FAIRUZA BLUE
by
Shawn O’Toole
*****
PUBLISHED BY:
Cover Art Illustrated by:
Shawn O’Toole
Fairuza Blue
Copyright © Shawn O’Toole 2015
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this story, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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This story is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
*****
Fairuza Blue
*****
Chapter 1
“One of Many”
I am Fairuza Blue the Audacious of the Twenty-sixth Harvest. As a Concubine of the Great Seen Unseen I serve as a Keeper, a Girl in Blue, in the Virgin Army. I am a mystical physicist in the 69th Research Battalion, 3rd Expeditionary Force.
I am only two months old yet I feel as adult as anyone probably could. I remember my family and friends. I went to school and played sports. I read books and watched movies. There was a boy I liked but I seriously do not know why I ever liked such an irresponsible cad. I would have much preferred the boy I was disinterested in. I remember my best friend brushing my hair… yet this friend was dead long before I ever existed… and I never had hair. I remember gazing into the mirror and peering into the pupils of my brown eyes… though my irises were faded white before I took my first breath. I dislike some of the music I liked, preferring slower, soothing melodies to the peppy nonsense I remember.
I am one of the Many of One, cloned from a living dead woman and endowed with her formative memories. My sisters and I share a life we never lived as we formed within the enriched and muddy soil of our homeworld. We learned more than what the life remembered, each of us according to our ordained purpose. We were named and awakened by the Unheard Whisper.
We, the Many of One, are the chaste handmaidens of the Great Seen Unseen. We serve a spirit beyond all flesh and a mind beyond reckoning. We hear its Unheard Whisper and adore it for it is the silent voice of all righteousness and wisdom. The will of the Voice is our only will and the entirety of our purpose.
We, the Concubines of the Great Seen Unseen, are the legacy of the Golgothite Empire, humanity’s greatest civilization. We are the inheritors of its worlds, culture, technology and industry. We are the Empire now. Our resources are the wealth and our army the might of a Galactic Power.
I am one of countless many. As Fairuza Blue I am the sister and friend of Darya Red the Serious. My sister and friend is a Sentinel. Her duty is to provide security for essential personnel and assets. As a Girl in Red she is entirely expendable and is quite proud of this. “I live and die that you may live,” she told me.
“A Sentinel need not perish,” I assured. “I’d rather you didn’t die if you can avoid it.”
Darya pouted as if I had rebuked her. She insisted, “My danger is your safety.”
I giggled. Darya scowled. I assured her, “I appreciate your perilous duty, my sister. Simply remember that you are issued a weapon so as to kill rather than be killed.”
Sentinels are the most uptight of all our sisterhood. They are adamant rather than curious. They are too dogmatic to ponder the meaning of anything. That said a Concubine Sentinel is a dauntless and faithful protector. Darya, for all her sanctimonious bluster, was a loving sister and a good friend.
I am one of the Many of One. My sisterhood is who I am. What we believe is what I believe. What we do is what I do. Our meals are together. We stretch and exercise together. We bathe together. We sing and dance together. We labor but seldom toil and never needlessly. Our lives are fun, easy and fulfilling.
I was surprised one day when my sister Saidee Blue the Playful kissed me on the cheek. “Why did you do that?” I sincerely wondered.
Saidee shrugged. She answered my question, “You are too cute not to kiss you.” Saidee can be so silly sometimes.
My duties are research. I am always amazed at how much information my sisters gather and how well organized it all is. Samples and specimens are plentiful and well catalogued, making them conveniently available. Working with my sisters to make use of our troves is always fun and satisfying. I am always so restless when off duty.
Zendanna Purple the Erudite commands the 69th Battalion, 3rd Expeditionary Force. She once told me, “You are my best researcher.”
I countered in all honesty, “I am a mystical physicist. I would be of little use to you as a biologist, sociologist or in any other discipline in which I am not expert.”
My Priestess giggled. She claimed, “You get the most out of biologists, sociologists or any other scientist or technician you work with.”
I may have blushed for the praise did embarrass me. It made me feel guilty though I knew I had done nothing wrong.
My battalion was sent to Rebus, a desert planet claimed by rival powers: the Hive and the People of the Third Eye. Rebus was a province of my ancestral empire until overrun by the swarms of the Hive. The armies of the Third Eye captured much of the planet during the Galactic War. So as to prevent the unending border clashes from escalating into another major war, the Penumbran Lady Dolorous the Enticing of the Early Light intervened. Revered by the People of the Third Eye and a friend of the Queen of the Hive she was accepted by both parties as an arbiter. Lady Dolorous proposed that the de facto borders be made official. Virgin Soldiers answerable only to Lady Dolorous would guard the borders. No one other than these Virgin Soldiers would be allowed within twenty kilometers near the borders under threat of summary destruction. The Hive and the People of the Third Eye agreed to these terms.
My battalion arrived in Equatorial West, a Hive city near the western border. We were allowed barracks within the city and I was assured that the Hive were gracious hosts. They marketed goods for our purchase and owned restaurants that encouraged our patronage. I was told that Hive cuisine was delicious and strangely satisfying.
We, the Concubines of the Great Seen Unseen, are a communist theocracy. All of us provide according to our abilities and are provided for according to our needs. Money does not exist in our domestic economy. So that we may enjoy our stay in Equatorial West, however, we were issued hard currency of the Greater Humanity Empire. I asked, “What use is Jingoan money in a Hive city?”
My sister informed me, “Imperial Credits are the de facto galactic currency.”
“Yes, but what of Hive currency?”
“Like us the Hive does not use money domestically. They value Imperial Credits for commerce with other races.”
The uniform of a Virgin Soldier is nothing more than an elastic garment that covers the crotch, torso, neck and head and nothing else. Our shoulders, buttocks, hands and feet are left completely bare. Our faces are exposed but our eyes are covered by black, singular goggles fixed to the elastic hood. We were given small purses with which to carry our issued money and told to go out into the city and enjoy ourselves.
Before she was immortalized, the template of the Many of One was studying to become an exobiologist. We remember the aliens she met. None of them were of the Hive race. It was interesting to see one.
The creature was hairless, purplish gray and vaguely humanoid except that it stood upon four spindly legs. Its two hands were long and narrow and each had only three digits. Its face was a
lmost human but its eyes were solid black. Its ears looked as if the gills of a fish. Its cranium was long and narrow and came to a rounded point. “Greetings,” the thing smiled. Its face and voice were feminine so I assumed it was female.
“Hello,” I feigned a smile. I did wish to be friendly.
The creature equaled my stature and perhaps my weight. It held a metal rod bent at the butt as if wielding a gun. The Hiver noticed me staring at the device. The alien shook its head and lowered what I presumed was a weapon, assuring, “The Many of One are welcome here.”
“Thank you,” I wanted to say something more but nothing came to mind. I believe the Hiver found herself in the same dilemma for we spent a long moment staring and smiling at each other. I did glimpse her teeth and was surprised to note that they were grayish whereas human teeth are yellowish. The alien eventually bowed and I responded in kind.
As the Hiver departed my sister Cleo Red the Mindful stated, “That was a wench of the Hive race and a swarmer of the Hive Army.”
“Tell me more,” my curiosity was wetted. A Keeper is only required to know what may pertain to her task. A Sentinel is thoroughly briefed concerning any race she is expected to encounter.
Cleo told me, “The vast
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