Chapter Twenty-Two

     Candy groaned as the pain in her feet began to command her
attention in earnest.  She glanced at her watch.  Two in the morning. 
Grimacing, she realized she still had an hour to go on her shift.  She
wondered if anyone would notice if she surreptitiously slipped into the
nearest 'employees only' hallway and rested her feet for a second.  With her
luck, her boss, a neanderthal if ever there were one, would throw a surprise
hallway inspection tonight.  As the fiftieth flatheaded ape of the evening
patted her behind, she decided to risk it.  'After all,' she thought with an evil
grin, 'that would be better than buying a gun and heading for the top of the
convention center.'
     Candy backed into the shallow indentation that led to the hallway
entrance.  Looking both ways in an ineffective attempt to be nonchalant,
she backed through the doors.  With a sigh of relief, she sat down her tray
of empty glasses and stretched her hands toward the ceiling, trying, mostly
in vain, to force the tension out of her muscles.  She shifted from foot to
foot, enjoying the respite from pain in each lifted foot, even as she suffered
more agony in the doubly-taxed foot remaining on the floor.  She grimaced. 
This was not working.  Placing her back flat against the wall and slowly
bending her knees, Candy slid to the floor.  She put the soles of her feet
together and pulled them upward, doing a pretty good imitation of a human
frog.  That way, she could reach both feet at once to massage the
tenderness away.
     "And just what the hell do you think you're doin'?"
     The harsh, gravelly voice of her boss brought Candy's head
snapping up, causing a sharp pain to generate down her spine. Mr Rizzo
was not a particularly attractive man.  He was slightly overweight.  Who
was she kidding?  He could take a blue ribbon for ugliest pig at the fair. 
Even though everyone knew he was married, he was always hinting at the
'ways' a girl could get a raise.  He wore an awful toupee that didn't quite
match, in color or texture, the wisps of hair peeking out beneath it.  He had
a dark, oily complexion that tended toward crimson when he was angry.  At
the moment, he was approaching a nice shade of scarlet.  He was not the
kind of man you wanted to get caught alone with in a dark hallway.
     Trying to jump quickly to her feet, Candy forgot that she had
slipped off her shoes for her foot massage.  The soles of her nylon-
stockinged feet slid across the bare floor as she tried to rise, sending her
back to her rump like Bambi on the ice.
     "Get up, you lazy bitch!  I ain't payin' ya ta sit there like a lump o'
crap!"
     Mr. Rizzo's ham-hock hands closed around Candy's upper arms and
squeezed painfully as he lifted her to her feet and pushed her against the
wall.  The look in his beady little eyes shifted from anger to lust in one fell
swoop.  He switched to his version of a sexy purr.  Candy thought he
sounded like a pig grunting through its swill.
     "Candy, isn't it?  Yeah, Candy.  So, you want a raise, Candy?  Is
that why you're trying to get off alone with me?"
     He closed the distance between their bodies, what little there had
been, in a flash.  Candy resisted the urge to retch as his soft belly pressed
against her and his garlic-tinged breath cleared out her sinuses.  She was
trying to control her temper and handle this situation with the aplomb of a
lady.  But, damn it, her feet were killing her, her butt hurt, her neck had a
crick in it, and now this obnoxious lump of jiggling Jell-O was giving her
the mother of all headaches!  He actually thought that she would stoop to a
quickie in the hall for a lousy fifty-cent-an-hour raise?!
     His weight effectively pinning her to the wall, he brought his wet
lips smashing down onto hers.  That was the straw that broke the camel
named Candy's back.  Not even pausing to let the prospect of
unemployment cross her mind, she brought her knee into direct,
uncompromising contact with Mr. Rizzo's family jewels.
     The look on the man's face was priceless as he lunged away from
her, grabbing his crotch as though he needed reassurance that it was still
there.  Candy smiled and narrowed her eyes.
     "Maybe that will teach you not to try to take advantage of helpless
women."
     Bending to retrieve her shoes and tray, she didn't see Rizzo's huge
hand clench into a fist as he pulled it toward his shoulder.  She probably
wouldn't have known what hit her.  But the punch was never thrown.
     "Hold!"
     The command reverberated in the small hallway like a sonic boom. 
Candy was trying to place that familiar voice as she stood and turned
toward it.  The memory of a whispered 'Dolph' reached her brain at the
same time as did the visual reality of Felix standing in the hall.  She
wondered if this were just another of her masochistic nightmares.
     "Felix?"
     Sure enough, the Viking warrior stood before her in all his Prince
Valiant glory.  She had seen him cleaner.  His dark hair was stringing about
his shoulders, too heavy with dirt or sweat to pull itself up into its normal
bob.  His battle armor gleamed with blood and other substances Candy
didn't want to think about.  And the look in his eye boded ill for whomever
it was turned upon; which, at this moment, was Mr. Rizzo.  Resting his
hand on the hilt of his sword, Felix gave the loathsome Italian another softly
menacing command.
     "Leave."
     Only now did Candy see Mr. Rizzo's fist raised into the air where he
had dutifully frozen when Felix had arrived.
     "You were going to hit me?!  Why you...you despicable worm!"
     She spun around, fully meaning to give the man a piece of her
mind.  She never got the chance.  Strong hands closed on her arms and she
was firmly pushed behind an unyielding back - a position she had been in
too many times in the last few months for her liking.  She was about to
protest when she noticed several fresh wounds on the warrior's back.  One
had opened anew with the exertion required to put her into this position of
protection.  Candy clamped her mouth tightly shut, figuring if the guy were
willing to shed blood for her, the least she could do was let him play out his
macho game.  A quiet, stern 'Go' was followed by the opening, and quick
closing, of the hall door.  Some of the tension left Felix's shoulders as he
turned and grinned down at her.
     "Forgive me, Star, for interfering in the man's being flayed alive by
your tongue but," his smile faltered, "time is short."
     Candy tried to organize all the questions bouncing off the walls of
her mind.  She didn't want to open her mouth and have some jumbled
nonsense fall out.  As it was, the questions all came out sensibly, just at
Mach 2 speed.
     "Felix, why are you here?  How did you get here?  Can you beam
into a building?  What's going on?  Are you alone?"
     It suddenly dawned on her that Felix might just be the advance
guard.  He might not be alone.  Her heart leaping into her throat, her eyes
shining with hope, Candy quickly scanned the hallway for another large
masculine presence.  Felix did not wish to see the disappointment that
would surely dull her beautiful eyes when she saw that Dolph was not with
him.  Perhaps shifting her attention to something else would stave off the
inevitable.  He placed his hands on her shoulders.
     "Lady Star, I will answer your questions as best I can while we get
on our way."
     Keeping one hand on her shoulder, he used the other to press a
button on the device hanging on his belt.  Candy recognized the transporter
signal beacon that let the ship know where they were and that they were
ready to come aboard.  She looked up at Felix.
     "Did Dolph send for me?"
     Felix was a seasoned warrior, his heart rarely touched by what went
on around him, but the hope in that softly asked question caused a
clenching in his chest.  He must tell her the truth quickly to avoid causing
her senseless pain.  He faced her fully and once again placed both hands on
her shoulders.
     "Dolph has been injured, Star.  Kiarr, Vierig's second, launched an
unexpected attack while we were waiting for their response to Dolph's
assuming command of Vierig's ships."
     His jaw clenched and his nostrils flared angrily at the memory.
     "The cowards attacked while we slept.  Though our perimeter
guards saw them coming, we had little time to prepare.  The battle was
fierce, spreading across the land like wildfire."
     Regret shone in his deep brown eyes.
     "I tried to keep Dolph in sight, to cover his back, but...Since he sent
you away he has not been himself.  The berserker took him quickly and he
disappeared into a sea of the enemy."
     A smile flitted across his features.
     "The sea quickly dwindled to a few useless drips beneath his sword,
but he went looking for another, and another.  When the battle was
through...,"  Candy jumped slightly as the transporter tickled her vision and
deposited them aboard ship, but Felix didn't miss a beat.  "...I began
searching for him."
     His tone became softer as the memories grew more painful.
     "He had fallen into a cave that opened onto the surface.  I found
him because his sword was lying on the ground beside the entrance."
     Star's eyes widened, becoming full moons of cobalt.  Felix thought it
best to complete the tale quickly.
     "The space was small, barely big enough to hold Dolph's bulk.  He
was wedged into it like a babe leaving its mother, his arms above his head. 
It took me a few minutes to find another warrior in good enough shape to
help me pull him from the ground.  Once we had freed him, we saw that he
had a leg wound.  In that position, he had been unable to staunch the flow
of blood.  He was barely conscious."
     Star went pale, her complexion nearly matching her silver-blonde
hair.  Felix had to strain to hear her whisper.
     "Felix, please, just tell me he's not dead."
     Felix sighed and pulled her into his arms to comfort her.  He didn't
speak much louder than her whisper.
     "Nay, lady, he is not yet dead.  But he is no longer fighting for life. 
Kirk said that Dolph is suffering from a genetic weakness, that he needed
his woman to find the strength to live.  It made no sense to me, but I would
do anything within my power to keep my friend alive.  I came straightaway
to find you..." He pushed her gently away from him and tapped his ear,
anticipating her curiosity.  "...which I did by tracing your translator."
     That slight smile touched his lips again.
     "Tis a curious oversight on Dolph's part that it was not removed
before you left."
     Confusion and fear showed on his face as he stared into her eyes.
     "Do you have any idea what foolishness the boy speaks?"
     Candy shook her head, her eyes glazed with shock.  Dolph dying? 
No!  She shook her head again, tears beginning to blur her vision.  No, this
couldn't be happening.  Felix grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a
hard shake.
     "Star!  This is no time to become weak and hide behind your
womanly tears!  Dolph needs you!"
     Star blinked up at him and he watched in wonder as the fires of
anger were stoked behind her eyes.  She shrugged her shoulders out of his
grasp and stepped away from him.
     "Don't yell at me, I'm thinking!"
     Felix gave a curt nod, not letting his smile show until Star had
stepped away from him to begin pacing.  Surely a woman with such fire,
and such love for him, would bring Dolph back from the threshold of
Valhalla!
     Candy pushed all thoughts of Dolph lying in a pool of blood from
her mind and concentrated on what Kirk had said to Felix.  A genetic
weakness?  She ran the story Kirk had told her about the deaths of his
mother and father through her mind.  What had he said about his father's
death?  Father...no longer had the spirit.  Was that what he meant? 
Without her, had Dolph lost the spirit to live?
     Candy spun toward Felix as she snapped her fingers in the air.
     "That's it!  There's a romantic inside that sweet kid.  Felix, take me
to see Dolph.  I'm not about to let him die without giving him a piece of my
mind!"
     As Star headed toward the door out of the transporter room with
Felix hot on her heals, the Viking warrior wondered if he had truly done his
friend any favors.