Once A Wolf Ch. 09

The Human female had died valiantly, sacrificing herself for her mate. Her body lay in state on the ceremonial altar behind the Praetor's master console in the Control Chamber on Arcturus Prime, as was the tradition. Now her mate, too, lay mortally wounded. In this stunning, completely unexpected, and thoroughly enjoyable reversal, the heretofore-dominant Human team appeared poised to snatch Defeat from the jaws of Victory. These were the little unexpected thrills that made The Tournament such a delightful experience.Thisone would be talked about for centuries to come.

In moments it would be over. The three remaining combatants had also been brought to the Control Chamber. Its superior lighting and imaging capability were designed to offer maximum visual impact for the deliverance of the final blow, marking the end of another successful Tournament. It would be a bit of a letdown for the audience. This one had lasted a meresix days. Still, they had been anexcitingsix days. How did the Humans express it?Short and sweet.

Although they had lost, the Humans had fought ferociously, worthy of Arcturan warriors. In fact, they had faced, and successfully defeated The Phalanx itself – the pride of the Arcturan Legions. That feat had not been equaled in the past five thousand years. Few teams even reached that level. The pair would take their place among the Honored Dead of The Tournament. In the entire history of the event, less than a hundred had been so enshrined.

In death, the Human male would lie in state next to his mate for the official period of mourning. The entire population of Arcturus Prime would honor them – via telecast, of course. All waited now on the Golganthans to deliver the Death Blow. Understandably, the porcine competitors were as taken aback by the sudden turn of events as the Arcturans had been. The Human male lay bleeding before the Golganthan pair. The Golganthan male was poised to strike with his mate's sword. He washesitating. Oh, this waspriceless. It was all there in his eyes. He was torn between duty to his race and...remorsefor taking the lives of those who had shown compassion forthem.Strike, little piggy, strike! If you don't, we will destroy their planet and yours, too!

The Praetor, focused on the action in front of him, had forgotten the lifeless form behind him. She was not so lifeless; nor had she forgottenhim. As she rose from the slab like some latter-day Lazarus, Giselle once again called upon her spirit guide. As she had before, in times of danger, distress or rage, she surrendered herself to it, allowing it to take physical form.

The air itself seemed to vibrate around the Arcturan from the raw, physical power of the deep, menacing growl. His sense of dread was immediate; his reaction only a hair slower. He whirled to view its source, a disrupter filling his hand.A hair slower made all the difference. The Praetor saw only a flash of white and a mouth full of fangs. His disrupter flew away, along with the hand holding it. An instant later, a gout of blackish-green blood erupted from what had been his throat. The rest of him sailed through the air and bounced off the wall, eyes wide in utter incomprehension.

Geoff's body was fighting valiantly, but was unable to sustain consciousness. He expected the Golganthans to finish it any second, to cap his spectacular failure with the deathblow that might just as well be struck directly to Earth's heart as his own. Instead, they now shrank to one corner, paralyzed with fear. The whole chamber trembled and shook with the force of the rumbling terror.

As he slipped away, he sensed her, could feel her essence. His angel had returned for him. He had failed her in life, failed his people and planet, yet she had come to watch over him and take him home. He had not known such total, unconditional love since his mother's passing. That thought comforted him.

Even now, his anguished, confused mind was playing one final, cruel trick on him. It was not Giselle's beautiful face his eyes saw, nor the lush, magnificent body that had caused him so much exquisite torment, then ecstasy. Instead, his nightmare had returned to haunt him. Standing watch over his battered body, bloody fangs bared to all comers, stood a great white wolf with glittering sapphire eyes. Then, the vision faded to blackness.

*****

The eyes were still there when his re-opened. They were softer, human once more. The smile had returned, too. He cursed his own brain for having deluded him yet again, but he knew what he was seeingnow. That was all that mattered. She spoke her agreement.

"Hello, My Love. It's good to have you back."

He remembered her dying in his arms, the battle with the Golganthans, and watching the sword pierce him.

"We're dead, aren't we? This is Heaven?"

"Sorry. We don't get off that easily. We still have work to do."

"But, my wound...."

His tunic was open. He looked down at his abdomen and saw... taut, unblemished flesh and firmly-toned, six-pack abs. Given the choice between maintaining his consciousness and repairing itself, his body had wisely chosen the latter. Now, that body was back – and so was he. Her tunic was just as bloody as his. The hole from the arrow was there, but the corresponding wound in her chest was not. Giselle smiled at him, reading his thoughts.

"That isLorelei'sblessing...."

She sighed deeply.

"... and curse."

"Lorelei," he repeated. "Then you... me...both of us?"

Giselle nodded, smiling a bit more wistfully now.

"The first of our kind. Adam and Eve, redux. Thank you for retrieving my sword."

She helped him to his feet. They stoodso close. Each could feel the other's heat – and desire. He kissed her then; hungrily, passionately. She melted into his embrace, her sword and his still clasped firmly into their respective hands. She poured all her heart and soul into that kiss, a lifetime of longing to belong to something,someone beyond her self-imposed exile. He accepted her gift and responded with all that was his to give.

When at last they broke their kiss, starved for air, an absurd notion came to his mind, something she had told him only a few days before.Project Loreleihad been cancelled because.... He voiced the notion in utter incredulity.

"Not sexy enough?"

She shrugged her shoulders a little and smiled impishly.

"To each, his own."

A noise drew their attention. The Golganthans were no longer cowering in terror, but were clearly confused, unsure of what to do next. Geoff gazed at the beings whom, such a short time before, he had wanted to cut to pieces. With his love safe and in his arms once again, he felt all the rage drain from him.

"What do we do withthem?", he inquired. "For that matter, what do we do withourselves?"

"First things first," she replied. "I finish the job I came here to do."

Geoff looked perplexed. He peered towards their former nemeses guardedly.

"Must we still go through with this?"

Giselle glanced at him, then at the Golganthans.

"They were never part of the job."

She stared grimly at the apparatus around them, the machinery of the Arcturans' sick perversion.

"This is. Are you with me, Sadie?"

"Saddled up and ready to ride, Boss. Just say the word."

"Is it all there?"

"Spaceand time displacement, just like you figured."

The Golganthans jumped at the human-sounding voice that came from everywhere – and nowhere. Geoff scanned the room as well, grinning. Finally, his eyes fell upon... the Praetor's master console.

"Finding any decent games in there, Sadie?", he asked. "Do they have Super Mario Brothers?"

"Don't crack wise withme, Joy Boy. You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can't foolmenone of the time!"

"In the name of those countless, untold souls the Arcturans ripped away in the name of 'entertainment'," Giselle intoned, "I declarethesegames OVER!"

Giselle explained it all. Her "Things That Go Bump In The Night" file had been bait to get the Arcturans interested in her diary. She had requested her laptop computer to 'set the hook', knowing the blatant voyeurs would not be able to resist easy access to her most personal, intimate musings - and had cooked up a rude little surprise for them.

As the Praetor downloaded Giselle's diary via her Wi-Fi link, he also downloaded Sadie - an extremely sophisticated AI 'worm' Giselle had written for this mission and perfected through her various cybernetic espionage assignments. The plucky little program had gone immediately to work, adapting to the protocols and command syntax, punching through firewalls, cracking passwords, insinuating herself into the Arcturan operating system's executive layer. By the time Giselle called upon her, Sadiewasthe system.

"But," Geoff began, "in order for you to call on her you would have to..."

"Bein the Control Chamber andin control ofthe master console," Giselle finished. "And forthatto happen, I had to 'die' - and earn a quick trip to the slab over there. You, My Love, performed your part brilliantly – even if you hadn't a clue you were doing so. Your actions placedall four of ushere – and here we make our stand."

"All of this would require detailed knowledge in advance," Geoff postulated. "How did youknow?"

"My 'angel' told me," Giselle replied with a wink. "To be honest, I wasn't sure how the whole thing worked - until I had faced the Raptors. They bledred: hemoglobin, not cupraglobin. They werereal. That meant the Praetor transported them from Earth, and in order to do so, the portal would have had to transcend spaceandtime. As for the rest, this is one of those times I have to ask you to trust me. It will all come out later, but for now, just accept this: this mission has been planned for a very,verylong time. It wasneverabout defeating the Golganthans. It has always been about stopping the Arcturans and ending The Tournament forever."

"What aboutme," Geoff inquired. "AmIpart of your carefully contrived scheme?"

The blonde Amazon placed her free hand on his chest and gazed at him with misty eyes.

"Geoffrey, you are theonly part of this entire operation, other than my resolve, that has been genuine from Day One. My angel never told me you would be here. I believe she wanted our involvement to be as authentic as I do now. I regret involving you in all this. Ideeplyregret having to involve you withLorelei. I willneverregret loving you, nor receiving your love in return.Everything that has happened between us has been absolutely, positively real."

Sadie activated the portal to the proper coordinates. Timing would be of the essence.

Sensing his curiosity, Giselle preempted Geoff's question.

"I have a little 'thank you gift' for our hosts. I am going to give the Arcturans a taste of their own medicine."

Giselle outlined her plan for him. He turned white as a ghost.

"But what about the planetary shields? Has Sadie deduced how to lower them?"

"That wouldn't be enough to suit me. Lowered shields might be raised again. The shield controls are here in the Control Chamber, as well as everything else. If we take them out completely, that will do the job."

"How do we do that?"

"Funny you should ask...."

She stepped to the portal just as a large black ballistic nylon backpack appeared.

"Thank you, Sadie. I have it."

She unzipped the panels and went to work.

There was nothing inherently malevolent-looking about the Type Sixty-five Small Atomic Demolition Munition. In fact, a S.A.D.M. didn't look any more dangerous than a portable electrolysis machine. The reality was far different. This was a new and nasty microminiaturized design: one-point-three-five critical masses of Oak Ridge's supergrade plutonium in a beryllium reflective shell, with second-stage tritium injectors. The AX Division at Lawrence-Livermore had promised the design would yield in excess of twenty kilotons, eclipsing Hiroshima's "Little Boy".

Giselle relished the word "excess" in dealing with the Arcturans.DIAhad seen to it she was trained in the device's use. She had 'borrowed' this one, plus its separate detonator, from the Navy at Sea-Tac. Securing the twin "fail safe" codes had just been another routine piece of intelligence-gathering. Then, she had altered the inventory database to deflect attention caused by the 'shrinkage', signing the device out to SEAL headquarters in Coronado. She wondered idly howthat investigation was progressing as she inserted, set, then activated the time-delay detonator.

The portal began to ripple. Giselle quickly checked the control panel. It wasn't Sadie.

The Arcturans were reacting quickly. Her hand flew to her sword.

"That ain't us, Boys and Girls. Grab your bundt cakes and roll out the Welcome Wagon!"

Facing an Arcturan disrupter rifle while armed only with a sword can be a daunting task. Facing a platoon of angry Arcturan warriors, loaded for bear, is just plain scary. Then again, it was nothing new for Geoffrey and Giselle. The disparity ended as the first outstretched arm met cold, sharpened steel.

Geoff already had sword in hand. Two blades swished through the air from opposite sides of the portal like twin scythes. The Golganthans were quick studies. The male snapped up the loose disrupter as it sailed through the air, quickly peeling off the arms still clutching it. He discovered the device was not much different in concept than any other assault weapon. It had a muzzle and trigger.Point and squeeze; let the weapon do the rest. The female had recovered the Praetor's hand weapon and removed his mangled hand. Mostly, the Arcturans died as they stepped through the portal. The rest wished they had.

Geoffrey swept Giselle up in his arms once more.

"We make quite a team," he pronounced.

"Yes.King Kong and Broadzilla," she smirked.

It was getting messy in the Control Chamber. They were stepping over and around body parts and splashing through puddles of blood. Giselle had Sadie dial up Golgantha from the portal's memory bank. When its image came up on the viewplate, the Golganthans understood. No words were needed. The male put his hand atop Giselle's shoulder. She clasped it with her own. The female and Geoff repeated the gesture. Then, the Golganthans stepped through.

"If that hussy had touched youanywhere else," Giselle murmured, "I would have scratched her eyes out."

Geoff smiled and kissed her.

"She would have been wasting her time. I am already spoken for."

"Hey, hey hey!Ihave some input in this cozy little canoodle, don't I?"

"Be nice, Sadie," Geoffrey promised, "and I will hook you up with a cute little Palm Pilot to interface with."

"You got a deal, Lover. G.,enjoy!"

Earth came up on the portal's viewplate. Sadie was efficient as always. Giselle looked the love of her life in the eyes and spoke quietly.

"You have to go."

He stiffened.

"Ihave to go?"

"My Love, your first, best destiny is to be King. Nothing, and no one, must be allowed to interfere with that.You cannot stay here.In about two minutes, this place – thisplanet– will cease to exist. The Arcturans will try again. I have to stay to make certain they don't succeed. That ismy job, not yours. I will return to you when I can. I am not willing to watch you die for me. I love you too much for that."

"So, instead,Imust watchyoudie forme? Again? No...fucking...way!You don't get rid of me that easily, Giselle Du Mont. We live - or die – together. Where you go, I go; now and forever."

The blonde warrior sighed deeply.

"All right, My Love. You win. Where you go, I go, now and forever."

She lay her sword down atop the console, rested her hands lightly on his chest, and kissed him deeply.

"You first."

She thrust forward with both hands. Geoff flew backwards through the portal - and was gone. Giselle stared at the spot where he had disappeared.

"Live. Be the best King you can possibly be. If you won't do it for yourself or your people, do it forme. Sadie, lock out the portal controls."

"Already done, Boss. For what it's worth, he's a hottie – for a man, that is."

Giselle continued to stare at the spot where Geoff had disappeared.

"Yeah," she sighed, "he is."

Giselle glanced to her left. The Praetor's body lay slumped along the wall. He hadn't died immediately, which wasjust fine with the blonde warrior. That was the price he had paid for underestimating her. Wasn't that just like a man? In the end, with all the technology arrayed around him, he had had to scrawl his final incredulous query on the wall behind him in his own blood:

Who were you?

Giselle smiled at that. She had thought he wouldnever get the tense right.

"Major Michael Andrew Jackson Blair, Second Battalion, Seventy-fifth Ranger Regiment, United States Army – On Detached Duty."

The Amazon turned and walked away. She felt...liberated, just to utter the words aloud, even if there was no one left to hear them. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders at last. It had been so long, she had difficulty viewing her past life in any terms but 'she'. Giselle mused over the irony of her service status.

DetachedDuty?

She glanced briefly at the junction where her thighs met.

Very!

The Arcturans had wanted a woman this time. They got one – up the ass!

In space, the graceful, fully-automated starship powered up its massive, planet-killing disrupter array. Sadie targeted the capital city as Ground Zero. All that remained was to bring down the planetary shields. As the S.A.D.M.'s display ticked down toward zero, Giselle René Du Mont thought back along the convoluted, five-decade path that had been her life. That life had led slowly, inexorably to this place, this moment in time. Of all she had done, seen, enjoyed, feared, or regretted, one thought stood out over all. It was a vow she had taken as a child, then reaffirmed throughout her life. At long last, that vow was to be fulfilled.

Never again!

*****

Geoff landed with a thud. He was up in a flash, the sword still in his hand. He was once again in the room from which he had begun his incredible journey six days before. He turned this way and that, searching for the portal entrance he had just come through, the portal his love would also use to make her escape. It was not to be found; nor was she. By now, the S.A.D.M. would have completed its murderous cadence. The shields would be down, destroyed. The city and planet had already opened wide to the starship's infernal embrace. Earth was safe, for now. Life, with all its infinite possibilities, would go on – forsome. He dropped the sword with a clatter, sank to his knees, buried his face in his hands and sobbed. He could not begin to fathom what point that life would havenow.

It was dark. He had no idea what time it was or how long he had knelt in that position. Nor did he care. At that moment, he wished he reallycouldcurl up and die. Perhaps his 'angel' would return for him then and they could be together again. But death had not been what she had wanted for him. How had she put it?Your first, best destiny is to be King. Nothing, and no one, can be permitted to interfere with that. She had risked her life, her mission, countless times to save his – in order to fulfillhisdestiny. Once again, he had been powerless to preventhersfrom overtaking her. Once again, he was alone.