It wasn't a real wedding. Not with a priest or judge. They got married in the Go Go Cowgirl. Upstairs. With the other bargirls as bridesmaids.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jon asked her.
Maria smiled, holding his hands. "Let this be a symbol of our love. When you go back to war tomorrow, I want you to go as a husband. So that you have something to survive for. So that you come back to me."
Jon was not ready to get married. Neither was Maria, he knew. This was not a real wedding, just a symbol. A promise.
It was something good in a world falling apart. It was something to keep him together. It was love in a galaxy of hate.
The other girls brought bottles of champagne, and they cheered and wept, and Maria wore her white dress from the first night. Charlie donned a sheet as a robe and pretended to be a priest, speaking in a deep voice, even painting a mustache onto her face. Everyone laughed. But when she pronounced Jon and Maria husband and wife, everyone was solemn. And the couple kissed.
"Woo, now let's drink and get pissed!" Etty cried, cracking open a bottle of champagne.
More bottles popped, and fountains sprayed, and everyone laughed. Maria looked into Jon's eyes, her smile so bright, and he held her hands.
"Congratulations, Mrs. Taylor!" Charlie said, and kissed Maria's cheek, but she seemed so sad.
Maria hugged the older woman. "Thank you, Charlie. Are you okay?"
Charlie wiped her eyes and smiled. "I'm happy for you." She mussed Maria's hair. "Angel of Bahay."
"She's an angel of Earth!" Jon said. "You all came from Earth once, haven't you? The Bahayans. You came from the Philippines centuries ago. You're all Earthlings too."
Charlie raised her cup high. "To Maria the Earthling!"
The girls laughed. They raised their cups too. "To Maria the Earthling!"
Jon hugged her. This girl he had met in the slums. This daughter of a nation he was sent to destroy. His imaginary wife, maybe one he would someday marry for real. Maria. The only good thing he had found in this war.
* * * * *
That night, they went down to Go Go Cowgirl's common room, and they celebrated with food and drink. The whole platoon showed up. Even Sergeant Lizzy arrived to drink and laugh and dance with her soldiers. The ruthless sergeant, the woman who had tormented them so much at boot camp—drinking and dancing with them! She even danced with Jon, and her eyes shone.
"The whole platoon is talking!" Lizzy said, her hands on Jon's shoulders. "They say you're in love."
"Yeah, they've been busting my balls all week," Jon said.
Lizzy laughed and mussed his hair. "I'm happy for you. She's beautiful."
Jon grinned. "You know, Lizzy, you're a lot nicer when you're not whipping me."
She patted his cheek. "I might have to again. You're a horrible dancer." Playfully, she pushed him away. "Now stop dancing with your sergeant and go spend time with your wife."
Tomorrow, Jon and his friends were returning to war. Tomorrow, he would trudge through the jungle again, killing, maybe dying. But tonight he was here. Tonight he was with Maria. With his friends. With people he loved. They danced, laughed, and drank like it was their last night alive. And maybe it was.
It was midnight when the door banged open.
A man barged into the Go Go Cowgirl, eyes wild. One eye burning with dark fire. Another white with cataracts.
A man with a hard, angular face. With a pointy goatee. With a scar across his forehead.
"Ernesto!" Maria whispered, going pale.
Jon's heart dipped. He felt like he was back in Captain Pete's helicopter, plunging through turbulence.
Ernesto? Ernesto Santos? The man who killed my brother?
He had seen photos of the man. Carter had shown him on the hunt.
"It's him," Jon whispered.
The guerrilla stomped across the common room, his boots splattering mud. A bandoleer hung across his chest, and he held a pistol.
"Maria!" he cried, approaching her. "Maria, I found you. I finally found you!"
Jon stared, frozen. Maria cowered behind him.
"Jon, help," she whispered.
And everything seemed to happen at once.
Lizzy leaped to her feet. The sergeant was trembling. Of course she was trembling. Lizzy—the woman Ernesto had raped, tortured, mutilated.
The sergeant let out a howl. A great cry torn with anguish. She reached for her rifle, which leaned against the wall. She loaded. She aimed at Ernesto, and—
Ernesto fired his pistol.
A bullet tore through Lizzy's chest. Blood sprayed the wall behind her, and the sergeant crashed to the floor.
Jon grabbed his rifle, shielding Maria behind his back.
Pistol smoking, Ernesto was turning toward him.
For a second, the universe seemed to freeze. Images flashed before Jon. Rainforests burning. A dark labyrinth trapping him. A beautiful angel blessing him.
Ernesto aimed his gun at Jon, and Maria screamed.
Jon pulled his trigger.
Both guns fired at once, and blood painted the world.
The story continues in . . .
EARTHLINGS
SOLDIERS OF EARTHRISE II
Click here to read Earthlings.
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NOVELS BY DANIEL ARENSON
EARTHRISE
Earth Alone
Earth Lost
Earth Rising
Earth Fire
Earth Shadows
Earth Valor
Earth Reborn
Earth Honor
Earth Eternal
Earth Machines
Earth Aflame
Earth Unleashed
SOLDIERS OF EARTHRISE
The Earthling
Earthlings
Earthling's War
The Earthling's Daughter
We Are Earthlings
CHILDREN OF EARTHRISE
The Heirs of Earth
A Memory of Earth
An Echo of Earth
The War for Earth
The Song of Earth
The Legacy of Earth
KINGDOMS OF SAND
Kings of Ruin
Crowns of Rust
Thrones of Ash
Temples of Dust
Halls of Shadows
Echoes of Light
THE MOTH SAGA
Moth
Empires of Moth
Secrets of Moth
Daughter of Moth
Shadows of Moth
Legacy of Moth
REQUIEM
Dawn of Dragons Requiem's Song
Requiem's Hope
Requiem's Prayer
The Complete Trilogy
Song of Dragons Blood of Requiem
Tears of Requiem
Light of Requiem
The Complete Trilogy
Dragonlore A Dawn of Dragonfire
A Day of Dragon Blood
A Night of Dragon Wings
The Complete Trilogy
The Dragon War A Legacy of Light
A Birthright of Blood
A Memory of Fire
The Complete Trilogy
Requiem for Dragons Dragons Lost
Dragons Reborn
Dragons Rising
The Complete Trilogy
Flame of Requiem Forged in Dragonfire
Crown of Dragonfire
Pillars of Dragonfire
The Complete Trilogy
ALIEN HUNTERS
Alien Hunters
Alien Sky
Alien Shadows
OTHER WORLDS
Eye of the Wizard
Wand of the Witch
&n
bsp; Firefly Island
The Gods of Dream
Flaming Dove
KEEP IN TOUCH
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