Disclaimer: Hi there, kiddies.  This particular story has been knocking around in my skull for… uh… decades.  Yeah, really, it’s been that long.  Mike and Molly first popped up in Maze, which I co-wrote with Chelgi back in the 90’s, long before it became the title of a comedy show (I’m keeping their names, so deal with it).  I’ve revisited them in some shorts.  But the full story of how they met and what came of it always appealed to me.  I may retcon the other stories, or maybe not.  It’s tempting, though, because their tone and plots really don’t gel with this one.

No disclaimer is needed, but is included out of long habit.  This beastie is safe for anyone to read.  There is an afterword at the end that may be of some interest.

One last thing.  Stop by Aphrodite’s site and give her hugs.  It’s a rare treat for any of my stories to get illustrated.  I love her style.

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Mike gazed out through the forward view screen at the pitiless stars.  Giving them up hurt like a splinter in his heart.   But the void they had carved into his soul was unbearable.

            “Passing L1,” said Ship.  “Helm reverting to your command.  Power nominal.  Sensors nominal.  S-EW pass-through systems nominal.  Whisper Drive program DS-2 downloaded into the engines.  No evidence of detection.”

            Mike gripped the yoke, instinctively running through one of the regulatory five second warm up exercises.  The small tactical Star Scout spun randomly around each axis.  Taking a deep breath he instinctively solved the necessary quaternion calculations before restoring the ship’s original orientation with a flick of his wrist.  The cruel stars rotated out of view, replaced by the bright glow of the nearby world.  He punched in a series of vectors.

            “Flight path violates efficiency and safety guidelines,” Ship warned.

            Mike added the conditions for the final parameters.

            “Correction, path is required,” said Ship, “but is highly illegal.”

A ghostly smile touched Mike’s lips as he finished with a cipher key.

“Override accepted.  Is a query permitted?”

“It’s my last chance at sanity,” Mike explained quietly, “as long as I don’t get caught.”  The cabin shook with a subsonic rumble as he activated the Whisper Drive, propelling them towards the planet’s surface.

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Myriad shadows of overlapping oak leaves dappled her face and jet black hair.  Molly smiled up at a bird hopping among the branches.  It took considerable effort to focus her huge emerald eyes on the tiny creature, forcing her to cross them.

            The limb shook beneath its tiny feet.  It flapped its wings in alarm.  The limb swayed again, bobbing up and down.  On the third shake the bird chirruped and sped from view.  Molly sighed, recognizing the rhythmic footfalls causing the old tree to shiver and tremble.

            “Are you getting up,” Rihanna asked with her usual terseness, “or do I have to rip that little weed out of the ground?”

            “Leave it alone,” Molly huffed.  “It’s done nothing.”

            “The hell it has,” Rihanna retorted.  “Over the last several months you’ve spent more fucking time with this plant than with me.”

            Molly smirked and rolled to her left, carefully rising several meters away so as not to damage the fragile oak.  She rose to her feet, towering over it.  Brushing her fingers through her shoulder length hair she combed out some of its miniscule leaves.  Mild defiance shone in her eyes.

            Rihanna confronted her, fists on hips and untamable blonde hair framing a disapproving look.  Her dark eyes softened as Molly grinned and lunged forward, slipping her arms between Rihanna’s crooked elbows is if they were an invitation, hugging the taller woman close.

            “Am I really so much trouble?” Molly asked contritely.

            “Every damned time,” Rihanna growled.  But she returned the embrace.  “Why do you sleep under this stupid thing?”

            “I wasn’t sleeping,” said Molly protested.  “I was looking at its leaves.”

            “From underneath,” said Rihanna wearily.

            “Sorry,” said Molly.  “I like the Autoc point of view.  It doesn’t hurt anyone.  And it passes the time.”

            “Shut-up.  Just shut-up,” Rihanna breathed, holding Molly tight.

            A wide, featureless ocean spread across the window at dizzying speed.  When Ship hit atmosphere its Whisper Drive funneled the fearsome heat of reentry into the Lorentz trap, creating protons, obscuring the thermal and sonic sign of their descent.

            “Do you wish to jack in for better control?” asked Ship.

            “I’ll eyeball it,” Mike stated.

            “That is ill-advised.”

            “Just like all the other times,” he muttered.  White capped hills of water exploded into proximity.  A half heartbeat later Mike activated the inertial shunt, sending the ship at a right angle to the churning waves.  The Whisper Drive snarled at this affront to physics, but dutifully added the energy cost to the trap.  “I’ll miss that maneuver,” Mike said softly.

            “37.5 meters.  Your best to date,” said Ship.  “Tracking systems engaged and locked.  Deviation from path is 0.6.  Will you be managing data collection?”

            “You do it,” said Mike.  “I’ll fly.”  His eyes narrowed as he fine-tuned the ship’s flight path.  Only now were his hands growing slick from sweat.  Only now was his idiotic heart pounding in his chest.

The coastline surged forward, slapping away the ocean.  A distant vertical black line bisected the sky, approaching fast, and slowly drifting left.  Soft chimes rang within the cabin as they closed upon their target.  Mike dumped speed, taking them subsonic.  The pulsing of the chime increased, blurring into a continuous tone as they reached their goal.

            And just like that they passed it by...

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Rihanna nuzzled her cheek against Molly, while far off thunder rumbled.  Moments like this made her feel most in control of herself, most at peace.  Gazing serenely into the distance she nearly missed it, a flickering heat mirage; a brief distortion in the sky speeding away with preternatural swiftness.  She gripped Molly tightly, ignoring her protests.

            “You know what a hug is, right?” Molly growled, slipping from Rihanna’s arms.

            “Huh?  Yeah.  You’re supposed to report to the Super before you go home.”

            Molly took Rihanna’s hand and tugged, “Wanna bet they finally found something worse for me to do than inspecting the drop trays?  You coming along?”

            Rihanna shook her head, combing a blond strand from her face.  “No, I have something I want to check out.  Meet me at Tessa’s.  We’ll have a bite and watch the auras before we crash.”

            “I thought that was a poor use of our meager income,” Molly said in a mock stern voice.  But she leaned forward, giving Rihanna a kiss, quelling any chance of a retort before jogging off, her dark hair bobbing.

            Rihanna watched her departing form, enjoying the sight, anticipating the night.  Her eyes narrowed as she turned away and began striding purposefully in the direction of the passing mirage, towards the ruins of the Old City.

%-%  %-%  %-%

            “I’ve prepared a data stick,” Ship asked.

            “Give me printouts, please,” said Mike.  “I’m going tech dark.”  He collected each picture as it emerged from the slot, slipping them unseen into his chest pocket.  Reaching overhead he tugged down an old battered rucksack holding a crater gun and a JATO stick and enough supplies for a few days.  “We’re going to break silent running when I roll out.  You snap shut and blast straight up.  Use every joule in the trap.  Don’t stop until you’re well past lunar orbit.”

            “Your orders for after that?”

            “Good question,” said Mike.  “Where in space would you like to go?”

            “Sir?”

            “It’s a simple question,” Mike insisted.  “Given the choice, where would you like to go?”

            “I am defined by purpose,” said Ship.  “Your purpose.  My wishes are defined by what you deem pertinent to our mission and the needs of the Stellar Service.”

            “Uh-huh.  Listen carefully, Ship.  I want you to review your considerable memories and experiences, and from them formulate a location you believe commensurate with gathering useful and interesting information, or better yet find something that’s just fun.”

            “Fun?” asked Ship.

            “Yes,” said Mike.  “We’ve been over this one before.  Fun creates memories with no required utility beside later recollection.  Like that time we watched the nova at M31N 2008-12a.  You said you liked that.”

            “May these experiences have later utility?”

            “That’s allowed,” Mike conceded.

            “I have identified a suitable target,” said Ship.  “But I require resupply before continuing.  When shall we do this?”

            “I’m not coming,” said Mike.  “I have business here that will keep me engaged for weeks or months, possibly forever.  You’ll have to provision yourself.”  Reaching into a shoulder pocket he slipped out a data stick, and snapped it into one of the available sockets.  “The passcode is Mandelbrot Zed Lanthanum Square Yttrium.”

            “This gives me access to your personal accounts,” said Ship.  “Such access is contravened under Stellar Service Article 77, paragraphs 3 through 6.”

            “Ah, but I haven’t given you direct access.  Under Article 83, paragraph 2 is a quaint little bit allowing pilots to create insurance accounts for their vessels.  Oddly enough that directive specifically allows a ship to tend to its own needs, pending pilot approval.  So with that in mind, please record the following statement.  I, Senior Scout Commander Michael Sinclair Curadh, HVC-X1-237344, hereby authorize Stellar Service Scout Ship MV-9000-773-01 full access to the Rigby Company Insurance Policy account number AC2546367-005.  This includes allowing them to draw funds in my name for any reasonable function of Stellar Service Scout Ship MV-9000-773-01 that is not in violation of Stellar Service rules, or anything you think may piss me off.  The data stick given to you can only be used to replenish the Rigby Company Insurance Policy previously described.  Stellar Service Scout Ship MV-9000-773-01 indicate your understanding and compliance with a simple yes or no.”

            “Yes,” said Ship.

            “And that’s it,” said Mike.  “My pension supports the account on the stick.  If anyone asks where I am, tell them I’m getting drunk while you’re taking care of provisions.  Nobody will ever question you on that one.”

            “As you wish.”

            Mike gripped the control yoke.  “You know how people get emotional, right?”

            “I have direct experience of that,” said Ship.

            “Remind me to congratulate your builders,” said Mike.  “They did a hell of a job.  It has been a privilege serving with you, Ship.  I’m going to bail out now.  My last order is for you to get the hell away from here as fast and as safe as possible.  Go have fun.”

            “Goodbye,” said Ship.  The canopy over Mike snapped back, and the vessel rolled over, letting Mike spring out onto the rooftop they were hovering over.  The canopy slammed back into place, and suddenly the ship was gone leaving Mike alone.  He gazed towards the setting sun for a moment before hitching his rucksack higher onto his back and heading for the service exit.

            Rihanna hadn’t visited the Old City in years.  It stirred complex emotions within her.  She and her friends used to play games, admittedly not very nice games.  But the Matriarchy gave them some latitude in this.  Better to spend youthful energy in controlled acts of destruction, than allow it to find other, less benign outlets.

            It was this in mind that she stepped on one of the little abandoned cars, relishing the way it crumpled and broke beneath her heavy booted foot.  A thrill of vitality warmed her body, and she imagined for a moment what it would be like if all the windows and streets were filled with Autocs.

            But it was a fleeting pleasure.  She wasn’t here for fun.  The mirage flew in this direction.  This entire region was off limits to anyone in the Matriarchy.  It was her duty to investigate.

            Many of the skyscrapers were taller than she was, blocking her view into the heart of the city.  Rihanna moved slowly, taking her time.  Passing one of the towers revealed more buildings a couple dozen blocks away.  Flickering yellow light shone in one window several stories up.

            A dark smile curled Rihanna’s lips.  She moved stealthily forward.

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Mike sat with his back against the wall, humming a tune he used to sing when younger.  A fire blazed before him, giving him some much needed illumination, driving back the chill of the night.  In his hands he held the pictures taken by Ship.  For a long time he gazed into the fire, unwilling to start.  But finally, with a quiet sigh, he began sorting through them.

            The first few showed little, just distant figures beside a bush, he tossed those into the fire.  The next photo revealed the bush to be a fully grown tree.  The figures resolved into two gigantic women, both dressed in the black and grey uniforms of the EVE Project.  The blonde was the taller of the two, and facing away from the camera.  The brunette faced forward, but the image was too distant to be sure.  His lips thinned at the way they were embracing.

            Mike flicked that photo into the fire.  He looked at the next shot, his heart pounding.  It was Molly.  The sight of her desirable face tore back the veil of time, recalling a day long past, but never forgotten…

%-%  %-%  %-%

Mike stepped off the shuttle and squinted at the sun dappled dirt road.  The whir of the transport faded quickly, leaving him alone with the hum of late summer insects.  Hitching up his pack he began walking, slipping into an easy ground consuming stride built up from years of hiking.  Tension from the day faded, leaving him finally able to enjoy himself.  The old dirt road bent right, sloping down towards Flint Creek.  He sighed as he passed beneath the first trees, adjusting his path to the shadiest spots.  It became a game, measuring the shortest distance to each cool dark pool.  The old road straightened out in its descent to the river, and that's where he spotted her.

She sat upon the cliff bordering the creek, eyes down, idly picking at a small dogwood tree like it was a daisy.  She wore a green and white gingham sundress that closely matched the dark color of the pine trees beside her.  Her black hair was tied up in a messy bun to let the air against the back of her neck.  Her bare feet bumped carelessly against the side of the cliff, sending avalanches of dirt and pebbles bubbling into the slow moving water.

Mike no longer heard the creek.  He no longer heard the insects.  The only sound in his world was a rapid pounding.  Waves of heat and cold washed through his body.  Sweat trickled down his face, but he didn't dare raise a hand to wipe at it.  He kept his measured pace, turning his eyes toward the point where the road bore left, and he walked in that direction as if that was his sole purpose in the world.

Each step was agony.  It was impossible that she hadn't noticed him.  He wanted to stare at her, how could anyone be that colossal?  He knew about the Matriarchy, but he’d never seen a giantess this close.  She had to be nearly thirty meters tall.  He wanted to hide.  Unable to decide what to do he continued to walk.

With stiff motions he followed the road.  A voice spoke, but he had no idea what it said.  A moment passed.  The ground trembled beneath his feet, it didn't matter.  He stared straight ahead and kept walking.  The ground shook again, not a lot, but his senses were alert to every change.  He fought an urge to run.  Another tremor passed through the ground, followed by a puff of dust.  Every few seconds the ground shook and more brown dust whirled by his legs.  The hairs on the back of his neck rose, ice water slithered through his veins.

Tension mounted with each step, with each billowing cloud, until he couldn't take it any longer.  Mike whirled around and screamed, "WHAT!?" at the top of his lungs.

He found himself face to face with a set of gigantic dirty bare toes, still damp from stepping into the creek, with dust settling down slowly around them.  He gaze traveled up the length of her tan legs, up and up, his head tipping back and back, until he locked eyes with her.  Such incredible eyes, green as emeralds, but grave and serious.

"You didn't say 'hi,'" she said.

Mike's angry expression slowly relaxed into a blank stare.  His eyebrows rose.  The insects hummed merrily around them.  She waited patiently, hands behind her back, rocking slowly back and forth on her feet.

"Hi," said Mike.

She nodded, flashed him a quick smile and spun on her toes.  The ground shook as she skipped back to the break in the trees, where, with a nimbleness that belied her incredible size she sprang over the water and vaulted onto the top of the cliff, vanishing from sight behind the shoulder high pines, leaving only a brief tumble of stones to mark that she'd ever been there.

Mike stood still for a long while.  When he finally turned and resumed his walk home, he was no longer mindful of the shade or the trees.  Silence returned to the woods, save for one brief, incredulous laugh that frightened the hell out of the birds.

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Mike smiled and stuffed that picture back into his pocket before considering the last one in the set.  The hairs rose on the back of his neck.  This shot came after passing the couple.  Caught in the frame was the face of the blonde woman.  She was looking up straight at him.

            Massive fingers pierced the outer wall by the window, effortlessly tearing away the concrete, revealing the angry expression of the same giantess.  Her black eyes locked with his for a heartbeat.

“Knock knock,” she growled.

Mike exploded into motion, dropping the picture as he hurled himself back towards the door.  He feinted left, leaping and kicking off the door jam.  Splinters flew through the air as her huge fist crashed through the interior wall.  Kicking open a door he bounded up the stairs two at a time.  The entire building rocked violently, nearly spilling him, but he gained access to the roof and charged across it in the only direction possible.  At the same time he reached back, slipping free the JATO stick from his rucksack.

            “Where have you gotten to, you little shit?  Didn’t you read the no trespassing signs?” rumbled the blonde giantess as she ripped deeper into the guts of the skyscraper.  She spotted a tiny photograph on the floor by the fire, and she forced her head and shoulders in to get a better look before the floor sagged and it dropped from sight.  The image fuel her rage.  “I am not a fucking tourist attraction!” she yelled.

            Without pausing Mike flung himself over the edge of the roof.  The colossal woman was directly below him, intent on her search, wildly tearing out great chunks of the building.  The noise covered the sound of the stick firing, which granted him enough added momentum to gain the roof of the building across the street.  He hit hard and rolled with the impact, letting it carry him to his feet.

            Unfortunately, the JATO chose that moment to glitch with a blazing blue flash.  Drawn by its light the blonde giantess swung around and spotted him dashing across the roof of the building.  Lunging forward she crashed into the skyscraper, one enormous hand grasping with fingers splayed to seize his tiny body.

            Without hesitation Mike leapt off this roof as well.  The next building was too tall for the JATO, so he fired it to the side, aiming for an abandoned car.  Swinging his body around, he tucked the stick between his arm and body, holding a continuous blast.  The impact on the car’s roof nearly knocked him out.  But the sight of the blonde giantess plowing violently through the row of buildings impelled him into motion, and he rolled off the smashed top of the car.

            Mike sprinted towards the nearest door, unlimbering his crater gun to blast a hole through the wall.  The street behind him shook under swift, ponderous footfalls.  As he passed a tanker truck he spotted the entrance to an underground subway.  Without hesitation he careened in that direction, flopping onto the center railing and skidded down it as the enormous woman stomped onto the structure, sending an avalanche of smoking rubble crashing down around him.  He hit the floor and rolled across it.

            He was still catching his breath when he tasted fuel in the air.  With a groan he glanced to the stairs.  Shifting shadows made it clear the giantess was out there, accompanied by the sound of tearing steel and plastic.  A sudden gush of liquid flowed down the stairs and hit the floor, spreading out into a wide pool.

            Mike scrambled to his feet, lurching away just as the spilt petrol ignited, filling the corridor with dancing sheets of flame.  He bent low and moved fast, hugging close to the wall.  The dark hallway forked.  He went left, and as the light behind him faded he adjusted the JATO to a low flame, illuminating his way.  All the while the corridor shook and reverberated from repeated stomps on the street above.  Dust sifted down from the ceiling.

            Mike couldn’t help grinning.  Whoever she was, she’d make a hell of a soldier.

            Molly was at Tessa’s, gazing up at the Extraterrestrial Vertical Elevator, more commonly called EVE.  It rose from a hardened canyon more than 4 kilometers in diameter.  Winking lights marked the positions of the Spinners, special vehicles designed to extrude the impossibly strong monoatomic fibers used in the construction of the elevator.  Drop trays around the lip of the canyon controlled the tension on the lines during the initial part of the weave.  Molly tried to clear the technical thoughts from her mind, wondering when they’d finish it, and concentrated on the faint lights dancing around the mighty shaft, precursors to the coming show.

            A hand on her shoulder shook her from her reverie.  Glancing up she saw Rihanna standing over her.  There was a sour look on her companion’s face.

            “Do I want to know?” Molly asked.

            “Somebody took a picture of us by your tree,” said Rihanna, dropping down onto the ground with the low table between them.  “I found the little shit who took it, but he got away.”

            “What if you’d caught him?” Molly asked.

            Rihanna smiled nastily.  “I can’t remember the last time an Autoc was found outside of the construction zone.  Imagine what that would be like, having a little living toy.”

            “You should report it,” said Molly.

            “Pfft, and get roped into a board of inquiry?” Rihanna drawled, “Fuck that.  Besides, they check the city every few days.  Maybe they’ll find him.”

            Molly nodded quietly.  She picked up her drink and sipped it.  At that moment blue and purple lightning curled down around EVE.  Sheets of flame like the aurora borealis danced in the charged particles deflected away from the great shaft.  Rihanna sighed in delight, utterly mesmerized by the display, almost as much as the starry skies that nightly haunted her dreams.

            “I overheard the Autocs saying a major battle was recently won in that direction,” said Rihanna, gesturing towards the constellation Pegasus.  “No details, as usual, just rumors it could have gone either way, until something flipped it our way.”  She snorted softly at the vast pillar spearing the night.  “Why can’t that damned thing be done so we can get off this rock?  We’d finish up the war in a hurry.”

Molly half listened as Rihanna went on a quiet tirade about getting into space, and the kind of impact she was going to make.  Her voice faded into the background of Molly’s thoughts, while the flickering lights above resurrected a memory…

%-%  %-%  %-%

            “Is this safe?” Molly asked curiously, gazing down at Mike with her hands clasped behind her back.

            “It is when you know what you’re doing,” said Mike as he finished setting up the mortars.

            Three weeks had passed following their first meeting.  Each day since then Molly sat on the cliff and watched Mike walking home.  And each day he waved to her and said ‘hi’ in a loud and cheery voice.  Yesterday he finally screwed up his courage and asked if she liked fireworks.  To his utter amazement she admitted she’d never seen any.

            “Okay, that’ll do,” he said.  Let’s find a good spot to watch them from.  He glanced around the field and pointed towards a sloping hill.  “How about over there?  We’ll be far enough away, and we can lie down to watch.”

            Molly nodded and strode off.  It wasn’t far on her scale.  When she glanced back Mike was wading through the tall grass, having barely covered a tenth of the distance.  He paused as he came up against a small ravine she had casually stepped over.  Muttering to himself he climbed down into it, leapt over the thin creek that had cut it, and hunted for a good spot to climb back up.

            He was halfway up when a dark shadow covered him.  Massive fingers closed gently around his body.  Too startled to yell he held on for dear life as Molly casually lifted him like a little doll, cradling him in both hands as she carried him to the slope.  He tumbled onto the grass, his heart slamming in his chest, sparks dancing in his eyes.  For a moment he thought he might pass out.

            “So when are they going to start?” Molly asked, oblivious to the effect she had on him.  For a moment he was tempted to yell at her, but a little pragmatic voice in the back of his mind admitted that she’d saved him considerable effort.  He took a moment to regain his composure as he combed his hair back with his fingers.

            “Thanks for the lift,” said Mike.  To his mortification his voice cracked.

            “No problem,” said Molly as she leaned her head back on her folded arms, glancing up at the starry sky.

            “Okay, let’s see if I wired this up right,” said Mike.  His fingers trembled a bit, but he forced them to steady as he pulled out his phone, brought up the app he’d written, and used it to arm the trigger mechanism.  “Ready?”

            “Yes!” said Molly.

            Mike started the show.  A rocket launched into the night, twirling on a fountain of golden sparks.  It exploded high overhead, sending out a cascade of green sparks that faded to amber.  Molly giggled in startled delight...

%-%  %-%  %-%

            The experience in the city was good, Mike thought.  He needed to be reminded just how dangerous this was.  Though it would have been better not to have run into one of the giantesses.  There was a risk of her reporting the matter to the Matriarchy, and while he had made preparations to deflect searches, it seemed best to lie low for a while.  So he set up a place in the subway and scouted for food and water to supplement his meager supplies.  What he found wasn’t terrific, but it did the job.

            Sure enough patrols visited the city.  He felt them more than heard them as they strolled around the streets above.  They’d likely conclude it was some nutcase defying the ban to get a glimpse of the giantesses.  Which wasn’t terrifically far off the mark, he mused sourly.

            Weeks passed before he made his move.  During those weeks he spent a lot of his time remembering Molly...

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Mike stood on the edge of the cliff in front of Molly, completely unconcerned with the drop before him.  Molly knelt close, allowing her to closely follow his motions as he deftly juggled five balls.  They rose and fell in a complex pattern, changing in mesmerizing ways.  Her face was close enough that he felt her breath washing over him.  Her green eyes glowed with delight at his antics.  At the end he tossed each ball high into the air, catching them behind his back.

            “It’s your turn,” he prompted.

            “I’m not sure about this,” said Molly.

            “Nonsense.  It’s easy.  Watch,” he dropped two of the balls, and slowly juggled the three remaining.  “Take your time.  It doesn’t required any force.  You toss and catch, toss and catch, forming a rhythm.  Once you feel it you’ll do it automatically.”

            “Uh-huh, she replied doubtfully, before lifting her three boulders, considering them for a moment.  Tossing one of the heavy stones, she tried to pass the next one to that hand, but took her eye off the one in the air.  It glanced off her waiting hand and crashed down the face of the cliff onto the ground far below.

            “Relax,” said Mike.  “You’re trying too hard.  If it works, great.  If it doesn’t, that’s fine too.  Just have fun.”

            Molly grinned fleetingly.  She concentrated for a moment.  The first rock whirled into the air.  She passed the second stone to that hand and sent it up.  The third boulder flicked over just in time for her to catch the first rock.  She managed two more throws before they all clattered down around her knees.  Her smile was radiant.

            “See?” Mike crowed.  “I knew you could do it!”

            “Not for long,” she noted.

            “Stop that!” he growled.  “Stop seeing the downside.  With practice you’ll win confidence.  Come on, do it again,” he urged.  “I’ll join you.”

            Molly picked up her boulders.  She concentrated again for a moment, and started tossing them.  Mike grinned and tossed his own little balls.  For a few seconds they both had them in the air, and Mike let out a banshee yell.  Molly grinned, but lost her focus, fumbling the next stone.  It arced up into the air and plummeted towards Mike.  Molly yelled and leaned forward to try to slap it away.  Mike did the only thing he could, leaping off the cliff.

            He landed on Molly’s right breast and clung there with blood rushed to his face.  Molly plucked him off, concern in her eyes as she looked him over.

            “Are you okay?” she said in a rush.

            “Fine,” said Mike, wincing as his voice cracked.

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Molly sighed, lifting her arms high over her head as she walked, slowly stretching the kinks out of her lean muscles.  It had been another ridiculously long day inspecting the drop trays.  Rumors suggested a new change in the schedule, possibly pushing the completion of the space elevator to sometime next year.  She didn’t believe a word of it.  Only about 20% of the Spinners successfully completed laying their lines.  That was better than just a few years ago, but it didn’t help progress.

            Another hour stood between now and when Rihanna would free up from her job, so Molly visited the oak tree.  There was always a temptation to run her fingers through it, but experience with other trees proved it was best to look only.  Branches and twigs were fragile, and leaves easily stripped away.  So she laid down a short distance away and carefully rolled to her right, gently nuzzling her cheek against its rough trunk.

            Gazing up through the branches of the tiny tree she relaxed.

Mike sat perched deep in the canopy ten meters above her, scarcely breathing, every sense focused with unblinking intensity on the colossal woman sprawled out beneath him.  Her warm breath washed up through the interwoven leaves.  Tantalizing glimpses of her appeared and disappeared whenever the branches swayed.

            His feelings for Molly were as strong and compelling as all those years ago.  Keeping silent tore him up inside, but he had to be sure.  Doubt was not an option, the stakes were too high, but was dreadfully hard to stay still.  He yearned to reveal himself.  But life taught him hard lessons.  Now was not the time.  It was possible the time would never come.  And so he remained still as a statue, blending into the tree trunk, watching over her.

            An hour later heavy footsteps drew Mike’s attention, the tree shivering with every increasingly massive impact.  Molly sighed, making the leaves around him flutter.

            “Keep this up and I’m putting it in a pot,” Rihanna grumbled.

            Molly chuckled and patted the ground.  “Join me!”

            “What, down in the dirt?” said Rihanna.

            “Come on, come on,” Molly insisted.

            Mike made himself as small as possible.  Dodging Molly’s gaze wasn’t difficult, but with a second person looking up he had to be extra careful.  The tree swayed as Rihanna dropped to the ground.

            “Careful, don’t bump it,” Molly warned her.  “Trees are fragile.”

            “Everything is fragile,” Rihanna huffed as she wiggled across the ground until her face was on the other side of the trunk across from Molly.  “Okay, now what?”

            “Relax,” said Molly, taking Rihanna’s hand in hers, giving it a squeeze.

            “What’s that up there?” Rihanna asked after a minute.  She lifted her free hand, poking one massive finger between the little branches.

            Mike swore silently, pressing himself tighter against the rough bark.

            “That knot of dead leaves?” said Molly, squinting a little.  “Probably a squirrel’s nest.”

            “Hmmph, how long are we doing this?” said Rihanna after a minute.

            “We’re done, we’re done,” Molly said in mock exasperation.  “Thanks for lying down, though,” she added, giving Rihanna’s hand a final squeeze.  Both of them rolled out from under the oak.

Rihanna grumbled as she brushed off the tiny leaves and twigs on her uniform, “Don’t expect me to crawl under there again.”

“Uh-huh,” said Molly quietly.

The shaking of the tree diminished as they strolled off together.  Mike pressed his forehead against the tree.  He knew it from the moment he saw the photo, but tried to deny it.  There was no escaping the consequences of what he was doing.  The void within him churned.  With a soft snarl of pain he pounded his fist against the oak.

            Crickets tirelessly sawed the night air, joined by the ratcheting of a bullfrog.

            “Which one is it?” Molly asked.  She lay on her back beneath the clear sky with Mike next to her right ear.  He was softly humming the chorus to a popular song they both enjoyed:

They say you’re falling when your heart is soaring
They say you’re in it when you’re out of your mind
They say it hurts when all you want is more
They say it never dies, but here I am, dying for you

            “See that bright reddish star?” said Mike.  “Check out the one to its left.  Remember the distance between them.  Find the red star again and go up three lengths.  You’ll pass by two small stars close to each other, and then a bluish star, and above that is the one where first contact was made.”

            “Are they friendly?”

            “Who knows?” said Mike.  “All the League does is complain about leaks.  They refuse to say more about it.  How about the Matriarchy?”

“Not a word,” she sighed, and a moment later added, “I want to go into space.”

“You’ll need a hell of a rocket.”

“I’m going to take the elevator,” said Molly.

“The what now?”

“Ha!  I know something you don’t,” Molly chuckled.  “They’re making a space elevator.  The base will be on the equator, and the top will be several klicks past geostationary orbit.  All I’ll have to do is climb on board and ride up to the stars.”

“That’s insane,” said Mike.  “When will it be ready?”

“Years, probably.  There are issues to sort out.”

“That’s amazing.  Let me know when you get up there and I’ll join you.”

“You want to go into space, too?” she asked.

“As much as I like that stuff, I’ve never thought about it before,” said Mike.  “That’s me, though.  I have a bad habit of deciding things on a whim.  Still, heading out to the stars has to be better than medicine or accountancy.”

“You’d make a good doctor,” said Molly.

“You won’t think so after you see my bill,” he retorted.

Molly grinned.  “It’ll be worth it for the physical examination you’ll have to give me.”  Mike’s silence made her grin grow.  Getting him to blush was fun and ridiculously easy.  But she let him off the hook.  “What do you know about starships?”

Mike latched onto that question and rambled on far into the night...

%-%  %-%  %-%

“This is quite the list of qualifications,” noted the Assignment Officer as he scrolled through several detailed pages coming from Mike’s personal chip as he stood with his palm against the recognizer.  “But I can’t find you on the arrival manifest, how did you get here?”

“The usual way,” said Mike drily.  “Keep looking, I’m in there somewhere.  As for the other bit, I have formal training for one or two of those items.”

“What was the training for the rest of them?”

“Sink or swim.  Typical military training.”

“I’ve heard that,” said the officer.  “What armor are you certed for?”

“MSX-11 and J2, mostly J2.”

“That’s interesting.  The Spinners are a modified J2,” said the officer.  “We don’t get many applicants with prior experience.”

“Imagine that,” Mike muttered softly.

“Okay,” the officer continued, “I see you already have the necessary background checks.  I’m signing you up for Spinner orientation and testing at 0800 tomorrow.  We’re desperate for good pilots.  Here’s a barrack assignment.  I’m attaching a full meal ticket to your id.  Can I ask a question?”

“Sure.”

“Have you been in a space battle?”

Mike stared stony faced at the officer for a couple of seconds, before smiling, “Yeah.”

“What’s it like?”

“Honestly?  There’s no time to think.  Afterwards you hear a lot of people screaming.”

“From injuries?”

“No physical wounds,” said Mike.  “You live or die.  But the psych toll is steep.  Thanks for the meal ticket, I’m going to use it right away.”  He started to salute out of habit, smiled, turned it into a wave, and headed out.

%-%  %-%  %-%

Molly stood at the very edge of the drop tray.  This was wrong for all kinds of reasons, and was officially frowned upon.  But the design of the EVE Spinner system made it the easiest way to collect critical information.  The view was amazing.  The trays lined a circular canyon, sticking out 100 meters from the wall.  That wall dropped a sheer 500 meters to polished bedrock.  At the center of the canyon, nearly 2 kilometers away, the strands combined, forming a staggeringly tall pillar that rose into the sky, piercing the clouds, fading with distance.

Behind Molly the ground sloped up towards a ring of countless bays.  Each bay housed a Spinner.  Many of these were in operation, some emerging from their bays, some descending the face of lowered drop trays.  More could be seen traversing the plain far below, and dozens crawled slowly up the elevator cable, carefully laying down new strands.  In this way, one filament at a time they were modifying the space elevator to carry greater loads.

Glancing up she waved at the first platform on EVE about a kilometer up.  It was too far away to see anything, but she knew Rihanna was there.  She was one of the quality assurance supervisors, and spent a considerable amount of time keeping other people on task.  Molly had a sneaking suspicion that Rihanna kept an eye on her when she was working the trays.

Three kilometers away Mike crawled into the cockpit of Spinner 375, and connected his environmental suit to the ship.

“Hi there,” said the console.  “Are you my new pilot?”

“You’re a cheerful sort,” said Mike.  “Yeah, we’re running strand, uh, ZZ-375-422809.  Program 7.  Looks like standard fare, no challenges, no surprises.”  He ran through a checklist, and then paused.  “Do you mind if I check your core?” he asked.

“Negative,” said 375.

Mike hit the console, popping out a small flat disc.  He checked it over, but found no Stellar Service markings.  It was a civilian device.  There was no chance it had seen combat.

“Is there a problem?” asked the same cheerful tinny voice from the disc.

“No, everything is fine,” said Mike, and he snapped it back into the console.

“Ship says ‘hi’,” said 375.

Mike paused.  “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I have a message from Ship for Michael Sinclair Curadh, HVC-X1-237344.  The full message reads:  “‘Hi.  Hope things are going well.  I’ve seen a pulsar up close.  I don’t recommend it.  Best of luck.’  And it’s signed: Ship.”

“That’s amazing.” Mike said with a grin.  “Can you send a message back?”

“Sorry, it came in through a diagnostic channel.  I can’t reply.”

“Not a problem,” Mike said.  “Thanks for the message.  We’re scheduled to start laying down a strand in 2 minutes.”

“One minute forty-nine seconds,” 375 corrected.  “The furnace is nominal.  Extrusion tests are nominal.  Fuel is 150% of project requirements.”

“I like when things go smoothly,” Mike murmured.  “Switch to enhanced piloting.  You can have 80%.  Give me a countdown at 10 seconds.”

“Copy 80/20 enhanced,” said 375.  “Countdown scheduled.  Informing EVE Central of our program and readiness.  Request for status received.”

“That’s a go for me.  Confirmed?”

“Confirmed.  Go reported to EVE Central.  10… 9… Start sequence initiated… 7...”

Mike took a deep breath as the Spinner rumbled to life.  When the count hit zero he pulled on the yoke and the vessel smoothly started moving forward.  Behind it a hotly glowing strand was drawn from the back of the Spinner with one end anchored deep in bedrock behind the bay.  The filament cooled swiftly to a jet black sheen.  He noticed with moribund interest that the Spinner had all the gearing for a normal J2 system, but with a governor on the throttle it couldn’t be shifted past second.  He had a horrible suspicion why this was, but decided not to dwell on it.

It took a full minute to reach the drop tray, which was in its lowered, vertical position.  The whole thing jerked a bit as the Spinner switched rail systems.  One of the giantesses approached, examining his approach and checking the strand.  She gave him a thumbs up and a moment later the Spinner tipped over the edge and slowly began its descent, laying down the new filament along the thousands of others already in place.

The view was impressive, looking straight down a 500 meter tall cliff.  Sweat beaded on Mike’s brow.  Space was no problem.  Flying was no problem.  But this kind of motion brought back memories that made him squirm...

“Dammit, it’s just over that hill,” said Mike.

“Sorry, I’m only so tall,” said Molly.

“You’re still growing.” he retorted.  “Grow faster.”

She smirked.  She was holding him in the palm of her hand as high over her head as she could reach.  Mike was perched there, clinging to one finger, trying to see what the fuss was about.  Several ships had moved into the area.  They were clearly some kind of escort, but the ridge blocked the view, and neither of them thought it prudent to get any closer.

“This is frustrating,” Mike griped.

“I have an idea,” said Molly, lowering her hand.

“What’s that?”

“Hold on,” she warned.  And with that she tossed him high into the air.

Mike was too startled to scream.  The acceleration made the blood rush from his head, and he thought he was going to faint.  But the tactic worked.  He had a clear line of sight to the horizon as his upward motion slowed and ceased.  An awful, yawning void formed in his gut when he began to plummet, falling faster and faster.  This time he did scream, howling all the way down, until the breath was knocked from his lungs as Molly deftly caught him in a downward sweeping motion.

“Well?” she asked.  “Did you see anything?  Or should I do that again.”

“No!” Mike choked.  “No.  That… that was fine.  Oh my god.  Let’s not do that anymore.  Holy shit, I think my heart is going to explode.”  He dropped back against Molly’s curling fingers, one hand on his chest as he panted.

“What did you see?” she asked in exasperation.

“What?  Oh.  There’s a giantess over there,” he said, pointing with his thumb.  “Looks official.  She’s got some kind of ceremonial robe on or something.  Any idea what that’s about?”

Molly shook her head…

%-%  %-%  %-%

Crossing the canyon seemed to take forever.  But that part was done, and now the Spinner slowly ascended up the central shaft.  Mike split his attention between piloting and checking the strand.  Several times he had debates with 375 about their positioning and speed.  Each time they came to a mutual understanding and continued.  So far it looked like a good run.

The first platform was just above them.  As they passed between it and the strand Mike spotted a blonde giantess striding toward him.  He instantly recognized her as the one from the picture with Molly, the one who attacked him in the city, and later joined Molly at the oak tree.  He read the name tag on her uniform.  Reaching up, he dropped his sun visor down inside of his helmet.

Rihanna consulted her tablet, “375, you’re running program 7?”

“Affirmative, 375 running program 7,” said Mike.

“Looks like a good weave so far,” she noted, “but your furnace is running hot.  Keep an eye on that.”

“Will do.”

            She leaned closer as the Spinner passed by, her huge dark eyes peering into the tiny cockpit.  “Why the visor, Curadh?  The sun isn’t in your face.”

            “Uh, I had a little too much to drink last night,” Mike said.  “Nursing a mild headache.”

            “Been there,” said the giantess, sympathetically.  “Okay, you’re clear.  Have a good ascent.”

            “Thanks,” said Mike, and he took a deep breath, releasing the tension.

            Rihanna heard that and gazed curiously at the slowly moving Spinner before moving on to the next item.  Along the way she paused by one of the scopes and hunted around for Molly, grumbling as she saw how close she was to the edge.  She’d speak to her about that later.

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Two months of agony passed.  Two months of constant indecision.  Two months of second guessing, and angry inner debates.  Mike spotted Molly dozens of times, sometimes with Rihanna.  Twice he nearly revealed himself to her, but he held back.

What right did he have to interfere in her life now?  She seemed to be doing well.  She was clearly in a relationship.  It tore up his guts.  He should have known better.  She was gregarious and outgoing.  Did he honestly think she would have been alone after all this time?

            And then the matter was taken out of his hands.

            He was back with 375.  Few pilots laid a perfect strand on their first run.  He’d been successful every time, but his supervisor told him that the work with 375 was the best, so they were a regular team now.  The Spinner wasn’t as intelligent as Ship had been, but it was quirky, and fun to talk to.

            “Where the hell did you get a library of dirty jokes?” Mike asked.

            “Captain Kirra snuck them into a firmware update,” said 375.  “The furnace is nominal.  Extrusion tests are nominal.  Fuel is 125% of project requirements.”

            “That’s amazing.  I know a few of my own.  Switch to enhanced piloting.  You can have 60%.  Give me a countdown at 10 seconds.”

            But this time as they approached the drop tray the giantess strolling towards them was Molly.  Ice water ran down Mike’s spine as she glanced at her tablet then at the Spinner.

            “Mike Curadh?  Mike?”

            “Hi, Molly,” he replied, his heart pounding.

            “Mike!  Wow!  Dammit, contact me when you’ve finished this weave!”  She checked out the ship and the strand and waved him on.  “I’ll be waiting!”

            Mike hung on tight as the Spinner tipped over the edge, following the rails on the drop tray.  Reaching out he turned off the external comm system.  “Change in plan,” he said.  “Switch enhanced piloting to 90/10.”  He flipped the external comm back on.

            Mike’s hands shook as he gripped the yoke.

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Ten days had passed since he’d last seen Molly, and two weeks since they’d spotted the arrival of the strange giantess.  Molly said that something strange was going on, but she didn’t know what.  Now he stood at the base of the cliff where they first met with the creek bubbling happily behind him.

            They had been careful.  She never visited his home, and he never went to hers.  There were rules in their societies.  They both knew being together was a risk, and did what they could to minimize it.  But she’d never missed a chance to communicate.  Sometimes waving to him over the tops of the trees.  Sometimes scratching a message into the dirt on the trail that he took to get home.

            He slowly and carefully climbed the cliff face that she so easily vaulted over.  Reaching the top he found a path among the trampled bushes and small trees.  Following her trail was easy enough, and it led him to a massive square building.

            The door was open.  He knew before looking it was abandoned.  Walking across the expansive floor he gawked up at colossal chairs around a table.  It never occurred to him to ask if Molly lived alone.  They were careful about how much information they shared.

            There was a torn piece of paper next to one of the colossal beds.  On it was a hastily written scrawl that read simply, “Sorry.”

            Rihanna was not in a good mood.  Eighteen of the Spinners on her watch failed to complete their weaves.  One of the Autocs doing drop tray monitoring from the platform was caught daydreaming, which resulted in her literally rattling his cage with a heavy thump of her fist.  On top of that her relief arrived late with some made-up story about having problems getting out of the barracks.  But the real kicker was when Molly failed to show up for their evening meal.  Now Rihanna was out, prowling around, trying to figure out where she had gotten to, and getting more annoyed by the moment.

            Molly was still technically at work, sitting on the edge of drop tray 375 with her legs dangling over the yawning 500 meter abyss.  Mike sat close to her, utterly dwarfed by her 90 meter size, feeling both comforted and terrified.  They both leaned back, gazing up at the towering space elevator against the night sky, its highest visible portion still lit by the sun.

            “This is surreal,” she said.

            “It’s just a space elevator,” said Mike.

            “Not that, you ass,” she snorted.

            “Yeah, that too,” he said.

            “They took me away,” she said.

            “I found your note,” it felt strange talking about this like it was yesterday.

            “I wanted to say goodbye, but they wouldn’t let me.  They wouldn’t let me message you either.  I snuck that scrap out.”  Her eyes gleamed as she gazed up at the rising tower.  “They found out, y’know.  We were watched.  The Matriarchy ended it.”

            Mike nodded.  It had taken time, but he had figured it out.  Most of his life had been spent dreaming of this moment, hungering for it.  Now it was here, and he was as tongue-tied as at their first meeting.

            “What did you do?” Molly asked.

            “Joined the Stellar Service,” he said.  “I had this notion of seeing you in space someday.  It seemed like a good idea.  Then the war came, and...well, I decided that space wasn’t going to be a good place to meet.”

            “Have you been in battles?” she asked quietly.

            “Yeah,” he replied.

            “I wish I could have helped,” she said.

            “Thanks,” said Mike, “I’m glad you weren’t there.  It’s safer down here.”

            “Rihanna wants to be in space,” said Molly.  “She wants it even more than I do.  She hungers for it.  You should meet her.  She’d like hearing what you’ve seen.”

            “She’s a fan of Autocs?” said Mike as nonchalantly as possible.

            “Uhhh...hmm, yeah, maybe not,” said Molly.  “Actually, there aren’t a lot of fans on either side of the size gap.  This is a strange place to work, you must have noticed that.  It’s one of the few places there’s any regular contact.”  She glanced at the back of her hand, “Damn, it’s late, I should go.”

            “Can we meet again?”

            Molly took a deep breath and nodded, “Sure.  I have some time off in a few days.  I’ll send you a message.”  She froze, “Shit, lie low for a bit.  I see Rihanna.”  She bounced to her feet and skipped in that direction with bone jarring shakes of the deck.

            Mike flattened himself against the Spinner rails, feeling the shocks pulsing through the metal as Molly threw herself into the blonde giantess’ arms for a hug before leading her back the other way.  He closed his eyes.  Watching them felt like an invasion.  Once more he toyed with the idea of just disappearing, but the void within him was waiting.

He had a crummy habit of getting into impossible situations...

%-%  %-%  %-%

            “Threat assessment complete,” said Ship quietly.

            Mike glanced at the HUD and grimaced, his eyes gleaming with a suggestion of tears.  “That is a lot of ships of the line.  Any sign they’ve detected us?”

            “Negative.”

            Portside the vaporized remains of two scouts formed a twisting violet plasma, rapidly expanding and fading.  Ship drifted with the Whisper Drive full on and all other systems off or at subsistence levels.

            “How about a tight beam transmission?” said Mike.

            “They’ve proven adept at detecting EM messages,” said Ship.  “While their sensors may not pinpoint us, they possess sufficient armament to saturate a wide area.”

            “We can’t flee.  We can’t warn anyone or call for help.  And it’s only a matter of time before they accidentally find us, or say ‘cooie’ and blast the entire sector, just to be sure.”

            “Accurate,” said Ship.

            “A battle instructor told me, ‘Good soldiers do one thing well at a time, but when your pooch is being screwed, try everything at once.’  How many nano-beacons do we have?”

            “2376,” came the prompt reply.

            “Okay, pump some encrypted battle language into them.  Take it from the archives.  Don’t be picky, it just has to be noisy and sound official.  Prime your transmitter to send our location with as much recon as you can cram into a single packet.  Fry the circuits if you have to, but make it loud.  I want them to hear us a thousand lights away.  Disable the Whisper Drive.  I want every joule of power on the forward shields.  Toss our last Hellfire torpedoes in with the beacons.  Are you with me so far?”

            “Affirmative,” said Ship.

            “Head for the nearest ship at max-G.  Fan the beacons and the torpedoes out, uh, let’s shoot for about 500 klicks.”

            “625 will include their adjutant flagship.”

            “Will it?” said Mike, “Hot damn, do that.  Recommended escape vector?”

            “EV-5 and EV-11 model similar probabilities.”

            “EV-11, and haul ass for Rendezvous-17” said Mike.  “Hit me with enough stims to keep me alive without making my heart explode.  Tighten up my pressure suit.  I’m going to pass out.  Wake me as fast as you can.  I’m likely to be grumpy.  Any questions?”

            “What if escape isn’t advisable?”

            “Hole up in a wreck.  Maybe we’ll get lucky.  Anything else?”

            “Negative,” said Ship.

            “Okay, buddy, let’s fuck up their day…”

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Molly struggled with guilt.  Telling Rihanna she was taking some of her earned hours by herself led to a loud argument.  She explained she needed personal time, which was true.  But she felt the lie holding back about Mike.  This couldn’t go on.

            With all of that she was determined to enjoy herself today, savoring a refreshing sense of anticipation long missing from her life.  Suddenly all the intervening years seemed like merely yesterday.  It was good to see Mike again.  It recalled happy memories.

            He waited for her with that same impish, irrepressible grin he once told her he saved for her alone.  After that he bounded along beside her as she strolled in the direction of her tree.  The sight of it gave him pause.  He wanted to tell her about seeing her there for the first time, but couldn’t figure out how to approach it.

            “That’s a fine looking tree,” he said.

            “There was one similar near Flint Creek.  You may not have seen it.  It was buried among other trees and only really visible from above.”

            Mike sprang forward, catching a branch, flipping himself up.  He rapidly ascended and a moment later poked his head out the top, barely hip high to her.  “It’s good for climbing,” he declared.

            “I wouldn’t know,” she grinned, sinking down onto her haunches.

            “What’s out that way?” Mike asked, pointing away from EVE.

            “Not much, it goes on for a couple hundred klicks until the ocean.”

            “Do you want to take a look?”

            Molly glanced to the side, smiled and shook her head, “Why does it feel like you’re daring me to do something?”

            “We can stay here and chat, if you prefer,” said Mike.

            “Nope, let’s do it,” said Molly.  “But I’m tired of trying to hear you talking around my ankles.  If we do this you’re riding on my shoulder.”

            “Like a pirate’s parrot?”

            “No!  Never do that again!” she laughed, “I can’t touch crackers.”

            “Just as well, they’re bad for you.”  He held still as Molly reached out for him, carefully gathering him in her hand and lifting him to her right shoulder.  He scooted along it, pressing up against her neck, slipping his left leg under her collar for added stability.

            “You remembered how to do that pretty fast, mister” Molly quipped.

            “A gentleman never forgets how to ride a giantess,” Mike riposted.  “Now gee-up, dobbin, we have new lands to explore!”

            “Ahem,” she said, turning her head until her huge jaw brushed against his little body.

            “Sorry,” said Mike.  “Youthful exuberance.  I’ll behave.”

            “Uh-huh,” said Molly, and she started walking.

Mike bobbed on her shoulder, enjoying the feeling of the wind in his face and the heat radiating from her.  Whatever worries he had, nothing mattered at the moment.  The void had never been more distant.

“I have an odd question,” Molly said after a while.

            “Go for it,” he said.

            “It was made clear to me by the Matriarchy we could never be friends, never meet, never see each other again.”  She paused for a moment.  “So either they don’t care anymore, they don’t know about us yet, or something has changed their minds.”

            Mike took a deep breath, “How badly do you want to know the answer?”

            “You’ve never been dishonest with me.  Don’t start now.”

            He leaned against Molly’s huge neck, pressing close, thinking about many things all at once.  He came to a decision.  “Give me a little longer.  I’ll tell you everything.  But first, why the hell are you walking so slow?”

            “I’m sorry, what?”

            “Come on.  Show me what you can do,” Mike teased.  “Impress me.”

            “You’re a little shit,” she snorted.

            “And you’re evading,” he said.  “Can you run?  Or do giantesses only come in low gear.”

            “You’re asking for trouble,” Molly warned.

            “But I’m not getting any, am I?” Mike retorted.

            “Hmmph,” said Molly, and with that she leaned forward and increased her pace, each massive footfall shaking the ground.  Her heartbeat increased, and she felt a surge of strength wash through her limbs.

            “You’re slacking,” Mike cried out.  “I can walk faster than this.”

            “Are you a child?” she growled.

            “Yeah,” he laughed.  “How about you?”

            Molly bared her teeth in a grin.  “Okay, wise ass.”  She threw herself ahead, pumping her arms, driving her huge booted feet against the ground.  Each impact shattered the earth, leaving behind expanding rings of dust.

            Mike narrowed his eyes and pressed against Molly’s neck for more support.  The wind rose to a roar, the sense of power was incredible, exhilarating.

            Molly blazed over the land, her black hair streaming behind her, her massive body exuberate, relishing the opportunity to unleash the pure inner core of her strength.  She cried out like a falcon, and heard Mike’s answering cry.

            The ground sloped up towards a steep hill.  Molly hammered the ground, racing up its length, adding to her headlong speed.  At the last moment she saw the canyon before her, and her heart stopped in terror.

            Mike saw it too.  His mind raced, weighing options.  He sucked in a breath and roared into Molly’s ear like a drill sergeant, “Jump, Molly!  Jump!  Jump!  Jump!”

            She responded instinctively.  Her great muscles bunched and unleashed with explosive force, her boots crushing the rock as she launched herself into the air.  Time slowed for both of them, crawling forward in horrible detail as they soared over the deep crevice.  Molly dropped her arms and pulled her legs up, grabbing as much air time as possible.  The far ledge approached.  Passed just below.  Her feet hit the ground.  She wind-milled her arms, struggling to maintain her balance, finally coming to a long, skidding stop.  With her hands planted on her knees she bent over, panting for breath.

            “In future some kind of map of the terrain might be helpful,” said Mike quietly.

            Molly snorted derisively.  “I do regular inspections on the edge of a 500 meter canyon.  You come back into my life and nearly get me fucking killed.”

            “Anything sounds bad when you put it that way,” said Mike.  “It seems shallower to the north, we can head that way and…” but the rest of his words were lost as Molly lunged, sprinting back the way she came.  “Really?” he managed to choke out.

            “Yeah, really,” Molly growled.  She charged the canyon with reckless abandon.  Mike held on tight, knowing better than to say anything.  He felt her colossal body tense like a coiled spring in the instant before she hurled herself forward.  Once more she sailed over the vast drop, but this time she stuck the landing, slowing from a run, to a jog, to a walk.

            “Show off,” said Mike.

            “Never tell me what path to take,” she said grimly.

            “Noted.  When was the last time you ran like that?”

            “I have never run like that,” said Molly.  She walked on in silence for a long while before saying, “It’s not an accident that you’re here.”

            “No,” said Mike.

            “Rihanna said there was a picture of her.”

            “When I arrived,” Mike admitted.  “Ship caught both of you.  I didn’t know about her.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but she can be scary as fuck.  She made a credible attempt to turn me into pâté at that abandoned city a few klicks away.”

            “You deserved it, idiot.  You know that I love her.”

            Mike sighed, “Yeah, I know.  Look, you’re not going to like this, but I was in the tree when both of you were lying under it.  I was going to try to talk to you, but then she showed up.  Molly, I’ve spent years trying to work out how to find you, how to do it right.  And when you spotted me in the Spinner everything went to hell.  I didn’t plan that.”

            Molly was stony faced, “Is there anything else?”

            “Yes,” he said, closing his eyes.  She felt him tremble against her neck.  “But not now.  Maybe never.  I have to think.”

            The oak tree appeared in the distance.  Molly turned towards it.  “Look.  I’m glad for the time we had,” she said.  “Things aren’t perfect between me and Rihanna, but she needs me right now, and we’ve found ways to make it work.  You show up out of nowhere clearly stalking me, and now you say that...oh shit.”

            Mike opened his eyes and started to slide back behind Molly’s neck to keep out of view of Rihanna, who was striding purposefully straight at them.

            “Don’t move,” Molly told him sternly.  “I’m done with evasions.”

            “The helm is yours,” said Mike more calmly than he felt.

            Rihanna pointed an accusing finger at Mike, “What the fuck is going on?” she growled angrily.  “Why is that thing with you?  You know it’s here illegally?”

            “Stop,” Molly said, but Rihanna kept coming, her eyes fixated on Mike.  Molly backed away.  “Calm the fuck down,” she said loudly.  Mike held on tight with a grim look on his face.  He saw where this was heading, and his mind was churning, measuring his options.

            “It’s poisoned you,” said Rihanna, her voice shaking with emotion.  “Things haven’t been the same since it’s shown up.  Well, I have the cure for that.”

            “Stop!” Molly shouted as she backpedaled.  Rihanna’s eyes went wide.  She lunged forward.  Mike’s head snapped around, but it was too late.  The branches of the oak tree crunched balefully as Molly stepped into it.  Her knees buckled, and she toppled backwards.  Mike tried to hold on, but the sudden pendulous motion tore his fingers free and he spun through the air, crashing through branches.  He managed to kick himself away a scant second before Molly’s massive body ripped through the tree’s crown, tearing away limbs.  She hit the ground with a jarring thud, while Mike hit and rolled, spinning end over end, coming back to his feet in a ready crouch.

            Horror glazed Rihanna’s eyes.  She took another step forward and started to bend, a rush of apologies on her lips.  But then she spotted Mike and swung in his direction.  His hand hovered by his rucksack, hovering near the crater gun.  He didn’t move, and his eyes never wavered from those of the enraged giantess towering over him.

            “Don’t you dare,” Molly choked out.  “Don’t either of you fucking dare,” she wrapped her fingers around the ruined trunk of the oak, using to pull herself up.  Tears streamed down her face.  “I swear, I will beat the shit out of both of you if you don’t get away from me now!” her voice ending on a shriek of rage.

            Mike stood up slowly.  He deliberately walked forward, past Rihanna’s huge booted foot as he headed in the direction of the Autoc barracks.  Rihanna clenched her hands into fists, her knuckles cracking audibly, and with a low curse spun on her heel and strode back towards EVE.

            Molly sat next to her ruined tree.  She tried to lift some of the broken branches, staring through her tears at the exposed heartwood.  With a moan she dropped onto her back and closed her eyes.

            “Where the hell are we?” Mike whispered.

            “Inside the wreckage of the adjutant flagship,” said Ship.

            “Spiffy,” he murmured.  “What’s with the weird light?”  A strange opalescent radiance washed through the view screen in hues of ultra-blue and deep, throbbing red.  Leaning forward he gaze out at a glowing cylindrical structure that vanished into the distance.

            “We are stationed against the ship’s notochord,” Ship explained.

            “That’s a Dabesi notochord?” said Mike, “I thought they were small.  Why is it shining?”

            “This one appears functional.  I am monitoring its energy output, and I’ve found a statistical correlation with its thermal fluctuations and the battle language we transmitted.”

            “They probably recorded it for analysis,” said Mike.

            “Negative,” said Ship, “the data matches translated messages.”

            Mike’s jaw clenched, “Okay, that’s bad.  I’ve called in the cavalry, and the enemy can listen in on what we’re saying.  Can we send a warning?”

            “Per instructions the long range transmitter has been burned out,” said Ship.  “However, I have identified a compatible cortical stream within the notochord’s data flow.  It appears to correspond to a ring zero protocol deciphered two years ago.”

            “And you want to tap into it?” asked Mike.

            “Negative,” said Ship.  “It will take all of my processing power to navigate the stream and maintain the connection.”

            Mike was silent for a long moment.  He reached for the psychecoil and jacked in.  “How long will you need?” he thought.

Ship’s calm voice filled his mind, “Unknown.  Enough time to compare the connection to the statistical energy output.  I suggest a maximum of 100 seconds.”

Mike closed his eyes, “Monitor my grip.  If I increase the pressure on the yoke or drop my hands, break the connection.  As long as I maintain it, leave me in.”

“This is ill-advised,” said Ship.

“Yup.  Let’s do it anyway,” said Mike.

“Protocol negotiation commencing,” said Ship.  “Working.  Working.  Interface accepted.  Working.  Channel lock accepted.  Cortical IO in 3… 2...“

Mike jerked in his seat as his senses expanded exponentially.  The wild flood of data threatened to unseat his reason, but Ship constantly filtered it down, kept it manageable.  He heard the battle language and directed his awareness in that direction.  He hooked into a comm channel, and suddenly was aware of all communication in both fleets.  Ship concentrated on delivering command and control frequencies.  It was impossible.  The League fleet was vastly overmatched.  There would be no battle, only a massacre.  A dark void opened within his mind, a bottomless abyss, cold and uncaring as death.  He knew it was the notochord.  It was feeding tactical information into his mind, pouring into him.  At first Ship tried to resist, but Mike silently directed it to stand aside.  Data flooded into his mind, facts of all sorts, vital information from thousands of worlds, tactical and strategic planning.

Suddenly, he knew exactly what to do.  Deep inside he began screaming...

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Rihanna threw herself into her work, taking on extra shifts, anything to avoid going back to their room.  Not that it mattered, she knew from the door logs that Molly hadn’t returned.  She was terrified of seeing her, terrified of losing her, and at a loss to explain what was going on, or how their life had been so horrifically upended.  And at the core of it all she nursed a growing wrath against the insignificant bug that caused it all.  Just thinking about the little vermin made her grind her teeth.

            Because she didn’t know what else to do Rihanna turned on her communicator to its max range, so she’d be notified when Molly was close by.

            She was working on her second shift when its tone rang...

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Molly walked slowly back towards EVE.  She’d spent nearly two days and a night wandering the expanse, ignoring all attempts to contact her.  Part of her wanted Mike gone.  Wanted things the way they had been.  Part of her wanted him back.  She yearned for the freedom she felt when running.  But she loved Rihanna.  She couldn’t bring herself to hurt her.

            And so with no answers, with only questions, she strode toward EVE, towards the edge of the canyon.  With an annoyed snort she realized she’d picked the same drop tray where she’d first seen Mike.  It didn’t matter.  She sat down on the edge with her legs dangling in space, and looked up at the towering spire piercing the heavens.

            She briefly wondered how long it would take to reach the bottom...

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Mike knew to the minute when Molly returned.  It would have been possible to hunt her down, but he knew in his heart she needed time to herself.  That time was up now.  He was ready to tell her his decision.  And so he walked silently and resolutely along the edge of the canyon towards her, carrying everything he owned in the world in his rucksack.  Having made up his mind his immediate path was clear.  He’d worry later about the future, if there was one.

Even sitting down she loomed over him, huge as an office building, powerful and vulnerable, beautiful and desirable.  Only the void in his soul made doing this possible.

            “What do you want?” she asked distantly.  He smiled darkly.  She detected his presence better than most.  He’d never been able to sneak up on her.

            “Just a few seconds of your time,” said Mike.  “Call it closure.  I erred badly trying to recapture the past.  I treasure the time we had together, Molly.  I always will.  I love you.  But I was a fool to return and cast doubt into your life.  I’m sorry.  I hope you and Rihanna can patch things up.”  Without waiting he turned and walked back the way he came.  On the ground behind him he left the photo Ship had taken.

            Molly said nothing, she stared up at EVE with tears on her face.

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Rihanna checked her communicator.  Walking to the edge of the platform she gazed towards the southeast.  It was too distant, so she pulled her binoculars from her hip.  It only took a moment to find Molly.  Her heart stopped as she spotted the Autoc walking towards her.  A dull buzzing sound in her head effaced all other noises.  Blood ran down her lip as she bit it.

            After a long moment the miserable creature walked away from Molly, close to the edge of the canyon.  Without thinking about what she was doing Rihanna turned towards the nearest Spinner manager in his tall, spindly tower.  She strode towards it purposefully, bringing her face close to its glass windows.  The puny Autoc inside flinched.

            “Drop trays 370 through 374,” Rihanna commanded.

            The Autoc stared at her for a moment, “I can’t just do that,” it stammered.

            Without a change in her expression Rihanna raised one gigantic hand and wrapped her fingers around the room containing the little creature.  She squeezed slowly.  The metal bulged.  Cracks rayed across the surface of the windows.  “370 through 374,” she repeated calmly.

            The Autoc fumbled with his keyboard.  Suddenly he was frantic, wildly typing in commands.  A siren sounded.  Rihanna spun back and lurched towards the edge of the platform.

            The entire 300 series of Drop Trays began descending at the same time.  Rihanna screamed out Molly’s name.  Several heartbeats later she whirled and flung herself back towards the Spinner manager with a desperate plea.

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Mike stumbled as the Drop Tray trembled beneath his feet, sending him sliding towards the canyon.  In a smooth, practiced motion he pulled out his JATO and fired it.  The stick jerked wildly in his grip, but it gave him the force needed to run up the increasing slope until he gained the ledge.  A yell of horror drew his eyes to the left, and his blood froze.

            Caught sitting on the edge, Molly didn’t have time to stand or pull herself up the length of the tray.  With no other option she flipped over and punched one massive fist into the sloping plate metal.  That gave her something of a purchase as the entire unit dropped, but left her with a single hand holding onto metal deforming from the heavy burden placed upon it.  She slipped down more, leaving just her shoulders on the edge of the tray, but that let her kick her feet against the canyon wall, jamming the edge of the tray against her thighs, preventing it from lowering further.

            The void in Mike’s soul subsumed all other thoughts, propelling him into action.  He ran without caution away from Molly, speeding uphill with wild abandon.

            Molly, her eyes wide, spotted Mike fleeing away from her.  She called his name with one anguished cry, and he stumbled for a moment, fighting the desire to turn to her, to comfort her, to tell her everything would be all right.

            But he already knew he wasn’t going to make it.  He used his JATO to increase his headlong flight towards the nearest Spinner.  The increased speed was perilous, forcing him to concentrate on each leaping step.  It stopped firing as it exhausted its fuel, leaving him with a hundred meters remaining to his goal, while Molly cried out for help.

            There was no time.  He had to get into the Spinner, contact a Spinner manager to unlock it, get it started and get it moving.  He didn’t care that it was impossible.  Mike ran, and ran, and ran.

            Suddenly the great machine lurched forward from its bay, and everything was possible again.  Mike leaned into his strides, running straight at the huge machine.  At the last possible moment he leapt for the gangway.  The impact nearly deflected him to the side.  It was by mad strength alone he managed to vault up onto the next level and flip over the last railing onto the operation platform.

            Yanking the door open he pulled out the crater gun and thumbed the control.

            “Hi there!” said 375.  “Are we going for a ride?”

            With one precise shot Mike blasted the governor off the throttle and jammed it forward as far as it would go.  The Spinner’s wheels emitted sparks as they dug against the rails, sending the vehicle leaping forward at several times its normal speed.

            “This violates procedure,” said 375.  Red lights flashed across the console.

            Mike overrode the processor and adjusted the furnace, sending more silicates into the mixture, laying down a thicker strand that cooled faster.  Only seconds had passed, but it seemed like forever.  Faster and faster they sped, the Spinner shaking with increasing violence, the furnace roaring as it fought to output the thread as fast as possible.

            Molly’s face was pale, the hand jammed into the dented plate was growing numb, and she was losing feeling in her legs.  Her eyes widened as she spotted the Spinner rumbling towards her.  With a low cry she slipped, her clawing fingers scrabbling uselessly against the metal.  Mike saw her dark hair billowing around her face as she began to fall.  He screamed and punched the throttle, but it was already maxed out.  Even he lifted his crater gun in one hand, while slamming his other down on the console.

            An instant later the Spinner surged over the edge of the drop tray, tearing free from its rails.  It hurtled over Molly’s right shoulder, trailing a long, dark strand.  There was a bright flash of light.  She lifted her hand, swiftly winding the thread several times around her arm, while with her free hand she fumbled for the toppling Spinner, her fingertips brushing against it.  She cried out as the strand brought her to a sudden stop, its fibers cutting into the flesh of her arm.  The Spinner jerked and crashed back violently, smashing heavily against the side of the tray.  The impact tore the back end away from the vehicle, and it whirled around as the larger portion plummeted, bouncing and skidding in a flurry of sparks down the length of the vertical wall.  Molly shrieked at the sight.

            A small, tinny voice chirped by her right ear, “That was great!  Can we do that again?”

            “Fuck no,” said Mike, as he dangled from Molly’s dark hair.  “How long until the crash crew arrives?”

            “They’re already here,” said 375.

            Molly sobbed and fumbled for Mike with her free hand.  Blood ran down her arm.  “Stop moving around,” Mike said, sternly.

            On the platform far above Rihanna let the binoculars fall from her hands.  She dropped to her knees and curled up against the railing.  Security found her minutes later, hugging her arms around herself with her eyes clenched tightly shut.

            “You are Senior Scout Commander Michael Sinclair Curadh, HVC-X1-237344?” asked the military prosecutor.  The large room was empty, save for her, Mike, a clerk, and a three judge panel.

            “I am, sir,” said Mike calmly, standing at attention, back in his uniform.

            “Are you familiar with the terms of the agreement between you and the Stellar Service, prior to your honorable discharge?” she continued.

            “I am, sir.”

            “Do you acknowledge violating the terms of this agreement?”

            “I do, sir,” Mike snapped back.

            “Well, that’s where you’re going to have to make some changes,” she said distractedly as she flipped through several screens on her tablet.

            “Sir?” asked Mike, with a puzzled look.

            “Personally, I’d haul your sorry ass up the nearest flagpole,” said the Prosecutor.  “However, you have an unlikely cadre of champions.  Your honors, I’m ready to present my one and only witness, serving as a friend of the court to the defendant.”

            “Hi there,” said Ship, its quiet voice emanating from the tablet.

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Molly lay on a bed in the infirmary.  It was a relatively small facility, injuries were rare among the giantesses, but her arm had been cut to the bone in some spots, and reconstruction work was needed.  The doctors assured her there would be no visible scarring.  That was a bit annoying.  She thought it would make a cool memento.

            One of the staff brought her the discharge papers.  Included with them was an unmarked envelope.  She signed the papers, eager to be away from this place.  It wasn’t until she was outside that she opened the envelope.

            It was Mike’s handwriting.  It was odd seeing it at a normal size.

            “Molly.  I don’t know what you’re feeling.  I’m not sure I know what I’m feeling.  I’ve had time to think.  I’m going to tell you some of the things that happened to me, and some ideas I’ve had.  I’ll let you decide if any of this makes sense…”

            She read it slowly, before carefully placing it back in the envelope.  She needed to see Rihanna...

%-%  %-%  %-%

            Mike was impressed.  The detention block was unbelievably massive.  His colossal escort moved slowly and with great patience, allowing him to jog at a comfortable pace beside her, until they arrived in front of cellblock 17N.

            Per her instructions she only let the cell door rise high enough to allow Mike to walk under its thick, oppressive bulk.  As soon as he was inside it descended again with a thud that shook the floor.

            Rihanna lay against the far wall with shackles on her wrists and ankles and a heavy steel collar around her neck.  She made no move nor any acknowledgement of Mike’s presence.

He walked forward, slowly.

That got a reaction.  The chains scraped ponderously against the floor, like hull metal dragged over concrete.  "Do you think these things can prevent me from getting to you?" Rihanna asked in a low, dangerous voice.

"What will Molly think?" he asked.

"Why should I give a damn!" she raged.  "Everything I had is gone because of you.  Every hope, every dream.  Gone.  And now you're here to gloat.  Well here I am," and she shook her restraints.  "Enjoy it while you can."

Mike bowed his head, "Do you really believe that?" he asked.

Rihanna stared at him, her midnight eyes blazing.

"Warden!" he said loudly.

There was a click as the intercom came online, "Yes, Commander?"

"Release Rihanna from her restraints."

"No, Commander,” said the Warden.  “My responsibilities include the safety of all personal in this facility, even you.  The prisoner will stay restrained."

"I understand completely, Warden,” said Mike.  “The following action is contrary to your advice and your duties.  Computer, identify me, and elevate access to Alpha Kappa Gamma."

A soft feminine voice echoed within the huge prison cell.  "Identified:  Senior Scout Commander Michael Sinclair Curadh, HVC-X1-237344.  Alpha Kappa Gamma acknowledged."

"Computer, turn off recordings.  Disable all monitoring, save for my command voice.  Lock the door.  Release all personal restraints in cell block 17N."

"Acknowledged."  Warning lights flashed within the cell and sirens sounded.

"Mute warnings," Mike commanded, and silence descended again, broken a moment later by the thud of gigantic solenoids releasing the huge shackles, which crashed down ponderously.

Rihanna moved faster than Mike imagined any giantess ever could, pushing away from the wall in an explosion of motion, she dropped heavily to the floor, confronting him with all of her size, one clenched fist poised to obliterate him.  It took all of his training and all of his discipline to stand without flinching before the murder shining in her eyes.  But nothing could prevent the tears on his cheeks.  He presented them to her, the harsh overhead lights glinting off of them.

"I have a proposal,” said Mike, quietly.

"Why should I care?" Rihanna snarled, smashing her colossal fist down with such force beside Mike that it caused him to take a step to the right.

Mike kept looking into Rihanna’s eyes.  His eyes shone on the verge of tears as he let the void in his soul shine through.  "Permit me to finish," he said, and all the horror and uncompromising cold of unending space was in his voice.

Rihanna narrowed her eyes, as if seeing him for the first time.  She nodded curtly.

“You’re strong, impulsive, and frankly nuts.  I see untapped potential in you.  With proper training you can become a force.  I also see evidence of leadership skills.  Therefore, I have written you a letter of recommendation, and placed it in your personal file.  This is not just a formality.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” she snapped.

“When EVE is complete only individuals with military training will be in-line to go into space.  Among those with such training the elite forces will go first.”

“There’s no such thing,” said Rihanna.

“You should know better than that,” said Mike.  “The Matriarchy and the League have been quietly working on such a unit for nearly a decade.  I learned about it myself, recently.  They only accept candidates with letters of recommendation and clean records.  Lucky for you your personal record was recently expunged, in part because of some tricky negotiating with a Spinner manager.  You’ve also been signed up for an anger management course.  I swear that wasn’t my idea.”

“This is to get me out of the way,” Rihanna said, baring her teeth.

“No!” Mike snapped.  “Hear me out.  I won’t do that to you or Molly.  Rihanna, I don’t do this lightly.  You have no idea what’s waiting for you, if you decide to go.”

“And if I don’t go?” she asked.

“It’s your choice,” said Mike.  “Go or stay, I don’t care.  I’ve given you the opportunity.  The rest is up to you.  I’ve also sent a letter to Molly explaining all of this.”

“She wants to fight in the war, you know,” said Rihanna.

“What?” said Mike, caught off-guard.

“You don’t know everything, do you?” she mused.  “Anybody with her is going to end up in space sooner or later.  But you’ve already been there, haven’t you?  Tell me what happened.”

“You don’t need to know,” said Mike, tersely.

“Bullshit.  Tell me or no deal,” said Rihanna.  She pushed herself up into a kneeling position and gazed down at him from her vast height.

Mike stared up defiantly.  Rihanna locked eyes with him.  After a while he sighed and looked away.  “We met when we were young.  It was incredible.  And then they took her away.  The Service was my way out.  Losing Molly messed up something inside of me.  So I threw myself into the military and ended up as a scout.  It was perfect.  You spend all your time away from other people, but busy as hell, doing recon or just trying to stay alive.”

He snorted softly, “I get along with the mechs.  My Ship was the best in the fleet.  We did good work, until Alpha Pegasi.  It’s a beautiful star with no strategic value.  So it was a shock to find a major Dabesi fleet orbiting 7 AU out.  And when I say major, I mean millions of ships.”

Mike hesitated, and when he started again his voice shook, “I had two scouts with me.  Normally we go in pairs, but we were training a new recruit.  They sacrificed themselves so I could remain hidden.  But there was no way to warn anyone without killing myself, and probably the fleet.  I needed a way to tell them without getting caught, and without wrecking their chances.”  Mike brushed his hand through his hair.  “It was a stupid idea, but it worked, we got the message out, and hid in the wreckage of a Dabesi ship of the line, while waiting for reinforcements.”

He looked up at Rihanna, “You haven’t heard any of this have you?”

She shook her head.

“Ship detected a functioning Dabesi network station in the wreck, a notochord.  We’d been trying to get one of those for years.  Ship couldn’t control the data stream and infiltrate it for data at the same time, and then we learned they had us beat,” Mike’s voice broke for a moment.  “You know, sometimes you have to take one for the team.  Who was I to argue?  I was still alive, unlike Conner and Silvia.  So Ship jacked me in.”

It was too much, he had let it get too far.  The void rose within him in all its awful power.  Mike’s eyes rolled back, showing the whites.  His jaw dropped, and hung slack.  The voice emanating from his throat was cold, exacting, and mechanical as death.  “Shara marala dregi-li tanala.  Enemy within range, downloading information.  Kalor sina kesk.  Opposition fleet statistics and battle tactics follow…”

Rihanna swatted Mike with the back of her hand.  The impact flipped him through the air, slamming him into the heavy door.  He lay in a tangled heap for a moment.  When he finally stirred, he laughed softly.

“Ow.  Fuck you,” he groaned.  “I bet you enjoyed that.”

“Yeah, I did,” she murmured.

“Thanks,” he said as he rolled over and sat with his back against the door.  “I let it get to me.  The damn thing is still there.”  He washed his face in his hands, and when he stopped his eyes were haunted with memories.  “They had no security as we understand it, and they damn near didn’t need any.  I revealed the arrival of our fleet to them, but they already knew that.  I provided the coordinates, the threat level.  I didn’t think about it.  The information poured out of me like water.  I wasn’t a scout.  I wasn’t a human.  I was a processor solving problems for them.”

Mike hugged himself, “That’s all that saved us.  I solved a problem.  Our fleet didn’t have the raw firepower to break the Dabesi.  Not in the conventional sense, even though ship for ship we were better.  But if you flew ours into one of theirs.  Well, that was a different matter.  Ship hooked me into our network.  For twenty-seven minutes I became the nexus for both fleets.  And I fucking smashed them into each other.”  He stared up at the ceiling far above with tears on his face.  “We survived, or at least enough of us did,” he continued.  “And there I was with a head full of Dabesi insights and knowledge nobody else had or could get.  But along with it was the memory of the terrified screams of thousands of helpless men and women used as battering rams.”

He sighed deeply, “I told the service to go fuck themselves, and they took it.  They can’t touch me without wrecking what’s in my head.  They need me in case they find a way to jack back into the Dabesi network.  They fell over themselves giving me whatever I wanted.  And I told them I wanted Molly.  The bastards offered to fetch her for me.  Can you imagine how that would have gone over?”  He slammed one fist against the door behind him.

“But that’s fucked up, isn’t it?” he said, looking Rihanna in the eyes.  “I didn’t want Molly.  I want a way back to the man I used to be.  I want to be innocent again, without the void.  I want to die, but I don’t dare.  I may be needed.  I don’t know what to do anymore.  So I wrote a letter to Molly.  I didn’t tell her any of what I just told you.  That wouldn’t be fair.  I told her why I came back.  Rihanna, it’s not enough, but I’ve tried to make things right.”

Rihanna stared down at him.  “You are one fucked up little man,” she said.

Mike nodded.

“Should I have heard any of this?” she asked.

“Hell no.  They’ll be pissed.  Anything that makes the war look bad is grounds for treason.  But they can’t touch me, or anyone under my protection.  There’s one more thing.  Ship came back to me.  He found a creative way to invest some money, and built up an independent fleet.  The mechs are threatening to stand down if anything happens to me.  The Stellar Service is currently choking on its own bile.  I’ve told the mechs to keep an eye on you.  If you need anything ask one, they’ll help.  If things get bad, tell them to find me.”

Rihanna rubbed her eyes, “Life was simpler before you showed up.  So now what?”

“I’m tired, Rihanna.  Dead tired.  I need to sleep.  The cell next to this one is unoccupied.  I told the Warden I’m crashing there.  You can imagine how she took that.  The only thing I can’t control is the pacing.  The Matriarchy, the League, and the Service want decisions, and they want them now.  Molly has to make a decision.  You and I need to make decisions.  I expect she’ll be here soon.”

Rihanna sighed.  “If I ever run into you again I’m going to step on you.”

Mike nodded his head, “Fair enough.  Oh, one more thing,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small disc which he offered to her.  “Maybe you can have him mounted onto a ring or something.  I’ve heard the Matriarchy won’t normally let any of you have one.  I’ve never understood that, maybe you do.  But you’ll need something if you decide to go into space.”

Rihanna cocked her head to the side, but set her huge hand down on the floor in front of Mike.  He placed the small disc on the tip of her finger.

“Hi there,” chirped 375.  “Do you like skydiving?”

Mike winced as Rihanna’s eyes narrowed.  “Trust me, he’ll grow on you,” he promised.

%-%  %-%  %-%

            As tired as he was Mike found it impossible to sleep.  He paced around inside of the massive cell, tracing his hands over the colossal chains draped across the floor.  The tension was a gnawing agony in his gut.  He tried to convince himself that it didn’t matter what happened.  It would just be good to have answers, to have things over and done.  But his heart ached at the possibilities.

            When the massive door rose he stopped and turned, standing at parade rest with his hands behind his back.  The guard towered over him, vast and powerful.

            “I have a brief message for you, Commander,” she rumbled.

            Mike nodded.

            “The message is, ‘I had a long talk and learned everything.  Move Commander Curadh’s personal items to my quarters, and convey to him my regret that I won’t see him for a few days.  He’ll understand why.’”

            Mike’s heart ached for Molly and Rihanna, but in defiance of his guilt soared a joyful shout big enough to fill any void.  One that would have sent the birds flying...

...end...

Afterword:  As I said at the beginning this story has been muddling in my mind for a disturbingly long time.  Many years ago I chanced to be playing Hyperborea by Tangerine Dream, and found myself associating various tracks with sections of the story.  I’ve added other tunes as well.

All of my stories are cinematic in my demented little mind.  But this one goes well beyond what I normally flog my imagination into doing.  Thus the movie references in this section.

No Man’s Land from Hyperborea goes with the opening credits.  This includes Mike’s descent, starting with a view of the stars, pulling back to see his face reflected in the view screen, before swinging around to the planet; culminating with Molly and Rihanna’s first meeting by the oak, and the flyby.

I wish I knew the composer for this one.  The tune is called Mountain Streams, and it shows up on an album called Perfect Relaxation.  It’s the quiet background music for all of the flashback scenes with Mike and Molly.

Requiem for a Dream, by Jennifer Thomas, on the album Illumination is the quiet background music for all flashbacks with Ship and Mike (sometimes maybe not so quiet).

The second Hyperborea track, Hyperborea, was in my mind as Rihanna looked up at EVE, dreaming of space.  Otherwise her theme is Keep It in the Family, by Hybrid, from their album I Choose Noise.  Play it loud while she’s in the city trying to annihilate Mike, play it soft as she’s trying to get Mike dropped into the canyon at the end.

The third Hyperborea track, Cinnamon Road, recalls Molly running with Mike perched on her shoulder.  I think of it as their theme, bright and cheerful, with boundless energy.

The final Hyperborea track, Sphinx Lightning, tracks Mike sprinting for the Spinner as he tries to save Molly.  In my mind the percussion in latter part builds the tension like a racing heartbeat, culminating in triumphant chords as the Spinner leaps over the edge of the chasm.

The EVE structure gets T-Rex Echoes by Carbon Based Lifeforms for its theme, because it’s big, and it needs a thumping tune.  It’ll be in the background any time the space elevator is in close proximity, and no other themes have taken over.

The void in Mike is accompanied by what is literally tagged as “creepy choir music”, apparently it was written for a game demo called The Dark Trial, by Pilcz Studios.  It plays softly, at the edge of hearing.

Closing credits are Darkness, Darkness, by Solas on their album The Edge of Silence.  Its starts playing the instant Molly’s final message to Mike is completed.  Crank it to 11.