His heart tightened. “Ditto, but I’m gonna add you’re pretty damned hot, which makes the whole package even nicer.”
She snorted. “You do realize I have the medical knowledge to change my appearance to anything I want.”
He arched a brow. “So that fantasy I had of being with a red-haired, green-skinned Martian woman can still come true?”
She stared at him.
He grinned.
She shook her head. “Really wondering why I like you.”
“Because I’m awesome?”
“I’m still mad at you. If I’d not moved quickly, I’d be yelling at your corpse.”
“Let me ask again, did it work? Did the Astraeus restore the magnetic field?”
Her lips pressed tight. “It did, and the atmosphere is already starting to rebuild, but what made you even think of trying that?”
“Nimrod and the prophecy. With the latter, we assumed a few things, like the fact I’d have to die.”
“Um, you did.”
“Not really. or we wouldn’t be arguing right now. It occurred to me the Astraeus never wept when they lost an avatar, so why would they start with me? Which led to me realizing they wouldn’t, but what if one of them transformed into something else, say the guardian of a planet?”
“You took a big risk.”
“So did you but guess what. We are two for two. The Kukakk is gone, and Mars is making its comeback. Curious question, though, how do stars weep?”
“By blinking and dripping gobs of light. Scientists on Earth were baffled, then again, it doesn’t take much to confuse them.” She smirked.
“What happened to the Aquarius constellation stars?”
“Why don’t you come see for yourself?”
“I don’t suppose I could get some pants first?”
She eyed him up and down. “Nope. Your naked ass will think twice before running outside.”
“Can we even go out there?”
“Not without a suit, but I doubt we’ll need those for long. The time I spent reviving you, the Astraeus has been working hard to rebuild the atmosphere.”
“What makes you think it’s the one doing it?”
“Because what should have taken years has happened in days.” She tugged him by the hand and led him from the room with the cloning tank into a chamber he’d not yet seen. A grand room with vaulted ceilings and an ornate patterned floor, but it was the massive stone throne that really caught the eye.
She ignored the seat of her power, though, and dragged him to a window.
A window no longer covered by heavy shutters, showing a sky hinting of orange. Through the glass, he could see a glowing nimbus arcing overhead.
“What’s that?”
“Mars’ new god. It seems the stars it used to inhabit are now wrapped around the planet.”
“Cool. Does this mean you’ll be waking up the folks in statis?”
“Soon. We’ll need to supply the citadel before we even think of doing that. Or do you want to deal with some hangry Martians?”
