by P. S. Power
Beth just shook her head, her hands moving to her stomach.
“It’s national. Replayed almost everywhere. Even in Marduk and the Chinoise. You’d have thought that someone might have mentioned that part? Well, no difficulty. It’s still the same show. Now, come in? As you might be imagining, no one has let me do more than operate my own fork in the last two weeks. I’ve even had to wrestle that away from people a few times. I’m about to go and demand the right to work. That’s a thing, right? You can help me with that part? I can… Really, I can help you with whatever you have going on? You almost always have something… Hmm?” She seemed hopeful.
It was pretty much true, too.
“You know, I do have some things. Some of them are just for me. School classes for instance. There’s some new training though? I don’t know if you heard about that?”
She clapped then and moved out of the doorway.
“The bit with Peter and Manly? That was a surprise! It’s supposed to start in a few weeks, after you and Baron Harrison go first as a test of the new protocols? I didn’t know that you two had met. I never have. Is he kind? He’s attractive. I’ve seen pictures, of course.” She was a Westmorland after all. They did things like that.
“He’s great. Um, we’re getting married? In three months? I-” She was going to say that she could use some help planning the wedding, but the screaming and carrying on was a bit too loud for that. So Gwen just took her hugs. Ethyl had been about the same when she passed the news to her.
“Gwen! I’m so happy for you! This is amazing. Fast, too. Are you…” She looked at Gwen’s stomach.
“Still a virgin? Why yes, I am. Thanks for asking. Though Pete did set me up with some birth control. It’s just… After this training, Tomas is going into the military. There’s a war on. I have things to do as well. We need more people doing that. I don’t suppose anyone has volunteered yet?”
Bethany seemed surprised, but happy.
“Gwen… Hundreds have applied. We have one hundred applicants just for the women’s side of the Special Service! We’ve…” She looked around, then had Gwen sit on a low sofa like thing. It took a moment, but her best friend settled directly next to her. “This is a secret, but we have twenty men and women that have volunteered to learn using the old protocols. Powerful individuals. No one thought that would ever happen. Adam cried when Peter and Manly told him about that part. I mean, publically wept. He wasn’t the only one either.” She teared up a bit, but smiled at the same time. “They even know what they’re going into. I suggested that they use the new protocols as well. It’s a bit kinder. Not much, but…”
Gwen nodded.
“Yeah. I get you there. We’ll probably have to do both. Now, I need to get to work! First though, I owe a certain Katherine about a day and a bit of pure pleasure. Hopefully that won’t burn her mind out. Or mine. After that? I think we need to get things set up to take out the Europans. They made a mistake, attacking my people.”
She said it that way on purpose. Because it was true. Finally. These were her friends. Her family.
No one was going to harm them. Not if she could stop them.
Working together, she was almost certain they could set that up.
For the first time, Gwen didn’t feel like she had to face the world alone. That made her dangerous, she decided. She liked the feeling and wasn’t going to let it go so that some crazy idiots could feel like they were big men. Or whatever the real issue was.
That part wasn’t important. What was, in that moment, was that her people were under attack.
She grinned then and talked about the wedding. They couldn’t stop living after all. Not if they were going to keep going on after the battles came.
Which she fully intended to do. No matter what it took to make that happen.
