Chapter 18

I was probably unconscious for no more than a minute. It was long enough for the Morling to move astride me, standing there and beating his chest as if he had just slain a dragon. I was aware that my left arm was broken. It had evidently taken all my weight along with that of the flychair. The flychair now pinned me to the ground. My right arm, which still gripped the still functioning light whip, appeared to be undamaged.

I pushed the thumb control forward as the Morling began his usual victory oration. His head was directly above my own, so that as he spoke, he showered me with his hideous spittle.

"Finally," he said, "a worthy foe. I congratulate you, Earthers, for finally selecting a true competitor. I honor this human."

He paused, evidently looking around the arena to share his triumph.

"He has lasted longer against a Morling than any being in known space."

That was small consolation, in my view. I tested my left arm. It hurt like hell, but the fracture wasn't compound. Blinking through the agony, I felt myself lifting the chair up off me. I was never going to be able to push it off all the way; my hope was to simply gain enough room to let me roll over.

"The story of his death will be told on planets across the galaxy."

Also very kind of him. I turned my body to the right, hoping to roll onto my back. At the same time, I could feel the closeness of his hand. He entwined what passed for fingers in my hair. He pulled me even closer to him. Perfect, I thought. Just let him hold me up for another second or two.

"I shall mount his head upon my wall of honor."

The hell you will. I whipped my right hand, along with the whip, beneath my body. The whip followed. As I twisted myself in his grip, I sent the whip toward his head, my one last chance to snatch victory from the hideous tusked jaws of planetary defeat.

I had miscalculated. As usual. The whip was far too long to pick up any speed. It was far too long to do any damage. He made no effort to get out of its way. He just stood there, his head no more than ten feet above mine, his greenish saliva dripping into my face and eyes, and let the light rope coil around his neck — once, twice, and then a third time.

The Morling caught me in his gaze and raised his light whip above his head to deliver my death blow. He sneered at me. I smiled at him. Then I flicked my wrist to try to free the whip from his neck. I felt it tighten around his neck more than I saw it. What I did see, quite clearly, was his head separate from his body and fall toward me. Followed, very quickly, by the rest of his body.

I woke up in a room that I had never seen before. I was lying in an extraordinarily comfortable bed. That alone suggested I was no longer in the future. Wizen's bed had been cold and metallic. This was soft and plush. The rest of the room was equally plush. The walls were a painted a rich red. The floor was carpeted — carpeted! — with what appeared to be a thick blue pile. There were two ornate oak doors, one at each end of the room.

For a minute I entertained the idea that perhaps I had died, and that heaven was actually a bordello. Sweet. But then I glanced to the corner and saw my flychair. I hadn't died after all. I summoned the flychair and was quite surprised to find myself completely free of pain. My left arm felt weak but moved freely. Even the tear on my shoulder had been repaired.

As I climbed into the chair, one of the doors opened. She walked in with a radiant smile that I had also never seen before

"Francesca!"

"Rick," she said. "The physicians tell me your recovery is complete."

"The arm?" I asked. I waved it in the air.

"It will take a while for the muscles to recover," she said. Then she grew serious. "We tried to repair your legs but the atrophy was far too great. Apparently our drugs only work on a more recent injury. I am sorry, Rick."

"I'd already bargained that away, Francesca. Apparently I'm an even better negotiator than I knew."

"But the rest is fine, "she continued. "The broken jaw, the shattered cheekbones, the broken femur, the ruptured spleen."

"Shit," I said. "I thought I'd done pretty well."

"You did most wonderfully well, Rick Handley." Francesca practically glowed with happiness. "The Morlings have kept their word and departed. You are healed and well enough to joke with us. Please accept my humblest thanks for the service that you have done us."

"Eh," I said, waving a hand at her. "It was nothin', ma'am."

"It was very much indeed, Rick. It has been decided that when you were healed, you would be greeted by twenty-six virgins."

She clapped her hands and a parade of girls, each more beautiful than the next, began to stream out of the door she had left open when she entered. I met Alessa, Branay, and Caskie. I met Karrsten, Lessar, and Minkala. I met Weslin, Xandra, and Yassmin. They filed past me. The first three shyly shook my hand. The next girl, Dmeter, was slightly braver and kissed my cheek. After Natal, they turned into full mouth kisses. By the time Trenya pushed her tongue between my closed lips, I was completely unaware of anything else. When I was finally able to look up, I was a little surprised to see Francesca ushering Zarras back out of the room through the other door.

"That was it?" I said. "Just a greeting?"

"You expected more?" Francesca asked, once again filling the room with that musical laugh. "You are a greedy man, Rick Handley."

"I am," I admitted. "Plus I was shorted."

"Shorted?" she asked.

"There were only twenty-five," I said. I looked toward the open door, waiting for the final virgin.

"You counted?" She laughed again.

"Well, no," I answered, still looking toward the door. "They showed up in groups of five. Five groups, five each, all alphabetical."

"And which letter did you miss?" she asked.

It took me a minute to figure it out.

"F," I said slowly.

I turned to look just in time to see Francesca drop her gown to the floor behind her. She stood there, her blonde hair framing a face that I could not believe I ever thought unattractive. She was beautiful. Her body was perfect, from the smallish cherry-tipped breasts to the long, exquisitely muscled legs.

There was only one thing lacking: confidence. There was a look on her face that I was used to seeing only in a mirror. The last three women whom I had "dated" — Parker, Angie, and Shawn — had confidence in abundance. They knew exactly what effect they had on men.

Francesca simply had no idea. As I paused to drink in her beauty, I became aware of a doubt flashing across her face. And I still couldn't bring myself to speak.

"No?" she whispered. A tear formed in the corner of one of her eyes.

I held out my arms to her.

"Most definitely yes," I said.

She ran across the room to me.

"Are you sure," I asked as she came to a halt in front of me, "that you don't want to save this for a man you —"

She quieted me with a finger across my lips.

"I have saved it for a man I will love forever," she said.

I looked up at her and opened my mouth. I slowly sucked her finger between my lips and watched in awe as she closed her eyes and trembled.

I put my arms around her waist and pulled her to me. She tumbled into my lap and began to kiss me with passionate hunger. I kissed her back, with the profound gratitude I felt for the gift she was giving me, and with the sheer raw joy I felt to still be alive.

We were an odd couple: a virgin in her late twenties who had no clue what to do; and a paraplegic whose only sexual technique involved the use of an arm that didn't quite function properly. We spent the night laughing, crying, teasing, touching, and ultimately loving. By the end of the evening, we fit together perfectly. It was the most special night of my life. Our parting the next morning was far more bitter than it was sweet.

"So how'd that saving the planet thing go?" Alison asked when she arrived at work on Monday morning. Her tone was just what I needed to bring me down to Earth.

"Just fine," I said with a shrug. I rapped my hand on the desk of my cubicle. "Knock on simulated wood veneer nothing else happens while I'm gone. How were the prospective in-laws?"

"Not quite as far away as I'd like them," she answered. "I suppose it's normal to have doubts about getting married, isn't it?"

"Sure," I said. It occurred to me that they didn't usually follow this closely behind the engagement but it wasn't my place to say that. Allie was smart. Smart enough to trust her heart.