Hammer Town

by Selina Rosen

  “I will, if things go my way.”

  “You are a Constructionist, Hammer, make it go your way. Work for what you want, and you will have it.”

  “Thank you.” Conner stood up. “A blessing on you, on your tools and on your house.”

  “A blessing on you, and on your tools, and on your house. May the things that you build bring you closer to God, and may God be in all that you build.”

  “So, why did you go there, and who was that guy you were talking to?” Elantra asked before Conner had started the car.

  “This is the Building Site. The Building Sight is the holiest place in town. It is where creation is taking place. The man I was talking to is the General Contractor; we sometimes call him the Great Contractor or just the Contractor. He is the spiritual leader of WrenchTown. I came here because I needed spiritual guidance.” She started the car and started driving.

  “Why did you need spiritual guidance?” Elantra asked.

  “Why do you think?” Conner hissed back.

  Elantra smiled broadly. “Because of me.”

  “Yes.” Conner shook her head in disbelief. Elantra hadn’t been out in the real world long enough to know when to keep her mouth shut, and she went on to prove the point.

  “So what was it about me that caused a spiritual dilemma?” Elantra asked, thinking that she had every right to know.

  “If I had wanted to talk to you about it, why would I have made a special trip to see the Great Contractor?” Conner all but screamed back.

  “Are you mad at me?” Elantra asked.

  “What do you think?”

  “I don’t know,” Elantra answered truthfully. “I can’t think of a single logical reason why you would be angry. If you were a reasonable person, I would have to assume that you aren’t. Since you are anything but a reasonable person, you most probably are.”

  Conner took a deep breath, and counted to twelve. She realized she was driving out of town and kept going. She wasn’t really mad at Elantra. They had spent the last week trying to screw each other to death, talking and arguing about everything and nothing, eating and sleeping and not much else. At that moment there was very little the stupid little shit could have done that would have made Conner really angry, which was of course what was really pissing her off.

  She was mad at herself and the situation, and if she didn’t love Elantra there wouldn’t be a situation for her to be mad at herself about.

  Conner had been in love before. She knew what it felt like. She didn’t know how Elantra felt, lust was not the same as love, but her sensitivity implant read them the same way. Elantra might not be emotionally old enough to fall in love, and even if she was, she might not fall in love with a walking hunk of hardware like herself.

  “Conner McVee!” Elantra screamed. “Have you heard a word I said to you? Are you listening to me at all?” she demanded.

  Conner smiled broadly. “I heard you say that I wasn’t a reasonable person...”

  “I was talking for a good five minutes after that,” Elantra said sitting back in her seat crossing her arms over her chest and staring out the window.

  Conner smiled. There was no way it had been anywhere near five minutes. “I was so hurt by what you said that I didn’t hear anything else.”

  “Yeah right,” Elantra shot back. She looked over at Conner, saw the smile on her face, and any trace of animosity was washed out of her. “So where are we going?”

  “You ask too many questions, Lanny.” She pulled the car onto the shoulder and stopped. From the wear on the area around the shoulder it was obvious that she wasn’t the first person to do so. Conner got out of the car.

  Elantra opened the door and got out, marveling at how it no longer seemed like work. How normal it was now to do things that had before seemed impossible. She got out, and looked up at the huge trees in front of them. She took a deep breath; the air smelled good.

  “Come on.” Conner grabbed hold of her hand and started pulling her along down a path through the trees. She started to protest, and instead just stopped walking, causing Conner to stumble.

  “What kind of trees are those?”

  “Redwoods. Big, huh?” Conner continued, dragging Elantra along.

  “What’s that smell?”

  “The trees, the flowers, the dirt, the air. It’s what the world outside town, even a Constructionist town, smells like. We create buildings, things, but God creates this. God is the ultimate Constructionist.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Elantra said then. “Conner McVee, my feet hurt. You drag me around like I’m some old doll. Would you please slow down?”

  Conner laughed and slowed down. She put her arm around Elantra and pulled her close. “Do you have to say my whole name whenever you talk to me? I mean... we’re lovers for God’s sake.”

  “I like saying your name,” Elantra said in an embarrassed whisper.

  “Why?” Conner asked with a laugh.

  “I don’t know. I just do.” She put her arm around Conner’s waist. Suddenly they walked out of the trees. Elantra took in a deep breath and took a step backwards. “My God,” she breathed. “I’ve seen hologram pictures, but... So much water. It’s so...”

  “It’s hard to put into words, isn’t it?” Conner pulled her closer and started walking again. She was glad it was a warm day.

  “It’s so big, so loud. It looks like it doesn’t end or begin. The sky and the water just seem to run together.”

  Conner was a little taken aback by her perception. “There is an old Constructionist story that says that spot where the water runs into the sky is the place where heaven meets earth. Theoretically, if you could somehow bring that line from there to here you could communicate with God.”

  “Is that something you’d want to do?” Elantra asked curiously.

  “That’s a good question.” Conner shrugged. “I don’t think so. I mean, I believe in God, most Construc-tionists do, but I don’t really believe that God could relate to a human like that, or we to God. I’m not sure I’d want hard, cold proof that there really is a God. I believe God is like a contractor who builds a house then sells it and goes away. It’s up to the person who buys the house to maintain it. Not the contractor.”

  Conner let go of Elantra and sat down on the sand.

  “What are you doing?” Elantra asked.

  “I’m taking my shoes off so I can walk in the water. You ought to go in with me, it will be good for those blisters...”

  The blisters were just about healed now. “It will burn a little at first, but the salt water should be therapeutic,” Elantra said thoughtfully. She sat down on the sand next to Conner not without an effort, she still wasn’t accustomed to getting all the way down to ground level without something anticipating her action and popping up to catch her. She realized Conner was staring at her, and after a moment’s thought, she also realized why. “I may not have worked on real people, but I still know medicine.” She ran her fingers through the sand and smiled. It felt good; it was warm. She took her shoes and socks off.

  Conner jumped up in one effortless motion, and then reached down and took Elantra’s hand to help her up. Their eyes met for a second, then Conner pulled her close and they kissed. Their lips parted.

  “Let’s make love,” Elantra breathed.

  Conner laughed and pushed her gently away.

  “You’ve got to be kidding. Honey, we would have sand in places sand should never be. We can save that for when we get home. There are lots of ways to make love.” She took Elantra’s hand again and they walked towards the ocean.

  “What do you mean?” Elantra asked.

  “Hopefully, you’ll answer that question yourself in time,” Conner said.

  “That’s not an answer to my question, Conner McVee.” Elantra protested.

  “Yes it was.” Conner laughed then. “You know why you’re so horney all the time, don’t you?”

  “I don’t even know what the word means.”

  “Why you w
ant to have sex all the time,” Conner explained.

  “Because I like it.” Elantra said with a smile.

  Conner laughed. “All right, I’ll give you that, it’s a good reason... In the cities they put chemicals in the water that lower a person’s sex drive, strips them of most of their sexual desire. They think this makes them better, less animal, but there’s nothing wrong with being a little animal, is there?”

  “I don’t think any chemical could stop me from wanting you, not now,” Elantra said, looking up at Conner with a smile. She watched in amused amazement as Conner’s cheeks turned red. Then Conner dropped her hand and ran towards the water.

  They started out wading. Then Conner splashed Elantra a little. Elantra splashed Conner a lot, and Conner chased her down and tackled her in the water so that they both wound up soaked. Being wet on the drive home, they were a little chilled. Conner had let Elantra use the shower first. Elantra hollered and Conner came running in. “You OK?”

  Elantra opened the shower door and gave Conner a mock pout. “I’m lonely.”

  “Horney is a little closer to the truth.” Conner had already started stripping her wet clothes off. She finished undressing and got into the shower with Elantra, who immediately pounced on her, kissing her over and over again til she got the response she wanted.

  Elantra drank it all in – the feel of the water, the warmth of it, the warmth of her lover, the passion. Conner’s touch seemed to burn into her flesh.

  She had never felt so alive. So vital. The whole world had been opened to her. A real world, where food tasted like food. Air smelled like air. Trees, water, sand and a thousand other things could be seen, touched, and experienced.

  She had stopped asking to talk to her father, because she didn’t want him to tell her it was time for her to come home. She never wanted to go home. She wanted to stay here with Conner McVee.

  Conner lay beside her asleep. Elantra was exhausted, but she had too much on her mind to sleep. She wrapped herself tightly around Conner and Conner stirred and pulled her close. “Conner McVee?”

  “Uh,” Conner said, sucking the drool off her lip.

  “I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to go back there.”

  Conner woke up and looked into Elantra’s eyes. “Then you won’t go back,” Conner assured her. She started to tell her how she felt, but stopped. If she told Elantra she loved her that would put pressure on her to reciprocate, and if Elantra felt that way she would have said so. That’s the way Elantra was. Still, just because Elantra didn’t know she loved her didn’t mean that she didn’t. It just meant that she was too green to recognize it.

  “My father will make me go back, Conner McVee,” Elantra said trembling.

  “Your father can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do, and I don’t want to give you back...”

  “Why not?” Elantra asked.

  “Why do you think?” Conner asked.

  “Conner McVee, must you always answer in riddles? Can’t you give me a straight answer?”

  “I’m not straight...”

  “You know what I mean,” Elantra said with a frustrated sigh.

  “I like you,” Conner answered.

  “You like me, or you like having sex with me?” Elantra asked bluntly.

  “Can’t I have it both ways?” Conner asked with a smile. Elantra smiled back and nodded.

  “Won’t you get in trouble with your agency?”

  Conner shrugged. She wasn’t ready to explain that she already was or why.

  “I’m scared,” Elantra said quietly.

  “I won’t let anyone hurt you if I can stop them,” Conner assured her. “Ever.”

  “I’m not afraid of that,” Elantra said.

  “Then what?”

  “I don’t know exactly. It’s like I’m... like I’m becoming a different person.”

  “It’s called growth, Elantra, and it’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s what happens to everyone when they are exposed to the real world.”

  Elantra laughed then. “You think this is the real world, and my father thinks that’s the real world.”

  “It only matters which one you think is real. Which one makes you feel alive,” Conner said.

  “I like it here, with you,” Elantra said quietly. “What about you?”

  “What about me?” Conner asked, confused by the question.

  Elantra rolled away from Conner. “Nothing,” she said.

  “What?” Conner demanded, going after Elantra and pulling her against her. “What do you want to know?” she asked, then kissed her ear.

  “Do you ever... Do you wish I was Peggy? Was that what you were talking to the Contractor about?”

  Conner let out a long throaty growl. She had thought that their trip to the building site had already been discussed and forgotten. She pulled Elantra still closer and said into her ear. “I don’t want you to be anyone else. I don’t wish you were Peggy. I loved Peggy, but she’s dead. I’m not trying to turn you into Peggy if that’s what you think. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. You are too stubborn and pig headed to change in any way that you don’t want to. Besides,” she tried to remember what the contractor had told her that morning. He was after all a hell of a lot better with words than she was. “I’m a different person than I was when I loved Peg. I needed Peg then, and maybe I need you now...” She realized she had said more than she intended when Elantra turned quickly in her arms to face her.

  “What did you say?” Elantra asked in a shocked tone of voice.

  “Nothing... I’m not trying to make you into Peg, that’s all.” Conner said quickly, nervously looking away from Elantra, unable to look her in the eyes.

  “You said you needed me. What does that mean, Conner McVee?”

  Mr. Buttons picked that moment to jump right in the big middle of the bed. “Stupid fucking cat,” Conner grabbed him and hurled him across the room.

  Elantra jumped out of bed and went to check on her disgruntled pet. “You might have hurt him!” Elantra accused.

  “No such luck,” Conner mumbled. In the fight that ensued over the cat, their previous discussion was completely forgotten – for which Conner was very grateful.

  Chapter 9

  Mishy sat at his desk contemplating the numbers on the screen. Business was good, Tarent was losing ground, and for once it seemed Mishy had the upper hand. However this did not satisfy Mishy’s burning lust for revenge.

  It wasn’t enough to throttle Tarent Powers financially, not when Tarent had killed everything that Mishy cared about.

  The debt Tarent owed Mishy couldn’t be paid in credits on the computer screen, it could only be truly paid in blood.

  Powers blood.

  He had called all of his most trusted men in, they had regarded him silently for several minutes, and now as the silence became unbearable, Jumpy spoke up nervously.

  “You ah... you wanted to see us, boss?”

  “Yeah,” Mishy said looking up from the screen. “I got a problem.”

  “What problem, boss?” Jumpy said with a smile. “Business is back up. With Tarent wasting all his time, money, and man power looking for his kid and the Hammer he doesn’t have time to fuck with us or his business.”

  “Jumpy,” Mishy looked up at the man, “I don’t care about business. How can I care about business when the blood of my family remains unavenged?”

  “As long as Hammer’s got the girl...” Tank started.

  “What?” Mishy pounded his fist into his desk, and when he looked up at them his eyes were all but glowing. “As long as Hammer has the girl what? It’s messing with Tarent’s head. You don’t understand my sister’s widow, but Tarent Powers does. Oh, Hammer’s been on both sides of the law. Sometimes at the same time. But she’s basically one of the good guys. Hammer McVee is probably one of the most honest, decent people I’ve ever known. In short, she makes me want to puke. She took the girl as much to protect her from me as she did to get even with Powers. She thought she c
ould force Tarent into giving himself up, or killing himself. That was a fool’s game. Tarent cares for no one as much as he cares for himself. Hammer didn’t count on him figuring out what I knew all along – Hammer McVee isn’t going to kill that girl. She isn’t even going to hurt her, because Tarent did the one thing that he could have done to protect her from people like Hammer, he kept her innocent. Hammer can’t bring herself to kill the girl, even to avenge the blood of my sister because the girl is innocent of any crime and it goes against that horrid code of ethics of hers....”

  “But as long as Tarent doesn’t have his girl...”

  “Let me finish, Jumpy!” Mishy screamed, standing up. “Don’t anyone else interrupt me until I’m finished. I just learned from one of our sources in Powers’ employ that Hammer McVee has a tracer implant in her arm and Tarent Powers has been given the codes. Now she’s apparently out of scanner range, for the time being, but eventually he’s going to find her, if he doesn’t just get tired of looking and go back to business as usual. I want the girl killed before either of those things can happen. I want her killed while it still matters to the selfish fucker. I want him to feel a little bit of my pain. We’ve got to find McVee before Tarent does.”

  “How, boss?” Tank asked.

  “I know more about Hammer McVee than damn near anyone, because she was married to my sister. Hammer is a big hero amongst these Constructionist weirdoes. As such she and Peg had several cabins in different Constructionist towns. Peg never told me exactly where, but she had a strange hobby. Peg liked to take old-fashioned still photos, and Hammer is too sensitive to have thrown anything of Peg’s away. I want you to go to HammerTown, break into McVee’s house, and get the pictures. We’ll feed them into the computer and Voilá! it will start popping out locations, and I’m betting that one of those locations is where McVee is.”

  “Boss I hate to point this out but... I’d rather screw with Powers than McVee. The bitch is crazy, and she’s wired...”

  “I don’t want to hear any of your whinin’ chicken shit crap, Jumpy. As my sister used to say. If ya can’t take the heat ya get out of the kitchen.”