The Orb

by Tara Basi

  The leer slowly melted away from Q’s face, he caught hold of her hand and pressed it to his lips. “Why so serious? You did it. I mean, I’d like to have blown that damn Orb to hell, but a buried Box is fine by me.”

  Bremer scowled at Q, “How can you say that? The Orb was beautiful; that other thing is evil. It’s all maddening. Bella says the Tramp’s message was faked. Can you believe it? She wants to give that ugly Box a chance.”

  Zip sighed. This is what Bunny had predicted, splintering factions of opinion. Nostalgia for the Orb, devotion to the Box, disdain for both and whatever else a confused and frightened humanity could come up with. She was surprised that Bremer hadn’t seemed to grasp that the Tramp had cursed both Orb and Box as one and the same joke on mankind. Now wasn’t the time to argue with Bremer.

  “Listen, Q, Industries, the Church, they might try and dig it out and start the whole nonsense up again.”

  “We can’t be having that,” Q retorted, and took a deep drag from his cigar and blew out an angry jet of smoke to emphasise the point.

  “We absolutely cannot be having that. That Box has got to stay hidden and shunned, just as the Tramp ordered,” Bremer said. His hands were on his hips and his face was flushed.

  Zip worried he might have a heart attack, but she was pleased. She wouldn’t be getting any argument about her plan, not down here in Sediment Town, and she wasn’t asking anybody else’s opinion.

  “So, this is how it’ll go. Q, I’ll give you the new codes to the warheads under the Cuboid. We’ve locked everyone else out. Industries won’t be able to disarm them. Anybody tries to dig the Box out, you’ll blow it to hell.”

  Q’s smile returned, broad and bright. “Damn right!”

  Zip’s answering smile was half-hearted. “We’ll need to tell them, so they won’t try anything.”

  Q harrumphed. “Not much of a bloody deterrent if nobody knows about it.”

  Zip took Q’s warm and weathered face in both hands. “They’ll try everything and anything to take you out. You know that?”

  Q laughed heartily. “They can try. Seriously, I’m not that drunk; I know how this goes.”

  “Fine. Bunny, send him the code. Got it?”

  Q blinked a few times. “Yep.”

  “Last resort, Q, last resort. OK?”

  “Sure. Can we hump now?”

  Bremer giggled.

  In the morning, happily bruised and battered, Zip was in her thermals and back in the saloon, heading for the airlock door.

  “You sure about this?” Q asked. He was standing at the back of the bar, naked except for a towel around his waist, smoking a fat cigar.

  She’d forgotten what real sex was like. Messy, sweaty, competitive, gentle, tender, awkward, graceful; nothing like VR sex. It was so much better. She wondered if the hunchback, with the terrible breath in the industrial store, would ever get a chance to try it. Zip hadn’t really understood how much she missed Q, needed Q and all the dirty, sweet things he did to her. It wasn’t just the warm afterglow that made her feel wonderful. She’d found something worth living for, that was hers, and hers alone. Q.

  Before she could be with Q, there was still something she had to do.

  “Petula was right about the AI: we’ve got to try and make our peace. Bunny can’t do it alone. I have to go with him.”

  Q crossed his beefy arms across his broad chest and chewed on his cigar. “Can’t Bremer look after the codes, and I’ll come with you?”

  Bremer emerged from the shadows, yawning loudly. “Someone call?”

  Zip smiled. Wouldn’t that be nice, but they’d already discussed this. “Very funny, Q. You’re the only one keeping the Church and Industries honest. You know you’d be out of range where I’m going. You couldn’t trigger the bombs from there and they’d know it.”

  Q didn’t answer. He chewed on his cigar, as though it were a living thing he was trying to kill, and released a stream of white smoke.

  Zip rested a hand on Bremer’s shoulder and squeezed. “Maybe you could look up Bella for me and just make sure she’s OK?”

  Bremer embraced Zip and squeezed hard before releasing her. “Sure, Zip. Where are you going?”

  Zip smiled. “Greenland. I’ll be back soon.”

  Bremer looked confused. “Greenland? What’s in Greenland?”

  “Adventure, danger and good stuff like that,” Q said, throwing a big hairy arm around Bremer’s shoulder.

  Zip waved at both men and headed through the airlock and out onto Main Street. Bunny was waiting for her in a jump-jet on the surface. By this time tomorrow she’d be in Greenland, trying to make peace. Making peace had to be easier than making war, but probably not by much.

  The End