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

  ****

  "You mean you can cook?!"

  "Gallant, I can do almost anything. Following a recipe isn't that different from following a chemical formula. Not that I need a recipe. Traditional New Orleans fare. Seven bells. My quarters. See you then."

  "I'll be there."

  Telas watched Athena walk away and grinned.

  "Gallant, you're in for a treat. Athena grew up in New Orleans. Everyone in the fleet has tried to talk her into cooking dinner at one time or another. Every man has tried to get an invitation to her quarters."

  "Uh, oh."

  "Relax. You're not really her type, too comfortable. She likes slender with lots of muscle."

  "More than half the reason I'm the way I am is to avoid being someone's type."

  "Gallant, you've had thousands of years of experience. Women shouldn't make you that nervous."

  "Telas, those thousands of years of experience are why women make me nervous."

  He decided he was in trouble right after he pulled a rose from a nontime pocket and gave it to her at her door. Her smile was warm enough to raise the ship's ambient temperature two degrees and his a bit more than that. She'd looked so lovely framed in the doorway with the glow of candlelight behind her, he'd done it without thinking about it first. He was too lost in her smile to notice she hadn't asked how he'd made the rose appear.

  Dinner was superb. He enjoyed it, the soft jazz playing in the background and her company. He also enjoyed the excellent wine she served him.

  "Athena, thank you. It's been a very pleasant evening. Dinner was wonderful. I enjoyed it immensely."

  "Good, then you'll stay a bit longer."

  "I really should go."

  "Can you dance?"

  "Of course I can dance."

  "Here, one glass each of wine left. And a dance before you leave. Gallant, I know you're going to slip off to Alice and leave for wonderland."

  "Not many people catch that allusion. Yes, Athena, it's time for me to return to my own universe. Oops! My, you're quick."

  "Fastest reflexes in the fleet. Other than Telas. Barely spilled a drop. Why don't you drink it instead of wearing it? Would you believe I represented the Americas in the pan-Federation games? Hundred meter sprint. Took the silver. I was still in the academy at the time."

  "You really are a very surprising young woman. I was told you attained the rank of Lt. Commander faster than anyone else had ever done it."

  "That probably won't stand long. The Fleet's growing. Rank's going to come a bit faster for some of the bright young looies. I'm glad to see it."

  "You asked about my 'stubborn' comment. I knew another beautiful woman named Athena once. She didn't have the Fleet to give her a place to use her skills."

  "You found her one, then left her behind. Miss her. Loved her. Still do."

  "You are entirely too perceptive. And far too beautiful by candlelight. I don't think I should have had that last glass of wine."

  "Dance with me."

  She was soft and warm in his arms. Before he quite realized what he was doing, he was kissing her. As he scooped her up in his arms and carried her deeper into her quarters, he decided the last glass of wine had definitely been a mistake. He was very glad he'd made it.

  Gallant returned to his own universe, but she haunted his memory and his dreams. He'd fallen in love. He knew it and that he'd never love another woman in quite the same way again. He longed to return to her, but the other 'dream' Athena had gently told him he must not. He decided on a fishing trip. He was not expecting company.

  The tall, slender, extremely fair boy with near white hair, who walked out of the woods on his right, appeared to be in his mid-teens. He liked his smile, but wasn't feeling particularly sociable or he'd have chosen somewhere else for his fishing trip.

  "Hello."

  "Hello. Who are you?"

  "I'm Apollo Avelaine. Lane. How's the fishing?"

  "Quite good. It usually is on uninhabited planets."

  "Pretty good if you go far enough into the past on inhabited ones too."

  "Are you going to tell me who you are and why you're here, or just keep dropping obscure hints?"

  "Look at me. I've given you my name. My mother is gray-eyed Athena. Not one of the human ones. My hair is lighter than yours, but I look too much like you for you not to know me. Feel who I am. I traveled here from another time in a ship named Alice. You brought me. I've come to help you find my brothers."

  Gallant stared at him in shock. Lane laughed.

  "You said you felt pretty strange when I told you. Hello, Dad. I'm from your future, but you've got me now. Just be glad you didn't get the girls too.

  "Girls?"

  "You spend almost thirty years raising a family. I'm sixteen and the only boy of the group. You're taking most of the girls to your home world. I'm officially the youngest of three boys and three girls. You and I are going to find my brothers."

  "Six… children. I told you all this?"

  "No. I'm Athena's child. I'm the timewalker. All my life exists within my memory. I'm Apollo. I see the future."

  He knew the boy was his without doubt. He could feel it. He didn't doubt he saw the future either. It was too clear in his eyes.

  "That's a terrible burden to carry. Why did I bring you to me?"

  "To get my brothers. And to meet our Godfather."

  "Your Godfather?"

  "Telas. You're about to hook our supper. You clean. I'll cook."