by Alex Scarrow
‘Uh…hello. Kazan, is it?’ whispered Jez, a little self-consciously. ‘We’ve come to have our fortunes told.’
The hooded figure stirred slightly, then after a moment of stillness, an arm emerged from within the voluminous robes and gestured to some cushions in front of the table. Ellie caught a glimpse of the boojam’s skin. By the candle-light it looked pale, densely textured and contoured with wrinkles, like very old suede or leather. The arm ended with an odd hand; two equally long and thick digits splayed like a ‘Y’.
‘You coming in, and sitting here,’ Kazan said, his voice rustled like dry leaves caught by a breeze. To Ellie, the asthmatic rustling and whispering behind the words reminded her of restless and hungry tubweeds stirring impatiently.
‘Thank you,’ she replied, taking a seat on the floor in front of the low table. Jez sat down beside her.
‘For three creds you’d think they could afford chairs,’ Jez muttered. Ellie shushed her.
Kazam’s hood twitched oddly and they both heard a sniffing sound coming from within the darkened folds. All of a sudden, a pale tentacle-like shape emerged from the hood, from where Ellie assumed the creature’s face must be. The pale tentacle arced upwards and towards both girls like a strange headless cobra rearing up in readiness to strike at them. Ellie pulled back nervously and grabbed her friend’s hand.
‘Hey, relax,’ said Jez calmly, ‘it’s all part of the show.’
The tentacle probed the air then, after a moment of hesitation, it drifted towards Jez, holding a position several inches in front of her face; two bulbous glands surrounded by wrinkles of loose skin, a small moist hole between the glands that puckered and flexed. It wafted gently to and fro as it delicately sampled the air around her.
Jez giggled. ‘It looks like a man’s dingy-thingy.’
‘Uh?’
‘You know, a guy-handle? A meat joystick.’
‘Eww.’ Ellie wrinkled her face in disgust. ‘They look like that?’
‘Seriously?’ Jez looked at her. ‘You’ve never got this close to a-’
‘You am wanting future, tell?’ The dry whispering voice came from beneath the hood. Impatient.
‘Oh, sorry. Yes, we do!’ Jez replied. ‘My friend, Ellie here, and I….well we have a plan. We want to-’
Ellie grasped Jez’s arm. ‘See if he can guess what our plan is first,’ she whispered.
Jez paused for a moment. ‘Good idea,’ she replied quietly. ‘Okay, see…we’ve got something we both want to do, Mr Kazan. Can you guess what it is?’
Kazan’s body wobbled under his cloak and they heard what sounded like laughter. ‘What goal you am wish to do?’
Both girls nodded, ‘yes.’
‘Like me, of course…am wishing leave planet,’ he replied. ‘Too tired of here, am wishing to go.’
Ellie looked at Jez and squeezed her hand with excitement. ‘Wow. He guessed! That’s incredible!’
‘Aw freg. That’s a pretty easy guess, Ellie.’ Jez replied quietly, as the boojam’s trunk-like nose continued to hover inches away from her face. ‘That was too easy.’
Kazam’s form wobbled again. ‘Yes. Is far too easy. Planet sucks.’
The girls looked at each other and giggled.
‘Now, you want I to read future path you am taking?’
Both of them nodded. ‘Yeah,’ they chorused enthusiastically.
The boojam inhaled deeply, his body expanding under the cloak as they heard the air whistling into twin slits at the end of his trunk.
‘Ahhhhh,’ Kazan exhaled after a moment and the air he had sucked in blew back out of the trunk into Jez’s face. She grimaced at the rancid smell coming back at her. ‘You lady, sense you strong…strong as many. You am lived long time here, now time comes soon when you am planning to leave.’
The mirth on Jez’s face began to vanish with the mysterious, hypnotic rustling of his voice. She was entranced by the gently swinging trunk in front of her.
‘So tell me, I’m going to get off Harpers Reach, right?’
‘Time will come soon, two possibilities, two branches. One branch, you leave. The other….you not,’ the boojam replied.
‘Crud. How soon does this branch thingy happen then? Are we talking weeks? Months? Years?’
‘Sooner than you think,’ the alien replied. ‘Am smell things already in motion, you…moved by them.’
‘Do I get to pick the right branch then? Come on…tell me, do I get off this crud-hole?’
The boojam hesitated, ‘the answer exist inside you, listen to it.’
Jez looked confused for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. ‘I’m listening, not hearing anything though.’
‘What you wish to hear?’
‘That I get the freg off this world.’
The boojam hesitated again. Ellie wondered if it was deciding whether to tell Jez what she wanted to hear. The paying customer is always right.
‘That…is the answer.’
‘Yes!’ hissed Jez. She turned to Ellie and nudged her arm. ‘Tell me, Kazam, what will I see out there in space? Will I meet some rich young stud and party for the rest of my life?’ Jez asked, grinning expectantly.
Kazan’s trunk lifted up from her face and hovered in the air above her head. Again they heard the boojam inhale deeply and the whistle of air entering his trunk. He held it in for a few moments before exhaling again.
‘Uncertainty in life. Long or short. Unsure,’ he answered. ‘But destiny is not yours. You destiny am tied to things other, bigger.’
‘Okay, I’m happy with that,’ she answered. ‘Die young or old, at least it looks like I’m finally going to get off this mud ball. See, Ellie? It’s our destiny to get out of here.’
Kazan’s trunk gently tapped against her head as he hissed. ‘Now be quiet’.
It swung across and curled towards Ellie. She found herself flinching uncertainly as the pale, wrinkled end of it wavered only inches away from her face. Her eyes were drawn to the two narrow orifices on the end; slits of flesh that opened, puckered and closed like tiny mouths sipping the air.
‘Now, you,’ said Kazan. Both orifices suddenly flared, opening widely as Ellie felt a draft of air being sucked in, brush across her cheeks. She found herself struggling to hold onto a nervous giggle.
Nerves. Or perhaps it was the preposterous nature of their fortune-teller. Ellie had never before heard of one’s fortune being smelled. She bit her lip to stop her chuckling out loud as the boojam held the air in his lungs and began sampling the unique cocktail of chemicals that was supposedly an indication of her future.
‘If I’d known we were coming out to have our fortunes read, I might have had a shower first,’ whispered Ellie uncomfortably as they waited in silence. Jez snorted.
‘Quiet!’ Kazan snapped, his rustling, whispering voice momentarily a loud bark.
Jez closed her mouth and clamped her lips tightly together. She did her best to maintain a demeanour of solemnity. Her jiggling shoulders were all that gave her away. Ellie kept her eyes firmly on the boojam’s trunk, knowing full well that right now - keyed up with excitement as she was - catching sight of Jez would set her off.
At last the alien exhaled again and she felt a warm blast of fetid air across her cheeks.
‘You future complicated. Am difficult to read. Much things in there.’
Ellie’s urge to giggle was kicked to the side for the moment. She leant to one side to look at the robed figure. ‘Do I get off of this world too?’ she asked impatiently. ‘That’s the one thing I really want to know. Please.’
‘Yes. You leaving, am going far, far away this world. See many worlds.’
Ellie clasped her hands together with sheer unbridled delight. ‘Oh-my-crud! I’m getting off!?’ she cried. ‘Tell me, when. How soon?’
Kazan nodded. ‘Soon. But…’ he raised one of his two-digit hands. ‘Other things am seeing. Uncertain…you. Am seeing, many death, war…..change, rebirth,’ the boojam whispered, its rus
tling voice increasing in volume.
‘Woah, Ellie! This is getting interesting,’ whispered Jez, the grin fading from her face too.
‘Many changes, you at the centre….changes radiating out, like a star.’
Suddenly Kazan twitched violently and with one of his hands the boojam threw his hood back to reveal his face. The skin was pallid and wrinkled like his arms. Above where the trunk emerged from his face, Ellie saw a cluster of four or five small, watery, beady black eyes, like a bunch of grapes, studying her intensely. Either side of his face, large fanned ears flickered and stretched out like small wings. Ellie lurched backwards as the boojam suddenly leant towards her.
‘One seeks you! One hunts you! You destiny decided by which find you first,’ he growled loudly.
‘Uh?’
The trunk recoiled from Ellie, curled back towards his face. ‘You must leave this world quickly! Leave now!’
The woman who had taken their money at the door bustled in, disturbed by the boojam’s raised voice. ‘Everything all right, Kazam?’
The boojam was quivering within his robes, the trunk flailing agitatedly from side to side.
‘What did you two do to him?!’
‘Nothing,’ said Jez. ‘He just went all weird.’
‘Please, you must go now. You can see he is upset. He never shows his face like this! Never!’
‘Achh! Am see dying in someone close to you!’ the boojam continued, voice raised, shrill, almost feminine. ‘War! Death!’
‘Out!’ cried the woman. ‘Now!’
The girls got to their feet awkwardly under the stern gaze of the woman, but Kazan reached out with one of his hands and grabbed Ellie’s arm. His skin felt surprisingly soft and warm, and despite its unattractive pallor and the wrinkles, she felt the alien’s grasp comforting, reassuring even.
‘Must leave from this world, as soon as can. Understanding? Waste no time!’
Ellie nodded silently. ‘That’s what we’re trying to-‘
‘Please, you girls, leave now! You’ve upset him, can’t you see?’ the woman said, pulling at Ellie’s arm.
*
It wasn’t until they had walked out of the old Baldini Tower and grabbed a skyhound heading back to their part of the city that Jez finally broke the thoughtful silence.
‘Well…um….actually that was supposed to be a bit of a laugh.’
Ellie nodded, she was still pondering the confusing things the alien had told her. ‘People are after me?’ she said looking at Jez. ‘What have I done to anyone?’
‘Fregg, I don’t know, girl. Maybe he was talking about your farm folks. Maybe he was just fancying it up a bit to make it sound good. You know, messing with your mind. But, I’ll say this for free - he was right about one thing; the sooner we get a wriggle on and get out of New Haven, the better.’
‘Yeah,’ Ellie replied distractedly, Kazan’s cryptic warnings still tumbling around in her head.
‘So, smelly Ellie,’ Jez’s face brightened. ‘When we get back it’s your turn to program dinner. And then we sit down and we start thinking how we’ll get enough money to find a way off. Okay?’
‘Okay.’
‘I don’t think your job at that cruddy diner is going to get you anywhere in a hurry, so….we both need to get out there and find ourselves better jobs.’
‘And how are we going to do that, Jez?’ she asked, staring out of the window at the bustling city below. ‘There’s like two million other people out there ragging for jobs, just like us. Just ’cause we want decent jobs, doesn’t mean we’ll find any.’
Jez nodded. ‘True, but then there’s one huge thing in our favour.’
‘What’s that?’
‘They’re all butt-ugly,’ she grinned.
‘Oh right, yeah,’ shrugged Ellie, ‘that’s just great Jez. That might work for you. But I’m not exactly a toob-face.’
‘Look at them,’ she said gesturing to the passengers around them in the hound. ‘All of them...miserable, grey-faced, brain-dead ditto-drekks!’
Ellie was relieved that most, if not all of them, were wearing earphones and watching either hand-held toob sets or the holovid image projected onto one of the plasti-screen windows. She did notice one middle-aged woman scowling indignantly back at them. Ellie smiled apologetically. ‘Sorry, she doesn’t really know what she’s say-‘
‘Now,’ Jez continued, ‘take you and I, we both look great.’
Ellie looked at her with raised eyebrows. ‘What?’
‘Alright, I… look great. With a bit of work, you look passable. But, together, if we smile enough, we make a winning combo. We’ve just got to think big, girl. Think Big…and smile lots.’
‘And you think it’s going to be that easy?’ she replied looking back out of the window once more. ‘Smile a lot and bat our eyelids?’
‘That’s what Madge Muggerzink says in Shuttle Stop 9, isn’t it? Think Big, Smile Lots and the world is your Soyo-Snack.’
‘Oh, right. It must be true then.’
Jez pinched Ellie’s nose and pulled her round to look into her eyes. ‘Have I led you wrong yet?’
‘Nobe Jez, I guebb you haben’t,’ she replied sullenly.
OMNIPEDIA:
[Human Universe open source digital encyclopaedia]
Article: Ellie Quin > Terraforming
The beginning of the thirty-fifth century saw the re-emergence of the 21st century disease; Parasitic Corporatism. Looking back with the clear vision of hindsight, it is obvious that by Ellie Quin’s time, behind the velvet glove of the Colonial Administration, the real power lay with large system-wide business interests. Studying this fascinating period of history, their steady influence on the Administration’s governance of Human Space is almost impossible to ignore. However, at the time, although it was apparent to those few who chose to open their eyes and see it, for the vast majority of human citizens the omnipresence of only a few dozen corporations in every city, on every planet, must have been an acceptable norm.
History has shown us again and again, that when the value of an endeavour is measured solely in profit, something will always go wrong. The best example of this principle was the terraforming industry. This was dominated by only a handful of corporations competing aggressively for contracts, and rushing the delicate processes of atmosphere conversion to reduce their operating costs. The cataclysmic mismanagement of Celestion’s atmosphere was perhaps one of the more notorious examples of this. Over half a million people died on the planet because the company, Hale-Hale Worlds, attempted to halve the projected time span of the process….all in the name of profit.
User Comment > Yoki-Industries
Want a career in Terraforming? Join WorldFast: the fastest growing provider of planet-wide solutions. For more information quote ‘WorldFast > jobs’
User Comment > Phil-100232
It’s no better now than it was back then. Mega-companies own Human Space. Everyone knowz that, don’t they?
CHAPTER 8
‘Hi Hufty, it’s been a while again. I really must record my diary more often. Well, where do I start? Things have changed a bit since the last time I did some diary. Jez lost her job dancing at that night club, but…she decided that it was for the best. It’s made her think about what she wants to do with her life and she’s really set her mind now on getting off Harpers Reach. So, being the bossy loud-chik that she is, she made me quit my job at the slap ‘n’ grill….it was a daggy job anyway….so we could both upsize our income together. I think that’s the phrase she used.’
‘In a way I’m sort of pleased that that happened; Jez losing her dancing job. I think she would have stayed there forever otherwise, and she deserves better than that. Anyway, it’s good, because now we’ve both decided to work towards the one goal together. We’ve made a pact….a deal sort of. Well, it’s more like a mantra; ‘Off-world or die trying.’ What do you think? Catchy, huh?’
‘Oh yeah…I called home and spoke to Dad again. He’s still hopping
mad with me, but not as bad as the last time I spoke to him. I told him I had somewhere to live, a good friend and some work to keep me busy. He made me promise to visit soon, which, you know, I’d like to do, I really would. I miss them all so much, but it’s more than I can afford right now. A shuttle flight back home would be like, I guess….it would take me a year to earn that much. Anyway, if I can save a bit every month? Well, we’ll see.’
‘Dad told me, he’s starting to change over the crop now. He’s taken the tubweed out of Betsy and changed the filters and climate control. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it’s going to be pretty gross getting things right with the meat crop he’s trying out. They’re so hard to keep alive. Yeuuchh! He says Sean’s Dad is going to help set it up for him, get it right so they don’t end up with the mess they had the first time he tried.’
‘Speaking of Sean, I wonder how he is? I guess the Freezer must have taken him back to that army planet and they must be all defrosted now and doing their training. I asked Dad if Sean had sent anything yet, but he said there’d been nothing so far. I hope he writes. You know, I miss him too. I know he’s out there, he’s seen space for himself….I wish I could see what he must be seeing. I’d love to tell him I’ve seen an alien. I wonder if he has yet? Crud! I wish Sean would write to me; give me an address so I can tell him everything that’s happened to me. I know he would be super-impressed. I know he would.’
‘Oh well Hufty, I’ve got to go now. Jez’s shouting to me to get a move on. We’ve both got an interview at this fast food place, ‘StarBreaks’. The creds are good there, and it’ll mean we’ll be working together. Which will be nice. I think.’
*
‘So, what makes you the right girls for the job then?’ asked Mr Noah. He leant backwards in his chair, studying them carefully as they both looked at each other.
‘Well,’ Jez started, ‘we’re both hardworking chiks. We really are….and dedicated to any job that we take on, dedicated, and fiercely loyal of course,’ she continued.