Templum Veneris

by Jeremy L. Jones

  “Are you enjoying this?” Althea hissed, a touch of rising anger in her voice.

  Viekko shook his head quickly. “Of course not.”

  The winner turned to face the crowd with a large blood stain down the front of his white tunic. He raised his arms, bellowed a victory cheer and the audience joined in. Gabriel clapped his hands, got up and descended to the floor of the arena. He picked up a large red cloak from a folded pile at the bottom of the stands and approached the boy. “You have done well Christovao. You wear the red now. Join your fellow citizens.”

  The boy wrapped the cloak around himself and ran into the crowd greeted by handshakes and cheers from the older soldiers, while two others carried what was left of the other boy out of the arena.

  Gabriel called the next two. “Eliana! Antonia!”

  “Girls?” Althea said, rising out of her seat again.

  Gabriel returned to his seat with the same smug, infuriating smile. He glanced sideways at Viekko and prodded again, “Are your females weak on Earth? On Venus, they must be strong. Equal to a man. They must protect the city if called upon, and they must produce strong children to defend Cytherea.”

  Althea looked back and forth between Gabriel and the center of the amphitheater. “What did he say?”

  Viekko found himself with the sudden, visceral urge to lift Gabriel off his seat, throw him halfway down the stone steps and kick him the rest of the way down. “It ain’t nice to speak in a language not everyone understands.”

  Gabriel wasn’t wrong. This fight was slower, more precise, but no less intense. The boys were like two dogs in a pit ripping at each other’s throats until one bleeds out. The girls, on the other hand, were like two snakes in a cage, deliberate and methodical. They waited for the perfect moment to strike and put the other down, which happened when one of the girls took advantage of her opponent’s unsteady footing, knocked her to the ground with a front kick and trapped her throat under her knee until she passed out.

  The audience cheered. Again, Viekko had to resist the urge to cheer with them. Another citizen walked away with her red cloak into the cheering embrace of older soldiers who crowded around to congratulate her. Viekko couldn’t help but smile as he remembered the camaraderie of military life. It was a simple but intense bond that could only be understood by those who had spilled blood in defense of their way of life.

  “Oh Jayzus, Viekko,” said Althea. “You are enjoying this!”

  He glanced at Althea who was staring at him with a look of shocked disapproval and then to Gabriel, who flashed him a knowing smile. The area between them started to feel small and Viekko had the urge to flee before the walls closed in.

  He bared his teeth at Gabriel and hissed, “Give us a moment?”

  Gabriel stood up, bowed his head slightly and said to the Rainha on the opposite side of the group, “With your permission.”

  Isabel turned her attention away from the carnage in the center of the amphitheater just long enough to give Gabriel the slightest of nods. One might have missed it if one had not been looking for it. Gabriel interpreted that as the permission he wanted and started to make his way down the steps toward the center.

  Viekko took a deep breath. “Althea I…”

  “You don’t have to say anything,” she said, facing forward. “It just… proves my point, really.”

  “What point?”

  “That you only want to use me. Just as I tried to use you. There is nothing else between us.”

  Viekko took off his hat and ran his hand across the top of his head and down the length of his queue. “You gotta understand. On Mars…”

  “We are literally from two different words,” Althea said, still staring at some middle distance. “And we only come together when we are at our worst.”

  “It don’t gotta be like that.”

  Althea closed her eyes and whispered, “But it is.”

  Viekko was about to say something else when Gabriel called from the sandpit below. “I challenge you, Viekko! Come! Experience Provacao for yourself.” Gabriel stood in the center of the fighting arena with his arms outstretched as if welcoming him with a warm embrace.

  A flood of adrenaline made Viekko’s body tingle as he stood up, but he stopped when Althea grabbed him by the forearm. Even though Gabriel spoke in Cytherean, she seemed to realize it was a challenge. She glared at him with deadly seriousness. “If you do this…”

  His eyes met Althea’s emerald genetically-modified eyes, perfectly designed by the height of civilized technology to be both beautiful and captivating. And then there was Gabriel, beckoning him from the floor of the arena. He beat his breastplate with his fists and waved his arms like a competing male during mating season. On top of all that, Colton’s voice echoed in his head. "You gotta find what makes you happy. You've got to think back to a time when you could do just as you pleased."

  “What, Althea?” Viekko growled. “If I do what?”

  “You’re better than that. You can be better,” Althea whispered in his ear.

  The Rainha rose to address the crowd. “Our friends from Earth do not share our military values. Therefore, Gabriel, please excuse…”

  “Maybe,” Viekko whispered back. “But without you, why would I want to?” Then he jumped up, snatched his arm out of Althea's grip and shouted in Cytherean, “I accept!”

  In a way, there was a kind of inevitability to this, thought Viekko, taking off his hat. The Universe had closed every avenue left to him but this one. If savage he was meant to be, then… well… there wasn't much use arguing.

  Viekko handed his hat to Althea, who stared at him, dumbstruck.

  "You're right, Althea. You always are. I gotta find my own reason to change.” He started to take off his jacket.

  “Viekko, are you sure you know what you are doing?” Isra’s hard look suggested she didn’t believe that he did.

  “Sure. A little old-fashioned diplomacy.”

  “Viekko, listen carefully,” Althea hissed through her teeth. “Just let it go. Stop trying to prove you are what everyone around you wants you to be and…. no, I certainly will not hold those for you.”

  He shrugged and tossed his shoulder holster on top of his khaki jacket. “That, Althea is exactly why I am doin’ this. I’ve wanted to kick this guy’s illjig since I arrived. It’s rude to refuse an invitation like that. Don’t wanna be rude.”

  Viekko continued to strip down till he had nothing on but his pants, Althea’s medical regulator strapped attached across his chest, and the EROS computer on his arm. He undid a catch that loosened the computer enough to slide over his wrist. He started to reach for the buttons that would retract his medical regulator when Isra came up behind him. “Allow me.”

  Viekko stopped and let Isra work the controls. “I do not like this,” she said as the plates started to retract across his chest. “The Rainha condones this. It was as if this spectacle was planned.”

  Viekko looked one more time at Althea glaring at him from the bench. “Well, I’d hate to disappoint.”

  Isra lifted the medical regulator off his shoulder. “Just be aware. Isabel, Gabriel, Celia, they have a plan. I do not know what they intend to gain from it, but it is carefully orchestrated.”

  Viekko’s stretched his arms. “Well, why don’t I go find out?”

  He stepped down the steps into the dirt floor of the arena where Gabriel was already in the center, on the balls of his feet with both fists raised. He’d taken off all his clothes except for a pair of white shorts. His body looked like one big, bulging muscle. Viekko reached down to scoop a handful of the earth and rubbed his hands together. The rush of excitement before battle combined with the roar of the crowd as he prepared himself, made him feel as alive as that evening when Althea came back.

  He glanced at the stands and noticed that Althea’s seat was empty. She was gone again. Then Isra shouted from a hundred miles away, “Viekko! Watch out!”

  He turned back just in time to see Gabriel rush at hi
m. He never saw the punch that connected just above his jaw.

  He stumbled backward and instinctively brought his arms up to protect himself from the next blow. The punch disoriented him. He didn’t know where Gabriel was until he appeared in front of him and landed a series of punches to his stomach that felt like an iron bar across the gut. Viekko brought his hands down. It was a stupid move made in the heat of the moment, and he knew it. It allowed Gabriel to land a crushing blow to the side of his face. The next thing Viekko knew, he was lying on the ground with a mouth full of dirt.

  For a moment, the only sound in the world was the ringing in his ears and the soldiers’ cheering. Everything, even the throbbing pain in his cheek, felt surprisingly good. Natural even. He heard Isra’s voice by his face. “I hope you proved your point.”

  How long had he been down? Clearly long enough for Isra to make her way out of the stands. He lifted his head to see Gabriel playing to the crowd with his arms outstretched, enjoying the quick victory.

  “He’s a fast lil’ khetsuu, I’ll give him that,” Viekko muttered as he pushed himself up.

  “You intend to continue?” said Isra, backing away.

  Viekko got to his feet and ignored her.

  Gabriel noticed Viekko get up and fell back into his fight stance. “You want more, Earth man?”

  “It was a…rotten hit,” Viekko called back, putting his fists up. “Try it again, you…”

  Viekko estimated there was a good ten meters or more separating the two of them. It shouldn’t be possible for him to cover that much ground in an instant. That was the thought that flashed across his brain as his head snapped back from Gabriel’s jab. Viekko stepped back to put some space between him and this insanely fast brawler. He needed just a moment to collect himself.

  It was a moment he wouldn’t get. Before he could even pinpoint where Gabriel was, he felt several hard blows to his left kidney, followed by a right cross under his chin. Then another mouthful of dirt, with a hint of blood this time.

  Somewhere in the distance, he heard Isra yell, “Finished now?”

  Viekko pulled himself up one more time and stumbled forward. “I’ve got this, Isra,” he mumbled. “I know how he fights now.” Isra probably didn't hear him, which was fine. It was getting harder to form coherent sounds anyway.

  He staggered into the center of the circle where Gabriel jumped and danced circles around him while taunting him. “Your courage is inspiring. Your skills are not. You should give up before you are hurt.”

  Gabriel was faster than any man Viekko had fought in his life, stronger too, and the arena was a blur of bodies and sound. Yet, at the same time, he had a clarity of mind that he’d not felt in months. The whole world right now consisted of himself and his opponent, and the only sound in the world was the cheer of the crowd. Viekko had one last chance to make a decent stand.

  “Very well, Earth man. One more time,” said Gabriel.

  Though the Captain of the Guard was unbelievably athletic, Viekko hoped that, like most people, he was also a creature of habit. Up to this point, Gabriel always led with a long jab.

  The instant Gabriel moved, so did Viekko. He blocked Gabriel’s jab and countered with a punch to the Captain’s sternum. Gabriel staggered backward gasping, sucking air, and Viekko pressed the advantage. He felt every ounce of energy surging into his fists with every punch. Two left jabs, a right cross, and the Captain of the Guard careened back to the edge of the circle. Viekko lunged with a left jab then stepped forward to deliver a fight-ending right uppercut.

  But instead of the satisfying crack of Gabriel’s jaw against his fist and the flash of pain and victory, he hit nothing but air. He barely had time to realize this before his legs were kicked out from under him, and he fell hard onto the sand. Viekko rolled over to get back on his feet, but Gabriel was instantly on top of him. He grabbed his long, black braid and used it to lift Viekko’s head.

  “You have long hair, like a woman,” Gabriel whispered into Viekko’s ear, then slammed Viekko’s head into the ground.

  Viekko blacked out for a split second. He tasted blood, his head rang, and his vision blurred. Gabriel pulled him back up by his hair. This time Viekko twisted and threw an elbow. It connected under Gabriel’s jaw and sent him sprawling in the dirt.

  Viekko scrambled to his feet and pressed his boot to Gabriel’s chest before he could stand again. He didn’t know where it came from, but something in his head clicked. Maybe the fight had sharpened his mind to the point where he could finally piece Cytherean words together. Maybe he’d simply had time for his brain to process the neural programming. Hell, maybe Gabriel had knocked something loose. But Viekko held his opponent down and said, “I hear Cytherean women are strong.”

  Gabriel paused, stared up at Viekko with burning hatred and then, as if something flicked a switch, his expression softened and a smile crossed his face. “Perhaps you fight one of them next. Your victory will not be so easy.”

  Viekko couldn’t help but laugh as did Gabriel. Viekko lifted his boot off the man’s chest and reached down to help him to his feet. “I will consider it. I like a woman who can kick my ass.”

  Gabriel clasped him on the shoulder, grinning. “I will introduce you to a few. Come sit with me. Enjoy Provacao as my guest. Tonight you and your people feast in the Sala!”

  As Viekko and Gabriel staggered out of the sandy arena, still laughing, Isra met him on the side, handing him his khaki jacket. “You are friends now?” she asked with a hint of skepticism in her voice.

  Viekko laughed and looked at Gabriel. “Sometimes, Isra, you can’t see eye to eye until you bring him down a bit.”

  “It would appear you have some skill in this style of diplomacy. Isabel invited us to a celebration tonight after the Provacao. We will discuss the mutual benefits of an alliance between Earth and Cytherea tomorrow.”

  Viekko spat and wiped some blood away from his face. “Glad to help.” He looked around for a moment. “Where’s Althea?”

  “Waiting by the Rainha’s transport. She said, and I am quoting here, ‘Bugger this. I am done watching him make a fool of himself.’”

  The twinge of remorse only lasted a second as more soldiers came down from the stands to congratulate Viekko and Gabriel on their fight.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Adriana’s speech when she arrived back home, went down as one of the defining addresses leading to the Global Revolution. When informed that the United States had declared war against Brazil, she reportedly said:

  “I was never imprisoned by the United States. I was, as we all are, held prisoner by the multinational corporations who have manipulated their government into servitude. We are not at war with the United States. We are at war with those corporate forces that exploit the people of both our nations and, indeed, around the world. We will not fight the United States, unless they, driven by their corporate masters, decide to fight us.”

  Whether there was more to that speech or not, will never be known. For as the last words left Adriana’s mouth, an assassin's bullet ended it.

  -From The Fall: The Decline and Failure of 21st Century Civilization by Martin Raffe

  There was something wrong with this place.

  Althea sat on a bench hunched over a long table and aimlessly twirled chunks of unidentified meat on a wooden skewer over a dull metal plate. The meat smelled like buttery, spiced feet, and had the texture of an old tire. She didn’t dare try eating it again or else someone in a brown robe would replace it before she could gnaw the first down. They had already filled her mug with more of that horrid fermented honey before she could protest. And anyway, she wasn’t hungry.

  This room, the Sala as the Cythereans called it, was some kind of great hall in the Rainha’s palace. It was bigger than an entire hospital ward, with a vaulted ceiling so high it could experience its own weather patterns, yet she felt claustrophobic. The place was packed with so many people she felt crushed under a yelling, sweating, wave of humanity. Thankfully, I
sra parked herself to Althea’s left, but pressed against her right was a loud Cytherean man who smelled of sweat and booze and who kept bumping her as he spun around to demand more wine from the servants. She had already lost count of how many drunken Cythereans had spilled their wine on her as they plowed through the crowd in between the tables. Down the length of the room, hundreds of men and women ate, drank, laughed, flirted, and danced; a few of the men even sparred in the rare open spaces they could find.

  Althea and Isra were near the head of a table that spanned the length of the room. The Rainha sat nearby at a private table, presiding over this drunken circus with a look of supreme satisfaction at the sea of men and women behaving like a load of schoolboys at the pub, watching it all as if it were the greatest accomplishment of her life. Celia stood next to her table with her hands folded in front of her, awaiting her command.