BETRAYAL AND MURDER
1560 4D
Andrew confronted Arlen at the front door to their farmhouse. Leil stood before him, facing Arlen, and her face was glad in a way Andrew had never seen. Before he could whisper a word in her scented hair, Arlen snatched her away, and she laughed, turning to face Andrew, Arlen‘s arms around her now.
“Leil!” said Andrew, his voice choked. “What are you doing?”
Her eyes looked softly up at Arlen.
“Leil, fight him,” Andrew urged, not believing what he saw.
“Arlen is mine,” she said, her voice breathless with excitement. “Goodbye, Andrew.”
She turned and embraced Arlen; they twined in a passionate kiss. Then she turned again and faced Andrew. “It was too much, Andrew. I tried, but it was too much.”
“He’s drugged you!” Andrew took a step forward, but Arlen held up a hand, and four men stepped up threateningly.
Leil looked down. “No. I chose this. There were no drugs.”
“But you never gave a hint of any trouble! When did I lose you?” The heartbreaking questions made Andrew bite back tears and rage. He sensed Arlen‘s eyes on him as he stared into Leil‘s face. “He’s drugged you. This isn’t you. You’re like another woman. A biopuppet.”
Now she looked in his eyes, and her gaze burned him. “I’ve been another woman for a long time, Andrew. You’ve never seen me. You’ve seen the wife and partner you imagined and wanted. You wanted more children than I could give you. You wanted farms and crops and mountains more than you wanted me.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I did, again and again. You never heard me. It was as if you were writing the story of our lives, and you just left out all the words I said that would have changed things.”
He stood silent for a moment, trying to remember. He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand.
“No, Andrew. You have the children you want. You have the farm you want. Now, at last, I have the man I want.”
The rage flooded up in Andrew in the midst of his pain, and in his coverall his hand found the small beamer he had worn ever since the last fight with the Astrans. “Goodbye, Leil.”
The beam blew a hole out of his coverall and caught her in the chest. Before Andrew could bring the weapon to bear on Arlen, the goons were on him. His last look found Arlen‘s faint smile.
“I’ll save her, Andrew, and I’ll save you too. I have a work of art named Tariall who will keep you good company.”
