Metcalf released her hand and took several paces back. He bowed politely. When she reached the center of the pile, Kuko turned and faced her admiring audience. While the Valkyrie cheered, she curtseyed several times as if a prima ballerina. There she stood on the pile of moaning bodies, blood-drenched blade in one hand, blowing kisses with the other. Sweetly, she thanked Metcalf’s team in the artistic vernacular of the Castile language.
“Merci Mesdames et Messieurs.”
First Lieutenant Julius Schreck, the guard who had tossed the flag to the ground and for that had been slapped off the platform was pacing the shore like a caged animal.
She looked at him as he paced, shaking her head. Her eyes and skin were slowly returning to their natural shade of rich green.
The guard who had helped Pegasus from The Lance still stood at her side, still clutching her bag, as if the bag gave his life purpose. Kuko approached the guard, her eyes more quizzical than angry. He stood at attention, head bowed at an angle that represented embarrassed humiliation within the Nazz culture.
“Your name?” she asked, even though he wore his rank and nametag.
“Second Lieutenant Erhard Heinden, Madame General.”
“Look at me Second Lieutenant Erhard Heinden.”
He looked up.
“I was not watching when you first saw my friend Pegasus. How did you receive her?”
He was surprised at the question, firmly believing she would immediately crush his skull and break his bones like the others. He decided to use his last breath to speak the truth.
“Madame General. I, too was rude and condescending. I felt annoyed waiting upon a Valkyrie. And her pearly-white skin made it worse.” He dare not say anything about her homely horse-like face.
“I see,” Kuko replied with a blank expression. She continued to study his bright yellow eyes.
Second Lieutenant Erhard Heinden continued to stand at attention, continued to look forward, regretting his arrogant mistake, unable to engage her eyes.
“Well?” she finally asked.
He immediately turned to face Pegasus. “Madame Colonel of the Valkyrie. Please allow me to apologize for my rudeness. Even between enemies, respect should be the basis of all engagements.”
Pegasus looked at him. He actually seemed sincere. “Apology accepted, Second Lieutenant Heinden.”
“Come with me please,” Kuko said as she turned her back to him. By now, all the Valkyrie had walked over to their side of the fence and locked the gates behind them. Their faces were pressed against the fence in anticipation of what Kuko would do next.
She walked to the pile of broken bodies. As Metcalf had suggested she do, Kuko had landed each punch, kick, and slash perfectly, the result being arms and legs broken, feet and hands crushed, blood flowing around the shurikens and darts that had blinded and crippled. Yet, despite all this, they were very much alive. She wanted them to continue to enjoy the pain of their mistakes.
“Roll off the top ones until you get to Knobknoster. He’s near the bottom, I think,” she instructed Heinden. She looked like a grocer examining fruit, looking for the bad one at the bottom of the pile.
Colonel Knobknoster looked up at Kuko with wild eyes, unable to speak because his voice box was crushed. He had a shuriken in each elbow and knee, and a slice from a razor-sharp knife across his left eye. Kuko bent down and removed his rank and affiliation pin, and then as she stood, casually kicked sand in his face.
Kuko held out her palm in front of Second Lieutenant Heinden. He immediately came to attention, removing his rank and pin and placing them in her hand. She put his pins in her flight jacket and then to his complete shock said, “You are hereby field-promoted to the rank of colonel and are now commander of Outpost Okinawa.”
She fastened his new rank pin, a silver eagle with its head turned to the left, on his lapel. A red swastika also appeared in her hands. She stared into his eyes as she pinned it to his lapel. Heinden gulped, realizing what she had just done. He was not just a subjugator, something he had dreamed about since he was a child. He was now a high-level commander of subjugators.
She saluted. He stood there for a few seconds with his mouth open, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Pegasus gave him a friendly elbow to the ribs. The new Colonel Heinden finally closed his mouth and saluted back.
“Congratulations Colonel Erhard Heinden,” Kuko said brightly as if this had been some light-hearted gala where the best dressed were presented a bouquet of flowers. For Kuko, this event had been about as gay as it gets.
“Having seen what I did to your comrades and knowing you were looking at your death, you were brave and honest. This is the mark of a true Nazz. That’s more than I can say for some.” She glanced down at the defrocked Haig Knobknoster. She loathed him from the first moment they met many thousands of years ago. She gave Knobknoster a parting gift as she kicked another mouthful of sand at him.
Kuko turned her attention to Pegasus. “It’s been good to spend some time with you, old friend, if only briefly.” She gave Pegasus a long embrace. Pegasus did not reply; she only smiled and returned the embrace, feeling good in Kuko’s strong, confident arms. Kuko gently caressed her on the cheek. Her fingers were as soft as rose petals. She softly kissed her lips, and then whispered in her ear. “It’s been a long time for me, but I haven’t forgotten about us.” Pegasus was overjoyed as she fought back tears.
“Aaahhhhh,” the Valkyrie on the other side of the fence sighed.
Pegasus gave them a rude gesture as she kissed Kuko again, and then allowed her hand to slide down and pull Kuko’s buttocks toward her.
“You are so attractive,” Kuko said softly. “Your face holds the beauty of strength.”
“Even after four thousand years?”
“Even after a million.”
Pegasus melted as Kuko’s hand stroked her buttocks and then pulled her thighs tightly against her.
“But there’s something I need you to know. You have to understand the truth of these things,” Kuko whispered, as her face grew serious. She looked at Pegasus’ long forehead and kissed it while she ran her fingers through Pegasus’ short, stark-white hair. She knew Pegasus was a mere child in comparison to her, and that she knew very little of what happens when a full complement of Nazz warriors commanded by Indra himself engage in unlimited planetary warfare. She especially knew nothing about the career-ending deception Kuko had just committed against her.
“Know that even if the next time we see each other, and Indra has compelled me to kill you, and I seem to have become the most treacherous, heartless monster you have ever seen, never think that I don’t love you.”
Pegasus nodded stiffly, swallowing hard, a tear trickling down her face.
Kuko released her and took a deep breath. She nodded toward a small ship on the horizon, swiftly approaching the Valkyrie side of the island.
She gave Pegasus one more short, tender kiss on the cheek. “So now, enough of this. Don’t delay. Your ship will be here soon. I have a few more things to clean up, but you must be on your way.”
Kuko composed herself as Pegasus walked to the gate, clutching her bag tightly. Kuko knew there was nothing she could do about their relationship. What she had said was an absolute truth — Pegasus was loyal to King Joshua — Kuko was loyal to Indra — and that was that.
Major Butler Metcalf stood alone at the far tip of Outpost Okinawa, watching the sails of the small supply ship slip into the Rakta. Not speaking, looking neither right nor left, Kuko marched up to First Lieutenant Julius Schreck, dug her fingernails into his ear, twisted his arm behind him, and propelled him over to the copilot’s side of her 1,500-year-old fighter.
She angrily pushed the ramps out of the way and jumped into her seat. Metcalf could see the razor thin lines of silver marching across her eyes. First Lieutenant Julius Schreck looked perfectly terrified as Kuko shouted at him from underneath the fighter’s canopy.
Seconds later, she was out of sight.
Metcalf suspected Kuko would pull g-forces that would, quite literally, tear Schreck’s guts apart. She would probably force him to eat his own vomit should he get sick. But the ride would be the least of his worries — just a warm-up to Doctor Mangler’s Information Extraction Centers, his torture chambers. Schreck would pay dearly for dropping that green flag.
As the last ripples from the supply ship disappeared, Metcalf relaxed knowing that Pegasus was safe and far away from Kuko Kiena. Many o-hearts be breakin fore Smigyl’s trip ta Salvington. Poor Pegasus. Her’s be da first.
Chapter 30
New Friends
Know where you are. Know whom you worship. Play by their rules. Suffer the consequences of your mistakes. That is always true. However, when you are in love with the Angels, no matter what, you can always count upon their amazing capacity to forgive.
—Collin Striker
Oceania
Once again, the door chime at Josephine’s store caught Collin by surprise. It’s much too pleasant to welcome a shit like me, he thought.
He heard voices and looked around the boutique. Rachmiel, Josephine’s store clerk, was standing with several Angels, commenting on how lovely they were in the newest fashions Josie had just received. Josephine’s office door was closed. He walked to it and gave two gentle knocks. He listened intently without being so obvious as to put his ear to the door, but he heard nothing.
He walked to the back door, opened it, and stuck his head out. He closed the door, deciding to try the door to her upstairs apartment. The door to Michelle’s apartment suddenly opened, and she stepped out wearing a purple, loose-fitting, almost sheer bathrobe with large yellow flowers.
“Hey, Collin,” she said casually. She did not seem surprised to see him.
“Sorry to disturb, Michelle. But I was looking for Josephine.” Collin had felt his conversation with Josephine last night had been cut short, and he wanted to finish it.
“She left a few hours ago. Said she was going for a walk.” Michelle did not mention how disoriented Josephine seemed. Normally, Josephine was pure focus, especially first thing in the morning. However, today she was drunk with distraction. “How did it go yesterday?”
Collin took a deep breath. Had this been anyone other than Michelle, Collin would have said nothing, but she sounded genuinely concerned.
“Come in so we can talk. I was just going to get a bottle of water,” she said stepping back and gesturing him in.
“I’ll get you one,” he said, knowing that Frank’s store sold filtered, sweet drinking water.
“There’ll be a bottle at the back door,” she said as she handed him her empty bottle.
Collin opened the back door, and sure enough, there was a fresh 20-liter bottle with a tag that said ‘Michelle’ attached to the top. He was certain nothing had been there only seconds earlier.
He started to take the empty over to Frank’s when a thought entered his mind. Just leave it there; I’ll get it later. Collin reflexively set the empty bottle down. He suspected the voice was Fran’s. It was her handwriting on the bottle label.
Collin walked back to Michelle’s apartment, removed the cap from the empty bottle, and upturned it into the dispenser.
“Would you like some tea?” Michelle asked as she closed the door behind him.
Collin noticed a small wince of pain on her face.
“How are you healing? We’ll need to check you for infection and change your bandages soon.”
“Rather painful,” she replied, not trying to hide the grimace on her face. “Worse than I expected.”
Collin just nodded.
“Do you want to take a look now?” she asked.
“Do you have any antiseptics and bandages?”
“Sure. I’ll get them,” Michelle replied as she walked into her bathroom. She came back with a large box of bandages and other medical supplies. It struck him that this was probably not the first time bodyguard Michelle Israfel had returned from Eden with serious wounds. She probably kept a good stock of supplies.
He took the box and laid it on the small dining table, opened it, and surveyed the contents. Just as he looked up, she undid the cord at her waist and let her robe drop to the floor.
“You really are testing me, aren’t you?” he asked, forcing himself to maintain eye contact.
“Yep,” she replied with a smile.
He turned back to the box and retrieved a pair of surgical scissors.
“Why? Don’t you find me attractive?” she asked as he turned back toward her.
Although quite unexpected, she had said the magic words: ‘Don’t you find me attractive?’
Collin had lived with the Angels on Oceania for 388 L2 years. During that time, which translated into 4,656 Eden years, he had made his fair share of incarnations. He had learned one immutable truth — irrespective of whether you lived with the Angels in the Celestial or while incarnated into the flesh, they pretty much think and feel the same way.
And, irrespective of how playfully they said those words, he knew to take them seriously. Her tough expression melted for a second, although he saw how quickly she recovered. To avoid embarrassing her, he pretended not to notice. Rather, he focused on her primary wound, the one on her right forearm where Zohar’s feces-laden blade had struck, the one with the highest risk of infection.
He gently took her hand and lifted it. “Just let your hand rest on my arm while I clip the bandage.” He took his time, knowing that some of the raw skin had probably welded itself to the gauze. He continued to speak as he cut. “In fact, Michelle, from the moment I saw you, I thought you were quite cute.”
“Cute, but not beautiful, like Josephine?”
“There are very few who are as beautiful as Josephine.”
He continued to delicately clip away at the bandage. “But truth be known…”
He stopped again and looked at her with more seriousness on his face. “This is a private conversation, right?”
She nodded yes.
Collin focused more intently. “Just between me and you?”
“Of course, just between you and me.”
“Truth be known, Michelle, cute is my preference. And this body of yours…”
He let his gaze slide down her nude, bright yellow body. She could feel his attention gently caress her. “Yours is exactly what I find attractive, desirable. The slender, athletic build. Petite breasts. Buttocks like plate steel. I’m sure there’s someone out there that really finds you special.” Then he returned his attention to her bandage, carefully lifting the gauze pad around the edges.
“No, not really,” she replied.
Collin looked back at her. “No? Why not? Even a bodyguard needs to have her own life.”
“That’s not the problem. Josephine is very generous with allowing me time for my own life. It’s just…”
Collin carefully examined the wound. It was red and inflamed. “How’s this?” he asked as he applied some pressure with a fresh piece of gauze.
“Ow, and…”
Collin looked at her. All her toughness was gone.
“I know just what you need,” Collin said with a wink and a smile.
“What?” Michelle responded uneasily.
“You need to get some clothes on.”
She smiled and shook her head. “That’s probably a good idea.” She walked to the other side of the room, pulled open a drawer to her armoire, and retrieved a bra. With her wound exposed, she was having difficulty putting it on.
“Here, let me help you with that.”
From behind her, Collin took the bra from her hands and carefully helped her guide her damaged arm through first. She could feel the front of his trousers brush against her bare buttocks. Then he knelt down to help her put one leg at a time in some loose fitting shorts. He slowly pulled them up, letting his cheek delicately graze her buttocks and then gently took her by the hand and led her back to the other side of the room.
He gently swabbed an antibiotic and
analgesic cream on her wound, and applied a new gauze and bandage. He lifted the scissors and began to cut away the next bandage.
“So, tell me, Michelle,” he said without looking up. “When was the last time you got laid? Some Angel friends of mine would find you quite …”
“Ha,” she snorted. “You really get right to the point, don’t you? I guess I can see why someone as candid as Josephine finds you attractive.” As he lifted off the next bandage and examined the wound, she noticed he looked embarrassed.
“Look Collin,” she began. “It’s true that Laura and I came pretty close to hacking you up yesterday. But now I have a little more perspective and think you’re…”
“I’m an idiot is what I am.”
“Well, yeah, granted that, but still…”
“Oh, no. You don’t know this part,” he said as he looked up at her with a twisted smile. He shook his head and looked at the ceiling. “I didn’t know who she was.”
“It takes time to get to know someone, doesn’t it? There’s a lot of depth behind that beautiful face of hers, so it would…”
“No,” Collin interrupted. “I didn’t know she was the Theatre commander. I didn’t know she was my commanding officer. I didn’t even know she was Valkyrie. It’s bad enough what I did, but for it to turn out to be with my commander? I’m an idiot.”
He sliced through another bandage, flung it in the garbage can, and began to pry away the gauze pad.
“When did you figure it out?” Michelle asked.
“Yesterday.”
“Yesterday? You didn’t know until yesterday? You’re kidding me, right? Who did you think was in charge?”
“General Ithuriel Astiro,” Collin replied meekly as he glanced up at her, shaking his head, and then resumed dabbing her wounded arm with cream.
Collin knew what Michelle would say. Oh well, Col. You really messed up this time didn’t you? Throw away your career for a piece of ass. If you haven’t done so already, call up Kahmael right now and turn in your resignation.
Lilith: Eden's Planetary Princess (The Michael Archives Book 1) Page 20
