Far-out Show (9781465735829)

by Hanna, Thomas

  “How much, Adam?”

  “Have you figured out where he went? It’d be a waste of time and money to have a camera and no reason to use it.”

  “How much, Adam?”

  “I have to charge it on my credit card so I don’t have to leave a big cash deposit with him but that avoids a trip to the bank which would slow things up even more. Here we go, I could get a bus at the corner of Mapledrip and Fogbound on the hour every hour all day. It’s a twenty-two minute ride to where I then have to walk three blocks to the camera shop. Coming back is the same times in reverse.”

  “That’ll take all day.”

  “Yeah, but then you won’t complain for months that I spent too much money by taking a cab,” he said. “I’ve lived with you long enough to know how some things go, Momma.”

  “Take a cab. Both ways.”

  “I don’t have enough cash and as far as I know cabs don’t take credit cards. Not that I ride in them often.”

  “I have some reserves.”

  “That should cut the time down to maybe an hour before I’ll be back. Then how do I pick up the suspect’s trail? If nobody has beaten us to it by then.”

  Edith didn’t like being played but she knew the signs and knew that in this case he had a strong argument on his side. “I’ll start right away to find it. You can make the cab bring you to where it is.”

  “How will I know where it is?”

  “I just told you, I’ll be there keeping an eye on it.”

  “Good, then I only need to drive all around town in a taxi with the meter running until I happen to spot you. Will you be waving to every cab you see in case it’s the one I’m in?”

  “What am I supposed to do, put a long cord on the phone and take it with me?” Edith asked in exasperation.

  “How about a variation on that. Take Mimi Brownowski and her cell phone with you so I can call that number and ask where you are when I’m ready to start back with the camera.”

  “I can’t stand Mimi Brownowski. She so empty-headed she makes me crazy. And she hums the same tune over and over.”

  “But she has a cell phone which means you can be anywhere in the area and make or take a call. And she won’t ask what you’re doing, try to make you share the money you make using her phone, or probably even ask you to pay for any calls you make on her phone.”

  “The things I’ll put up with to get rich quick. Okay, I’ll go ask her if she’s free to go for a walk and what her portable phone’s number is.”

  “All three points are taken care of. She’d be happy to go for a walk with you. Her cell phone is working since that’s how I asked her that. And I have her number since I looked it up so I could call and ask her out.”

  “You asked Mimi out?”

  “With you. For a walk. Nothing more than that. There are limits to what I’ll do to get rich quick.”

  “You asked her before you asked me?”

  “Your limits aren’t as close as mine. I need the cash. I’m calling for a cab. Then Mimi’s waiting for you. You know what direction he went in, you’ll have to figure it out from there if he’s not standing on the corner waiting for a space ship to swoop down and pick him up or something.”

  “Hell, that’d ruin everything if we’re not ready to be the first to take pictures of the saucer doing that.”

  “Take the one-use camera just in case. And don’t sit here longer than you really have to hoping something will change and you won’t have to take Mimi for a walk.”

  He left the room. She gave free expression to her sour look, then shrugged and got up to do what she had to to make it possible that she’d get rich quick.

  * * *

  Back in the tool shed Wilburps hovered as Nerber silently fretted as he tried to come to a final decision about what to do.

  Wilburps said, “There are still signals that I cannot interpret. They had been faint for some time but got stronger but have stayed the same intensity for a time period now. Those are the ones that seem like they are coming from a localized source.”

  “More confusing signals from the producers?”

  “No, these seem to be coming from here at the planet’s surface. They have a quality about them that makes them different but I am not able to be more precise about them than that at this time. Like they are communications signals I can detect but am still not able to decipher.”

  Nerber got excited as he considered this. “Maybe those signals are from another contestant who’s in the area. Maybe the producers gave us each a different communications system so we couldn’t cheat by listening in on one another. Try to track those signals. Maybe the other contestant has a clear channel to the producers. At the least maybe we can help one another survive the search by the inhabitants since going it alone seems more dangerous and a lot less desirable. Can you get a sense of which way we would go to locate the source?”

  “Yes, but it seems to be a distance away so it will take us some time to reach that location. Not a long long time but the source is not within your sight.”

  “It’s not like I have a better idea of where to head in hope of not becoming a laboratory specimen.”

  “I am also still every so often detecting those other unexpected signals from somewhere on or near Whizybeam. Those come in sudden rushes. Directives to process signals and transmit them to be piggy-backed on signals being sent to Ormelex by Whizybeam but so the ship’s systems should not detect that is happening, be able to prevent it, or even be able to read the messages.”

  “There is no way you can respond to those directives? There is no feedback route?” Nerber asked.

  “No feedback route, no identification code. Also the commands are coded so that I cannot store them. Either I respond immediately as commanded or they disappear leaving no traces. I am not equipped to do what they call for so I have not produced any effects, I only detected the fleeting directives. It is all a mystery.”

  “Are you detecting those signals at this moment?”

  “No. They ended abruptly a short time ago.”

  “Abruptly?”

  “In the middle of a command chain there was a sudden override command to initiate an emergency shutdown program. I have no such program so I did not respond to that command either.”

  “I do not know if I should be fearful about that or what. Let me know if you detect those signals again. I am tied up with caution though. I will leave you here in safe hiding for a short time while I look around for trouble.” Nerber tapped control spots leaving the zerpy unable to locomote again.

  “It is not needed that you immobilize me.”

  “Yes, it is. The producers care less about my survival than about putting me in peril for the sake of excitement.”

  “They deny that.”

  “Thereby making my point. I will be back soon.” Nerber closed the tool shed door and hurried to the out-of-sight spot among the landscaping.

  Here he wasted no time. He plucked Wowseyla off his hat and extended the keyboard and view-screen. He typed in code and watched, his apprehension showing in the fact that even inside his boots his feet flapped up and down a bit.

  He closely examined the first messages that appeared, then keyed in more commands.

  “Yes, they are using the Three X Nine system to garble all the messages they are sending to Wilburps while keeping all signals coming from him clear for themselves.”

  He stared at the new onscreen message. “It is for surely true a scream justification situation when the answers are so unsure. Perhaps I can access the transmission program for the self-destruct signals with Wowseyla but it is not certain that I would not automatically activate it by doing so. Also I still cannot be certain whether I can initiate transport back to Whizybeam on my own from here. Splinkflert! I need definite answers before I risk disaster trying to avoid a more delayed one.”

  He shut down the mini-zerpy and put it back on his hat, looked up and down the street for any signs of a gathering mob, then ran back to the tool shed
.

  He opened the shed and freed up Wilburps. “I cannot detect any immediate risk so I am ready for you to guide me to the source of the signals coming from nearby.”

  “Continue down the street away from where we arrived. I will alert you promptly if a change of direction is needed.”

  “I am proceeding as fast as my courage will allow – which at this time is slowly and with great caution.”

  “Prudent behavior on a strange-on-several-levels world.”

  Chapter 12

  Penelope Regimentator sat in her parked car staring at the line of storefront shops that included the one with no identifying signs and with newspaper taped over its windows on the inside. This neighborhood, only a few blocks from the Parker house although she didn’t know or care about them at the moment, was part of what was once a separate small town that had been engulfed by the expanding city.

  She talked to herself because it was her main way to make herself pay attention to things. “The local police pulled him over but then let him drive himself and that airhead here. Then the police drove away showing no further interest in him. But he’s been inside for more than twenty minutes. What does that add up to? Not a hill of beans if I don’t know who’s inside with him and what they’re doing or talking about.”

  She fidgeted and squirmed since the car seat always seemed extra uncomfortable when she was sitting still in there. “Maybe I should go over and walk right in there and demand some answers. If whoever he’s meeting with is on the public payroll, citizens have a right to some answers. But if they locked the door I’d give myself away and put me on their radar. Probably better to wait a little longer before I rush into action to save my day.”

  She stepped out of the car for a better look at all the parked cars in the area. “If he’s giving his secrets to official people they might start to block off the area where he knows something important is located. Unless I’m already inside that perimeter to record what’s there I’m wasting my time because nobody except official people will see what that is. I can’t see any of the big black SUVs the federal people always drive on the TV shows.”

  She quickly got back into the car when a man in casual clothes came out of one of the other storefronts and looked around. “Unless there’s a disaster and everybody inside the perimeter dies in some horrible way. Then it’d be worthwhile being close enough to record that happening while being safe on the outside.”

  That man got in a car parked by that shop and drove away.

  She checked that her camera with the zoom lens was within easy reach. “Maybe they’re beating the truth out of him in there. I could sell pictures of that too. But they’d be pros and wouldn’t let him just walk out after that. No, they’d whisk him away, maybe never to be seen again depending on what he told them and whether he could be of more help to them. They’d use a rear door to take away a body.”

  At that moment Krinkle and Jones came out of the papered-over storefront and went to Krinkle's car parked at the far end of the line of shops. Regimentator slid down in her seat to be hard to see without losing sight of them.

  “Did they rough you up?” Krinkle asked. “We could sue them for millions.”

  Jones was unfazed and cheerful. “No, they didn't seem to know what to do with me. I had coffee and two donuts. Those were fresh too. I always like them best when they’re fresh.”

  Krinkle stared over at the papered-over store window, “They were official but wouldn't admit it. Probably federal agents. The police pulled us in here on fake charges so these others could grill us with no news media around to take notice.”

  “Newspaper and drapes on the windows. Cubicle walls with cardboard taped to stick up to make the walls higher. They went to a lot of trouble. They sure didn't want anybody and nobody to see we were in there.”

  “More precisely they were going to all that trouble to hide who they were that were in there trying to twist our answers around so they could tell the public that my claim is a hoax.”

  “But the news said a lot of telescopes saw the thing beside the moon too,” Jones noted.

  “Typical officialdom. The ones who publicly laughed when they first heard my report don't want to admit they were wrong. Or more precisely, they hate admitting I was right about anything. What did they ask you?”

  “Mostly general stuff. Like are you a liar or just crazy? And what do your special clothes mean?”

  “What did you tell them about my outfit?”

  “That it’s strange but fun. It’s like I’m traveling with a one man circus,” Jones said.

  “That’s an okay answer,” Krinkle said.

  “They mostly wanted me to say I was with you when you saw it but I wasn't so I wouldn't.”

  “If you did they'd find out where you really were and say it's all a lie,” Krinkle grumbled.

  “They asked where we're going. I said out for a ride. They wanted more detail but that's all I know.”

  “You're a good helper, Zippedy Jones. Did you tell them about my special tools?”

  “They didn't ask. Should I have?”

  “No, there's no reason for them to know and it's easier if they don't. The Fodd and the jammer are nobody else's business. Let's see what signals the Fodd might be picking up and we'll get on with the search. But we’ll move away from here first in case they’re watching me out the windows.”

  “It's neat that you have a secret weapon against alien invaders. I think that’s just so cool.”

  After a look around to be sure of the traffic and that no one had come running out of the papered-over shop to wave them down for more questions, Krinkle drove off down the street.

  Regimentator let two cars get between them, then followed. “Back on track to beat the weirdo to his prize,” she muttered.

  * * *

  Edith Parker, not a notoriously patient person, pondered murder as she walked her wifty neighbor Mimi Brownowski in circles near the Oakline Street park to keep her occupied.

  Brownowski, seventy-five and physically okay but mentally dulled by medical problems, had relatives who had helped the Parkers in recent years so Edith made the minimum effort to be sociable on the few occasions when she couldn’t avoid any contact. Today by keeping Mimi moving Edith minimized her childlike questions.

  Edith carried Brownowski’s cell phone so when it rang she could answer it right away. “Is it you, Adam?”

  “Yes. I have the equipment. Where should I meet you?”

  “By the park on Oakline Street. He’s here. Watch for me as you drive up since I’ll stay where I can see him without going close. If he moves I’ll have to move me and Mimi too.”

  “How’s she doing?”

  “Don’t ask. Get here fast to take the pictures and so I can get her home.” She disconnected the call since he was always reluctant to be the one to say goodbye.

  Brownowski now felt the pocket in her dress and stared at the phone in Edith’s hand. Edith handed that to her saying, “Yes, it’s your phone. You can carry it now that it’s served my purpose.” Then after a glance to be sure Nerber was in sight she started off at a slow pace on another circular path with Brownowski promptly following.

  Edith stopped suddenly and Brownowski bumped into her back before she noticed the change. At other times that would have really annoyed Edith but right now she was distracted by the two cars that arrived and stopped up the street. The first parked at the curb near the grassy area with the benches and the gazebo along the park side of the street. The other stopped far up the block but quickly backed out of sight around a corner up there.

  After a moment Krinkle and Jones got out of the nearer car and carried two cartons from the back seat to the gazebo. That done, Jones got a fast-food restaurant bag from the parked car and settled on the bench facing the gazebo. He inserted his ear buds, selected a play list of numbers on his small music player, then opened the bag to enjoy the tacos and soft drink he had bought along the way here.

  Edith was instantly very ale
rt and interested when Regimentator, carrying a camera with a long lens, hurried around the corner where the second car had pulled out of sight. Mrs. Parker stepped off the sidewalk for a better look.

  A taxi pulled up, the driver stopping several yards behind Edith who didn’t notice it because she was focused on the woman up the street. Adam got out and called, “I’m here. Are you ready to take the cab and go home?”

  Edith glanced behind her and gave a jump of surprise to find a vehicle and her son there. “Oh, you’re here.”

  “He’s ready for you and Mimi. I’ve given him Mimi’s address,” Adam said.

  Edith looked at Regimentator now staying out of easy sight. “No, I should stay here for a while. There may be a problem. Competition. Pay him and get a number I can call on Mimi’s phone when we’re ready to go home.”

  Adam shrugged and leaned in the open door of the taxi to handle those details. When he looked around though he found Brownowski standing beside him obviously expecting to get in the taxi. He called, “Mother? What about Mimi?”

  Edith was moving around a bit to see what the man in the gazebo was doing since watching him but not being seen by him seemed to be the focus and concern of the woman up the street. At Adam’s question she glanced back, saw the neighbor and grumbled, “If we hadn’t needed her there’s no way I’d have brought her here or anywhere.”

  Concluding that the woman up the street wasn’t going anywhere for the moment, Edith went over and took Brownowski by the arm. “Come on, Mimi, we came to see what’s in the park so let’s do that before we take a taxi home. We’ll go for that ride in a few minutes.”

  When they were safely out of its way Edith emphatically waved away the taxi. The driver shrugged, threw a U-turn, and drove away.

  Edith waved over Adam and pointed out Nerber who had been standing in among the trees at a spot where he had a clear view of the gazebo and the benches by the sidewalk but probably could not see either the Parkers at this end or Regimentator at the far end of the block. “Over beyond the gazebo. Among the trees but where he can see out. Been standing there. Can’t tell if he’s phoning home or anything. Do aliens really do that? Anyway, make me proud. Go get some pictures the world wants to pay to see.”