by S. E. Weir
The men blanched, giving her a concentrated flash of mental denial.
Link shook his head with a pained grimace. “I hope not. Fighting a war on two fronts is not conducive to our health. I suppose we can’t discount the idea. You are right; there are similarities.”
Will looked around. “So, what’s the plan?”
Link took a deep breath before he spoke. “The Empress is sending a delegation to them since they’ve turned tail and run. Perhaps to give themselves plausible deniability from this assassination attempt, perhaps not. But, she wants to send a large contingent to give them the option of revolutionizing their political and religious system.”
Maxim asked in disbelief, “Give them the option? After an assassination attempt?”
Phina cleared her throat. “That was before the attempt. ADAM told me afterward that Bethany Anne says the gloves are off.”
Link chuckled. “Which means that we will strongly support and encourage revolution in every possible way. Bethany Anne won’t stand for a status quo after that.”
Etheric Empire, QBS Emissary
“You’re useless!” Qartan bellowed in rage and disbelief. “You’re supposed to be one of the best we have! How could you fail?”
He stood in front of his throne-like chair and glared at the assassin lying prostrate in front of him. Two of his most loyal assassins stood behind the male in their postures of respectful obedience. The failure had one job, and not only did he botch that job, but he’d jeopardized any future attempts. “Now they know for sure we are targeting that abomination and will be more prepared later! Do you know what happens to those who attack Etherian citizens? Now, instead of a nice and tidy anonymous death, we have a live abomination still running around causing trouble!”
Qartan raged until he ran out of steam, then plopped into his chair and eyed the silent assassin with displeasure. “Well? Anything to say?”
The assassin—Qartan hadn’t bothered to learn his name—looked up with disillusioned anger in his eyes. Alarmed, as the assassin opened his mouth Qartan jumped up, cutting off the thoughts he had allowed to misfire.
“I believe what you were about to say was thank you for magnanimously allowing you to remain alive?”
The assassin got to his knees, allowing his anger to overtake self-preservation. “No. You are a tyrant! The target you sent me to kill was a young human girl. You said the goddess required this threat to be taken out, but how can a girl be a threat to a powerful goddess? Either you are lying or she is lying!”
“That’s sacrilege! This girl is an abomination and will always be one!” Qartan gave a curt gesture, and the first loyal assassin standing behind the failed one cut the kneeling Qendrok’s throat.
Thank the goddess Qartan had had the foreknowledge to have this confrontation in private! There could be no questions from his fellow acolytes about his right to rule or his goddess’ power. She would lead them on the right path. She would grant them ascension. They would have unimaginable power! Qartan had thrown in everything he had to align with her, and he would do all she asked.
Qartan dispassionately watched the assassins carrying the body of their former comrade out of the room. His mind spun with plans.
This abomination had fought off one of his best assassins? Let’s see what she could do with what he threw at her next.
Chapter Twenty
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Phinalina Residence
“There’s so much to do, Phina, and the wedding is happening so soon!” Alina lay on Phina’s bed, tears streaming down the sides of her cheeks.
Phina wasn’t sure how to respond as she cautiously sat down next to her best friend. Alina had blown into the apartment as the guys were leaving, saying that she hadn’t seen Phina in forever and they should “do something.”
She had followed Phina into her room and continued to cry while Phina was picking up things to put away that she hadn’t gotten to earlier.
Not sure what Alina needed, Phina’s mind grabbed onto her first thought. “Is there something wrong between you and Maxim? Are you guys okay?”
“Stars, yes.” Alina wiped her face with the backs of her hands. It didn’t help much. Phina grabbed tissues for her while Alina continued. “Maxim has been the best. A total rock. You know he could have been deployed while you were in your coma, but he requested to be stationed here so he could help and support me.”
She wiped her face with the tissues then grabbed Phina’s hand. “I know it wasn’t your fault, Phina, but I felt so alone at first with you not here. Plus, with being concerned about you, I was a mess.” She shook her head, tears still leaking. “It got better after a long while, and Maxim is the reason it did.”
Phina got teary-eyed herself while she tried to comfort Alina. “I’m sorry. I would have been here for you if I could have been. I’m happy you have Maxim, and I’m one hundred percent behind you both.” She gave Alina a long hug then continued, “So, if it isn’t Maxim, are you overwhelmed with finishing things for the wedding?”
Alina gave a watery laugh. “Yeah. I don’t know what is left to do. I feel like I’m going crazy.”
“You aren’t going crazy, but I think I can help.” Phina thought through the list Alina had shown her a couple of weeks before. “You have the location, right?”
Alina grabbed another tissue but she seemed to be calming down. “Yeah, it’s this awesome restaurant called Horizons that Maxim took me to for our first anniversary of when we started dating.” She smiled, and her eyes showed more excitement. “I can’t wait for you to see it, Phina. It’s amazing!”
Phina smiled, relieved Alina was responding and seeming to feel better. She moved to the next thing on the mental list. “Officiant?”
“Mal suggested her dad. We asked him, and he said yes.” Alina got up to throw away the tissues and wash her face and hands. Her voice echoed from the other room. “Which was a relief because I wasn’t sure who to ask if he said no.”
“Mister Prez? Nice!” Phina thought he would do a great job. His voice sounded good, too, which was part of what had kept her attention in her Ethics class.
Phina continued down the list. Dresses by Mal and Alina, of course. Food would be handled by the restaurant. “What about the flowers?”
“We could only get them for bouquets, but they look beautiful. They already showed them to me.” Alina smiled dreamily as she sat on the bed again. “The petals are so soft.”
Phina nodded, smiling in amusement. Knowing Alina, she was trying to think of how to get that texture into her clothes. “So, what colors are we in for?”
Alina blinked, then turned to Phina with a knowing look. “You mean, what will you have to suffer through? Don’t worry, it’s nothing terrible. The colors are a nice deep red, light pink, and white. Since I’m wearing white, you’ve got the red, and the bridesmaids are pink.”
Feeling relieved, Phina smiled at her friend. “Thanks, Alina.”
Her best friend grinned. “And to make you feel better, it’s the same design you asked me to make for the event that happened just after you went into your coma. So, no matter what, you should have things covered.”
Phina’s eyes widened. That event, the same one Anna Elizabeth had talked about to celebrate the diplomats, seemed so distant now. The dress had been one of the things she had looked forward to, and dresses and heels weren’t her thing. “Wow.” She hugged Alina tightly. “And here I thought I was trying to make you feel better. Thank you for thinking of me when it’s a day that’s all about you.”
Alina hugged her, tears threatening again. “Of course! You’re my best friend. If you aren’t happy, I’m not happy.”
After another gentle squeeze, Phina let go, and they quickly went through the rest of the list. Alina widened her eyes in amazement. “We do have everything done! I can’t believe it!”
Phina smiled at Alina’s response, then frowned as she realized two things were missing from the list that had featured in many of the rom-com movies A
lina enjoyed. “What about the bachelor party and your honeymoon?”
Alina deflated and sighed. “I don’t know. I should have asked Maxim what he was thinking about them, but I felt terrible about asking him to take more time for a honeymoon when he had arranged to be here so much for the past year. Besides, you guys are going somewhere right after the wedding and he’s going to need to be there for that.”
Phina frowned and pulled out her tablet to send a message asking Maxim what he was thinking for the honeymoon. While she waited for the answer, she asked Alina. “And the bachelor parties? Isn’t that something I’m supposed to help take care of?”
Alina nodded with a small frown of concern on her face and a huge sigh as she flopped onto the bed. “You and the best man. The problem is that Maxim doesn’t have one. He’s got five groomsmen and can’t decide who should be his best man. The wedding is in a few days!” She threw her hands up in exasperation. “It’s been driving me crazy!”
Phina’s tablet pinged with a message from Maxim saying he wasn’t sure what to do about the honeymoon with the delegation happening.
After taking a deep breath, Phina nodded, more to remind herself she could do it than to reassure Alina. “All right. Leave both of them to me. I’ll take care of it.”
Alina’s relieved smile was worth any effort.
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Diplomatic Institute
Phina breathed a sigh of relief that everything was coming together. After Alina had calmed down and left, she had messaged the groomsmen—Drk-vaen, Ryan Wagner, Todd Jenkins, Peter Silvers, and Craig Miller—and suggested that since there wasn’t an official best man and nothing had been figured out yet, they should reserve space for it in All Guns Blazing two nights before the wedding and combine the parties.
They could hang out for a while, and if they wanted to separate later, they could. It hadn’t taken long to get responses.
Sounds good. —Todd
Roger that. I’m considering adding a little something to the schedule afterward. —Ry
Phina had narrowed her eyes at that when she received a couple more.
I have reservations about anything Ryan has in mind. Otherwise, it sounds fine. —Drk
We should do something that Maxim would hate us for. Give him a night he’ll always remember. —P
Phina had rolled her eyes and raised a hand to reply when another message popped up.
That’s what I’m talkin’ about, man! Total embarrassment! —Ry
She thought about banging her head against the wall for having the idea. Alina was going to kill her if this got out of hand and it affected the wedding. She had only met the man briefly, but she had begun to hope Craig would be a voice of reason. Sadly her hopes had been dashed.
Wahoo! An evening with beer and the ladies, then guys' night out with exotic dancers and whiskey sounds good to me! —Craig
Add a lap dance for Maxim and we can call it a night. —Ry
Phina hadn’t known what to think about strippers and lap dances as she stared at her tablet. She barely felt curious about sex, let alone watching other people with minimal clothes on. She had shaken her head and decided to ignore it.
So, we’ll meet you guys at six at AGB and hang out for a while. I’m going to reserve it now. Then you guys can go do whatever while we do our own thing. I think we’ll come back to our place for pizza, Cokes, and ice cream and watch romantic action movies that have a splash of funny while we chat. See you all then! —Phina
She had figured she would use her full name so they didn’t confuse her for Peter. Putting it from her mind, she moved on to the next thing.
“Meredith, who do I talk to for reservations at All Guns Blazing?”
The EI’s voice came from the speakers in her room. “That would be Cheryl Lynn. Would you like me to connect you to her now?”
“That would be great, thanks, Meredith.”
She talked to Cheryl Lynn and made sure there would be enough space for the right timespan.
“Absolutely! Bethany Anne wondered if you would celebrate here and approved the areas needed for you whenever you need them. I’ll make sure we are ready for you.” The woman’s light voice sounded competent and professional but friendly.
“Wow! Thank you so much, Cheryl Lynn!” Phina had felt almost comfortable talking to the Empress now that the woman had put her on the floor so many times, but that Bethany Anne had thought to go out of her way to help make Maxim and Alina’s wedding special made Phina appreciate her more.
They disconnected and Phina saw she had several more messages.
That sounds good. Can I hang out with the females instead? —Drk
Come on, man! You’re killing me here. —Ry
I can’t help it if your mating rituals that aren’t mating rituals because you aren’t intending to mate are confusing. You humans have strange ideas. —Drk
You know, I’m in the same room with you... you could have told me this in person. —Ry
Phina had snickered at that.
Pizza and Cokes after a bunch of beers does sound good. —Todd
It does. I still think we need to do something embarrassing for him, though. —P
All right. Booze with the ladies, strippers and a lap dance for M, then we crash the ladies again for pizza and Cokes. Solid? —Craig
As Phina had finished reading this with eyebrows raised, responses from the rest of the guys came in with agreement and confirmations. Well, okay. She rolled her eyes at the guys’ nerve. Apparently, they were all right with inviting themselves over.
Here’s the list of all the guys who were on the guest list. You can decide who to invite. I don’t know how big a group you guys are thinking, but we will probably have about a dozen, maybe as many as fifteen if they all come. —Phina
She had gotten acknowledgments, and the group chat had gone quiet after that.
She wondered if they hadn’t realized she was still on the message thread. She chuckled about that as she entered the mostly empty classroom that had an open doorway.
After her meeting with the Empress, Phina had looked at the classes she still needed to pass and the upcoming trip and decided to message every teacher of the classes she still needed, asking them to allow her to test out. She invited them to make the tests as difficult as they liked but informed them that she needed to take them before she left the station. She’d requested that all the tests be administered over the next two days, and Anna Elizabeth had approved. So, five days before the wedding, she was about to take the first of several exams.
Her mind felt clear, her emotions weren’t all over the place, and her body felt fine. A far cry from when she had struggled before going to the Aurians’ planet.
She sat and nodded at the teacher overseeing her testing and accepted the first test. She looked it over briefly through to the end before looking up and smiling at Professor Emerson. He returned it thinly and with obvious disdain.
Oh well. It was a good thing there wasn’t a grade passed on how good her relationship was with the teacher, or she would have failed. As it was, she was confident she knew the material cold despite her suspicion that he had made it as difficult as possible.
The smile remained on her face as the teacher told her to begin.
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, All Guns Blazing
Phina entered All Guns Blazing the night of the party and looked around for someone in charge. She threaded her way to the bar through the friendly raucous crowd and asked for Cheryl Lynn. The bartender, whose name tag read Dave, looked up with a smile.
“Hi! Yes, she’s on her way out.”
She gave him a smile of thanks then waited until a woman walked toward her. She was dressed in what some people called business casual with a tablet in one hand and held her other hand out to Phina with a friendly smile. “Hi, I’m Cheryl Lynn. Come on through to the back where we have everything set up.”
The noise level dropped considerably when Phina followed Cheryl Lynn into the back room. She gla
nced around, then realized. “Noise dampener?”
“Yes. We didn’t want the sounds of the bar to get too loud for conversation.” Cheryl Lynn flashed an approving smile at Phina as she stopped at a grouping of booths with a wave. “What do you think? Is this enough space for your group?”
Phina looked around, counting seat space and comparing it to her mental list of everyone who had responded over the past few days. She had been sending a lot of messages in between her exams—which she had passed with flying colors, planning out Maxim and Alina’s honeymoon, and helping with preparations for the delegation. Fortunately, almost everyone could come even though it was last minute.
Sundancer had told her he would make himself scarce, but he would be paying attention in case the assassin came back.
She gave the other woman a small smile and nodded. “Yes, it looks great. Thank you.”
“Do you have any decorations or anything we can help you set up?” Cheryl Lynn looked at her expectantly, but Phina couldn’t help looking surprised and confused.
“Umm… Am I supposed to decorate? I haven’t done this before. I knew I should have looked it up.” Phina grimaced and took out her tablet.
A reassuring hand touched her shoulder, and she looked up to see Cheryl Lynn shaking her head with a small smile. “It’s all right. I asked because I want to help. If you don’t mind adding to the tab, I can put something together?”
Phina sagged in relief. “Thank you, that would be great. If you could also set up a tab for any drinks people get while we are here? Food, too, as long as it’s snacks.”
