Starfist: Wings of Hell Read Free Page A

Schultz, who stood just inside the kitchen doors, looking at her. To everyone in the kitchen except her, Schultz’s expression was a glower that promised sudden, violent death. To Einna Orafem, Schultz’s look was one of tender passion and love.
    She slowly closed her mouth, and her lips moved in the shape of his name, though she didn’t have the breath to speak it.
    The big Marine lifted a hand and pointed a crooked finger at her. That broke her paralysis, and she screamed and ran to him, flinging herself into his arms and throwing her legs around his waist with enough force to stagger even the big man.
    The Big Barb’s kitchen staff ogled their tyrannical boss and exchanged disbelieving glances at the way she rained wet kisses all over Schultz’s face, emitting squeaks and squeals as she did. Schultz did the manly thing, stoically accepting the kisses and clasping his hands under her buttocks to hold her up. There was no way of telling how long Einna Orafem would have continued blubbering over Schultz if she hadn’t been interrupted when Big Barb herself burst through the door.
    “Vat’s goink on in here?” Big Barb bellowed in a voice that could stampede a herd of kwangduks, and did rattle crockery. “Dis is a vork- blace! I don’ hear no sounts of vork ! You!”—she smacked Schultz on the seat of his pants with a crack that echoed off the kitchen walls—“Unhant dat voman! She’s my cook, she’s got vork to do!”
    Einna Orafem wrapped her arms tightly around Schultz’s neck and pressed her cheek into his, glaring at her employer. She snarled at Big Barb in the same tone she’d been about to use on her staff before she lost her voice, “My Hammer’s back from war. I’m off duty!”
    “Sez who?” Big Barb demanded, stepping close to shove her face at her chief cook. “You tink you can get anodder chob easy?”
    “Go ahead, fire me! I’ll get a job cooking in the mess hall at Camp Ellis. Then see what happens to your business when the Marines decide to eat there instead of here!”
    The two women glared at each other for a long moment before Big Barb reared back and roared out a laugh that would have stampeded a distant herd of kwangduks, and did knock a few pots off stoves.
    She beamed at Einna Orafem and patted her on the cheek. “You got spirit, girl. I like dat in a voman.” She stepped around to face Schultz and wagged a sausagelike finger in his face. “Don’ you hurd her. An I vant her back in time for domorrow’s dinner. You unnerstan?”
    Schultz rumbled something that Big Barb took to mean, “I promise not to hurt her, and I’ll have her back in time for tomorrow’s dinner.”
    “Gut. Now da two a’ you gid outta here, you distracting da res’ a’ da peoples.” She spun about, glaring at the kitchen staff. “Who tol’ you ta stop vorkink ? You god meals ta cook, hungry peoples ta feed. Gid back to vork !”
    Later, after they’d sated themselves and given each other as much pleasure as they could, while Schultz slept, Einna Orafem cried over the fresh scars on his back, scars from the wound he’d suffered on Ravenette.

    Corporal Rachman Claypoole looked around nervously. Near the southern horizon, he could just about make out the village of Brystholde. To the west, beyond cultivated fields, was forest. Snow dusted the fields to the north. Where they gave way to scrubland, reindeer grazed. Low mountains rose beyond the fields to the east; farm buildings were visible in the distance. Claypoole saw no people in the fields, only the various farm machines going about their business. Claypoole was a city boy born and bred; he had no idea what the huge machines were doing in the fields, only that whatever it was, they did it without close human supervision. Sheep and hogs, descended from animals long ago imported from Earth, occupied pens just far enough away that their strong scent wasn’t a stench.
    He started at a feminine giggle.
    “What’s the matter, is my big, strong