a hand at her dishabille. “Are you well? What on earth happened to you?”
She sniffled and took small sips of her brandy as he festooned her with large cotton handkerchiefs he managed to disgorge from every possible pocket.
“Thank you,” she said, dabbing at her eyes. “Hubert, take a seat please and let me tell you a most fantastical and harrowing tale of a discordant and brutal future, and a very, very…” Here she broke down into tears again. Her brother sank into the settee beside her and waited for her to compose herself. “A very wonderful, brave hero,” she sobbed.
“You were crying for me, right?” Sangfroid asked, as if she needed to be sure. “Not Gallo?”
“ Of course I was crying for you. You’d just died horribly or had you missed that bit?” she snapped. “It’s the crux you are supposed to be looking out for. You’re the one who demanded to hear the story.”
“Just asking.” She seemed a little abashed. “There’s a lot of heroes out there.” Though that came out as false modesty to Millicent’s shrewd ear.
Millicent sighed. “I apologize for being snappish,” she said. “But you must understand, I felt terrible . I knew I was responsible, you see. But for Hubert’s infernal machine, I should never have been there, and you would not have died trying to rescue me. I do hope Gallo got away.”
“She was fine the last I saw her. Depending on what timeline it was, I suppose.”
“And where exactly was that?” Millicent asked.
“In my version of events, I last saw Gallo in the hangar. We were joking about meeting up at the bar later. It’s our go to place.” Sangfroid said. “The night before the battle, we were hanging at the Parabellum. It was helluva night, actually. We got totally smashed with some legionnaires Gallo knew from Cygni Gamma, and then we hit the casinos and bordellos.” She stopped when she noticed Millicent’s arctic stare.
“I knew it!” Sangfroid was on her feet again. “This is an Elysian test, and you are a Hesperidean maiden come to test my worthiness.”
“I am no such thing. I am not even sure what a Hesperidean maiden is, and I have no wish to know.” She held up a hand to stop any further explanations. “And rest assured your worthiness in neither here nor there to me, Decanus Sangfroid.”
“So…” Sangfroid sat back down. “If I’m dead, how come I’m sitting here talking to you in this timeline?”
“Because I interfered,” she said. “Somewhere out there is a timeline where you hopefully survived the battle on the Amoebas and went on to meet Gallo at the Parabellum club.”
“Bar. The Parabellum is a bar, not a club.” Sangfroid snorted in derision at the idea. “You should see it; it’s the biggest booze hole for every reprobate species in the galaxy. All the troopers from around—”
“Bar, club, they’re all places where nothing of any good ever happens,” Millicent declared. “So, we have two timelines. This one, which is mine. And then there is the timeline where I arrived on the Amoebas and you were violently torn asunder.”
“Are you sure about that? I don’t feel dead. Maybe I can stay here in one piece until you figure out how to get me back to the Parabellum?”
“No, you cannot stay here. It can’t be like that. Hubert is working on getting you back to your proper timeline. Preferably in one piece and staying that way,” she said. “You don’t belong here, and I can’t go around inventing military ranks and imaginary platoons for you; someone is bound to notice you don’t fit.”
“Those ladies didn’t notice.”
“Those ladies wouldn’t notice if the house was on fire as long as there’s a servant to put it out.”
Sangfroid took a chance. “They seemed to think Millicent and the major fit well enough. If I recall correctly.” It was a clumsy attempt to flirt, and Millicent blushed violently, as Sangfroid sort of hoped she would. Maybe Millicent liked her back? A smart
She sniffled and took small sips of her brandy as he festooned her with large cotton handkerchiefs he managed to disgorge from every possible pocket.
“Thank you,” she said, dabbing at her eyes. “Hubert, take a seat please and let me tell you a most fantastical and harrowing tale of a discordant and brutal future, and a very, very…” Here she broke down into tears again. Her brother sank into the settee beside her and waited for her to compose herself. “A very wonderful, brave hero,” she sobbed.
“You were crying for me, right?” Sangfroid asked, as if she needed to be sure. “Not Gallo?”
“ Of course I was crying for you. You’d just died horribly or had you missed that bit?” she snapped. “It’s the crux you are supposed to be looking out for. You’re the one who demanded to hear the story.”
“Just asking.” She seemed a little abashed. “There’s a lot of heroes out there.” Though that came out as false modesty to Millicent’s shrewd ear.
Millicent sighed. “I apologize for being snappish,” she said. “But you must understand, I felt terrible . I knew I was responsible, you see. But for Hubert’s infernal machine, I should never have been there, and you would not have died trying to rescue me. I do hope Gallo got away.”
“She was fine the last I saw her. Depending on what timeline it was, I suppose.”
“And where exactly was that?” Millicent asked.
“In my version of events, I last saw Gallo in the hangar. We were joking about meeting up at the bar later. It’s our go to place.” Sangfroid said. “The night before the battle, we were hanging at the Parabellum. It was helluva night, actually. We got totally smashed with some legionnaires Gallo knew from Cygni Gamma, and then we hit the casinos and bordellos.” She stopped when she noticed Millicent’s arctic stare.
“I knew it!” Sangfroid was on her feet again. “This is an Elysian test, and you are a Hesperidean maiden come to test my worthiness.”
“I am no such thing. I am not even sure what a Hesperidean maiden is, and I have no wish to know.” She held up a hand to stop any further explanations. “And rest assured your worthiness in neither here nor there to me, Decanus Sangfroid.”
“So…” Sangfroid sat back down. “If I’m dead, how come I’m sitting here talking to you in this timeline?”
“Because I interfered,” she said. “Somewhere out there is a timeline where you hopefully survived the battle on the Amoebas and went on to meet Gallo at the Parabellum club.”
“Bar. The Parabellum is a bar, not a club.” Sangfroid snorted in derision at the idea. “You should see it; it’s the biggest booze hole for every reprobate species in the galaxy. All the troopers from around—”
“Bar, club, they’re all places where nothing of any good ever happens,” Millicent declared. “So, we have two timelines. This one, which is mine. And then there is the timeline where I arrived on the Amoebas and you were violently torn asunder.”
“Are you sure about that? I don’t feel dead. Maybe I can stay here in one piece until you figure out how to get me back to the Parabellum?”
“No, you cannot stay here. It can’t be like that. Hubert is working on getting you back to your proper timeline. Preferably in one piece and staying that way,” she said. “You don’t belong here, and I can’t go around inventing military ranks and imaginary platoons for you; someone is bound to notice you don’t fit.”
“Those ladies didn’t notice.”
“Those ladies wouldn’t notice if the house was on fire as long as there’s a servant to put it out.”
Sangfroid took a chance. “They seemed to think Millicent and the major fit well enough. If I recall correctly.” It was a clumsy attempt to flirt, and Millicent blushed violently, as Sangfroid sort of hoped she would. Maybe Millicent liked her back? A smart
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