A girl went down to the mine,
To see what love she could find.
The wolf came by, and caught her eye,
So she bound up their souls in twine.
Child’s nursery rhyme, traditional Axis Mundan poem, c. 265
Yan’an Base Airstrip, Yan’an, Shaanxi, China, PRA, Earth, 05/04/2230, 1314 hours
“Hello.”
The young soldiers guarding the Yan’an Airstrip, where the VENUS is impounded, turn to face Flechette, mildly confused.
“Um. I’m so sorry. Do you speak English?”
One of them nods.
“This is going to sound… Ok. Is it acceptable if I get into the cockpit of the VENUS? Not to pilot. You can keep the restraints locked. Just… Just to talk.”
The English-speaking cadre raises an eyebrow to this.
“Talk?”
“Yeah I just… I miss her. I have… I have a big decision to make, and I’d like to talk to her about it.”
“Talk to her about it? The ship?”
Hearing VENUS described as a “ship” does something funny to Flechette’s gut. She gets a little defensive. Protective.
“She’s— she’s not just a ship. She’s special. I just want to talk to her. I miss her…”
The two cadres confer. The older one, the one who doesn’t speak English, seems to be making a compelling case, defending Flechette. The younger cadre turns to Flechette.
“My comrade is a pilot. He says that this is how it feels, sometimes. You and your ship have a bond. He says it is natural. I am sorry. I did not know this.”
“We will keep the restraints locked. You may go into the cockpit to speak to your ship.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much, thank you.”
They wave her off, as Flechette climbs up to the catwalk.
The VENUS opens its cockpit unprompted as Flechette approaches on the catwalk. Flechette smiles softly, climbs into the entry plug, and allows the VENUS to lock it in place.
“Hey, VENUS.”
A ripple of pulsing lights and chirps flows through the cockpit.
“It’s good to see you too. I have so much to talk with you about.”
Flechette spends an hour recounting the events of the past few days, as she lounges back in the pilot’s seat, looking up at the ceiling display of the cockpit. The VENUS projects a recording on the displays — the night sky, over Colorado Springs. Stars. Constellations. Flechette melts into the monologue comfortably. Reuniting with an old friend. Perhaps her only real friend.
Flechette’s emotions turn sour for a moment.
“I have to decide what I want to do here. I can help the cause — we can help the cause, if you’ll have me — we could fight. We could fight again, turned against our old friends.”
The VENUS flicks up, onto the screen, a photo of the Squadron, posed together, smiling for the camera. Flechette sighs. In the front, Trinity poses with her immense, lopsided smile.
“We’d have to turn on them. All of them. We would be traitors. More than we already are.”
“Or we could stay here. I could become a line cook, or something. You could be someone else’s THRONE.”
The display overhead flickers, shows a recording of a heavy rain, a thunderstorm in the Pacific.
“I’d miss you too.”
The display flickers again, shows Flechette and the VENUS in the heat of battle, Flechette grinning wide with focus, the VENUS splattered with enemy hemosynthate.
“I’m tired of killing.”
The display goes dim. Then, the screen seems to struggle. Visuals glitch and splinter. Until eventually, a single word appears on the screen.
TOGETHER.
And then, another word directly underneath it.
PROTECT.
Flechette laughs. After all this time, VENUS finally talks back to her.
The screen populates with a standard pilot’s handshake request. Flechette approves it. The VENUS pulls Flechette into her space — the psychoscape where Venus resides while Flechette is away.
Water stretches out for miles in every direction. Light filters down from above. Flechette floats in the water, naked. She opens her eyes, and sees herself — reflected in front of her.
Then the reflection smiles. It waves at her.
Venus?
The reflection — Venus — nods excitedly, swims over to her.
Venus I— I have so much I want to say. So much I want you to say! Oh my god…
Venus smiles at her, sadly. Taps her wrist. Time.
Flechette smiles back. It’s good to finally meet you.
Venus rushes over and hugs her, tightly. The contact feels strange. Warm, and soft, but — also herself. Separate, and still not.
Flechette and Venus hug for a while. Then Venus looks into Flechette’s eyes. There’s sadness there. Love. Protective, compassionate love.
Flechette doesn’t think. She kisses Venus. Venus kisses back.
Flechette pulls back, looks Venus directly in the eye — looking at her mirror self.
Is this what you want?
Venus nods back, smiling, crying, nodding so hard that it looks like she might hurt herself.
Flechette laughs. Okay, Venus.
The two of them kiss, deeply. Hands roaming each other’s bodies. Soft curves of flanks and hips. Venus moans. Flechette kisses Venus’ neck, hungrily. Venus whimpers.
Flechette reaches out, touches Venus deeply. Warm, and soft, and slick. Venus responds by pulling Flechette closer, bodies pressed together, breathing hard.
Flechette presses with her palm against Venus’ stomach, gently, as she continues loving her. Venus moans loudly, clutching Flechette tightly, fingers in her hair.
Venus cries out, as she climaxes. The psychoscape fills with light. Venus clenches around Flechette’s fingers. Outside, in the physical world, Flechette’s shared body convulses with pleasure against her own fingers. The display on the cockpit reads: SYNCHRONIZATION AMPLITUDE AT 777%.
The two lie floating, arm in arm, in the psychoscape, for a while. Flechette looks at Venus. Her other half, finally joined with her. She smiles. A tear runs down her cheek. Venus looks back at her, smiling and weeping.
I’m glad we got to be together. Before the end.
Venus clings to her hard, looks up at her, tears streaming down her face.
Flechette watches as Venus mouths her first words.
Together. Forever.
I love you.
Flechette wakes in the cockpit. She’s drenched in sweat, nerves still tingling with pleasure. The cockpit is dim. Flechette feels the remnants of Venus’ emotions inside of her. Her protective love. Her conviction. Flechette knows what they have to do — together, now, until the end.
Flechette opens the cockpit. Closes it behind her, and descends into the depths.