Where'd You Park Your Spaceship?, page 14
She sat quietly.
We could tell she was trying to figure out how to save face.
And then she smiled, and asked Duda to check the inside pocket of her coveralls. Duda unzipped a few inches and reached in and pulled out…the card she drew.
Then she nodded to Florent. Who did the same thing. And pulled out the card he drew.
We each did.
We were so confused.
I asked her Did you mess up on purpose?
Zoma jumped in Was that part of the trick-to make it seem like you blew the trick?
We had so many questions.
She just sat there and smiled.
And then stood up and walked out.
Later Vo took us to that TUBE I’d seen that first day with
the crane on top of it. We put on these webbed harnesses
that had a metal ring on the back. Turns out that crane
had a wire on the end that’s connected to a spindle.
Vo asked for a volunteer.
I stepped forward.
She then hooked the wire to my back and told me to jump
off the roof of the TUBE.
My knees shook.
I thought I was going to faint.
Are you serious?
Yes, I am. As you fall the crane will let out the wire at
exactly the speed you are dropping. As you approach the ground the spindle will incrementally slow, landing you perfectly on your feet on the ground.
I did it.
I jumped.
And I didn’t die.
But even my memory of that jump is a bit blurry because
it was in the midst of so many firsts. Foods, people-I met
someone from beyond the STRONGS-THE STRONGS for
the love of the gods!! If you had told me when I was a kid
that I would know someone from the OUTER STRONGS I
would have shook my head and told you you were crazy-
It was relentless, the newness of the experiences we were
having.
I felt like they were trying to make us dizzy.
Each night I would consider climbing the stairs to Zoma’s nest to see what might happen but I just didn’t have the energy. I’d be out cold seconds after I got to my nest.
I gradually lost track of what day it was.
Until day 33.
I know this because Vo pulled me aside and said
Heen. It is day 33. Walk with me.
It was first time that one of us had been separated from the
others.
The others? I said. I don’t know how to name my fear here.
She reassured me. I will talk with each of them as well.
Off we went.
Me and Vo on our walk.
Around the edge of the circle of TUBES.
She told me It is time.
I was going to need more than that.
I didn’t take the bait. I said nothing.
She added a bit.
It is time for you to begin.
Once again, I had a thousand questions. But if I said
Time for what? Begin what? That had been my pattern
forever. Someone’s in charge and I bend over backwards
to impress them and make sure they think I’m good
enough and worthy enough and all that.
You are ready.
She still hadn’t really said anything.
I’m ready. It’s time-that didn’t actually inform me of much of
anything.
You have a unique set of aptitudes that are needed at this
time. There are a few specific training sessions required but
then we will put you in the field.
Huh. Like a job?
Stilitz may have rubbed off on me a little.
Yes, Heen, like a job. Your job. Your new job.
And there it was.
The point of it all.
Which I kind of already knew, going back to Mustache
Man and Beautiful Mother Lady. But now she had said it.
We were approaching two chairs. I swear I had never seen
those chairs before, and we had walked that circle at least
once a day since I’d been there. Were they placed there just for that conversation?
Vo sat down.
I did as well.
This has all been a test.
Of course.
Yeah, I knew that.
More than you realize.
What am I missing? I leaned forward.
She did, too.
We want to hire you to be a SERIES 5. You will get your
own spaceship. You will learn to fly it. You will be given
assignments to travel to various planets and live among
the people on those planets. You will be-
Wait. Stop. I held up my hand. I will have my own
spaceship?
She knew she had me.
Yes, and a new one every three laps if you so choose.
If I so choose. Those words rattled around in my head,
banging into each other.
My job will be to live on different planets?
Yes. But not for very long.
I won’t have the job for very long or I won’t be on any one
planet for very long?
A part of me wanted to climb up on my chair and yell MY
MY OWN SPACESHIP MY OWN SPACESHIP MY OWN
SPACESHIP. But I’d do that later.
I needed clarity in that moment. Details.
I still don’t understand what the job is. Other than flying
around to different planets.
Vo nodded. The CHAIRS need data. Stories. Statistics.
Information. First-hand accounts of what is working and what isn’t working. This is how the ARRANGEMENTS are adjusted and improved. Can you see how vital this job is to the life of the worlds? We need people to NOTICE, Heen. And then to report back what they see. And YOU happen to test extremely high in this area.
I laughed out loud at that.
I test high in NOTICING?!!!
Suddenly I was so cranked up.
NOTICING? THAT’S WHAT YOU THINK I’M GOOD AT?
THAT IS THE LAMEST THING IN THE UNIVERSE TO BE
GOOD AT!
My face must have been red because I was..embarrassed? Irritated? Surprised? I had no idea why this evoked such a
response in me.
Stiltiz can do back flips off a small rock! Florent seems to
know something about every subject under the SUNS,
Duda is as strong as steel, Corta somehow knows how to
play music instruments SHE’S NEVER EVEN SEEN BEFORE and you’re telling me my skill is NOTICING!!??? WHAT ELSE? Are you going to tell me I’m good at OBSERVING as well??? Or that I test high in BEING???? Tell me, AM I A GOOD BE-ER??-
She held up her hand.
Stop right there. I understand your questions. Allow me to
ask you a few.
I straightened up in my chair. This should be good.
Stilitz can do some very impressive things on a
trampoline, correct?
Yesss, he can…I just said that…didn’t I? She caught me
off guard with that one.
How many trampolines were there in that TUBE on that
first day, Heen?
Seventeen. It came out instantly. I don’t recall even
counting. That number was just there. I pulled it up from I
don’t know where.
And how many springs are there on that largest one in the
center?
Forty eight springs. Twelve for each section, four sections total.
And the foam pit, how many paces wide and how many
paces deep is it?
It’s thirty paces wide and twenty deep.
And that long, narrow, runway trampoline on the far left
side, how many legs does it have resting on the ground?
Sixteen, eight on each side, although the four legs on
each end are thicker. And angled.
She leaned back in her chair, pleased.
I don’t know what to do with that exchange we just had.
Heen, this is what I am referring to when I use this word
NOTICING.
That’s a thing?
That is a thing.
That is a thing I could get paid for?
Yes, that is a thing we will pay you to do. You will have a CONNECT. Your CONNECT will give you your next assignment-
Is my next assignment my next planet-
Yes, your next planet.
What’s a CONNECT?
WHO is a CONNECT. Your CONNECT is a person who will
give you your next job. You will fly to that next assignment,
land on that planet undetected, seamlessly blend in with the people there, filing regular reports with your CONNECT
about what you are SEEING until your work is done there and it is time for your next assignment.
What a hairball that was to hear for the first time. Where do I start? I picked the first question that came to mind.
How will I know when my work is done there?
Your CONNECT will tell you.
You said something about landing undetected. I don’t
understand.
No one will know why you are there or what you are doing.
Or who you work for. We will teach you how to do this.
Questions were coming so fast. I picked another. Blend
in? Like a house and a job and friends and all that…?
Most SERIES 5s find that is the best way to do it, yes.
Which I will then at some point…leave?
Yes.
I don’t understand the secrecy of it. Why not just say HEY
GUYS I WORK FOR THE CHAIRS.
Because you will not be working for the CHAIRS. You will
be working for the ARRANGEMENTS.
There’s a difference?
You will grasp the truth of this distinction when it is time.
I rolled my eyes at that one.
Okay, fine. But why-I mean, I’m thrilled with the whole
spaceship thing-but I still don’t get all the secrecy.
It seemed like an obvious question.
And an important one.
For the 73rd time since I’d known her, Vo demonstrated
that she has heard this one before.
How much is a one way from Jokahn to Soler?
That came out of nowhere.
I had no idea.
I didn’t say anything.
Cost, Heen-How much does it cost to purchase a one
way ticket to fly from Jokahn to Soler?
I still had no idea.
Uhhhhhh…
The answer is 489 GORS Heen, 489 GORS. At least, that
was the price this morning.
Whoa, that is a lot of money. I knew it was expensive to
fly from planet to planet-no one I knew had ever done it but
489 GORS is crazy money. You’d have to save for lots
and lots of laps to do that. And that’s only one way?
Also, she knows the price as of this morning?
She checked?
Vo was just getting started.
So if you show up in, let’s say…Drowkin. You arrive in
Drowkin on the shuttle, what does that say about you?
Ahh, I was starting to get it. It says that I AM LOADED.
I said it with a touch of edge. I was trying to save face.
And how often does a shuttle land in Drowkin?
Those details. I didn’t have a clue. I’d never been to
Drowkin. I hadn’t checked the flight schedule to Drowkin.
Not very often…? I eeked it out.
That is correct. Not very often. Every half a lap or so.
I knew nothing about any of this.
So can you see what happens if you arrive in Drowkin on
that one shuttle? You will draw attention. People will
notice. You will have brought unnecessary risk to the
assignment before it has even begun.
She let that sink in.
In addition to that, you do not know how long your work
will take on that planet. You may finish your work only to
discover there is no ship leaving for quite some time. And
when a ship does leave, you have no guarantee it will be
going anywhere near where your next assignment is. That
is not an efficient ARRANGEMENT.
She paused for effect. It worked.
In addition to that-
There’s more?!! Vo, you are piling it on!!
I tried to make her laugh.
She did. Kind of.
She’d seen it all.
In addition to that, all communication with your CONNECT
will be through backchannel signals.
Backchannel signals. Should I have even bothered asking what that was?
She continued.
You will not use any standard communication systems,
those will be monitored by that planet as they always are. All signals will be sent and received off the grid through your ship.
A part of me wanted to give up, right then and there at the start. It was way, way too much to take in.
I didn’t understand what she was saying.
My bottom lip quivered.
Not a good sign.
Maybe I was just tired.
Or maybe I was just too sad.
Maybe you can’t be that sad to do that job.
I didn’t remember them testing me for sadness.
Or despair.
Or proximity to an existential abyss of never ending grief and nothingness.
Vo reached in her pocket and pulled out a small, white disc,
about as thick as the palm of my hand.
She handed it to me.
It was heavier than it looked, and smooth. Very smooth.
Tap it there in the center with your index finger.
I did. Nothing happened.
Say Hello.
I looked at her. I looked at the disc. I looked back to her.
Go on. Say Hello.
I sighed. Hello.
My Hello contained within it the weariness of a thousand
moons.
A voice leapt out of the disc
Yeah, Heen. Let’s get after this.
There was a drawl in this voice, a relaxed laconic twang I
had only heard once or twice in my life. There was
someone at one of those meals a few days ago who
talked like that. Like there was no rush, no reason to hurry,
like we had all day here to just…be.
Also Get after this?
How does one do that?
Get after something?
I sat there in that chair holding that disc. Thinking about
that voice. A blank look on my face.
Vo snapped her fingers in my face.
Say something.
To who?
To Randy.
I was in such a fog.
Randy? What’s Randy?
I couldn’t tell whether Vo was irritated or she was trying not to laugh.
Randy is a WHO-Randy is your CONNECT.
OHHHHHHHH. I suddenly felt very small. And naive. I
thought that disc was playing a recording. But it was a dude.
Who was alive.
Hi Randy.
The shock of it.
I was talking to a person through a disc and they could hear
me. I couldn’t see them and they couldn’t see me and we were having a conversation. Kind of.
I looked at Vo.
Is this a phone?
*
That little white disc in my hand.
What a marvel.
So you’re going to tell me what to do?
That was the first thing I could think of to ask Randy.
More or less. I’ll pass on what I’m told. But that won’t be
for a while.
I looked over at Vo with eyebrows raised like I was the
coolest fella on Yorch.
Apparently I’m going to get my own spaceship. Cool, huh?
Very cool. That Randy drawl again. I loved it.
Vo watched me intently. Randy went on.
Well, you got a few things to be up to between now and
then. But when you’re through all that, we will get at it. Later, Heen.
I looked up at Vo with a WHAT DO I DO NOW? look. She
tenderly motioned to the disc.
You could say good bye.
That’s a good idea. Bye, um, Randy.
A little click from the disc.
We sat in silence.
I felt the disc in my hands.
I turned it over.
The suns were setting, lights were beginning to flicker on the sides of the TUBES.
There were a thousand things to say.
I picked one.
But I don’t know how to fly a spaceship.
Vo considered that. And then she stood up, pointed to the spaceship in the center of the grass circle that I hadn’t noticed, and said
Well then, it’s time for you to learn.
PART 3 PIDDLE PIDDLE PIDDLE
The front door of the bakery flies open and slams against
the wall. It sounds like lightning-or is that thunder?-and it
happens every morning and I jump every time. Borns explodes into our midst as he shouts
I GREET YOU COMRADES WITH PHANTASMAGORIC
SALUTATIONS AS WE COMMENCE THE BAKING OF
BREAD!!!
Borns is a large man. He’s wearing a white tee shirt, white
canvas pants with vertical front pockets stitched on the
outside, and he has a beard. A blonde beard. And
voluminous blonde hair that leaves the top of his head
and travels in every direction at once.
His fingernails are painted red.
He walks straight to me, enveloping me in a room darkening
hug in which my feet leave the ground for a second-and then he sets me down, looks intently into my eyes, and says Heen, you are new here, but we have already sojourned together across the ages and planes, have we not?
What does a person say to that?
Yesterday he greeted us with
WHO ISN’T JONESIN’ FOR A STEAMING HOT LOAF???
The day before it was
SLICE ME A SLAB OH THAT WARM BUTTERY LOVE!!!
We could tell she was trying to figure out how to save face.
And then she smiled, and asked Duda to check the inside pocket of her coveralls. Duda unzipped a few inches and reached in and pulled out…the card she drew.
Then she nodded to Florent. Who did the same thing. And pulled out the card he drew.
We each did.
We were so confused.
I asked her Did you mess up on purpose?
Zoma jumped in Was that part of the trick-to make it seem like you blew the trick?
We had so many questions.
She just sat there and smiled.
And then stood up and walked out.
Later Vo took us to that TUBE I’d seen that first day with
the crane on top of it. We put on these webbed harnesses
that had a metal ring on the back. Turns out that crane
had a wire on the end that’s connected to a spindle.
Vo asked for a volunteer.
I stepped forward.
She then hooked the wire to my back and told me to jump
off the roof of the TUBE.
My knees shook.
I thought I was going to faint.
Are you serious?
Yes, I am. As you fall the crane will let out the wire at
exactly the speed you are dropping. As you approach the ground the spindle will incrementally slow, landing you perfectly on your feet on the ground.
I did it.
I jumped.
And I didn’t die.
But even my memory of that jump is a bit blurry because
it was in the midst of so many firsts. Foods, people-I met
someone from beyond the STRONGS-THE STRONGS for
the love of the gods!! If you had told me when I was a kid
that I would know someone from the OUTER STRONGS I
would have shook my head and told you you were crazy-
It was relentless, the newness of the experiences we were
having.
I felt like they were trying to make us dizzy.
Each night I would consider climbing the stairs to Zoma’s nest to see what might happen but I just didn’t have the energy. I’d be out cold seconds after I got to my nest.
I gradually lost track of what day it was.
Until day 33.
I know this because Vo pulled me aside and said
Heen. It is day 33. Walk with me.
It was first time that one of us had been separated from the
others.
The others? I said. I don’t know how to name my fear here.
She reassured me. I will talk with each of them as well.
Off we went.
Me and Vo on our walk.
Around the edge of the circle of TUBES.
She told me It is time.
I was going to need more than that.
I didn’t take the bait. I said nothing.
She added a bit.
It is time for you to begin.
Once again, I had a thousand questions. But if I said
Time for what? Begin what? That had been my pattern
forever. Someone’s in charge and I bend over backwards
to impress them and make sure they think I’m good
enough and worthy enough and all that.
You are ready.
She still hadn’t really said anything.
I’m ready. It’s time-that didn’t actually inform me of much of
anything.
You have a unique set of aptitudes that are needed at this
time. There are a few specific training sessions required but
then we will put you in the field.
Huh. Like a job?
Stilitz may have rubbed off on me a little.
Yes, Heen, like a job. Your job. Your new job.
And there it was.
The point of it all.
Which I kind of already knew, going back to Mustache
Man and Beautiful Mother Lady. But now she had said it.
We were approaching two chairs. I swear I had never seen
those chairs before, and we had walked that circle at least
once a day since I’d been there. Were they placed there just for that conversation?
Vo sat down.
I did as well.
This has all been a test.
Of course.
Yeah, I knew that.
More than you realize.
What am I missing? I leaned forward.
She did, too.
We want to hire you to be a SERIES 5. You will get your
own spaceship. You will learn to fly it. You will be given
assignments to travel to various planets and live among
the people on those planets. You will be-
Wait. Stop. I held up my hand. I will have my own
spaceship?
She knew she had me.
Yes, and a new one every three laps if you so choose.
If I so choose. Those words rattled around in my head,
banging into each other.
My job will be to live on different planets?
Yes. But not for very long.
I won’t have the job for very long or I won’t be on any one
planet for very long?
A part of me wanted to climb up on my chair and yell MY
MY OWN SPACESHIP MY OWN SPACESHIP MY OWN
SPACESHIP. But I’d do that later.
I needed clarity in that moment. Details.
I still don’t understand what the job is. Other than flying
around to different planets.
Vo nodded. The CHAIRS need data. Stories. Statistics.
Information. First-hand accounts of what is working and what isn’t working. This is how the ARRANGEMENTS are adjusted and improved. Can you see how vital this job is to the life of the worlds? We need people to NOTICE, Heen. And then to report back what they see. And YOU happen to test extremely high in this area.
I laughed out loud at that.
I test high in NOTICING?!!!
Suddenly I was so cranked up.
NOTICING? THAT’S WHAT YOU THINK I’M GOOD AT?
THAT IS THE LAMEST THING IN THE UNIVERSE TO BE
GOOD AT!
My face must have been red because I was..embarrassed? Irritated? Surprised? I had no idea why this evoked such a
response in me.
Stiltiz can do back flips off a small rock! Florent seems to
know something about every subject under the SUNS,
Duda is as strong as steel, Corta somehow knows how to
play music instruments SHE’S NEVER EVEN SEEN BEFORE and you’re telling me my skill is NOTICING!!??? WHAT ELSE? Are you going to tell me I’m good at OBSERVING as well??? Or that I test high in BEING???? Tell me, AM I A GOOD BE-ER??-
She held up her hand.
Stop right there. I understand your questions. Allow me to
ask you a few.
I straightened up in my chair. This should be good.
Stilitz can do some very impressive things on a
trampoline, correct?
Yesss, he can…I just said that…didn’t I? She caught me
off guard with that one.
How many trampolines were there in that TUBE on that
first day, Heen?
Seventeen. It came out instantly. I don’t recall even
counting. That number was just there. I pulled it up from I
don’t know where.
And how many springs are there on that largest one in the
center?
Forty eight springs. Twelve for each section, four sections total.
And the foam pit, how many paces wide and how many
paces deep is it?
It’s thirty paces wide and twenty deep.
And that long, narrow, runway trampoline on the far left
side, how many legs does it have resting on the ground?
Sixteen, eight on each side, although the four legs on
each end are thicker. And angled.
She leaned back in her chair, pleased.
I don’t know what to do with that exchange we just had.
Heen, this is what I am referring to when I use this word
NOTICING.
That’s a thing?
That is a thing.
That is a thing I could get paid for?
Yes, that is a thing we will pay you to do. You will have a CONNECT. Your CONNECT will give you your next assignment-
Is my next assignment my next planet-
Yes, your next planet.
What’s a CONNECT?
WHO is a CONNECT. Your CONNECT is a person who will
give you your next job. You will fly to that next assignment,
land on that planet undetected, seamlessly blend in with the people there, filing regular reports with your CONNECT
about what you are SEEING until your work is done there and it is time for your next assignment.
What a hairball that was to hear for the first time. Where do I start? I picked the first question that came to mind.
How will I know when my work is done there?
Your CONNECT will tell you.
You said something about landing undetected. I don’t
understand.
No one will know why you are there or what you are doing.
Or who you work for. We will teach you how to do this.
Questions were coming so fast. I picked another. Blend
in? Like a house and a job and friends and all that…?
Most SERIES 5s find that is the best way to do it, yes.
Which I will then at some point…leave?
Yes.
I don’t understand the secrecy of it. Why not just say HEY
GUYS I WORK FOR THE CHAIRS.
Because you will not be working for the CHAIRS. You will
be working for the ARRANGEMENTS.
There’s a difference?
You will grasp the truth of this distinction when it is time.
I rolled my eyes at that one.
Okay, fine. But why-I mean, I’m thrilled with the whole
spaceship thing-but I still don’t get all the secrecy.
It seemed like an obvious question.
And an important one.
For the 73rd time since I’d known her, Vo demonstrated
that she has heard this one before.
How much is a one way from Jokahn to Soler?
That came out of nowhere.
I had no idea.
I didn’t say anything.
Cost, Heen-How much does it cost to purchase a one
way ticket to fly from Jokahn to Soler?
I still had no idea.
Uhhhhhh…
The answer is 489 GORS Heen, 489 GORS. At least, that
was the price this morning.
Whoa, that is a lot of money. I knew it was expensive to
fly from planet to planet-no one I knew had ever done it but
489 GORS is crazy money. You’d have to save for lots
and lots of laps to do that. And that’s only one way?
Also, she knows the price as of this morning?
She checked?
Vo was just getting started.
So if you show up in, let’s say…Drowkin. You arrive in
Drowkin on the shuttle, what does that say about you?
Ahh, I was starting to get it. It says that I AM LOADED.
I said it with a touch of edge. I was trying to save face.
And how often does a shuttle land in Drowkin?
Those details. I didn’t have a clue. I’d never been to
Drowkin. I hadn’t checked the flight schedule to Drowkin.
Not very often…? I eeked it out.
That is correct. Not very often. Every half a lap or so.
I knew nothing about any of this.
So can you see what happens if you arrive in Drowkin on
that one shuttle? You will draw attention. People will
notice. You will have brought unnecessary risk to the
assignment before it has even begun.
She let that sink in.
In addition to that, you do not know how long your work
will take on that planet. You may finish your work only to
discover there is no ship leaving for quite some time. And
when a ship does leave, you have no guarantee it will be
going anywhere near where your next assignment is. That
is not an efficient ARRANGEMENT.
She paused for effect. It worked.
In addition to that-
There’s more?!! Vo, you are piling it on!!
I tried to make her laugh.
She did. Kind of.
She’d seen it all.
In addition to that, all communication with your CONNECT
will be through backchannel signals.
Backchannel signals. Should I have even bothered asking what that was?
She continued.
You will not use any standard communication systems,
those will be monitored by that planet as they always are. All signals will be sent and received off the grid through your ship.
A part of me wanted to give up, right then and there at the start. It was way, way too much to take in.
I didn’t understand what she was saying.
My bottom lip quivered.
Not a good sign.
Maybe I was just tired.
Or maybe I was just too sad.
Maybe you can’t be that sad to do that job.
I didn’t remember them testing me for sadness.
Or despair.
Or proximity to an existential abyss of never ending grief and nothingness.
Vo reached in her pocket and pulled out a small, white disc,
about as thick as the palm of my hand.
She handed it to me.
It was heavier than it looked, and smooth. Very smooth.
Tap it there in the center with your index finger.
I did. Nothing happened.
Say Hello.
I looked at her. I looked at the disc. I looked back to her.
Go on. Say Hello.
I sighed. Hello.
My Hello contained within it the weariness of a thousand
moons.
A voice leapt out of the disc
Yeah, Heen. Let’s get after this.
There was a drawl in this voice, a relaxed laconic twang I
had only heard once or twice in my life. There was
someone at one of those meals a few days ago who
talked like that. Like there was no rush, no reason to hurry,
like we had all day here to just…be.
Also Get after this?
How does one do that?
Get after something?
I sat there in that chair holding that disc. Thinking about
that voice. A blank look on my face.
Vo snapped her fingers in my face.
Say something.
To who?
To Randy.
I was in such a fog.
Randy? What’s Randy?
I couldn’t tell whether Vo was irritated or she was trying not to laugh.
Randy is a WHO-Randy is your CONNECT.
OHHHHHHHH. I suddenly felt very small. And naive. I
thought that disc was playing a recording. But it was a dude.
Who was alive.
Hi Randy.
The shock of it.
I was talking to a person through a disc and they could hear
me. I couldn’t see them and they couldn’t see me and we were having a conversation. Kind of.
I looked at Vo.
Is this a phone?
*
That little white disc in my hand.
What a marvel.
So you’re going to tell me what to do?
That was the first thing I could think of to ask Randy.
More or less. I’ll pass on what I’m told. But that won’t be
for a while.
I looked over at Vo with eyebrows raised like I was the
coolest fella on Yorch.
Apparently I’m going to get my own spaceship. Cool, huh?
Very cool. That Randy drawl again. I loved it.
Vo watched me intently. Randy went on.
Well, you got a few things to be up to between now and
then. But when you’re through all that, we will get at it. Later, Heen.
I looked up at Vo with a WHAT DO I DO NOW? look. She
tenderly motioned to the disc.
You could say good bye.
That’s a good idea. Bye, um, Randy.
A little click from the disc.
We sat in silence.
I felt the disc in my hands.
I turned it over.
The suns were setting, lights were beginning to flicker on the sides of the TUBES.
There were a thousand things to say.
I picked one.
But I don’t know how to fly a spaceship.
Vo considered that. And then she stood up, pointed to the spaceship in the center of the grass circle that I hadn’t noticed, and said
Well then, it’s time for you to learn.
PART 3 PIDDLE PIDDLE PIDDLE
The front door of the bakery flies open and slams against
the wall. It sounds like lightning-or is that thunder?-and it
happens every morning and I jump every time. Borns explodes into our midst as he shouts
I GREET YOU COMRADES WITH PHANTASMAGORIC
SALUTATIONS AS WE COMMENCE THE BAKING OF
BREAD!!!
Borns is a large man. He’s wearing a white tee shirt, white
canvas pants with vertical front pockets stitched on the
outside, and he has a beard. A blonde beard. And
voluminous blonde hair that leaves the top of his head
and travels in every direction at once.
His fingernails are painted red.
He walks straight to me, enveloping me in a room darkening
hug in which my feet leave the ground for a second-and then he sets me down, looks intently into my eyes, and says Heen, you are new here, but we have already sojourned together across the ages and planes, have we not?
What does a person say to that?
Yesterday he greeted us with
WHO ISN’T JONESIN’ FOR A STEAMING HOT LOAF???
The day before it was
SLICE ME A SLAB OH THAT WARM BUTTERY LOVE!!!
