My Angel of the Dawn (WomanxBoy, ManxBoy, Sci-Fi + Romance)

***20***

Thank God for small mercies, all their day-to-day problems were mixed up with some joy. They celebrated Ariel's nineteenth birthday on Erathia, a planet of eternal carnival. Nelsa went through some pains to find a shipment bound for it at the right time.

It was unusual to be just walking down the city streets: people cheered and laughed, fountains sprinkled, fireworks banged, spangles and flower petals poured down from the sky. Nelsa was holding a glass of wine, not the usual blaster. On Erathia all modern weapons were banned, only archaic ones permitted, like swords and rapiers. They both felt almost naked without their blasters, having on them only a small part of their usual arsenal. Small change, really: a few flash grenades, a pair of vibroblades, a thin titanium wire sewed in a collar — all they had managed to smuggle through customs. And even those turned out to be unnecessary.

They strolled down narrow cobbled streets till all hours, ate ice-cream on open terraces, and sampled wine from old bottles covered with dust and cobwebs. Millions of citizens on civilized planets were spending their holidays exactly like that, with their family and children... Ariel made a face when a waitress said to Nelsa, "What a cute son you have!" The smuggler laughed and didn't bother to correct her mistake. Better for Ariel to be taken for her son, not her boy-toy. That was a taste of a normal life, a possibility to feel like a different person, if only for a day.

Nelsa gave Ariel a splendid antique sword as a birthday present. The seller said it was a katana, an ancient weapon from The Cradle, made by the same peculiar people who now inhabited Ayuji. From The Cradle, yeah, right. It was definitely a fake, but of excellent grade. Beautiful narrow blade, sharp as a razor, with a little curve. The hilt was leather-bound, with a small oval guard, the scabbard adorned with a dragon drawing. The boy was overjoyed, despite the fact he would have no use for such a weapon. At least for its intended purpose, not for hanging it up on the wall or taking up fencing lessons.

Nelsa had heard that Assassin Guild was using swords like that rather often. Fry someone's brains with a blaster shot, and it would be a simple murder, primitive and mundane. But cut that someone's head off neatly with a shiny steel blade, and you'd made a point, instilling awe and fear. Only a high-class pro could afford using showy ancient techniques. She had killed a few such show-offs in the most unimaginative way available: with a blaster, a thermal detonator, or a common knife.

As of yet Ariel had managed not to kill anybody up close and personal. In the beginning of their partnership she tended to pick up simpler, less dangerous contracts. They still had to shoot their way through a few police raids and cordons in space. Nothing deadly, only a barrage fire, to cover their escape. Ariel was cool-headed enough to aim for engines or weapons. It wouldn't do to kill cops, that was every smuggler's understanding. At least every live one.

Once they had fended off some wannabe-muggers in a spaceport. Still no fatalities, even no serious wounds, only burns and bruises. On the muggers, of course. It had been so easy for both of them, Nelsa felt gracious enough to call an ambulance.

Their first serious scrape had taken place near Tiers. Ariel nuked a pirate ship, with a crew of about eighteen, judging by the ship class. He managed to hit their reactor: an instant annihilation. They didn't have time to feel a thing, let alone to launch lifeboats. But it was just a dot in his gun sights, not real people; he didn't see their eyes as they died. No dead bodies even, only a cloud of dust in space.

After that he winged a killer on Signy but had no stomach to finish him off, Nelsa did it for him. He had to kill with his own hands for the first time only on Margotta.

But Tiers, Signy, Margotta were after Nergan's return.