I nodded, "So they won't be interested in selling me out to the Toelakhan, and they have the clout to protect me from the Toelakhan if they wish." "Yes," said Neighteeha.
"But I don't have much money. If everyone is rich, won't they find it suspicious I'm not rich? How could I blend in?" Neighteeha took a deep breath, "In Ichloz stealing is legal. Everyone has so much money that theft is seen as a proper livelihood for the members of noble families that inherit only the small portions of the family estate. Theft is seen as a challenge to the ingenuity and skill of the thief, and as a challenge of wits with the society. Since you are a Leekimbee speaker you can easily use the elevated, somewhat snotty Regal dialect. You can set yourself up in a properly posh, but not too posh, neighborhood with the money you have saved, and then steal riches to live a very comfortable life free of the Toelakhan."
"But stealing, Neighteeha, I don't think I could live making other people suffer."
Neighteeha folded her hands in her lap, "You really don't have much choice if you want to have your freedom. If you are caught as a zitam, your owners would give you anything you want. It would be a life of wealth, but you wouldn't be free. In Ichloz you would be free and wealthy, and you wouldn't be making anyone suffer. All of the wealthiest families expect to be stolen from and are disappointed if not enough clever thefts take place. They even have a magazine devoted to stories of the clever trists their poor relations have conceived. A really clever heist earns a thief a marriage to a noble who is the heir apparent of a families' estate. It is considered a kind of exotic game of wits to the nobility, and every family boasts of the thieves among its relations."
"That may be Neighteeha, but, at the risk of sounding preachy, it's immoral."
"You will be hounded by the Toelakhan from one corner of Imenkapur to the other if you don't live in Ichloz. Slavery as a pampered pet, poverty as hunted exile, or legal thievery on Ichloz are your options."
I stared at the floor too miserable to speak.
Neighteeha spoke again, "The Toelakhan will not always be allowed to seize you and sell you. Personally, I doubt they are actively hunting for you. They probably have posted in their offices throughout Imenkapur that you are at large, and they're probably offering a reward. Any Toelakhan member who happens to sight you will report you in hopes of getting some of the reward. I think you have to be on guard about that, but you don't really have to worry about an organized search. Sooner or later the different cultures will pass laws against trading in humans as zitam. Ichloz has an Alternative Government, that is the Government which legalized theft, and it promotes the adoption of many Forest Laws. Ichloz will probably be one of the first cultures to forbid the sale of people as zitam. Then you could leave Ichloz on an Ichloz ship and be free to make your living in an ethical way on another world. So many worlds prefer to trade with Ichloz that they adopt the Forest Laws that Ichloz adopts--
"I made an effort to smile at Neighteeha. She was so kind and trying so hard to help me. "Neighteeha I know nothing about Imenkapur and you do. I know that I can trust you, so I will take your advice."
Neighteeha gave me a hug. "I don't know why I feel sorry for you," she joked. "You are going to have a life of leisure and ease."
We discussed together the logistical aspects of getting me to Ichloz. We decided it would be prudent if I stayed in hiding in the apartment, since once I stepped outside of it any citizen of Gretern would then be free to declare me to the Toelakhan. Neighteeha would withdraw all of my money from the bank for me, and sell most of the clothes and all of the books I had acquired here.
Neighteeha went on, "When I went out this evening I bought an Ichloz newspaper. You can call some of the Real Estate places tomorrow to arrange for accommodations. That way, when my cousin drops you off at the space station, you can take a taxi directly to see some apartments. The advertisements I have circled are for apartments in neighborhoods considered suitable for the less wealthy Ichloz nobility. Tomorrow I'll get you a map of the city and some Ichloz clothes."
The next afternoon Neighteeha took me to her cousin and his spaceship. The cousin was about seventeen, and he had a bad acne problem. He wore boots with thick soles to make himself taller, but the boots only made him wobble when he walked. He had a tattoo of a Wave on his jugular, and he looked at the world through very cool, slitted eyes. He had obviously painted the spaceship himself, for it bore a huge Wave on a black background. The `Space Wave' I was about to ride in was even smaller than the space capsule I had lived in when I landed in the Forest Zollocco.
"I will explain to Mother," Neighteeha promised as she handed me the wad of bills that represented the value of my possessions, and the total of my bank savings. "You have your bag of clothes and maps. Remember to put them on before you leave the `Space Wave'. You mustn't been seen in Ichloz in Gretern clothing."
"Thank you for everything, Neighteeha. Say goodbye to your mother for me, and thank her. Say goodbye to Yartem-
-no don't bother. Say goodbye to -- to Zollocco, and tell him I'll try to get back there."
"Zollocco the Forest?"
"Zollocco the Haetrist, and the Forest."
Neighteeha stared at me.
"Goodbye Neighteeha." "Goodbye. I think I might see you in the Realm of Circle." With that, Neighteeha ran off before I could ask her what the Realm of Circle was. I asked her cousin as we boarded, but it wasn't in his dialect.
The `Space Wave' rattled as the stars flew past. My palms were clammy, and I had to dry them every so often with my white lace handkerchief. Neighteeha's cousin proudly told me he had built the `Space Wave' himself. I wondered if I would survive my second space ride.
First Intermezzo
April 30, 2010
Dear Jill,
Yes, things are just awful here. We are not having the mass suicides your area is suffering from, but there have been many suicides especially among the elderly and teenagers. The no air-conditioning or refrigeration rules are being strictly enforced. It is so hot, 94 degrees, that people get desperate and turn on their refrigerators and of course get fined and have their refrigerators confiscated. I buy lots of ice, and use our fridge like an icebox. The people in the nursing homes really suffer since no one is spared from the ban. Most of the old people in the homes have died from heat prostration. Once in a while I will still see someone fall down in a store or in the street gibbering in terror because of the announcement that everyone must wear oxygen masks at all times and protect themselves from the ultra-violet light when out-of-doors. With the oxygen mask I do have a lot more energy and am not faintly blue at the lips and finger tips like I was and this in itself scares me. How could we have let this happen to our world?
I moved from New Jersey back in with my parents since it isn't as hot here as it was so close to New York. The small woods behind the house is still alive which is a miracle. The fire department comes and waters it every day. The big church behind it was taken over by the town so that the parking lot could be torn up and planted with more trees. The church building is being used by foresters, biologists, and ecologists who are working to preserve and expand our woods and the adjacent town woods. Mom and Dad bought a beautiful little house in the Berkshires, and we are going to go stay there this summer when it gets too hot here. We plan to rent this house out to the construction workers who are coming this summer to rip down my old grade school and plant more trees there.
I had a close call the other day. I was taking a walk in the woods and started to feel a little weak so I sat down. I didn't realize it, but my oxygen mask was broken and was not feeding me with enough oxygen. I fell asleep right there in the middle of the woods and would probably have died if one of the scientists who is always prowling around in the woods hadn't come across me. He put his own mask over my face until I revived, and then shared it with me until he got me to the medical center that has been set up in that church. Apparently the little forest was producing just enough oxygen that I had been breathing its thin air without noti
cing my mask wasn't functioning. (The scientist and I have been dating ever since! His name is Leonard and everyone calls him Leo.)
While I was asleep or passed out I had a really amazing dream. I dreamed I was walking through the woods with my sister and I was crying and telling her she had to help us. I was showing her how sickly the trees looked and pointing out the carcasses of some dead dogs. Then I dreamed we were walking on top of the atmosphere and I was showing her how the ozone layer was almost all gone. We were looking down at the desert, which had once been the Brazilian Rain Forest, and the next thing I knew we were in a very beautiful forest. ---Oh, the dream had been in black and white until the part of the beautiful forest.--- The forest we were in was very strange. The birds had no feathers, and these forsythia bushes were slyly following us as we walked. Somehow, the forest told me his name was Zollocco and he would talk to his older sister Saemunsil about our problem. Then I dreamed the forsythia jumped us and tried to kill me by squeezing my chest so hard I couldn't breathe.
At that moment, I came awake to find this very worried face peering down at me, and an oxygen mask being firmly pushed over my face. I guess after all of these years, I'm still not over the loss of my sister. The funny thing was, my sister was so alive in the dream. She lived in that funny forest. The feeling I had after the dream was she was really going to help us, and that we can save the world if we look after the trees. I have to say the dream impressed me so much that I signed up for an internship with the foresters. I've decided to become a tree pathologist. I'm feeling really good and hopeful. I feel like I've found my purpose in life.
Well, enough about me. Write and let me know how you're getting on. I wish I could instill in you some of the hope that my dream gave me.
Love, Your Cousin
CHAPTER FIVE
The City of Ichloz
Upon my arrival in Ichloz I followed all of Neighteeha's instructions. I changed into the Ichloz navy blue velvet tunic and balloon legged trousers while still inside the "Space Wave." I thanked and took my leave of Neighteeha's cousin, being careful that onlookers saw the exorbitant tip I gave him. My status as nobility established by my use of the dialect and the size of the tip, porters thronged around me, desirous of earning a similarly large tip. I selected one to flag down a cab for me, and when the cab came, gave him the tip the tourist book Neighteeha and I had consulted said was appropriately generous.
The cab was the most ostentatious vehicle I have ever seen. Most of it was roof, being powered by solar energy. It had small wheels painted silver with a yellow floral trim done in glitter. The body of the cab was painted yellow with the floral design of the wheels repeated as silver glitter edging for the door and windows. I put on my sunglasses. Inside, the cab was just as ghastly. The cushions were bright pink with yellow and silver glitter flowers. Holographic images of yellow and silver flowers in vases glittered beneath the two passenger windows. I kept my sunglasses on. The cab driver wore a silver tunic with a plastic, glitter encrusted silver flower in his yellow belt. The porter helped me into the cab and gave the driver the address I wanted. The cabby belonged to a guild and so no tip would be asked for, but the price for a cab, being set by the guild members, was always exorbitant, the tourist book warned. I covertly reread some of the book's information as the rolling piece of bad taste and glitter took me to the apartment building where I was to meet the proprietor I had spoken with on the telephone before leaving Gretern. Of the five advertisements Neighteeha had circled for me, two responded with a recording, one had no more vacancies, one wanted a cash down payment which was slightly higher than I could afford, and one, extolling the virtues of `Salsmeade House,' had vacancies, a price I could afford, and a proprietor eager to do business.
My glittering cab rolled to a stop in front of a large white stone building that bore a sign done in fancy script that read `Salsmeade House.' I quickly pushed the tourist book to the bottom of the bag before the cab driver saw it, and I fumbled out the bills and change necessary to pay him. The cab driver carefully counted the money, gave a small nod, a smaller smile, and assisted me out of the cab. I climbed the stairs to the huge doors covered in a thin sheet of brass, which was pressed or embossed with a geometric design. I buzzed the buzzer and announced my noble presence to Commander Wriku, owner-proprietor of `Salsmeade House.' I was admitted and greeted by the Commander who wore the civilian long tunic with the addition of his space fleet's jacket, medals, and cap. I was judged by his quick and money-hungry eye to be an appropriate tenet, ushered into an elevator walled with more of the embossed brass, and guided to apartment number twenty-three. Major Wriku unlocked the door and showed me around the apartment.
"These apartments have been specially designed for single ladies," he said in a brusque attempt at a sales pitch. Every room was double-carpeted. The bottom rug was wallto-wall, thick, and of a solid, muted brown. The top carpet was always oval with floral designs. All the main room walls were papered with floral-design velour. Each room was "designed"--very self consciously so. The living room was done in burgundy and purple with fluffy cushioned, velvet furniture. The wood of that room's furniture was of a deep red, birdseye grain type wood. Pictures of flowers adorned the walls. Ivory lamps, with floral lampshades lit the room. Everything was ornately trimmed with gold threads. Even the lamps had fringe. The bedroom was done in yellow and greens with a brass double bed, brass light fixtures, and lamps. The lampshades were hand painted with scenes of lovers scampering behind bushes. The ceiling bore a mural of the same scene depicted on the lampshades.
The Commander strode through each room commenting very matter-of-factly in his gruff voice. "The place is furnished well, everything you could need is here. These cupboards in the hallway contain all the crockery, linens, and cleaning utensils. If it suits your needs, I have the contract right here, and you can pay me directly."
As I signed the contract, the Commander took a cigar out and lit it. "If you need any help, there is a caretaker. If you need to get in touch with me, write my secretary." With that, he gathered up his money, and strode out the door. Since I had now spent all of my money on rent, on the Ichloz outfit I was wearing, and on all of the tips I had paid I decided I had better go steal something to eat. Theft was, after all, the alternative economic system in this city. Wandering along the clean, white streets, I took my time deciding which shop to go into.
I finally selected one. I went into a store that had noodles hanging in the window. The store was filled with different kinds of pastas. I looked at a plate of spaghetti set on one table. Hungry, I wanted to taste the sauce. I stuck my finger at it, and the spaghetti jumped up six inches and scampered away from me. The store was not a pasta store. It was a store that sold housecleaning animals. The spaghetti that had run away from me was a duster and it ran right for another customer. To my amazement, an another duster peeked its head out of a pocket in the cloak of the customer, a woman, and the duster I had startled climbed up into the pocket to nuzzle the other duster. The woman gave me a wink and sedately sauntered out of the store. I had just seen my first "legitimate" thief.
I left the store and came upon a stand containing free newspapers. The newspaper was the Noble Gameship News, which chronicled the week's more interesting heists. A statue had been stolen from a private collection and the victim of the theft had nothing but praise for the cunning and skill of the thief and promised to marry the thief to his heir. It seemed the victim had an idea who the thief was and that the heir was enamored of the suspected thief. It seemed the theft was a way of proving the thief's value as a suitor. There was a little article about numerous animals being stolen from shops, and the animals later turned up retrained for more complex duties and fetching big fees for their services. It seemed the thief trained the creatures to work more suited to their natural inclinations, and so again, the thief received plaudits. I could feel my eyebrows going up; was it the woman I had just seen stealing the marsupial duster? Somewhat heartened that theft here was not considere
d in the light of moral repugnance, I found a bread store that actually sold bread. I shoplifted a few loaves, hiding them folded inside the large coat I carried. I took them home, ate them, and then, suddenly emotionally exhausted from my first day of crime, I fell asleep.
Nights are quite long in Ichloz; therefore, it was still dark when I awoke the next morning, driven out of sleep by fearsome nightmares. These spaghetti dusters kept chasing me; I would just think I had gotten away from them when I would come upon four huge, wounded loaves of bread. The bread would start screaming, "Oh my Forests, she's back! Help! Help!" Then the bread crumbled all over the sidewalk.
To see the sunrise I went out to the common near my building. I sat on a bench and listened to my stomach roar. Shoplifting really wasn't up my alley. It made me too nervous. Maybe being a pickpocket would be better. Then I would have hard, cold, cash. Everyone carried their money in a poke tied to the belt of their skirt or tunic. If I could get a suitable knife to cut the strings...
The birds set off a gleeful cacophony of song in salutation to the sudden swelling of dawn light. Oblivious to birds and light, I continued worrying about where I would get a knife. Or better yet, scissors. I promised myself it would be the last bit of shoplifting I would do.
Then I saw exactly what I needed. I don't know if there had been another sharp increase of light, or what made me look in that direction. Right across the street from me was a store specializing in laser appliances. I went into the store and asked to see the pocket-lasers.
Zollocco: A Novel of Another Universe Page 9