in!”
“No commo, my darling. There is no exit…no exit to our side. We’re cut off.” She seemed as cool as ice. “Be calm. We are together now. Together. How do you feel?”
Together. No exit. The tunnel went on. Dead quiet, the dust still hung in the air, smoking in the beam of my flash. My E was gone, but I still had my handgun, the mini, and we both had plasmapaks. I picked my hot knife up from the dirt.
“Estimate Psycho’s situation, Sweety.”
“Situation unknown. I do not detect him in this area.”
I said something rude.
“That is not within my capabilities, Thinker.”
“Blackout, Sweety!”
“Yes, Thinker.”
“They’re up ahead,” Priestess said. “Waiting. We’d better dig our way back out.”
It rushed over me, the certain realization of what we had to do.
“Merlin is up ahead,” I said.
“Yes, Love. Yes, yes, yes, I know that. But Psycho must be buried. And the Scalers...”
“We have to go after Merlin.”
“But what about Psycho? What about the Scalers?”
“Psycho’s in armor. He’ll survive. Beta will dig him out. And don’t tell me about Scalers! It’s because of them that we’re in this mess!”
Sweety sent an alternating charge across the outside surface of my faceplate and the mud and goo that clung to it melted away. I turned off the flash. We wouldn’t need it; we’d be safer without it. The Scalers needed light to see, and we didn’t. The tunnel faded to a dark green glow…only phantoms, in the dust. No further decisions necessary, I thought. I could feel that cold rush, again, crawling over my skin. I always accepted it, when only one possible course of action remained.
Now the Gods of Fate had us in their hands.
“Let’s go, Priestess. I’ve got my handgun, you use that E.”
“Thinker.” She reached out and touched my armor. “I...” She hesitated. “I want you to know. We might die...” She stopped, embarrassed. “I love you. I want to be yours…I want you to be mine. Please tell me...if I’m dreaming. Am I crazy? Do you love me?”
I reached over and touched her helmet. She was a shadowy creature of the dark, a demon in green, a lover from Hell, reflections glittering off her A-suit and helmet and that long evil E. Yes, yes, just the two of us, Thinker and Priestess against the world. Wasn’t that what I wanted? What I really wanted? Stop fighting it!
“I do love you,” I said. “And I want you. But what about Valkyrie? She’ll kill us, if she finds out.”
“I told you. I don’t care about her! All I want is to live with you. Forever!” The Gods of Fate. She knew exactly what she wanted. She was everything I was not. The dirtmen waited for us, up ahead.
“Yes. Yes, of course.” It was like a dream. No more decisions needed to be made. Just pledge myself to her forever, and walk down the tunnel together, to meet the dirtmen. I knew I wanted her more than anything.
“Do you take me forever, Thinker? So long as we both shall live?”
“Thinker and Priestess. On the cross. Forever!”
“Forever!”
“Let’s go, my Love. We have work to do.”
This unusual wedding may have been the most decisive thing I had ever done in my young life, short of joining the Legion. I knew that Valkyrie would certainly go out of orbit. But I did not feel that I had any say in the matter at all. Fate rolled over me in an irresistible wave. And if Valkyrie did find out, it would mean that we had survived. What, then, would there be to worry about? In the Legion we worried about life and death. Everything else was secondary. And my only worry at that moment was whether or not my marriage with Priestess would end in sudden, violent death before we even had the chance to explore the hidden secrets of each other’s hearts and bodies.
We began moving down the tunnel and found Scaler bodies with their heads crushed. It looked as if Merlin had put up a fight, but he must have lost his weapons in the cave-in. We switched our plasmapaks to
“No commo, my darling. There is no exit…no exit to our side. We’re cut off.” She seemed as cool as ice. “Be calm. We are together now. Together. How do you feel?”
Together. No exit. The tunnel went on. Dead quiet, the dust still hung in the air, smoking in the beam of my flash. My E was gone, but I still had my handgun, the mini, and we both had plasmapaks. I picked my hot knife up from the dirt.
“Estimate Psycho’s situation, Sweety.”
“Situation unknown. I do not detect him in this area.”
I said something rude.
“That is not within my capabilities, Thinker.”
“Blackout, Sweety!”
“Yes, Thinker.”
“They’re up ahead,” Priestess said. “Waiting. We’d better dig our way back out.”
It rushed over me, the certain realization of what we had to do.
“Merlin is up ahead,” I said.
“Yes, Love. Yes, yes, yes, I know that. But Psycho must be buried. And the Scalers...”
“We have to go after Merlin.”
“But what about Psycho? What about the Scalers?”
“Psycho’s in armor. He’ll survive. Beta will dig him out. And don’t tell me about Scalers! It’s because of them that we’re in this mess!”
Sweety sent an alternating charge across the outside surface of my faceplate and the mud and goo that clung to it melted away. I turned off the flash. We wouldn’t need it; we’d be safer without it. The Scalers needed light to see, and we didn’t. The tunnel faded to a dark green glow…only phantoms, in the dust. No further decisions necessary, I thought. I could feel that cold rush, again, crawling over my skin. I always accepted it, when only one possible course of action remained.
Now the Gods of Fate had us in their hands.
“Let’s go, Priestess. I’ve got my handgun, you use that E.”
“Thinker.” She reached out and touched my armor. “I...” She hesitated. “I want you to know. We might die...” She stopped, embarrassed. “I love you. I want to be yours…I want you to be mine. Please tell me...if I’m dreaming. Am I crazy? Do you love me?”
I reached over and touched her helmet. She was a shadowy creature of the dark, a demon in green, a lover from Hell, reflections glittering off her A-suit and helmet and that long evil E. Yes, yes, just the two of us, Thinker and Priestess against the world. Wasn’t that what I wanted? What I really wanted? Stop fighting it!
“I do love you,” I said. “And I want you. But what about Valkyrie? She’ll kill us, if she finds out.”
“I told you. I don’t care about her! All I want is to live with you. Forever!” The Gods of Fate. She knew exactly what she wanted. She was everything I was not. The dirtmen waited for us, up ahead.
“Yes. Yes, of course.” It was like a dream. No more decisions needed to be made. Just pledge myself to her forever, and walk down the tunnel together, to meet the dirtmen. I knew I wanted her more than anything.
“Do you take me forever, Thinker? So long as we both shall live?”
“Thinker and Priestess. On the cross. Forever!”
“Forever!”
“Let’s go, my Love. We have work to do.”
This unusual wedding may have been the most decisive thing I had ever done in my young life, short of joining the Legion. I knew that Valkyrie would certainly go out of orbit. But I did not feel that I had any say in the matter at all. Fate rolled over me in an irresistible wave. And if Valkyrie did find out, it would mean that we had survived. What, then, would there be to worry about? In the Legion we worried about life and death. Everything else was secondary. And my only worry at that moment was whether or not my marriage with Priestess would end in sudden, violent death before we even had the chance to explore the hidden secrets of each other’s hearts and bodies.
We began moving down the tunnel and found Scaler bodies with their heads crushed. It looked as if Merlin had put up a fight, but he must have lost his weapons in the cave-in. We switched our plasmapaks to
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