“…well, whatever. I’ll be waiting for you right here.”
As Frank opened the door to his store, David approached. Frank closed his eyes and shook his head as he looked down. Collin could easily see the words he mouthed.
“Oh no.”
Chapter 22
Deceiving a Friend in Service to My God
Doesn’t that make it all right?
–Question asked by Religious Zealots everywhere
Elysium
As consciousness returned to Pegasus, she heard light-hearted voices around her. When she opened her eyes, Kuko was sitting across from Salecia, straddling a simple wooden chair with the back facing them. Kuko’s lovely rich green face was filled with life. It struck Pegasus just how beautiful Kuko was.
“Oh. How long was I asleep?” she asked as she tugged at the chair’s handle to sit upright.
“Long enough to miss Rahu’s nonsense,” Kuko replied sarcastically.
“Lucky you. Once the Smigyl clan got inside, Rahu just couldn’t stop himself from talking about how wonderful Smigyl was and thus by extension how wonderful he was. Patanjali then had to talk about how freaking wonderful he was too. You know, his typical crap. ‘May all of Eden rejoice at the presence of Lord Smigyl, the undisputed God of all Satania. May all with the capacity of recognition, now recognize that all upon Eden have now been blessed by the mere touch of his enlightened feet…’ blah, blah, blah. Castor looked like he wanted to stab needles in his ears and claw out his eyes.”
Pegasus laughed. The rest of the room starting laughing, too. Pegasus looked around as she shook off her dullness. Kuko had not been speaking in a quiet voice and everyone else in the room had turned to listen. Even though she was surrounded by the enemy, Pegasus unexpectedly felt safe.
And she felt that way, because that was exactly what Kuko wanted her to feel.
“I am lucky today,” Pegasus said to Kuko, smiling.
“This is our new pilot’s lounge,” Kuko said, quickly changing the subject with a gentle sweep of her hand. “What do you think?”
Pegasus followed the play of Kuko’s gestures, admiring the comfortable accommodations. She knew Kuko had thrown her into the deep end of Dek etiquette and from this moment, every detail of her manners would forever reflect on the Valkyrie.
She was relieved to see that a potentially embarrassing book had disappeared. Because General Kiena had established her as a friend, what a friend would do, in the presence of friends is stand and stretch. So, she stood and casually stretched.
Pegasus put her full attention on the room, making sure her appreciation showed, as she deliberately walked around the massive space, taking her time to examine features both large and small — but not all; to become tedious under these situations would be poor manners.
She strolled over to the long window on the far side of the room and scanned across the beautiful runway complex. It was the largest she had seen. She looked for only a few seconds before turning back to the group. It would have been rude to gawk at top-secret Luftforce technology. However, it would have been stupid not to get at least one good look if it were offered. If there was one thing that aggravated Nazz officers, it was stupidity.
Pegasus and Kuko exchanged the proper sequence of Dek bows with the rest of the room and then departed.
Chapter 23
The God of Love
After a while, you lose count. Most of my incarnations were with the Valkyrie and The Sisters of Mercy. But a few were within the houses of the Overlords. There are many distinctions, but if you really want to boil it down to one primary difference, see what happens after you make a stupid mistake. There is the response of those loyal to the God of Love, and then there are the rest.
–Collin Striker
Oceania
'Northern Venom. Prince Beliar Rages. Millions killed. Hundreds of Personalities Unaccounted for. Statement from Lady Sipheria Expected Soon.’
After Collin read the headlines, he threw the newspaper in the trashcan. He was sick of seeing it. He returned to the park and sat down.
He prayed that Britt’s last jaunt into material flesh had been far from Venom and not part of Frank’s botched mission. But if she was on Venom, Collin would have rather seen Britt killed than captured. When Prince Beliar captured an Angel, and he was just the type of beast who could smell an Angel, at best it meant the nightmare of his torture chambers. At worst, it meant plucked and vanishing from the face of existence for all time.
Collin watched David greet Frank. Frank stood outside his store, bravely awaiting the next level of ass chewing. Collin could tell Frank was surprised when David only said a brief hello and then invited Frank to join him in Josephine’s shop where she waited.
Whatever news David delivered, hit Josephine hard. She grabbed her stomach and bent over, supporting her head in her palm. The glass windows were tinted, but Collin could still see the anguish on her face. She was crying so hard she was shaking.
A moment later, Michelle, Laura, and Rachmiel, Josephine’s clerk and personal assistant, joined the others, and then as if from nowhere, Collin saw Fran appear. All seven fell to their knees, heads bowed down. David raised his head after a few moments. Collin could not read his lips, but it was obvious he was praying. Collin had seen the Valkyrie pray for a fallen comrade many times. He wondered where Janene was.
Frank walked out. He entered his store with his face down, shaking his head at the sidewalk. Ten minutes later, he emerged with a six-pack of ale. “The condemned might as well have a drink as they await their fate,” Frank said when he joined Collin.
They had yet to say anything when they opened their second ale. Laura emerged from Frank’s store and approached the two men, carrying a bag. She was wearing a pretty, light purple summer dress, her face no longer a stressed dingy yellow. She appeared just the way Collin had always seen her. And even though he now knew the truth about her, it would have been impossible to determine this young and tender-looking Angel was an intense warrior. Collin was glad her bright, canary-yellow, healthy glow had returned to her face, though it was troubling to see the limp in her step.
“Here,” she said as she handed the bag to Collin. “This isn’t over yet and right now neither of you needs to be drinking on an empty stomach.”
“Thanks,” Collin said. Laura studied him, a small curious smile on her face. He waited for her comment, but she said nothing, just gave the slightest of nods, and then walked away.
Collin dug in the bag and retrieved several sandwiches, some dried fruits and nuts, crackers, and an assortment of cheese. Collin and Frank sat in silence, sipping ale, taking bites out of their sandwiches, and tossing the crumbs to the fish as they patiently awaited their fate.
Collin had watched carefully how Josephine greeted David. The body language could not have been more tender, loving, and personal.
He’s her father. That’s who he is, Collin thought.
Their embrace triggered a flash of memory in Collin’s mind. He had seen these two greet each other before. He thought about it, and then remembered. It was long ago, right after Collin was assigned to Satania, right after Ellanora’s victory on Planet Panoptia and right before Collin’s first missions into Eden. He remembered David’s face and more importantly, the uniform he wore.
General David Pesagniya. A five-starred general, of course. “How many freaking five-starred generals are there in Nebadon?” Collin complained out loud.
“Too many,” Frank offered as he stretched back, lacing his fingers behind his head. He sucked in a deep breath. Collin looked over at him. The bruises stood out on his face. He realized he had not looked at Frank since he sat down.
“Let’s see. There’s Sipheria. And since normally you get only one five-star per Local Universe, that one would be plenty enough, if you ask me,” Frank said. “Uriel, of course. Then there’s Sipheria’s good friend, Cytheia of Ninveth. She isn’t a resident, but she still comes through fairly often. She’s usually nice enough, un
less of course you piss her off. And beyond that there are always a handful of the things coming through to see King Joshua and scrutinize our work on Eden, which is a real pain in the ass,” Frank said shaking his head.
“On the bright side, they frequently incarnate here and there around Satania just to annoy Smigyl and the other Overlords. But if you count the one-stars and up, I don’t know, there must be hundreds, maybe thousands. Who can say? I don’t think even Sipheria is able to keep up with all the Supernaphim and where they are and what they’re doing.” And let’s not forget about Josie’s mom. Humph, you think I gave you a hard time? You ain’t seen nothing yet, you poor bastard.
“Then, of course… there’s General David Pesagniya,” Frank added a moment later, nodding toward Josie’s and allowing his tired eyes to fall on Collin’s worried face. “I guess you know, or at least have heard, that Kahmael and his father Machiventa Melchizedek are powerful and ill-tempered…”
Frank slowly shook his head. “Those two are cream-puffs compared to what David can do to you. You remember what happened on Panoptia? Wiped clean of every single fish, bird, mammal, and reptile? That was a General David Pesagniya project from the beginning. So, just because he looks gentle and seems like a nice guy and talks with a soft calm voice, never underestimate that creature for a second.”
Collin could see the stress in Frank’s eyes. Frank looked down at the pond blankly. His upcoming meeting with Pesagniya would not be like the one he had just had with Josephine and Kahmael. Frank knew Josephine was right now filling David in on how Frank’s ‘poor decisions’ had led to Prince Beliar having a much more solid hold over Northern Venom. Frank knew if he tried to justify his recent actions on Venom, he was perfectly defeated before he ever started to defend himself.
“David is Josephine’s father, isn’t he?” Collin said, forgetting about Frank’s problems and worrying about his own. “I’m so dead.”
There was a long moment of silence.
“You know I can’t say anything about that,” Frank finally said.
“So does that put David at the top? I thought that was Machiventa Melchizedek.”
“Mac is the top Valkyrie commander of Nebadon. David is just an outside observer — an observer from outside the Local Universe of Nebadon, requested by King Joshua personally. But that’s all I can say about that.”
Collin and Frank sat on the bench for several more hours, watching how the colors around them changed with the setting green moon.
The front door to Josie’s Boutique opened. They simultaneously looked up to see David emerge. His face held no sympathy as he gave a subtle gesture, pointing from one to the other and then wiggling his index finger, ‘come here’.
Collin and Frank walked toward him as if approaching a firing squad.
“Is now a good time, Frank?” he asked politely.
“Yes, sir,” Frank replied and walked toward his store. Frank wondered where they should meet since he had destroyed his upstairs apartment earlier that morning. He had no idea what kind of shape his private office was in. He kicked himself for not cleaning up and getting a little better prepared. In just a few seconds, though, he would find his office had been completely cleaned up, looking used but organized. He would figure out later how to thank Fran.
“Striker, I’ll find you. Okay? We have things to talk about.” David’s voice was not the same friendly one from earlier in the day.
“Yes, sir. Of course,” Collin replied, but David had not waited for his response. He was already walking away with Frank.
Collin closed his eyes. Here goes. The friendly chime welcomed him as he walked into Josephine’s store. No one was visible, but he heard voices.
Chapter 24
Cunning
Pegasus was compassionate. I was cunning. You might think that gave me the advantage. And I did win in the short term. Luckily, she won in the long run.
—Kuko Kiena
Elysium
Kuko and Pegasus walked side by side down the wide hallway. Pegasus marveled at how the Nazz seamlessly slipped past each other at every intersection. She could only imagine how these large intersections looked under a battle stations full alert — the symphony of precision and focus as thousands of sprinting Nazz warriors swept past each other without a single collision.
“This way,” Kuko said quietly when Pegasus started to walk down the first hall Salecia had used to take her to the cafeteria. “We can stay dry. We had your transport towed to a hangar to protect it from Eden’s polluted rain. Here, I’ll show you.”
A few steps later, Kuko said, “This takes us to the rear hangar complex where we store a lot of transports and fighters.” Kuko gestured to Pegasus to follow her to the left where they intersected with another wide hallway.
Kuko saw a touch of worry cross Pegasus’ face. She had full faith in Salecia’s acupressure techniques but knew it was a matter of time before Pegasus would start to worry about her transport craft.
Kuko periodically scanned Pegasus’ face, waiting for just the right moment. If she was correct and her timing exact, then the outcome would also be exact. Within this particular game, it was important to ensure that the satisfaction of Pegasus’ worry came from Kuko. Suspicions would arise if she waited until Pegasus’ intellect became fully conscious and discovered what was missing.
“Oh,” Kuko said a few seconds later, as if remembering something important. She reached into a pouch on her belt and fumbled just the right number of seconds, to produce the keys. She gave them a playful shake, followed by a casual warrior’s toss into Pegasus’ open palm. “You’ll be wanting these, I think,” you stupid little idiot.
At the end of the hallway, the doors opened into a large machine shop bustling with activity. The shop was surprisingly quiet despite the continuous flow of parts and people. The Nazz were not ones to make unnecessary noise or to sit around idly. Anyone who made a racket was deemed sloppy in technique. If a worker was fatigued, he went to his quarters to sleep. To sit about dully was a sign of an inefficient, lazy mind — a high sin within Nazz ranks.
The doors on the opposite wall opened into a massive hangar complex. There were dozens of ships inside, most in different states of dismantle and repair, while others sat on the periphery, stored under protective cloth.
“She’s over here,” Kuko said. It took a full minute to cross the immense hangar. Periodically, Kuko stopped to point out a new ship. Castor’s bodyguard, Reginald had intentionally parked the Lanonandek transport on the opposite side of the room, the furthest away from the machine shop, ensuring that the transport was not physically, and therefore in Pegasus’ mind, not conceptually associated with the machine shop. A massive protective cover had been erected around and above the transport craft to keep out dust.
An intimidating guard stood attentively at the entrance to the cover. He gave a small smile and respectful nod as they approached. He unzipped the door and held back the flap. Kuko had chosen him specifically for the job. The combination of his appearance and manners along with the protective cover were intended to create a sense of trust.
Kuko was pleased to see it working — Pegasus’ face relaxed when she finally saw how her craft was safely tucked away. Someone had taken great care to wash and dry the outside. Pegasus approached the hatch to the cockpit, but when she pulled on the latch, it did not budge.
“Oh, I hope you don’t mind,” Kuko said. “We locked her up as best we could. The Nazz are such fanatics when it comes to flying. We wanted to keep prying eyes and busy fingers away from the controls.”
Kuko paused a second, looking troubled. Pegasus looked at her, awaiting bad news.
“However, I can’t guarantee that we can keep Castor away much longer. I’m sure the second he’s finished with the Smigyl business, he’ll want to give her a good coat of wax.”
And with that, Kuko had pulled Pegasus even deeper into her confidence. “He really can’t help himself, you know.”
Pegasus knew this about Kuk
o’s brother. ‘Why apply just two coats of wax when three is better?’ Castor Mayhew was known to say.
Without suspicion, she unlocked the pilot’s hatch and looked around. She ran her fingertips over the various handles to ensure everything was locked down, noting the red button cover was still in place.
Kuko gave a few suspicious glances as if to see if anyone was around to hear. For a second, her eyes fell on the guard outside, who was easy enough to see through the semi-transparent cloth. With a little nudge of her head, she directed Pegasus to follow her to the other side of the craft where she stopped in front of the main hatch.
Kuko whispered. “Indra doesn’t care if you have to wait around until he’s finished meeting with Smigyl. And of course, Smigyl could care even less. But I thought the polite thing to do was let you know what’s happening. It should come as no surprise that Indra is scheming.” Kuko flashed Pegasus a wry smile. It was just Pegasus and her friend Kuko against the inconsiderate Indra and Smigyl.
“Indra wants to keep Smigyl here three to five years to draw him into the planning.”
“Three to five years!” Pegasus shrieked. “And they expect me to just hang around and wait?”
Kuko had agonized over what believable time-period to say. She nodded with just the right amount of sympathy, wondering if Pegasus would respond as hoped.
“So, Castor and I were thinking. First, we’re more than happy to set you up with your own private bedroom in the pilot’s area if you like.” Kuko allowed time for Pegasus to digest the idea of living around the Nazz for a few years.
She gently touched Pegasus’ arm, a deeply sincere expression on her face. “And you do understand that you’d be welcomed here as an honored guest.” There was acceptance on Pegasus’ face though no touch of enthusiasm. Even as an honored guest, the Nazz were quite aggravating to live with.
Lilith: Eden's Planetary Princess (The Michael Archives Book 1) Page 15
