by E. R. Torre
“Didn’t know there was anyone anywhere near your stake.”
“Half the time I’m here Carson’s not far behind.”
“Most times you’re here you’re alone.”
“I’m always with someone when I’m in Bordertown.”
“You mean other than today?”
At this Laverna couldn’t help but laugh.
“You got me there,” she said. “Some days your whole world is out of sync.”
“Guess so,” Max said. “How about describing this Carson for me?”
Laverna tried to put her mental image of Carson into words but, as happened in the Starport, she had trouble doing so.
“He’s something like six feet tall and has shoulder length black hair. He’s in his late forties. Maybe even early fifties. He’s muscular, well-tanned.”
“You’re describing most of the scavengers around here. Hades, that describes most every man that wanders into my bar. What else you got?”
“He’s…” Laverna began and stopped. For some reason the image of Osborne, her closest friend during her days in the Phaecian military, appeared in her mind’s eye. She tried but couldn’t get him out of her mind.
Laverna shook her head.
“He… he drives a hovercycle like I do,” she managed.
“You mean the deathtrap? I don’t know anyone but you with the balls to drive a thing like that.”
“That’s not true,” Laverna said. She was a growing irritable. “There are others who drive… Look, there’s Broderick and Constantine and—”
Max’s eyebrows rose.
“Let me guess. You don’t know them either?”
“Sorry dear. Maybe I’m not as familiar with my patrons as I thought.”
“The way this conversation’s going, you’ll probably forget who I am,” Laverna said.
“No way I’d forget you,” Max said. He gently took his hand on hers. “You’re the center of my Universe. More importantly, you’re one of the few who always pays your bills.”
They laughed and Max released her hand.
“You really don’t remember him?”
“I don’t. But I believe you. He your man?”
“Not really,” Laverna said.
“Then why do you care?”
“I’m beginning to wonder myself,” Laverna admitted. “Last night he came by my camp. He gave me his gear and said he was taking a shuttle out of here today.”
“There aren’t no shuttles—”
“I know, I know. Anyway, that’s what he told me. I didn’t properly thank him for what he gave me and maybe I was feeling emotional about the whole thing—”
“Ain’t love grand?” Max said and smiled.
“—so I came to Bordertown to thank him. Only it looks like everything he told me about leaving was a lie. There is no shuttle and even if there was, I’m beginning to wonder how he could afford to pay for a trip out.”
“So you’re angry.”
“I barely knew him,” Laverna said. “He was nice to me and I… by the Gods, I don’t know. Maybe I did feel something for him but now, now it looks like other than giving me some extra gear, he was a fucking illusion.”
“Well, the good thing about being in a bar in the middle of the only town in this Godsforsaken world is that eventually everyone shows up. You’re welcome to stick around and see if Carson does.”
“That’s sweet.”
“Of course,” Max said. He leaned in close to Laverna. “You can pay your stay, right?”
“Fuck you.”
“Nothing personal,” Max said. “Work round these parts is also hard as shit and the pay sucks.”
Both Laverna and Max laughed. When they were done, Laverna said:
“There is something else.”
“What’s that?”
“I went to his camp just before making the trip to Bordertown,” Laverna said. “It was a mess.”
“Every scavenger I know is a slob. Present company excluded, of course.”
“You don’t understand. The place hadn’t been used in months. The equipment was good stuff at one time, but it was left behind and corroded. The tent was also good quality and now it barely stands. It was as if everything was put together and abandoned a very long time ago. It was like… it was like Carson was never really was there.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Neither do I,” Laverna said. She raised her hands into the air. “Yet another mystery. If Carson wasn’t scavenging, why was he hanging around that claim? And why go to the trouble and expense of creating a ghost site only to let it rot away?”
“Sounds like Carson’s was quite the man of mystery,” Max said. “Sounds sexy.”
“Maybe,” Laverna said. “I came here to thank him and for all I know he’s a complete fucking sham.”
“Enough of that,” Max said. “You’re here to drink and its past time you started. Tell you what, the first drink is on me.”
“Sounds good,” Laverna said.
She reached into her pocket. It was flush with money. Other than keeping enough to buy some supplies and re-charge or replace her hovercycle’s power cell, Laverna no longer wanted any of it.
Screw Carson.
“I just drove a full day through the desertlands all alone and could have lost my fucking life because of that man,” Laverna said. “Now that I’m here, I’m giving myself a good time.”
32
The sun was gone and darkness spread over Bordertown and looked as if it was there to stay.
Laverna moved from the bar’s counter to a table along the rear. She paced her drinking while keeping track of the chips in her pocket. Soon, she felt the comfortable pull of alcohol.
Max didn’t press yet came by every so often to see if she wanted more. The answer, through that evening, was always “yes”.
With each drink Max brought, Laverna did the polite thing and took them down. The credits in her pocket diminished and it wasn’t too long before she realized she burned through more of it than she thought possible.
She tried counting her credits but it was difficult with her mind in a haze. She persisted, until she had a number. She was surprised by what was left. It didn’t seem possible anyone could burn through that much money in that short a time.
Keep wasting everything you’ve earned. Whatever secrets Carson held from you, he did you a favor by giving you his gear and here you are, squandering it…
The thought should have embarrassed her but her latest drink offered a strong counter-point.
She took it down.
The drink left fiery skid marks on Laverna’s throat. She winced, sat back and let things cool down. For the first time in what felt like hours, she looked around.
Through the evening patrons wandered in and out of Max’s Bar. As the night grew even darker, fewer of them remained. Laverna spotted familiar faces, among them lifers and lost souls trapped just like her.
A voice in her head protested that thought: You’re not as trapped as you think.
Laverna shook her head. Memories of that town square on Gehinnom and the old lady and all those bodies filled her mind. There was no getting around what she did and how it affected her life since then.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
Forget it. You could have been put in the brig for a long time. You could still be there.
Laverna leaned back in her chair and smiled.
“Oh yeah, this is so much better.”
Laverna grabbed her cup. Only a few drops of her latest drink remained within.
She reached into her pocket and felt for the credit chips still there.
There’s still enough to take care of the power cell. Maybe not so much for supplies but Carson left you plenty of that, didn’t he? Fucking Carson. Get another drink.
“Drink it all away,” she muttered.
What good is money if I can’t use it to leave?
She held back a wave of sadness.
Maybe they’ve forgotten abou
t me and what happened on Gehinnom. Maybe I can fly out of here…
“Computers don’t forget,” she whispered.
The moment you land on foreign soil and submit to an Immigration ID Scan they’ll know exactly who you are and what you did and it’ll all come back as if it never left. Because it hasn’t. It never will.
Laverna was as much a prisoner of her past as she was of this planet.
She fell back further into the chair’s cushion. On top of everything else, she was so damn exhausted. Between her work and the trip to Bordertown, it felt as if she hadn’t slept since—
The rusty hinges of the door leading into the bar squeaked. Laverna looked that way.
For a moment she thought the Bar’s new customer was Carson. He looked a hell of a lot like him. And Osborne. And every man she knew.
It wasn’t any of them.
Like Carson, he was in his mid-forties and very lean. He was also tall and his hair was gray. Unlike Carson’s hair, the stranger’s was much longer and fell to his shoulders. The man wore a dusty black trench coat and his face was as gaunt as his body. For a second his brilliantly blue eyes were upon Laverna. They lingered there and she felt a chill.
“What can I do for you?” Max asked the stranger.
“Do you have beer?”
“This is a bar.”
“Does that mean you do?”
Max tried hard not to roll his eyes.
“Yes, it does.”
“Good,” the man said.
He was quiet for a few seconds and Max sighed. The desert sun had done a number on the stranger.
“You want one?”
“Eh?”
“A beer.”
“Oh, I don’t drink beer,” the stranger said.
A moment before Laverna wanted to cry. Now she fought hard not to laugh.
As the stranger continued his conversation with Max, Laverna was struck by, of all things, the man’s teeth. They were remarkably white and straight. Such perfection didn’t fit in with the rest of him.
After some more conversation, Max gave the stranger a bottle –an entire bottle!– of Picante. The man laid several credit chips. He then opened the bottle, asked for a cup, and filled it with liquor. Following this, he leaned over the counter and whispered something into Max’s ear. He left the cup full of Picante behind and walked to a table at the opposite end of the bar. It was as deep into Max’s place as you could get without being in the back alley. When the man sat down, he all but disappeared in the shadows.
Laverna again looked at her cup and found it remained stubbornly empty.
Maybe I can get the newcomer to share?
Laverna shook her head.
She’d already opened up more than she should with Carson. Last thing she needed was to get friendly with another stranger. He might offer Laverna a drink, but only if she was willing to share something with him.
Laverna again reached into her jacket pocket and found the same small amount of loose change.
“Shit,” she muttered. Her day of partying was coming to its end while the stranger’s was just beginning. She looked his way.
You’re not a scavenger, at least none that I know and I know most. You don’t work in Bordertown and you don’t live in these parts so you probably just arrived. Everyone says there isn’t a shuttle scheduled for a while but what if you’re a pilot and you landed your ship elsewhere. Maybe you’re here to pick up Carson—
“This is your lucky day,” Max said.
Laverna was startled to find him standing beside her. He held the full cup of Picante the stranger left on the bar’s counter.
“He wants you to have this.”
Laverna considered the drink.
“You crazy, Max? There’s no way I’m taking a drink from a stranger.”
“The bottle he bought was sealed,” Max said. “I watched him open and pour this drink. I guarantee you he didn’t spike it.”
Laverna looked toward the stranger. She wanted to frown, to show she didn’t need the man’s charity and wasn’t in the mood for his shit.
The man’s attention, however, was on the bar’s exit and he didn’t seem to pay Laverna any mind at all.
“You sure?”
“I wouldn’t be offering it to you if it wasn’t clean,” Max said. “Whether you want it is entirely up to you.”
“No strings?” Laverna muttered.
“There’s always strings,” Max said. “Whatever they are, he didn’t mention ‘em.”
Laverna eyed the cup.
“Who is he?”
“I have no idea.”
“This the first time you’ve seen him?”
“Yeah,” Max said. He smiled. “Although I’m beginning to think my memory for clients isn’t all that great.”
“Where do you think he came from? Could he be an off-worlder?”
“Considering all of us came from off-world, I’d say the odds are good.”
“Come on, Max. You know what I mean. Is he a pilot?”
“It’s possible, but—”
“I know, no shuttles were scheduled to land.” Laverna was silent several seconds. “All right, Max, why do you think he offered me the drink?”
Max motioned around the bar.
“You’re the only other customer left,” he said. “Maybe he was being neighborly.”
“People round these parts aren’t known for their charity,” Laverna said.
“You’re right. No one around these parts gives anything away. Except, of course, the guy who gave you all his equipment yesterday.”
Laverna shook her head.
“Look, all’s I can tell you is that money, at least at this point, isn’t a problem for him,” Max said. “He paid more than double what the Picante was worth and didn’t ask for change. After he got his bottle, he pours this here drink and tells me to give it to you after he finds himself a seat.”
“Charitable but shy.”
“The man’s in a generous mood. Why question it?”
“Because I should.”
Max leaned in closer to Laverna.
“If he tries anything, I’m here for you.”
“I can defend myself.”
“I’m sure you can,” Max said. “Still, I’ve got your back, even if you may not need any help. If that man drinks even a fifth of what’s left in that bottle, he won’t know who he is or what solar system he’s in.”
Laverna relaxed. She grabbed the offered drink.
“All right then.”
Laverna sipped the liquid, just a taste.
Her party wasn’t quite over.
She raised the cup in the direction of the stranger. She couldn’t tell if he was looking her way.
“Here’s to you,” she whispered.
33
Seconds after finishing the stranger’s drink, Laverna’s head felt heavy and her stomach twisted into knots. Worst still, her thoughts, already fragmented, became a jumble.
For a panicked moment she was certain Max missed something and the stranger spiked her drink. And then, just as suddenly, her head cleared. Rather than feeling the dull effects of liquor, her thoughts were remarkably sharp even as the weight of exhaustion threatening to put her into a deep sleep.
The stranger remained stubbornly hidden in the shadows and what little Laverna saw of him proved confusing. As before, it was difficult to tell who he looked like yet he appeared so very familiar.
Laverna shook her head. In this unusual clarity of mind she had another thought.
What if this man is looking for Carson? If he is a pilot and has come to take him away, maybe he can take me away too.
Laverna closed her eyes.
This is your opportunity.
She swore. She needed to get out. She needed…
Her mind churned with hints of optimism.
How about you wake up a little and talk to him? See if he’s anything at all like your imagination is making him out to be?
“That’s a damn good pla
n,” Laverna said out loud. She was surprised she spoke. Even more surprised at how slurred her words sounded. Thankfully, no one else was close enough to hear her. “Just need to get a little rest first.”
Laverna leaned back in her chair.
She closed her eyes.
When she opened her eyes, Max stood before her.
She knew it was Max. He was dressed like Max and his pose was Max’s.
Yet in that first waking instant she saw a man with a plastic face and painted features. It was as if Max turned into a mannequin. Or was it the other way around?
Laverna stared at this curiosity, with its arms crossed and its lifeless eyes focused on something just behind her.
She blinked, hard, and when she opened her eyes again Max was as he should be. His cheeks were red and his eyes were bloodshot.
“You look tied,” Laverna said.
“Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You didn’t.”
“Then why did you jump?”
“I did?”
Laverna rubbed her face.
“What time is it?” she asked.
“Little over an hour after closing time. Three forty five in the morning.”
Laverna’s hands fell flat against the table. The table was clean, wiped down and ready for the next day. The glass given to her by the stranger was gone. She looked at his table on the other side of the room. It was as empty as the rest of the bar.
“He’s gone,” Max said.
Laverna rubbed her head. She felt all kinds of pain.
“Did you find out who he was?”
“Nope.”
“What about Carson?”
“Shortly after you drifted off, so too did everyone else. No one, new or old, came by. Certainly no one like your friend Carson.”
“I didn’t mean to keep you,” Laverna said. “Why didn’t you wake me up, tell me to go?”
“You weren’t bothering anyone,” Max said. “Once closing time came, I shut down. I still had to clean up and figured you could use the rest.”
“I won’t keep you any longer but... can I have a moment?”
“Sure. Bathroom’s still open.” Max reached into his apron pocket and produced a single credit chip. “You got enough to wash up or do you need this?”
Laverna waved off the change.