King Ajax's date with the woman named Meliboia ended up being breakfast in her hospital room. "So, I lost the starboard nacelle when I hit the last asteroid," she said. "Not knocked out, mind you, just plain gone. That'll be the last of my spares. I managed to level off with retros. I could have bailed then and there, naturally. My Lorica is rated to take a fall from 2,000 meters. But then my ship would have come down who knows where, hard. It could have done a lot more damage. And I have a lot of money tied up in it.
"So, I used a short blast to crack the dome. It was less damage than hitting it at full speed. I went through with only a little more damage. I separated the bridge module from the main hull and let the canopy slow it down. Then I came down in the lake. I ended up in the mud about 40 meters down. I thought about waiting for the search party, but I'm impatient. I climbed out, walked to shore. A couple times, something tried to eat me. I tried not to hurt them." Persephone, waiting at the door, clapped in approval.
"You could have tried to miss my dome," Xaja said, trying to look irritated. "It's worth a lot more than your ship. Or you."
"Please, it was the safest place to land," Mel said. "And all you have to do is get the insurers to pay for a new dome. Ever try to get spare parts for Myrmidon tech? Never mind taking out insurance. Half the time, the adjuster just tries to steal the ship. Besides, I knew you would bring in the guests and as many of the animals as you could. I'm onto you, Xaja. You're a humanitarian at heart. I bet you were even worried about me."
"Well," Xaja said, "we wouldn't be able to talk about what comes out of your pay if you were dead."
Cerasa took his arm. "Of course, we are happy you made it," she said. "There aren't many people who could have pulled that off."
Ajax spoke so he would be heard. "She is named for one spared by the gods," he said.
"You got that wrong," Mel said. "She was the one the gods couldn't kill. With me, they try, hard." She smiled. "Why don't you tell me about yourself, Ajax? How'd you get here, anyway?"
"My brother Hector and I were independent contractors," he said. "We got a call to put in drywall in a university's experimental physics lab. We took our lunch break in a janitor's closet. I was reading a book on Greek myths, he was listening to a tape. Suddenly, the light went out. When I opened the door, I came out in a field in the Lavender Plains. Hector grabbed our tools and followed me. The door slammed shut behind him. When we turned around, it was gone. By then, the Mushroom Folk were already coming out to meet us. We never found out what happened. We still don't know if there is a way back home."
"Yeah, that's probably where I came from, except a long, long time ago," Mel said. "There's humans and para-humans all over the Star Union. Most of them started out somewhere in the World Islands. The ones that remember how they got there all tell the same kind of story. Me, I don't care for backstory. I don't even remember how mine started. To me, that just means I'm a clean slate."
With that, she moved to rise from her bed. "Well, this has been fun," she said. "I've got things to do…"
"You are not leaving," Xaja said. "I talked to the doctors. They found 20 fractures. They're still sorting out the head trauma."
"Try and find someone who would stop me," Mel said.
"Lady Meliboia," Ajax said, "please listen to him. I will stay with you. If you have errands, I will give you my Maidens to attend to them."
"Listen to him," Xaja said. "You already have leave of the hospital grounds. Any of your clientele will be willing to reschedule or meet with you here. Besides, we still have your ship. It's going to take a while to fix."
"Fine," Mel said. "But don't blame me if the Flower Girls get into trouble."
"Trouble sounds like fun," Nopalina said.
After a time, Ajax and Mel found themselves alone. She looked intently into his eyes. "There's something Myrmidons do," she said. "We take oaths by Janus, the God of Fate and Fortune, in the names of our Heroes. One of them is the Vow of Sisyphus the Truth-Teller. It goes that we will not give false testimony, false promises or malicious counsel. I swear by that oath to tell you everything you would ask. Do you swear the same to me?"
"Yes," Ajax said. "I make that pledge by the memory of Janus. I know his name; he was the kindest of the old gods."
"Good," Mel said. "You were going to marry Persephone. Weren't you?"
"She would have had my Favor, if I found no other to be my Queen," he said. "She and the other Maidens knew it."
"Fair," Mel said sternly. "Then you were ready to propose to me last night, before we had even been on a first date. Is that about right?"
"I was ready to propose a pact of courtship, once you understood our customs," he said. He straightened. "It would be a beginning, not an end. I still would."
Mel's expression softened. "That's understandable," she said. "The fact is, I was ready to make my own proposal. It was to have dinner and go back to my suite. One night, no strings attached. Would you have accepted? Or is that improper for an honorable Lord?"
"I would have had discretion," he said. "Under such circumstances, there are certain things an honorable Lord must ask and offer, especially concerning what we call the Blooming…"
"Stop, right there; trust me, that is never going a problem," Mel said. "Still, nice. So between your proposal and mine, which would you choose?"
"I would choose to know you better," Ajax said. "If you would let me be your companion and your host in my courts, it would be enough."
"Yeah," Mel said. "Yeah, I think we can both live with that. Let's say… I accept." She clasped Ajax's hand.
It seemed mere minutes before there was a knock at the door. Suddenly, a swift shape wrapped around him. "Ohmygosh!" a reedy voice shrieked. "I'm so glad you're okay!... Oh, sorry."
"It's all right," Ajax said. He had fallen over.1
The form peeled away from him. It was Lady Daffodil in a sea-green pantsuit. She got to her feet, when her eyes fell on Mel. Her voice rose even higher than before. "Oh, you must be Mel! I've heard so much about you! I'm so glad I made it!"
"This is Hector," Ajax said. Behind him, his brother waved sheepishly. He held a purse shaped like a spaceship with wings and legs. "And you've met Lady Daffodil."
"So, we were headed to Aetherium anyway," Daffy said. She sat clasping Hector's hand. "There were already ships gathering to take relief supplies to the Moon, so we got passage and came over here."
"I'm glad you're here," Ajax said. "The fact is, Meliboia and I have been talking about… spending more time together."
"Oh, I know, Nopalina told me!" Daffy burst out. "I'm so happy! Tell me, tell me, what happened?"
Mel weathered Daffodil, giving a somewhat sanitized account of the previous night and day. Several times, Daffy was visibly suspicious but remained coy. Soon enough, the ladies were getting along. At that point, the brothers went for a walk. It was Hector who spoke first.
"We left the kids in Midgard with one of their aunts," he said. "I told you we had errands, and we did, but what we were really planning was to have our anniversary voyage before her Blooming. She might stay here for a while, or go to Aetherium."
Ajax just nodded. "It's always worked before," he said. "I'm glad she and Mel got to meet."
"So," Hector said, "is this the new thing?"
Ajax shook his head. "No," he said, "everything is new."
"Well, remember, I'm here for you," Hector said.
"Listen," Ajax said, "go back to the ladies. I need a little time to think."
He descended to a garden in the hospital courtyard, where the lights had dimmed to night. He waved to a Lindorm Neuter in white. He sat at a table illuminated by a single lamp. From his bag, he took out the Eightfold Orb. "I, King Ajax, ask for the wisdom of the Eightfold Orb," he said. "Eightfold Orb, should Lady Meliboia become my Queen?" It clouded, for less time than he had expected. The answer, too, was surprising: Variables favorable.
"Orb," he said more confidently, "is the plot Lady Pruna warned me of still in effect?" The answer was no surprise. No change foreseeable. After a moment of consideration, he asked, "Has anyone involved in the plot been with me on this voyage?" It clouded longer. Proposition affirmative. He looked up cautiously. The Lindorm glanced his way, but was already sweeping elsewhere. He added, "Will the plot proceed whether or not I continue to court Meliboia?" The answer was quick: Proposition highly likely. Finally, he asked, "Are there any who might abandon the plot if Meliboia were to become my Queen?" The familiar answer was far more cryptic than usual: Variables unstable.
He looked up at a sound from an open window. Hector and Daffy were singing. Listening closely, he could hear the words: "Today could be the day…"
When he came back, Persephone was back in the hospital room, chatting with Daffy. They all smiled, and he smiled back. It crossed his mind to ask, "Where's Nopalina?"
"Oh, yeah," Mel said. "I asked Nopalina if she could go back to my suite for a few things. I already gave her my key and a credit for a cab. In fact, I told her she could spend the night if she…" She paused in mid-sentence. "Ah. Dammit…"
Just a few blocks away, Nopalina made her way up the stairs of a clearly high-end apartment building. A security guard allowed her to pass when she held up an access key. A well-dressed but disheveled tenant approached her, then backed off when she assumed a defensive but clearly well-practiced combat posture. She finally reached the penthouse level, where the balconies were enclosed in glass. She slipped the card into a slot in the door. A man's voice called out, "Yo, Mel. Is that you?"
"Think about this," Nopalina said. "If I wasn't `Mel', would you want me to know her name?" As the man stammered, she smiled and stepped inside.
1 Sorry, this is how people like me look at huggers.