Editing Venus' Burn (section)

==The Third Part==


After dinner, Vulkan took off like a shot, heading straight for the Astral Channels Teleportorae in the Palace, to attend a meeting on the subject on Luna.  Even with Misja’s (and Venus’s) objections to the contrary, I still felt like I was intruding there, though at least I didn’t feel like I was unwelcome any more.  Venus walked me out to my car afterwards, when the entire area was pitch black, thanks to the hive shadows.

“Hey, Jake, thanks, for coming over,” she said.  “I’m glad you can feel more comfortable around Mom and Dad now.”

“Yeah, and I’m sorry I locked up like that.  I wasn’t trying to embarrass you in there,” I said, fishing out my keys.

“Oh, you didn’t.”  Her voice paused, and the red glow of her eyes dimmed to slits.  “To be honest, I think the very end of the tour almost made up for the awkwardness afterward.”  I could hear a mischievous smile on her lips as she said it.

I thought back to those happy few minutes in her room and found myself smiling too.  “I’m…inclined to agree, actually.  We should do this again sometime,” I said, all braggadocio.

“Hey, there’s a thought,” she said, playing along.  I opened the door of my aircar and paused, about to say something even dumber, no doubt, when her arms slid around my waist.  I dropped my keys on the seat behind me and returned the hug, tugging her up against me.

She pushed back, and my shoulders bumped against the frame of the car.  She pulled back a hair, and I saw those endless red eyes close entirely.  My heart was hammering through my ribcage, and I’m sure she could even hear it with those augmented ears.  She leaned back in and kissed me, slowly sliding her hands from my waist up to my shoulders.  It would have been downright rude of me not to reciprocate.

I ran my own hands up her back to the base of her neck and cupped them, pressing her head against mine.  She made a tiny noise of approval, not that I could hear it very well with my pulse roaring like that.  I slid my tongue against her lips and she relented, sucking my tongue into her mouth.  I had thought the rest of her felt hot to the touch…

She broke for air, and I was probably panting too.  Her eyes were still shut, only the very faintest red glow through the lids betraying their location.  I felt her breath on my cheek as she leaned back in.  “In fact, it’s a good thought.  I suspect we should act on it,” she said, her voice rough.  It took me a moment to realize she was continuing what she was saying before.

“I’ll think about it,” I said.  I was trying to sound thoughtful, as if NOT continuing was even an option at that point.  In hindsight, I’m sure I just sounded like I was overheating.

“You do that,” she whispered, planting one foot on the edge of the car’s doorframe, pressing it flush against my leg.  I slid my hand down to where her leg pressed against mine, and hugged it close.

To my complete and eternal disappointment, she stepped back after a moment.  “In fact,” she said, feigning nonchalance, “are you busy tomorrow?”

“No,” I said, glad it was still dark.  I was long past caring if she knew I was hard, but I was so flushed I was sure I looked like some freshman who just found out where the girl’s locker room was.  “Did you have something in mind?”

She giggled, her eyes opening back up.  “Yeah…I’ll call you around lunch if that’s OK.”

“That’s great.  I’m looking forward to it,” I said, confidence reasserting itself.

“I can tell.  See you tomorrow,” she said, and her eyes vanished as she turned back to the house.

I sank down onto the seat of the aircar, nearly impaling myself on my keys, and started the engine.  By the time I was home, I at least looked like nothing had happened.  My Mother greeted me when I walked in, looking like an Inquisitor ready to pass judgment.

“How did it go?” she asked.

“Eventfully,” I said honestly.



Well, I managed to fall asleep eventually, and right on time, Venus called the following day.  I was hovering over the phone like a carrion glider, of course.
“Hey, baby, what’s up?” she asked, sounding pretty distracted.

“Nothing.  Want me to come over again?” I asked, glad I had the room to myself.

“Actually…no.  Something came up,” she said, sounding distinctly unhappy.

“What?  What’s wrong?” I asked, concerned and distinctly disappointed.  So much for round two.

“Well…not WRONG per se, but unexpected.  Dad’s hosting a few Fire Drake officers here today for a brief service.  I didn’t even check the calendar, damn it, I should have before I talked to you last night.  I mean, you can still come over if you want, but…”

“But yeah, Astartes standing around the house looking somber.  Not my cup of tanna,” I said, grateful for her sensitivity.

“Okay.  Hey, the day’s not wasted, though.  Did you finish the chemistry assignment yet?” she asked, referring to the graduation prep exam take-home segment.

“Yeah, I did, last night after I came home.  Didn’t want it hanging over today, you know,” I said.

“Me too.  So, I was thinking, in the absence of the homework,” she said, and I could practically HEAR her rolling her eyes, “do you want to go visit that museum that just opened instead?  I’ve been looking for an excuse to go for weeks.”

“Oh…sure,” I said, thinking it over.  “Sounds like fun.  Should I come pick you up?”

“No, I’ll-” her voice cut off, with a scuffling sound and muted conversation audible over the line.

“Baby, what’s up?” I asked after a second.

“Sorry.  Dad asked me something.  I’ll pick you up, your hive is on a straight line between my house and the Palace.”

“Sure, that works.  See you then.”

We said our goodbyes and hung up, and I was pulling my boots on when realization struck.  The Palace?  What?  I picked up the vox and called her back to confirm, but only got the machine.  Damn.

Oh well.  I’d figure out what was going on soon enough.  I finished getting ready and strolled out the door to the end of the hab row, where the aircar parking lots were.  I scanned the indoor sky idly, wondering which car was hers.

I didn’t have to guess.  Within ten minutes, a fucking HUGE air limo pulled up in front of me.  The gull-wing door slid open, and Venus enthusiastically waved at me from inside.  “Hey, you, get in here!” she said breezily.  I tried not to stare.

“Venus…nice ride,” I said, dumbfounded.  She had never ridden THIS to school.

“Well, it’s Dad’s, but I’m borrowing it,” she said, oblivious to sarcasm.  She was sitting in the back of the passenger compartment, and I clambered in, the other people in the lot staring.  They probably thought I was on my way to a drug deal or something.

Well, nobody said I wasn’t going to be traveling in style.  I sat down on the luxurious cushions, and looked at Venus expectantly.  “So…what’s the occasion?  And am I underdressed?” I asked, making a show of looking myself over.

“Hah, no, you’re good.  We’re going in the back,” she said disdainfully.

I stared at her.  “What?  Why would you go in the museum by the back entrance?”

“Because the front is always drowning in tourists and paparazzi, and if I’m borrowing Dad’s limo, I may as well get to use it,” she said, grinning smugly.  “Who’s going to challenge him?”

“Wait, you mean the Palace?  Is there a museum in the Palace?” I asked.

“Well, there is now,” she said.  “One of the Emperor’s trophy rooms was cleaned up a bit and put on display.”

“Oh…well, that should be interesting,” I said, thinking it over.

“Yeah, not even I’ve been in,” she said, absently picking up the remote for the holoscreen on the back of the compartment.

We drove through the skylanes until we reached the Palace, a good fifteen minute flight.  I looked out the tinted windows at the building and marveled at the sheer size of it; I literally couldn’t see the end of it from the middle, even at five hundred feet.  If anything, I knew that was an understatement of its size, the structure extended for nearly a kilometer under the Earth.  It was a geometric nightmare, but it had a strange magnificence to it, a grandeur that far eclipsed that of a hive, even if the hive was far larger.  It wasn’t hard to see Rogal Dorn’s hand in its design.

“It’s beautiful,” I said, staring at the towers flashing under us.

“Isn’t it?” Venus asked.  She moved over to sit next to me, staring out the window.  “I never get tired of that view.”  She tapped the window to indicate one flat-topped building near the very edge of our view.  “That’s where we’re headed.”

The aircar arced towards the tower, until we settled down on the roof of the structure.  The driver opened the door, and I stepped out on the roof of the Palace of the Imperium.

The view was gorgeous, all the muted yellows and golds of the building’s trim mingled with the greys and whites of the walls.  There were Imperial lightning and Aquila icons emblazoned on several of the gleaming structures, but not on this rooftop.  On this building, there was a lovely rooftop garden, complete with several small conversation circles and some vine-covered arbors.

“I wonder who finds time to tend to these plants up here?” I asked, stretching my back with a *pop*.

“Someone gets paid to do it, I’m sure,” Venus said, looking around.  A quintet of PDF troopers in gold-chased formal uniforms came marching up to us, arms at standard.  They came to a perfectly timed halt in front of her, snapping to a salute.

“Lady Venus, it is an honor,” their leader began.  “How may I serve you?”

I glanced back at Venus to see how she was taking it, and paused.  Somehow, despite not physically changing at all, she was a different woman.  She was standing a bit straighter, her eyes even and gauging, hands clasped at her back.  Beyond that, though, she was just…different.  I’m no soldier, but I knew one when I saw one.

My Venus was a soldier at that moment.

“Staff Sergeant,” she said, nodding to acknowledge them.  “I’m here for the tour of the Emperor’s new Victory Ward.”

The Sergeant bowed his head for a moment.  “My deepest apologies, my Lady, but the Ward has been sealed temporarily.  The Emperor wanted to examine the guest list for the first showing and found several names added he did not approve himself.”

“Was one of them Jacob Seager?” she asked, indicating me.

“Yes, my Lady, though Lord Vulkan added his approval to your…guest’s name personally, and the Emperor accepted it.  Several other names appear to have been added without authorization, however,” the Sergeant said, as if noticing me for the first time.

“I see.  We can’t go in, then,” she said.  “Well, let us know when it’s opened.”

“Aye, ma’am.  We will.  Is there anything else we can do for you until then?” the Sergeant asked.

“Just allow us privacy, Sergeant,” she said, in a clear dismissal.  The PDF trooper snapped off a salute.

“As you wish, ma’am.”  The five troops turned on their heels and marched off.  I waited until they were out of earshot before I said anything.

“Well, that was different.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said diffidently, cricking her neck and grumbling.  “I don’t mind the ceremony, though.”

“You looked good.  Very martial,” I teased.

“I hope so, Dad insisted I be able to look like nobility if I needed to,” Venus said in mild irritation.  She walked on over to the small circle of furniture and potted plants at the center of the garden as our car arced off into the air.  “Thanks, though.”

After bullshitting around in the garden for a while, talking about that awesome new gaming rig I saw in Venus’ room, the guards came back and told us the Emperor had unsealed the Ward for us to visit.  We were right on top of it and the other people on the guest list had to walk through a labyrinth of corridors before they could even get to it, though, so we basically had the place to ourselves, beyond the occasional guard.  On the way down the stairs, Venus couldn’t resist dragging me around like a tourist, showing me everything that caught her eye.

“Wow.  I can’t believe Grandpa never showed me this,” Venus said, looking as wide-eyed as me from taking in all the trophies we passed.

“Where did he even find half of this stuff?” I asked, staring at rack after rack of neatly labeled artifacts.  I saw what I recognized as a Dark Eldar pulse rifle, stacks of Ork bitz that looked like they had been carved from their owners, and a small, liquid blob of metal that twitched occasionally as if housing an insect.

“Well, he did lead the Crusades personally for hundreds of years,” Venus pointed out.  She looked around the museum for a second, spotting a small herd of people walking in one level down.  She walked over to the edge of the level we were on and stared down on the bottom level of the cut-away gallery, and scoffed in irritation.

“Well, the tourists are coming.  We should finish up on this floor before we head down.”

“Works for me,” I said, walking over to join her in staring down on the massive room.  I caught sight of the man leading the tour, wearing the same finery as the roof guards.  “How long do you want to stay?”

“Well, we HAVE to see the whole thing!” she said excitedly.  “I just don’t feel like fighting a crowd.”

She looked back at the rows of stuff on our level and sighed.  “It’s a miracle the Emperor even decided to open this place at all.  This stuff was classified as ‘war materiel’ as recently as last year.  Guess Grandpa decided to open the vaults.”

“It was worth the trip, for sure,” I said, as the batch of tourists vanished under the mezzanine we were on.

Venus looked around the room again.  “Hey, Jake, did we pass a bathroom on the way down?”

“Yeah, two levels up,” I said, jerking my thumb at the staircase.

“Thanks.  Be right back,” she said, and jogged off.

I leaned back on the railing to wait.  The room returned to silence as the tour group wound its way deeper into the level under me, as the lights gradually grew brighter.  I pulled my cell vox out to check the time, but I had trouble seeing the screen – the lights were bright enough that the glare was giving me trouble.

Then it hit me.  The light wasn’t coming from the track lights on the ceiling above me.  They were coming from something between two rows of stands and racks of memorabilia.  My curiosity piqued, I wandered over to that aisle.  En route, I found myself straightening up a bit, the cramp I had developed from the wrought-iron chairs on the roof garden seemingly vanishing as I walked.

Just before I turned the corner to walk down the row, I stopped dead as realization hit me like a speeding truck.  An ambient glow?  Healing?
Oh no.  Oh no no no no no no I handled it poorly the first time don’t let him be here again, not now.

Well, fate hates me with a passion, as we’ve established.  Despite my sudden burst of horrified hope, the Emperor of Mankind walked around the corner and nearly bumped into me.  As if my day wasn’t complex enough.


Well, the first thing I did was take a very quick step back, of course.  I doubted colliding with the Master of Humans was going to be a good way to get acquainted.  The second thing I did was take a reverent knee and hope my vocal cords worked.

“My Liege,” I said, hoping I wouldn’t be called upon to say anything else.

“Rise,” he said hastily.  His voice had the oddest inflection, almost Eldar-like.  I didn’t have time to guess why.  “Didn’t see you there.  Are you part of the tour group?”

I blinked at the unexpected turn of conversation.  “No, my Liege,” I said, rising back to my feet.  “I accompanied my…ah, Lady Venus.”

“Oh, that’s where I recognized you from,” he said, nodding.  “Vulkan’s party a few weeks back.”

“You honor me greatly, Sire,” I said, trying desperately to remember how Venus had switched into nobility-mode on the roof and attempting to imitate it.  “She invited me to the showing of this new ward.”

“Indeed.  What do you think of it so far?” he asked wryly.  I was stunned at his informal tone.  Was he assuming I was noble like Venus?  Was I that good as an actor?

“It’s…impressive, Sire,” I said, indicating a few pieces I had seen.  “I’ve never witnessed such a collection.  Are they ALL battle trophies?”

“No,” he said, pointing out the shifting metal blob I had noticed.  “Some are diplomatic gifts from envoys, or old prototypes from the Martian labs.”

I nodded understanding.  “I see.  It’s fascinating.”  I tried not to appear inattentive, but his presence was getting to me.  Obviously, he noticed.
“Something wrong?” he asked, raising his eyebrows a fraction.

“Just nerves, Sire,” I said honestly.  “I wasn’t expecting to see your Highness here.”

“And if you had been, you would have been less nervous, Sieur Seager?” he pointed out, smiling wanly.  Was he using my name because Lord Vulkan had mentioned me, or was he in my head?  I decided not to care.

“Fair point, Sire,” I allowed.  Before I could let myself feel any more awkward, something black and red cannoned past me into the Emperor.

“Grandpa!” Venus squealed.  “I got to see you!”

“Hello, Venus,” he said, directing a somewhat more sincere smile at the girl now giving him a gleeful hug.  “I was hoping for a chance to see you before I had to go.”

“Go?  Where are you going?” she asked, disappointed.

“Well, I wanted to tour the place one last time before I opened it up to the public,” he said, shrugging as if an entire tower of his Palace was now blocked off from him for good.  “Reminisce, you understand.”

“Well, I’m glad we caught you anyway,” Venus said happily.  “Oh, have you met Jake?” she asked, reaching back to me as if she had just pulled me out of her pocket.

“Briefly,” I said, nearly sagging at the shoulders from relief that she was back.  Before I could say another word, though, she grabbed my hand by the wrist and pulled me closer, until all I could do was awkwardly stick a hand out to shake.  The Emperor took it briefly and nodded, before disentangling himself from his granddaughter and me.

“Well, it’s been a pleasure, Venus, Sieur Seager, but I should head out before the tour group gets up here,” he said.  “Farewell.”  Without another word, he turned off and vanished back down the aisles of the museum.

“Well, we got to see him, at least,” Venus said, shrugging.  “I was kind of hoping that he could give us the walkabout, show us the cool parts of the exhibit…are you all right?”

I was staring at my hand like it was going start glowing.  I heard her question and jerked back to reality.  “I’m just fine.  That’s just not something you’re ever quite ready for.”

“Well, get used to it,” she said mischievously.  “He makes it to at least a fifth of the family parties we have each month.”

“Wait, seriously?” I asked.  “How does he find the time?”

“He finds it, sometimes,” she said.  “Somehow.  Anyway.  Let’s finish the tour, huh?”

The rest of the tour was actually pretty fun, I have to admit.  Nothing as monumental as SHAKING THE EMPEROR’S HAND, but exploring three thousand years of trophies was humbling and fascinating in an entirely different way.  We passed the tour group on its way up, and Venus made a show of ignoring the excited whispers of the tourists and nobles as they recognized her, though I could tell she was secretly delighted.  I caught a few envious glares myself, too, which I must confess I rather enjoyed.


After we were done, she just dropped me back off at home, after a reminder about the party on Thursday.  On Wednesday night, she called me to confirm.
“Hey, Jake, are you still on for tomorrow night?”

“Naturally.  Should I pick you up?”

“Nope, I’ll come get you.  1700 good?”

“Perfect, see you then.”

Well, she didn’t.  No pick-up, no call, not even a net message.

Needless to say, I got curious (and distantly hurt).  So I did what I thought was the best thing to do under the circumstances: I called her at home.  To my surprise, Misja answered.

“Hi, Jake.”

“Lady Vulk…Misja.  Is Venus there?  She was supposed to pick me up an hour ago,” I said.

“Oh, she’s HERE,” Misja said angrily.  “She’s in no shape to go anywhere, but she’s HERE.”

I gripped the vox a little tighter at the sting in her voice.  “Uh…is she all right?”

“No.  No, she’s not all right,” Misja snapped, then composed herself.  “She’ll live, but she’s injured herself.  She’s a tough girl, but she’s not fireproof.”

“FIRE-proof?” I demanded, shooting up in my seat.  “What happened?”

“Maybe she could-” Misja started to say.  The line cut off for a moment, then her voice came back.  “Or she could just tell you herself.”

“Jake, baby, I’m sorry I didn’t come get you,” Venus’ voice cut in, tight from strain.

“Hey, forget that, what happened?” I asked urgently.

“Can you come over here?  I need you here right now,” she said, her voice shaking a bit.

“Of course, of course, clear me for the defenses and I’ll be right over,” I said, already reaching for my keys.

I don’t even think I stopped to say more than a few words to Mom when I left, I just headed over as fast as I could without getting pulled over.  I dropped the car onto their driveway and headed for the door, nearly tripping over Taxi, indolently sprawled across the threshold.  I walked in to find Vulkan sitting at the bar, tapping his fingers impatiently.  Misja was standing on the other side, apparently arguing with him.

“She obviously thought she could handle it,” Misja insisted.  “I think she really is sorry.”

“Oh, I bet,” Vulkan grimaced.  When he spotted me, he waved me over.