Editing Eternity (Warhammer High) (section)

=== The Visitor ===


One evening, as Jake and Venus were just sitting down for dinner in their apartment, there was a loud banging on the door.  "I'll get it!" Jake called out, wondering who it could be.  He pushed the door of the tiny apartment he shared with Venus open and looked at his guest.

Before him stood a man in an armored bodyglove of studded leather and armor links, with a waist-length cape of mustard yellow hanging from his shoulders.  It took him a moment for Jake to recognize him.  “Julius?” he asked.

“Hetman Pius.”  Julius smiled.  “Good to see you, Jake, it’s been a while.”


Jake leaned back in his chair and gauged the board in front of him.  He was getting reamed.

Julius slid a piece across one of his and captured it.  “So, it’s been a rough start, but it’s getting smoother.  This is luck, really,” he said.  “I wasn’t expecting to get leave on Terra this soon.”

“We’re glad you did,” Venus remarked from the couch in the apartment.

“Yeah, it’s been too long,” Jake said, sliding a piece out of danger.  “When do you find time to practice at checkers?”

“It’s the fastest board game to set up,” Julius explained.

“I guess.”  Jake watched as Julius moved a piece into position to bait out one of his kings.  “So…you’re already a Hetman?”

“Technically.  I’m kinda new, though, so I’m hardly high up on anyone’s priority lists,” Julius said.

Jake moved a piece, refusing to take the bait.  “Not what I hear.”

“Pardon?”

“I hear the Uxors make a ‘priority’ out of every Hetman they hire,” Jake said mildly.

Julius rolled his eyes.  “Give it a break.”

“Gotta say, you’re the envy of rather a lot of Terran men right now,” Jake continued.  “Armfuls and armfuls of fresh, lascivious young psychic women around every corner.”

Julius glared at him.  “Shut up.”

“Never a chilly bed, never a restless night,” Jake said dreamily as Venus chuckled.

“Shut your damn fool mouth,” Julius muttered.  “They’re all bloody crazy.”

Jake sighed wistfully.  “And no ovaries!  You can boink all day, and never hear a baby’s squeal.”

Julius grimaced.  “They’re all nymphomaniacal psychic killing machines.  Trust me.  The risks outweigh the rewards.”

“You really do make a habit of looking gift horses in the mouth, don’t you,” Jake laughed.

Julius glared at him again, but he couldn’t hide a smile.  “You’re not an easy man to distract, are you, Jake?”

Jake lurched backward, his eyes flying open.  “What?!  Who are you?!”

Venus buried her face in her hands.  Julius rolled his eyes.  “Funny, mate.”

“I know, right?”  Jake looked back down to the board.  “So what brings you by, anyway?”

Julius sighed.  “To be honest, my deployment orders are looking harsh.  I may not get a chance to drop by Terra for a long time.  Eighty Geno companies are off to some hole called 63-30, to polish off a mutant enclave that escaped the Sixtieth Expeditionary Fleet in the First Great Crusade.”  He moved a piece and kinged it.  “It’s really a chance to say goodbye to everyone, since I have no idea when I can come home again.”

Jake stared.  “Wow.  Which Astartes unit is attached?”

“Why would we get one?” Julius asked, a trace of bitterness in his voice.  “We’re on our own, Army and Navy.  No Astartes.”

“Harsh sounds like the right word.”  Jake looked up at him.  Julius seemed more resigned than angry.  “Well, then we’re glad you could stop by.”

Julius nodded.  “I am too, my friend.”