Page 26 of Seduction

Haldor turned without a word and disappeared into his room. He strode back out in less than a minute. Mia took one look at him and drew in her breath. She’d interviewed beings from other worlds before. Tall spindly creatures with bulging eyes, fat formless ones from planets where it was impossible to tell male from female. But she’d never seen a specimen as magnificent as this one.

When she’d interviewed him for the East Metropolis broadcast, he’d worn a white uniform like all the other citizens. The only hint of his native garb had been the leather band around his forehead.

Today he could have stepped out of a museum hologram depicting a Viking warrior ready to charge into battle. Haldor’s expression was fierce, the chiseled planes of his face clearly visible with his mane of shoulder-length dark hair tied back. The rough stubble on his jaw that modern men no longer grew added to his savage look.

A sleeveless leather garment with a huge tear on one side covered his broad chest, an angry scar visible through the jagged opening. His massive shoulders and arms were bare, except for thick gold cuffs encircling both wrists. He’d tucked the loose trousers into a pair of leather boots laced up to his knees. A lethal-looking dagger hung from a loop in the rawhide thong around his waist.

But it was the broadsword in his right hand that shocked her the most. Nearly four feet long from handle to tip, with a wicked double blade and an intricate design on the shaft. Mia guessed it weighed half as much as she did, but he wielded it as easily as if it were merely a trinket. If this is the kind of weapon that made the scar on his side, it’s a miracle he survived long enough to make it to Earth.

“Are you getting this?” she muttered. Her cyborg nodded then backed away for a full-frame shot of Mia next to the huge warrior.

They headed for the elevator. “Oh, James…if you want to come out looking good when I edit this story, do not call the ministry and warn them we’re coming,” she ordered sternly as the doors closed.

Even though the streets of East Metropolis teemed with unusual-looking visitors from all the known galaxies, the crowds parted when they saw Haldor coming. Weapons were banned inside the dome but no one dared challenge him until they reached the entrance to the ministry.

A cadre of guards surrounded him outside the huge double doors. “Halt! Drop your weapons and get down on the ground!”

Before Haldor could react, Mia was by his side. “Let me handle this,” she pleaded.

“Make sure you get my good side,” she muttered to her cyborg. Then she stepped forward and held her hands out, palms up.

“Officers, I’m Mia Malone. I’m sure you all recognize me. I’ve been in every one of your homes.” She gave a tinkling little laugh. “Well, at least my hologram has. This is Haldor, the Viking from Gadolinium. He’s the one Doctor Reston brought back from the brink of death, the one I interviewed last week. I’m sure you saw it or at least heard about it. As you can imagine, he’s frantic with worry about Doctor Reston. Please, let us in. He means no harm. He only wants to talk to the ministers. I’ll vouch for him. Take full responsibility.”

Slowly, dramatically, she stretched her hand out to Haldor. He took it. Without waiting for permission, she led him past the guards into the building. A murmur went up from the crowd who had assembled. Mia made eye contact with the camera, barely hiding a triumphant smile.

By morning, she and Haldor would be striding side by side, in holographic form, into every home in East Metropolis, not to mention homes in half the worlds with delegates at the gathering. Her bravery in reaching out to the savage, taking control to avert an embarrassing and potentially dangerous incident with the entire universe watching, might even earn her a commendation from the ministry. It would certainly earn her a hefty raise when her contract came due for negotiation.

She’d been in the ministry an hour earlier when the story first broke, and she led Haldor to a conference room on the 371st floor where a hastily called meeting had been taking place. The closed door and bevy of assistants scurrying up and down the halls told her the officials were still inside.

Two more guards stepped forward but, this time, Haldor didn’t wait for her to intervene. He brushed them aside, and both went sprawling to the floor. He threw open the doors.

The crash when the doors hit the walls was almost as loud as the startled cries from those around the table.

* * *

Haldor took in the sea of deep-blue uniforms around the table, topped with pasty white faces. Earthers all looked alike to him, especially now with their mouths gaping open like sea bass hauled up from the depths through a hole in the ice.

He scanned their faces one by one. Recognized Symon only because the man was trembling even more than he normally did when Haldor looked him dead in the eyes. Crossing the room, he grabbed the puny weasel by his collar and yanked him out of his chair.

“Can any of these people understand me? Do they have one of your machines in their heads?” He shook Symon as he spoke but addressed his question to Mia, who had followed him into the room with her cyborg, cameras rolling.

A man in pale blue standing behind one of the minsters at the far end of the table raised his hand. “I understand you,” he replied in Gadolinian. “I was scheduled to travel through the portal as part of Ambassador Anderson’s original entourage. I had a chip implanted and studied your language for months. But I had to withdraw at the last minute when my mother passed. I planned to join them after her memorial service. But, by then, my comrades were all dead – along with many brave warriors on your planet.”

He tapped a closed fist to his chest three times. “None outlive the night the Norn have decreed to be their last. It is only by a whim of Uror, whispered over you on the day of your birth, that you stand among us today.”

Haldor raised an eyebrow. “It is not only our language you studied.”

The man shrugged. “I planned to live out my life with your people on Gadolinium. A man must howl like the wolves he runs with.”

The ghost of a smile flitted across Haldor’s face. “My grandfather always said that.” He turned to Mia. “I like this Earther.”

Ignoring Symon, who had been following the exchange with a look of fear on his face, he addressed the man again. “By what name are you known?”

The man stepped forward and inclined his head. “I am called David.”

Haldor still held Symon casually by the collar with one hand, his feet barely touching the floor. “David, can you tell me what is known of Selena’s fate?”

“Yes. I’m assistant to Minister Jordan, so I’ve been here since this meeting began. Security has recreated the entire incident with imaging scans.” He waved a hand ,and a miniature section of the great hall, complete with holographic figures, came to life at one end of the room. “Doctor Reston left the gathering immediately after receiving her medallion. She retreated to a nearly deserted level of the substructure, apparently seeking some time alone away from the crowds.”

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