Jasvinder Krishnan

Darkness. A throbbing pain reverberates in the depths of my head and my limbs feel like lead. Whomever claimed that Iros went easy on her petitioners was a bloody liar. I feel my hair moving about, like its being ruffled or maybe stroked. As feeling slowly begins to return to my body, my instincts take over and I do the very first thing that comes to my mind.

Groaning as loudly and miserably as possible.

"Wake up sleepyhead." a familiar voice lightly encourages as the gentle stroking of my hair continues. My bleary eyes open to see a sight that I never thought possible.

"Thomas?" I mutter in surprise. How did he get here? What happened during the prayer? My first thought is that this surely must be a dream. But the dull ache in my head and the sour smell of the village reminds me that I have awakened firmly back in reality.

"Enjoying the lap pillow?" Thomas smiles as he cuffs my face playfully.

"Uh." I grunt more to hide my embarrassment than to say anything intelligible, trying to get up from this compromising position. But Thomas affectionately pushes me back down on his lap, causing me to sink into his comforting scent. I shut my eyes and silently enjoy my husband's ministrations, as the fog shrouding my mind slowly begins to lift.

"I'm still mad you know." Thomas nags in jest, "Abandoning me like that. If it wasn't for that phone call, I would never had realized that you were here."

"Who called you?" I ask in alarm. The last thing I wanted was to drag Thomas into my problems.

"I think it was one of Jackson's acquaintances." Thomas muses with a finger to his chin, "They just told me you were at his village. Good thing I knew where Jackson originally came from. Otherwise I would have been completely lost."

I sink back into the lap pillow with relief before saying, "You shouldn't have come Thomas. I'm in trouble. Real big trouble."

"Jackson's friend wasn't very clear why you came here." Thomas replies, "He just said that you were unconscious after performing a prayer and you needed help."

"Help. That's right." I laugh bitterly, "That's exactly what I need."

"What happened?" Thomas asks, his eyes radiating with naked concern, "Why did you disappear all of a sudden?"

"Several people want to kill me." I sigh, getting into a sitting position, "One of whom is Don."

"I see." Thomas nods calmly, accepting my answer.

I raise an eyebrow as this lack of reaction, "You don't seem surprised."

"I worked out long ago that you and Don had some kind of under table business going on, " Thomas shrugs, "and there's your dealings with my sister. I'm not blind Jas. I can see the signs even if you don't tell me anything. I always expected this matter would go sour one day."

"Going sour." my mouth quirks up in a smile despite myself, "That's really understating things."

"I didn't expect you to go on the run out of the blue." Thomas agrees, "That took me by surprise."

"Look, I never intended to abandon you -" I quickly protest, but Thomas cuts me off.

"I trust you, OK?" my husband whispers into my ear as he embraces me tightly, "Things happen. I'll understand if it couldn't be helped."

"Yeah. Thanks Thomas." I murmur while hugging him back, "You're a good man."

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"I know." Thomas responds smugly, "Its about time you noticed. You want to tell me what happened?"

"I do. I really do." I make a helpless motion with my hands as the two of us break the embrace, "But its not something that can be explained just like that. You might not even believe me."

"Try me." Thomas urges, his expression attentive.

"When we leave this place." I shush him quickly, "Once we're alone. Its too dangerous otherwise." Thomas pats my arm reassuringly, but the disappointment on his face is clear. He settles back on to the worn and dirty sofa both of us a sitting on and I take the opportunity to check out our surroundings.

Its a living room of some sort, with walls made out sheets of scrap metal and all the furniture looking like they've seen better days. A slowly rotating ceiling fan sluggishly stirs the air about, buzzing noisily as it spins unhappily, likely thanks to a worn bearing. A junction box attached to the wall supplies the house electricity and a thick power cable snakes from its base through a hole in the wall that leads outside. From the open window I can see that the cable links to a communal generator in the village square, nearly buried under the mass of wires surrounding it.

"Its Jackson's house." Thomas explains once he notices the look on my face, "The villagers carried you here when they discovered you unconscious in their transmission station. Oh, that reminds me."

Thomas gets up from the sofa and heads towards a nearby table, picking up a plate loaded with a loaf of hard bread as well as a bowl of water and handing both items to me.

"Courtesy of Iros." Thomas grins, "Eat up."

I frown at the cold, unappetizing meal and check my deployment ring to see whether the bulwark had been recharged. And unfortunately, Iros had chosen to ignore my prayer. My bulwark is still in the state it was in when I arrived at the village. And that's after all the unpleasantness I experienced in the transmission station. But then again, maybe she provided me with what I needed, instead of what I had prayed for.

"Both my eyes are fine, right?" I ask Thomas for confirmation. My sight is working normally, but the memory of being stabbed in the eye by the light coming from the console prompts me to ask for some confirmation.

"Yes?" Thomas answers with a confused look, "Both your eyes look completely normal to me at least."

"Great." I sigh, "What's going on outside anyway? There's the smell of cooking and tables are being laid out."

Thomas flicks me on the head as he snorts in amusement, "The feast day of Iros, silly. You've been out cold for several days. Both of us are invited of course."

"Well, then I won't need this then." I say, putting the cold bread and water back on to the table Thomas had retrieved them from.

"Rejecting the food Iros provided," Thomas smirks, "and still attending her feast day. Somebody needs urgent treatment for a case of thick skin."

"I've got the cure right here." I grab Thomas by the waist and hold him close.

"Mm. Doctor's orders." my husband murmurs as he snuggles against me, "Can't argue against that."

....

Don Kuat

"Hey, you think heaven exists?" I ask Wu as both of us crouch behind a bleached concrete wall, spying on the collection of hovels gathered under an ancient flyover.

"Yes." Wu answers plainly, holding the pair of binoculars to his eyes, scanning the settlement intently.

"So, how would heaven be like?" I query, trying to stave off the boredom that set in ever since Wu began hogging the binoculars, "Clouds, angel wings, that sort of thing?"

"What do you think of the world we are in now?" Wu shoots back, finally setting down the binoculars.

"Its shit." I answer, voice completely flat.

"There you have it." Wu dusts his clothes off, "We're in a world built by the gods for their faithful. This is as close to heaven as anyone's going to get."

"I mean afterlife heaven." I grumble, "Heaven heaven. Real heaven. Whatever you want to call it."

"Still shit." Wu replies indifferently, "You ready? Clear on what you need to do?"

"Yeah." I confirm, "The village is holding the feast once the sun sets right? Once everyone's settled in and chowing down, I make my grand appearance."

"Make your move in forty five minutes." Wu directs, "It should be dark by then and the feast well underway. I'll be in the area to provide support if needed."

"We should have brought Lisa with us." I say, "Get her some experience. Dirty her hands a little."

"She needs to be in the Citadel to provide us with an alibi." Wu bends down and begins smearing his face with dirt, "I'm off to mingle. Remember, forty five minutes."

"There's no more serum." I butt in, "I've got one good fight in me left. After that I'll be running on empty."

"So will I." Wu looks back evenly at me, "So let's not mess this mission up."

"Right." I give a casual salute as Wu makes his way across the flat plain separating us from the village, his host's tiny body moving surprisingly quickly.

I take up the binoculars, observing the flesh bags preparing the tables and hauling out great vats of steaming food. And there he is.

Jasvinder with his boy toy, lining up to take their seats. I had to piss in a cup while tailing his boy toy to this dump using my car. So I'm really eager to let loose some frustration. I begin to perform some stretches, getting ready for the harvest that is to come. Jasvinder is an old friend after all.

And I should be putting on a good show for him.