Chapter Thirty Three

Gage carried Iona on his back with her bare feet dangling off the ground through the recycling depot’s main hall on Ganymede. She bounced on his back, much happier to be straddling him than riding in the box or the backpack.

“I still don’t know why you bothered to keep it a secret from me,” Heretic complained as they walked. “I wouldn’t have snitched. I don’t care if Benediction gets laid or not.”

“This guy’s prattle is worse than Leviticus’,” Iona accused as they walked.

“Where are you going from here?” Gage asked Heretic. “I just had my wedding, so I’m on my way to my honeymoon.”

“Really? You got married in the airport like a couple of spotters?”

“Yes, but now, we get a honeymoon!” Gage said jubilantly, except it was a bit too noisy and a few people turned their heads.

Actually, a lot of people turned their heads.

Iona clamped her hands over his mouth. “Don’t be so noisy. We’ll draw a crowd. I need shoes.” She let go of his mouth. “I wanna go to my storage banks. If it’s on the way, we’ll take you with us, but we have to part ways after I get some fresh panties and some shoes. You get it, right Heretic?”

“I get it,” he said, searching for the exit with his eyes. “How do we get out of here?”

“Did I just hear someone say they needed fresh panties?”

Gage stopped. Someone had stepped out in front of him. It was someone he felt he should have recognized but didn’t. Iona slapped Gage on the shoulder and hissed for him to put her down.

“Sorry about that,” she said, extending her hand like she wasn’t pink as a bubblegum ball. “Please excuse us. We’ve just come from the wildest adventure on Io, Mr. Fox, and we need provisions.”

“I can see that,” Harrison Fox said as he noticed Iona’s bare feet.

“What time is it, Mr. Fox?” Heretic smirked.

Iona elbowed him and returned a professional smile to her lips.

“Yes, I know,” Harrison said, flicking his dark hair out of his face. “I’m actually here to meet you.”

“You came to Ganymede to meet me?” Iona asked incredulously.

“I was here anyway, working out a deal at this recycling plant and when I found out that you would be landing here, I came to greet you… both of you.”

“Both of us?” Gage asked.

“Yes. Several months ago, I was contacted by Madam Damsel from Sleeping Beauty Inc. Europa. She wanted to know if I was interested in buying out your contract with them, Gage. Shortly after you arrived on Io, your contract was canceled, and my opportunity to buy you from them was gone, but I was still interested in hiring you as an independent contractor anyway.”

Gage looked around like he didn’t know where this was going. “Why?”

Harrison smiled. “I’m looking for a pilot to take shipments of helocarriers to Mars. It’s a tough gig. Not too many pilots want to take on that kind of work because they need to be awake to navigate the asteroid field, but I thought you might be willing to do a few runs.”

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“I can’t,” Gage said immediately. “I just got married and…”

“If I can go along with him, we can do it,” Iona intervened. “We did just get married, but we’re looking for some alone time and outer space is a wonderful place for some peace and quiet.”

Harrison looked quite stunned by Iona’s request. “T-that would be fine,” he stuttered. “Why don’t you two get yourselves sorted and we’ll talk about the necessary arrangements later? I know Iona has my contact info.”

Harrison shook both their hands, gave Heretic a weird nod, and went to leave.

“Wait,” Gage asked.

Harrison turned back.

“What kind of ship would I be piloting?”

“A Juggernaut III,” Harrison replied.

Gage felt a weird glow spread over his body. It was an even more exciting ship than a Tank VII.

“Does that suit you?” the helocarrier designer asked.

“Yes. It suits me just fine.”

“Good. Iona, I would offer you a job, but you asked me not to, so I’ll give you a little more time to recover before we put your talents to work. In the future, maybe we can find a way for the two of you to work together. Working with my wife was a really good fit for me. Maybe it will also be a good fit for the two of you.”

Iona and Gage eyed each other suspiciously.

“I guess we have been working together,” Iona said sheepishly.

“I guess we have,” Gage replied.

“Well, we’ll see how this first job works out. I look forward to hearing from you both.” Harrison smiled and went back to the cluster of coworkers who were waiting for him. Unless Iona was completely mistaken, she thought she saw his wife, Paige, standing among them.

***

Deep in space, Iona sat by a window and looked out at the stars. She wore a thin cotton robe and a different pair of wooden sandals. She could see the asteroid belt ahead. They would reach it in a few hours. Actually, she hadn’t been awake that long.

Harrison had fixed up the Juggernaut III to be a little more honeymoon worthy than it had previously been, so a bedroom had been added. Apparently, Paige had gotten involved too. Who knew the two of them had such an interest in interior decorating? What they put together was much nicer than what had been aboard the Cannonball III and that place was supposed to make a girl feel like she was a princess. All that place did was leave her with this crushing pressure to be as perfect as she could be like it was her duty. The accommodations aboard the Juggernaut III didn’t make her feel like a princess. Instead, she felt like relaxing. Like there was no duty that needed her attention, no one she needed to escape or hide from, and she didn’t need to be pretty for anyone (though that would have been tough to accomplish if they didn’t think pink girls were cute).

It turned out that Gage was not a fan of common seduction tactics or the stuff that most men liked in the bedroom. All the things that traditionally turned men on, turned him off. All Iona had to do for him was roll over and kiss him softly and he was raring to go.

Iona remembered all the fuss that had been put into her appearance to make her good enough for rich men and she felt like she had been a hamster running on a wheel. It felt like she had to put a lot of effort into it, but all that work got her nowhere.

When the truth was that real love didn’t require any effort at all.

She sent a letter to Sleeping Beauty Inc. explaining that she would not be back and received a form letter in reply. Ninth most expensive model in the Jovian region and they sent her a form letter?

She shook it off. It didn’t matter. There was still so much life to live.

And there was Gage. He had just had a shower and he was walking from the bathroom to the closet to get some clothes. He had to navigate the asteroid belt soon, but as he made that walk, aside from the towel across his shoulders, he was completely naked.

It turned out that he was just as perfect under his pants as she’d imagined.

***

Gage saw Iona looking at him across the room. She was sitting in a wide window seat that had obviously once been nothing but steel and bolts, but now had a plush cushion fitted to the area. She wore a thin cotton robe that she didn’t seem to realize was see-through. It hung open with a wide slit showing her white leg all the way to the curve of her hip bone and gaped a little at her chest.

Seeing her there, he had never been more satisfied. He could never be more satisfied, except maybe if…

“Have I ever made love to you against a window?”

She shook her head.

He dropped the towel he had around his neck and for once, he was glad he was awake. “I think there’s time.”

THE END