The Cosmotix 2198

by Billy Purnell

  He already knew the answer to that, but sat quietly.

  She kept going, “So you guys can roc out for a city full of miners or be with mom and dad to prepare for the worst.”

  “Well, that stings…”

  “I just meant you-”

  “Don’t…please, it’s ok, I get it.”

  “I’m sorry. That came out all wrong, Corey, I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah, it did.”

  Reena looked at the Apple so she wouldn’t have to look at Corey. He laid back on the carpet and stared at the ceiling so he wouldn’t have to look at her. They were silent for several minutes.

  “I have these dreams,” whispered Corey, finally.

  Reena looked at him. “Really? What kind of dreams?”

  “I don’t know where they come from, but they’re so...real. They always have something prophetic in them, something that ends up happening in some weird way. Even just little things.”

  “You guys are bio-family,” said Reena. “Did your parents give you the K-5?”

  “Yeah. Pel doesn’t have them, though. We can feel each other sometimes, but we don’t explore it. Sometimes I think…”

  “Think what?”

  “Sometimes I wonder if he has them too, but doesn’t remember. He has glimpses of mine and knows stuff before I tell him. And he’s always in them, even if only for a second. I read something about that for a psych class.”

  “You guys should look into it. There’s some galactic mental talent out there, and maybe it’s something you can use one day.”

  Corey was silent, thinking. He suddenly realized he had better be getting to the club.

  “Maybe you’re right,” Corey said, softly.

  “Yeah, I mean some of these people make a huge contribution, they-”

  “No, sorry, I mean maybe you’re right about Pel and I going home.” That was something he needed to talk to Pel about, and to Ari as well. God, Ari. Not today, though. But when?

  He got up. “I should launch, gotta roc some miners tonight.”

  Reena rose to her feet, “Hey, you know I wasn’t bustin’ your gig, right? I only-”

  “I know, Reena Coolie. It’s ok.” He grabbed his coat and headed for the front door.

  “Charl can give you a ride to the ground station if you-”

  “No thanks, I’ll walk. I like the air after it rains.” He started walking briskly.

  “Corey…”

  Corey turned around. “It’s ok Reena, I mean it. You’re super kak and this was awesome. Thanks for everything.” He stepped back to her, gave her a quick hug, and walked away.

  11

  THAT NIGHT

  The second day of the solyear, January 2, was called Hater Day by many, or the Festival of Anger. It was a day to reflect on the negative, the intolerable, the stupidity of life and living in today’s solsys. It was a twisted combination of what used to be called Halloween and April Fool’s Day, but on Titan there was a profound emphasis on death and all things morbid. Though many people didn’t celebrate it, it was acknowledged in media, it was commercially exploited for sales of all kinds of stuff, and it was something you had to entertain if you were an entertainer. It was a hot night to be out on the town. Corey and the band knew this, it was tradition, and it was usually fun.

  Corey arrived at the Rochaus later than he wanted and was greeted by his bandmates, already there and ready to go. He told Pel all about the approach of the alien vessels, but the younger brother wasn’t concerned. To him, that was government stuff and probably exaggerated. Pel wanted to hear about the date. They did agree, though, that one of them would call home before bed.

  He didn’t want to say anything to Ari about his day, but Corey couldn’t put his finger on exactly why. It was probably that Reena was a superstar and Ari had been her friend for so long, and here he was, jumping into her life just two days after meeting her. Maybe he was being overly opportunistic. It felt weird. He just kept quiet about it and asked Pel to do the same.

  The Rochaus was full well before showtime. Zombies, suicide bombers and killers of all kinds filled the room, and Corey laughed as he went out front to examine the stage. It was enclosed in a chicken-wire cage, old Earth style. This was so the patrons could throw anything they wanted at the band, all night long. Regardless of what was going on in the solar system, tonight was going to be a party, and it was his job to show the people a good time. That’s what matters, he thought. Corey went back to the green room to get ready.

  The voice began, “A good and pleasant evening, men, women, and benders…to all the hard miners, crossers, developers and everyone else…welcome to the Rochaus of Zubrin. We hate you!!” A loud, wailing scream burst forth from the crowd. “And we hate… The Cosmotix!”

  Stage lights blazed, and Jon counted off the first song. Tonight they were opening with “Party Time” by The Retro, a Martian group from the Eighties who were still around, but were now more political than musical.

  Boom, boom, boom, boom, Jon kicked. Ari dialed up four surround patches, and roc filled the room once again. Pel joined in with his bass pulsing and his face grinning, and immediately random objects were flying at the stage. Bottles, plates, drinks, Phobian peanuts, assorted bits of clothing, it all came streaming in, striking the chicken wire and falling to the floor. Corey stepped forward to sing but snorted out a laugh right into the mic. That sent a wave of cachinnation into the room, and more stuff came flying in.

  One guy chucked a full-size headless female mannequin wearing a bikini against the cage, and the band started laughing so hard that they had to stop playing. Pel col-lapsed to his knees and Corey bent over, coughing at the floor. Pel was thinking about the guy bringing it in the front door; how’d that go down? Even Jon had a bigger than usual grin, and Ari hit a button that sent the theme song from Old Earth’s The Addams Family through the speakers.

  “Moons, this is work?” Corey said as he looked at the guys, and he turned and yelled over the mic, “One, two, three, four,” and started them up again. They played song after song with very little talking at first, just pounding the crowd with hit tunes and a lot of laughing.

  The dancing looked a lot different than last night. Manic, overdone and pretty ridiculous, but that was the tradition on Hater Day. People were smashing into one another violently as they danced. Corey recalled that it used to be called a mash pit, or something like that.

  The guys began trying out their best hateful one-liners on the mic. They had to admit, though, Ari topped them all when he yelled, “you people suuuuck!!” The crowd went crazy, which begged for more.

  Pel started with, “Hey buddy if I wore that outfit, I don’t know if I would kill myself or my mother for dressing me in it.”

  Corey tried to match it, “Hey lady, when you play in the sandbox, does the cat keep trying to cover you up?”

  “What has six hundred legs and thirty-five teeth?” yelled Ari. “Tonight’s audience!”

  Jon chimed in, “All you people, your dogs at home are on fire!”

  Silence.

  Ari hit a button that made the sound of crickets chirping, and everyone turned toward Jon.

  “Please excuse our artiman, ladies and gentlemen; he has a nut loose,” Corey said.

  “Perhaps they’re both loose,” said Pel, which brought the house down.

  “Jonny, you’re an artiman,” said Pel, turning to his drummer, “tell the people, what did they give you down there?”

  “A cannon.”

  Boom, bap…boombap, boom, bap…boombap; Jon jumped right back in, and the dance floors filled up again. The Rochaus was raging, and The Cosmotix were in control.

  It was a long first set, and as it came to a close, the Rochaus had a special treat in store for the patrons. The Four Dee presentation featured a dance floor full of time-honored horrible characters, including Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Tivo, also known as the Lunar Terror. Abdul Al Shiraki and his women were there with their bomb hats, as well a
s Macy Takamoto, and the baby killer, General Bloodmoon Stallworth. It was a surreal and ridiculous kill fest until Rocky Balboa entered and punched them all out, and The Terminator shot up their unconscious bodies with a rocket-propelled grenade. The crowd went crazy and threw more stuff at the stage, even though the band wasn’t playing.

  Set two went very well. The people stayed in party mode, and the band played much better than last night. It was always easier with an energetic audience, and the response they were getting suggested the crowds would be getting even bigger. As it ended, those that were left gave a vigorous applause and threw whatever they had on their tables at the stage, adding to the ridiculous pile. Hater Day was over, time to get back to reality.

  She walked in, right at closing time.

  Maker Me and Lord help me; here we go.

  She could not have been more beautiful, more elegant. She was wearing a black Argentinian flowdress, shoulders bare, with anti-grav hair clips. Hater Day was not on her agenda. She sat down at the bar and ordered a beer from Jim, and Corey watched out of the corner of his eye as they talked.

  His stomach was a mess. He was relieved to see her; the end of their conversation was awkward, and her being there meant she probably wanted to make up for that. Corey was nervous all over again.

  Break the stage just like any other night. You’re good, Corey. You’ve got this. Just another nice girl.

  He saw her looking his way and gave her a smile, to make sure she knew that he knew she was there, but he banged his knee into the drum riser as he was doing it. Shit!

  With the sound of chairs being placed on tables, vacs hovering over the floors and the din of conversation, the Rochaus was closing. Corey placed his stinger and other valuables in the locker in the green room and headed straight for the bar, where Pel, Reena and Jim were talking. Ari had left rather quickly, saying he had to be somewhere. Corey chose the stool on Pel’s right. Reena was on Pel’s left.

  “I wanted to come earlier to see your second set, but I couldn’t get away from my mother,” Reena confessed.

  “Ah, maybe our moms would be best friends,” Pel cracked. He scooted his stool back in an attempt to not be between them.

  “Get you something to drink, boss?” asked Jim.

  “You got some more of that Idaho water? I’ll take that.”

  “Comin’ right up.”

  They discussed the evening: Hater Day is stupid (Reena), the history of the Rochaus (Jim), and a few odds and ends before Pel, faking a yawn, announced that it was time to get back to the hotel. He gave his brother a quick wink as he got up from his stool and walked away.

  “Goodnight, Pel!” said Reena.

  “Goodnight superstar Reena Coolie!” Pel yelled.

  “I have to run the numbers; you guys need anything?” asked Jim.

  They looked at each other. “I think we’re good,” said Corey.

  “I’ll be in the office if you need me,” said Jim.

  “Thank you, Jim,” they both responded. Several seconds passed without talking, while “Red Alert” played over the house speakers.

  “That song is still fresh to me,” Corey said.

  “Want to take a walk?”

  “Around here?”

  “Yeah, it’s sweet, you’ll like it.”

  It was a warm, beautiful evening. The temperature was set so the air was like cream on the skin with a light caressing breeze, and Saturn shone overhead with a brilliance that made Reena’s face glow even more radiantly than before. She had turned off the flowdress, allowing it to cling to her body deliciously, and Corey was taking in the moment with his heart pounding and his mind racing.

  She led him to a path that traversed two small hills behind the Rochaus, and every turn they made showed another breathtaking view. Saturn’s glow lit up the trees, the rocks, and the narrow brook that followed the sidewalk, ending at a small tranquil pond with an impressive trilite fountain in the middle. Soft streams of light shot upward with the water, arcing and spraying into brilliant droplets that floated down to the pond surface effortlessly, where they dissipated. The colors changed every five seconds, each color outdoing the last, and the sound of Earth birds that lived in the surrounding trees gently filled the air. Corey’s first reaction was to investigate where the birds were, but upon seeing Reena’s face looking up at his, he lost all thought of that.

  “I... I didn’t know this place was here.”

  “When I played the Rochaus I would come here every night,” she said, moving her gaze to the water. “It’s so peaceful.”

  “Hey Reena, about today…”

  “Stop. Corey, don’t say anything. I am so sorry.” She faced him. “I know you for one day, and I’m telling you what to do. It’s a little issue I have, and I’m sorry. I think the work you are doing here is stellar, and playing the Rochaus is nothing to be disrespected, I-”

  “Now you stop.” Corey softly put his hand on her mouth. “I know what this gig is, and I have no problem with it. Best part of this gig, though, has been…meeting you.”

  A few other couples were in various locations around the pond, Corey noted, as a silent firework exploded over the fountain.

  “Isn’t that beautiful?” asked Reena.

  Everything about this place was beautiful, especially Reena Coolie, thought Corey, and he turned to face her again. He looked into her eyes as her soft golden hair moved with the autobreeze, and he felt her arms wrap around his waist. His heart could contain this moment no longer, and he pulled her to himself and leaned down to put his lips against hers. Her lips parted, and the two kissed deeply. She tasted sweet, felt so small and warm and eager, and the lower half of his body pressed against hers. His heart raced and his breath quickened. His hands gripped her lower back, and his lips found the soft flesh of her neck.

  Reena began pulling back, but slowly. She looked into his eyes with an innocent smile. Then she took the back of his head and pulled it over her shoulder.

  “Does this mean we’re friends?” she whispered, with her lips against his ear.

  Corey was visibly trembling. Be clever, be funny, you can do it. He pulled back. “I can’t be your friend, I’m afraid.” He lowered his head.

  “Oh, really?” she said sadly, playing along.

  “I seem to be having a major crush on a rocstar from Titan, and I need to see where it might lead.”

  “Oh, I see. Yes, that could be a conflict. It’s Duk Mandi, isn’t it?”

  “No, no, he’s too much man for me,” Corey smiled. It’s a woman and she’s completely nuclear. I’m trying to...I mean, I’ve even thought we could…like, join a bowling league together.”

  “Bowling. Ok. So, it’s gotten to that level?”

  “Well, I will need to practice a bit first. But yes, we could be at that stage.”

  “This is all so fast. She may need to call her mother.”

  “Well, maybe friends is too strong a word, I mean, if we haven’t even explored our bowling histories.”

  “Ok, is this conversation as doko as I think it is?”

  “Why, whatever do you mean?”

  She looked into his eyes and put her arms around his waist again.

  “Reena, I swear, I don’t have the words. I may never have the words for this moment.”

  She gave his mouth another savory kiss and they started walking back the way they had come, now holding hands.

  “Corey, I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m doing it!” That could refer to this evening or the impending plan that was developing ahead of them. Corey chose not to ask. He was floating high above the climate shield, flying without a pack, heart racing to the Outer Rim.

  They continued talking and taking in the beauty of this now sacred place. Thoughts of Brilla were nowhere to be found, and it seemed that nothing would ever compare to what he was feeling right now. This is Reena Coolie, and she’s with me, and I’m just me, and she’s gorgeous and sexy, and her voice, and her lips, and her smile, and she’s right here, and t
he way she talks-

  “Did you hear what I just said?” from Reena.

  “Yes, of course... uh, no,” said Corey, apologetically.

  “Dreamer... I said I think you have something extraordinary inside you. I think you’re bettermost.”

  “Thank you... why do you say that?”

  “Because I’m really smart,” she said with a mischievous smile.

  “Well, maybe you’re monkey for me,” said Corey, teasingly.

  “Well... maybe a small monkey, like the ones you can hold in your hand, like on-”

  “No no no, I’m thinking at least orangutan.”

  “Oh no no no, chimpanzee at most,” said Reena, and she did a quick impression with the jumping and the hooh hooh hooh.

  “Moons, you’re baboon... no, gorilla! I can tell…”

  Reena could not be outdone. “Well, you’re King Kong over me!” and she started running away.

  With that Corey gave chase, doing what he thought was probably a good King Kong impression, beating his chest and howling. In honesty, he had not even remembered that King Kong was an ape until now. She turned quickly as he caught up to her, and he couldn’t stop in time; they both went tumbling to the soft grass. He placed himself above her, one knee on each side, Saturn bursting behind his head, and he stared into her smiling eyes again. She held his face with both hands and brought his mouth to hers, and as their tongues danced, Corey stretched out at her side, feeling the cool grass beneath him and the warm sweet taste of her lips on his. Their mouths opened wider, and his hand stroked her hair, touched her ear, caressed her face, her neck, her shoulder. Corey burned with desire for this goddess, this queen, this superstar who he had just met, but felt like he had known all his life.

  She pulled back again, and they let up. He placed a kiss on her forehead, her nose, her chin. He brushed her hair from her eyes, took her hand in his, and kissed her fingers.

  Corey was dizzy with excitement. He felt like he’d been singled out by God to be in that place, that time. How crazy life can be, he thought; one day you’re just an ordinary person and the next you’re a king. He went to his back and lay next to her, putting his arm under her head, and the two spent an eternity just silently staring up at the majestic planet.