distant door to the loading zone.

  I motioned for Sivaha to follow me, and we reached the door half a minute later.

  “Fuck,” I growled. “Looks locked. We’ll have to either wait here for someone to come through the other side or try and get through the employee checkpoint. I don’t recall there being a camera there when I was-” Before I could finish my sentence, Sivaha stepped to the keypad, wiggled a card in her fingers, and then slid it into the locking slot. The lock beeped green, and the door opened.

  “Where did you get the card?” I asked.

  “The gentleman with the watch,” she said with a wink. “I also took both their wallets.” She held up her other hand, and I saw two leather squares pinched between her fingers.

  “Wow,” I said.

  “They were too busy looking at my breasts and didn’t pay attention to my fingers. Want a watch?” She winked at me and then dangled the watch that she had complimented the man on.

  “Damn.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “I am impressed, but he might come back looking for it. We shouldn’t steal from people when we don’t have to.”

  “I think I had to,” she purred. “I am more than just a beautiful face, Husband. I am the queen of the Vaish Blood Overlord Clan by my submission to you. But before that, I was queen of the Skyad Overlord Clan. Madalena did not have any competition for her father’s favor. My father had eight children, and I am the only one who survived to take the crown from his dying hand.”

  “Did you kill your siblings?” I asked as I remembered Hanekawa attacking me in my dream.

  “Only the ones who deserved it,” Sivaha said with a casual shrug.

  “Let me guess, that was all of them,” I said.

  “You should be happy that I am your wife and not your enemy,” she said with a coy smile.

  I wanted to pry more into her background, but I wanted to get out of the spaceport first, so I carefully pulled open the door and checked out the terminal’s loading zone. The facility was about two hundred meters long and fifty wide. Conveyor belts lined the floors and ceilings like spider webs, but none of them were powered on. The roll up doors were also closed, and I didn’t hear any movement from any of the box covered shelves.

  “Looks like they are taking some time off,” I said as I stepped through the door.

  “Where now?” Sivaha asked, and I gestured to our right.

  “We’ll take this to the end. There is an area where the larger packages are received by airline crew for pick up by passengers. The hallway there will lead to the front of the spaceport.

  “It seems like a massive hole in their security,” she commented as we began to walk through the receiving room.

  “They don’t care,” I said. “The government, police, yakuza, triads, and mafia all have a bit of an unspoken agreement on Ganymede. As long as they leave each other alone, there is no real conflict.
”

  “Would not the police naturally come in conflict with such organizations?” she asked.

  “They have kept away from ‘stealing’ from the public, and they normally don’t murder anyone who isn’t part of another organization. The gangs mostly fight over the drug, gambling, and prostitution trade.”

  “You should conquer this moon and then straighten out the laws,” she said.

  “That’s not even on my to-do list,” I chuckled, “and my to-do list is five kilometers long.”

  “You wish to fight the Draugr that Madalena is so concerned with?” Sivaha asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Yes,” I said. “They are real. They intend to feast on all the life in the galaxy.”

  “If they are as powerful as you say they are, you should bring the entire human race under your control.” Sivaha smiled at me and then bit her lower lip suggestively. “How many ships does this pathetic moon even have to defend itself? I have battle fortresses about the same size. Well, you do, since they are now yours.”

  “Ganymede is part of the Jupiter Navy,” I said as I pondered her words. “They have… shit, a few thousand ships.”

  “You could send a fraction of your forces,” she said with a shrug.

  “I’m surprised none of the Nordar clans have tried to conquer the Earth’s system,” I said as we approached the side door that would take us to customer package receiving.

  “I never cared to,” she said as she gestured around her. “There is more rhodium to be found in other systems, and I worried about being attacked by the Vaish or Jotnar if they found out that I sent ships here. The risk seems too great. None of the other Nordar clans seemed interested in returning to our genetic roots, so I figured they all must have felt the same way. We are no longer Earthlings, we are Nordar, and our ways and culture are stronger than when our ancestors left Earth three thousand years ago. Odin has made us stronger.”

  “I understand,” I said, and my words were truthful. I hadn’t felt a pressing concern to return home, even when I had a super fast spaceship that could get there in less than a few hours. I didn’t want to bring my mom and sister into my world of violence and death.