Choice of the Gallant - Paradox Equation I by Sharon L Reddy

  ****

  "Damn, you're just about too gorgeous to exist. Now I see why Great-great-great-grandmother Julie called you an angel. You look like you walked out of a Renaissance painting. Gallant, we're going to tower over these people. You know, no one ever mentioned how tall you are."

  "I wasn't. I grow a bit once in a while."

  "Explain that. You got a real weird feeling. Come on, Gallant. You know I'm too curious to drop it."

  "I discovered it a few thousand years ago. Now, you see, I haven't even begun explaining and you're already shocked."

  "No, but a 'few thousand' did knock me a bit."

  "You're sure? Well, I'd never really been hurt badly. I'd learned my body could heal itself. I drop into a trance state, light enough I can find water and food if I must, during it. It's not restful. I sleep an approximately equal time afterward. This particular occasion, I tranced nine days. Yes, a lot. It was the first time I'd run into Hensk. I had him. Or thought I did. I chased him into a building on Apboretha. His ship was on the ground floor. It was a trap. He took off and dropped the building on me. I'd never had a broken bone. I made up for it. Multiple fractures. Arms, legs, ribs. I'd nearly gotten out. Somehow, the building missed my head. An old female dug me out and stayed by me. She gave me water and cared for me. I think she set the bones. My body grew. It strengthened itself by becoming taller and thicker. I'm incredibly dense. I weigh half again as much as a human my size. After that I came back to Earth. I needed to learn a lot more about just staying alive in an environment that... Anyway, that's why I'm about six-four and massive."

  "Six-four? Gallant, we haven't used those terms for... a couple of cens. Well, a cen-and-a-half."

  "Athena, I spent more than a century on Earth. The twentieth. I kept getting drafted. I hate being drafted."

  "You went to war?"

  "Four of them. Two world wars, Korea and Vietnam. Grew a bit in all but the first. I was a very good sergeant. I only lost one man. Smitty. Right after we hit Omaha beach. I went back to the sixties later and marched for civil rights, then was a war protester."

  "You were a hippie!"

  "That too."

  The last of the dark brothers had chosen to destroy the world and people he loved. He'd chosen the birthplace of western culture, Athens. Athena, Mick and Elaine had crammed to learn ancient Greek. They had Gallant to help with accent. Athena had been right. He liked Elaine. She was very proficient in the martial arts, but no one he'd ever seen was as good as Athena. Except himself. Mick was almost as good as his mother.

  "Who's he after, Gallant?"

  "At a guess, Plato."

  "Not Socrates?"

  "No, Athena, I don't think so. Plato would still have written his dialogues. They're the true treasure. Athena, you know the culture. You and Elaine are going to stand out even more than I do."

  "I've given thought to that. Gallant, I'm gray-eyed Athena. You are Apollo. Mick and Elaine are minor divinities."

  "Athena, that could seriously change the mythology of the period. We can't risk that. This time is pivotal in the development of your own civilization."

  "It's just an expedient. You can use hypnosis to clear it. I got the idea when we landed atop Acropolis. There's another reason I chose this way. As gods, we won't be... pursued."

  "Athena, I learned to handle male advances thousands of years ago. Your three times great-grandmother and a nice fellow named Chuck taught me."

  "Hey, not just you. You may be super-gorgeous now that I've got you in shape, but Elaine, Mick and I are not mashed potatoes."

  "No, you are champagne and caviar. All of you, but you most of all. Although, I'm not sure how I feel about your haircut."

  "Short is practical. Cut it to a cen before every comp I was ever in. Call it battle dress. I'll be wearing a helm. At first anyway. Come on, Gallant. I can feel you've decided to go with my plan. Let's roll. Mick and Elaine are ready. Kiss for luck?"

  It shocked them both. The sudden blending of their minds and the heat between them. He'd found the first Athena and she knew it too.

  "Gallant, I don't quite know what to say. Nothing... Nothing like that ever... Not even with my husband."

  "Athena, I've searched ten thousand years for you. Lead me, My Lady."

  "Oh, Gallant, that's why I made you Apollo. We lead together. Let's go find Plato. Before I start trying to talk you into putting Alice on hover for a couple cens. Uh, hi, Mick, Elaine."

  "Hi yourself, Mom. Very high. Grats, Gallant. You found your girl. And she's a beaut."

  "That she is, Mick. Now, I have suddenly developed an acute desire to come out of this alive. Shall we see if we can accomplish it?"