FRIEND OR FOE? - Part One
[Spoiler (click to open)]
Sapphire and Steel must face a new threat. But is it really a threat? -
Note for the female readers: I suggest you identify yourselves with the
new character, so you won't blame her for her actions... This story has
not been beta read, so kindly ignore the mistakes: English is not my
mother tongue.
CHAPTER ONE
A man and a woman were sitting in the small refreshment area of a desolate gas station. They were both blond, and they both looked quite disconsolate. The woman was very attractive, and was wearing a blue dress that perfectly matched her eyes. The man was also handsome, and he had grey eyes that equally matched his grey suit, but he looked much sterner than his partner. While the woman's aura exuded a sense of serenity and warmth, the man broadcasted a feeling of harshness and aloofness. The only thing that they shared at the moment was the same sense of despair.
They were both unhappily looking at a portable chess set lying in front of them, all the pieces scattered on the table. The man was the first to speak after a long period of stunned silence.
"I'm sorry, Sapphire."
She looked up at him, surprised.
"What for, Steel?"
"For not reacting fast enough. For not realizing it was a set up. For trapping you here with me."
Despite the hopelessness of the situation, the woman managed a sweet smile.
"There's no one else I'd rather be trapped with."
He did not smile back at her, but he was moved by her remark. He also had to admit that he was glad she was with him, although he would have preferred her to be free. They had been trapped by the Transients, and he knew that it was forever. For all eternity. Spending all eternity with Sapphire was certainly more desirable than spending it alone, but he wished she had managed to escape, just like their friend Silver, who had apparently avoided the trap, since he was not with them, although they had all been sent to this unfortunate assignment together.
This was Steel's first failure, and he was having a very hard time accepting that. He was used to outwit his foes, and his well-known stubbornness and resolve allowed him to overcome even the most challenging predicaments. Sometimes he had to bend the rules to succeed, but he had single-mindedly fulfilled all his assignments. Until today.
This particular assignment proved to be far more than the ordinary time anomaly that it initially looked like: it was an ambush, and they fell into it head first. The only one who apparently managed to get away was Silver, and Steel still didn't understand why. There were only three possible explanations, and he didn't fancy lingering on the first two of them: Silver had betrayed or had been killed. The third option was far more heartening: he had been intentionally left out of their present confinement. This last assumption opened up a wealth of new questions as to their enemies' motives. It also didn't exclude the possibility of escaping their predicament, since it meant that the Transients had something in mind and were about to make another move.
He decided to share his thoughts with Sapphire, but when he looked at her he noticed that she was strangely motionless. He tried calling her: "Sapphire? What's wrong?"
She didn't look like she was busy doing a probe or trying to warp time, because her eyes were not shining.
Concerned, Steel grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to shake her out of her strange trance.
"Sapphire? What's the matter with you?"
She was unresponsive, and Steel could not help thinking that maybe the Transients had already made the move he anticipated. Only he didn't expect them to take action against Sapphire. He was the one in charge of their team and was responsible for the outcomes of their actions. He didn't like it when they picked on Sapphire to draw his attention.
Before his hyperactive mind had a chance to devise an action plan, he heard a voice coming from behind him.
"Don't worry, she's perfectly safe. She's just trapped in a stasis field."
Steel turned, and saw a woman standing in the farthest corner of the room. Curly raven hair framed a strikingly beautiful face, lit by two stunning periwinkle blue eyes. She was wearing close-fitting black leather trousers that clung to a perfect body, a tank top the same exact colour of her eyes, and a black leather jacket. A pair of worn boots and black gloves complemented her biker look.
She smiled at Steel's scrutiny, and said: "No, you don't know me, but I know you very well. Both you and your partner are quite renowned in our community."
Steel looked at her with ice-cold eyes, and asked: "Is that why you took the trouble of setting up this complicated deception?"
"Oh yes. I'm sure you realize that it wasn't easy to keep your thoughts away from my real purpose. You are quite resourceful. I hope you appreciate the hint of the chess set: I wanted to compliment your beautifully analytical and strategic mind."
Steel retorted, sarcastically: "It's nothing compared to your twisted inventive mind, apparently."
The woman dismissed the remark with a wave of her gloved hand.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. I know you're far more quick-witted than what many of my associates think. I'm sure you have already second-guessed my motives for capturing you."
Steel slowly approached the transient.
"A good chess player never tries to second-guess his opponent without studying her first. But let me try nonetheless: since you isolated Sapphire from our little chat, I would think that you are about to threaten me into doing something, or else you will kill her. I am right?"
The woman laughed heartily.
"My, my, Steel, you are clever. That's exactly what my friend over there had in mind."
At her words, Steel turned, and saw the man that trapped them in the service station in the first place standing behind him with a scornful expression on his unpleasant face.
To prove that he did not consider him as a serious threat, Steel deliberately turned his back to him, facing the woman again. He also far preferred to keep his eyes on her, since he instinctively felt that she was considerably more dangerous. He told her: "But I'm sure you have something else in mind."
Her deceptive smile disappeared.
"I'm really sorry, Steel, but I promised my associate that we would try his way first."
Steel moved to a table near the wall and sat down, positioning himself so as to see both his opponents, and trying to look as emotionless as possible.
"Well, you can tell your associate", he said, casting a quick disdainful glance at the man, "that his threats won't work. I will not exchange Sapphire's life for mine. Nor the other way around."
It was the male transient to speak this time.
"So you would not sacrifice your life to save your partner's? We will kill her, you know, unless you cooperate."
Steel replied, seemingly unperturbed: "We are very much aware of the risks of our line of work. Anytime we leave for an assignment we know that we might not come back alive. And, as the leader of my team, I realize that I might be forced to make a difficult decision and send Sapphire to death to accomplish my goal. I have been trained for that."
The man retorted: "Very impressive speech, but you don't fool me. I have noticed how you interact with her, and I know that she is not just your partner. You share a much deeper relationship, one that even your fellow operator Silver could not disrupt, despite his obvious attempts."
Steel's cold expression never wavered.
"That does not change my decision."
The man's face twisted in rage.
"She will suffer. Very much. I will personally make sure of that."
Steel didn't bother to answer, and kept looking at the man with icy eyes.
The woman was silent for a while, then burst into laughter again.
"My dear friend, you made an accurate psychological analysis, but you didn't go deep enough. Our man of steel is indeed very fond of his partner, but he is also far too professional to let his feelings interfere with his job. He would rather let her die than come to terms with us. And the more you will make her suffer, the more ruthless his revenge will be, if given the chance. If not, he will just follow her fate without begging for his own life. It's as simple as that. What do you think of my own interpretation, Steel?"
"I couldn't have put it better myself."
The other transient refused to accept his defeat and addressed the woman.
"Remove her from stasis. Let's see if Steel can be true to his noble words when he hears her screaming."
The woman said, in a deceptively cheerful tone: "No. You know how much I loathe meaningless violence. Sapphire is much more use to us alive than dead. I still need Steel's cooperation. You may leave now. Your assumptions proved wrong, now I will do as I deem best."
Not trying to hide his disappointment and his frustration, the man just disappeared. The woman sat down in front of Steel, who said: "I still will not cooperate, you know that."
She beamed at him a smile that for the first time looked genuine, and not tinted with scorn or deception.
"Oh yes, I know. I will not try to come to terms with you, Steel, but you will allow me a little chat before I tell you what I have in mind for the pair of you, won't you?"
Steel raised his hand in an obliging gesture.
"Suit yourself."
The woman placed her elbows on the table and leaned closer to the time agent, firmly planting her piercing eyes in his, periwinkle blue meeting steel grey.
"You see, I've been following your career very closely. Don't ask me how, I have my methods, and I won't disclose them. But my research yielded an unexpected result: I've come to admire you, Steel."
The time agent could not suppress a surprised look.
"Have you?"
She smiled again.
"Yes. Your resolve, your single-mindedness, and above all your loyalty and dependability have deeply struck me. You see, we have none of these qualities among our ranks. On the contrary, they are considered as flaws."
Steel commented: "Not by you, apparently."
"No, not by me. I much prefer true, old-fashioned bravery to deception and conspiracy. That's why I have many enemies, even among my own."
She fell silent, and Steel intensely looked at her for a very long time, assessing her. She accepted his scrutiny without flinching.
He broke the silence.
"If you are about to ask me to join forces with you, you may as well save your breath."
She laughed again.
"My dear Steel, I knew you wouldn't disappoint me. Once again, you already played a few nice moves ahead in your beautiful chess player mind." Then her smile disappeared, and her expression became openly threatening. "But I'm afraid you are making a very serious mistake: you are underestimating your opponent. You really shouldn't put me at the same level as the other transients you met today."
Steel wanted to retort, but he realized that he could not talk anymore. And not only that; when he tried to stand, he realized that his body wouldn't respond. He was kept still by some external, overwhelming force. The only things that still worked, besides his internal organs, were his ears and eyes.
The transient stood, slowly turned around the table and approached him from behind, whispering in his left ear: "I can exercise an extremely fine control on my stasis: I could let you blink one eye and keep the other still. Imagine what I could do to your brilliant brain. I could easily dispose of you now."
She moved in front of him again and looked into his eyes, searching for fear, and finding none.
"But it would be too easy, and it would be pointless. As I told my associate, you two are much more use to me alive."
She slowly reached with her hand and leisurely threaded her fingers through his blond hair.
"I will not kill you today, Steel. But you owe me."
She approached him even further, cast him a long, appreciative look and slowly, deliberately brushed her lips on his. Steel instinctively closed his eyes and, when he reopened them, she was gone, and he could move again. He sprang to his feet and immediately turned to look at Sapphire.
She tentatively moved her head, as if testing her regained mobility.
He asked her, not hiding his concern: "How do you feel?"
She cleared her voice, and answered: "I'm fine. Just a little stiff, I guess. Help me stand."
He obliged, supporting her while she laboriously stood. She took a few steps forward, cautiously flexing her muscles. He asked her: "Were you aware of what we were doing and saying?"
"Yes. That woman is very dangerous, Steel."
He nodded.
"So I noticed. Her powers are outstanding."
The two time agents heard an engine roar outside the service station, and promptly opened the door. The place was not surrounded by space anymore, and they could see a black leather-clad figure straddling a big sports motorcycle in front of the gas pumps. As the transient brusquely opened the throttle to a deafening roar, she let it rear up like a stallion; balanced on one wheel, the bike quickly disappeared from view.
Steel looked back at the service station's clock and saw that time was flowing normally again. They were free. He said: "I wonder what she meant with her last statement."
Sapphire looked at her partner with a worried expression in her beautiful blue eyes.
"That sooner or later she will be back to collect her debt."
CHAPTER TWO
SAPPHIRE AND STEEL HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED.
Six months after the gas station assignment, Sapphire and Steel materialized in the open, on a vast plateau covered with low shrubs. It was around dusk, and a cold wind was blowing and ruffling the two time agents' blond hair.
Sapphire was the first to spot the woman, who was standing a few feet from them, motionless, facing away from them, silently staring in the distance. She wasn't wearing black leather this time, just blue jeans and a purple cotton shirt, but the thick, curly raven hair and the stunning body were unmistakable.
Sapphire whispered in her partner's ear: "Steel, it's that transient woman again."
Steel turned abruptly, instinctively preparing his body for the forthcoming fight.
The woman spoke, her voice low: "No need to ruffle your feathers, Steel. I come in peace this time."
The two time agents relaxed slightly, but they didn't approach her.
"How did you summon us here?" Steel asked.
Her voice now sounded amused: "Let's say I made a little deal with your Authority. You may have conveniently forgotten that you're in my debt, but they haven't."
Steel asked, indignantly: "You mean you blackmailed them? How dared you?" Fuming, he started to approach the motionless transient, but before he could reach her, the woman collapsed on her knees, a gasp escaping her lips.
All his belligerence suddenly vanished, Steel hastily went by her side, curious but wary.
The transient woman was now clearly in pain. Her face was ashen, her eyes tightly shut. Kneeling was too much an effort for what little strength she had left, and she was slowly slumping to the ground. Steel instinctively grabbed her and held her, taken aback by the unexpected display of weakness.
Speaking between clenched teeth, the woman explained: "I need your help, Steel. Can you forget that I am a transient for a little while? You're the only one who can save my life."
Steel, bewildered, looked at his partner, silently asking for advice. Sapphire said: "I don't think it's a trap, Steel. Her pain feels real."
He asked: "What's the matter with her?"
Sapphire bent down and briefly touched the other woman's forehead.
"I think she's been infected with some kind of virus, obviously lethal for her."
The transient woman nodded and spoke with a voice that was getting weaker by the minute, her lips now drained of all colour, her brow bathed in perspiration.
"Yes. Someone… very close to me. Someone I trusted. How very… naïve of me. Earth pathogens are one of the few things… that can kill me."
Steel adjusted his hold to make her more comfortable and whispered: "Shh, don't talk. You should spare your energies."
He was still unsure. Sapphire sensed his uncertainty and spoke in his mind.
"She hasn't got much time left, Steel. You must make a decision."
Steel looked into the transient's outlandish periwinkle eyes, now open, trying to read her thoughts. The woman managed a weak smile, and said in a very low voice: "What will it be, Steel? Death for an enemy… or mercy for a potential ally?" Then she closed her eyes, all her strength spent.
The elemental asked, softly: "What do you want me to do?"
The transient's voice was now almost inaudible. Steel had to lean closer to hear her: "Freeze my body until… the pathogen loses its virulence. But don't… freeze me to death."
He mumbled: "Cryogenic suspension is very risky. I don't have such a fine control on my temperature drop, you know? I might kill you."
The woman whispered: "I trust you… completely, Steel." Then her body went limp in his arms.
For a brief moment Steel panicked at the thought that she had already died, without he had a chance to save her, but then Sapphire's voice spoke in his mind again.
"No, she's still alive. But not for long."
Still holding the woman, Steel forced his body temperature to plummet. He closed his eyes, concentrating hard on controlling the temperature drop. He had to stop it at a life-sustaining level and keep it there.
Steel's hands and arms covered with a thin layer of frost, as well as the transient's body, which also started to shiver uncontrollably. Steel held her tighter, careful to balance his inner temperature. Despite the cold, his forehead covered with sweat, showing the effort he was enduring.
He lost track of time, his whole world now reduced to controlling the cryogenic process. He could feel that the transient's body had stopped shivering, but he had no way of knowing if that was good or bad. For all he knew, she might already be frozen to death. Still, he stubbornly kept concentrating on controlling the procedure. For some reason, he didn't want that woman to die, and if he had even the slightest chance of saving her life, he would give it his best try.
The sun had long set, and a full moon had risen, bright enough to illuminate the fight for life that was silently taking place on the desolate plateau.
After what seemed like hours, Steel felt his strength ebbing away, slowly but inexorably spent by the freezing process. He heard Sapphire's welcome voice in his mind.
"I'm not sure the pathogen is ineffective now, but you must regain your heat, Steel. Also, you don't have enough strength left to control the process. You might freeze her too much. Let go of her."
Implicitly trusting his partner's judgment, Steel gently lowered the transient's body to the ground and staggered away from her, only to drop to the ground a few feet away, his turn now to shiver violently, the only way his body knew to regain its heat. Instinctively knowing that Lead could not come and help him warm up, because he never reached absolute zero, he curled into a ball and shut off from the outside world, all his remaining energy focusing on restoring his normal temperature.
He did not realize that Sapphire had lit a fire near his curled-up body, and had covered him with a thick fur that she found laying on the ground a few feet from where the transient was still fighting for her life. Clearly the woman had counted on Steel's help, after all, and had thoughtfully provided a source of heat to restore her saviour's temperature. Sapphire laboriously dragged the transient's body near the fire, too, and covered her with the same fur. The two bodies had now reached the same temperature, and she was hoping that they might help each other warm up.
When Sapphire saw Steel instinctively reach for the transient's body and tightly embrace her in search of warmth, she felt an unusual stab of resentment - or was it jealousy? - but then she heard her partner softly calling her - Sapphire's - name, and she smiled, touched.
Whenever Steel was recovering from a temperature drop, he dreamt. They were dreams of ice and cold, of course. Now he knew he was dreaming again, because he was standing on a frozen stretch of barren land. But this time he was not alone: a woman was standing in front of him. She was as tall as him, and her curly black hair framed a beautiful face. But her most striking features were her eyes, shining with an alien periwinkle colour. When she spoke, her voice was low, almost hoarse.
"Thank you, Steel. You saved my life."
He asked, baffled: "Who are you?"
She answered: "My name is Violet. I am a transient."
He was still perplexed.
"Why did you trust me with your life?"
She approached him, and now they were standing only a few inches from each other.
"Because you're a dependable and reliable man. You may be as cold as steel, but you would never turn down a person asking for your help, either friend or foe."
He looked deep into those extraordinary eyes.
"And which one will you be now?"
She smiled an uncharacteristic sweet smile and said: "Neither. My nature does not allow me to be your friend, but your actions prevent me from being your foe. I am somewhere in between. But I won't forget what you've done for me, Steel."
She leaned closer and softly kissed him. Taken aback, he did not withdraw, and lingered on those smooth warm lips, briefly wondering why they caused his heartbeat to quicken.
Sapphire was sleeping and did not see the transient kissing her partner, then extricating herself from the fur, gently tucking it around Steel's body and silently walking away, after yielding to the irresistible desire to softly brush away a stray lock of hair on his forehead.
Violet didn't know what it was that attracted her to Steel. He was supposed to be her enemy, and a very dangerous one at that, and yet she could not force herself to hate him. Even before he saved her, she knew that his qualities lured her into knowing him better. She had gathered a remarkable amount of information on him, and she realized that her interest was verging on obsession. She deeply envied his relationship with Sapphire: the transients had nothing even vaguely comparable to such a profound partnership. Their alliances were short-lived, and always based on selfish gain. And the most powerful among them were constantly subject to some ambitious attempts on their lives. Like the one she just escaped with Steel's help. She wished she had the luxury of trusting someone as completely and as wholeheartedly as these two elements did, but she had to be content with watching them from a distance and maybe stealing a brief kiss from the attractive time agent in those rare occasions when his defences were down.
Sapphire and Steel must face a new threat. But is it really a threat? -
Note for the female readers: I suggest you identify yourselves with the
new character, so you won't blame her for her actions... This story has
not been beta read, so kindly ignore the mistakes: English is not my
mother tongue.
CHAPTER ONE
A man and a woman were sitting in the small refreshment area of a desolate gas station. They were both blond, and they both looked quite disconsolate. The woman was very attractive, and was wearing a blue dress that perfectly matched her eyes. The man was also handsome, and he had grey eyes that equally matched his grey suit, but he looked much sterner than his partner. While the woman's aura exuded a sense of serenity and warmth, the man broadcasted a feeling of harshness and aloofness. The only thing that they shared at the moment was the same sense of despair.
They were both unhappily looking at a portable chess set lying in front of them, all the pieces scattered on the table. The man was the first to speak after a long period of stunned silence.
"I'm sorry, Sapphire."
She looked up at him, surprised.
"What for, Steel?"
"For not reacting fast enough. For not realizing it was a set up. For trapping you here with me."
Despite the hopelessness of the situation, the woman managed a sweet smile.
"There's no one else I'd rather be trapped with."
He did not smile back at her, but he was moved by her remark. He also had to admit that he was glad she was with him, although he would have preferred her to be free. They had been trapped by the Transients, and he knew that it was forever. For all eternity. Spending all eternity with Sapphire was certainly more desirable than spending it alone, but he wished she had managed to escape, just like their friend Silver, who had apparently avoided the trap, since he was not with them, although they had all been sent to this unfortunate assignment together.
This was Steel's first failure, and he was having a very hard time accepting that. He was used to outwit his foes, and his well-known stubbornness and resolve allowed him to overcome even the most challenging predicaments. Sometimes he had to bend the rules to succeed, but he had single-mindedly fulfilled all his assignments. Until today.
This particular assignment proved to be far more than the ordinary time anomaly that it initially looked like: it was an ambush, and they fell into it head first. The only one who apparently managed to get away was Silver, and Steel still didn't understand why. There were only three possible explanations, and he didn't fancy lingering on the first two of them: Silver had betrayed or had been killed. The third option was far more heartening: he had been intentionally left out of their present confinement. This last assumption opened up a wealth of new questions as to their enemies' motives. It also didn't exclude the possibility of escaping their predicament, since it meant that the Transients had something in mind and were about to make another move.
He decided to share his thoughts with Sapphire, but when he looked at her he noticed that she was strangely motionless. He tried calling her: "Sapphire? What's wrong?"
She didn't look like she was busy doing a probe or trying to warp time, because her eyes were not shining.
Concerned, Steel grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to shake her out of her strange trance.
"Sapphire? What's the matter with you?"
She was unresponsive, and Steel could not help thinking that maybe the Transients had already made the move he anticipated. Only he didn't expect them to take action against Sapphire. He was the one in charge of their team and was responsible for the outcomes of their actions. He didn't like it when they picked on Sapphire to draw his attention.
Before his hyperactive mind had a chance to devise an action plan, he heard a voice coming from behind him.
"Don't worry, she's perfectly safe. She's just trapped in a stasis field."
Steel turned, and saw a woman standing in the farthest corner of the room. Curly raven hair framed a strikingly beautiful face, lit by two stunning periwinkle blue eyes. She was wearing close-fitting black leather trousers that clung to a perfect body, a tank top the same exact colour of her eyes, and a black leather jacket. A pair of worn boots and black gloves complemented her biker look.
She smiled at Steel's scrutiny, and said: "No, you don't know me, but I know you very well. Both you and your partner are quite renowned in our community."
Steel looked at her with ice-cold eyes, and asked: "Is that why you took the trouble of setting up this complicated deception?"
"Oh yes. I'm sure you realize that it wasn't easy to keep your thoughts away from my real purpose. You are quite resourceful. I hope you appreciate the hint of the chess set: I wanted to compliment your beautifully analytical and strategic mind."
Steel retorted, sarcastically: "It's nothing compared to your twisted inventive mind, apparently."
The woman dismissed the remark with a wave of her gloved hand.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. I know you're far more quick-witted than what many of my associates think. I'm sure you have already second-guessed my motives for capturing you."
Steel slowly approached the transient.
"A good chess player never tries to second-guess his opponent without studying her first. But let me try nonetheless: since you isolated Sapphire from our little chat, I would think that you are about to threaten me into doing something, or else you will kill her. I am right?"
The woman laughed heartily.
"My, my, Steel, you are clever. That's exactly what my friend over there had in mind."
At her words, Steel turned, and saw the man that trapped them in the service station in the first place standing behind him with a scornful expression on his unpleasant face.
To prove that he did not consider him as a serious threat, Steel deliberately turned his back to him, facing the woman again. He also far preferred to keep his eyes on her, since he instinctively felt that she was considerably more dangerous. He told her: "But I'm sure you have something else in mind."
Her deceptive smile disappeared.
"I'm really sorry, Steel, but I promised my associate that we would try his way first."
Steel moved to a table near the wall and sat down, positioning himself so as to see both his opponents, and trying to look as emotionless as possible.
"Well, you can tell your associate", he said, casting a quick disdainful glance at the man, "that his threats won't work. I will not exchange Sapphire's life for mine. Nor the other way around."
It was the male transient to speak this time.
"So you would not sacrifice your life to save your partner's? We will kill her, you know, unless you cooperate."
Steel replied, seemingly unperturbed: "We are very much aware of the risks of our line of work. Anytime we leave for an assignment we know that we might not come back alive. And, as the leader of my team, I realize that I might be forced to make a difficult decision and send Sapphire to death to accomplish my goal. I have been trained for that."
The man retorted: "Very impressive speech, but you don't fool me. I have noticed how you interact with her, and I know that she is not just your partner. You share a much deeper relationship, one that even your fellow operator Silver could not disrupt, despite his obvious attempts."
Steel's cold expression never wavered.
"That does not change my decision."
The man's face twisted in rage.
"She will suffer. Very much. I will personally make sure of that."
Steel didn't bother to answer, and kept looking at the man with icy eyes.
The woman was silent for a while, then burst into laughter again.
"My dear friend, you made an accurate psychological analysis, but you didn't go deep enough. Our man of steel is indeed very fond of his partner, but he is also far too professional to let his feelings interfere with his job. He would rather let her die than come to terms with us. And the more you will make her suffer, the more ruthless his revenge will be, if given the chance. If not, he will just follow her fate without begging for his own life. It's as simple as that. What do you think of my own interpretation, Steel?"
"I couldn't have put it better myself."
The other transient refused to accept his defeat and addressed the woman.
"Remove her from stasis. Let's see if Steel can be true to his noble words when he hears her screaming."
The woman said, in a deceptively cheerful tone: "No. You know how much I loathe meaningless violence. Sapphire is much more use to us alive than dead. I still need Steel's cooperation. You may leave now. Your assumptions proved wrong, now I will do as I deem best."
Not trying to hide his disappointment and his frustration, the man just disappeared. The woman sat down in front of Steel, who said: "I still will not cooperate, you know that."
She beamed at him a smile that for the first time looked genuine, and not tinted with scorn or deception.
"Oh yes, I know. I will not try to come to terms with you, Steel, but you will allow me a little chat before I tell you what I have in mind for the pair of you, won't you?"
Steel raised his hand in an obliging gesture.
"Suit yourself."
The woman placed her elbows on the table and leaned closer to the time agent, firmly planting her piercing eyes in his, periwinkle blue meeting steel grey.
"You see, I've been following your career very closely. Don't ask me how, I have my methods, and I won't disclose them. But my research yielded an unexpected result: I've come to admire you, Steel."
The time agent could not suppress a surprised look.
"Have you?"
She smiled again.
"Yes. Your resolve, your single-mindedness, and above all your loyalty and dependability have deeply struck me. You see, we have none of these qualities among our ranks. On the contrary, they are considered as flaws."
Steel commented: "Not by you, apparently."
"No, not by me. I much prefer true, old-fashioned bravery to deception and conspiracy. That's why I have many enemies, even among my own."
She fell silent, and Steel intensely looked at her for a very long time, assessing her. She accepted his scrutiny without flinching.
He broke the silence.
"If you are about to ask me to join forces with you, you may as well save your breath."
She laughed again.
"My dear Steel, I knew you wouldn't disappoint me. Once again, you already played a few nice moves ahead in your beautiful chess player mind." Then her smile disappeared, and her expression became openly threatening. "But I'm afraid you are making a very serious mistake: you are underestimating your opponent. You really shouldn't put me at the same level as the other transients you met today."
Steel wanted to retort, but he realized that he could not talk anymore. And not only that; when he tried to stand, he realized that his body wouldn't respond. He was kept still by some external, overwhelming force. The only things that still worked, besides his internal organs, were his ears and eyes.
The transient stood, slowly turned around the table and approached him from behind, whispering in his left ear: "I can exercise an extremely fine control on my stasis: I could let you blink one eye and keep the other still. Imagine what I could do to your brilliant brain. I could easily dispose of you now."
She moved in front of him again and looked into his eyes, searching for fear, and finding none.
"But it would be too easy, and it would be pointless. As I told my associate, you two are much more use to me alive."
She slowly reached with her hand and leisurely threaded her fingers through his blond hair.
"I will not kill you today, Steel. But you owe me."
She approached him even further, cast him a long, appreciative look and slowly, deliberately brushed her lips on his. Steel instinctively closed his eyes and, when he reopened them, she was gone, and he could move again. He sprang to his feet and immediately turned to look at Sapphire.
She tentatively moved her head, as if testing her regained mobility.
He asked her, not hiding his concern: "How do you feel?"
She cleared her voice, and answered: "I'm fine. Just a little stiff, I guess. Help me stand."
He obliged, supporting her while she laboriously stood. She took a few steps forward, cautiously flexing her muscles. He asked her: "Were you aware of what we were doing and saying?"
"Yes. That woman is very dangerous, Steel."
He nodded.
"So I noticed. Her powers are outstanding."
The two time agents heard an engine roar outside the service station, and promptly opened the door. The place was not surrounded by space anymore, and they could see a black leather-clad figure straddling a big sports motorcycle in front of the gas pumps. As the transient brusquely opened the throttle to a deafening roar, she let it rear up like a stallion; balanced on one wheel, the bike quickly disappeared from view.
Steel looked back at the service station's clock and saw that time was flowing normally again. They were free. He said: "I wonder what she meant with her last statement."
Sapphire looked at her partner with a worried expression in her beautiful blue eyes.
"That sooner or later she will be back to collect her debt."
CHAPTER TWO
SAPPHIRE AND STEEL HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED.
Six months after the gas station assignment, Sapphire and Steel materialized in the open, on a vast plateau covered with low shrubs. It was around dusk, and a cold wind was blowing and ruffling the two time agents' blond hair.
Sapphire was the first to spot the woman, who was standing a few feet from them, motionless, facing away from them, silently staring in the distance. She wasn't wearing black leather this time, just blue jeans and a purple cotton shirt, but the thick, curly raven hair and the stunning body were unmistakable.
Sapphire whispered in her partner's ear: "Steel, it's that transient woman again."
Steel turned abruptly, instinctively preparing his body for the forthcoming fight.
The woman spoke, her voice low: "No need to ruffle your feathers, Steel. I come in peace this time."
The two time agents relaxed slightly, but they didn't approach her.
"How did you summon us here?" Steel asked.
Her voice now sounded amused: "Let's say I made a little deal with your Authority. You may have conveniently forgotten that you're in my debt, but they haven't."
Steel asked, indignantly: "You mean you blackmailed them? How dared you?" Fuming, he started to approach the motionless transient, but before he could reach her, the woman collapsed on her knees, a gasp escaping her lips.
All his belligerence suddenly vanished, Steel hastily went by her side, curious but wary.
The transient woman was now clearly in pain. Her face was ashen, her eyes tightly shut. Kneeling was too much an effort for what little strength she had left, and she was slowly slumping to the ground. Steel instinctively grabbed her and held her, taken aback by the unexpected display of weakness.
Speaking between clenched teeth, the woman explained: "I need your help, Steel. Can you forget that I am a transient for a little while? You're the only one who can save my life."
Steel, bewildered, looked at his partner, silently asking for advice. Sapphire said: "I don't think it's a trap, Steel. Her pain feels real."
He asked: "What's the matter with her?"
Sapphire bent down and briefly touched the other woman's forehead.
"I think she's been infected with some kind of virus, obviously lethal for her."
The transient woman nodded and spoke with a voice that was getting weaker by the minute, her lips now drained of all colour, her brow bathed in perspiration.
"Yes. Someone… very close to me. Someone I trusted. How very… naïve of me. Earth pathogens are one of the few things… that can kill me."
Steel adjusted his hold to make her more comfortable and whispered: "Shh, don't talk. You should spare your energies."
He was still unsure. Sapphire sensed his uncertainty and spoke in his mind.
"She hasn't got much time left, Steel. You must make a decision."
Steel looked into the transient's outlandish periwinkle eyes, now open, trying to read her thoughts. The woman managed a weak smile, and said in a very low voice: "What will it be, Steel? Death for an enemy… or mercy for a potential ally?" Then she closed her eyes, all her strength spent.
The elemental asked, softly: "What do you want me to do?"
The transient's voice was now almost inaudible. Steel had to lean closer to hear her: "Freeze my body until… the pathogen loses its virulence. But don't… freeze me to death."
He mumbled: "Cryogenic suspension is very risky. I don't have such a fine control on my temperature drop, you know? I might kill you."
The woman whispered: "I trust you… completely, Steel." Then her body went limp in his arms.
For a brief moment Steel panicked at the thought that she had already died, without he had a chance to save her, but then Sapphire's voice spoke in his mind again.
"No, she's still alive. But not for long."
Still holding the woman, Steel forced his body temperature to plummet. He closed his eyes, concentrating hard on controlling the temperature drop. He had to stop it at a life-sustaining level and keep it there.
Steel's hands and arms covered with a thin layer of frost, as well as the transient's body, which also started to shiver uncontrollably. Steel held her tighter, careful to balance his inner temperature. Despite the cold, his forehead covered with sweat, showing the effort he was enduring.
He lost track of time, his whole world now reduced to controlling the cryogenic process. He could feel that the transient's body had stopped shivering, but he had no way of knowing if that was good or bad. For all he knew, she might already be frozen to death. Still, he stubbornly kept concentrating on controlling the procedure. For some reason, he didn't want that woman to die, and if he had even the slightest chance of saving her life, he would give it his best try.
The sun had long set, and a full moon had risen, bright enough to illuminate the fight for life that was silently taking place on the desolate plateau.
After what seemed like hours, Steel felt his strength ebbing away, slowly but inexorably spent by the freezing process. He heard Sapphire's welcome voice in his mind.
"I'm not sure the pathogen is ineffective now, but you must regain your heat, Steel. Also, you don't have enough strength left to control the process. You might freeze her too much. Let go of her."
Implicitly trusting his partner's judgment, Steel gently lowered the transient's body to the ground and staggered away from her, only to drop to the ground a few feet away, his turn now to shiver violently, the only way his body knew to regain its heat. Instinctively knowing that Lead could not come and help him warm up, because he never reached absolute zero, he curled into a ball and shut off from the outside world, all his remaining energy focusing on restoring his normal temperature.
He did not realize that Sapphire had lit a fire near his curled-up body, and had covered him with a thick fur that she found laying on the ground a few feet from where the transient was still fighting for her life. Clearly the woman had counted on Steel's help, after all, and had thoughtfully provided a source of heat to restore her saviour's temperature. Sapphire laboriously dragged the transient's body near the fire, too, and covered her with the same fur. The two bodies had now reached the same temperature, and she was hoping that they might help each other warm up.
When Sapphire saw Steel instinctively reach for the transient's body and tightly embrace her in search of warmth, she felt an unusual stab of resentment - or was it jealousy? - but then she heard her partner softly calling her - Sapphire's - name, and she smiled, touched.
Whenever Steel was recovering from a temperature drop, he dreamt. They were dreams of ice and cold, of course. Now he knew he was dreaming again, because he was standing on a frozen stretch of barren land. But this time he was not alone: a woman was standing in front of him. She was as tall as him, and her curly black hair framed a beautiful face. But her most striking features were her eyes, shining with an alien periwinkle colour. When she spoke, her voice was low, almost hoarse.
"Thank you, Steel. You saved my life."
He asked, baffled: "Who are you?"
She answered: "My name is Violet. I am a transient."
He was still perplexed.
"Why did you trust me with your life?"
She approached him, and now they were standing only a few inches from each other.
"Because you're a dependable and reliable man. You may be as cold as steel, but you would never turn down a person asking for your help, either friend or foe."
He looked deep into those extraordinary eyes.
"And which one will you be now?"
She smiled an uncharacteristic sweet smile and said: "Neither. My nature does not allow me to be your friend, but your actions prevent me from being your foe. I am somewhere in between. But I won't forget what you've done for me, Steel."
She leaned closer and softly kissed him. Taken aback, he did not withdraw, and lingered on those smooth warm lips, briefly wondering why they caused his heartbeat to quicken.
Sapphire was sleeping and did not see the transient kissing her partner, then extricating herself from the fur, gently tucking it around Steel's body and silently walking away, after yielding to the irresistible desire to softly brush away a stray lock of hair on his forehead.
Violet didn't know what it was that attracted her to Steel. He was supposed to be her enemy, and a very dangerous one at that, and yet she could not force herself to hate him. Even before he saved her, she knew that his qualities lured her into knowing him better. She had gathered a remarkable amount of information on him, and she realized that her interest was verging on obsession. She deeply envied his relationship with Sapphire: the transients had nothing even vaguely comparable to such a profound partnership. Their alliances were short-lived, and always based on selfish gain. And the most powerful among them were constantly subject to some ambitious attempts on their lives. Like the one she just escaped with Steel's help. She wished she had the luxury of trusting someone as completely and as wholeheartedly as these two elements did, but she had to be content with watching them from a distance and maybe stealing a brief kiss from the attractive time agent in those rare occasions when his defences were down.