The Callisto Gambit
Page 43
“Good,” Colden said. “And now, back to more important topics. Goto, you’re getting married!?”
★
Kiyoshi slipped out of the sacristy and hurried around the back of the church to where Molly was waiting with Cydney Blaisze and Miss Mercury 2291.
“She’s coming,” he muttered.
It was twenty past noon. The congregation had swelled to standing room only at the back, as off-duty CEF personnel dropped in for the entertainment value of the first wedding ever to be held on Mars.
“What on earth happened?” Molly said, her eyes round.
Kiyoshi quickly explained how Jun had arranged a reunion between Elfrida and her friends from the Space Corps. “So they’re coming, too.” He told her what she had to do—if she would.
“Sure,” Molly said, heading for the door. “I didn’t want to be a bridesmaid, anyway.”
★
Half an hour later, the organ struck up a distinctly untraditional wedding march. It was the instrumental overture of the St. Stephen Oratorio.
Father Lynch, as the officiant, entered first from the sacristy. Mendoza—looking haggard, but relieved—followed him, and Kiyoshi followed him. As best man, he wore his SSSA uniform. He might’ve been imagining the hostile stares from the back of the church, but he didn’t think so. Mars was the junta’s private playpen. The average CEF guy or gal had a kneejerk dislike for the ‘political types’ in the SSSA. So, for that matter, did the average civilian.
The crowd of casual spectators at the back parted. Elfrida’s mother, Ingrid Haller, entered the church in a modest mother-of-the-bride outfit.
After her came Cydney and Miss Mercury 2291, holding hands, waving to people they knew, and generally hogging the spotlight. In Kiyoshi’s non-expert opinion, their bridesmaids’ dresses were extremely unflattering, so that was something.
They stopped to pose for photographs. Kiyoshi inwardly rolled his eyes.
After a couple of minutes, he realized they were deliberately stalling for time.
★
Outside, in what had been the airlock of the NASA hab block and was now the vestibule of the church, Elfrida wept with frustration and stress. “It’s too long! I can’t walk in it, Dad, I’ll trip!”
“Just give me one second,” said Molly. She was crawling around Elfrida, turning up the hem of her dress and securing it with splart.
“You’re not shortening it enough!”
“Why are you so terrified of tripping?” Molly said.
“Let’s just say I have a history of embarrassing myself in public. Plus, low gravity.” Elfrida wiped her eyes, and smeared her eye make-up all over her cheeks. “Turn it up more, please!”
“I already started,” Molly said. “It’ll be uneven.”
Colden said, “Should I go in first? They’ll be so busy staring at me, they won’t notice if you do trip.”
“No!” Elfrida said. “Wait for me!”
“You really should’ve worn heels,” Colden said. “If you’re gonna faceplant, do it in style.”
“Um. I might have something that would help,” said a soft voice from behind them.
Elfrida twisted around.
In the doorway of the church stood Alicia Petruzzelli.
Elfrida hadn’t invited her!
After she found out that Petruzzelli had spilled the beans about Kiyoshi’s jailbreak on Pallas, and got thirty-six escaping prisoners killed, she’d resolved never to talk to her again. She got the impression that most people on Pallas felt the same way. Petruzzelli was an angry outsider, barely tolerated by her own colleagues in the SSSA—tolerated by the SSSA itself only because angry outsiders were their preferred type of recruit.
Molly sat back on her heels, practically hissing like a cat. After all, Petruzzelli had almost gotten her killed, too.
But now Petruzzelli looked unsure of herself. Shy. Miserable.
“I was just going to kind of watch the wedding and then leave,” she said. “Hopefully you would never have known I was here.”
“I guess you still have contacts in the military,” Elfrida said stiffly.
“Yeah.”
Right there in the doorway, Petruzzelli knelt and took off her left boot, then her right.
“You could maybe wear these?” she said, holding them out.
They were not just any boots. They were white patent-leather Gecko Docs.
“Good idea,” Molly said reluctantly. “You can’t trip in gecko grips. But will they fit?”
The ghost of a smile touched Petruzzelli’s mouth. “I think so. As I recall, Elfrida and I have the same size feet.”
Elfrida took the boots—still warm inside—and put them on. “You’re a rock star, Alicia,” she said, smiling.
★
The entire congregation fell silent as a third bridesmaid entered the church. The new bridesmaid wore a spacesuit, complete with bubble helmet, under her dress. She carried a bunch of daisies, just like Cydney and Miss Mercury 2291. Kiyoshi knew it was Jennifer Colden, wearing Molly’s dress. No one else knew the identity of the mysterious bridesmaid … or the mysterious groomsman, also in a spacesuit, who walked arm in arm with her. Their faceplates were tinted. People took it for some kind of artsy stunt. They would have freaked out if they guessed the pair were Martians, inside their dome. But what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. Nanite-proof spacesuits worked both ways.
A four-year-old flower girl followed Colden and Kristiansen, enthusiastically scattering more daisy petals. This was Bette Vlajkovic-Gates, the adopted daughter of George Washington Wright of Mercury.
The ring-bearer was Junior Hasselblatter. Kiyoshi had known this would be a mistake. He gave thanks that at least Junior hadn’t ridden into the church on a goat.
Junior meekly walked up the aisle, without dropping the rings, farting on purpose, or even crossing his eyes. Kiyoshi was so astonished he almost forgot to move forward to take the rings.
Michael texted Kiyoshi: “I bribed him with chocolate ice-cream.”
Then the bride entered on the arm of her father, Tomoki Goto. The music crescendoed. The whole congregation—having no experience of solemn religious ceremonies—spontaneously started to clap.
Even with smeared make-up, the hem of her dress unevenly splarted up, and white Gecko Docs on her feet, Elfrida Goto looked absolutely beautiful.
She walked to the front of the church, where Mendoza was waiting for her.
★
Kiyoshi danced with Molly at the reception.
Neither of them danced with anyone else.
The CEF had offered the wedding party the use of a mess hall, one of the few buildings on base that was not a former PLAN structure, but a plain old rigid hab. The music was provided by Brainrape, who toned down their style for the occasion, and even played some slow songs.
The CEF culinary services specialists had gotten into the spirit of the thing and laid on a full-service wet bar. They’d also programmed a romantic theme of Hawaiian beaches into the smart wallpaper. Kiyoshi and Molly, being spaceborn, found the backdrop of rolling waves discomfiting. But it was easy for them to ignore it, as they only had eyes for each other.
“Will you marry me?” Kiyoshi said.
“How much have you had to drink?”
“Only about six glasses of wine.”
“You can’t just trade one addiction for another, you know.”
“It’s a freaking wedding; I’m allowed to have a few drinks.”
“I’m not marrying a junkie.”
“I’m not marrying a drug dealer.”
“I changed my entire life for you.”
“I changed my entire life for you.”
“Bullshit,” Molly said. “You changed your entire life because the SSSA pointed a gun at your head.”
“At your head,” Kiyoshi snapped. “And everyone else’s. But why do you think that means I don’t love you?”
Molly folded her lips into a tight line. She looked like she might cry.
Jun coughed discreetly in Kiyoshi’s ear. “I hate to interrupt, but she hasn’t actually said no. Don’t mess this up.”
Kiyoshi sighed. He swung Molly around, let her spin away and then pulled her back. “Can I start again?”
She shrugged silently.
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes, dummy,” she said. “Of course yes.”
This is the end of the Sol System Renegades series.
It’s been a wild ride, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining me!
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