by Scott Rhine
“What did Red, your sister, and even Yuki tell you about Zeiss?” He crunched another huge bite of fruit.
Mercy swallowed. “If he asks you to do something, do it, no questions.”
Lou held out his hands. “In your language, babe, QED.”
“Oh God. Did I endanger anyone’s lives?”
“That depends.” He smacked his lips, sucking up the excess juice. “What did you talk to Yuki about last?”
“Um . . . how to drive you wild with desire.” She grabbed his hand and took a bite from his mango. “You got a problem with that?”
“I’m afraid in the interests of planetary security, I’m going to have to ask you to prove that.”
“I’m not talking, copper,” she teased.
“Oh, you’re going to sing, beautiful,” he said in a horrible Bogart impression.
She giggled as he grabbed her. It was the first time since the age of four that she didn’t have some responsibilities. The freedom was intoxicating.
Days blurred together.
Friday morning she reached the proper stage of relaxation, and several things occurred to her: the simple touch of Kai’s hand made her giddy, she could enchant him by telling him a story, she deduced what happened to Sojiro’s ink, and the implications made her stomach churn.
The happiest moment in her life, however, was when Kai started sweating and knelt on the ground in sympathy nausea. All was right with the world.
“Kai, dear?”
“Yes, beautiful?”
“Can you contact Z?”
“Yes, in an emergency. This is probably just bad shellfish. Sometimes I eat them even if they haven’t opened.”
“Are you seeing swirls of color?”
“Um . . . yeah. How the blazes did you know?”
“Lie down and call Z immediately. You’ll need an evac to Garden Hollow—Auckland’s ears only. I’ll need to come, too.”
“What’s wrong with me? Kidney? Can you use your paramedic training?”
“No, dear, but I’m afraid this is my doing.”
“Poison?” His reaction wasn’t as severe as one would expect. Perhaps he either felt he deserved the action or that the ride had been worth the consequence. He hunched over, hugging his knees.
“Your life’s not over; you just decided to grow up.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re pair-bonding, love,” she said, stroking his splendid hair. “With any luck, you’re about to get some form of my Active-sensing and gravity talent.”
“Huh?”
With her arm around him, she explained, “It’s why I came here, what I hoped for. After a few days of high-K-brainwave fever and disorientation, you should have my special abilities and be able to see—at least well enough to pilot the ship again. I told you I came to make you whole.”
“You . . . you sacrificed yourself for me?”
She curled into his chest. “I did that for us.”
“Then it’s expected for me to want to throw up?”
“No, but it’s understandable. My period is four days late. I’ll probably be the first mother in Sanctuary.”
“That’s fantastic,” he said with a wild grin.
“Tsk. What you should be asking is why the secrecy?” When he didn’t jump on the cue, she added, “Because I’ve figured out enough of Z’s problem that Red won’t need to risk a decontamination pod.”
“Aren’t you going to tell me?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. In a few minutes, you’re going to be delirious. We don’t want you babbling secrets to everyone. Z already wants to revoke my clearance. Here, give me your headset.”
Lou did so, shortly before crawling to the lake’s edge to splash his face with cool water.
She kept the message short and sweet, requesting only Zeiss and Auckland be involved. It still stung that Red had excluded her. Then, Mercy wiggled her fingers over her head and recited the incantation to hide them from Olympus until they were safely back at camp.
“What are you smiling about?” Mercy asked.
“What’s not to smile about? I had lost everything. You come in, wave your wand, and I’m the happiest man in this solar system. This is how Odysseus must’ve felt on the island with that nymph.”
“You read The Odyssey. I like.”
His smile changed qualities into a leer. Even queasy, his sex drive was monumental. “You think we have time to go one more time before the boat gets here? I want to see if it feels any different making love as a dad.”
“Since you asked like that,” Mercy said, moving into his arms. That was all the guidance this blind man needed on his own island.
Chapter 34 – Answers to Random Questions
Herk poled to the island in the new raft. He aimed for where the pilot was waving like a lunatic. Before Herk was even tied off, Lou blurted, “I’m going to be a father.” The ex-pilot held up a fist, and Herk gave him the obligatory congratulations bump.
“That why Red wanted you to steer clear. Those Smiths are as fertile as turtles. PJ’s wife popped those kids out like clockwork. Where’s Mercy? We have to make this fast. Everyone thinks I went to harvest some more hops for the home brew.”
Lou pointed to a spot on the island where the old raft was propped as shelter. This feat didn’t impress Herk until the pilot’s arm moved like the second hand of a clock, and Mercy emerged in the clearing.
Mercy said, “I wanted to share my crab linguini. Everyone’s going to love it.”
Waggling his hand to indicate the dish was just so-so, Lou made Herk laugh. “Man, she can see you do that.”
“It’s okay,” she admitted. “He didn’t seduce me for my cooking—a girl has to have some flaws. The spaghetti squash is a little watery, but I brought seeds for the greenhouse. Johnny will be able to fix the problems.” As Mercy approached the raft, Lou held out a hand to help her balance.
“This is great. Lou, you can see?”
“I know where my angel is from her shine.”
“Can you see me?” asked Herk.
“Nobody else, just her. She’s my true north. I’d be able to find her anywhere.”
“Wow,” Herk said, untying the raft. “Like a homing pigeon.”
Embarrassed, Mercy tried to change the subject. “Looks like Risa improved the design on my raft: runners on the bottom and sideboards.”
“She improved the rudder, too. We use it for rice harvesting, mainly. He’s right, though, your face is glowing.”
Sitting beside her on the deck, Lou lapsed rhapsodic. “She is a rosebush with blue and white flowers that open to the cosmos in secret. Love oozes from her every word and silence. Her ass plays a symphony of sighs.”
Herk almost fell over laughing. “You’ve got to record this poetry. I’ll be able to rib him about it for years.”
“I recited a lot of Byron for him this week,” Mercy confessed.
“She’s really hot doing this monologue from James Joyce. You should . . . wait, no. She’s not doing that bit for anyone but me. Oh-ho-ho.”
Herk grinned. “Relax. It’s like a year of goofy courtship in a few days. He’ll get back to normal. Well, normaler. Normalish? I didn’t change much. I think Lou’s acting goofy because of Ideal Planets.”
“Why should that matter?” she asked.
“Because those guys act drunk whenever they get a new infusion. If someone started with Collective Unconscious, like Park, they might pass out every time and try to integrate the talent with others.”
“But since I was born with a talent, I seem unaffected?”
“Yes.”
She tilted her head. “I think you may have just solved the mystery of our reactions to dipping under the sheet.”
Lou chuckled throatily.
Mercy rolled her eyes. “Einstein’s rubber sheet, you insatiable monster.”
Lou said, “Oh, she even makes physics sound dirty.”
“He’ll snap out of this soon enough,” Herk promised. “A month t
ops.”
“Oh, when the morning sickness starts, he’ll leave me alone.”
Herk’s mouth opened wide. “Oh. He’s got it bad. You’re saying Lou is going to feel everything you do the whole nine months?”
Lou answered the question by confiding. “Women can have more than one orgasm. They’re great! Much better than mine.”
Mercy bit her lip and concentrated on the clear water. “Oh look, turtles.”
Herk didn’t give up. “He’s going to have sympathy through the whole pregnancy? Every woman in camp is going to love this. Hell, we could tape his experience and sell it when we get back to Earth. Or rent a stadium and show it to all the women he’s ever given the walk of shame.”
“Hey, there haven’t been that many!” Lou objected.
****
Red and Zeiss met them at the dock after the evening shade had been drawn. Lou was snoring on the deck, and Mercy was mortified as she slipped into more suitable clothing. “I thought this was supposed to be super-high security?”
Zeiss said, “I’ve told Herk you volunteered to be the person who helps Red through decontamination. Everyone knows you’re the best at that, and we need all the medical hands we can get if something goes wrong.”
Red asked, “What’s wrong with Lou?”
“He fell asleep counting skanks,” Herk said.
“What?” Red asked.
“Mercy and he have bonded. Lou’s a little buzzed. Of course, any guy would be with his news.”
Slugging the big ox in the shoulder, Mercy was disappointed when he didn’t even feel it. “Now who’s a blabbermouth?”
Running up to her, Red wrapped her in a warm hug and squealed with delight. “You’re going to be a mommy! I’m so happy for you. You’re lit up like the star on a Christmas tree.”
Trying to remain aloof, Mercy said, “I haven’t forgiven you yet, Red, for not trusting me.”
“Z made me. I’m sorry.”
When Herk looked puzzled, Red added, “Girl stuff.”
At that phrase, Lou sat up, staring at the hidden gravity generators around the sphere. “Big, round teats everywhere.” Turning to Mercy, he said, “But none of them as perfect as yours.”
“We need to get him to Auckland’s office where he can sleep this off,” Mercy insisted.
“But her face is even perfect-er than her chest.” En route, this comment inspired Lou to perform the tenor part of a bawdy song from Monty Python involving the word face. The women both blushed. Herk sang bass and encouraged Zeiss to do the harmony. The commander had sense enough to keep his mouth shut, but he couldn’t keep from laughing during the second verse.
At the office, Lou insisted that Zeiss perform a civil ceremony before Mercy left his side again. “I’m not letting her get away. If you don’t act soon enough, the good ones blow up.”
“We don’t have rings,” Mercy objected.
Red patted her on the shoulder. “Give the man his ceremony. You might not get another chance like this.”
“I have my flight-school ring,” Lou said, removing the silver-plated ring with the blue stone from his right hand. “If you turn the stone inward, it’s good for smacking plebes in the head.”
Fishing in her fanny pack, Mercy pulled out the chain with the coin her father gave her. “This is all the jewelry I have.”
After a brief but solemn ceremony, they made the exchange, and the groom concluded with the song, “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts.”
This, Herk did manage to tape.
Instead of throwing rice, Mercy popped the white, plastic top off of a hypodermic herself and pushed the plunger into Lou’s butt.
“Aw,” Herk complained. “I had a couple of requests. He does a mean rendition of ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Lights.’”
Mercy shook the needle in his direction. “Go. Red and I need to talk.”
“Do you think he might regret a hasty marriage?” asked Auckland.
Red smiled. “If he even hints at that, mention that Mercy’s share of the estate is around 300 million.”
Surprise made the doctor inhale sharply, which led to a coughing fit. Mercy stroked his back. “It’s not like I have a private jet or furs. I certainly didn’t have that much when I left. Seeing the poverty in Rio really affected me. While I’m in space, all my finances go into a trust called STEM. We provide food, shelter, and scholarships to poor Brazilian girls who show aptitude for the sciences.”
Zeiss seemed impressed. “You organized all that in a couple months?”
“I partnered with the Oprah charity network. Sometimes being famous isn’t such a pain. Although, she might reconsider her offer of matching funds now that my parents’ money is added to the pot. Until Mary reveals her true identity, she’ll probably park all the inheritance in my foundation instead of splitting it.”
The commander shook his head. “Wow, when Sojiro hears you met Oprah, he’s going to demand to hear every detail.”
“We mostly talked about books.”
Sworn to secrecy, Herk and Auckland left. When the others were out of hearing, Zeiss prompted, “Why did you light up the Bat signal?”
“I can tell you what happened to Sojiro’s ink. It was the key to everything for me, but I won’t tell you until I’m back in Olympus.”
“You know that’s impossible.”
“If you want the truth, I’m going to force you to trust me. I have to have time in the showers alone.”
“If you want a hot bath, we can arrange one here,” Zeiss offered. “Lou would string me up if I put you in danger.”
“A bath would be divine, but I’ll still need access to Olympus as soon as possible.”
Zeiss started to object, but Red intervened. “Fine. When I get ready to make the trip to decontamination tomorrow, I can meet you in the dressing room. No one will suspect.”
“How do we sneak her past Toby?” asked Zeiss.
“Have Oleander ask to be examined for athlete’s foot in private. She should be vague about the symptoms and may need to shave her legs for the occasion,” Mercy suggested.
“Ew,” said Red.
You don’t know the half of it.
“Until then,” Red said, “you hide in our cave and tell me everything. Are you worried about the baby? My mom was a multiple talent, and she never could carry to term.”
“We’ll know more tomorrow after I run a simple experiment with the equipment available in Olympus,” Mercy replied. Rather like Schrödinger’s cat.
“Will it be dangerous?” asked Zeiss.
Mercy assured them, “More gross than anything.”
Although the couple offered to let her sleep in their room, Mercy went to the clinic to be beside her husband, Kai Llewellyn. A woman ought to be with her husband on their wedding night. Threading her ring onto a cord around her neck, the truth sank in—she was Mrs. Llewellyn. The prenatal vitamins Auckland prescribed for her made her burp up awful flavors and reminded her that she would have a family of her own to replace those lost. Oddly, with Lou unconscious, this was the most restful night she was likely to have in this marriage. I’m going to need all the rest I can get.
****
Everyone felt it best to leave Lou sedated for the morning; although leaving his side reminded Mercy of the time as a child that she had snagged a sweater thread on a piece of sheet metal and unraveled half a sleeve. She was leaving a piece of herself behind and could sense his tug.
Wrapped in her familiar lab coat, Mercy hid in a crate, which the Zeisses wheeled to Zeppelin Point on a dolly. Herk literally carried her up to Olympus and delivered her to the showers. Once Red was alone in the sanitation room, she pried Mercy’s cubical coffin open. “What’s the big secret?” Red whispered.
Dipping the corner of a rag into a small, metal canister the size of a roll of quarters, Mercy wiped a clean streak across the stasis indicator. It was silver underneath Sojiro’s ink.
Red said, “Oh my God. There’s someone still in there!” She tried
to tap the room open, but alarms sounded around the control pod.
“Snowflake, override and show us who is in the suspended-animation chamber, without turning the field off,” Mercy ordered.
The cover slid aside to reveal a bruised and battered-looking Yvette, strapped naked to the chamber wall.
“Is she still alive?” asked Red. “Let’s unfreeze her and find out now.”
“Wait. Depending on the injuries, she could die before we could save her. Dr. Auckland needs to examine her before we do anything. Until then, we don’t let anyone else—”
“Witch!” shrieked Toby as he soared into the room. “Get away, she’s mine.”
As she charged the man, Mercy shouted, “Rapist!”
When Toby drew his knife, Red pled, “Don’t! She’s pregnant.”
This made the crazed biologist pause long enough for Mercy to break his nose, using the metal canister like a roll of dimes in her fist. Unfortunately, he ducked the second blow, and she bruised her hand against his brow.
Eyes watering, Toby clamped his hands to his face. Blood oozed between his fingers. “Just for that, you’re going in the fun room next.”
In the low gravity, Red launched herself from across the room and transferred her momentum into his weapon arm. He screamed obscenities as his arm cracked and the hand went limp. Red wound up to snap his wrist, too.
“Stop, he needs that for surgery,” Mercy said with reluctance.
“He’s never going to touch another member of my crew again,” Red swore.
Holding out her hands, Mercy tried to ease her friend into putting the rapist down. “We may need him, and killing him would prevent us all from leaving this system.”
Everyone else floated in the zero-g control center at the lip of the chamber, watching the drama unfold. When Mercy noticed the crowd, she took off her lab coat and draped it over the opening to the suspended-animation chamber. The brief contact with the stasis field made her fingers numb, but enough people had seen her friend naked. Yvette deserved some dignity.
“I’ll finish him and take the blame,” Yuki said. “He did all this, and cut off my arm, so he could get laid?”
Mercy replied, “Yes, he’s reprehensible, but it’s not entirely his fault.”
