Fenris Perrywinkle: The Great Galactic Duel

Chapter XIV: Can't we all just get along?

"What?" Amanda's voice fills the room with an icy tone.

Jenn lies back on the bed beside me and makes a finger pistol at the bobble embedded in the roof. She pretends to shoot several times. "Fenris and I are getting married, and you're not invited."

"What!"

I slap my forehead. "Jenn, not helping. I asked her to call you, Amanda. Would you come over? We all need to talk about Warden Jefferson."

Now it's Jenn's turn to be icy. "Hey, you didn't tell me you were going to invite her over!"

Amanda senses and opening and takes it. "What's the matter, Sweetie? Afraid you just won't measure up when we're side by side?"

The blonde narrows her eyes a little. "No, Sweetie, it's just that I have a strict policy against letting dogs into my apartment. I'm sure you understand."

"Girls!" I shout at the top of my lungs. "Both of you, stop. Just stop!"

Jenn gives a little shrug and lies back on the bed again. "She started it."

"I really don't want to be around her, Fenris. And I did not."

Jenn grins. "There? See? That settles it. I'm keeping Fenris the rest of the night. And you did too."

You'd think I would enjoy having two hot babes fighting over me, wouldn't you? In truth, I did for a while – but its long become old and tiresome.

There's a long pause, then Amanda's voice fills the room again. "I'll be over in a few. I just want to freshen up a little bit first."

"What!" Jenn sits up and stares daggers at the ceiling communicator. A chirp indicates that Amanda has ended the communication.

I reach over and begin stroking Jenn's hair. "Please don't do anything when she gets here. I just want to connect the dots, okay? If my hunch is right, we might be able to stop the death match tomorrow. And maybe any future matches too."

Jenn starts to calm down a little as I continue to run my fingers through her silky blonde locks. "She'd better not try anything. I still want to choke the life from her body."

Her eyes suddenly darken a little as she realizes what she just said. She pulls away and sits on the end of the bed. "You must think I'm some sort of monster, talking the way I have been. I don't know what it is about her, Fenris, but it awakens something deep inside of me that just wants to see her destroyed in the worst kind of way."

I place my hands on her shoulders and snuggle up behind her. I wish I had some vice grips or something I could use to work out some of the knots. "Is it just jealousy?" I ask.

She gives another little shrug. "I don't know. Ever since I put this suit on – my emotions, they're kind of all over the place. When I get mad, I get really mad, you know? Same when I'm happy or depressed or whatever. It's like I'm PMSing 24-7 or something."

I wrap my arms around her slender waist and squeeze as hard as I can.

She turns her head and rests her cheek against mine. "Do I stink?"

How exactly do I answer that without getting in trouble?

Jenn reads my hesitation. "I stink. Okay. Hang tight for a minute. She's getting freshened up, I might as well do the same."

She stands and enters a side room. A shower starts up. I'm surprised those still exist, given the fact that everything else seems so science fiction on this ship.