Wham!

by Carol Marrs Phipps

  “They get pleasure from hurting them?”

  “It ranges from gross lack of consideration to outright sadism,” said Sam with a nod. “It's frequent. But it isn't the potentate's sport. She likes to keep her pleasure and her pain separate. Just continue to be compliant and please her and you won't have anything to worry about.”

  “What a comfort,” said Nia.

  “Yes, it is,” said Sam, pointedly catching her eye as she rose and began setting supper on the table.

  They ate quietly for some time until Sam looked up. “Did you know there's a lovely wooded area here where you can recreate?” she said.

  “Recreate?” said Nia as if she didn't grasp the idea. The circumstances certainly were not her idea of something to associate with recreation.

  “Yes, indeed,” said Sam. “We have almost anything you can think of. You won't be called into service every single day, so you'll have time on your hands when you'll undoubtedly appreciate recreational activities. There's hiking, swimming, tennis. Do you like to go horseback riding?”

  Nia stopped eating and stared.

  “They call it the Preserve,” said Sam. “It's a kind of park. Of course, there are also things to do in the city itself, if you’re not the outdoorsy type. We have a number of theatres, museums, an underwater marina, clubs, and even a roller rink or two.”

  “This place is just one big resort, isn't it?” said Nia.

  Sam drew a breath. “You really do need to make the best of things,” she said. “It's the only way it will be bearable. You may even find that you enjoy some of it. Many of the girls do once they’ve been here for a while. A few of them actually don't want to leave when their five year service has expired.”

  “Because it's such a great place to be a whore?” said Nia.

  “Be...cause,” said Sam, leaning toward her across the table, “in spite of the fact that they're here against their will, they have superior conditions, with far better food and housing and medical care, than they ever got back home.”

  Nia felt like shouting. How unfair that their lives came down to that! “How very...” she said, stopping short at a glint in the skinweler on the counter, “sad.”

  Sam caught her eye askance. “Indeed,” she said.

  Chapter 10

  Nia stopped by the flowering plums along the promenade to Orbis Terrae and stared, awash with the flood of memories of the nightmarish night she had spent there.

  “Nia,” said Sam. “What's wrong? Did you forget something?”

  “I'm not sure this is such a good idea,” she said as a tear raced down her cheek. “I don't think I can make myself go in.”

  Sam saw that they were being noticed by passers-by and steered her back down the walkway. “Let's go have a cup,” she said. “In fact, have you ever had a caramel coffee?”

  “Never,” said Nia with a sniffle.

  “Time you did,” said Sam. “And the tearoom which makes it has tables without skinwelers if we sit out in the garden.”

  The garden was just off the promenade and not far away. They took a table with twisted wire legs and chairs amongst the peony bushes and a clear view of the benches where people came to feed the fancy pigeons.

  “Nia,” said Sam as soon as the waitress left them with their coffee. “I do understand how you feel about going back inside Orbis Terrae. But you'd be putting yourself at considerable risk by letting those feelings determine what you do.”

  Nia drew a breath.

  Sam shook her head. “I have more,” she said. “Firstly, as the potentate's chosen favorite, your routine will have you inside the Orbis from now until she loses interest in you or you leave Atlantis. Secondly, the library is merely on the ground floor. And lastly, I'll be with you all morning. Now you don't want your coffee getting cold.”

  “No,” said Nia as if the large crystal cup had just appeared before her. She quickly took a sip. “Why this is good.”

  “And stout. It'll make you sit right up.”

  “I'm sorry,” said Nia. “I really had no idea Orbis Terrae would strike me as it did.

  I know that everything you're saying is true. And I know that I'm lucky to be chosen by the potentate, but there's a part of me that still feels as though I've been raped...”

  “And you have been,” said Sam, resting her hand on Nia's wrist. “Which is something I'm hoping we can eventually put to rights. So. When we finish with these, what do you say we have another go?”

  “Sure. Let's find out about Fairies, since I can't imagine that I've so much as ever seen one.”

  This time Nia was determined to walk right in and see what a real print library was like. “They call our library at school 'the media center' and there's nothing but pictures and sublim laser discs,” she said as they approached the doors of Orbis Terrae. “The only thing I've ever seen printed before was the old stuff we had hidden at home.”

  “And you can never make a comment like that inside,” said Sam. “Didn't you say that your sister is still at home?”

  “She might be. I don't know.”

  “Well if your comment were overheard, they just might make a raid for that old printed stuff, even if we're here and it's back there,” said Sam. “I have a tablet. The skinwelers inside are far enough from the tables that we'll be able to pass notes. And we can look at or check out anything we want, but we'd best wait to discuss any of it until we're back out here.”

  Soon Nia was seated at a polished oak table, poring over the books and periodicals Sam kept bringing from the stacks and opening before her.

  At last Sam took a chair beside her. “Have you seen enough to convince you that you're a Fairy?” she said, looking at the clock. “We're meeting Jill Macintyre for dinner, so we'd probably better go.”

  “Oh good,” said Nia at the mention of Jill. “Can I check out this one?”

  “It's not reference,” said Sam. “I don't see why not.”

  The moment they were outside, Nia stopped and opened her book. “Look at this painting,” she said, passionately thumbing to a picture. “He was supposed to be the oldest living being on the face of the earth at the time it was made. He was the Green Man, king of the Fairies. But his name. He was Meri Greenwood. Greenwood's my name!”

  “Well that is something. So are you convinced yet that you're a Fairy?”

  “Well I must be, but that's not the half of it. The painting looks exactly like my dad! How is that possible?”

  “Are you a Fairy?”

  “I have to be. But...”

  “There never were very many, so it's not so terribly strange that you'd have the same name.”

  “But the picture was painted over seven centuries ago and it looks as much like my father as any painting ever could.”

  “Remember that Fairies are immortal. The person in that picture could be quite closely related indeed. How old is your father?”

  “Wow!” cried Nia, spinning about as she closed the book and put it back into her bag. “I know everyone's age and birthday but his. Any time it came up, he would just laugh as if it were some kind of joke and that would be that. I never knew. I never did know.”

  “Well Nia. Is there any chance that he could be that very same Meri Greenwood?”

  “No way!” said Nia as a flock of pigeons in front of the benches along the promenade took flight. “Absolutely impossible. All right, all right. I'm a Fairy. I am a blooming Fairy. You proved that to me Sam. You really did. I read everything you laid out in front of me for three whole hours. But Dad's name is Kellen. Kellen Greenwood and no mistake.”

  They fell quiet, lost in thought as the pigeons circled over the rooftops for a time and settled before the benches once again. “So I'm a Fairy,” said Nia. “But there's a lot I don't get. I mean nobody ever said anything to me about living forever, for one thing...”

  “Well you're only half. Maybe you will and maybe you won't...”

  “And magic. That's crazy. Not only have I never experienced anything of the kind
, it simply doesn't exist.”

  “That you're aware of...”

  “Oh go on! And Fairy rings. As if stepping into a ring of mushrooms would let me go underground and travel places. That's so ludicrous, it's embarrassing.”

  “Have you ever so much as seen a circle of mushrooms growing in the grass or in the leaves?”

  “The first mushroom I ever saw in my life was on Jill's plate.”

  “Very well,” said Sam. “And I'm keeping an eye open for a ring of them growing somewhere. I'd like to see what happens...”

  “If I step into it? You're serious!”

  “I am.”

  “But they tell us in school that there is none...”

  “Because they can't have people knowing about it,” said Sam. “There are those in daily contact with the potentate who insist that she has substantial magical powers. And that's something you're going to be in a position to verify if you keep your eyes open.”

  “Just like they don't want anyone knowing where Atlantis is, eh? Is that why Fairies are supposed to be extinct, up top?”

  “Probably.”

  “But I still don't have any powers.”

  “Have you ever been ill?”

  “Never.”

  “What happens if you cut yourself?”

  “Tess and Dad and I all heal overnight.”

  “Yes,” said Sam with a knowing look. “And our job is to find out whether or not you have actual magic and how much you have, you know, with your being half Fairy and all. And here's the Greasy Spoon where we're to meet Jill. They have the very best fried potatoes and catfish in Atlantis. And hamburgers. Do you like those?”

  “I've never had one.”

  The Greasy Spoon was further away from Orbis Terrae than the tearoom, but it also had outside tables which faced the promenade. Nia and Sam took a table right at the edge of the walkway near more benches where people came to feed the fancy pigeons.

  Nia decided to continue being adventurous and ordered a hamburger and deep fried onion rings. They spent the meal not saying much, looking about for Jill as they ate.

  “I'm starting to worry about Jill,” said Nia as she swallowed her last bite. “Should we have the waitress fetch a skinny?”

  “She's right behind you,” said Sam.

  “Sorry I'm late,” said Jill, taking a chair. “What's good?”

  “My hamburger and onion rings were wonderful,” said Nia as she poured herself another tea.

  “You're all right?” said Sam as she wiped her mouth and parked her napkin under her plate so that the breeze wouldn't take it.

  Jill rolled her eyes and nodded.

  “Well the only problem with your being late is that I have an appointment in twenty minutes,” said Sam as she rose to leave. “I don't mean to be rude. Now you're sure you're all right? And Nia, I'll be back at your flat in plenty of time for supper.”

  “I'll be there,” said Nia as Sam picked up her bag and stepped between the benches onto the promenade.

  “There was something about that which sounded like she's staying with you,” said Jill.

  “Long story,” said Nia. “But yeh. Kind of. She came to see how I'd managed after my first assignment, but there's more to it.”

  “Merciment! I forgot about that. Are you all right? Was he really awful?”

  Here came the waitress to take Jill's order. Nia turned aside and blinked to keep from having tears. “I'll live,” she said as the waitress left. “But I'm not yet up to talking about it.”

  “No problem,” said Jill as she put ketchup and mustard on the hamburger the waitress had just put before her, and then took a bite. She gave Nia a thumbs up sign as she chewed. “Wow! This hamburger doesn't taste one bit like old rotten butcher shop filth.” She nodded at Nia's bag. “Is that a book?”

  “You're asking? You've not seen one before?”

  “I knew what it was. That's just the first one I've ever seen. Could I look at it when I'm done eating?”

  “Sure. But I thought you were taking a reading class.”

  “I am. But the teacher has a sublim board. We haven't got to actual books yet.”

  “And you never saw a book back home, either?”

  “Never.”

  “So what kept you?”

  Jill rolled her eyes as she swallowed. “I had an assignment this morning,” she said. “Vile old hog of a banker. He could've been my granddaddy. He had a big round belly. I swear! Had to 'ave been years since he could see his toes or his wee tassel when he stood. But at least I'll not have to put up with the likes of him again. No one will.”

  “What are you saying?” gasped Nia. “Did something happen to him? You didn't do anything to him, did you?”

  “Not the way it turned out. He spared everyone with his heart failure. I think that when he woke up from his nap tied to the bed and saw me in his kitchen cutlery, he couldn't manage. Really. A man in his shape shouldn't 'ave been forcing his awful diddling and bruises on people.”

  “Fates! You didn't do all that in front of his skinny, did you?”

  “The only one he had was in his living room and it was covered. It looks like people only have them for their personal use. Nobody's watching them. The potentate. Did he have one out when you were there?”

  “No...”

  “Anyway I didn't kill my customer,” said Jill, putting down her hamburger and picking it up again. “He killed himself. And I left.”

  “Shouldn't you 'ave told Sam? It might look suspicious that you just left and said nothing. Don't you think?”

  “How would anyone know where I was when his greedy ticker quit? No one saw me leave. I was careful.”

  “Fates forbid, you didn't leave him tied to the bed?”

  “Certainly not. And before you ask, I put everything back just as I found it.

  There's nothing to pin on me, so don't worry. I mean, how would I even be expected to know anything happened to him?”

  Without warning, two policemen stepped around the end of the hedge and planted the muzzles of their pistols against Jill's forehead and temple as her hamburger tumbled away in pieces. “Jill Macintyre?” said one of them through his plastic visor as he withdrew his gun.

  “Well?” barked the other one as he grabbed a fistful of her hair.

  Jill's nod was rigid against his gun's muzzle.

  “Then onto your dainty feet, little whore!” he roared, giving the fistful a hateful shake.

  “What ever are you doing?” cried Nia. “Why are you taking her?”

  “Shut up!” snarled Hair Shake as the other one chorused: “Stay out of it!” And with that, they marched her away.

  Nia raced into the Greasy Spoon. “May I?” she said in her frenzy to anyone at all as she grabbed up the skinweler from the counter. “Sam!” she said to the ball, giving it a shake. “Sam! Mistress Samantha Bodine, where are you?”

  * * *

  “All moved into your mom and dad's room, then?” said Maud as Tess sat down beside her on the steps beneath the bubbling chatter of the starlings in the big burr oak.

  “Yes,” said Tess with a cough from the stinging air. “It's really bad out here today. The breeze must be coming directly from the farms.”

  “No it isn't,” said Maud. “And I find that a bit ominous.”

  “Why ominous? And where would it be coming from?”

  “I keep hearing that the government's taken to spraying the cities to drive everyone inside where they can be watched more by the skinnies.”

  “Why?”

  “They fear us, dearie-do. They don't trust us out here on the step. They might even think we're about to revolt. And people are getting fed up with the conditions they live in and all the lies and promises the government never keeps. And just what do you think about them taking away your family?”

  “Well I hate it,” said Tess. “But at school they say…”

  “And you mean to tell me that you believe what they tell you?” said Maud as she wiped her mouth and put
her napkin under the teapot. “These people who educate you by calling reading and writing subversive! Good job you keep their shit on the tip of your tongue. Keeps y' safe. But you don't believe what they say any more than the rest of us. I don't mean to sound cross...”

  “No...!”

  “But a time comes when you have to be honest. And I'm afraid since Mort's death I've got so I can't tell the state's lies every blooming minute.”

  “It's really that bad, isn't it? Do you really think there will be a revolution?”

  “The question, my girl, is not if there'll be a revolution, but whether it'll happen in time to save us,” said Maud with a shake of her jowls as she got onto her feet with a heave and turned about to pick up her tray. “Now let's not dwell on things we've no control over at the moment. Are you still coming with me to the cemetery?”

  “Yes,” said Tess, whisking at the seat of her jeans. “Are you ready to go right now?”

  “Got my inhaler,” said Maud. “And you're going to need yours, out bicycling in air this bad. Say. Would you mind giving my tires a pinch and telling me if I need air? It's a long way out past south cross to the old Fates Church at Derwen. And while I'm a-thinking, could you thank Drake for going all the way to the hospital and wheeling my bike back here for me? And don't forget to tell the skinny that we're going to be all afternoon.”

  “Looks like Drake put air in them,” said Tess as she dashed inside for her bicycle and her inhaler.

  Before long they were out on the buckled pavement of Derwen Road beyond South Cross, swerving here and there to miss the potholes.

  “Used to be birds the whole way, this time 'o year,” said Maud. “Theah'd be meadowlarks, dickcissels and vesper sparrows and indigo buntings a-flying from post to post ahead of you along the fences and electric lines, don't y' know. And you never stopped hearing them, wherever y' were. You'd hear quail and catbirds in the hedges. And orchard orioles. And tanagers and wood thrushes a-hollering in the big jut o' woods up yonder. And kingbirds a-flying and scolding. Theah's no more birds any more than theah are stars left in the sky. We must be three mile out of town and I haven't heard one damned bird.”