The Wælcyries Murders

Chapter 1

Four Husbands and two Wives, yet I feel alone, a deep sense of sadness, and I am paralyzed with dark, circular thoughts.

It is, of course, my fault. Everyone is the same but I have changed drastically. I came out of the regen tank to fix my war-wounds for once and all, as a little teen sexpot. Not even a younger version of myself, I look like a little sister, if I had a little sister. Shorter. Lithe and svelte instead of curvy and athletic.

I am a pixie. All I need is wings.

I contemplate jumping off my mountaintop, falling unto the rocks below. Splat. No wings here. Just another broken vet offing herself, a grim post-war statistic: a little chit-mark in the right column instead of the left.

Suicide, while classic, would be dishonorable. I do not fear death but my honor is all I have left. I don’t have my body. I don’t have my wisdom. I don’t have my spouses. I gave my virtue to the Empress. All I have left is my damn honor, my warped sense of justice tied up with my duties as an Investigator.

I take a deep breath, and feel the cold rain on my face as I look down at the rain-soaked forest landscape and realize I am feeling sorry for myself.

Well I have a cure for that. If my spouses won’t tend to my needs, I will seek intimacy elsewhere. I sub-vocalize to my Investigator PDA.

—Arune?

A pause. I sigh. Pause is bad. Arune is my old warship. The only reason he would not respond instantly is if he was out of range.

—Sorry Lexus, I’m on the moon with Tiff and Britt. Back in ten days.

—Okay. I love you; call me when you get back.

Arune and Britt, two of my current lovers, while Tiff is a potential lover. Just like that, my list of lovers for the evening snipped short.

I am in desperation territory because the rocks at the bottom of Mt. Si are now calling to me.

—Empress, my love?

A pause.

—Lexus, my darling, my Concubine, my Princess. I have taken a trip to the moon. Be back soon.

The moon. What the fuck? Why would the military, and the Empress, go to the moon? Logically, it makes sense. Britt is a Military Police Lieutenant, Arune is a warship, and Tiff is his pilot. So yeah, the four have met before and I am sure they will meet again. But the moon? All that’s on the moon is some launchers and dusty old nano-factories that nobody wants to turn on, and some privately funded research bases.

I mentally shrug. I made the conscious decision to disengage myself from the Military. I don’t need to know, so nobody tells me what is going on. And when it comes down to it, I don’t want to know.

Now I am in trouble. My fellow Investigators, of course, would always tend to me, if I asked. Scott and I have never made love, but the unspoken opportunity is there. But Scott is in Portland on a sudden assignment.

Ivan is downstairs sleeping. He is exhausted from completing four insurance dictated autopsies. He didn’t even leave his office, crashing on the couch. Ivan is not a young man. To wake him up with my need to be touched and kissed would be very selfish.

And that leaves my boss, Bambi. My relationship with her is complicated. On one hand, she is like the daughter I never had, and my best friend in the entire world. On the other, I find her attractive.

Bambi is not into women. I could seduce her, but that would make me the Shit of the Century. I refuse to burn my friendship and my career to satisfy my lustful desires.

Look at me—I am all grown up. A giggle escapes from my lips.

I am at the end of my rope.

Well, when the going gets tough, the tough go on a snorf binge. My all-consuming need to be constantly touched, kissed, and possessed by a lover should subside to a manageable burn.

As long as I don’t die from an overdose.