Once a Wolf

The Sixth Day

Sensing the presence, both awoke with a start. They were on their feet, swords in hand, in one fluid motion of naked bodies. When they observed it was only the Praetor, they dropped their guards. Giselle thought the look on his face was one of amusement.

“Well?” Giselle challenged, a note of irritation in her voice. “Did you get a good look?”

“Oh my,

yes

,” the Praetor replied. “The ratings went… how do you say it? ‘Through the roof’.”

“Well then,” Geoffrey added with undisguised irritation, “since you obviously didn’t get enough, perhaps we can offer you an

encore.

What do you say? Shall I just throw her up against the wall right here and have at it? Perhaps bent over the table outside? How about it – a little bumfuck

al fresco?

”

“Geoffrey

!”

“Wait a minute, Buster! If

anybody

gets to look at the goods, it’s gonna be me, not that sick fuck, Praetor. I swear to God, if he lays a hand on me again, I’m gonna rip him a new one!”

“SADIE!”

“Just a moment,” Geoffrey said directly to the Praetor’s image, his irritation rising. “Do you mean we put on a show that had your entire planet wanking like addled schoolboys, and you repay us by molesting a poor, defenseless

laptop computer

? What kind of perverts

are you?

”

“He’s the kind that wants to stick his hard drive in my floppy slot. Was it good for you, Sweetums? I wasn’t too

loose

for you, was I? I mean, I know how easy it is for those

tiny ones

to get lost inside a

real

slot.”

“Have you no shame, sir?” Geoff retorted angrily.

Both

his swords were at the ready then. You had your way with a member of my family while my wife and I were asleep

in the same room?

I’ll have you know these are

my

slots! Come down here and fight like a man!”

The Praetor’s image dissipated.

One could only wonder what the Arcturans made of two humans and an artificially-intelligent computer locked in the throes of a five-minute laughing jag. Sadie’s laughter had a rather harsh, tinny, raucous tone to it, by virtue of her small stereo speakers. Geoff clutched his sides tightly, forlornly attempting to squelch the pain. Giselle had big, fat tears rolling down both cheeks. Her whole body shuddered in mirth, causing her bustline to jiggle enticingly. It was inevitable Geoff and Giselle would clutch each other for support. And kiss. Passionately.

“All right you two. Either break it up or get a cave.”

“Got one,” Giselle cooed.

“Then get a

different

one! All this mush is upsetting to my innocent young eye.”

“You’re just jealous,” teased Geoff.

“Damn straight, Skippy! You would be, too.”

“Yes, I expect you are right about that,” mused Geoff. “Incidentally, that was a nice bit of work taking the Praetor down a notch. For what it is worth, I believe your ‘slot’ deserves far better.”

“You too, Joy Boy. That ‘old boy righteous indignation’ shtick had me in stitches. This is the first time I don’t mind a

man

calling me his ‘slot’. You’ve got big brass ones!”

“You don’t know how much it means to me,” Giselle interjected, wiping the tears from her eyes, “that you two are getting on so well. That was the best laugh I have had in… well, I really can’t remember when. Sadie, why are you up? I know I didn’t leave you on last night.”

“Wake On LAN, G. Praetor goosed me for real. G., he went after your diary files again.”

“Did he get any of it?” Giselle inquired pensively.

"Yeah, Boss;

All of it

. I feel so…

violated.”

Geoff thought he noted a touch of sarcasm in Sadie’s lament.

“I’m sorry, Sadie,” Giselle replied. “You done good, anyway.”

“Thanks, Boss. I think I’m gonna do a defrag. That’ll make me feel cleaner.”

“Go ahead, Sweetie,” the Blonde responded, “and thanks again.”

Geoff held her tightly. Giselle looked up into his eyes, smiling teasingly.

“Your

wife

?” she taunted softly. “Did I miss the memo?”

“The Arcturans seem to think you are,” Geoff responded. “At any rate, it sounded good at the time.”

Giselle nodded vigorously.

“Uh-

huh!

”

“I’m so sorry the Arcturans violated your privacy like that,” he intoned.

She gently pressed her fingertips to his lips.

“Don’t be,” she admonished. “Actually, this is the

second

best moment of my life.”

“

Second

best?” Geoff inquired. “What was the

best

?”

She gazed at his lips, mere inches from her own.

“Dumb question,” she replied, as she brought her lips to his.

*****

They returned to the site of the near-fatal ambush from two days before. A more cautious reconnaissance revealed no immediate Golganthan presence. It didn’t take long to recover both swords, concealed beneath some ground-hugging ferns. Apparently, the Golganthans had either no interest in returning to the spot where Geoff had fallen, or had no idea the humans’ ‘arsenal’ lay literally at their feet.

Although no guarantee of ‘parity’ had ever been extended by the Arcturans, Geoff felt it was intrinsically unfair the Golganthans now had projectile weapons while he and Giselle had none. Giselle pointed out it was just as likely the Golganthans had fashioned their bows and arrows from materials found within these very woods – and the Arcturans would have likely rewarded them for their ingenuity.

“Shouldn’t we make our own then?”, Geoff inquired.

“We could, and they would certainly be useful,” Giselle replied, “but I intend to finish this today, now that I know we can.”

Geoff slung his sword across his back, then took her hands in his.

“You could have finished it

two days ago,

” he softly intoned. “I remember more of it, now that I am here. We…

you

had them beaten and on the run. You could have finished it right then. Earth would be safe now.”

“I wasn’t willing to pay the price,” she replied softly.

“You were the one who told

me

,” Geoff countered, “the mission comes first.

One

life is unimportant. It would have been a fair exchange for six billion lives back home.”

“No, it would

not

,” Giselle stormed. “

Your

life has become important to me. Particularly since I got you into this mess in the first place.”

“That is nonsense,” Geoff countered. “How could you? The Arcturans….”

“Read my diary,” interjected Giselle. “We already know what

voyeurs

they are. When they first snatched me, I was seated at my desk in my apartment, typing entries into it. I had two files open. In one, I was beginning to list my silly childhood terrors. I had already entered the giant ants, Leatherface, and the Velociraptors….”

“

Velociraptors

,” Geoff exclaimed. “Outside the cave entrance, three nights ago?”

Giselle nodded.

“The Arcturans may, indeed, have seen the movies – and probably did, to flesh out the monsters. All of

that

was secondary. We faced those terrors because the Arcturans knew they were

my

terrors. Remember what Sadie said this morning? The Praetor accessed my files

again

. Anyway I called that file…”

“Things That Go Bump In The Night,” Geoff finished.

Giselle gazed at him, chagrined.

“You are scaring me,” she replied sheepishly. “You know me too well.”

“I am beginning to,” he replied. “Your terrors didn’t seem to terrorize you when we faced them,” Geoff pointed out.

“I don’t allow

anything

to terrorize me while I am working,” Giselle rebutted. “That comes later.”

“Yes, I know,” Geoff replied quietly. “I have been around for ‘later’ these last few days.

What about me? Am

I

one of your terrors as well?”

She gazed intently into his eyes.

“Just the opposite,” she avowed. “You were the

other

file: “Prince Charming”, the object of a silly schoolgirl crush. That is why you are here. Random chance was never a factor. I… I

targeted

you for them. The Arcturans merely connected the dots. I am

so sorry

.”

Geoff thought about that for a moment.

“I’m not,” he responded. Despite the circumstances, I have felt more alive in the last six days than at any time before in my life. I have had the opportunity to serve my people and planet in a way few people ever realize.

And

I have shared the company of the most amazing and marvelous woman I have ever met. What could I

possibly

have to be sorry about?”

“You have

no idea

,” Giselle replied.

Both came instantly alert to the sound of movement in the dense undergrowth. Without a word, they stood back-to-back, eyes and ears alert, swords at the ready.

“The Golganthans again?” Geoff queried.

“Not this time,” Giselle responded. “This is something else.”

‘Something else’, some three dozen of them, emerged from the woods, completely encircling them. Their overall resemblance to the Praetor identified them as Arcturans. Their dimensions and armament identified them as warriors. Every one of them brandished a very ugly looking sword.

“I must have missed this in the rulebook,” Geoff observed testily.

“I think we have just made it to the Bonus Round,” Giselle replied. “They are through with wimpy challenges. Now we have to face the best. Remember your training. Breathe normally. Don’t get mad. Trust your instincts.

Become

your sword.”

The next few minutes – and it was very few – were a blur. Geoff did not see

threats

so much as

target areas

. Whatever part of the anatomy before him was unguarded was the part he struck. Strike, turn, strike, turn, stay in motion – do not present a still target to your opponent’s blade. Strange; it was almost as if they were moving in slow motion. It was either that, or he was moving incredibly fast…. And then there were no more targets.

He turned in time to witness Giselle dispatch the last three Arcturan warriors. The first was bisected diagonally, right shoulder to left hip. She spun clockwise, slicing off the legs of the second with a single sweep or her sword. She buried its point in his face, turned to block the sword-bearing arm of the third, then ripped that arm out of its socket. Lifting the wounded warrior into the air, she bent him backwards, snapping his spine like a pretzel. Then, she casually dropped the remains to the ground. Bodies – body

parts

– were strewn in a heap around her. The foliage and ground itself was soaked with green blood. Geoff took in this scene of…

mass destruction

– and all of his questions were answered.

Giselle did not meet his gaze at first. Instead, she stood mutely, surveying the carnage around them, particularly at

his

feet. He followed her gaze. Now that the battle was over, he could not believe his own tally of enemy dead nearly equaled hers.

“How was I able to do

that

?” he gasped.

His companion took several moments to formulate her response before she voiced it.

“Race memory,” she murmured. “Genetically coded physiological response. Instant training. We never

dreamed

it would be capable of that.”

She looked up, into his eyes. The expression on her face was wistful, perhaps with a touch of sorrow. She made to say something, then glanced past his arm. The expression of horror on her face was palpable. In one smooth motion, she swept him aside, hurling his body into the brush. By the time he sat up, she was kneeling at his feet. The Golganthan arrow had run her through. Her valiant heart was pumping wildly, attempting to supply blood to her body, even as it was hemorrhaging badly itself.

“Oh, God,

no

,” he cried in dismay. “

Giselle

!”

“Break off the point, Geoffrey,” she coughed. “Then pull the rest out.”

He did as instructed, then lay her down on her back, her head in his lap.

“Giselle, I am

so sorry

….”

“Don’t,” she gasped. This is what war is all about. People die for really stupid, tragic, yet unavoidable reasons, remember?”

“

Good

people,” he corrected her, “and you are

the best

.”

She smiled bravely at him.

“You have to leave me now. There is still a battle to be won. We will still win, because you are here with me. You know the job. Now, you have the skills as well. Finish it. This is the way it has to be. Whatever happens, know that I love you and always will….”

Giselle René Du Mont emitted a little sigh and closed her eyes. She looked so angelic, lying there. With the bleeding stopped, it almost appeared as if she were asleep.

Geoffrey had not known such rage in his heart since the death of his mother. Once again, the most important woman in his life had been taken from him and he had been powerless to stop it. This time was different. His rage had a focus – and

he

, a purpose. He snatched up his sword and hers, then identified the direction in which the Golganthans were making their retreat. He turned to gaze one more time upon the woman who would have been his Queen….

Her body was gone.

He closed upon his quarry with such blinding speed, they might as well have been running backwards. The male let fly a desperate snap shot as he ran, which Geoff cast aside with one disdainful flick of his sword. He was on them in six more steps. They turned, drew their swords and faced him because they had no choice. He engaged both at once. The staccato clang of metal on metal reverberated through the clearing. He caught the female’s sword with the

shinobikatana,

handguard to handguard, and heaved outward with his arm. The female flew through the air and collided with a tree trunk with a resounding crash.

Geoff unleashed his cold fury on the male alone. All things being equal, the Golganthan’s strength would be more than a match for the human’s. All things were not equal, and never would be again. The pig was no match for what the prince had become.

Geoffrey hammered relentlessly, ferociously, blade to blade, using both swords with such dizzying speed, his opponent could only hold his blade up defensively as the blows rained down upon him. With one mighty swing of

Excalibur

, two-thirds of the Golganthan blade was sheered away.

The male was on one knee before him now. For the first time in his life, Geoffrey saw raw terror in the eyes of another sentient being. A small part of his brain beheld the sight in wonder, knowing as he did the Golganthan was terrified of

him

. The rest of him wanted only to exact the most painful, bloody vengeance he could manage. His heart pounded in his chest. There was a roaring in his ears – so much so, he never heard the

whoosh

of the broken tree limb as the desperate female swung it into the side of his head. Once again, he sank to his knees, then pitched forward – onto the remains of the broken sword the stunned Golganthan male still held in his hand. Then, all three disappeared.