LEGAL DISCLAIMER:

Xena: Warrior Princess, Gabrielle, Argo and all other characters who have appeared in the syndicated series Xena: Warrior Princess, together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fan fiction. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.

LOVE/SEX WARNING/DISCLAIMER:

This story depicts a love/sexual relationship between consenting adult women. If you are under 18 years of age or if this type of story is illegal in the state or country in which you live, please do not read it and consider moving so someplace less backwards. If depictions of this nature disturb you, you may wish to read something other than this story.

This story is one bard’s attempt to make sense of a crappy ending to a show she loved and one American’s attempt to make sense of the crappy turn her country has taken.

Notes about The Director’s Cut: With the conclusion of The Poseidon Adventure, my fan fiction career is over, finished, finito. I think this final set of four (chronologically) Campfire Tales, Fifteen Years in America, Resurrection of Xena and The Poseidon Adventure are as good a swan song as I’m gonna get; I’m happy with Bat Morda’s gravestone. But upon finishing The Poseidon Adventure I realized I knew those characters better, knew the story better, I’d even rewatched a number of episodes to do Campfire Tales and there wasn’t any reason I couldn’t go back and fix the continuity problems in The Resurrection of Xena. Make room for the 25 year frozen thing, Eve’s existence, Joxer’s Death (thank you AW), to nudge this story to fall in line with the show it’s based on. It’s still just fan fic, but I saw no reason not to make this the best I can with the toolset I have. It’s not the best out there, but it’s the best I can do. Thank you to anyone who ever bothered to read my stuff, it’s appreciated more than you know. Also, I’m calling it The Director’s Cut because I thought calling it Taylor’s Version would confuse people.

The Resurrection of Xena

By Bat Morda

batmorda@gmail.com            Twitter: @BatMorda         Threads; @batmorda

Started on 4/15/2017 Finished on 1/14/2018

TDC started on 8/27/23 Finished on 9/2/23

Chapter 1: The Two-Thousand Year Old Woman

Gabrielle Evans opened her eyes with a start. She listened intently, trying to determine what had woken her up. As if on cue, another raindrop landed on her face, then another then another. Sitting up, she stretched her shoulders and tilted her head from side to side, consciously working the muscles of her neck – willing them to relax. She sighed, breathing in the sea air and smiled sadly to herself. There was something about sleeping outside, under the stars that made her dream of her life long ago – the life she was determined revisit. The world had changed around her, and she had changed within it, but the essential truth of who she was and the love she carried kept her moving forward. The rain intensified rousing the dog lying next to the deck lounge where she’d drifted off. A gray and white pit-bull stood up shaking the water from her coat and whined.

“Okay, Argo – I get the message,” Gabrielle said quietly. Picking up the soft blanket she’d fallen asleep under she walked barefoot across the smooth teak sundeck to the stairs that would spiral down to her to her bedroom suite below. The dog eagerly trotted a few steps ahead of her and waited. Before heading indoors, Gabrielle glanced upwards off the port side to the clouds, just barely backlit by the moon that were now raining in earnest. With a ghostly white glow shining off the still ocean around her, she could hear the rainfall hit the water rather than see it. After all of these years, centuries stacked upon each other like cordwood, it was still the little things that made Gabrielle think of home; think of Xena.

She was drawn from her reverie by Argo’s whining, seemingly in concern to the shift in Gabrielle’s thoughts or perhaps the increasing rain. This had been an unusually wet year in Southern California, and Argo disliked rain or rather the thunder that sometimes accompanied it. Smiling at her canine companion the woman, once upon a time known as Gabrielle of Potidaea padded down the stairs to the master suite of The Hippolyta – the yacht and floating fortress that she called home. While her company was based in Ireland, her yacht was registered in Greece and she found it fitting for a once Amazon Queen to pay homage to another.

To most people Gabrielle Evans seemed like your average eccentric billionaire and The Hippolyta like your average opulent mega yacht. Much to Gabrielle’s relief however, most people didn’t pick up on all the little things that told a much more interesting story. The yacht, like her owner, was indeed worth a fortune. Gabrielle had commissioned its construction, working very closely with the ship’s architects to create a vessel that would fit her needs, both personally and professionally.

Built by the Benetti shipyard and christened in 2015 The Hippolyta had been Gabrielle’s home for the past two years. Over 200 feet long, the sleek white vessel was the very cutting edge of modern yacht design. Fast in the water with state of the art navigation, radar, sonar, GPS and satellite connectivity the ship kept Gabrielle in touch with the world at large when she needed to be, and let her escape when she needed that as well. She maintained a crew of 15 that rotated from the personnel in a specialized division of her business, Bardic & Company. If she’d left the ship as most comparable yachts were designed, it could sleep 12 guests in the 6 cabins onboard, not counting her grand master suite. Gabrielle had retained one additional suite for a guest stateroom, and she could easily make additional spots for guests in the library if necessary or other places onboard where couches expanded to beds. The other staterooms however had been converted to a gym, an office, a study, and a vault for treasures that traveled with her. Several concealed compartments stored a variety of weapons and surveillance equipment.

Gabrielle had fallen asleep under the stars on the sun deck, and while not an unusual occurrence the years had taught her to appreciate not sleeping in the rain when she didn’t have to. She descended the stairs past the upper deck then to the main deck to her private rooms.

She reached the bottom of the stairs, and followed Argo through several rooms to her bedroom. The room was spacious enough to fit a king-sized bed and not feel the least bit cramped. It was on the interior of the main deck and instead of windows rich wood paneling and several paintings covered the walls. The carpeting was thick and luxurious, the bed coverings and pile of pillows had splashes of deep reds and rich grays that contrasted nicely with the wood. The lighting was warm and inviting. To Gabrielle the deep color of the wood and warmth of the light reminded her of being on tall-masted sailing ships centuries ago. There was a nightstand on each side of the bed with places to charge a variety of electronic devices and a small neat bookcase was home to various volumes on a variety of subjects from science to politics with a few good mysteries as well. As she undressed for bed, her back to the full-length mirror in the bathroom, she barely noticed the dragon tattoo covering her back, still as vibrant and clean as it was when freshly healed. She brushed her teeth, studying her reflection, wondering if she should grow her hair long again. People assumed she was in her mid to late thirties, some even thought she was younger. She considered that the shorter hair made her look older, not that five years difference either way mattered much. After rinsing her mouth, she left the bathroom and padded across the bedroom to the walk-in closet. She selected a gray skirt, blue shirt, gray tie, and a pair of heels to match. The outfit was sharp and stylish. She probably wouldn’t need a jacket, but put one aside just in case and made sure that everything was pressed and in order.

Finally, she checked her phone for any last-minute messages. There was one from Susan Yin, her director of Intelligence and Special Projects. The message was marked urgent so she hit the call button.

“Gabrielle,” the voice said by way of greeting. Save for meetings, Gabrielle was perfectly comfortable with being addressed by her first name. There were times and places for formality and she’d assembled a team of people who knew how to navigate those waters quite well. “Thank you for getting back to me so soon.”

            “What have you got?” she asked.

            “Two things. We’ve made some real progress on Project Olympus. I know you wanted to be alerted when we found anything concrete and this afternoon we did. The second thing is there is someone who wants to transfer to Special Projects from Acquisitions and Holdings. His name is Brian Glass and he’s been with the company for four years. He started in Philanthropy, stayed there for two years, then moved to A & H where he is now. I know we generally don’t consider someone for SP that soon, but he looks great on paper – almost too good. I brought him in for an interview, and he interviewed well; too well. I think you should vet him sooner rather than later. I’d like to bring him to the meeting tomorrow, to meet with you after the department meeting.” Having made her case, Susan didn’t elaborate. She waited patiently for her boss’ response or request for clarification.

            “Send over his file,” Gabrielle said. “By all means, bring him to the meeting. He can have breakfast outside while he waits for the department meeting to finish. I’ll have someone here keep an eye on him. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. It’s better to know what we’ve got than be surprised.”

            Bardic & Company was a large enterprise; too large for Gabrielle to personally interview everyone who worked for her. She knew everyone’s name and face, but only made personal connections with people at a certain level or within specific departments. Special Projects was one of those departments. Strip away everything else and this was why her businesses existed at all. Gabrielle knew every member of the Special Projects team well - from his or her birthdays to favorite flavor of ice cream. It was absolutely vital to Gabrielle that everyone in that division be trustworthy and discrete. While rare, it wasn’t unheard of for someone to try to infiltrate her company for a variety of reasons.

            “What about Project Olympus?” she asked.

            “There is a woman named Valerie DelRay who fits the parameters you described,” Susan said. “It’s evident that she’s created multiple personas over the years. She’s been getting better at it, but made some mistakes some time ago. Presently she owns a software start up called Bliss, which is a dating app. it’s a fairly new company, small. I’ve already reached out and can get you a meeting tomorrow – late afternoon if you would like. I sent over a photograph that Mike Nieminen took earlier today.”

            Gabrielle put the phone on speaker and opened the attachment. She smiled at the results. “Where is the company headquarters?” she queried, wondering what arrangements would need to be made with her transportation division.

“Would you believe Venice?”

            “Italy?” Gabrielle asked, disappointed.

            She could hear the grin in Susan’s voice. “How about Los Angeles.”

            “Well, well I’ll be damned,” Gabrielle, mused. “See if you can get an appointment for 4pm or later. Contact Transportation, have the Tesla brought to the marina. I’m also going to need…” pacing her bedroom she was quiet for a moment thinking. “Roses – a dozen white and a dozen –um…” she tried to think of as many color combinations as she could, it was important to have the right offering, “the dusky orange ones with the tinge of lavender on the edges, you know the ones I mean?”

            “I think so,” Susan replied. “You want them mixed, right? I’ll have a photo of the arrangement sent over first thing in the morning to make sure it’s right.”

            Gabrielle nodded to herself, her mind already anticipating tomorrow afternoon. This was a moment she’d been working toward for centuries. This could be the next link in the chain that would bring her beloved back to her. She pushed those thoughts down, wanting to keep her composure on the phone. She swallowed and took a steadying breath before speaking again. “That’s great. Thank you, Susan. Good work – see you tomorrow.”

            She waited for Susan to wish her a good night before putting her phone down and slowly sitting on the edge of her bed. Argo jumped up, turning in a circle three times before making herself at home on a blanket at the foot of the bed, ignoring the plush dog bed on the floor. “This could be it girl,” she said quietly. Her hand shook as she reached forward, touching the wall next to her bed. A panel slid silently to the side and a shelf moved forward. Resting on the sturdy shelf, in a protective bracket was a clay urn; the urn containing Xena’s ashes. Gently, reverently, Gabrielle touched the cold clay surface. “Xena, this could be it.” She whispered. “We may finally be getting somewhere.” She sat there for several long moments, looking at the urn and feeling hopeful. Touching the wall again, the shelf slid back within and the panel closed. She rested her hand against the wall for a moment more, feeling the connection to her warrior before climbing into bed.

            She picked up the leather-bound book sitting on her nightstand and using the ribbon bookmark, opened it to the next blank page. With pen in hand she wrote down her thoughts, telling Xena about her day and her findings. She felt almost giddy, hysterical even. She had been searching for anyone from Olympus for so painfully long, but Aphrodite especially. Poseidon had told her, that fateful day, that Aphrodite was the key to Xena’s resurrection and at long last, she may have found her. She wrote for nearly an hour, saying everything she felt she needed to say for the day and then set the book and pen back on the nightstand.

 “Sweet dreams, girl.” She said, patting the dog and trying to settle herself for sleep. Like a crack that breaks the dam, emotions still surged through her.  “Hey Siri, play Fleetwood Mac, Wish You Were Here,” she said out loud to the darkness. Piano tones filled the room from unseen speakers and for the first time in a very long while, Gabrielle of Potidaea cried herself to sleep.

There's distance between us

And you're on my mind

As I lay here in the darkness

I can find no peace inside

I wish you were here holding me tight

If I had you near, you'd make it alright

I wish you were here

'Cause I feel like a child tonight

There's rain on my window

And I can count the drops

But I can't help feeling lonely

There's no way, no way that I could stop

I wish you were here holding me tight

If I had you near, you'd make it alright

I wish you were here

'Cause I feel like a child tonight

Each moment is a memory

Time's so unkind

Every hour filled with an emptiness

I can't hide

Oh, this distance between us

Can't get you off of my mind

As I lay here in the darkness

I can find no peace inside

I wish you were here holding me tight

If I had you near, you'd make it alright

I wish you were here

'Cause I feel like a child tonight

~~~~~~~

“Gabrielle, it’s 6 am,” a woman’s disembodied voice said gently from the intercom speaker. One eye opened then the other. Even after two millennia she was still not a morning person. She rubbed her eyes and reached for her phone. She checked her emails, okayed the flower arrangement that Susan had sent over in the night, and absently rubbed Argo’s belly while she reviewed the documents for her interview after the meeting.

“Gabrielle, it’s 6:15,” the disembodied voice announced.

“Okay, oaky,” she replied, getting out of bed. Argo got up and headed up the stairs to the deck and an Astro-Turfed area set up for her use; one of several throughout the large ship. Gabrielle dragged herself out of bed and headed to the closet to dress for a quick workout before readying herself for the meeting ahead.

Bardic & Company was the latest manifestation of the bard’s public persona. Based in Ireland, to most casual observers it was a private firm that bought and sold other companies, managed a host of investments and holdings, and provided money to a variety of charities through other charitable organizations and foundations. On paper, she was a very reclusive billionaire who did not grant interviews or attend gala events. In fact, there was a great deal of speculation as to who Gabrielle Evans was, given that there were few photographs and those attributed as being her were obviously way too young to actually be the company owner herself. Gabrielle met with outsiders as needed, as Susan Vincent, the spokesperson for Gabrielle Evans. The crew of The Hippolyta knew her as Gabrielle, of course – essentially living with her. The division heads of the company, each with the title of Executive Vice President, she met with personally, as herself, but to the world outside that selective bubble she was an enigma.

These executive vice presidents met monthly, always in person, to report on their divisions. Wherever in the world Gabrielle might be at the time, she had her executive staff flown to her location to discuss the details of their division. The meetings could last anywhere from a few hours in the morning to several days depending on what was happening within the organization. Gabrielle found these face-to-face meetings essential. Long ago she’d mastered the ability to read micro expressions and used these sessions to make sure the people she trusted with the most valuable of information about her empire were indeed trustworthy. Trust and agreement didn’t always go together and she still shuddered at the debates several years ago when she’d announced to her Finance team that two hundred million dollars would be needed for the design and construction of The Hippolyta, a ship that eventually needed an additional fifty million to complete the enhancements she found essential.

Gabrielle had already lived on a yacht for some time; she wanted the new ship to keep pace with advancements in security and technology. She was not surprised that the finance team didn’t see it as the necessity she did, but they didn’t live here. And Gabrielle wanted people to challenge her if they had more expertise or if she was wrong. Once in awhile, someone would make a strong enough case about any given decision that she would change course. It was rare, but not unheard of.

She was hopeful that today’s meeting would be on the shorter end of things. The more time she had to prepare for her meeting in Venice, the better. The tender boat brought the executive team to The Hippolyta at 8:30 am. A scrumptious breakfast buffet had been set up in the area adjacent to the conference room. The various division heads ambled into the area, fresh from security checks that also included handprint and retina analysis, depositing their cell phones into a secure box just outside the meeting area. Gabrielle didn’t worry about offending anyone with the security protocols. These sorts of measures were utilized throughout Bardic & Company and they all would be very familiar with them. Orange lights were illuminated in strategic places onboard to signal the people in Gabrielle’s inner circle that an outsider was present. Someone on board didn’t know that Gabrielle Evans and Susan Vincent weren’t one and the same. As such, people needed to conduct themselves accordingly. Especially outside the secured meeting. Being careful did not require her to be distant or cold however so when she made her way to the breakfast area, she greeted everyone warmly, taking time to ask about their latest vacations, or birthdays or anything that might have happened in their lives since the last meeting.

She made it a point to welcome Brian Glass, the man who had arrived for the interview after the meeting. She knew him by sight but hadn’t previously had much in the way of conversation with him beyond the polite hellos and chit-chat when she stopped by an office for a meeting. He was tall and muscled with a blond military haircut. She walked Brian out to the deck where he could sit and eat his breakfast while discretely watched by security. Returning to the area outside the conference room she selected her breakfast when everyone else had filled their plates and were seated at the table. She helped herself to some eggs Florentine and a blend of vegetable and fruit juices. Once inside the conference room, the doors were closed and a final security sweep was conducted inside the room.

Argo had her own breakfast in a bowl to the side of the buffet and made her way through the guests to greet them and look for handouts. She wasn’t given any, but she did happily accept the ear scratches she was offered. When the group made their way to the conference room, the dog followed, making herself quite at home. Everyone was used to the boss’ dog accompanying the boss everywhere.

“Let’s get started,” she said as she took her seat at the conclusion of the final security check. “I want to remind everyone that the orange lights are on. Brian Glass from A& H is having breakfast on deck,” she said with a nod to Mike Tiller, his current boss. “I’ll be meeting with him later with Susan Yin. There are no other ‘guests’ on board at this time.”

Like her private staterooms, the conference room had no windows, but unlike her suite, the colors were lighter, the lighting a brighter white. The table was a large oval composed of pieces of reclaimed ship wood that had been masterfully sanded and bound with brass bands on the ends. It looked old and new at the same time. Everyone sat comfortably in leather-upholstered chairs that circled the table, all eight division heads and Gabrielle had ample room. An ornate art deco rug in shades of blue lay between the conference table and the polished wood floor. “Acquisitions and Holdings, you’re up first. Mr. Tiller,” she said.

A handsome African-American man in his fifties reviewed the notes on the iPad in front of him briefly before speaking. “Thank you, Ms. Evans,” he began, “I’m happy to report that the overall portfolio is up sixteen percent this month, which as you remember is even better than last month. We are preparing to liquidate warehouse twelve, but you’d asked to review the inventory once more in person before we move anything.”

Gabrielle nodded “Right, hold off for now. I haven’t been able to arrange a visit, I will keep you posted.” As an afterthought she added, “do you think several months will significantly cost us when it comes to the auctions if we need to delay?” She watched the faces at the table carefully; their eyes shifted and they all looked uncomfortable.

Finally, Susan Yin, seated to Gabrielle’s right, spoke up, “President Turner is insane. The markets for everything could crash any second and the west coast could be nuked tomorrow. This current administration is a nightmare to plan contingencies around.” There were general murmurs of agreement.

“Assuming we’re all still here I mean,” Gabrielle clarified. She understood the fear. The current administration was terrifying and run by incompetent amateurs, but she had lived through the Spanish Inquisition and that put things in perspective.

Tiller shrugged, “There is no way to know for sure what the markets are going to do. Our current analysis gives us a six-month window. I think the information is solid, as long as we don’t start a war with North Korea this week.” He checked his notes once more. “The appraisal is nearly finished; we will be ready to move as soon as you’re ready.”

“Excellent,” Gabrielle said before looking at the man next to him. “Transportation and Operations; Mr. Hernandez.”

An older man with salt and pepper hair nodded and cast a quick glance to the woman across the table from him. “We need to increase the transportation budget, not just for this year, but moving forward. The company has grown in the last two years and the current budget is no longer enough. We need an increase of at least twenty-five percent.”

Gabrielle suppressed a grin as she watched the woman that Jorge Hernandez had glanced at fold her arms defiantly. “Ms. Martin, I sense that Finance has an opinion?”

“Finance is still paying off this!” she gestured at the room around them.

“Well, I did serve you breakfast,” Gabrielle said with a grin. There were several quiet chuckles around the table.

“There is a lot you want Finance to finance,” Ms. Martin replied, not backing down. “A quarter billion dollars here, a quarter billion dollars there – eventually it adds up to real money. Every department received budget increases- especially Philanthropy and Politics. Acquisitions and Holdings has been doing a lot more acquiring and holding and hasn’t really been liquidating…”

Gabrielle lifted her hand and the director of finance fell silent immediately. “Mr. Tiller, what is the current appraisal of vault twelve?”

“Conservatively, five hundred million.”

“Okay, move forward with the liquidation, don’t wait for me. Have the final appraisal sheets sent to me before shipping anything to the auction houses. Let’s see if we can pressure them into trimming the commission.” She raised her eyebrows at her head of Finance who nodded her agreement, for the moment mollified.

To Gabrielle’s disappointment, that was only the first debate of the morning. The meeting lasted nearly twice as long as she’d hoped. Victoria Chen, head of the Political division gave her assessment of the present political climate and which races they thought would benefit most from campaign contributions. Different theories were presented for possible outcomes and contingencies where the company was investing the most resources. A number of worst-case scenarios were discussed and some spirited differences of opinion were debated.

“We know something is going on beyond an incompetent, amateurish administration,” Victoria Chen said supporting the assessment of Jorge Hernandez. “There is a bigger game being played and we still don’t know who all the players are or what the end goal is. Where is SP on this?” She asked.

“Special Projects is looking at all of the different approaches that have been discussed at this table,” Susan Yin replied calmly. “We aren’t holding anything back. As soon as we know it,” she looked at each of the other vice presidents in turn, “you know it. I agree with you that there is someone behind the scenes pulling the strings and we are working very hard to get you answers.” The finality in her voice and her polite attention turned to the Africa –American man sitting next to her made it clear that she was done discussing the topic.

When it came to his turn, the Philanthropic Division’s DeShaun Johnson made the case to fully fund Planned Parenthood, funneling the money through smaller charities. There was more debate as a list of seventeen other worthy charities was narrowed down to twelve. The head of Human Resources, Fiona O’Brien, reported on current staffing levels, different requests for press interviews that were immediately rejected. She finished with a brief discussion on staffing levels and individuals that would be promoted into closer working proximity of Gabrielle.

When HR concluded, Technology and Research was the last of the eight departments to give their summary. Leticia Sanchez discussed several start-up companies that should be vetted for purchase to enhance the civilian intelligence company that Bardic & Company also owned. To no one’s surprise Ms. Martin of finance wanted to see more data before entering purchase negotiations. Her expression soured further when Gabrielle casually mentioned that she may be purchasing the dating app Bliss. By the time everyone had reported it was well past lunchtime.

            As the meeting broke up and the division heads meandered out of the conference room, Gabrielle made a point to chat casually and say a few words with everyone individually. She did this as she shook their hands and covered any action items that they needed from her.

The head of Finance approached her last. “If I didn’t argue with you I wouldn’t be doing my job,” Ms. Martin said simply.

            Gabrielle smiled. “I know that, Heather,” she said warmly. “But you’re going to have to trust me when I say it’s going to be okay. There is more crap lying around waiting to be liquidated than vault twelve. There is real estate, other holdings, god knows what. We are not going to run out of money any time soon, regardless of what happens in the market.”

            The vice president wasn’t convinced. She was about the same height as Gabrielle, in her mid-forties, and had brown hair that reached just below her ears. She adjusted her glasses, pushing them up from the bridge of her nose. “I can only operate by the numbers you put in front of me. You’ve been very clear about not skirting the law even though you’ve got plenty of room to maneuver- as privately held as this privately held company is. But when assets are on paper, I report as you’ve instructed me to. Between the holdings and the tax implications, we have a lot of bases to cover.”

            “And I appreciate the hard work you do especially when you’re feeling like you don’t have all the information you need most of the time,” Gabrielle admitted. “I’ve got some stuff going with Special Projects right now, but I promise – as soon as I can I’m going to sit down with you and Susan and give you a better overview on some things to help with forecasting.”

            Heather Martin smiled in agreement. “I appreciate that, thank you.”

            Gabrielle couldn’t resist needling the woman once more, “we can even have the meeting here since you gave me a quarter billion dollars to buy this boat.”

            The smile vanished from the other woman’s face. “Sometimes I wonder why I work for you,” she said.

            Gabrielle chuckled, “it’s because I’m fun and pay well.”

            When only Susan Yin remained, she had Brian brought in from the outer deck and invited the two of them to her office. A door to the side of the conference room led to a warmly lit and somewhat imposing office. Like most of the interior of the ship, it was decorated with powerful art deco designs. This space had a large window on the stern side where the deck and ocean beyond could be seen. There was an elegant desk, polished quilted maple with inlays of contrasting wood in art deco designs, which visually dominated the space. The two chairs in front of the desk were a matched pair with light blue upholstery and some silver trim. Gabrielle’s own chair in this more formal office space looked like a marrying of art deco and industrial chic; stylish, but lived in. Just past the office was a less formal study where Gabrielle actually did her work; this room, not unlike the Oval Office in the White House, was for official business. Argo followed them in, and after making three circles on the large pillow by the bookcase, lay down watching all three humans intently.

            She gestured for Susan and Brian to sit. Taking her own seat, she opened Brian’s file. She didn’t hesitate, and got right to the point.

            “Four years is a pretty quick turn-around to be assigned to Special Projects, isn’t it, Mr. Glass?” she asked. She studied the face of the man across from her, keeping the muscles of her own features relaxed and neutral. Her suspicions were confirmed when she noted that he was telegraphing signals, actively using micro expressions to convey trustworthiness. This guy was a pro.

            “You can see from my resume that I have experience in the Navy as an intelligence officer. I’ve got an MBA, I’ve done well at the company thus far, and I think I would be an asset to your Special Projects Division.” He spoke with confidence and ambition. “I think I’d be a good fit Ms. Vincent.”

            “I can see that,” Gabrielle said sounding impressed. “I see that you did quite well with Philanthropy. You brought a number of worthy charities to our attention and managed to accomplish a great deal with the resources afforded you.”

            She asked him to elaborate on his take of the departments he’d seen, the work he’d done, and what exactly he could bring to the table. He wasn’t shy about touting his accomplishments, both within Bardic and at previous jobs. He went on for some time and Susan brought the conversation back to his initial interest in Bardic, and his work in Philanthropy.

            “Yes ma’am,” he said, nodding. “DeShaun Johnson and I worked really well together. It was a team effort. Knowing I wanted to move up in the company, he suggested I transfer after my first two years; get a feel for how the other departments work.”

            “He is absolutely right,” Gabrielle agreed. “But usually Intelligence and Special Projects is the last stop on the highway, not the third.”

            “Ahhh,” he said, a bit disappointed. “I was under the impression that all departments are treated equally?”

            “That is mostly true,” Gabrielle reassured him. “Tell you what – it’s not protocol, but I’m going to put you in SP on a provisional basis, and loop in Ms. Evans. Susan will give you your assignments.” Susan nodded in acknowledgement. “It will be slow going at first; she is being pulled in few directions right now. You will report to Sabin Jha, her second in command. Hang in there- your portfolio will grow. You do have qualifications that will be a great asset for us.” He thanked her and she asked, “Have you got a favorite band?” He looked at her, puzzled. “SP is famous for its karaoke nights,” she explained.

He grinned. “Lynyrd Skynyrd, for sure,” he said.

“You’ll fit right in then,” she said without hesitation, standing up to indicate that the meeting was over. Brian and Susan also stood, and Brian did not flinch at the door when Susan didn’t follow him to it. He nodded to them both, wished them a nice day, and followed the crewmember out of the office. When the office door was closed once more, both women sat down, clearly more relaxed now.

            “Wow,” Gabrielle said.

            “I didn’t think I was imagining anything,” Susan replied. Susan Yin had been in Gabrielle’s company longer than anyone else. In her early seventies, Susan had no-nonsense attitude that Gabrielle one described as “Helen Mirrin-esque” much to the Chinese woman’s pleasure. She dressed simply, always wearing variations of the same slacks and blouse. She kept her long black hair, which was streaked with gray in a ponytail and seldom wore makeup. Having been around the bard as long as she had, her whole life in fact, there was no way she would not have noticed the other woman’s lack of aging, but she never said anything. She was the third generation of her family to work for Gabrielle’s ‘family’ and regardless of what her own personal thoughts might be, she never asked any questions.

            “He’s good, I’ll grant him that,” Gabrielle said appreciatively. “He controlled his expressions, his breathing. I’ve no doubt the guy can beat a polygraph. He’s someone’s plant; now we need to find out whose and what it is he’s after.”

            “I think DeShaun was also suspicions and that’s why he bumped him to Acquisitions,” Susan said. “He wanted to get Mike’s read on him. Honestly, I thought Mike would have said something to you but it’s quite possible that Mr. Glass didn’t set off red flags for him the way he did for me.”

            Gabrielle shook her head, “I can’t imagine him not coming to me like you did if he had. At any rate, I want every transaction he did for Philanthropy audited. What organizations did he bring us, who is working there, what did they do with the money – everything. And I want to know what he’s been doing at Acquisitions. Every day of this guy’s last four years, I want to know what he had for lunch. I also want to meet with DeShaun at some point to get his take.”

            “Understood,” Susan replied.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. “He’s so ballsy,” she said. “What is my least favorite song ever?”

“Sweet Home Alabama,” Susan replied without needing to think about it. “They even made it a trivia question at last year’s all company holiday party. Maybe he was trying to read you?” she wondered.

            Gabrielle didn’t specifically advertise that she studied micro-expressions. The people who worked with her knew that ‘reading people’ was something she was good at. She would tell them “I have many skills” and elaborate no further. The people who were the most successful with her were the ones who left it at that. Susan also studied micro expressions, and while she didn’t have the years, and years, and years of experience that Gabrielle did, she did know what techniques were being utilized.

            “He was absolutely trying to read me,” the bard affirmed. “I tried to keep as open and clueless an expression as I could. I do not want him to know we suspect him already. Keep his work isolated, but let him think he’s actually doing something. Let’s see if we can figure out what it is he’s looking for. Every few years we get someone trying to get close to ‘Gabrielle Evans’ this could be that.”

            “Will do,” Susan replied. Shifting a bit uncomfortably, the older woman continued, “I’m very pleased how Sabin is coming along. I really wanted to bring him to the meeting. He needs to take over more of my portfolio, be a fixture at the monthly meeting.”

            Gabrielle looked at the woman sitting across from her. She knew what Susan was trying to say, this was not the first time they had this conversation. She couldn’t help but think how much the woman looked like her mother now, and her grandfather when each of them had a similar conversation with the bard. “You know I value your judgment above anyone else in the company. Like your mother and grandfather, you have contributed so much and I…and my family of course… are forever grateful. If you think it’s time to step away, you need to step away.” That was how this conversation always went: Susan would say she needed to retire, Gabrielle would give her the green light, and the dedicated woman would want to stay to finish one more project, or operation, or quarter.

“Besides,” Gabrielle added, “Sabin is still nursing a broken leg from that thing outside Moscow. You can’t drag him to boring meetings on crutches. He was here last month, bring him next month. He will be ready when the time comes.” Susan nodded, she seemed a bit embarrassed by the suggestion of dragging an injured man to a routine meeting. Gabrielle knew that if Susan were in traction and hooked up to life support, she’d still manage to make it to the meeting. “How is Shen adjusting to boarding school?” she asked instead. Asking a grandparent about their grandchildren was always a sure-fire way to cheer them up.

As she expected Susan’s eyes brightened with pride. “He loves it,” she said, beaming.

“No homesickness?”

“A little, maybe. Being able to come home most weekends has been good.”

The bard nodded. “You’re doing right by him Susan,” she said warmly.

“Thank you, Gabrielle,” the Chinese woman replied, grateful. “I did not expect to be raising my grandson by myself, but the two of us are making a go of it. He has remarkable maturity for one so young.”

Gabrielle nodded. It had been a difficult year for the woman sitting across from her. She lost her husband Tom and daughter Beatrix in a car accident while she had been watching Shen so the two could go out for Father’s Day.

“I like to think Trixie and Tom are watching over us,” Susan said with a sad smile.

Reaching across the table, Gabrielle squeezed her hand warmly. “You know what they say Susan,” she said. “When you think of the dead, the dead can hear your thoughts.”

“I do find that comforting,” she replied.

“You know,” Gabrielle suggested. “It’s been awhile since you and Shen had dinner on the boat. We need to plan an evening. Head over to Catalina, go swimming, have a barbecue. Argo loves swimming with him.”

“You spoil him, Gabrielle.” Susan protested.

“Godmother’s are supposed to spoil their godchildren, right? Don’t make me pull rank.”

Susan nodded. “Yes, yes we would both love that. You are a very kind woman. Just like your mother and your grandmother.” She winked and Gabrielle wasn’t sure if it was an unconscious eye flutter of if she was teasing her.

Susan glanced at her watch and looked at Gabrielle a bit concerned. “Your appointment with Valerie DelRay is at 4 pm. I know it’s not far, but it’s already 3.”

             “Give me 15 minutes and I’ll ride back to the marina on the boat with you. No sense in making two trips. Are the flowers in the car?” Gabrielle asked.

            Susan nodded. “Yes, and the address is already programed into the navigation.” She handed her boss a small slip of paper. “But here it is with the phone number if you need it.”

            “Can we tell Heather that we’re saving money in the water taxi budget by sharing a ride?” Susan teased. “I swear that Heather Martin is the most terrifying person in the company.”

            “I couldn’t agree more,” Gabrielle said as they left her office.

Chapter 2: The Goddess of Love

Gabrielle turned down Ocean Avenue following the directions glowing on the screen built into her dashboard. The Venice Canals near Santa Monica were man-made waterways with rows of houses overlooking them. They were a little bit of Europe tucked in Southern California; they were beautiful and serene and seemed out of place just a stone’s throw from the Venice boardwalk. All of the homes were nice, sold for millions of dollars, but were all relatively modest in size. There were no sprawling estates here. They had a boat dock of some sort on the water, and many homes had a small boat of some kind to visit neighbors.

It was equal parts comical and ironic that the woman she’d been searching for, for two thousand years was presently living not a half hour from where her yacht was parked. It was hard to think of something she’d been working towards for so long as happening suddenly, but less than an hour, she’d be face to face with someone from her old life; possibly the only person on earth she could say that about. She wished now that she’d had more time; at least more time between knowing where Aphrodite was and actually seeing her. She wasn’t sure what she’d say, how she would admit what she’d done, or how she ever hoped to persuade the goddess to help her. Now, as she turned down the final street she made a firm commitment to herself to use the same blind willingness with Aphrodite that she had exhibited with Poseidon two millennia ago. Whatever the goddess might ask of her she would do it, completely and without reservation. She had come too far and waited much too long to let this opportunity, probably her only opportunity, pass.

She brought her car to a stop in front of an adorable cottage. It was two stories, and had what looked like a modern take on a thatched roof. She wasn’t sure what she expected, but had thought that Aphrodite would live in a mansion behind a secured gate or something similar. This was completely charming and inviting. The front door was at the back of the house; on the street side since all the homes in the canal area had their living areas along the water. She left the roses in the car; they would not be the sort of thing one brought to a business meeting. After all, there was a slight chance this might not be her.

There wasn’t much of a lawn in front of the house, but there were cheerful flowers growing from a number of different vessels. Urns and flower boxes of different shapes, sizes, and colors with brightly colored flowers and herbs of diverse varieties fought for space; it was eclectic, but inviting too. As she walked up the front walkway she saw several small Greek statues. She knew she was in the right place. Taking a deep breath, she rang the doorbell.

“Yes?” a voice asked via a speaker to the side of the door.

“Susan Vincent for Valerie DelRay. I have a 4 o’clock appointment,” Gabrielle said. She managed to straighten her skirt and tie before the door opened. Gabrielle looked up into the crisp blue eyes of Aphrodite herself. “Susan Vincent,” she said extending her hand.

Aphrodite visibly did a double take at the sight of her guest. Automatically she extended her own hand and said “Valerie DelRay. Please come in.” The goddess held the door open and Gabrielle stepped inside.

The house was gorgeous, she wasn’t surprised at that, but it was also homey, warm, and inviting. It also smelled wonderfully of lavender.

“Right this way,” Aphrodite added before leading Gabrielle through the entry.

She had but a moment to glance around and could tell that this place belonged to a much different woman from the one she used to know. She had almost expected Baroque or Rococo furnishings; draperies and gold leaf, gilded everything- Versailles perhaps. Instead she felt like she’d stepped into the home of an eccentric millionaire who loved to entertain, but who enjoyed the company of down to earth people. The beautiful antique furniture looked comfortable and utilitarian, the stunning floors to be walked on. A quick glance into the kitchen as she passed by showed the domain of someone who loved to cook.

Aphrodite led Gabrielle towards the canal side of the home to a small office the size of her private study on The Hippolyta. The window to the left provided a gorgeous water view. “Please sit,” the goddess indicated the overstuffed and inviting chair across from a well-worn desk. The colors of the office were warm; tasteful oranges and yellows mixed with accents of pale blues, pinks and greens. It made Gabrielle think of spring.

As she sat down she took a moment to let her eyes take in the vision of home that now sat across from her. Not surprisingly, Aphrodite had not aged a day. The woman was stunningly beautiful with calming blue eyes- only now her hair was short- shorter than Gabrielle’s even. She was wearing a vintage inspired dark blue dress with pale green accents. It was professional, but clung to her curves and was sexy as hell. Gabrielle glanced away to keep from staring.

“I hope traffic wasn’t too bad.” Aphrodite said, drawing the bard’s attention away from the window.

 “Not at all,” she said. “I came from the marina, it’s almost like we’re neighbors.”

“I understand you’re interested in buying my company?” Aphrodite asked, continuing to stare at Gabrielle intently.

“I am,” Gabrielle succinctly replied.

“Well I have to tell you…” the goddess trailed off and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to stare, but you look just like someone I knew a long time ago. And your voice…”

Gabrielle smiled warmly, this was the sign she’d been hoping for. “Aphrodite, it’s me. Gabrielle from Potidaea.”

Clearly taken aback, the goddess’ eyes narrowed, “No way.”

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. “We met in one of your temples when you did something to Joxer to make him act heroic every time he heard a bell.”

“Holy shit,” Aphrodite gasped. “But… how?”

Shrugging, Gabrielle replied, “it’s a long story, but the punch line is ambrosia.” As if on cue her stomach growled loudly.

“Still with the eating thing?” the goddess observed wryly.

Gabrielle nearly blushed, “in my defense, a meeting ran late and I didn’t get a chance to have lunch. Can I take you to dinner? Catch up?”

“Of course!” Aphrodite replied. “I can’t believe I’m actually seeing someone from the old neighborhood.” Both women stood up and she hugged her visitor warmly. “Wait a minute,” she added. “Does this mean you’re not interested in buying my company?”

“Sure, I’d love to buy your company. You can name your price over dinner,” Gabrielle answered.

Aphrodite was a little surprised by the comment. The woman she’d talked to earlier, Susan Yin from the software company, didn’t seem phased by the two hundred and eighty million dollar price tag. While a fraction of what Tinder was worth, Bliss wasn’t cheap. Just what sort of business was Gabrielle into?

“Your home is beautiful,” Gabrielle added looking around as they headed towards the front door once more.

“Thanks,” Aphrodite replied, bringing her thoughts to the present. “I travel a lot, but when I’m here it feels like home.” She picked up a purse and cardigan sweater from the couch by the front door, holding it open once again for the bard.

 Gabrielle stopped at the door, and touched the goddess’ arm while leaning up to kiss her cheek. “It is really good to see you, Aphrodite.” The goddess smiled.

Walking to Gabrielle’s car, Aphrodite was again trying to synch the bard she knew, with the woman she was with. There was a ridiculously expensive dark green Tesla sitting in front of her house. Seeing expensive cars in LA wasn’t unusual, but Gabrielle? “Nice wheels,” the goddess remarked.

This time it was Gabrielle’s turn to open the door. She reached inside for the flowers, taking them off the seat so the other woman could sit down.

“These are for you,” Gabrielle said, handing her the flowers. Aphrodite arched an eyebrow. “Look, I know that you need to give an offering when you visit a goddess. It’s been awhile, but I remember my manners.”

The goddess brought the blooms to her nose and inhaled their sweet scent. “Thank you, they’re lovely,” she said, as Gabrielle started the car. After a brief suggestion/negotiation about where to eat, Aphrodite suggested a restaurant called Moonshadows off the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Gabrielle was familiar with it. The electric car silently moved down the street as she tried to make sense of the last few minutes.

The Goddess of Love would be the first person to proclaim that gods weren’t like most people. They don’t surprise easily; very little can throw them. As the car wove its way through her neighborhood to PCH, Aphrodite allowed herself a moment to admit she was thrown. Sure, she obviously knew all about ambrosia and the effect it could have if humans ate it. She’d heard the stories about Velasca and Callisto among countless other humans who had consumed it. But even allowing that Gabrielle survived the ambrosia itself, the mere fact of surviving two thousand years, with her sanity intact was simply unbelievable. Gods were built for long lives. Every fiber of their being was designed to endure eternity. Mortals had life spans that could practically be measured in breaths. Their brains were small because they could only hold a few years’ worth of information. How had Gabrielle not gone mad?

“Look,” she said, being very direct but not wanting to startle the woman behind the wheel, “I’m having a hard time believing what I’m seeing. I mean, sure, ambrosia, I get that. But how has two thousand years of living not made you crazy? I’m going to need pages and pages of exposition. Don’t leave anything out. And how did you find me anyway?”

Gabrielle was watching the road, but glanced at her companion with a smile. “I promise I will tell you everything,” she said. “But not while I’m driving. Please, tell me about you. How have you spent the past couple of millennia?” She kept her voice light, but was truly fearful of what the goddess might say.

“I’m going to need background music for this,” Aphrodite said as she picked up the bard’s iPhone. “What’s your passcode?”

While it could be seen as an incredibly intimate question, Gabrielle gave it to her without a moment’s hesitation. The Goddess of Love smiled, and held the phone up to the driver.

“Cute pooch,” she said at the smiling pit bull’s face on Gabrielle’s lock screen.

“That’s Argo.”

“Not your first Argo, I’d guess?” she asked and resisted the urge to take a peek through Gabrielle’s photos, instead hitting her music app and selecting Adele then shuffle. She was not surprised to see a wide variety of music on the bard’s phone. Operas, classical, renaissance, modern, it was the variety you would expect from someone who had enjoyed music since ancient Greece. The song Water Under The Bridge began to play and Aphrodite was impressed with the Tesla’s sound system.

“There have been quite a few,” she admitted. “Not always Argo, mind you. But it’s a bit of home I keep revisiting.” She was quiet a moment and added, “I miss home.”

“Me too,” The goddess agreed. “I have no idea what happened, Gabrielle,” she began. “One day, I’m visiting one of my temples – I had plans to meet with Apollo on Mt. Olympus but I needed to check on something first. Then this wave hits me, like some kind of sonic boom. It sent me clear across the courtyard and knocked me unconscious. I eventually come to and there is a crowd of worshippers standing around. I wanted to get the blink out of there, figure out what the hell happened. But, no blink.” Aphrodite looked out the car window at the ocean stretching as far as the eye could see. Even now, talking about this was upsetting. Gabrielle stayed quiet, letting the woman compose herself. “Most of my powers are gone,” she simply said. “I can’t move instantly, I’m earth bound. No fireballs – I mean I’m not mortal, I’m still a god, I still have my duty, my job, that type of power is intact, but different too.”

“How so?” Gabrielle asked. They were driving into the setting sun so she took a pair of RayBan sunglasses off of the dashboard and put them on. Aphrodite took a pair of nearly identical Wayfarer sunglasses out of her purse. Both women grinned at each other wearing sunglasses they’d actually purchased in the 1950s.

“I used to be able to infuse the entire planet with love from home,” Aphrodite continued, “I could be standing in Greece and love, jealousy, infatuation, passion, lust, desire, or hope- all of it could be felt everywhere. Over the years my range has contracted I guess. I feel myself pulled to different places.” She chuckled sadly, “I have a ridiculous amount of frequent flyer miles, I’ll tell you that.”

“What kind of places are you drawn to?” the bard asked, enjoying the cadence of Aphrodite’s voice. There was a tangible kindness you could hear and Gabrielle was warmed by the sound of it.

With a shrug she continued, “I spend a lot of my time in war torn places, places in Africa where people are starving, places where disasters have happened. I do a lot of volunteer work to be near people who need love and hope. Then I come back to places like this, where people have everything, to make sure they feel empathy and caring and take an interest in the people with less.”

She was quiet a moment. “But places like this have a dark side too. Back in the day, someone could misinterpret one of my gifts; let’s say a guy with an unhealthy fondness for his goat or whatever. I could handle that directly – poof and I turn the guy into a goat so he can get rejected in goat language. People do really awful things in the name of ‘love’ now and I can’t do anything but comfort the victims.” She knew the conversation was getting heavy, and that is not how she wanted to start her reunion with Gabrielle. “But enough about me, how did you keep from going crazy? You’ve got to tell me that at least.”

Gabrielle knew the goddess needed a distraction from where her thoughts had just taken her. “I learn things; languages, professions, skill-sets. As long as I’m engaged it helps me pass the time and keep hopeful.” She pulled into the parking lot of the Moonshadows restaurant. It was on the beach, and they were early, but this was clearly a place where waiting a long while for a table wasn’t unusual and she hadn’t made a reservation. “Don’t get me wrong,” she said as she parked the car. “I’ve wasted decades from time to time trying to escape my own head. I’ve tried to get high or drunk which isn’t very successful and I’ve been institutionalized numerous times” Now it was Gabrielle’s desire to turn the conversation back to something lighter. “I hope we can get a table on the patio.”

Aphrodite smiled as they approached the host. The couple ahead of them had just been told there was no outdoor seating available. The goddess asked for a table for two and Gabrielle was surprised and pleased that they were led outside to the corner table on the patio, closest to the water with a stunning view. As they sat down, Aphrodite thanked the waiter and winked at Gabrielle. In French she said, “Being a god still has some perks.”

“You haven’t lost a step,” the bard replied, also in French.

“How many languages do you speak?” the other woman asked, continuing in the language she’d chosen as she looked over the menu.

As Gabrielle opened her own menu, she replied, “Honestly I’ve lost count. Forty at least that are current, more that are dead now; I’ve moved around a lot and try to learn the language of wherever I’m at. Some have gotten fairly rusty from lack of use.”

The waiter arrived, and Gabrielle ordered them a bottle of Shimizu No Mai Junmai Daiginjo, her favorite sake listed on the menu.

“From the beginning,” Aphrodite instructed, shifting to Portuguese.

The drinks arrived quickly and Gabrielle took a healthy swallow before beginning her tale in Portuguese. “After Xena died I went kind of crazy,” she began. “For several years, I actually was crazy. I imagined that Xena was still with me and that I could see her, talk to her, and that she wasn’t really in the urn of ashes I was carrying everywhere. I couldn’t cope with her loss. I had initially gone to Egypt and spent several years there. I learned a lot about the people, the culture; I did some good I suppose, but I missed home and came back to Greece. I thought I would continue what Xena and I had been doing; helping people, like I did in Egypt. When a village is in trouble, they don’t care that their savior talks to her dead girlfriend. Eventually I settled into my grief and stopped hallucinating.”

The waiter returned and the women ordered appetizers and entrées. Gabrielle ordered a second bottle of sake. “We’re old friends who haven’t seen each other in two thousand years; we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.” she explained.

“Honey, I have those kinds of friends,” he replied understandingly.

“Ironically”, she continued when the waiter walked away, switching to Swahili, “it was the village of Cirra that changed my life. The village had rebuilt itself since the last time Xena and I had seen it. The vineyards had been replanted and they were making wine again. They were shipping it to other parts of Greece but pirates had been molesting the transport vessels. I felt an obligation to help them so I assembled a crew, got a ship, and went after the pirates. We found them, but a terrible storm hit and the ships were near a treacherous shallow reef. Both ships floundered on the rocks. Poseidon intervened and gave us a challenge and an ultimatum.” Gabrielle looked out at the ocean, remembering it like it was yesterday.

“Was it the first time you’d encountered my uncle?” the goddess asked.

“No,” Gabrielle replied shaking her head. “Xena and I had encountered him twice before, when we’d had our adventure with Ulysses.” Two millennia later and the memory still made her frown. “And when we’d met Cecrops. I think Poseidon had a grudging respect for Xena from those encounters, but I don’t think I made much of an impression.”

 The sun was now low on the horizon and the sand of the beach nearly glowed warm ochre. The clouds from the night before had moved on and the sky was clear. Stars would be making an appearance soon. She took another sip of sake. The patio was full of other diners, no one noticing or caring that she and Aphrodite were switching languages every few minutes. The patio was made from rough-hewn beams like a pier, with bright white railing to keep anyone from falling off the deck. The tide was starting to go out, the waves at this point crashing only a short distance away with the water rushing towards them below. The rock and the water reminded her so vividly of that shipwreck, trying to look after her crew, feeling responsible for them. Caught in her memories, the bard remembered Poseidon showing up. She couldn’t say it directly; couldn’t tell Aphrodite what she had done for the God fo the Sea. Right now, with the sun setting, it was too scenic and beautiful to say something that would make the smile on the goddess’ face fade and turn angry; maybe after dinner, maybe after another bottle of sake. Maybe. She just needed more time.

“There was a task he wanted completed,” She continued. “Whichever crew completed it would survive.” Inwardly she cringed at her own vagueness, but Aphrodite either didn’t notice, or didn’t care.

“So it was Team Gabrielle versus Team Pirates?”

“Exactly,” Gabrielle agreed. “I pressed my luck and said I’d accept his terms if he would help me bring back Xena. He agreed.”

Aphrodite sipped her sake and looked over at her companion. Her expression was gentle and sad. “I’ve no doubt that you found out that bargaining with a god never goes as you’d expect?”

Gabrielle nodded. “Did I ever. We completed the…task. My crew was saved, the pirates drowned and I stood there, waiting for him to bring Xena back. Instead he handed me this small gold plate with a tiny bit of Ambrosia on it. He said that he didn’t have the power to bring Xena back, that he’d only agreed to help and that I needed to find something first. He doubted that one lifetime would be enough time, and that’s what the Ambrosia was for.”

“Ouch.” Aphrodite said.

“It was so similar to what had befallen Cecrops, only unlike Athena he gave me the choice to become immortal or not. He insisted I eat it right then and there, so it didn’t fall into anyone else’s hands. He also promised that if I’m able to complete the task and return to him, he will give Xena Ambrosia as well so we can live out our lives together.”

Aphrodite switched their language to Finnish before commenting, “that’s a pretty generous offer from my uncle. Except you didn’t really get a chance to think it over, that’s not much of a choice.”

Their food had arrived and the two ate, enjoying each other’s company and the sunset. After a couple of bites, Aphrodite asked, “Any side effects from the Ambrosia?”

Gabrielle shrugged, “Some. I’ve never been sick. I was in England during the black plague and didn’t get so much as a sniffle. If I break a bone or get cut I heal very quickly; I didn’t go Velasca crazy if that’s what you mean?”

“Interesting,” Aphrodite said, taking another bite of exquisitely grilled white fish.

“I can’t get a tattoo or pierce anything,” Gabrielle added. “The dragon tattoo that I got, for protection shortly before Xena died is fine, it hasn’t faded at all. But nothing new…”

“You’ve tried?” Aphrodite asked wryly

“Maybe,” Gabrielle answered, switching to Mandarin.

“Let me guess, you’ve tried to get a tattoo and your skin forces the ink out and by the next morning you’ve just got stained sheets? Or when you get something pierced, the second you take the stud out, the hole closes up?”

“Ah ha!” Gabrielle said, feeling the sake in a nice way. “You too!”

With a wink the Goddess of Love said, “what can I say, I was heavy into the punk scene for a while.”

They ordered dessert. The spectacular light show of the sunset was gone. The sky shifted from oranges and pink hues to shades of indigo. The first stars were making an appearance and the sea made itself known more by sound than sight. The waiter didn’t mind them taking so long over their meal, especially since Gabrielle ordered her third bottle sake. At one hundred eighty dollars a bottle, he’d do better on a tip from this table than turning it over for other diners.

“Any children?” Aphrodite asked.

Gabrielle nodded. “I was alone for a very long time. Nearly a century I’d say. I was just so sad and lonely. Everyone I’d known had died; my family, my sister’s family, even Minya and her family. I’d moved away. I knew I wasn’t ready to fall in love with another woman, so I just put it out of my mind. I met a very nice man,” she stopped to think for a moment. “His name was Mistos; we got married and I had five children in fact. It was a time of happiness. I was still pursuing the task Poseidon had given me, but my family was a wonderful source of renewal.” Her expression darkened, “Until I was outliving my great grandchildren that is. I’ve been married a few times since then but I won’t have any more children. Knowing I will outlive them hurts too much.”

“I think that’s the worst part,” Aphrodite said as the two women shared their desserts; they’d ordered several delectable items from the menu. “It’s no secret that I don’t get along famously with my family, but I do miss my children. I had four sons and a daughter with Hephaestus. I have no way to know if they were on Olympus when the blast hit, or if they are somewhere in the world. It’s hard not to know.” She took a sip of sake before continuing, clearly distraught. “I think that is the cruelest part of all of this. Not being able to move, having it take so damn long to get from point a to point b. Trying to find an individual in the world is nearly impossible,” Aphrodite complained. “My children could be here, searching for me from temple to temple, I could miss them by a day and have no way to know.”

Gabrielle looked at her “I know exactly what you mean,” she said, quite serious.

Aphrodite said something else that Gabrielle did not understand but recognized the language.

“I’ve always wanted to learn Navajo,” she said. “I’ve never found anyone to teach it to me. Who taught you?” the bard asked.

“No one,” Aphrodite replied. “I just know languages. All of them; if there is a language that someone uses to express love, I know it.” She shrugged, “it’s a feature, I guess.”

“There are over six thousand languages on earth,” Gabrielle said, amazed.

“Don’t forget Klingon,” the goddess replied smoothly.

“No way,” said Gabrielle.

“naQ mer,” Aphrodite said with a smile.

The waiter came back to the table and apologetically told them that it was eleven and that the restaurant closed at ten. Gabrielle casually handed over a black American Express card.

“Holy shit, Gabrielle,” Aphrodite said eyes wide first at the black AmEx card and secondly at the bill for dinner.

The bard rolled her eyes. “Let’s go take a walk on the beach,” she suggested when she’d paid the bill, barely glancing at it and simply doubling the total to make the tip.

The women made their way onto the sand, both taking off their shoes and leaving them by the rocks that led up to the parking lot. The tide had receded and the repetitive sound of the surf was soothing. “Do you keep tabs on your descendants?” the goddess asked.

Gabrielle chucked in spite of herself as they walked up the beach on the firm cold sand where the water had receded. “Yeah, I’ve got a funny story about that. I kept closer watch a long time ago, when I at least knew who was related to whom without doing any research; but over time I lost track. Since the dark ages, I’ve been saving things, hording them, knowing they will be valuable later. Money has been power for a very long time and not having a dick…” the goddess nodded understandingly. “So, it’s the late 1920s, early ‘30s. The depression has hit, and at the time I was an archeologist. I’d made some ‘discoveries’ of artifacts I’d saved from Egypt, like I said, I’d spent some time there right after Xena died. And don’t get me wrong, I really was an archeologist, later on I had some classical training. I’d learned to read hieroglyphics while I was there so it was a pretty easy subject to tackle. It’s amazing how much easier ‘history’ is when you’ve lived it. Anyway, I come across this guy, Harry Covington and his adorable daughter, she must have been thirteen years old at the time. She was the spitting image of my daughter Lila when she was that age. I did some research and sure enough, I’m one of Harry’s ancestors.”

Gabrielle had to take a couple of quick steps towards Aphrodite to dodge out of the foam pushed forward by a larger than usual wave. The goddess grabbed ahold of Gabrielle’s arm to steady her, and they continued up the beach with their arms linked.

“I shifted careers away from archeology,” Gabrielle continued. “But I kept an eye on the family. He would fall on hard times and sell his discoveries. I’d buy them through a variety of different agents. His daughter grew up and became an archeologist herself. I’d let the things her father sold get ‘stolen’ and placed back in circulation so she could recover them. I wasn’t surprised she was gay, but I was surprised at how ballsy she was about it in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Her girlfriend was a tall brunette named Melinda, who was the spitting image of Xena. The two of them died in a car accident seven years ago. They were hit head on by a drunk driver. Theirs was the last family funeral I’ve ever attended, from a distance of course, so as not to freak out the family.

They continued on in companionable silence for a moment. “What did you do during World War II?” Aphrodite asked.

“French Resistance,” Gabrielle replied. “You?” she asked looking up at the goddess.

“I was in the SS and I inspected death camps.” Aphrodite replied flatly without emotion.

“What?” Gabrielle asked stunned and horrified.

“Honey,” the goddess said gently, “it was the only way I could freely move from camp to camp. They needed every bit of love and hope I could muster. Naturally I helped as many people as I could escape, although it wasn’t nearly enough. For the rest,” she looked at Gabrielle with deep sadness clouding her eyes, “they didn’t know it was me of course, but the love and hope was there. They felt it for each other and that gave them strength.

“After the war I was needed in Japan so I traveled there, traveling between Hiroshima and Nagasaki and assisting with the rebuilding. I have no doubt that my brother Ares was on earth when the blast hit. His handiwork is everywhere. If anything, I think the way things have turned out has made him stronger.”

“I’m so sorry, Aphrodite,” Gabrielle said, “the things you must have seen.” She put her arm around the taller woman’s waist and gave her a brief hug.

“This is one of those times I’m glad I don’t dream, I’ve no doubt I’d have nightmares. But I go where I’m needed, I have that responsibility,” she was quiet a moment. “I actually saw Ares once during the war. He was standing on a stage with Hitler; if I had the ability to kill I’d have taken them both out, but that’s not something I can do.”

“You don’t dream?” Gabrielle asked, surprised.

Aphrodite shook her head. “I technically don’t need to sleep, but I’ve learned how to do that. It’s relaxing, I suppose. I can handle a few hours at a stretch, but not like people. I guess it’s more like meditation for me. But no, no dreaming.”

“For the record,” she said. “I think you’re ‘people’.” They had both stopped and were looking out at the moonlit water. “I wonder how long I’ll live?” Gabrielle wondered out loud.

Aphrodite looked down at her companion. “Stand here, face me,” she instructed. Gabrielle did as she was told. Aphrodite was backlit by the lights of the distant restaurant, and while she couldn’t see her clearly, she could feel the warmth and nearness of the woman standing in front of her. The goddess put her hand over the bard’s heart, listening intently, she rested her other hand on a strong shoulder. Gabrielle felt a lurch, like her heart had literally skipped a beat. She felt a connection at the touch, a warm loving connection. Then she noticed the kind of unsettled stomach, awkward butterfly sensation that could accompany the first stages of romance. Aphrodite smiled a small smile to herself and the bard was embarrassed she could be read so easily. “I have to say that you’ve got a long way to go yet, Gabrielle. I have plenty of time to figure out what to get you for your five thousandth birthday.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Gabrielle said in disbelief.

“If you get Xena back at least you know you’ll be able to have a decent reunion,” the goddess offered.

They’d turned around and were now walking back towards the restaurant and parking lot. Gabrielle’s thoughts had shifted somewhat from chatting about the past to figuring out what she wanted to happen in the future, the immediate future.

“So, you said you lived near the marina?” Aphrodite asked, breaking into her thoughts.

“Sort of,” Gabrielle replied. “I live on a big boat, kind of a yacht really, that’s anchored just outside Marina Del Rey.”

“Why a boat?” the goddess asked. Gabrielle fell into step next to Aphrodite and it seemed the most natural thing in the world to put her arm around the taller woman’s waist. The goddess responded by putting her arm around the bard’s shoulders.

To Gabrielle, this was the closest to home she’d ever felt since losing Xena. She was talking to someone who knew and loved them both and there was no denying the mutual affection present. That simple act of connectedness, arms around each other, gave Gabrielle a sense of being understood that vocabulary could not. What could be felt didn’t always have to be said in words. After two thousand years, she could actually say the truth about herself and her experiences and not be put away in a mental institution.

“I live on a boat because I got sick of having to leave somewhere quickly in the dead of night and forget to bring along some important something or other. Sometimes I had to skip town because villagers thought I was a witch, or someone figured out I wasn’t who I said I was. It’s also safer. It’s harder for people to sneak up on you at sea.

“What have you been doing all these years?” she asked the goddess. “For money I mean, to keep a roof over your head, buy plane tickets?”

“Lately I’ve been getting married from time to time,” Aphrodite said with a light laugh. “I find someone old or dying, who is decent, rich, and deserves to have their last years be amazing. The house I have is the one I shared with my last husband. It’s paid for so I keep it. With money in the bank I’m able to travel around and do what I’m supposed to do. I might be with an Amnesty group, Médecins Sans Frontières, the ASPCA, UNICEF, or the United Nations. Sometimes I trek for months in the jungle, or live with tribes. When the money gets low I find another source. Honestly, I suspect I live less like a goddess than you do, Gabrielle.”

“Ouch.” Gabrielle said, feigning distress.

Aphrodite smiled. “The Bliss app is a new approach; I’m modernizing.”

“Of course!” Gabrielle agreed. “I’m buying that app! What did you say your price was again?”

“I’m not going to make a business deal with you after three bottles of sake,” Aphrodite objected.

“You can,” Gabrielle reassured her. “Do I feel buzzed right now? Hell yes! But by the time we get to the car, I’ll concentrate for a second on clearing my head and it’ll be clear. I just want to enjoy being buzzed for a few more minutes.”

“You don’t have a girlfriend who is going to be waiting up for you?”

“No,” Gabrielle said. “My last girlfriend was…” she thought for a moment, “sixty-two years ago. Shit, there went my buzz. I just did some math.”

“You’ve been alone that long?” Aphrodite asked, surprised and amused.

“There have been some casual flings here and there,” Gabrielle said with a slight blush. “I’ll admit I’m feeling a little rusty.”

Two delicate eyebrows arched up on the goddess’ face. “Oh really?” she asked with interest, brushing a stray strand of hair away from Gabrielle’s eyes. “Do tell.”

“I’m trying to come up with a smooth way to ask if you’d like to see my yacht and not sound like a total douche,” she said with a grin.

Aphrodite smiled. “I’ve got news for you. If you utter a sentence with the word ‘yacht’ in it, you’re going to sound like a douche.” The air had a moist chill; the mist was starting to roll in. It was dark but Aphrodite knew that green eyes tinged with desire were shining up at her. They stopped walking. She took a moment to ask herself if this was what she wanted, and if this was what Gabrielle really wanted. While she was accustomed to everyone being in love with her, she was love incarnate after all, she had managed to parse out over the centuries which individuals were simply in the haze of who and what she was, and who could see past the trappings of divinity. Gabrielle was lonely, her devotion to Xena was absolutely authentic and there was no mistake that the bard had learned that love for someone else did not make her love for Xena any less. Humans are not built to be solitary creatures and she would only ever be fully successful in her goal of Xena’s resurrection if she were able to stay healthy herself. That meant physically as well as mentally and emotionally.

“Are you asking me to see your yacht, Gabrielle,” she asked quietly, “or asking me to spend the night?”

Without hesitation, the bard leaned up and kissed her; a warm and caring but also confident and self-assured kiss. There was no mistaking its intent.

“I’m inviting you to spend the night on my yacht.” Gabrielle’s voice was clear and soft, with no trace of the sake from moments ago.

The Goddess of Love smiled. “Then lead the way,” she replied, taking the bard’s hand as they walked back to the car.

Once they’d retrieved their shoes, Gabrielle walked to the passenger side of the car to open the door. As she walked around to her side of the car she pulled out her phone and quickly sent off a text. “Just told my girlfriend to clear out for the evening,” she explained with a wink as she started the car. She opened her music app and picked a song from the Adele play list. The strains of When We Were Young started to play.

Aphrodite listened for a moment, the meaning of the song not lost on her for a second. “You’ve got game, Gabrielle. I’ll grant you that,” she said as they turned on to PCH once more. They drove for a bit and Aphrodite noticed they were not heading towards the marina. “Sweetie,” she said, “are you going the wrong way?”

“Nope, we’re taking the scenic route,” she replied. It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the Santa Monica airport. Gabrielle drove to the gate where someone was waiting for her. She was waved through and drove on the tarmac of the small airport to a waiting helicopter, again with someone standing by. She got out of the car and opened the door for Aphrodite. After Aphrodite exited the car, Gabrielle reached in for her flowers.

The helicopter was already running, and the goddess was surprised that at their approach the pilot got out and handed the headset to Gabrielle who handed him her car keys and climbed into the pilot’s seat; she gestured with a nod for Aphrodite to take the seat next to her. She handed her a headset. “This is very Fifty Shades of Grey,” Aphrodite said into the microphone. Clearly her companion had people, and a brief text from the bard had made the arrangements.

Gabrielle laughed, then tried to look serious. “Seriously?! Someone writes a lousy Twilight uber fan fiction story and all us billionaires get a bad name.” She handed the goddess the flowers and moved the control stick as the ‘copter took off gracefully. “I assure you, I don’t have a dungeon onboard the yacht.”

“That’s too bad,” Aphrodite said teasingly. Gabrielle chuckled. “And for the record,” the goddess added, “If you use the word ‘yacht’ from your own personal helicopter, its extra douchey.”

“Well, fuck me,” Gabrielle replied, feigning exasperation.

“Perhaps,” the goddess answered demurely.

They flew over Los Angeles, the lights shimmering like millions of stars below. The 101 freeway sprawled below them with the red and white lights snaking their way over the hills. The 5 could be seen off to the side and the 10 just below them. Gabrielle flew for twenty or thirty minutes giving the goddess an exquisite view of the city before making her way to the marina. There was no question as to where the helicopter would land. The Hippolyta was by far the largest ship there. Sleek and majestic, it was too large to actually be docked; the yacht was a short distance beyond the other ships, anchored out by itself and tended to by smaller boats. From above Aphrodite was impressed, not just with the sheer size of the vessel, but how beautifully designed it was. The bow of the ship had the helicopter pad; as they landed there were two people waiting, one to offer his hand to help Aphrodite exit the aircraft and another woman who waited for Gabrielle to hand over her headset. She climbed into the cockpit and in a moment the aircraft ascended away.

Gabrielle handed the flowers to the man who had helped her companion out of the craft. He nodded, immediately turning around and disappearing below deck.

“How many people work on this ship?” Aphrodite asked.

“I have 15 permanent staff who rotate in and out from the transportation division of my company. They’re really good at being invisible. Lots to keep everyone busy, you won’t run into anybody around my quarters unless you want something.”

“Gabrielle,” Aphrodite said softly “I guarantee that they’re not going to be the ones who are going to give me what I want.”

“Goddess, I hope not,” Gabrielle said as she led Aphrodite below deck.

~~~~~~~

Aphrodite woke slowly, enjoying a sensation of contentment and satisfaction that she hadn’t felt in years. She’d fallen asleep between Gabrielle’s legs with her head resting comfortably on the other woman’s belly. As she lifted her head, Gabrielle’s hand slid from the crown of her head and came to rest at her side. Looking down at the bard, Aphrodite smiled. It was indeed appropriate to think of her as “the bard” when she looked like this. Asleep Gabrielle looked like the naive, inexperienced young woman she’d met two millennia ago. There was innocence in sleep and Gabrielle wore it exquisitely; while the goddess had initially considered waking her companion for an encore performance, after watching Gabrielle sleep she couldn’t bring herself to do it. They had enjoyed each other for hours and nearly immortal as Gabrielle might be, she was still human and undoubtedly exhausted. She was happy and content for sure, but exhausted nonetheless.

Aphrodite thought that she might have dozed off for an hour or two, not nearly long enough for a human to recharge their batteries, so slid out of bed and pulled the covers up around the sleeping woman. She nudged the dog sleeping in a dog bed on the floor with her foot and pointed at the bed. Sleepily, Argo hopped up and after only one turn in a circle was instantly lying down asleep at Gabrielle’s side her muscular head on the bard’s thigh. She glanced at the watch Gabrielle had removed when they had undressed and a light touch revealed the numbers 4:42 glowing softly. Silently she crossed the room to the bathroom and closed the door behind her before turning on the light. She ran some water to wash her face and hands. She saw her reflection in the mirror and grinned; Xena might have feelings about what she’d been up to and what she intended to do more of and that would just have to be sorted out if and when the time came.

Turning around, she leaned against the elegant stone counter and gazed around the exquisitely appointed bathroom. There was a lot to take in, even for a god. Asleep, just outside the door, there was someone with a level of experience that could approach her own. The myth writers had it wrong; gods didn’t sleep with each other because they had some weird fondness for incest. It happened because there are a very small number of people who could really understand their experiences in any meaningful way. Even gods needed to be understood to some degree, and sought that in their partners. She was distracted from her thoughts as she examined the tub across from her; it was massive. It could easily sit three people and appeared to have jets. The entire bathroom was large. The shower area was separate, and there was a dressing table off to the side. Everything was tasteful- elegant fixtures, well-crafted cabinets, soft textures. It was stately without being showy. There was no doubt that Gabrielle enjoyed her creature comforts, but wasn’t looking to impress anyone with them.

She turned the lights off before opening the door to avoid waking her companion and walked across the bedroom to the door on the other side which she assumed was the closet. As she suspected, it was. What she didn’t expect was that the door opened to another large area with hangers and shelves neatly stacked and hung with the bard’s wardrobe. Closing the door behind her, she reached to where she expected to find a light switch and soon the room glowed with a warm inviting light. Everything was immaculate; nothing disorganized or out of place. In a way she was surprised; there was a mixed heap of clothes they’d taken off of each other in a pile on the floor not ten feet from where she was standing. Gabrielle didn’t strike her as fastidious. But here there was an order bordering on OCD. There was a small section of formal wear, a larger array of suits, pants, skirts, shirts, jackets that she likely wore for work. In addition, there were some sweaters on shelves, several pairs of jeans, and some more casual shirts. There were a variety of shoes, from sexy high heels in various colors and styles, Chucks in a few colors, some running shoes, to hiking boots. She picked up an elegant stiletto to see if it was her size and it wasn’t. Annoyed, she put it back. Two thousand years ago she’d have been able to make anything fit. She was tempted to open the drawers and see if they were as organized as the shelves, but didn’t. On a hook by the door were a couple of decadent bathrobes. Finding what she came for, she put one on, turned out the lights, and left the closet.

She left the bedroom and made her way through the short hallway to the living area she’d come through the night before. She was surprised that she didn’t feel like she was on a giant yacht. She felt like she was in a wealthy person’s home from the 1930s. The setting was a fascinating blend of art deco and modern tech that oddly enough worked. The colors were dark with warm yellows and after a moment’s consideration, reminded the goddess of Xena’s armor. The couch and chairs looked inviting and lived in, there weren’t many personal effects or knick-knacks, but she figured that on a ship, it might not be practical.

Doorways to the side of the living room lead to a conservatory of sorts; there was a wall with a variety of guitars hanging from wooden brackets. She recognized the various styles and brands having an interest in music herself. Gabrielle had her bases covered: six-string, twelve-string, acoustics and electrics. She had several vintage models and some newer state of the art guitars. There was a bass, a keyboard rack, and several amplifiers. Clearly Gabrielle had become a musician in addition to everything else. Absently she gently plucked the strings of the classical guitar hanging in the middle of the group. Its tone was sweet, full, and perfectly in tune. There were bookshelves as well lined with nearly identically leather-bound books. Just past the conservatory was a small intimate dining area. It became clear to Aphrodite that these rooms were Gabrielle’s inner sanctum and she preferred to be introduced to these spaces by the bard. Beyond the dining area, the space opened up and only now did she begin to feel like she was on a large ship.

She could see out the windows to her left the horizon beginning to lighten with the glow of the coming dawn. She looked around for a doorway or stairs to take her upstairs and out onto the deck and the morning air. It took a moment but she found the stairway to the deck above then another door to a beautiful and spacious deck. It was only now, on deck, that she realized that the ship was moving and that they were well away from land.

She was curious but unconcerned. There was no doubt that Gabrielle would fill her in when she woke up. The air was crisp and cool but the robe was warm and comfy so she settled herself on a deck lounge to watch the sun rise. With the smell of the ocean filling her senses, Aphrodite could almost pretend she was back in Greece watching her brother Apollo. A flock of pelicans flew by in perfect formation completing the picture. Watching the pelicans, she knew they weren’t far from shore and based on the sunrise, she could tell they were heading south.

Aphrodite looked around at the ship from this vantage point, taking in the sheer size of everything. A short distance in front of her was an inviting pool, salt water no doubt, with a hot tub. The decks looked much more modern than the interior of the ship. The wood deck was a pale teak; the lounges were white with blue pillows. The interior of the pool and hot tub were a pale blue. The outside areas of the yacht were clearly intended to look like any billionaire’s yacht while the interior spaces were more personal and reflected what Aphrodite remembered of Gabrielle. There was a barbeque kitchen and a covered area with couches and tables. Off to the side was a small yard with what looked like grass and a large water bowl in a holder. She was surprised not to see another soul. It was almost like being on a deserted cruise ship, but at this very moment she felt like the only person in the world in a contented happy sort of way.

It was then she felt rather than heard Gabrielle approach from behind. Strong arms reached around the lounge to hug her and she felt a gentle kiss at the top of her head.

“Good morning,” Gabrielle rumbled, equal parts happy and sleepy.

“Good morning, yourself,” Aphrodite replied, reaching up to pull the other woman in for what she felt, at this stage of their relationship, was a proper greeting. Gabrielle’s mouth was sweet and her skin was cool to the touch. She had clearly spent a couple of minutes cleaning up this morning as well. “You weren’t kidding about an unobtrusive staff,” she continued. “I could have made off with your ’54 Les Paul and no one would have stopped me.”

Gabrielle looked out at the ocean, “You wouldn’t have gotten very far with it,” she said.

Argo had followed her mistress above deck and after licking Aphrodite’s hand in greeting, she made her way to the AstroTurfed area to do her business. When she was done she ambled back to the two women looked at Gabrielle and whined putting her paw on her mistress’ leg.

“Michelle is going to feed you this morning,” Gabrielle said. She pointed back at the stairs, “go to the galley. Go get breakfast.”

Clearly the words ‘breakfast’ and ‘galley’ were well understood because the dog hurriedly bounded in the directions of the stairs.

“Smart dog,” Aphrodite observed.

Gabrielle settled herself on the lounger and looked at Aphrodite intently. “While you wouldn’t have seen them anyway, I’ve instructed everyone to go below decks until I tell them otherwise. That’s why the ship seems so deserted.”

“What’s up?” Aphrodite asked.

“I am going to tell you something and it’s going to make you angry. Then I am going to ask for your help.” Gabrielle studied Aphrodite’s face and noted that gods did not have micro expressions to let you know what they were thinking.

“You don’t think you should ask me the favor before you make me mad?” Aphrodite asked.

The bard was resolute. “No, because that’s not fair and I don’t want to treat you that way.”

The goddess shrugged, “fire away,” she said. “I already know the favor is helping you get Xena back.”

Gabrielle reached out to take Aphrodite’s hands. The goddess allowed this and waited patiently. “You never asked me the task Poseidon gave me,” she said. “The task that was between my crew and the pirates.” It was not a question. She stated this as a fact.

Concern was beginning to color the goddesses face. “We Olympians stay out of each other’s way,” she said. “Often you’re better off not knowing what they’re up to. But I’ll bite. What did he have you do?”

Gabrielle took a deep breath and looked out to sea. If she didn’t say it now she doubted she would ever be able to. Two millennia of dread were about to be exposed. Keeping her voice calm, she said, “I destroyed the Anvil of Hephaestus.”

“YOU DID WHAT?!” Aphrodite exclaimed, drawing her hands back as if they’d been burned. In an instant the goddess was on her feet and backing away towards the railing. “What the fuck!” she shouted, obviously furious. The glow of post-coital happy contentment was gone, red-hot rage having completely taken its place.

            Gabrielle got to her feet, her arms outstretched, pleading for calm. “I know, I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that was going to happen.”

            Aphrodite raised her arms. She was not capable of making a fireball but sparks sputtered colorfully in her hands. “Did you even ask?” she demanded hotly.

            Gabrielle put her arms down. “No,” she said quietly. “Would he have told me?”

            Aphrodite was furious but also frustrated at the harmless sparks and lowered her hands as well, tightly clenching them into fists. “Probably not,” she said and turned away from the bard to look angrily out at the sea. The anger radiating off of the goddess was palpable, as was her frustration at the impotence of her rage. Gabrielle joined her at the railing, giving the goddess some space. Not looking at the bard she said, “I lost most of my power because of you. I can’t go home. I am cut off from my family, my children. I can’t move freely. I can’t do much of what I’m here to do.” The words hung there for a moment before she added, “have you considered that the world is the way it is because of what you did to me and my family?”

            Gabrielle nodded, “I have,” she said, not trying to make eye contact. She looked back out to sea, wishing that Poseidon were here to comfort his niece. Or perhaps, shoulder some of her anger.

            Aphrodite continued as if she hadn’t spoken, “the rise of Judeo-Christianity, Islam, the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, Witch Burnings, Pilgrims, all that shit in the Middle East. If the Olympians were able to defend ourselves these other mythologies might not have taken hold and the world wouldn’t be the way it is.”

            “I have considered that,” Gabrielle said. “I spent twenty-five years pursuing a doctorate in philosophy and ethics, Aphrodite. I’ve written paper after paper wrestling with this very kind of question.”

            “And what did you decide?” she asked icily, turning to face the bard.

            Gabrielle shrugged, and looked up at the very angry deity, “I can’t apply what I know today to who I was two thousand years ago. If I’d known then what I know now, that destroying the Anvil would limit your power and break the tether between Olympus and Earth, I probably wouldn’t have done it.”

            “Probably?” Aphrodite asked incredulously.

            Gabrielle shrugged again. “It was for Xena,” she said simply. Then, after a moment’s thought she added, “and whose fault is that?” Aphrodite crossed her arms defiantly. “Why is it that I love her so much I’d move heaven and earth to get her back? That I wouldn’t ask any questions and actually eat the fucking ambrosia that condemns me for eternity?” She looked intently at the goddess now, nearly daring Aphrodite to say she had nothing to do with how Gabrielle and Xena felt about each other.

            Aphrodite sighed, some of her anger losing its steam, “Immortality always looks better from the mortal side.”

            “Look,” Gabrielle said, closing some of the space between them, “If you don’t want to help me then you need to end me. That’s why I sent the crew below deck. I know you have the power to do that.” She looked out to the ocean where the sun had now risen above the horizon. She took a deep breath and unguardedly looking into the goddess’s eyes, made sure she knew she was deadly serious. “Two thousand years has taught me that while I thought I could search forever for a way to bring Xena back, I now know I can’t endure a ‘forever’ without her. I’ve gone as far as I can; two thousand years is enough.”

            Aphrodite looked away, away from the ocean and away from Gabrielle. Her eyes traveled around the floating palace that to Gabrielle probably felt more like a prison. She wondered if her interactions with Xena and Gabrielle all those years ago had created a bond between them that would lead to this. Coming to a decision, she looked at Gabrielle once more. “I will help you, Gabrielle,” she said in a tone that implied she wasn’t doing the bard any favors. “For two reasons. First, you deserve this and I don’t mean that in a nice way. Let’s say we can get Xena back. You pull her out of the Elysian Fields or Heaven or wherever. Have you thought that through?” Gabrielle nodded, clearly ashamed that yes, she’d considered it and it was not a deal-breaker. “And for the sake of argument, let’s say she doesn’t remember where she was and hate you instantly. Gabrielle, you may as well be a god to her. She won’t be able to relate to you; your experiences, your knowledge, your understanding of a world that is going to be one big giant nightmare to her. When she was alive she was the one you learned from. Just how do you think she’ll adjust to this world and to you?”

            Gabrielle looked down, unable to face the goddess but her voice however was resolute. “I know. I’ve been thinking about this since the world first started to change. It was hard enough to take in gradually, let alone all at once.” She looked up again, her eyes wet with unshed tears. “I admit it. This is selfish. I want her back. I need her. If I can’t make that happen then I can’t continue. After two thousand years of trying, I know this. Aphrodite, you were the one I had to find because I thought that you might be willing to help. If you won’t help me, or end me, I am still looking…” She paused for a moment. “If I find Ares he very well may be willing to end me, if you won’t.”

            Aphrodite turned towards the water again, closing her eyes to the sun, feeling the first warmth of the new day. Gabrielle was serious. This fight was over. What’s done was done and it made little sense to expect the Gabrielle of Ancient Greece to have the wisdom of the Gabrielle of 2017. “Xena needs to come back not just for you Gabrielle,” she said gently. “If we want to fight Ares we will need all the help we can get. That’s the second reason I’m willing to help you.”

            “Fight Ares?” Gabrielle asked, surprised. “Who said anything about fighting Ares? I have no idea where he is, do you?”

            “No, but you’ve seen enough history to know the world is nearing the brink of a very ugly repeating of it. Surely you don’t think that’s by accident.”

            “Incompetent politicians are the work of Ares?” Gabrielle asked, trying to wrap her head around what would clearly be a new approach for the god.

            “This much coincidence takes an awful lot of planning Gabrielle.” Aphrodite said seriously, her arms crossed. There is no mistake behind the absolutely worst people being in charge of some very dangerous agencies and a chief executive with zero interest in the job at hand. He’s only in it to see himself on tv, that is shallow even for a politician.”

            Gabrielle considered Aphrodite’s words before reaching out and putting her hand on the goddess’s arm. “I promise you, if we can find any possible way fight what’s happening to undo what I have done, to put it right - Xena and I will absolutely do it.”

            Aphrodite nodded and leaned in for a kiss. Gabrielle responded by moving closer and bringing her hand to the nape of the taller woman’s neck. When they parted, the bard looked confused. “Two seconds ago you were ready to kill me.”

            A smile crossed Aphrodite’s lips, one of the big radiant smiles that lit up her face. “It’s too early for breakfast so introduce me to that bathtub of yours. Make up sex, duh.”

            Gabrielle was surprised to find that she was actually blushing. “Um, I’ve just been talking about my devotion to Xena…”

            The goddess stopped her with a gentle finger to her lips. “I realize I have a reputation for jealousy, but in this case, no.” She smiled again, this time a warm caring smile, with genuine affection. “Gabrielle, I know you’re lonely. You have been for some time.” She chuckled, ruefully “you probably also thought that last night you were seducing me in order to get me to help you. Yes, you’re two thousand years old honey, and for a human that makes you really remarkable. But sweetie, this is my wheelhouse. I know you woke up this morning surprised at realizing how much you genuinely love me.” She pressed her finger a bit to stop the question she knew was coming. “No, I didn’t do anything to you to make you feel that way, you just do – you can’t help it.” She reached out and pulled the bard in for a warm hug and held onto her before continuing. “I will let you in on a godly secret,” she murmured into the top of the bard’s head, “I won’t say I’ve been lonely, for fuck’s sake, I’m the god of love. But I will say it’s ‘refreshing’ to be around someone where I can be more myself- with someone who knows me from the old neighborhood so to speak. I’m happy to exchange bodily fluids with you until we figure this out – no strings attached. I’ll help you, and when we get Xena back…” she let her words trail off for a moment. “You in?” she finally asked.

            Gabrielle broke the hug and took a step back. There was no denying that everything Aphrodite said had been the absolute truth. She also couldn’t remember the last time anyone had gotten the better of her; knew what thoughts she was hiding, knew a truth she didn’t think she was telegraphing. There was no telling how long it would take to find the next bit of the puzzle, it had taken this long to get this far. She smiled, green eyes twinkling with a bit of mischief. She gestured over her shoulder, “My tub is this way.”

Chapter 3: Unforeseen Consequences

            Later, much later, the two women once again ascended the stairs to the sun deck. They were both wearing shorts and t-shirts, Gabrielle refusing to let Aphrodite put on the dress from the previous night if she was going to be in comfortable clothes. While the shorts were a bit shorter on the goddess, everything fit just fine.

To Aphrodite’s surprise, a table with an overhanging umbrella had been set up where the lounge recliners had been. A tablecloth, china, flatware, and linen napkins in silver napkin rings had been set out and a bottle of champagne in an iced carafe stood to the side of the table. On the table, the flowers she’d been given the previous night were the centerpiece and there was a scrumptious assortment of fruit on a platter.

            “When did you arrange this?” Aphrodite asked, as Gabrielle held out her seat.

            “I texted Michelle right before we got in the shower,” the bard replied. “I thought that would give her plenty of time to pull breakfast together. She’s serving as captain this rotation, but she’s the best chef on board and agreed to cook for us as well. The crepes should be up shortly.”

            “So, all your conquests get the royal treatment?” Aphrodite teased.

            Gabrielle mocked offense. “I’ll have you know that last night was the first time I’ve ever said ‘oh god’ during sex, and had one actually answer me. That deserves the good china. Would you like a Mimosa?”

            As Gabrielle prepared the drinks, Aphrodite put some fruit on each of their plates and helped herself to the whipped mascarpone cheese that was in the center of the arrangement. “The crew rotates jobs?” she asked as they began eating.

            Gabrielle nodded as she replied, “several of us have our captain’s license and can perform all duties on the ship. When we’re at sea and I’m not…ahem…entertaining company,” she winked at the goddess, “I take a job like everyone else. Maintenance, navigation, kitchen, laundry, medic, you name it. All of us can do almost everything. On a repositioning voyage, where we move the ship to a place some distance away where there are a lot of days at sea, other than where I sleep, I’m no different from any other crew member.”

            “Why so much redundancy?” Aphrodite asked.

            Gabrielle smiled sadly, “It was something I learned from Xena. If you’re on a ship and your only navigator is killed, or the medic, or the captain, or the only mechanic, you’re kind if screwed. While this ship was under construction everyone who was in the transportation division of my company went through all sorts of training on the specifics of this ship. Many of them are hold overs from my last ship, so it was a fairly smooth transition. Sometimes crew serve for a few months at a time and go back and forth between ship and land-based assignments. Other crew members really like being at sea and have been with me onboard for years. I’ve learned that people do their best work when they’re happy. Everything I know about being a captain, be it of a ship or of a company I learned from Xena.”

            The tenderness that Gabrielle used when speaking about Xena said volumes to the goddess. Aphrodite reached for Gabrielle who grasped her hand warmly, gently stroking the skin of the goddess’ fingers with the pad of her thumb. The two women sat there for several long minutes, not feeling the need to speak each enjoying looking at the other, the gentle touch between them speaking volumes without words.

            “I like that it’s always casual Friday,” Aphrodite remarked as two men in jeans, t-shirts and sneakers approached their table. She recognized one of the men as the one who had helped her from the helicopter the night before. The goddess could feel no tension in Gabrielle’s hand whatsoever as the men approached. She made no movement to withdraw her hand nor did she stop the sensual contact.

            “Good morning Steve, Hatsuo,” Gabrielle greeted the pair as they walked up to the table. “I’d like to introduce Aphrodite. Aphrodite, this is Steve Hagstrom who is currently our bosun heading up maintenance and Hatsuo Eko who’s in charge of security.”

            Both men nodded respectfully to Aphrodite wishing her a good morning. Steve looked intently at Gabrielle. “We have to talk to you,” he said, his expression serious. Aphrodite was about to get up and give them privacy but Gabrielle’s firm grip told her not to go anywhere.

            “Aphrodite has Class One Clearance,” she said simply. “What’s up?”

Without hesitation or even a second glance at their boss’ companion, Steve handed Gabrielle a shiny silver bag, sealed with a small electronic device inside it. “I found this yesterday during my sweep after the directors meeting. It was just outside your office. We were boarded by the Coast Guard for an inspection right after you left so I wasn’t able to do the check until after that.”

Hatsuo continued, “we were going to say something when you returned last night, but Michelle insisted we wait until this morning. I put it in an isolation box after storing it in the Faraday bag.”

Only now did she release Aphrodite’s hand to accept the small shiny bag from Steve. “How long until we get back to Marina Del Rey?” Gabrielle asked studying the device.

“We turned the ship around as soon as you gave the all-clear this morning. We should be there in two hours,” Steve replied.

Gabrielle nodded, “Keep the security tapes cued up. I’ll be along to review them and introduce Aphrodite to the navigation crew after we finish breakfast. I take it you didn’t see anything in the playback?” she asked looking at both men.

“There was some odd distortion on the file,” Steve said. “Both when the Coast Guard crew was onboard and when Mr. Glass was waiting for his interview. It was like a lens went out of focus then back into focus.”

“I was watching him personally,” Hatsuo, continued, “and I didn’t see him do anything but eat his breakfast. We also had people escort the Coast Guard; Elaine and Ingrid accompanied Rebekah for the inspection. We’ve gone over the ship twice more and haven’t found anything else that isn’t supposed to be here. Your stateroom was checked last night before you returned, and it was all clear, no recording devices.”

Aphrodite chuckled in spite of herself and Gabrielle nudged her under the table with her knee. Gabrielle nodded, “is Argo with you guys below?” she asked. It wasn’t unusual for her dog to roam the ship, dividing her time between the various members of the crew making sure she got attention from everyone daily.

Steve shook his head, “She’s still with Michelle in the kitchen I think.”

            Gabrielle handed the small bag back. “Okay, we’ll be along in a bit." Nothing can be done about the bug at the moment. It was a transmitter, not a recorder so whatever they heard, they heard.”

            They nodded, turning to go when another woman walked up behind the two men carrying a tray loaded with scrumptious looking crepes. Gabrielle introduced Aphrodite to Sarah Gibson who was serving as chef this tour and that the crepes were compliments of her and Michelle Fender who was serving as captain. The chef was roughly the same age as the rest of the crew she’d met thus far, with rich auburn hair that evoked more red than brown. Not a color found in nature, the chef wore it well in a short swept up haircut that almost make it look like her head was on fire. She wasn’t as physically fit as most of the crew but muscled and looked like a woman that could do a great deal of damage with a frying pan.

            As they ate Aphrodite asked, “What is ‘Class One’ clearance?”

            Gabrielle grinned, “It’s the same security clearance I have, only a handful of people in my company have it,” she said. “You can go anywhere you want on the ship, open up any door or cabinet, ask anyone any question and not only will no one question you, they’ll help you out the best they can.”

            The goddess’ eyes widened in surprise, “Gabrielle, I wasn’t expecting that.”

            The bard shrugged, “You’ve already got the pass code to my phone so…” then she made eye contact with the goddess and put all kidding aside. “The entire point of my company, besides continuing the work of trying to do something positive in the world, is to get Xena back. Poseidon said very clearly that you were the key. If I am successful, I will owe you everything.” She stopped for a moment to organize her thoughts. She glanced out past Aphrodite to the ocean beyond, with the sun glinting off the expanse of blue. There was something about the sea that always helped Gabrielle orient her thoughts. She wanted to be clear, direct, and compassionate. She had no illusions that she was anything more than a recreational diversion to the goddess, but wanted to make sure that the goddess understood where she stood with her.

“I know that you know my love for you is genuine. And you are absolutely right; I have been very lonely. Lonely in a way that I don’t even think I recognized until it had subsided. I absolutely adore you, not just because you’re the amazing goddess that you are, but you also remind me of who I really am, beyond the countless fake identities and lives I’ve lived. The fact that I can be honest with you is just as intoxicating as you are.” Aphrodite smiled at her, the radiant ‘Aphrodite smile’ and Gabrielle was glad her thoughts were emerging as intended. She continued, “I don’t think you will be offended that I don’t feel like you’re my soul mate. But I trust you every bit as much as I’ve ever trusted Xena. In fact, at the moment I trust you more than any other being on the entire planet. This is my last shot; if it doesn’t work there is no way I can keep trying. So yeah, at this moment in time, you’re more central to my entire organization than I am and that deserves clearance.”

            Aphrodite studied the bard. She wondered to herself if this was just a by-product of a human being living two thousand years, this level of self-awareness and having one’s shit together. It was incredibly attractive, and sexy as hell; while she felt drawn to the woman sitting across from her more than she had any other human she could think of at the moment, it wouldn’t do Gabrielle any favors to tell her that. Aphrodite knew how complicated love and relationships could be; after all she was the architect of most of it. But love wasn’t just romantic, there was an intensity of platonic love that could coexist with a physical relationship and it would be to Gabrielle’s benefit to steer her in that direction. It was time to be the ‘responsible god’, and Aphrodite was up to the challenge.

“I am not offended that I’m not your soul mate, sweetie,” she said, her voice rich with genuine affection. “I’ve known that you and Xena shared a soul long before the two of you ever did. Besides,” she continued “I am a god and out of your league; and I don’t mean that as a slight,” she added hurriedly. “It’s just how it is. Your trust is not a gift I take lightly and while I might enjoy some drama from time to time, your trust is not something I would betray, unless I really felt I had to.”

Her gaze into Gabrielle’s green eyes sharpened and the bard felt herself get a little dizzy. “Now I want you to remember exactly what Poseidon said. What did he tell you, word for word.”

If Gabrielle had been standing she surely would have stumbled, perhaps  even fallen over or fainted. Her sense of balance was thrown and she was hit with a wave of vertigo. Behind the off-balance sensation however, she could see the memory clearly; the memory of standing on the sand with Poseidon standing next to her. She was slightly dazed as she repeated the conversation.

“’I want to be clear about what we discussed earlier’, I said. ‘When you bring Xena back it is not going to affect the 40,000 souls that perished at Higuchi. The souls will stay in a state of grace and Xena can be returned, Yodoshi stays defeated.’ Poseidon looked down at me almost indulgently as I remember, and said,

“Gabrielle, I have been watching the two of you for many years, since our encounters together. And I have continued to watch you since her death. The gods of Jappa do not have dominion over me. You followed their rules for that event. Xena died, freed the souls of the dead and was not resurrected by the life-giving waters of that fountain. The gods of Xena’s homeland bringing her back has nothing to do with the events of Jappa.’

‘Then where is she?’ I asked, looking around the beach. We were near a basalt cave by the rocks of the shallow reef. Poseidon and I were standing on the sand and I couldn’t see Xena anywhere.”

“Poseidon was standing on the sand?” Aphrodite asked for clarification. “In the water?”

“No,” Gabrielle said, taking in the details of the memory brought to the surface of her consciousness. “The water was now about twenty feet behind us. He looked different, like a person. He wasn’t made of water anymore, but I still knew it was him.”

“Okay,” Aphrodite said, “go on.”

“I can’t bring her back by myself, Gabrielle,’ he said. ‘I told you I would help you get Xena back and I will do just that; I will help you. You need to bring me something. It belongs to Aphrodite and is undoubtedly her most treasured possession. If she is willing to part with it of her own free will, then I can provide Xena a rebirth. It will take the gods of Xena’s homeland, not just me. Xena will have two parents- Aphrodite and myself.”

“Not a visual I needed,” Aphrodite mused with annoyance.

“I’m sorry, it’s what he said,” Gabrielle replied, a bit miffed at being interrupted.

“Please continue,” the goddess urged.

“’I will go to her temple and call her,’ I said completely naively – not having the faintest clue what I’d done.” Gabrielle explained with sadness in her voice.

“Poseidon shook his head. ‘I’m sorry Gabrielle,’ he explained, ‘the gods can no longer hear you at their temples or anywhere else. Through you I have severed the connection my family has to each other, to Mt. Olympus, and to the world.’ I was about to ask why and he shook his head. ‘While I appreciate your help, I do not owe a mortal like yourself or anyone else apology or explanation,’ he said.” As Gabrielle repeated this she almost felt like she was reliving the memory. “That is when he handed me the small plate of Ambrosia.

“’The journey to resurrect Xena will not be child’s play and should not be left to a child. This is going to take time, more time than your lifetime would allow. You are going to have to search, like finding a specific grain of sand on the beach, to find my niece. If you are up to this task, take the Ambrosia and give yourself the time and develop the maturity you will need to complete it. When you return to me with the key, I will fulfill my promise and Xena will be resurrected.”

The memory started to fade and Gabrielle remembered the last thing the god had said to her. “’Your life will be long, Gabrielle,” he said. ‘Make sure you take the time to live it while you’re searching. It’s the only way you can possibly survive.’”

Gabrielle felt the dizziness subside and looked at Aphrodite who was studying her intently. “It’s funny,” she said. “After all these centuries, I confused ‘Aphrodite has the key’ with ‘Aphrodite is the key’. The end result is the same though, I had to find you.”

Aphrodite nodded, “and that you did,” she said before taking another bite of her crepe. “How did you do that by the way?” she asked, her expression curious.

The bard helped herself to a couple more strawberries off of the fruit plate before answering. “One of the divisions in my company is called ‘Intelligence and Special Projects’,” she explained. “It is the part of my company that I use to manage my various identities, if I need to generate documentation; basically the super illegal stuff, truth be told. It also acts like a private surveillance/intelligence company, also not strictly legal. We have people who scour public records, but also cultivate assets and gather information from different agencies like any other spy organization. One of the things the division looks for is people who change identities. Sometimes it turns out to be the witness protection program- we leave that stuff well alone; sometimes people are on the lam, sometimes people just want a new start, but once in a great while it’s because they are trying to hide the fact that they are immortal and need to start a new life.”

Aphrodite’s eyes narrowed a little. “Are you saying I was sloppy, Gabrielle?”

Gabrielle blushed a little, “Well… I only know what to look for because I do the same thing myself, and I’ve built this behemoth organization to search for it. If I didn’t have my own private army to help me look, I’d have never found you.” The goddess took a sip of her mimosa, knowing that Gabrielle was just being kind. “Besides,” the bard added, “If you are interested in, I don’t know, maybe trying to disguise your past better moving forward, my company is certainly at your disposal.”

Argo bounded back across the deck to greet her mistress, her rounds with the crew complete. Gabrielle scratched behind her ears and fed her a couple of slices of apple from her plate. “Do you know what Poseidon was talking about,” she asked, as Argo ambled over to receive some affection from the goddess as well. “Is it something at your place maybe?”

Aphrodite also gave the dog a piece of apple, impressed at how gentle and sweet the pit bull was. “Yes, I know what he wants. It isn’t at my place; I know where it is though. It’s in Santa Barbara.”

“Road trip,” Gabrielle trilled.

“I’d like to stop at my place first.” She looked at Gabrielle and winked. “I think we may be spending some time together and I’d like to pick up a few things.”

“Let’s review things at the command center,” Gabrielle suggested. “I can introduce you to everyone on the bridge. After that I’ll take you back to your place and then we can head to Santa Barbara, maybe have lunch up there. Do you mind if we bring Argo?” the bard asked as they left the table and headed down one level from the sun deck to the upper deck where the command and navigation center was located.

“I was going to suggest that,” Aphrodite said. “She may be of some help in getting that key back.” Gabrielle was about to ask her to explain and the goddess shook her head, an annoyed expression crossing her face. “I’ll tell you about it on the drive up. I’m having too lovely a morning to ruin it with something negative.”

Gabrielle let it go, and held Aphrodite’s hand as they walked across the upper deck. The sun was shining, the sky an azure blue. The day was already warming up and the recent rain seemed to be a distant memory. She gave the goddess’ hand one last squeeze and then stepped aside so she could step into the command center first.

The central navigation center was clearly the technological nerve center of the ship. It was dimly lit. Much of the light came from an array of screens arranged across an expansive console. Above the console were windows that circled the room allowing for a three hundred and sixty degree view. There was a chair at the center of the console, as well as a smaller table off to the side with some charts and a couple of people conferring. A tall muscular woman standing next to the chair was clearly in charge. Other than her body language, there was no way to know she was the captain. Everyone was dressed in the same casual attire as the two men Aphrodite had met earlier. Jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, and sneakers seemed to be the unofficial uniform. The woman standing next to the chair had her hair pulled back into a bun, and she was talking intently to another woman when Aphrodite walked in, Gabrielle following her with Argo trailing behind. All talk stopped and the captain spoke up.

“Gabrielle on deck,” she said, loud enough for everyone to hear her. Everyone stopped what he or she was doing to give the bard their undivided attention.

“Thank you, Michelle,” Gabrielle said. “I wanted to introduce everyone to Aphrodite.” She nodded at the woman to her side. “She has Class One clearance, and while not officially part of the company, think of her as tangentially associated with the SP division.”

There was an immediate look of understanding and acceptance on the faces of the crew that were assembled in the command center. “Aphrodite has already met Steve and Hatsuo,” Gabrielle continued, nodding to the two men on the far side of the room. She scanned the room, noting to herself the crewmembers not present and looked at her watch. “Blake, and Nicolai off duty?” she asked.

The captain nodded. “Yes, Sarah is attending to things in the kitchen, Samantha is in the laundry room and since Vox is the newest member of the crew, Ingrid is giving her an extensive tour of the engine room. Put a mechanic and engineer together and they are convinced they can improve things,” she said.

“This is our captain, Michelle Fender,” Gabrielle continued with a chuckle. “She is also responsible for our breakfast.”

The goddess extended her hand to the captain who shook it warmly. “Welcome aboard,” Michelle said with a smile.

“Thank you,” Aphrodite replied. To Aphrodite, the captain looked too young to be commanding a ship. Nearly everyone in the room seemed roughly the same age that she and Gabrielle appeared – early thirties to late forties. The captain specifically seemed to be in her early forties. She was beautiful, with deep brown eyes and a winning smile. She was fit, muscular and looked like she could easily grace the cover of a swimsuit magazine, her demeanor though made it clear that she was every inch in charge.

“I hope breakfast was okay?” she asked sincerely.

Aphrodite smiled at her, making complete eye contact and felt the woman’s pulse in the hand that she still warmly clasped speed up in response. “The crepes were divine, the mushrooms were roasted to perfection.” Michelle beamed but swallowed hard before continuing to introduce the rest of the assembled crew.

She gestured to the woman standing next to her. “This is Elaine Jackson, our executive officer, she is in charge when I’m off duty.” Elaine was a petite African-American woman who came up to the captain’s shoulder. She had an unmistakable scar on the side of her face, although her hair was styled in an attempt to cover it up. Aphrodite shook her hand and felt a rush of sympathy. This was a woman who had seen personal difficulty, though she had triumphed over it.

“It’s nice to meet you,” the goddess said. She squeezed the woman’s hand, conveying respect and Elaine smiled.

“We were just switching shifts” Elaine explained, holding her head a little higher, “which is probably why Gabrielle brought you by right now.”

“Behind Elaine,” Michelle continued, “Is Wolfgang Fowler, who is part of the navigation team, he’s going off duty and Prisha Washburn is taking his place at the conn.” Aphrodite leaned forward, shaking each of their hands. Wolfgang was a bookish young man with glasses. His hair was prematurely thinning and his arms were covered with tattoos. In fact, Aphrodite could safely assume his whole body was covered, as there were dark shapes peeking out from the neckline of his t-shirt as well. Prisha, on the other hand, seemed to be the oldest member of the crew, her long black hair also pulled back into a bun at the back of her head, a distinct gray stripe across the bun. Her nose was pierced and her skin was a stunning rich brown. She spoke with a slight accent that Aphrodite placed as New Delhi.

“Next to Steve and Hatsuo is Bohemian Van Lyle who is also in security; we call him Bo.”

He took several steps towards Aphrodite to shake her hand and the goddess was struck by not only the suitability of his name, but by how much he clashed with her idea of ‘security personnel’. He was tan, with shoulder length light brown dreadlocks and mischievous green twinkling eyes. He looked more like a surfer or beach bum than security personnel. “Your name is amazing,” Aphrodite said as she shook his hand. He was very tall, at least six foot nine, and his large hand seemed to engulf hers. His fingers were warm and calloused, and Aphrodite instantly liked him.

He chuckled. “My moms thought so,” he said. “They’re hippies. Aphrodite isn’t a half bad name yourself,” he added.

It was the goddess’ turn to laugh, “It’s an old family name,” she said. “I was born in Greece, on the beach in fact.”

“Killer,” Bo said, impressed.

“Last, but not least,” Michelle continued, indicating the woman who had moved to stand next to Bo. “Is Rebekah Luna, our representative for all things legal.” This was the least casual looking member of the crew. She was dressed professionally, in a blue skirt with blue deck shoes and a white blouse. She was the same height as the goddess with long black hair and rich brown eyes. The goddess recognized the Sioux design of her jewelry. Shaking the woman’s hand she could immediately tell that this lawyer was suspicious of her. Her warm smile did not meet her eyes, and those eyes revealed a keen intelligence. She was already trying to figure out exactly who she was to Gabrielle and if she meant any harm to her employer. Completely unoffended, Aphrodite was grateful that the bard surrounded herself with people that had her back.

Aphrodite looked at Gabrielle in surprise after shaking the woman’s hand, “you travel with a lawyer?”

Gabrielle shrugged, “In Turner’s new world order having someone from your legal team who specializes in Maritime Law on board cuts down on the hassles dramatically.”

“Gabrielle,” Hatsuo said with some urgency, “we have the security file cued up if you’d like to review it.”

Gabrielle and Aphrodite walked over to several monitors at the end of the console and watched for a number of minutes. The first feed was from the camera that covered the area where Brian Glass was sitting at a table on deck eating breakfast. The next footage were from several camera angles, each taking a portion of the screen over two different monitors that showed the Coast Guard crew coming onboard the ship and searching it. The lawyer, Rebekah Luna, was accompanying the woman in charge of the Coast Guard team, Elaine and another woman who Aphrodite had not met yet accompanied the rest of the team.

Hatsuo offered Gabrielle his seat and she watched the footage intently. She tapped several buttons to replay key moments of the feed again, to move backwards or forwards or to switch to a different angle. “They were looking for weapons,” she said, not as a question.

Hatsuo rolled his eyes, “they said it was drugs, of course – but yes.”

“Because of course you smuggle drugs on a mega yacht,” Gabrielle groused, annoyed.

“I think they were expecting a playboy partier,” Wolfgang offered.

“No,” Hatsuo disagreed, “they had scanning equipment and a dog. They saw the AstroTurf zones and bowls and asked about Argo; I said she was with you.”

“She was in the safe hold with Blake,” Elaine added.

Gabrielle nodded “very good.”

After examining the different camera angles, she focused on the shot that included her office. Just like with the footage of Brian Glass, the image went out of focus, then a moment later came back into focus. Gabrielle watched this several times before commenting. “It looks to me like the feed was corrupted. Like whoever planted the bug wanted their tracks covered- obviously- but also had some other part of the file corrupted as well. So the question is, did Mr. Glass plant it or did someone on the search team. Did anything unusual happen here?” she asked looking at Michelle.

The captain shook her head, “I had the bridge. I wasn’t watching the video feed exclusively, I was also monitoring everything else,” she said gesturing at the console. “No alarms went off, nothing rebooted up here. We only went back to the footage because of what was found in the sweep after the Coast Guard left.”

Gabrielle shrugged, looking around at her assembled team. “Well, they made a valiant attempt. If the Coast Guard planted it I wasn’t onboard and no one was in my office so they didn’t really get anything. If Glass somehow placed it,” she shrugged again. “I interviewed him and then had a brief chat with Susan Yin about,” she glanced at Aphrodite, “Valerie DelRay and her software start up. I’m not sure what anyone would make of that.”

The bard stood up and leaning back against the command console thought for a moment. “We want to be careful, but we don’t want to appear rattled,” she began. “We are going to be back in the marina soon and then Aphrodite, Argo and I are going to be gone for the rest of the day.” She looked directly at Michelle. “Please have Transportation bring the Tesla back to the marina. Also read in Susan as to what we found. I want extra security with anything having to do with Transportation. I want extra security for anything involving Special Projects, but I don’t want Brian Glass to think anything is out of the ordinary. There are some pretty big things coming to a head and I don’t want anything to fuck it up.”

Everyone in the room nodded. “We understand,” Michelle said. “I’ll brief Susan myself and Hatsuo will get in touch with Robyn about the Tesla.” After a moment’s consideration she added, “Would you like a security detail to travel with you, for today?”

Gabrielle shook her head, “No. That’s only going to be a red flag. I’m going to just go about my business as usual. I don’t think anything is going to pop up that Aphrodite and I can’t handle. How are we on restocking the ship? If we needed to set sail would we be ready?”

Steve nodded, “we are expecting to take delivery of a couple of more spare parts later this afternoon. Food stores, all of that is good to go. If we had to leave now we could and have the spares shipped where ever.”

Gabrielle nodded appreciatively. “Good to know. Don’t change anything; don’t do anything out of routine. Just be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Is anyone leaving the rotation?”

Michelle shook her head. “We’re all having a great time, and at the last staff meeting, everyone confirmed that we’re set to finish out this rotation. You’re stuck with the lot of us in our current positions for another eight weeks. Jobs will switch after that.”

There was no hiding the broad grin on Gabrielle’s face. “I couldn’t be happier. Thank you everyone, and I’ll see you all later. When I know my ETA, I’ll text you.” She glanced at Aphrodite, “if we’re not back by tonight, say 8 pm, come looking for us. If we have any trouble I’ll let you guys know if I can.”

Chapter 4: Crazy Ex-Boyfriend

A short drive later, Gabrielle and Aphrodite were back at the goddess’ home on the Venice Canals. Aphrodite pushed the front door open to the bard’s surprise. “You don’t lock your front door?” she asked with amazement.

“Would you break into a god’s home?” she asked Gabrielle simply. “That’s seriously bad karma.”

“Well no, of course I wouldn’t, but I don’t get the sense that you’re exactly advertising who you are, Valerie,” Gabrielle replied.

Aphrodite shrugged. “Fair point. But people are generally very nice to me. Besides, my neighbor Dwayne keeps an eye on my place when I travel. His husband John died earlier this year and sometimes he likes to watch TV here in the evenings for a change of scenery.” She seemed to make a mental note to herself, “I need to tell him I may be gone for awhile so he knows.”

As the goddess led them through her house this time, Gabrielle felt more at liberty to stop and take in her surroundings. Argo was busily exploring, sniffing everywhere, and making herself at home. If the bard had to pick a style to describe the place, she decided ‘bohemian’ would probably be the best adjective. Victorian pieces nicely complimented art deco or art nouveau which seemed at home with early American and more modern accents.

“I want to grab a few things,” Aphrodite said, leading them upstairs. Argo bounded after her with Gabrielle bringing up the rear. In simple picture frames on the wall going up the stairs were shots of Aphrodite and an older handsome man in a wheelchair. In some shots he was by himself, much younger and vital looking standing on a mountainside or posing next to a kayak or mountain bike. In the photos with Aphrodite he was older and clearly sick and frail. “How long were you married?” the bard asked. “This last time,” she said clarifying.

Aphrodite smiled, entering her bedroom, “Five very nice years, but we dated for a few years before getting married,” she said. “When we met, I had recently been broken up with, if you can believe that. I was at a charity fundraiser and I’d just run into my ex, so I was pretty steamed at the bar. Max rolls up in his chair and makes the most outrageous play for me.” The goddess giggled, clearly pleased at the memory. “The balls on that guy, it was adorable and refreshing. He wheeled me off my feet and we were together from that night until he died; he had cancer. He had been a businessman who walked away from his business to focus on bringing fresh water to people who needed it and to finding ways for villages to start their own micro businesses and lift themselves out of poverty. He was more interested in living his life than treating his illness,” she shrugged. “I knew it was very serious; I don’t think the treatments would have worked anyway.”

Gabrielle looked at a group picture on the goddess’ Victorian nightstand. “He had children?” The bedroom was decorated in shades of rich red and gold with sapphire blue accents. Like the expressions in the photo, and the feeling she got from the room, the whole house in fact, there had been a lot of love shared and expressed in these spaces. The feeling of affection and safety was almost palpable.

“Yes, three of them,” she said nodding. “He was widowed when I met him. They were each given three million dollars in the will, the rest going to me to continue my own service work which they are all very much behind. I honestly have never had someone’s family embrace me the way Max’s family has. I still keep in touch with them. My sweet Mr. DelRay passed away two years ago.”

While Gabrielle knew the goddess understood mortality even better than she did she still said, “I’m very sorry for your loss.”

Aphrodite had been going through her closet, deciding which clothes to pack in the small duffle bag that she’d put on the bed. At Gabrielle’s words, she stopped what she was doing and looked at the bard. Gabrielle was standing there, on the other side of the bed having just set the family photo back on the nightstand. Her expression was sincere, poignantly saying that even after two millennia, losing a loved one was still painful whether you were a god or not.

Aphrodite put down the sweatshirt she’d been holding and crossed the room to Gabrielle’s side of the bed. She sat on the edge of the bed, pulling the bard down to sit next to her. She took Gabrielle’s hands. “Thank you, Gabrielle,” she said softly. “When someone lives a long time it’s very easy to forget that everyone’s life has meaning. It’s a lot to hold, being the keeper for the memories of everyone we love, and it’s so much easier to forget; to discount individuals and get numb to the pain of loss when we have to endure it so often. The fact that you can feel sorrow at my loss, after enduring so much loss of your own speaks volumes about you and I am again impressed at what a remarkable creature you’ve become.”

Gabrielle smiled, not really knowing what to say, but she didn’t need to worry. A moment later and the goddess had leaned forward, covering her mouth with a passionate kiss, pushing her backwards on the bed. The bard had no objections and kissed her back enthusiastically. For several long minutes, they conversed in a language without words using their bodies to say what all the languages they knew could not. Neither of them heard the front door open, but Argo did and barked twice in warning. It was then they could hear a man’s voice from the bottom of the stairs.
“Valerie? Did you get a dog?”

Aphrodite pushed herself up to a sitting position, releasing the bard beneath her. “Fuck. That’s Dwayne.”

Gabrielle chuckled. She was disappointed, certainly, but also amused to be interrupted like a teenager with a parent coming home unexpectedly. “You know we never would have made it to Santa Barbara if you’d kept going,” she said.

Aphrodite stood up and readjusted her bra beneath the t-shirt she borrowed from Gabrielle. The bard sat up as well readjusting her own clothes and running a hand through her hair trying to look presentable.

“Up in the bedroom, Dwayne,” the goddess called out below. She crossed back to the closet looking at her wardrobe.

“I wanted to know how your date went,” he called up the stairs as he climbed them.

Gabrielle could hear the heavy footfalls of someone large approaching. In moments, an enormous bald man in a striped brown and white kaftan and sandals entered the bedroom. He was tall and muscled and appeared to be in his late sixties, although without any hair, it was almost impossible to tell.

“There you are honey,” he said in greeting. “Oh my goodness!” he exclaimed when he saw Argo rush to the door to greet him “Aren’t you precious,” he knelt down and let the dog climb on him and lick his face. “What a sweet girl,” he said.

“Argo! Down!” Gabrielle scolded gently, trying to give the man a break.

“Oh, she’s alright,” he countered, getting back to his feet and smiling warmly at her.

“Dwayne, I want you to meet Gabrielle,” Aphrodite said as the bard got up to shake hands with him. The man towered over her; he was easily six and a half feet tall and was wide and muscled. Gabrielle felt like she was standing next to a large block of granite.

“Don’t be silly,” Dwayne said enveloping her in a warm hug. “Any friend of Valerie is family to me.” He winked at her, “you are family, right?”

“Dwayne!” Aphrodite scolded, with more force than Gabrielle had used on Argo.

“Oh yeah, I’m family,” Gabrielle agreed, enjoying his flamboyant playfulness. He released her and she sat back down on the bed.

“See, I knew Valerie’s door swung both ways and I was sure that her next paramour would be a lady.” As if putting two and two together, he did a double take in Gabrielle’s general direction. “Is this the girl?” He asked, raising an eyebrow in Aphrodite’s direction.

“Not, that girl,” Aphrodite said, cutting off any further elaboration.

“There is another girl?” Gabrielle asked with feigned offense.

Aphrodite shook her head, “Dwayne, you are a trouble maker.”

He laughed, a warm rich laugh of a man who laughed often. “She has me there,” he said conspiratorially to Gabrielle. Looking back at the goddess he said, “Honey, you didn’t come home last night and you hadn’t said you were leaving town so when I saw that same car in front of your house, I wanted to check on you.”

Gabrielle laughed. “Awww, that is so sweet, Valerie. He’s making sure I’m not an axe murderer or something.”

“You were the date?” he clarified.

“Oh yeah,” Gabrielle said with a grin.

“And she was with you all night?” he asked interested, in a gossipy sort of way.

“And how.” Gabrielle supplied, accepting his offered high five with gusto.

Aphrodite rolled her eyes, amused at the playfulness. “I’m glad you stopped by Dwayne,” she interjected not taking the bait. “I’m going to be out of town for awhile, so I wanted to give you a heads up. Make yourself at home. I’ll send you a text or something when I know I’ll be back.”

He looked at Gabrielle. “You sweeping her off her feet?” he asked.

The bard nodded, “I’m trying to at any rate. Lord knows my helicopter didn’t impress her last night so I’m hoping a weekend in the Bahamas or dinner in Paris might do the trick.”

He shook his head and put a large beefy hand on her arm. “Honey, I’ve never met anyone less impressed with money than Ms. DelRay. That’s why Max loved her so.” His voice dropped to a conspiratorial tone, “when you go to Paris, you do the cooking for dinner and you’ll fare much better. I swear she is the most down to earth woman I’ve ever met.”

“I appreciate the advice,” Gabrielle said sincerely.

“I get the feeling you’re a nice girl,” he said, patting her arm.

“And just what the hell are you wearing?” He demanded of Aphrodite who was finishing up with her duffle bag.

“Um, those are my clothes,” Gabrielle explained. “I didn’t want her to have to put on the dress from last night and…”

“Well that explains it,” he said looking critically at the goddess’ outfit.

Gabrielle had changed into blue jeans and a short-sleeved blue and white striped button up shirt. She was wearing a well-worn pair of Chuck Taylor All Star shoes. Aphrodite had left on the somewhat short shorts and t-shirt, fully intending to change before heading to Santa Barbara.

“Where are you going today?” he asked, joining Aphrodite at her closet. He was picking out different sets of clothes and holding them up to the goddess deciding what she would wear. He also rummaged through her duffle bag and pointedly removed several of the garments she’d selected.

“Santa Barbara,” Gabrielle supplied helpfully. Aphrodite turned to her and rolled her eyes. Instantly the bard knew she’d said something wrong.

“You’re not going to see Rick, are you?” Dwayne demanded, very disapprovingly.

“Yes, we have to go see Rick,” Aphrodite confirmed, then pointed at a shoebox on the top shelf of her closet that she couldn’t reach. With ease, Dwayne slid it from its place under other boxes and handed it to her. “But it isn’t what you think, whatever it may be that you’re thinking. He has something of mine, and I need to get it back.”

He handed her an outfit he’d decided on, and selected a pair of shoes to go with it. “Rick is bad news,” Dwayne said to Gabrielle. “Valerie dated him before she met Max and even when she and Max were married, he still showed up once or twice to cause trouble.”

“Thank you, Dwayne,” Aphrodite said taking a couple of things from the shoebox and putting them in the duffle bag before stripping out of her clothes and donning the outfit the large man had handed her. “I can handle filling Gabrielle in.”

Dwayne ignored her. “Nothing makes me angrier than a man that comes at a woman like that.”

“He tried to hurt you?” Gabrielle said, instantly on her feet.

Dwayne was impressed. “Oh honey, I like this one.” He said with a nod to Gabrielle then shrugged, “I told him to beat it.”

“You broke three bones in his face,” Aphrodite clarified. “And Max and I had to bail you out of jail. John was furious.”

Dwayne smiled, clearly the memory was not a bad one. “Oh he was angry indeed. He was the love of my life, but I honey, I got an earful over that. You marry a psychologist and they want you to talk everything out.” Gabrielle nodded understandingly. “You see, I’d been a boxer in my youth and I had a different way of getting my point across.”

“I’ve been in a few scraps myself,” Gabrielle said reassuringly. “I promise that if he tries anything, I’ll break a few bones in his face and say it’s from you.”

“Oh honey, I really do like her.”

~~~~~~~

“I don’t know who to ask about first,” Gabrielle said conversationally, “Rick or this other woman.” They were driving north on the 405 freeway towards the 101 which would take them to Santa Barbara. Argo and Aphrodite’s duffle bag were in the back seat, the dog using the duffle as a pillow as she slept contentedly. “And I absolutely adore Dwayne,” she added with a chuckle.

“Dwayne is a dear,” the goddess agreed. “I met him when I started seeing Max about nine years ago. We spent a lot of time together when Max got sick. He and John were absolutely wonderful. Then Max died and then John got sick. Dwayne and I have had many, many talks that last until the sun came up. I’ve told him most of my more recent stories. He’s doing okay. Starting to manage on his own again, which is another reason me being out of town will be good for him.”

“As for Rick and ‘the woman’, they’re part of the same story,” Aphrodite said longing for the godly powers that would let her do something about the traffic. She thought for a moment, “I met Rick in the early ‘00s. We dated and things were fine – until they weren’t. Most of the time I have a pretty good effect on people; you hang around Ares you’re going to get more hostile, hang around me you’re going to be kinder.”

Gabrielle nodded, as she changed lanes. “I’d agree with that.”

“Well, once in awhile, my presence has the tendency to bring out the worst in people. Jealousy, insecurity, rage – shit that was there all along of course - but instead of people listening to their better angels as it were, they listen to all the wrong voices. Rick was like that.”

“And the girl?” Gabrielle asked.

“Rick and I didn’t live together, but I knew his habits and routine. If I’d just broken up with him, he’d have gone ballistic. Like, in a dangerous kind of way. So I needed him to break up with me. I made sure he caught me in bed with another woman. Sure enough, he flipped out and kicked me to the curb. That should have been that.” Once they got to the 101, the traffic lightened up somewhat and Aphrodite looked at the rolling hills of green passing either side of the freeway. The rains had made Southern California nearly unrecognizable. It looked more like Ireland than desert.

“And this woman wasn’t in any danger?” Gabrielle asked.

Aphrodite shook her head. “I’d known her from my earlier life as a flight attendant. She was in town for a layover and was living in Sweden so I doubted he’d be able to find her.”

“And this is the guy we’re on our way to see,” Gabrielle clarified.

“I’m afraid so sweetie. I know what Poseidon wants and I’m certain he stole it from me when we broke up. I haven’t worried about it these last dozen years because I figured I knew where it was and I was in no hurry to deal with his shit to get it back.”

“I can totally see you as a flight attendant.” Gabrielle commented with a smile.

“Absolutely!” Aphrodite agreed. “From time to time I’ll go through training and take a job doing that – makes it easier to fly to where I’m needed. I’ve been doing it on and off since the ‘60s. What are some of the jobs you’ve gravitated to time and again?” She asked.

“Medicine,” Gabrielle replied. “Out of strict practicality. I heal fast, but I can still get hurt and knowing how to do repairs and help others has been a gift. People are less likely to run you out of town if you’re useful. Luckily I don’t scar or I’d be a mess before I learned how to do proper stitches.”

“I knew you had the hands of a surgeon,” Aphrodite said, causing the bard to blush a bit.

“Technically yes, I’ve been a surgeon; last time I finished med school in the 80s. I’ve gone through formal med school at least a dozen or more times at this point. I go back every century or so because medicine advances so much. I’ve studied western medicine, eastern medicine, acupuncture, Ayurvedic medicine -  you name it. I’m glad that I don’t have to disguise myself as a man anymore to get training. You don’t get sick, so it’s not going to be of much use to you.”

“I’ll find use for those hands, don’t worry.” Aphrodite said with a wink.

“Says the master masseuse,” Gabrielle replied, still pink in the cheeks.

The goddess smiled, “well it is a language people use to express their affection.” She was thoughtful for a moment. “I’d say I might ruin you for anyone else, were anyone else not Xena.”

Gabrielle smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes and she knew that the bard didn’t share her confidence that their mission would ultimately be successful. “When did you come to America?” Aphrodite asked, deciding to change the subject.

 “I arrived initially after the westward expansion, during the gold rush.” Gabrielle explained. “I wanted to buy land and things were so awful for women when it came to owning any property or making any binding business agreements. For a number of years I lived as a man here, a gunslinger actually, so people would leave me alone. Did some work for Pinkerton and settled in Oregon. But I got shot twice, once in the arm and another in the stomach, so I hung up my six-shooter for good. When my wife died I moved to the Yukon Territory for a bit before I went back to England. When I tried to come back to New York in 1912 I got detoured to Halifax.”

“You were on the Titanic!” Aphrodite exclaimed, surprised.

Gabrielle nodded, “I was. I was married at the time, and yes, we were in first class, but the women and children thing – there was no way William was going to step into a life boat and take a seat from someone else. I stayed with him until he drowned. The water was freezing, but you know – ambrosia. I managed to swim to a lifeboat and climb aboard.”

Aphrodite reached over and rested her hand on the bard’s thigh, giving a slight squeeze. “Honey, I’m very sorry for your loss,” she said.

Gabrielle blinked a couple of times, clearing her eyes that had begun to well up. “I haven’t thought about him in awhile,” she said. “He was my last relationship with a man. He was a good man; it was a terrible night.” She shook her head slightly, to clear the cobwebs from the past. “When did you come to America?” she asked.

“Well I certainly wasn’t here at the beginning,” Aphrodite said happy that they’d come to the coastal part of the drive. “I wouldn’t have tolerated the puritans for five minutes. I spent some time here during the wars against the natives, and again during the Civil War. I was an abolitionist from Pennsylvania then. I participated in the underground railroad and tried to help as many people as I could make their way to Canada. I even met Harriet Tubman, that woman was a badass.”

            Gabrielle nodded, “Amelia Earhart, met her once, another badass,” she said.

            “Absolutely,” Aphrodite agreed. “Speaking of badasses, I’ve met Queen Elizabeth.”

            “Which one?” the bard asked.

            “Both.”

            “No shit!” she exclaimed. “Absolutely both badasses- but I’ve only met the first. I’ve got one for you – Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”

            “No way!” Aphrodite said enviously. “When?”

            “A few years ago at a party. Total badass.”

            “How about Queen Hatshepsut?” Aphrodite asked with a smirk.

             “No fair, that was way before I was born,” Gabrielle protested.

            Aphrodite chuckled, “you are trying to out name drop a god. We’re the next exit,” she added noting the signs.

            “What about Woodstock?” The bard asked.

            “I was all over the summer of love!” the goddess replied excitedly. “I was absolutely at Woodstock. You?”

            “No, but I did see the Monterey Pop Festival,” Gabrielle replied.

            “I was at the Monterey Pop Festival!” Aphrodite exclaimed.

            Gabrielle might have laughed if it had been the least bit funny. Instead it felt almost like a punch in the gut. She had been searching the globe, traveling from place to place trying to glean information from local stories about someone that could possibly be the goddess of love. To know that they had occupied the same space, at the same time a half-century ago and didn’t see each other was kind of painful. She felt a reassuring squeeze from the hand still resting on her thigh and reached down to hold it. There was no point dwelling on things that didn’t happen fifty years ago, they were on the right track now and that’s what mattered.

            Aphrodite gave Gabrielle directions to the guard station of the gated community where their quarry lived. Gabrielle lowered her window and looked expectantly at the goddess. There was no way Rick was going to grant them passage.

“Name?” The no-nonsense guard asked.

“Valerie DelRay to see Rick Gaverelli.” The guard looked down at his list and Aphrodite added quietly “I’m on the list.”

“Here you are, on the list,” he said, opening the gate. “Have a nice day.”

When they were out of earshot Gabrielle turned to Aphrodite. “The Jedi mind trick? Seriously?”

“You fucked most of my powers Gabrielle, but not all of them,” Aphrodite said hotly then quickly regretted it. “I didn’t mean that as nastily as it came out,” she amended.

“Yes, you did,” Gabrielle corrected her, “and it’s absolutely justified.”

Aphrodite navigated the bard to the sprawling estate of the goddess’ ex-lover. Gabrielle parked in the driveway and before she could move to open the door for Aphrodite, the goddess had already let herself out and opened the gullwing door to the back seat for Argo. “Come on sweetie,” she said and the dog hopped out of the car. She rummaged through her duffle bag and put something small in her pocket.

She knelt down and took the dog’s large muscular head into her hands, resting her forehead against the pit bull’s. Gabrielle wasn’t sure, but after a moment the dog almost seemed to shimmer, then it was gone. Aphrodite kissed Argo on her forehead and stood up.

            “Argo isn’t in any danger, is she?” Gabrielle asked, concern threading her voice. “My last dog was shot and…”

            “No honey,” Aphrodite reassured her. “Argo is going to be fine. She might impersonate a scary dog if Rick is an ass but she isn’t in any danger, I promise.” Then she added with a wink “strong with the Force I am.”

            She knocked at the door and in moments they were greeted by a man Gabrielle could only describe as a retired super model. She guessed he was in his sixties, had the fit body of a dancer and the chiseled features of a man who had work done and probably sold high-end underwear for a living,.

            “Hey Rick,” Aphrodite said cheerfully.

            He was immediately suspicious and looked past Gabrielle. “Valerie. Did you bring your goon with you?”

            Gabrielle instantly hated the guy. “Actually I’m the new goon,” she said helpfully.

            He smirked, looking down at her. “And I’ll bet I know how you got that job,” he said, like it wasn’t a good thing.

            “Actually, the sex is just a bonus, I got the job by kicking the other goon’s ass.”

            Aphrodite put a restraining hand on Gabrielle’s shoulder. “Rick, you took something of mine, and I’m here to get it back.” She pushed past him and entered the house, Gabrielle and Argo following her.

            “You can’t just come into my home,” he protested. “And with a filthy dog! How did you get past security?”

            “Argo just had a bath,” Gabrielle shot back. They were standing in his living room which was dominated by a pool table. Gabrielle positioned herself next to the rack that held the pool cues. She didn’t want trouble, but didn’t want to be unprepared for trouble either. “Look,” Gabrielle said, trying to sound reasonable. “Give her back her…her…” She stopped for a moment utterly confused. She had no idea what they were there to retrieve. “Valerie what exactly is it that we’re here to get anyway?”

            “I don’t have it anyway,” Rick said defensively before Aphrodite could speak, “I threw it away.”

            Argo growled, a menacing, deep-throated sort of growl. Gabrielle looked at her dog, stunned. She’d never done that before.

            “What the fuck,” he said, taking a step back from the pit bull.

            “She can tell when you’re lying,” Aphrodite said, “It had no value to you. You only took it because it had value to me.”

            “I didn’t,” he protested.

            Argo growled once more.

            “I’ll make a trade,” Aphrodite said, taking a small USB drive from her pocket.

            “My screenplay!” He shouted lunging for the thumb drive and the goddess. In a fraction of a second Gabrielle had grabbed a pool cue and using it like a short staff thrust it in the space between Rick and Aphrodite. She didn’t hit him, the tip of the pool cue stopped less than an inch from the man’s throat.

“Not so fast, buddy,” she said, the warning in her voice evident. He made a movement to grab the pool cue which she quickly pulled away and an instant later had in the exact same position. She was too fast for him. “Not today Rick.”

Aphrodite put the thumb drive on the edge of the pool table. “Where is it?”

Not taking his eyes from the drive, he muttered, “in the master bathroom, down the hall to the left.”

“Gabrielle,” Aphrodite said, her voice calm and firm, “please go get it, you’ll know it when you see it. Argo and I are going to be fine right here.”

The bard would have preferred to have been the one to keep an eye on Rick while Aphrodite retrieved whatever it was, but she did as she was asked. She gently poked Rick with the pool cue to make him look at her. “Do not touch her,” she said with as much menace in her voice as she could muster.

She put the pool cue down and followed the directions to the master bedroom with the attached bathroom. She was absolutely not surprised to see mirrors mounted over the bed, nor was she surprised to see satin sheets and a number of visual details that made her want to take a shower. The insecurity of the space, the attempt at macho, manly decorating made her wonder what on earth Aphrodite could have ever seen in him. She entered the bathroom and looked around. A book about sports was near the toilet. There were artisanal shaving creams near the sink. Some flowers that had seen better days were on the window sill in a pewter pitcher. She picked up the pitcher wondering if that might be it. It felt cold in her hands so she put it back down. She turned around to look at the area with the tub, and the shower next to it. The bathtub was nearly as large as hers, complete with massage jets. There were candles in various stages of decomposition in several different candle holders. One of the candle holders caught her eye; it was white, sort of, it looked almost like mother of pearl or the inside of an abalone shell, but it was all shades of white and seemed to glow from within. It was almost rectangular about the size of a large coaster and one edge looked sharp, the other smooth. She ran her fingers over the smooth side, it was very pleasurable to the touch and seemed almost warm in her hand. There was no doubt that this was it.

Gabrielle walked back into the living room with her prize and showed it to Aphrodite.

“You used my shell as a candle holder?” the goddess demanded angrily.

“You said you didn’t have my screenplay,” he retorted, just as angrily.

“I didn’t have your screenplay you ass, you left this drive with a bunch of your other crap. I only found it when I was getting rid of the jeans you left and it fell out of the pocket. I was going to mail it to you, but then you came by the first time to threaten me.” Blue eyes blazed with anger, daring her ex to push her further. “Gabrielle, leave the candle, let’s go,” she said and stormed towards the door. Gabrielle snapped the candle off of the shell and left it on the pool table then followed Aphrodite and Argo to the front door.

“Then why did you keep it?” Rick demanded as they left the house, “admit it, you liked the way you were portrayed.”

“As a stripper? Rick, you’re delusional. I was going to send the thumb drive back to you eventually, but after the last episode with Max…”

“And I can see you’re cheating on him, just like you did with me…” Rick nearly screeched as Gabrielle opened the door to the back seat for Argo. She unzipped the duffle and put the shell inside as the dog settled herself in the back seat.

“Fuck you, you fucking dick,” Aphrodite said hotly, “You’re nothing like my husband, and your screenplay was boring and derivative.”

“Well, that went well,” Gabrielle said cheerfully as they drove away from the Montecito estate. Aphrodite didn’t respond; she was staring out the window, a frown creasing her perfectly symmetrical features. “Hey,” the bard urged steering the car with one hand and taking the goddess’ hand with her other. “What’s going on?”

Aphrodite looked over at Gabrielle, her face flush with annoyance. “He’s such a dick,” she said.

“Absolutely,” Gabrielle agreed, “but this is about something more. I don’t think it’s about being portrayed as a stripper in a lame screenplay because what’s wrong with strippers? It’s about the shell, isn’t it?”

The goddess took a deep breath and squeezed the bard’s hand. “You are very perceptive Gabrielle.”

“I’ve noticed you don’t want to look at it, touch it, or even talk about it.”

Aphrodite sighed. “I was born from sea foam in a large clam shell. This is the last bit of shell that I have. I’m attached to it, I feel connected to it. If I hold it, or even touch it, fuck even talking about it kind of gets me obsessive, I don’t know why. For so long it’s been the only thing that’s reminded me of who and what I really am; how things used to be. If I have to part with it to get Xena back I know I shouldn’t be handling it. It makes me act like an addict and that isn’t what we need right now.”

Gabrielle drove to a restaurant in Santa Barbara that the goddess was familiar with. They would be able to eat on the patio, with Argo sitting in some shade on the other side of the decorative fencing. Before exiting the vehicle, Gabrielle gave the goddess’ hand one last squeeze. “It means more than I can say Aphrodite, that you would give that up to get Xena back.”

Aphrodite smiled releasing the bard’s hand. “You’re sweet,” she said leaning over and softly kissing Gabrielle’s cheek.

“Before we go in, do you mind if I make a quick phone call?”

Aphrodite shook her head, taking the opportunity to touch up her makeup in the mirror. As she hit the number on her phone, Gabrielle quipped, “you look absolutely perfect without makeup, why do you even wear it?”

“I like to fit in,” the goddess replied.

“Yes Gabrielle?” Susan Yin’s voice came through the sound system of the bard’s car. The electric vehicle was still on, although silent, the call routed through Bluetooth.

“I need someone on your team to build a dossier on Rick Gaverelli. He lives in Montecito at the Cypress Estates. For the time being I want him on low level surveillance. I don’t necessarily think he is a threat, but he just got really rude with…” she looked over at her companion, “Valerie DelRay and myself and I don’t want to take any chances.”

“Consider it done,” Susan said promptly. “Can I help you with anything else?”

“Yes,” the bard replied. “A number of years ago ah…my mother… was in touch with a guy named Zuma Ocean. They worked out a way to send signals to each other to make contact.” Gabrielle could hear the woman typing on a keyboard.

“Yes, I have it here, the Z-Ocean Protocol.” Susan affirmed.

“Great,” Gabrielle replied. “I need you to send a message with that protocol. The message is quote, ‘I have the key, both of them’, end quote. When we get a response to that message I want it relayed to me immediately.”

“Will do,” Susan assured her. “It says here that leaving the call signs could take any number of weeks to get a response.”

“I know,” Gabrielle said sadly. “The asset is off the grid and there is no telling how often he checks for contact.

“Okay, I will keep you posted. Anything else?” Susan asked.

“No, thank you.” Gabrielle said and let the other woman end the connection.

~~~~~~~

            “So what happens now?” Aphrodite asked, spearing another forkful of salad and enjoying the sun on the patio. Both women were wearing their sunglasses and to the casual observer looked like any other Santa Barbara socialites. More casually dressed perhaps, but their comfortable casual manner and easy conversation belied the fact that the two women at that patio table had seen most of the important historical events in recorded history.

            Gabrielle put down her slice of pizza and took another sip of chardonnay. “Unfortunately, we wait.”

            Aphrodite angled her head down and looked at the bard over the top of her sunglasses. “I can think of worse ways to kill time than with me,” she said.

            Gabrielle blushed. “No, I didn’t mean that, no of course not. Seriously I can’t tell you how happy I am to spend time with you, how…”

            “Relax kiddo, I’m messing with you.”

            “What I mean,” Gabrielle clarified, “Is that I get antsy at this stage. Stakeouts drive me nuts; I can’t just sit and wait.”

            “You live on a boat Gabrielle. Let’s go to Catalina, Anacapa, Santa Cruz - wherever.” Aphrodite finished off her wine and poured herself another glass from the bottle sitting on the table.

            “That’s actually a good idea,” the bard agreed. “I’ve had some security issues, getting away from the mainland for a few days might be a good idea.”

            “Before you hoist anchor,” the goddess continued, “I want to ask you about something and I don’t want to push any buttons.” Aphrodite looked at Gabrielle, her eyes invisible behind the stylish sunglasses. For the briefest of moments Gabrielle had a flashback to sitting at a campfire where she had asked Callisto a question, clearly pushing the psychotic warrior’s buttons, and she remembered the question she got in return. She shook that memory away and focused on the beautiful woman sitting in front of her.

            “Shoot,” she said.

            “When you get Xena back, no Gabrielle look at me,” the bard had turned her head, the possibility was almost too much to hold. “When you get her back,” the goddess said again, “are you prepared? Does she have stuff to wear? Do you have an identity for her? How are you going to handle her inability to understand,” she looked around, “well everything? She won’t be able to speak English, won’t know who George Washington is, will be completely ignorant of two thousand years of history.” She could see the bard clench her jaw and was afraid she’d offended her. “Don’t get me wrong,” she added hurriedly, “If anyone can do this, it’s Xena, she’s amazing. But this isn’t something that’s going to be solved with a sword and cracking someone’s skull. I mean, you will have to keep her from trying to solve problems that way.”

            “I admit,” Gabrielle answered, “that I haven’t taken care of the clothes part of it. I used to keep a wardrobe for her and I stopped sometime before the middle ages, it was another thing to haul around and I needed to find you first so…” she shrugged. “As for the rest, Xena and I can park ourselves out at sea and I can take as much time as necessary to explain to her everything that has happened. To teach her whatever languages she will need to know, how to read and write, all of it.” She paused for a moment, “I know it will go better if, say, there are two familiar faces she has to rely on instead of just one.”

            To Aphrodite the suggestion wasn’t exactly an unexpected one. Since Gabrielle had found her she’d felt less alone and apart from the world than she had in recent memory. “While I’m not one to hang out with my former lovers, when you become a former lover my dear, I will still hang out with you,” she said as gently and plainly as she could.

Gabrielle looked a little stunned by the observation but smiled sadly, of course that was what was going to happen. And it wasn’t like the bard didn’t want that to happen, Xena was the love of her life. But hearing it put so succinctly, with no animus, just as simple fact; it still stung. “In the meantime though,” Aphrodite said, deciding to cheer her up, “you aren’t ‘former’ yet and I shall let you thank me in advance. Besides,” she added, “I can take care of the wardrobe thing for you. I know her size, I know what she’d like to wear. We can set sail tomorrow evening?”

            “That would be perfect,” the bard agreed, refilling her own wine glass. “To the present then,” Gabrielle said holding up her glass, which pleased the goddess more than she would ever admit.

As the sun moved towards the west, readying for its descent to the ocean horizon, the bard and goddess were heading south on the 101 freeway. A playlist of songs about Southern California provided a background soundtrack.  “I’ve got a question for you,” Gabrielle said as they enjoyed the expanse of blue. “That thing you did to Argo, where she’s now a canine lie detector, is that permanent?”

“Well, I didn’t really do anything to her. Dogs can already tell when someone is lying. I just encouraged her to say something about it. I can make her forget if you want me to.”

“I don’t want to make her feel weird.” Gabrielle said, living for centuries still left some unknowns when it came to understanding the psychology of dogs.

“Honey, communicating better with you doesn’t make her feel weird. If anything, I’m sure she’ll be happy that you’re taking her advice and listening to her, but it is up to you.”

 “No, go ahead and leave her as is, if she doesn’t mind. Okay, here is another question. I’m going to add you to my charge account, do you want to get added as Valerie? Or use a new identity?”

“I’m not sure,” Aphrodite admitted. “It’s been awhile since I’ve switched, it might not be a bad idea, although I’ve kind of gotten used to Valerie DelRay.” She thought a moment more. “How often do you change identities?”

“I’ll be honest,” Gabrielle admitted. “At any given time I have six alter identities that are fully vetted on paper. They have social security cards, for the American identities of course, passports the works. I pay taxes on them, a couple of them own property. If I need to switch, I can do so pretty seamlessly. I’d be happy to let you adopt one of those if you want.”

“You pay taxes for six people who don’t exist,” Aphrodite said shaking her head.

“What I can I say, I’m in to public schools and roads,” Gabrielle chuckled. “How about Anna Winter or Ingrid Larson?” she asked.

Aphrodite shrugged, “I’ll take the one you ripped off from Frozen,” she said.

“Okay,” Gabrielle said handing Aphrodite her phone. “Take a selfie and pretend you’re posing for a passport photo. Because this is going to be your passport photo.” The goddess did as she was instructed and handed the phone back. The bard selected a name and again, the phone call routed through the car speakers.

“Yes, Gabrielle?” Susan Yin said.

In that moment, hearing Susan’s voice, her de facto right hand professionally, Gabrielle made a split decision. The centuries had taught the bard to trust her own instincts, and she decided she needed to read in the woman on the other end of the line regarding the truth. Tomorrow she would do something that had landed her in a psychiatric unit more than once.

“A couple of things, Susan,” she said. “I’m sending you a photo. You’ll recognize Valerie DelRay from the surveillance photos Mike took.” We are going to assign her to the Anna Winter identity. I need you to bring a complete package for her to the ship tomorrow. Valerie has Class One clearance.”

“Is she assigned to SP?” Susan asked.

“Sort of, yes,” Gabrielle said. “She’s not technically on payroll… hold on,” she turned to look at Aphrodite. “Do you want to be on payroll?”

“How’s your dental plan?” the goddess asked with a grin.

“No, I don’t think she will be on payroll, but add her to my expense accounts. She will have access to the plane, the cars whatever she needs.”

“Got it,” Susan affirmed, “I’ll contact HR and get this to the appropriate departments. Do you want her identified as Valerie DelRay anywhere, or just as Anna Winter. You know that Sabin Jha and myself are the only people who know all the aliases,” she reminded Gabrielle.

“Just as Anna Winter. I also want you to start an alias for Xena,”

“Last name?” Susan asked.

“Amphipoli,” Gabrielle decided. “Let’s run the identity two ways with American and Greek citizenship, I’ll let you know later which one we will use. Photo to come later, it’s not for me or Valerie.”

“I’ll start working the contacts,” she affirmed. 

“And Susan,” Gabrielle added. “When you come to the boat tomorrow with the package for Anna, set aside some time. I want to read you in on something.”

“I will see you tomorrow,” she agreed. “I will text you my ETA when I head over.”

“Sounds good,” Gabrielle said, ending the call. “Well that’s a productive day,” she said to Aphrodite.

As they arrived back at the marina, Gabrielle hesitated before pulling into the parking lot. “Are you good with taking a boat to the boat?” she asked. “I mean, I could head to the airport instead…”

“And waste time flying around when I could be in your bed?” the goddess teased, then added more seriously, “the view last night was stunning and wonderful – and it has been a very long time since I had that kind of view, but yeah, I’m good going home and going to bed.”

Gabrielle pulled into the lot, handing her keys to the man waiting for her. “Thanks Dave,” she said.

“Shall I keep the car on hand?” He asked. “Or move it back to storage?”

Gabrielle glanced up at Aphrodite. “Anna will be using the car tomorrow, so keep it here,” she said before escorting Aphrodite to the boat that would take them to The Hippolyta. She didn’t say anything to the goddess of course, but hearing her refer to the ship as ‘home’ brought a smile to her face. Whether it was conscious or not, to her it spoke volumes.

Gabrielle slid into bed next to Aphrodite, who was watching her. Neither woman bothered wearing any sleeping attire. Unlike the previous night which was very much about pent up lust and seduction, there was a more settled intimacy between them this night, almost as if they had spent years in this relationship, not hours. “Out with it Gabrielle,” Aphrodite said when the bard looked at her shyly.

Gabrielle swallowed, “I’m going to ask you something really unsexy,” she finally said.

“I just watched you brush your teeth,” the goddess replied, “I think I can handle unsexy.”

“Would you mind if I wrote in my journal for a few minutes,” she finally asked. “I usually do it before I go to bed, and I didn’t last night and…”

Again, Gabrielle was rewarded with one of the smiles that seemed to light up not only the goddess’ face, but any room that face might be in. “Honey, of course not. Hand me your iPad, I need to drop a note to one of Max’s kids.”

Gabrielle handed her iPad over and picked up her journal and pen. Aphrodite noticed that the binding was the same as most of the books in the library. “All of those books in the library, they’re all journals?”

Gabrielle shrugged, “Well I am a bard, ya know.”

“You’re not worried about prying eyes?” she asked, trying to imagine how many volumes it would take for two thousand years of memories.

“You’re welcome to read them if you’re ever curious about what I’ve been up to,” Gabrielle said as she passed the book over to Aphrodite, inviting her to look at its pages. Immediately the goddess could see why the bard wasn’t worried about anyone reading her most intimate thoughts. She was writing in a combination of Greek, Latin and words from a dozen other languages thrown in. She even recognized several hieroglyphics. Aphrodite flipped back a couple of pages and saw that the entries were written almost like letters to Xena, a way to someday fill the warrior in on absolutely everything that had happened while they were apart.

“And what will you tell Xena about our interaction, Gabrielle?” the goddess asked coyly, scanning the most recent entry about her possible discovery.

Gabrielle blushed, “You can see they’re letters to Xena, I’m not a dick. But I don’t lie to her, ever. It’s just that some things get glossed over. You should see how uneventful all of my honeymoons have been.”

“Yeah, but it’s not everyday someone wakes up with the Goddess of Love…” while she was just teasing, Gabrielle could almost sense something else lurking just below the surface. If Aphrodite had been human she might suspect a wounded ego.

“Hold on,” she said and turned to the back of the book and carefully tore three or four pages from the volume. She started writing, quickly. Pausing from time to time to close her eyes before putting pen to paper again. Aphrodite didn’t know if she was visualizing her thoughts or waiting for inspiration. She turned her attention back to the iPad and in twenty minutes Gabrielle had finished the four pages she was working on. She put them under the iPad on the goddess’ lap. “Give me a fifteen minute head start,” she instructed, “then you can start reading.”

Aphrodite did as she was instructed finishing her email then glancing at the news websites. The news was nearly all bad, equal parts heart breaking and anger inducing so she closed that app. She watched Gabrielle for a moment; the bard was lost in her own thoughts of what she was recording for Xena. She checked the time read out on the iPad and realized that twenty-two minutes had gone by, so she picked up the pages and started reading.

The words strung together, in the bard’s neat script of Greek and Latin were at once very graphic and left nothing to the imagination, but kind of elegant too. She turned the first page over reading its backside. She needed to revise her assessment of the work; the words were veering from graphic and elegant to downright raunchy and quite plainly filthy. “Holy shit, Gabrielle,” Aphrodite breathed as she continued to read. The vignette placed before her was both an inventory of things they had already done, as well as an imagining of how the night might progress. Stylistically the bard transitioned from poetic, to coy, to nastily descriptive; yet together it had cohesion. And there was humor. Flipping to the backside of the second page the goddess couldn’t help but giggle. “Oh you wish,” she said out loud. She moved on to the third page as the bard finished with her journal. She watched Aphrodite read her words, inwardly beaming with satisfaction as she saw crisp blue eyes flare with hunger and desire. By the time the goddess flipped over the fourth page Gabrielle thought she could almost feel heat radiating from the other woman’s skin.

Aphrodite finished the document and turned to look at Gabrielle after tossing both the pages and the iPad on the floor. “Hell yeah you’re a bard,” she said, her voice thick with desire.

“You gonna make that all happen?” Gabrielle asked, her own ardor rising, as she saw her reflection in pale blue eyes.

Aphrodite smirked, “You’ve shown me what kind of bard you are, I think I need to show you what kind of goddess I am.”

“So you were holding back?” Gabrielle teased, thinking that she was kidding.

“Actually, I was.”

Chapter 5: Having a Hammer

The moon had long since reached its zenith in the sky and Aphrodite was sitting up in bed wondering if she should feel guilty or not. She knew that she was not listening to her own better angels when indulging her desires with the bard. Being perfectly honest, she could not remember the last time she’d indulged herself this way with a human and couldn’t even think of a time like this with a female. The immortality of course was the only reason felt safe in letting go, knowing that she wouldn’t hurt Gabrielle. Perhaps it was selfish on her part, still she doubted there would be any complaints from her companion. She gazed down at the bard who was sleeping very soundly next to her a strong arm stretched across the goddess’ waist. She was pondering when the appropriate time would be to transition their relationship to something that didn’t include sex and decided that she really didn’t want to think about it.

The sound of crickets drew her from her thoughts and she saw Gabrielle’s phone vibrate on the nightstand across from her. She nudged her companion, “wake up honey,” she said. “Your phone is ringing.” Gabrielle didn’t budge. She shook the bard. The bard continued to sleep soundly. Not wanting her to miss the call, she reached over Gabrielle’s sleeping form and picked up the phone, she saw that it was Susan Yin calling so she answered.

“Gabrielle’s phone, this is Valerie,” she said.

The other end of the phone was quiet for a second. “Ah…is Gabrielle there?” The other woman asked.

“She’s here alright,” Aphrodite said, “I’m just having some trouble waking her up.” After she spoke, she grimaced. This was not Dwayne on the other end of the line, a close confidant that Gabrielle might discuss her sexual escapades with. She didn’t know how much the bard’s employees knew about her private life and she shouldn’t have been so blunt.

If she was surprised, Susan Yin didn’t let on. “Well I can give the message to you, since Gabrielle gave you clearance,” she offered. “When she wakes up you can fill her in?”

Aphrodite shrugged. “Tell me what you’ve got and I’ll let you know.”

“Zuma Ocean responded to the message. The response was, quote, “Bring the keys, ashes, and hammer to the tip of Baja, new moon, the arch” end quote,” Susan recited the message as though it weren’t the least bit confusing. “The new moon is in three weeks on the twenty-third,” she added.

“Yeah,” Aphrodite agreed. “I think Gabrielle needs to hear this, hold on and I’ll try to wake her again.” She set the phone down on the bed and pushed Gabrielle onto her back. With a hand on her heart and one on her forehead she concentrated.

With a jolt the bard’s eye flew open, and she bolted up in bed. “By the gods!” she exclaimed in surprise, “Holy fuck that was amazing! I can’t even…”

She stopped talking when she saw Aphrodite close her eyes and shake her head vigorously. She looked at her quizzically and then saw the phone in her hand, the phone she was handing to her. The one with the Senior Vice President of Special Projects on the other end. If she were any younger than two thousand Gabrielle Evans would have probably died of embarrassment. She put the phone to her ear. “Hi Susan,” she said sheepishly, “I was…um…asleep.”

Gabrielle cringed at the audible smile in the other woman’s voice. “Apparently,” Susan said. She repeated the message she’d given Aphrodite and waited for the bard’s response.

Gabrielle tapped her watch on the nightstand, it was almost half past three. “Okay, I understand the message,” she said, annoyed and frustrated.

“Do you want to push our meeting tomorrow to later in the day?” Susan asked, misinterpreting the source of Gabrielle’s annoyance.

“No, no, you’re fine,” Gabrielle assured the other woman. “I just need to make an unplanned trip to Greece, that’s all. How soon can we get the jet to LAX?” she asked.

“Philanthropy is using it to transport food and medicine for a humanitarian project right now,” Susan said. “If you don’t cut that mission short, we can have it at LAX in a week. Shall I check with transportation?”

Gabrielle took a deep breath; Poseidon wouldn’t be at Cabo San Lucas until the new moon there was no point getting there early. Once again she would have to wait. “Tell Transportation to get the plane back to me but only when it’s current assignment is over. The crew should rotate out. If they don’t want to, that’s fine, but this could be dicey, they need to be sharp.”

“Understood,” Susan said before hanging up.

Gabrielle put the phone back on the nightstand, her near death embarrassment having been tampered by frustrating news. “We’re going to Greece?” Aphrodite asked, moving a stray strand of hair from the bard’s face.

Gabrielle nodded, knowing she was going to bring up a sore subject. “When I destroyed Hephaestus’ Anvil…”

To her credit, the goddess wasn’t annoyed, didn’t frown or give any indication that this news had her positively furious less than twenty-four hours ago. “How did you accomplish that, by the way,” she simply asked, curiously.

“Poseidon gave us the challenge outside of Hephaestus’ cave.” Gabrielle explained. “He wasn’t there. The pirate captain immediately had some of his men storm the cave entrance to beat us to it, and they started hacking at the anvil with their swords. As I’m sure you know, if you hit any kind of metal on that anvil, unless you’re Hephaestus of course and know what you’re doing, you’re going to generate sparks that will kill you. The pirate captain went through a third of his crew before he figured that out. I had my crew split into three groups and head out in three different directions to see what was in the area.

“Not far from the cave, to the north was a village that was being harassed by a giant. A few miles away to the east my men found a sleeping Titan. I’d remembered the incantation that awakens Titans.”

“You were able to wake him up?” Aphrodite asked curiously, that whole virginity thing – which I think is stupid by the way,” she added with a disapproving frown.

“I wasn’t sure I’d be able to,” Gabrielle replied, “but apparently, when you’ve been able to wake a Titan- when one has one’s virginity- the ability sticks with you so you can do it again after you’ve had some…ah…experiences. Honestly, I have no idea how the Titans know one way or another. Anyway, I woke him up, told him to take care of the giant, and suggested that the anvil might make a good weapon.”

“Who was it?” Aphrodite asked.

“Menoetius,” Gabrielle replied.

“So Menoetius fought…”

“Agrius,” Gabrielle supplied.

“So Menoetius fought Agrius the giant and destroyed the anvil in the process? The goddess asked.

“Exactly,” Gabrielle said.

“And they were both killed when the anvil was destroyed?”

“Yes,” Gabrielle admitted, making no attempt to defend herself.

“If it’s any consolation, Menoetius was a total dick,” Aphrodite said. “I mean I’m not glad he’s dead of course, he was distant family, but he was not a nice person.”

“I know that doesn’t make it okay,” Gabrielle said.

“The plan was classic Xena,” Aphrodite acknowledged. “So what happened to my ex-husband’s hammer?”

“After it was over, Poseidon handed me the hammer and told me to keep it safe. I took that to mean to hide it, so I did. I had no idea he expected I’d keep it with me,” Gabrielle said.

“I’m sure if you’d tried it would have been taken from you by now,” the goddess offered.

“Absolutely,” the bard agreed. “When I left Greece after my great grandchildren had died it took me a long, long time to really learn how to keep myself safe. I’ve lost everything I had any number of times. Certainly, every time I was admitted to an asylum, or arrested. I’ve started over more times than I can count.” She gestured in frustration, “hell, if I’d had it on the Titanic, it would be two miles down on the bottom of the ocean right now.”

“You remember where you put it? You’ll be able to find it?” Aphrodite asked.

Gabrielle nodded, “I’d stashed Xena’s ashes in the vicinity of the other mementos and I went back to pick up her urn about a hundred years ago. Besides, we’ve got a week to go over maps, get everything planned, it’s all good.”

“So you have nothing left to worry about for now?” she whispered near the bard’s ear.

“Well maybe one thing,” she replied with a mischievous grin.

~~~~~~~

Part 2

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