The towering lanterns bathed the street in a warming yellow light. Xev appreciated it. While her lizard dress may have been practical and fashionable, it didn�t provide much warmth. And having 790�s cold metal shell pressed against her side didn�t help. She crossed her free arm across her bare and chilly mid-section and continued scanning the vendors for Coral and her lot.
Xev had been trying to think of the most effective approach. Hi, Coral. Say, how�s about Stan and I give you back that book and the dancing ball and you let us keep Maedra in exchange for saving your life? Or Hey, Coral. Stan and I think that Kai doesn�t really like you, so don�t you think it might be best to let Maedra stay with us? Nothing had seemed right. She had never been very good at verbal confrontation. Her expertise, on all fronts, was seated firmly in the physical. She had turned to 790 for help, but had only received platitudes on her inadequacies.
�We have the pair,� Coral informed, her voice rising above the general din of the market. �If one is good, logic dictates that two would be better.�
Xev searched the herds of people, looking for sharp-features and an unpleasant demeanor. She didn�t have to search long. Coral had just sold a silver box to an evidently gullible woman. Xev, for one, doubted it contained much of anything except expensive storage space. As she quickly closed the distance between she and the booth, Coral noticed her coming.
�How�s your assassin?� she inquired.
Xev pursed her lips. My assassin, she thought, as if Kai belongs to anyone. �Kai is fine,� she diplomatically replied, �but he and Maedra haven�t had much time to talk.� Coral�s eyes narrowed and her lips tightened. She was evidently expecting this topic. �He might be able to help her understand her dreams,� Xev continued, ignoring the already evident opposition.
Coral�s jaw hardened angrily and then she looked to Xev with a painfully fake smile. �It�s fascinating, isn�t it?� she asked, feigning nonchalance. �Kai and Maedra were born at different times, on different planets, even, but they both ended up the same: the undead main attraction in an interstellar freak show.�
�What did you say?� 790 asked from the crook of Xev�s arm, trying his best to sound intimidating.
�With us, Kai is a hero,� Xev countered, suppressing her flash-fire anger. �You�ve turned Maedra into a high-priced antique.�
�You tell her, Xev!� 790 supported, united by a common enemy.
Involved as she was with defending Kai and Maedra�s honor, Xev didn�t notice the patron standing near Bor, who suddenly and strongly noticed her.
�Maedra has free will,� Coral defended. �Besides, it sound like for all she know she used to pop balloons for His Shadow.�
Xev gritted her teeth, prepared to give Coral the verbal beating of her life �
�Coral,� Bor called, cutting off Xev�s tirade before it had begun. �This man wants to know how much we�re charging for the lady.�
Coral�s eyes brightened and she looked to Xev with renewed interest. Xev didn�t know exactly what she was thinking, but she was very certain she wouldn�t like it. She turned her angry eyes to the customer, who, under other circumstances, was a very attractive and virile-looking young man. �I am out of your price range,� she cautioned.
�If you keep Maedra,� Coral began, drawing Xev�s attention back to her, �what sort of compensation are you prepared to give?�
�Compensation?�
�You�re keeping our best item and we aren�t opposed to the barter system.�
�We don�t have anything,� Xev pointed out.
Coral snorted in disbelief. �Have you looked at yourself lately, Xev?� she asked. �Everybody else has.� Coral swept her arms wide, gesturing to the crowd around the booth. Suddenly, Xev noticed that they were all looking at her.
Up in the Lexx�s cryochamber, Kai�s pod opened and he stepped out. He surveyed the room and quickly found Maedra lying on her back with her feet propped up against her cryopod. To Kai, the position was unusual, but, as the dead do not need to be comfortable, he disregarded it. She remained unaware of his presence, absorbed as she was in analyzing her dreams. Kai watched her a moment with a fresh understanding of her predicament. Most of the images he had just seen were difficult to place despite his knowledge of his own lifetime. And those he could place had been a radical interpretation of the events. Maedra�s task of rebuilding her past from such a mired assault of images was daunting at best. She lay prostrate on the cryochamber floor, muttering to herself. Kai heard dates, names and actions of which he had little comprehension .
It seemed that his subconscious was�confused about what Maedra represented. Tempting elder or sympathetic contemporary, it didn�t know which. He looked at her now and saw her for the stranger she was. He knew little of her story and how she might be connected to him. And he fully believed that Maedra had told him everything she knew. The simple fact, he reasoned, was that she was a stranger to both of them.
He walked to her side and knelt down. Her eyes opened, looking up at him calmly. Those blue eyes brought different images to mind than they had before.
�I have questions,� he stated.
�I hope I have answers,� she replied and extended her arm. Grasping her wrist and standing, he pulled her to her feet.
On the planet�s surface, Xev strolled uncomfortably beside Coral down the lantern-lit street. She really didn�t like this woman. Perhaps I should rethink the threatening approach, she thought.
�As a love slave with your own mind, you have a unique opportunity,� Coral waxed. Abruptly, she grabbed a passerby by the arm. Xev glanced over and her eyes fell eagerly on an attractive, though short man. She smiled at him. Coral kept his arm, but the rest of him was focused on Xev. �Excuse me, sir,� Coral continued. �How much would you pay for an evening with this lovely woman?�
The man began to rifle furiously through his pockets, searching desperately for money. Xev�s eyes wandered over his form. He was far shorter than she, but who knows, she thought, that might be fun, and he looked hardworking. Her eyebrows arched and she gave him a coy smile. His frantic search for money ended, yielding nothing.
Near panic on his face he turned to Coral. �I don�t have an cash with me,� he blurted out, �but if you�ll let me go to the bank-�
Xev stepped toward him. �I would go with you for free,� she breathed. His head was just about level with her breasts and his eyes widened appreciatively as she neared him. A faint smile played on her lips. This height difference could prove to be most interesting, she mused.
Beside her, Coral shook her head in disapproval. �Xev,� she chastised, �you have no mind for business.� She grasped one of Xev�s arms, loosening it from around the man�s neck. �Xev, we were in the middle of a discussion.� Xev ignored her. That discussion had been boring anyhow. �I believe you wished to discuss Kai.�
Xev turned her attention to Coral. The unwelcome woman had found the one topic that could make Xev listen. Sighing, she looked to the intriguing short man. �Sorry,� she said with a shrug. Then, Coral took her arm and escorted her away, leaving the man aroused and alone.
In the cryochamber, Kai stood motionless in his pod as Maedra examined him. She had begun by looking over his proto-blood system and the alterations she had made. Silently, she tapped the tubes and valves. Kai watched her, unsure of what she was doing and not feeling any need to inquire.
He observed as she lifted one of his arms and bent it at the elbow. She was checking his joints, he supposed. Her clear blue eyes surveyed his wrist and his palm. Looking at her, he was able to acknowledge intellectually that she was beautiful. Thinking back on how she had appeared in his dreams, he conjectured that, had he seen her when he was still alive, he would have likened her to living art, so flawless in form and design was she. When he was alive, he would have been able to appreciate such loveliness. In his dreams, he had.
�These dreams,� he began,� what are they?�
�Memories, subliminal images, fantasies, daydreams,� she listed, bending and then straightening his knees. �I�m not sure.�
�I could feel the rain.�
�Yes, you could,� she swiftly replied and stepped up on the edge of his cryopod. She leaned forward, her hips pressing tightly against his. He recalled that, in his dream, a similar position had rendered the two of them speechless, almost unable to breathe through their passion. Here, in reality, they felt no passion, and breathing wasn�t necessary anyway.
Maedra bent his head forward, resting it on her shoulder while she slid her fingers over his spine. �Your system has accepted the extract,� she announced, stepping down from the pod. �You had dreams, then?�
�I saw Brunnis 2, Stanley, Xev,� he answered. Then, he paused, wondering it were prudent to reveal any further information. He was unable to foresee any danger. �And you,� he finished.
�This awakened subconscious can be viewed in two ways,� she said. �As experiencing a world of which you are no longer a part, or as moments of your existence when you are alive again.� She returned to her prostrate position on the cryoroom floor, crossing her hands over her stomach. �I don�t know which I prefer.�
Kai lowered his eyes, thinking. Though his lifeless heart could not pound and his cold skin would not warm, he could remember the sensations. He could recall the thundering ache in his chest as Maedra pressed her leg against his. He could recall the heat and softness of her lips as her arms held her to him.
�Kai?� He opened his eyes to see Maedra looking up at him, a faintly quizzical expression on her features. �What was I doing in your dream?�
Xev walked with Coral through the crowded streets, Bor, Mot and Evette trailing them silently. They had still not come to a decision regarding Maedra. Coral just kept going on and on about profit margins and demographics. That was a mean bait-and-switch, Xev thought. Promise Kai and deliver a financial report.
�We want an item that appeals to eighteen year-old males and on up,� Coral droned on. �That�s a difficult market to reach.�
Xev yawned, making no attempt to mask her boredom. She didn�t protest as Coral turned them off the main throughway and into a dimly lit, unsafe-seeming alleyway. Numbers and figures were just as boring in the dark as in the light.
�How about the Luscious Lizard Lady?� Coral suddenly suggested. �I like the alliteration.�
��Lizard Lady?�� Xev repeated, suddenly snapping to attention. �You want *me* as compensation?�
Bor edged closer to her and she saw a glimmer of metal in his hands. Restraints, she realized, they had restraints.
�She�s worth more dead than alive!� 790 shouted, supportively. �Kill her!�
Coral snatched the robot head from Xev�s arms. �I hope you don�t mind,� she said sweetly. Then, she hurled 790 to the main street where he landed in the dry dirt with a thud.
Stan looked down at the robot head that had just fallen from the sky and into his path. �Tweedle,� 790 greeted gleefully. �They�re trying to steal Xev! Woo-hooo-hooooo! Hey! Where are you going?� The little robot�s triumph paused as he saw Stan starting for the alleyway.
�I�ve got to help Xev,� Stan replied, not at all sure of how he planned to do that.
�What are you going to do, security guard? My de-carbonized dreamboat is the only real hero on this planet!�
Stan stopped short. The stupid hunk of metal had a point. There were four of them and only one of him. He should get Kai. 790 was wrong, though, his de-carbonized dreamboat wasn�t on this planet. He felt at his waist for the squawker. It wasn�t there! Xev! Xev had had the squawker, but he remembered that she had put it down somewhere. The factory � the laboratory � that place where Maedra had fixed Kai! He turned and began running back toward that building. 790 said they were trying to steal Xev, not hurt her. They could still rescue her if only he hurried.
In the alleyway, Bor, Mot and Evette stepped in nearer, surrounding Xev.
�I�m sure that ten-thousand years ago, Maedra was a real dish,� Coral went on, �but the assassin look doesn�t work for her. It works for Kai: dashing, dark and deadly, but Maedra is��
�Creepy,� Mot supplied with a shiver.
�You, on the other hand, Xev, are beautiful, smart � and if that weren�t marketable enough! � you�re part cluster lizard.� Xev rolled her eyes. This woman never stopped talking. Even when she was threatening, she was talking. �We could be rich,� Coral concluded with an eager grin.
Panting and sweaty from the run, Stanley burst through the door of the factory. Feeling his lungs burning from his exertion, the thought flitted through his mind that a regular exercise regimen might not be a bad idea if Xev continued to force these escapades on him. His eyes quickly located the squawker on the counter and he rushed to it.
In the cryochamber, Kai reclined on the floor beside Maedra, their feet resting on the cryopod. At his will, his brace extended to lie harmless and inert on his palm. He leaned over, placing his hand by Maedra�s, comparing his brace with hers. �Mine appears to be a newer model,� he observed.
�They stream-lined them,� Maedra added. �Mine gets caught unless I fire correctly. How do you fire?�
�It works best if I hold my arm out straight and pivot at the waist.�
�I usually bend my arm,� Maedra differed.
�Kai!� Stanley shouted, his voice piercing through the static of the squawker. �Kai, the salespeople are trying to steal Xev! You�ve got to get down here now!�
Calmly, Kai stood and walked to the cryopod control board, where the squawker lay. Maedra looking on, he raised it to his mouth.
�Xev has proven herself capable on numerous occasions,� Kai said evenly, sounding tinny through Stan�s squawker. Stan, rushing through the streets to Xev�s aide, almost couldn�t believe what he was hearing. �She doesn�t require my assistance,� he finished.
Doesn�t require his assistance? Stan thought in astonishment. He let out an angry sigh as he continued running, ignoring the cramp in his thigh. Why did he always have to do everything!?
In the alleyway, Bor approached Xev, brandishing the restraints. Coral angrily motioned him back. Oh, no, Xev thought, she�s going to try to *talk* me into this. Just attack already.
�The plan is, Xev,� Coral divulged, �you get sold to a wealthy man, escape, come back to us to take part of the profits, of course, and this on to the next buyer. Meanwhile, we can showcase your particular�attributes and charge for the demonstration. It�s brilliant!� Coral�s eyes gleamed on either side of her sharp-edged nose. Sign me up, Xev thought sarcastically, that life choice ranks right up there with servicing a seminary.
�I don�t think I�m interested,� Xev understated.
Bor suddenly lunged for her. Good, Xev thought, no more talking. She kicked him squarely in the chest, knocking him to the ground and sending his restraints flying.
�Not yet, you dunces!� Coral shouted, unheeded. Mot and Evette rushed in as the second wave.
Stanley sprinted through the streets, dodging shoppers and ducking past displays. He had one thought on his mind: Xev. Well, two thoughts, the other being �Ow! My leg!� But he charged through the streets without pause. Looming before him he saw 790 lying in the dirt and the dark alleyway veering from the main street.
�I�m coming, Xev!� he hollered, her hero in red coveralls, and he darted into the alleyway.
He immediately tripped and fell on his face on the dirt.
790�s derisive laughter filling the air, Stan lifted himself and looked back to what he had tripped on. It had been Mot, who lay wounded, a frightened look on his face. Stan followed his worried stare to Xev, who, at the far end of the alley, coolly stalked toward Coral.
�A different name, then?� Coral babbled, backing up in fear. �You can choose. I have the contracts. We�ll go fifty-fifty.�
Xev knocked her to the ground, unconscious.
Stan climbed to his feet, brushing the dust from his uniform. �Help me here, Stanley,� Xev requested as she applied a set of restraints to Coral�s wrists. Stan looked about him on the ground, searching for another set of restraints. There didn�t seem to be much point in restraining them. They looked pretty beaten up to him. He turned around to see Mot, smiling worriedly, a pair of restraints extended helpfully toward him. Stan accepted them and began to bind the chubby man�s feet.
�Where�s Kai?� 790 demanded from his place in the dirt. �You�re worthless, security guard. You were going to get my dearly departed darling.�
�I tried,� Stan defended. �He said that Xev could take care of herself.�
�He did?� Xev asked, standing in the middle of the felled salespeople. She inclined her head, thinking a moment, then a cheery smile spread across her face and she turned her attentions to binding Bor.
Stan sighed, shaking his head. Xev, Xev, Xev. Sometimes you make no sense, he thought. �I don�t get it,� he said aloud. �He comes to her rescue, she loves him. He *doesn�t* come to her rescue and she *still* loves him. I just don�t get it.�
�Maybe she has taste and like dead men,� 790 offered, unasked. �There�s a blunt object over
there if you want to test that theory.�
* * *
Kai and Maedra stood side by side on the bridge, awaiting Stanley and the salespeople.
Just in case Maedra didn�t stay with them, Xev took one last look at the dark-clothed woman,
standing with her arms loose at her sides, as Kai always did. Actually, she wanted to look at the
two of them together. They were incapable of feeling how dramatic this truly was, how impossible
that, after thousands of years, they had found one another. Xev didn�t want Kai to throw that away
simply because he couldn�t feel it, but she was determined that, in the end, the choice had to be
made by Maedra herself. She had been at the mercy and whim of others too long. This time, she
would be master of her own fate.
Nyar curled comfortably around Kai�s neck, seeming to sense his own immanent departure. He mewed, cuddling against the assassin�s chest and blinking upward at Kai�s own eyes. Bor, Mot, Evette and Coral trudged onto the bridge, following Stanley.
Following Stanley, Xev thought with a smile. Doing what Stanley told them to. Yep, she had broken them.
�Everything is loaded up,� Stan announced. �Except, uh, the rat there, and, of course, Maedra.�
�Nyar is mine,� Maedra informed, almost as a passive warning to Stan to avoid further insults.
�That explains why he likes Kai so much,� Xev commented, wondering if the little beast could tell the two assassins apart. Tall, dark and glowery probably looked and felt identical when you were curled up under a chin.
�So, then, uh,� Stan edged, clearing his throat. �I guess that means that if you stay, Nyar will, too, �cause, you know, that�s okay with us. We don�t mind.�
Xev looked to Stan, unable to mask the admiration on his face. Stan could still surprise her. Under all that whining and complaining, lay a defender of the weak. Then again, it might be because Maedra called him cute. �We don�t mind at all,� Xev seconded, managing to mean it despite her distaste for Nyar.
�Yeah, see,� Stan resumed. �Or if you don�t want to stay with us, we could just take you�someplace else.�
�Someplace with more tolerable company,� Kai added, casting a meaningful glance toward Coral and her companions. For once, the crew of the Lexx was unanimous, Xev thought.
�Someplace you can be alone,� 790 interjected.
Almost unanimous, Xev amended.
Maedra lowered her eyes, thinking. Kai understood the particular challenge of making a decision of this sort when one lacked preferences. He had had to make the choice himself many years ago. He had chosen to stay with Stanley and Xev. Though no emotional or physical need linked him to them, he did see it as being the most�justified of his choices. Xev and Stan had helped him to defeat His Shadow and to fulfill the prophecy. Their actions had earned his loyalty. They wanted him to stay, so he stayed. Maedra�s situation was, as he saw it, the opposite. Those who kept her, did not deserve her. If it were up to him, he would make for her the same decision he made for himself.
But Maedra was different than he. She had a goal she wished to achieve and that was to discover her past. Kai understood that she would stay with whomever could best facilitate that purpose.
�During the Insect Wars, communities survived on the strength of their warriors,� he began, watching as Maedra�s eyes rose to meet his. �As females were less likely to join the battle, on some planets, girls came to be viewed as ill omens, as signs of eventual defeat. I was taught that some families disguised their daughters as sons to avoid alienation and persecution.�
As he�d intended, the affect of his words on Maedra was immediate. She turned her eyes to Stan. �I would like a planet with a library,� she requested.
Stan grinned widely. �Lexx, locate a planet with a good library.� Then, he turned his triumphant expression to Coral and the others. �I guess you�re just gonna have to find another ten thousand year-old dead former assassin to pop balloons for you,� he sneered.
�As you command, Stan,� the Lexx complied. Stan raised a puzzled expression to the ceiling of the Lexx and pursed his lips. A perfectly good victory ruined, he thought.
Xev stepped back as Kai bent down and released Nyar to the floor. Fortunately, the little monster only hesitated a moment before rushing to Maedra and happily winding its tail around her leg.
�I will collect my belongings,� Maedra informed, moving toward the exit with her fuzzy, doe-eyed stowaway.
�I will assist you,� Kai offered, following.
Xev watched them go. She felt excited about having Maedra around. Despite 790�s insistence that he was now a female, Xev had always thought it would be neat to have another woman around - one who wouldn�t eat her if she got too hungry. They could talk about boys and do their hair and�whatever else it was that girls did. Xev laughed to herself. She had grown up in a wife bank and Maedra had grown up pretending to be a boy. The way she figured it, they were on about equal ground when it came to being girls.
But the concern remained that with another woman came competition. Kai almost showed an interest in Maedra, not romantically, of course, but Xev knew that he would probably spend much of his time with her. Xev�s expression darkened, uneasy. �Should I be jealous?� she asked Stan.
Stan immediately shook his head. �Nah, she�s just as dead as he is,� he assured her. He motioned to the salespeople. �Okay, time for you guys to leave.�
Xev watched as Stan led the salespeople from the bridge. She knew he�d meant well, but his assurance hadn�t been nearly as comforting as he had thought.
Kai trailed Maedra through the corridors of the Lexx on a direct course to the cargo hold. Maedra slowed and then stopped. She turned to him, her eyes seeking out his.
�I�ve been in cryostasis for months,� she told him. �I have many images in my head.�
�You should sort through them,� Kai replied to the subtext. �I will ask Xev to take care of Nyar for you.� He recalled Zev�s reaction to the baby cluster lizard, Squish. �Or perhaps Stan,� he amended, accepting the animal in question to him.
�Thank you,� she said, stepping down a side corridor that lead to the moth-breeding chambers, though he doubted she knew that. �I will try to remember more of your people.�
�Our people,� he corrected.
Maedra shook her head. �They were not my people.�
Kai inclined his head, his expression darkening. �I am sorry,� he said softly.
She smiled faintly, the expression appearing out of context on the pale and lifeless face, and leaned forward. Gently, she pressed her cold lips to the mark on his cheek. �Do not be,� she said firmly.
Kai watched as she continued down the side corridor, leaving him with Nyar at his feet.
* * *
Xev glanced about the cryochamber, looking for Maedra. It would take some getting used to, she
thought, having four whole people on the Lexx. Not finding the other woman anywhere, she
stepped toward the other cryopod and wiped away a layer of filth. It was empty. �Where�s
Maedra?� she asked Kai, rubbing her dirty hand on her lizard skin dress with a disgusted grimace.
�She has found a quiet place on the ship to sort through her dreams,� he replied, stepping into his pod.
Xev�s brow knit in confusion. That wasn�t how she thought this would work. �I thought you could help her,� she said.
�We will see,� Kai answered obliquely, closing his eyes, awaiting freezing.
�It�s kind of poetic, isn�t it?� Xev mused.
�What?� Kai inquired, his eyes remaining closed.
�A supernova destroyed Brunnis and then, thousands of years later, another supernova brought us together with the only person left who lived there.�
Kai�s eyes opened, seeming to focus on nothing while Kai thought about what she�d said, and then they closed again. Xev wasn�t surprised her observation had gone without reply. She hadn�t said it to spark a conversation. She had merely wanted Kai to view this in the light that she thought was right.
She moved to man the controls, though it wasn�t strictly necessary. She was about to activate the pod, but then stopped and looked up. �Kai,� she said softly. He opened his eyes again, peering at her through the cryochamber�s freezing mist. �Did you dream, like Maedra said you would?�
�Yes,� he replied.
�Will you tell me about it someday?�
He inspected her a moment, thinking, then rested his head against the pod and shut his eyes for the last time. �Someday,� he answered.
Xev smiled. Someday. And now, Kai had a lot more �somedays� ahead of him. �Pleasant dreams, Kai,� she wished sweetly.
�You, too, Xev.�
Xev tapped the controls and, in a cloud of vapor, the cryopod closed. She stood a moment, regarding her frozen companion. Stepping closer to the pod, she wiped the icy condensation from the clean glass. Standing on her toes, she peered through the glass. Kai looked as he always did, motionless, serene, but Xev then noticed that, beneath his eyelids, his eyes were moving.