An unpleasant scraping noise filled the corridor as Maedra dragged her cryopod toward the cryochamber. Xev watched and listened, as did the rest of the group, so engrossed that it never occurred to her to help Maedra. 790, perched atop the wobbly cryopod, stared at the woman, his face screens on permanent surprise.
�I was born on Trudel,� Maedra explained.
�Trudel was destroyed in the Insect Wars,� Kai interjected.
�I believe my parents anticipated that,� Maedra continued, pulling the cryopod without pause or complaint. It wasn�t, Xev dimly realized, like she was going to run out of breath. �And to save my brother�s life and my own, they sent us to-�
�Woah!� 790 shouted, as he listed to the side. Maedra reached out and caught him with one hand, supporting the cryopod with the other. She gently replaced him on top of the pod.
�I cannot hear you,� Kai calmly protested.
�What did you say?� Xev asked.
Maedra continued pulling 790 and the cryopod down the corridor. �We were sent to Brunnis. I was disguised as a boy and fought with the-�
�Aaaah!� 790 hollered, as again he rolled toward the edge of the pod. Again, Maedra managed to catch him before he struck the ground.
�I can�t hear you,� Xev protested.
�What did you say?� Kai asked.
Xev sighed and she gruffly grabbed Stan by his arm, pulling him toward the cryopod. �Stan, take this for her,� she ordered. Pulling Maedra away from the pod, she pushed him in in her stead. He barely caught the monolith, grunting with the sudden stress. This thing weighed a ton!
�Wait, Xev,� he gasped under the strain. �Why can�t we just let her use one of the pods that we have. You know, one of the working ones.�
�Because this one,� Xev stated, clapping a hand on the cryopod, adding just enough weight to make Stan grimace, �is already programmed for her.�
Xev abruptly walked away from him. He turned as much as he could, seeing only the backs of the rest of the group as they continued down the corridor toward the cryochamber.
�Wait!� he called out, unheeded. �I want to know what happened.�
�Kai, don�t leave me!� 790 whined.
The others disappeared from sight. Stan gritted his teeth and pushed, trying to get a better hold on the pod. Turning, he found 790 staring directly at him, his bug-eyed eye screens inches from his face. Stan felt sweat beading on his forehead and suddenly the cryochamber seemed very far away.
�I wish you had a body,� he muttered, moving the cryopod an inch closer to his destination.
�If I did,� the robot head countered, �I wouldn�t be hoisting cryopods with you.�
As Stan continued to drag the cryopod down the corridor, he looked for a bright side and found it in 790. At least the little scrap pile was still insulting him. Every since 790 had decided he was in love with Kai instead of Xev, Stan had had nightmares that he was next.
In the cryochamber, Xev listened with the others as Maedra explained her past. Looking at her, Xev could feel her heart pounding in her chest, almost the way it had when she had first seen Kai, but it was different now. It wasn�t just that she resembled Kai, even though that was a quick way to Xev�s affections, no, she was so *like* Kai. And she could teach him and tell him so much. She had said she had fought in the Insect Wars with the Brunnen-G, with Kai�s ancestors. She divulged this information nonchalantly, as if that weren�t an epic battle that had shaped the very lives of those to whom she now spoke. In fact, watching her now, Xev noticed the creases in the woman�s forehead as she spoke, as if it took great mental concentration, as if she was piecing together the story as she told it.
�I traveled with the others into the Light Universe,� Maedra continued.
The Light Universe! Xev thought. That explained why she didn�t have the mark on her cheek like Kai did, even though she had been taken for a man. She had been one of the elders. She had helped found Brunnis 2, where Kai had been born. �So, you lived on Brunnis 2?�
�I believe I was not welcome on Brunnis 2.�
Confused, Xev looked to Kai for an explanation. It was a moment before Kai looked away from Maedra and answered Xev�s unspoken question. �By the time they�d settled in the Light Universe,� he explained softly, �she would have been considered a danger.�
�Even after she fought with them and helped them?� Xev asked.
�She was an outsider,� Kai stated calmly, matter-of-factly, but Xev thought she heard a tinge of regret or - she *must* be imagining it - shame. Kai turned his green eyes to Maedra. �The Divine Order would have discovered your gender when you were equipped to accept proto-blood.�
�My binding was evidently in the way of their�installations,� she replied, choosing her words carefully, �but I guess that once I was dead, my gender ceased to matter.�
�You guess?� Kai questioned.
�Yes,� Maedra answered. �I guess.�
The sound of grunting and breathing preceded Stan into the room. Xev turned to see him struggling down the corridor, dragging the cryopod with him. She was glad that he had brought it. She was afraid that he would leave it there and just follow them, but she�d forgotten that Stan was, sometimes, a trustworthy fellow.
Maedra watched her approaching cryopod and Kai watched her. Xev couldn�t begin to imagine what he was thinking. Maedra knew of his people. She knew of their history. She had experienced Brunnen-G life long before he was born. Xev remembered well what she had learned of Kai�s past when the Lexx had come upon that ethereal theatre and its troop of unearthly players. Kai had been an adventurer and a warrior. He embodied the spirit that the Brunnen-G had forgotten they had. Maedra might very well be from a time when the Brunnen-G were still like that, were still like him, Xev thought. Maedra might have been what Kai had been. They might be the same.
Though, not entirely the same. Xev looked over the impressive, dark-clothed woman before her. She was as imposing as Kai, as intimidating: the same expressionless features and unmoving stance. And like Kai, she was lovely.
She was not as lithe or graceful of build, but she seemed to have power, a certain commanding presence. Her shoulders were broad and Xev could easily understand how she could be accepted as a man, if her chest were bound and she were clothed properly. Xev�s eyes trailed over the pattern of Maedra�s uniform. It was nearly identical to Kai�s. It was perverse how easily the bio-scholars had adapted their all-purpose uniform for a woman.
Xev discreetly took a step forward, examining the new woman closer. Her hair was amazing. The sole braid draping against her face was, Xev now saw, three smaller braids braided to form the larger. It was ridiculously complex and beautiful. Definitely Brunnen-G, she thought, and her skin was a bluish white, like porcelain - like Kai�s. With the dark hair and blue eyes it all made the whole�exquisite, Xev thought, and the moment she did it was the only word that fit. Maedra was exquisite.
Maedra already felt kindred. It didn�t feel to Xev as though she necessarily belonged with them, but she belonged more with them than Coral and her friends. Those salespeople who kept her frozen and considered her just another piece of merchandise, an �antique� they had called her � an �it.� Xev, curious, turned to them�Those salespeople who had had Maedra for years and who, even now, stared at her in complete bewilderment.
�You didn�t know any of this?� Xev demanded of Coral. �You didn�t wonder about the cryopod or her behavior?�
Coral stared, her face innocent and her mind, clearly, a total blank. �She�s a conversation piece,� she defended weakly.
�That still does all its tricks,� Maedra added, moving to help Stan.
Xev smiled through her surprise. The similarities evidently ended with their appearances. While Kai remained impassively distant, Maedra fought back. Xev had no idea why, in Maedra�s case, the dead *would* argue.
Maedra accepted the cryopod from Stan. To his chagrin, she lifted it with one arm, putting forth little to no effort at all. �Thank you, Stanley,� she said, with what he could have sworn was a smile. �You�re cute.�
�No problem,� Stan replied, through his gasping breaths. Then her second comment struck him. �Wait. I�m what?�
�How did you regain your memories?� Kai asked, walking to Maedra and taking part of the cryopod�s girth on himself. Together, the two assassins moved the pod into a vacant slot against the wall. Xev hoped the hoses and cables would match up right. Programming a cryopod was a pain.
�I was stolen my the Ostral-B Heretics,� Maedra replied. �They thought I was someone else.� She raised her eyes, locking them on Kai�s. The look was weighty, Xev thought. She looked at Maedra who�s blue eyes quickly returned to her work. Kai was motionless, as if stunned. No, Xev corrected in her mind, that look had been oppressive. �They used a sanguine extract,� Maedra continued, as she attached hoses to her ill-kept cryopod. �It lessened my loyalty to His Shadow and my dependency on proto-blood.�
Xev leaned forward, suddenly even more interested than before. Something could lessen an assassin�s dependency on proto-blood?
With Kai�s help, Maedra attached hose after hose, linking her pod to the cryochamber wall. �I became immune to most all methods of cleansing assassins known at the time,� she went on, her attention on her work, oblivious to her rapt audience, �and I no longer served His Shadow, but I didn�t know who or what I was and felt no�motivation to help them.� The final hose attached, Kai and Maedra stood back from the pod. His attentions transferred directly back to her. �I was abandoned as a failed experiment,� she finished.
�What does the sanguine extract do?� Kai inquired.
�It re-introduces free will,� Maedra began. �And it is significantly less scarce than proto-blood, and while not making the assassin entirely free from his dependency on proto-blood, does make his supply last twice as long � in a rough estimate.�
Xev watched Kai�s eyes narrow in that look she recognized as being as near to confusion as he got. She didn�t wonder why. Maedra had sounded as if she was quoting someone else, or�quoting a brochure. But despite its odd delivery, Xev had clearly heard the pitch. Whatever this extract was it could make a supply of proto-blood last twice as long. �Can you fix Kai so he can use the extract?� she asked, attempting to hide her eagerness.
�If he wishes it, yes,� Maedra replied.
�Stan.� Lexx�s voice thrummed through the chamber. �We�re here.�
Coral gave a short, loud clap, startling all of them � save Maedra and Kai, of course. Her customary joviality in pursuit of a sale had returned. �Bor, Evette, go pack our wares. Buyers are waiting,� she said anxiously. Then, thoughtfully, or what had to pass for thoughtfully on her, she turned to Maedra. �We�ll see that this planet has working cryogenic equipment before we bring down your icebox and the rest of our cargo.�
�I can�t wait,� Maedra deadpanned.
Her happy expression souring, Coral followed Bor, Mot and Evette from the room.
* * *
Coral smiled at the city streets filled to overflowing with vendors, boutiques, and shoppers. She
could not have asked for a better place. All the other merchandise was mundane, useful, even
necessary. That wasn�t what brought in the customers. In her view, people could be asked to buy
what they needed, but they could always be trusted to buy what they wanted. She had chosen her
niche market carefully. She could barely wait to get their merchandise set out, but first they had to
find a place to stay that night. Her eyes scanned the buildings, searching for an inn or a hotel.
Behind her, Mot, Evette and Bor each carried a crate, just the bare essentials needed for one night of selling. She had tried to bring more, but the captain and the lizard woman had steadfastly refused to carry anything. And they wouldn�t even let her have Maedra carry anything. They had clearly forgotten that Maedra was *her* property until such time that someone bought her fairly and squarely. But she had seen the look on the other assassin�s face and decided not to push it just then. She worried, however, that there would be a confrontation. She never should have shown them the demonstration.
Just now, the two assassins walked behind her, side by side, like a pair. She wished she had the pair. Now, *that* would be a moneymaker, but one assassin was trouble enough. Besides, the other assassin had insisted on bringing that robot head with him. She could deal with baggage, but not the kind that talked, no matter how alliterative it may be. That lizard woman, Xev, followed at the rear with the captain, Stan. Just their luck that they get rescued by this bunch.
Coral glanced about at the competition and saw two vendors selling tools. Tools. How useful. But the vendors eyes weren�t on their prospective customers, or on their wares, their eyes were focused on the two black-clothed individuals walking behind Coral. �Assassins,� she heard one of them whisper to the other. �Those two people are assassins.� Coral smiled. You couldn�t beat that kind of street buzz.
�We�re not exactly arriving incognito, are we?� Stan called from the back.
Coral turned to him, unable to mask the pleasure on her face. �We usually have Maedra walk with us when we first arrive in a town,� she explained, grinning. �Free advertising.�
Coral was too busy musing over the percentage increase of walk-by traffic to notice one of the assassins turning his cool glare her way.
The whole group followed Coral as she ducked through the entranceway of a shabby little building called �The Snooze Inn,� if Xev read the worn and peeling sign right. She found the lobby to be dimly lit and, with all of them, filled to the walls with people. The proprietor seemed thrilled to have so many prospective guests cluttering up his foyer and immediately leapt up, his ledger book in hand. Another book. Now that Xev knew what they were called, she was seeing books everywhere. She wondered if they were new.
�One, three, five, eight,� the innkeeper counted, pointing to each of them in turn. �Eight guests?�
�I am not staying,� Kai informed.
�Then I am definitely not,� 790 declared from the crook of Kai�s arm.
�Neither am I,� Stan added.
Xev felt her decline was understood. Besides, she noticed that the innkeeper wasn�t listening anyway. He was staring at Kai and Maedra. Lifting his hand, he pointed at the two of them, his fingering waggling from one to the other. �Are you two twins?� he asked, amused.
Kai and Maedra exchanged expressionless glances. �No,� she replied.
�We were not even born in the same universe,� Kai added. The innkeeper looked as if he didn�t believe them.
�How can you see a resemblance between my expired beloved and those � those � those reanimated remains?� 790 demanded furiously. If the innkeeper was still unconvinced, he was at least willing to drop the issue after the robot head�s display.
�They�re Divine Assassins,� Coral informed, leaning smoothly toward the innkeeper. �The female is for sale, if you�re interested.�
Xev heard a familiar clinking sound. She looked over at Kai to see that he had extended his brace into his palm, while his stare remained trained on Coral. Xev�s eyes widened. Kai was actually *threatening* someone � by his own choice. At a loss, she looked to Stan for an answer. Judging by his dropped jaw and round eyes, he didn�t have one.
Maedra gently reached over and closed her hand around Kai�s, blocking his brace. Sliding her index finger across his palm, she caught the edge of the weapon and pushed it back into Kai�s wrist. �But the price is high,� she quipped, looking pointedly at Coral. Maintaining her hold on his hand, Maedra escorted Kai back out the door.
Xev and Stan just stood a moment, staring, unable to speak. Then, Stan managed to find words. �Did that just happen?�
Xev wasn�t sure. Turning, she ducked out the door, Stan hard on her heels. They found Kai and Maedra waiting for them. Xev noted with a reasonable amount of relief that Maedra had let go of Kai�s hand.
Stan let out a surprised chuckle. �So, Kai,� he said, walking toward the dead man. �You don�t like Coral, do you?�
�The dead do not have �likes,�� Kai replied.
�You�re starting to lose credibility, buddy,� Stan stated with a grin.
Xev was glad that Stan was amused. She, for her part, was so puzzled she didn�t know what to think. Kai had never had such a catalyst around, such a intriguing influence. She didn�t know what this might mean.
�I will need tools,� Maedra informed, �if you wish me to perform the alteration.�
Xev�s eyes brightened. She had her concerns, all right, but the extract that Maedra had was not one of them. That, she knew, she wanted Kai to have. No matter what. But it was his choice. �What do you think, Kai?�
Kai lowered his eyes in thought. Say yes, Xev thought, please, Kai, say yes. I want you around as long as possible.
Kai raised his eyes and looked to Xev. �I saw some tools at a booth near here,� he said.
Xev suddenly didn�t feel the need to hold back what she felt. She leapt forward and threw her arms around Kai, hugging his unresponsive body to hers. �Thank you, Kai!� He�d be around longer, so she�d have plenty of time to apologize. She even dared to give him a quick kiss on the cheek before letting go.
�I did not make this decision for you,� Kai stated coolly.
Xev was happy enough that even that didn�t upset her. She relished the thought that Kai would be around to say that sort of thing to her for a long time to come. �I didn�t say you did,� she replied, grinning as she lead the group toward the tool booth.
The vendors saw them coming and watched their approach. Once they realized that the two
assassins were definitely coming their way, one grabbed the other and they both clambered to get
away. By the time Kai reached the table, it was deserted. Xev stepped up beside him. �They
must have seen what a discerning buyer you are, Kai,� she joked. She looked over the tools and
grabbed a hefty bundle with a handy leather pouch. Smiling, she handed the tools to Maedra and
walked away from the booth.
* * *
In their claustrophobic, but affordable room at The Snooze Inn, Coral, Bor, Evette and Mot
readied their merchandise for a good few hours of open market. Silent as always, Evette fed
Whisker and Nyar, while Bor and Mot unpacked their wares. Coral paced. The crew of that
idiotic bug ship had taken *her* conversation piece. Walk by traffic would be down a good thirty
percent. She would have to put Nyar and Whisker out front in the hopes that they could make up
for some of that and she wasn�t even allowed to sell Nyar. It was ridiculous. These people had no
concept of expense and profit.
It wasn�t only what she would lose today, but what she had lost in the years past just because she had been uninformed. She had spent so much on Maedra�s cryogenics feeling it was worth it for the visual draw it provided. But it was a Divine Assassin, a living, well, no, not living, but a physical vestige of the Divine Order�s rule. That was the stuff of nightmares. Forget selling it; she should have been charging for the demonstration.
�It�s�unsettling to think that Maedra�s been dead this whole time,� Mot mused aloud, breaking Coral�s concentration. �She always had more personality than Evette.� Coral glanced at Evette who nodded in agreement.
�So we�ll have a change in advertising,� Bor reasoned.
�The way the assassins are walking around like salt and pepper shakers,� Coral spat, �we might have a change in inventory.� Coral ignored the concerned expressions of her coworkers. This was too serious a situation to waste time comforting others. �We own it; it�s ours and they can�t have it for free.� If they wanted to keep Maedra, she knew she couldn�t stop them. But she would have to rely on their sense of justice: they would have to give her something to replace it.