Liza and the Air Pirates of Navassa chapter 32 (NaNoWriMo work in rpogress, unedited)

Chapter 32

 

As the animal balloon with the blond and the three Arawaks drifted off, another, much larger balloon and basket settled on the deck.

“What is going to happen, do you know John?”

“Yes, wait and see. The three Dyab we just saw were… diplomats, as it were. They wanted to know why we surrendered.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, despite our animosity, we have never fought to the bitter end, either the Dyab or ourselves back off. Yes, some may die, but usually very few. Father was right to surrender. It sent a clear message that something was off.”

“But the guns-“ Liza said.

“Yes, well, from our point of view, but the Dyab did not understand that advantage their guns gave them. They have had guns before, very few and often only for a while, until they run out of bullets or the guns stopped working. But it has been years.. At any rate, they figured something was amiss, a trap, they feared. So they sent in diplomats to negotiate. I am pretty sure they figured we would kill them. But my father told them what he knew.”

“But the man, the man from Ingellsdin, he said-“ Will started.

“Yes, I know. I suspect he will be disappointed, in more than one way, before this day is done. Now, here is the king of the Dyab.” John said.

He pointed to the large basket that had now come to rest on the deck of the ship. This time two Arawak came out and carried between them a small folding stool. Then they went back and hlped out a much older Arawak decked out in an elaborate feathered costume, with green and gold colors that seemed to shimmer in the sunlight.

“Bow” John said as he bent down. Liza noticed that Henri had even bowed.

“Why?” Liza asked as she bent forward.

“Because it is we who surrendered, remember? Also, it is customary to bow in front of the a queen no?”

Liza craned her neck to look up. It was a woman, she realized, a very old woman with leathery skin. The woman had a very severe look to her. She stopped just in front of Henri, who was on one knee, his head bent.

Suddenly the woman laughed and said something. Henri laughed as well and stood up.

“They are old friends.” John said, smiling.

“But, just an hour ago, you were promising certain doom!” Liza said.

“Was I? Well, yes, I guess so. But here we do things differently. We are eternal enemies with the Dyab, but that does not mean we cannot be friends too.”

Liza stood for a moment, her mouth open. “Yes it does! Yes, it does, actually, that is exactly what it means!”

John laughed. “Yes, I imagine it is confusing. But put yourself in our shoes instead. We fight amongst ourselves, like a family. And we mean it, as I said, people have been killed. But when outsiders come into the picture, all bets are off. Both fo us know what it is like for us in the outside world.”

“But they said we would die!”

“Purely for the benefit of the white man, I can assure you.”

“All good and well John, but the Dyab, the Arawak, did make some sort of an agreement with Ingellsdin, it seems.” Will said.

“Yes,” John said thoughtfully. “Yes, they did, and we must help them see the error in that, but first we should find out what they did.”

 

Henri motioned John to come up, so John left Liza, Moto and Will.

“Ohhh, I hate being out of the loop.” Liza said.

Will gave a small gasp. “The General!” He said. “They must be very worried. I should go tell them what has happened.”

“Not yet Will. Moto said, putting a hand on Will’s arm. “Wait until things have cleared up. They will be fine.”

“I am sure the Colonel has found their rum supply…” Liza said.

 

After a good half an hour under the blazingly hot sun, Liza, Will and Moto were duly wilted. Liza was about to give up and sat down on the deck in a most undignified way, when John broke with the triumvirate he was in and came back over.

“If the three of you will come with me please. Will, I need you to explain what happened to you, I will translate to Father and the queen.”

 

They walked over to where Henri and the Queen were standing.

“This is her majesty Queen Imoro, her names means the emerald green of the forests at dawn.”

He then introduced Liza Will and Moto to the Queen in the creole language. Liza, Will and Moto did small bows to the queen, who eyed them from beneath her elaborate head set.

 

“Will, please tell her what you know about this Englishman who has offered her people so much riches.”

Will cleared his throat and gave a small smile. “If it pleases, uh, your majesty, I know this man. And not by choice. Several weeks ago he kidnapped me, took me by force, from my home. He tortured me, did horrible things to me that I will not speak of so as to not offend you. But he managed to get from me the location of your people.”

John quickly translated and then turned back to Will.

“How did you come to know of her people, no one has ever found them aside from us?”

“Many years ago I was exploring this region with two other men. We landed on… on.. your island? We did not know, we did not mean any harm, but some of your people chased us. One of my m en fell to his death, the other…”

When John told this to the Queen she grew very animated.

“She says that she remembers this! But you do not explain why you think the white man will cheat her.”

“Tell her he cheats everyone. He is notorious for cheating those he does business with, even other white men. Ask her how white men treat the Arawak and if she will do better than a white man.”

“I do not need to ask. But I will tell her, but tell me, how does he continue. England is a place of law, is it not?”

“For those who are poor yes. But Ingellsdin, he is rich and… to be fair, he delivers. He provides the British army with many weapons. He is an asset to the crown, but he is not to be trusted.”

For some time John and the Queen spoke back and forth. John was quiet for a moment, Henri nodded.

“How are we to trust you Will? Or others in your party? Is Liza’s grandfather not a general in the British army? Perhaps you would like to steal our technology instead of the other man-“

“Ingellsdin?”

“Yes, what a devilish name to pronounce.”

“I understand your questions” Liza said, stepping forward. “We can offer nothing but our word. And as a woman, I offer the queen my word… and my life.”

“Easy to offer when no one is asking for it Liza.” John said, solemnly.

“Yes, I know, well, ask her this, ask her what will be the reaction of the man with blond hair when he hears we have not been killed? I will offer my reaction if she lets the blond man go unharmed- relief. I do not want him killed, but see if he wants us killed. That should give her majesty some insight as to who she is dealing with.”

 

“She will take that under consideration. But she also asks, what you are offering her people. Ingellsdin promised great wealth.”

“Has he delivered?”

“100 gold coins so far.” John translated, he expression was one of shock.

“What has he promised?”

“To cover her majesty in gold coins.”

Liza could not suppress a laugh. She stopped and did a small bow.

“I am sorry to laugh, but while your majesty is not a large woman, there is not enough gold in the Tower of London to cover you in gold. Go ahead, tell Ingellsdin’s man you have spared us, see his reaction, then decide. I cannot promise you anything except that I will negotiate on your behalf with the British government to pay you a fair sum for your technology. If you would have us use it!”

 

The queen nodded slowly.

“I hope, for your sake, Liza, you are right.” John said as the queen made her way back to the basket. “The Dyab do not tolerate fools well. Death by falling is better than what they will do to you if they suspect treachery…”

Liza and the Air Pirates of Navassa Chapter 31 (NaNoWriMo work in progress, unedited!)

Chapter 31

“ Are you mad!?” John said.

“Watch yourself!” Henri said evenly. “ I am still the king here. We will surrender presently and parlay with the Dyba as best we can. If we fail, there is always plan b.”

“Plan B?” Liza said.

John smiled and laughed. “Yes, plan ‘B’- un-surrender.”

“Raise the signal.” Henri said to a man by his side. He then turned to face the rest of the deck. He spoke loudly and quickly in French. Liza admired the discipline of the pirates as there was not a peep, instead they all came forward and stood out in the open on the deck.

Liza turned to look at the floating animal balloons. They were still advancing, still no sign of anyone on them. Then they slowed and stopped, just feet from the bow of the ship. Liza could see three other pirates ships, all also had floating animal skins in front of them.

Shouting came from the basket. She strained to hear what was being said. It sounded like French but she could not tell. She turned to Moto.

“Moto-“ He put his hand up.

“It is a creole Liza, I can barely follow. I think they are negotiating the terms of surrender.”

Liza looked around and saw the pirates slowly putting down their weapons.

“Drop the gun” Moto whispered. Liza did, but noticed that neither Will nor Moto made any similar moves. Their pistols remained hidden in their jackets.

 

The top of one of the baskets popped open. A head with black hair and gaudy feather arranged in it popped up. It was the face of a man, but not like one Liza had ever seen. He looked to be Asian, with a ruddy complexion. He had smeared white paint in strange markings across his cheeks.

“Chinese?” Liza whispered. Will shook his head.

“Indian. The Dyab are Indians. I suspected as much. He looks like the people we saw in the city. N wonder they fight with the Pirates so much. They must have come up here to escape the Spanish much like Henri’s forefathers came here to escape the French.”

 

The man in basket spent the next few minutes shouting at the pirates on the deck. Liza asked Moto to translate, but Moto just smiled.

“No, no, Liza, I will not. Such things as he says should not be repeated in the presence of a lady-“

“I’m not a-“

“Even one such as yourself.”

 

Finally, after the man in the basket had evidently sufficiently belittled the pirates, he popped back down, closing the basket. Then the basket drifted gently over the deck of the ship and settled in the middle next to the tower. The lid of the basket popped back open and three men climbed out. All three were decked out in feather and war paint and looked not a little like demons to Liza’s mind. Then, slowly, yet another person climbed out of the basket. This was not a Dyab, rather a very thin, gaunt looking man with a shock of blonde hair on his head. He wore a dour expression along with his black suit. He appeared to be sweating profusely. The man hung back, by the basket while the three Dyab walked over towards Henri, who had gone to meet them halfway across the deck.

 

The four of them began to talk, animatedly and very quickly amongst themselves. The man by the basket leaned back into the basket and pulled out a handkerchief to mop his brow.

“That Man” Liza whispered to Will and Moto.

“Yes, I recognize him” Will said, “one of Ingellsdin’s men.”

“I thought so, wonder what his role is?”

“Spoiler” Moto said.

 

And, sure enough, the man stood back up and put away his kerchief and strode over to Henri and the Dyab, who were still talking. They stopped as the man got to them. The man smiled a weak and empty smile and then motioned to one of the Dyab. The two of them huddled for a moment. Then the man looked up and looked directly where Liza, Will and Moto were standing. The man then strode over towards them. Liza sensed Will trying to hide behind John, who was still standing with them.

“No need to hide Mr. Cogsworth. It is not unexpected to see you here.” To Liza’s surprise the man seemed to have a German accent. “We assumed you would come here as fast as you could. However, as you see, we are already here and it is too late. My partner-“ Liza glanced at Moto, who’s eyes went wide.

“Yes, My business associate, I should say, knew you had been to the Caribbean and that it was just a matter of finding the right place. Once we knew, well, as you are aware, the telegraph is a marvelous invention, no? So efficient.”

“Do the Dyab know what you are up to?” Will said, coming from behind John.

“Tch tch, Mr. Cogsworth, such terms, such vulgar terms. They are not the Dyab, if anything these… dark devils are the Dyab. My friends prefer the term the Arawak.”

“Does it matter, once their dead you can call them whatever you want.”

“You get ahead of yourself Mr. Cogsworth. It is not they who will die today. You should tell your Negro friends here that surrender was most unwise. If you had fought you might have had a chance, but now…”

“We can hear for ourselves.” John said evenly.  The man with the blond hair arched his eyebrows and then waived his hand as if swatting a fly. He turned and talked again to the Dyab or Arawak, as Liza made up her mind to call them.

The Dyab then began a very short but heated conversation with the other two in a language Liza could not recognize. Then, suddenly, the Arawak stood up straight. In what appeared as an afterthought he plucked a feather from the front of his hair and put it behind his ear.

“Vanquished people of the great warriors of the Arawak nation. You have surrendered honorably and how you will be rewarded with a swift and painless death. We withdraw and will now set fire to you ships.”

 

And with that he and the other three turned heel and climbed back into the basket after the man with the blond hair. They closed the lift and lifted off gently. The deck was stone quiet. No one moved.

“What is going on? They cannot be serious! We surrendered!” Liza said, panic rising in her voice. “John, we must go with plan B.”

“No Liza, no, we must accept our fate.”

“But we will die, if the fire does not kill us, the fall!”

“Liza is right John, our weapons are here, we must fight back.”

“No!” John said

“But we will be killed!” Liza shouted.

“It will not be that bad…” John said, a smile on his face.

Liza and the Air Pirates of Navassa chapter 30 (NaNoWriMo work in progress, novel,unedited!)

[The major writer's block I had on this opened up today, so I am back on track for now- enjoy! THe John Mule novel will come back soon enough too]

Chapter 30

 

Adi quickly led Liza and the rest down below deck. She shouted at someone nearby and soon Mary was also being helped out of the captain’s quarters down below to a deck further down.

“Too dangerous with those many, many windows!” Adi said. She showed them into a small room lined with shelves of provisions on the wall and barrels on the floor.

“I will come back after this is done. Do not open the door unless you hear my voice, or Henri’s, if I am hurt. Do not worry.” She turned to leave but then turned back. “We might have some turbulence, so be prepared…”

 

She closed the door and left. A small lamp glowed in the corner, there were no windows.

“What is going on?” Mary said, sounding much more awake than earlier in the day.

“We’re under attack, the Dyab.” Liza said quietly.

“What did John say?” Will asked. “The dyab don’t have guns?”

“Yes, but evidently they do have them now…” Liza said.

“Dammit” Will said, hitting his hand on a barrel.  

“Will!” The General barked.

“Sorry Sir, it is just that we are too late.”

“How?”

“This has Ingellsdin written all over it. These people or whatever they are suddenly have guns now? After a hundred years or not having them? We need to warn Henri about who he is dealing with. I fear things have changed more than he will realize.”

“Well, I would imagine the guns would be a big clue to Henri.” Liza said stiffly.

Will opened his mouth to reply but then shut it without a word. The room fell silent and the noise of people yelling and random shots could be heard.

“We can’t just sit here.” Liza said.

“What are we to do?” The General replied. “If we venture out we’ll surely get killed…”

“No.” Liza replied. “Well, maybe, but we can help. We have guns.”

Will gave a small snort. “We have guns?” He said. “Now this is a good thing?

“No need to be churlish!” Liza said.

“I’m not, I am asking a question.”

“Well then, yes, it is a good thing. We can help fight off these people or whatever they are.”

“So you plan to just go up, guns blazing away?”

“Well, yes, why not? I can handle a pistol Will…”

“Certainly not Liza!” The General said.

“Why not?!”

“Young lady I am not going to let you go get yourself killed for no reason!”

More silence followed. Then Moto cleared his throat.

“Actually, that might be an good idea” Moto said. The General started to say something but Moto pressed on, “Not you Liza, of course, but perhaps Will and I should venture above deck to see what is going on. At the very least we should warn Henri and John that the Dyab might have help.”

“And why not me?!”

“Really Liza, if you persist-“

“Grandfather, you know very well I am an excellent shot.”

“Yes, young lady, on a range, under strictly controlled conditions, not on a rocking ship a thousand feet above the earth while savages are attacking you!”

“Stop this pointless bickering!” Mary said from her resting place on the floor. “For the love of God stop trying to protect her dear General. She’s a grown woman. If she wants to kill herself-“

“I never said that!”

Will stood up and motioned to Moto and then looked at Liza. “Mary’s right, we’re wasting time. If you want to help Liza, then come with us but stay hidden and act as our back-up and look out. Is that acceptable?”

“Will I have a gun?”

“We only have two-“

“What about this one?” The Colonel was holding a large gun that was about a foot long. It had a fat barrel and a long carved wooden handle.

“What in the world-?” Will said.

“It’s a buffalo revolver.” Liza said walking over to the Colonel. “That’ll do nicely Colonel. Remington, I believe. Fairly old, but looks like it is in good condition. Are there bullets Colonel? 44 caliber I believe?”

The colonel handed her a small box, which she put in her pants pocket.

 

“Well then.. “Will said, scratching his head, “ I guess we’re ready.”

“Liza!” The General said, waiting for her to look at him. “Just… be careful. And remember, those Remington’s-“

“Pull to the left. I will be Grandfather.” She said with a smile.

 

The scene on the deck was one of barely controlled chaos. Pirates were running all around the deck, setting up what looked like stations. Not a hundred yards off from the ship there was a flotilla of what looked like floating animals with large woven baskets underneath. The baskets were large enough that one could not see who, or what was in them.

“Liza, find John and tell him, I will go find Henri.” Will said as they scanned the ship’s deck.

Liza spotted the tall figure of John right away and scrambled to the bow of the ship where he was helped two other pirates arrange large barrels.

“John!” She said “John, I need to tell you something important!”

John looked up with a scowl on his face.

“This is not place for a woman, get back below.”

“Is it a place for this?” she said, holding up the buffalo gun with a smile.

“For men who can shoot it” he said turning to help guide the last barrel into position.

“Not you too! Look, we don’t have time for this. John, those Dyab that are coming have help, and probably people on board with them.”

John stood up and took the short steps between himself and Liza.

“What evil have you brought with you?”

“None! I swear. These people, who are helping, came ahead of us. We’re chasing them, trying to stop them. They mean nothing but harm and if they have the Dyab helping them, it means they have gotten what they want. The man backing them is only interested in the technology the Dyab offer him. He will take it from them and destroy them.”

“Good then, the Dyab will get what they deserve.”

“No John, even they cannot deserve what he will do. But even more so, after he destroys them he will destroy you and your people too. He will want nothing in his way once he knows the secret of this technology you have.”

John paused. He brow furrowed.

“So, what are we to do?”

“Is there any way to call a truce or prevent the attack?”

He thought for a moment. One fothe men behind him yelled that the Dyab were getting too close and were within range. John held up his hand.

“No” he told Liza. “They will attack, there is no reasoning with them…”

At this point Liza saw Henri followed by Will and Moto rushing over to where they were.

“John!” Henri said, barely out of breath after striding the length of the ship in seconds. “These fools tell me we will be destroyed!”

“I know father. So has this one. She says we must try to reason and talk with the Dyab.”

“Impossible!”

“Please, sir, Henri, what Will and Moto have told you is correct. The man behind this will stop at nothing to get your balloon technology. You know, don’t you, that the British or the French would pay millions to get this technology.”

“The Dyab would never deal with the white devil!”

“But they did, the guns!” Liza said. “You know that and you know what you have it worth a lot, don’t you? Why else would you hide up here for 150 years? You know what the Europeans or, even worse, the Americans, would do to you. Let’s not stand on politeness Henri. As a black man you  know that they would no problem taking this and killing you.”

Henri stiffened. “And you, have you forgotten the color of your skin girl?”

Liza held up the gun. “I am aware Sir, but do I look like the rest? I am my own woman, I ma not a girl. You have my word, if we can get the Dyab to listen to us and if we can get them to work with us, I will not let you be taken advantage of.”

“Even if it means your life?” Henri asked in a low voice.

“Even if it means my own life.”

“But father, that still does not solve how we deal with the Dyab. They will not listen to reason, we cannot parlay with them.”

Henri’s expression was serious as he thought for a moment. Then he spoke slowly and deliberately.

“No, but we can surrender to them.”

John Mule - Chapters 4-7

[More Liza and the Air Pirates next Tuesday, kind of on a roll right now]

Chapter 4

 

“Three colonies of ETBs exist in the US, An Diego, Tewksbury Mass and Virginia Beach in, well, Virginia.” Maxa was making notes on her PCD.

“Not done yeeeeet!” Luce said as she tapped the keyboard in front of her.

“Wasn’t that paper due weeks ago?”

“Contrary to your stuck up opinion, we do write more than one paper in Sosch. Fuck it, I need to redo some tables anyway. I can stop. Talk to me. Three sites?”

“Three colonies, is the preferred term. Set up around military bases to keep the ETBs closer to government control.”

“Tewksbury? That’s Boston… what’s up there? What military is up there?”

“Not much, it was the first colony. Lots of different refugee populations in there. Government thought it would be a good place. It was only later they realized that the ETBs would need more oversight.”

“Babysitting you mean.”

“Yes Luce, babysitting.  Low IQ, social isolation, physical differences. Not an easy population to manage. Lucky for us this means they are concentrated.”

“OK, so we just have to go to three different parts of the country and interview 850 of them?”

“857. Yes. But we can be strategic about it. Start obvious and then save the least likely for last.”

“Easy, we should hit the beach first.”

“Luce…

“Seriously Maxa, think about it. Forget Tewksbury, that would be my last choice, it has the least government control, right?”

“Well, now they all have about the same…”

“But Virginia Beach is closer to DC and lots of government down there.”

“True…”

“And it is closer, cheaper. Speaking of which, how did the grant application go?”

Maxa sat back, staring at the ceiling of the tiny apartment crowded with Jenx’s artwork. “Fine. Not good, I don’t know. I have some money left over from the summer grant, I could spend. I mean, I could reasonably say it was for the project from then anyways. I won’t know about the new grant for another month or so.”

“Ok, so we wait.”

“Luce, I can’t wait that long, we can’t. What if something happens to the guy?”

“And you lose your chance at glory?”

“Shut up!” Maxa threw a pillow at Luce, who batted it away. “I’ve been thinking Luce- this is more than just about me right now. No, I’m serious. If ETB’s can reproduce… And the government is worried about that…”

“Still on the government angle huh? How many guys in trench coats have tried to kill you lately?”

“Funny. Look, it makes some sense. Ever since the Sojourners came here-“

“2048.”

“Yeah, ever since, the government here, everywhere, the UN, has been touchy.”

“Well they should be, how many transients work for the Sojourners now?”

“Dunno, last I heard it was upwards of a billion. At least.”

“Can you say their real name, the Sojourners I mean?”

“Nope, can you?”

“We used to play a game in middle school, trying say it. We all wanted to take language courses, we thought. Fuck, I can barely speak Spanish…”

“So, can you?”

Luce smiled, made a sound that sounded like she was clearing her throat and clucking at the same time. Maxa laughed.

“That’s awful!”

“I know, I know! So you think that mules running around having baby mules will piss off the Sojourners?”
“Who knows” Maxa said, ignoring Luce’s slight. “They never recognized ETBs as even exisiting-“

“How the fuck can that be?”

“I don’t know, it’s like a third rail, even in ETB studies. Don’t ask, don’t tell.”

“So how do we do the interviews?”

“Virginia Beach… 213 male ETB’s born or dropped off between 2066 and 2068.”

“I thought our guy was 2067?”

“Yeah, but I figured it would be better to be sure, and also hide our intentions a little.”

Luce went back tolooking at her screen. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Maxa visibly jumped.

“Jeeze, relax Pepper- it’s just the guy I told you about. I told him to stop by today, he’s been putting me off for weeks.”

Luce got up and answered the door. A tall, painfully thin guy with a mop of unruly blonde hair walked if. He wore large black rimmed glasses and seemed swallowed up into his clothes.

“Maxa, this is Omar, Omar, Maxa.” Maxa stood up and offered her hand. Omar seemed unsure at first and then limply shook it.

“So, Luce tells me you might know your way around some coding and media stuff?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, so like do you have access to stuff. You know, equipment?”

“Your PCD.”

Maxa looked confused. “No, I mean, ok, I should start at the top. We’re going to interview a bunch of people. Well, Ok, ETBs. I study ETBs.” She waited for a reaction but Omar stared impassively.  “ok, so we need to tape short interviews with a lot of people.”

“How many?”

“857, but maybe not that many. We’ll, we’ll do a sample, of sorts.”

“PCD is fine. We can cloud load them.”

“No, I mean, I don’t want this stuff up on a cloud.”

“Why not? Safe enough.”

“Well, uh, reasons, ok. Anthropology turf war shit or something.”

“Or something.” Omar gave the barest hint of a smile. “Ok.”

“Maxa, can we talk for a moment, excuse of Omar.”

Lice all but dragged Maxa into the small kitchen and closed the door.

“What the fuck Maxa, why are you being so weird.”

“No reason.Look, we can’t tell him everything.”

“Why not?”

Maxa did not reply, Luce rolled her eyes.

“Maxa, he is not stupid, the guy’s a brain, ok. He’ll figure something out.”

“Fine, but that’s on him.”

“I swear Maxa, you’re paranoia is gonna drive me nuts.”

“You can thank me when you don’t get killed.”

“Of course the PCD is crap!” Omar’s voice came from the other side of the door. Maxa opened the door.

“What?”

“The PC, it’s crap on resolution and sound. You doing interviews right? I got a Wawasan, Indonesian media box. Set it up on a tripod should be good to go. We can even stream it to a flashbox attached. No cloud. Reasons.”

Maxa smiled. “OK, Omar. How are you at the beach?”

 

Chapter 5

“Ok, so we’ll take turns, Luce and I, interviewing.”

“But you’ll do most of them, right?” Luce said, slinging her backpack into the back of the small car they’d rented.

“Where’s your bag?” Maxa asked as she tipped in a large suitcase.

“That’s it.” Luce said as she slumped into the backseat.

“We could be there formore than a week Luce.”

“Then I over packed I guess!” Luce fixed earbuds into her ears and stuck out her tongue.

“She’s different.” Omar said, carefully pacing a small white cardboard box into the trunk.

“We’re all different Omar. Can you drive?”

“No.”

“Ok, then, guess it’s me.” Maxa said almost to herself. “Four hours, great.”

“Did the grant check come?” Omar asked as he go into the passeneger side.

“Yes. It went in yesterday. I can transfer money to you tonight, alright?”

“Yes.”

“Four hours…” Maxa muttered as she started the car.

 

It was more than four hours, they had to stop several times for food, bathrooms and once for Omar to be sick. They arrived at the small hotel some ways away from the waterfront. Most of the places were boarded up for winter. Even the Mcdonalds was.

“Creepy, best we could do?” Luce said, scanning the area.

“We could have stayed further inland, in the year round area, but this was c heaper. A lot cheaper. Plus we can walk to the ETB housing from here. Thank God, enough driving for me for a long time.”

“What time should we meet tomorrow?” Omar asked as he got his box of equipment out.

“Yeah, uh, about that” Maxa said. “I got a room with two queen sized beds. The good news is that you get your own bed.”

“God news for both of us!” Luce said, giving Maxa a larger than life fake wink, Maxa rolled her eyes.

“We’ll all be in the same room?” Omar asked.

“Yeah kid, so no big ideas, alright?” Luce said with a smile.

“Maybe I should splurge and get me a room...” Maxa muttered as she locked the car.

The next day they walked several blocks to a large drab looking building that took up an entire block.

“They live here?” Luce asked, looking up at the windowless front of the building.

“No, they work here. Part of the program Luce.”

“So we’re going to interview them at work? Wouldn’t it be better to do it later, when they go back to their… houses? Flats?”

“Flats, yea and no. They’re not that tightly controlled then, might be, uh, more difficult.”

“OK, but won’t it be obvious if we do this at their work?”

“Maybe, but the woman I spoke with on the phone sounded bored by it. I’ve read enough papers to know that folks like me roll through here at least a few times a year, doing research.”

“Okkkaay.”

They went inside to a small lobby with some shabby run down furniture. A very bored looking receptionist told them to take a seat.

Pretty soon a large figure came through a side door. It was a woman, well it looked like a woman, but things were. She was well over seven feet tall and her skin had a distinctly greyish cast to it. Her features  were almost equine, her walk slow and her eyes dull, expressionless. She had long black hair pulled behind her. Luce couldn’t stifle a gasp fast enough.

“Jesus Luce, stop acting like a tourist!”

“Excuse me worldly one, but I’ve never seen one in real life. Shit she’s tall as fuck.” Luce whispered.

“Jealous?” Maxa asked with a small laugh.

Luce did not take the bait. “Dunno, it is legal?”

Maxa rolled her eyes. “God Luce, they’re not animals, yes its legal. Gawd, now that’s in my head.”

A woman came through the door next. She guided the tall ETB to the receptionist and then came over to where Maxa,Luce and Omar were sitting.

“I’m Director Barma.”

Maxa stood up. “Maxine Anansi, nice to meet you. And I wanted to thank you so much for letting me do some interviews here…”

Director Barmi eyed Maxa and the other two with some suspicion.

“Well, we don’t do this every day, but Gourevitch is a name and since you only want to talk to a few of the workers… Come on, I’ll show you to the breakout room. Do you have a lot to set up?”

Omar held up the Wawasan and a tripod.

They were shown to a small windowless room off a hall behind the front lobby.  The Director turned to leave but then stopped.

“One thing, Ms. Anasi, that I am curious about. Most people who come down here do samples, but you want to talk to every employee  from a certain drop off date? Why not a sample?”

“Yes Ma’am. Well, there are only 213 of them, if my numbers are right. That’s a pretty small population for statistical purposes.”

“But why only that age?”

“Oh, well, yes, I’m looking at that age group to see if they, uh, have differing experiences than older cohorts. There was a study, um, by Waltz and Ney on a co-hort from the early days, when things were not um, as well run.”

“Never heard of it.”

“I uh, could find it, send it to you.”

The Director stood for a moment. “Right, well, you have today and tomorrow, so get started.”

“I thought we had all week Ma’am?”

“No, two days disruption is enough. I can’t afford more than that.”

“But when we talked on the phone…”

“Ms Anasi , it is a privilege I am extending you to help you with your studies.”

The director turned and left, closing the door.

“What the hell?” Luce said as Omar busied himself setting up the small tripod on the lone table in the room.

“I don’t know.” Maxa said. She gave Luce a “shut up” look. Luce rolled her eyes.

“Where do I go to get the mule- the ETBs.” Luce said.

“She said the receptionist would send them into the hall three at a time. I think you had better ride herd on that. If we have two days that means we have to do a hundred each day. Jesus. OK, if we cut some questions. “

“Can’t be done.’ Omar said “It’s 9:30, even we get until 6, like she said. That is Eight and a half hours. That is 5 minutes a subject, no breaks, no hiccups.”

“We can do it in three. Just some basic questions.”

“What are we looking for?” Omar asked.

“Not now Omar, later. Ok Luce, hurry things up!”

 

The first ETB was lead into the room a moment later by Luce. Like the woman he was very tall, easily seven feet. He was larger than the woman, a larger , more muscular frame. He had the same expressionless eyes and grey skin. He sat down across from where Maxa had set her seat. Omar was behind the Wawasen. He gave her the thumbs up.

“Hi, please sit down. Whatis your name?”

“Rain” The ETB said in a flat voice. Like all ETBs he only went by one name. There were not that many of them so they never went by a last name. Any potential confusion could be cleared up by their government assigned serial number.

“Ok Rain, I just want to ask you some questions about your life. There are no right answers, so just tell me what you think. OK?”

“OK.”

“Great. Tell me, are you happy with your life?”

“Yes.”

“OK, do you have many friends?”

“Yes.”

“Do you like your work here?”

“Yes.”

“Um, ok. Is there anything you feel is missing from your life?”

Rain’s expression did not change from the previous questions. He sat there with a dull stare.

“My socks.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Sock, missing a pair. I had four, now I only have three.”

“Ok, but beyond that, um is there anything you want do to?”

“Find the socks.”

“Ok, thank you Rain. That is all.” Maxa said, trying to smile. Rain got up and shuffled out.

“Man, he was a trip.” Omar said, after turning off the Wawasen.

Maxa sighed. “Welcome to glamorous life of ETB research. The next 212 will be just the same, unless we get lucky.

By 6 pm Maxa’s voice was scratchy and she was exhausted. She had been sitting at the table for the past eight hours with only a couple of short bathroom breaks. She had made the decision early on the power through and do all the interviews. Luce had been doing a decent job of hustling the ETBs in and out. By 6 pm Maxa looked at her list. They had done 103 interviews. Most had been less than three minutes even.  And true to her prediction, most had been even less thrilling than Rain’s No one else that day had longed for socks, and very few could come with an answer for the fourth question.

They packed up and headed back to hotel.

All three o fthem said little during dinner and they were all passed out by 8 pm.

The next day they started a little bit earlier and managed, by going until 6:15, much to the chagrin of the director, to get through all 213 interviews.

Maxa felt like her head was going to split open as they packed up in the interview room. Maxa longed for the relative fresh air of outside.

“Well, we did it Pepper.” Luce said as they left the building.

“Yeah” Maxa croaked. “I thought that bitch was going to throw us out after the first day. Oh well, I guess it is for the best, can you imagine a week of that?”

“Did you get what you wanted?” Omar asked.

“I dunno. Uh, say, can you set up the media so I can look at the interviews tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

“Come on Maxa, let’s take some time off.”

“Luce we’re in a seaside town in winder-“

“We can go further inland. Lots of sailors around here from what I read.”

“Just let me spend tomorrow looking at the stuff. We can hit the town at night.”

“Great, you’re buying, right?”

 

Chapter 6  

The next day Omar set up the Wawasen to the TV in the room and showed Maxa how to scroll through the interviews.

“thanks Omar, Where’d Luce go?”

“She said she was going to go walk around. Mind if I read, you won’t bother me even with the sound on.”

“Um, ok.”

Maxa spent the next three hours looking at interview after interview. By lunch time her head was splitting again and she slumped down in the chair she’d set up in front of the TV.

“Maxa, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you decide to study the ETBs?”

“Long story, I guess. Or not. I stumbled on an anthropology course in college. I was pre-med, but kind of sinking. We did this chapter in Anthro on the Sojourners and the ETBs. I guess I felt for them.”

“For the ETBs?”

“For both of them. I know no one thinks much about the Sojourners. They are kind of jerks, but they must, they must have some feelings about the ETBs. I mean, their own children…”

“Yeah, it’s weird. Maxa, look, I need to come clean about something.”

Maxa sat bolt upright, the back of her neck tingled. “What?”

“It’s nothing really, except I’m not in Medieval Literature. I’m in Political Science, specifically Sojourner relations.”

“Jesus. Why did you hide this Omar?”

“I thought you might not let me in. I thgouht you might think I was stealing your research.”

Maxa sat there for a moment and then laughed. “Stealing my research? Fuck Omar, I thought you were going to say you were government.  You study Sojorouners then?”

“Yes. Ever since I was a kid. I know people are ambivalent about them.  We depend on them to employ so many people. Yet we’ve never been to their planet, they have never shared anything with us, the way they get about the universe, their medical technology… I thought I could crack their code, as it were. I could understand what is going on.”

“And can you?”

Omar laughed, it was the first time Maxa could remember him laughing. “Would I be here if I could? The deeper I get into it the less I understand.”

“What do you know about ETBs? Research is really circumscribed about the links back to the Sojourners. I mean, I know the basic story, that is has taken decades for the Sojourners to even admit the ETBs exist.”

“Well, their culture is very different, as you know.”

“That is saying a lot. How can a being produce an offspring and not even acknowledge it is from them, a part of them?”

“In their minds ETBs are a human problem. They see sex with humans, with females, as taboo, but therefore highly attractive.”

“Yes, I know, But even so, how can they just ignore what happens?”

“I don’t know. Their… understand Maxa. They’ve been around for two million years. Two million years of their civilization. Humans, what, 20 thousand, if I am being very generous.”

“Have you ever met one”

“Yes, through a professor I worked with last year. We met a delegation up in the main work station.”

“Were they all… male?”

“Yes, well, from what I understood.” Omar blushed and then almost whispered. “Did you know the thinking is that there may be as many a four recognized Sojourner sexes?”

Maxa laughed. “Yes. Must be confusing  at weddings.”

Omar snorted. They sat for a moment.

“What are the work stations like?” Maxa asked.

“Like the media you see. Clean, comfortable, kind of sterile. People get bored. Might explain why there were so many ETBs in the early days. The Sojourners now tend to try and separate themselves more. “

“ETB’s are down 78 percent from twenty years ago, which was the height. In another decade that factory won’t exist.”

“then why study them? At this rate there won’t be any ETBs in thirty years, they die young right?”

“Mid 30s, if that is young yeah. I dunno. I guess I feel they deserve some respect. They don’t get any from their fathers and the government, people here, are afraid fo them or ignore them. You saw that building today- imagine going there 7 days a week to work, all day. That’s not a life.”

“But they’re hard to control.”

“Yes, if you’re scared of them. Look, maybe they will be gone decades from now, but now they’re here. They are half human, we owe them... something.”

“And your study, you want to understand how they feel about their life?”

“Uh, yeah, something like that.”

“Not much there.”

“Uh, no. Um, I think I need some fresh air. I’ll be back I a little bit.”

 

Maxa left the room and went outside into the biting air. A gloom has descended over the waterfront. Truth was she has not seen anything at all that would give her a clue. Maybe this was a dea end. At the very least she would have to find a way out to San Diego.

After walking around for a while Maxa came back into the room. Her mood had not been lifted, but her head felt better, at least. With just a nod to Omar, who had gone back to reading, she sat down and picked up reviewing where she had left off.

If was not even ten minutes later when Luce came back into the room. Maxa waved at her withouth taking her eyes off the TV screen.

“Found anything?”

“No.”

Luce came over and sat down on the bed and watched a for a few minutes. Several interviews went by, all the same in so many ways. The ETB’s gave mostly single word answers – yes.

“God Pepper,  this is bullshit. What are we even looking for.”

“I dunno.”

“What do you mean?”

“I odn’t know. I just .. don’t. I thought… I don’t know. I thought something would be obvious. One of them would be different somehow. Give different answers, look different, something.”

“But they’re all the same.”

“I know Luce, I know! I sat through them all and now watching them.”

Luce got up off the bed. “Right, fuck this noise. I figured you had a plan Maxa, but I guess not. I’ll just catch a bus back or something.” Luce headed in to the bathroom and closed the door.

“Luce, come on, stop pulling drama. We’ll just drive back.”

“Fuck you Maxa Just wasting time on this stupid goose chase!” Luce’s voice came through the thin bathroom door. “You didn’t even need me in the end.”

“Not true Luce, you hustled those guys through there so fast-“

The door burst open and Luce strode out, grabbing her bag.

“Mules Maxa, fucking Mules! All those goddamn John Mules, just herding Mules! Dumb as shit weirdoes! What were we going to find? The missing link, the virgin birth!?”

“Luce…” Maxa said, giving her a look.

“Fuck this!” Luce said. “Stop playing games Maxa. No one cares. No one is after you or us or him, if he even exists! What if he died, huh? Years ago?”

“Well, some did die, but I would imagine that the one-“

“Imagine! That’s rich, this whole thing is imaginary isn’t it?”

“Uh, Maxa…” Omar tried to interject.

“It’s not imaginary. Come on Luce, this is real stuff here.”

“Not fake like my gender studies huh?” Luce spat out.

“I never said that. Wait a Goddamn minute, you just slagged off my shit first!” Maxa yelled back.

“Uh, you guys…” Omar tried again.

“Because this is all just a fantasy, isn’t it? Admit it Maxa, you’re just grasping here, some idea that you can kind some exotic bird…”

“GUYS!” Omar bellowed. Maxa and Luce stopped and stared. “Sorry, Maxa, look at this…”

Omar went over and scrolled the media back a few minutes to a previous interview.  “You want something different… look.”

The ETB on the screen was answering the questions in a flat voice, saying Yes.

“What?” Maxa said, “He’s saying the same stuff-“

“Don’t listen, look!”

Omar rewound the interview.

“Oh my God” Luce said, sitting down on the bed. “Maxa, look, his eyes, look at his eyes.

Maxa tilted her head and watched as the ETB sat perfectly still, his flat voice saying yes but his eyes, his eyes were darting back and forth, up and down, taking in the whole room. Taking in Maxa across from him, the eyes were awake and alive.

“That’s him, that’s the one…” Maxa whispered.

 

Chapter seven

“What one?” Omar asked, a huge grin on his face. “Did I do well then?”

“Fuck yes!” Luce said, her mood swung completely around.  Maxa laughed and rewound the tape to watch the interview again.

“Ok, what is your name?” Her voice on the screen sounded bored, it was from the second day, she figured it was mid afternoon. She sounded rough.

“Cloud.”

“Cloud?”

“Yes…”

But those eyes, searching, taking it all in.

Maxa pulled out her PCD and began typing.

“We need to get to this guy, Cloud. What  a name!”

“Better than John” Luce said.

“Luce” Maxa said in a sotto voce. “OK, we have to find him. It’s, what time now? Close to four. Two more hours they get out.”

“good, we can go back to the factory then.”Luce said, getting up.

“No! No way. We uh, can’t.”

“That would be easiest Maxa.” Omar said.

“No way.” Maxa shook her head and then arched her eyebrows at Luce.

“Maxa’s right. No need to get that director involved again.”

Omar reached over and turned off the media.

“OK, what is going on?” He said, his voice taking on a strength Maxa had not heard before.

“It’s ok Luce. Let’s talk  Omar.”

“Yes.” He said, sitting back down.

“OK, where to start. This prof I worked for, Gourevtich, he died last month. I was cleaning his office when I found a folder, a report, about the birth of an ETB.”

“Ok.”

“No, not OK, it was an ETB born of ETB parents. An offspring from two sterile beings.”

“Clearly not so sterile then?”

“Well, I guess, I mean, I didn’t know. The report, it mentioned that the kid was put into the ETB system, the orphanage system. To be state raised. We thought if we could find him…”

“You have this report?”

Maxa paused for a moment. No, not here.”

“OK, then what?”

“Well, if we can confirm his DNA. The report had a simple DNA test. If he matches, we have our kid, well, our grown up now.”

“But then what?”

“Well, we talk to him more, I guess. Write up a paper…”

Omar did not say anything for a moment. Then he got up. “Maxa, really, then what? Do you have any idea what this might mean? That two ETBs produced a child? What this would mean to earth – Sojourner relations? Things are delicate as it is.”

“I know. Everyone knows. But truth is truth Omar. If this is real, if this Cloud is the kid, then people deserve to know. The ETBs deserve to know. What could come of it really? So there was some mutation that made them not sterile. It hasn’t happened since, it may never happen again.”

“That we know of” Luce said from the bed.

“Yes.” Maxa said.

“I hope you’re right Maxa. If I were you I would leave this where it is. So you found the guy, maybe. Let’s head back now.” Omar said.

“And never know for sure? Doesn’t sound very satisfying to me.”

“You’re on the wrong path dude.” Luce said. “She’s like a pitbull with this shit.”

“Where do we start?” Omar asked.

“We have to go to the housing area, meet Cloud there. Less chance people would notice.”

“People won’t notice three humans going to an ETB compound?” Luce asked.

“I take it you’ve never been to an ETB housing block at night Luce? You’re in for a treat. Pretty sure you’re gonna like it.” Maxa smiled.

“Why?”

“It’s a huge party babe…”