Aliens in Godzone

by Cotterell, Genesis

  These thoughts flashed through Janux’s mind as she grappled with Curtis’s ropes. Suddenly she felt something hard digging into her back.

  “Stop, woman, or I’ll blow you away. Get up slowly and turn around. Hurry up, bitch.”

  Whoever it was pushed the gun even harder into her back. She looked at Curtis and stood up, and turned to face a giant of a man who had what looked like cloth stuffed in his ears. It was the man with the long, wavy hair and massive hands who had begged Sly Onyx to let him kill them by strangulation. That gave him the greatest joy, he’d said.

  As she stood before the massive man she knew that right now she could do nothing but obey. To try and whistle again would probably get her killed. Now the other four men came over and stood around them, training their guns on her, their faces contorted with rage and hate.

  “Let me drown her,” one of the short, muscle-bound men said, stepping forward.

  “No, the Master wants these vermin for his pleasure. They will beg for mercy and we will watch to see how they fare without food or water for a few days. Then we can start the fun part.”

  “I say we punish them now,” growled another. “I want to see blood flow for what she’s done.”

  He stepped up to Janux and pressed his gun into her cheek. “Want a face-lift?”

  The others began laughing and saying the same. “Want a face-lift, bitch?” and danced around and around them. One of the short men kicked sand in Curtis’s face every time he passed while the tall, wavy-haired man allowed them to continue until, looking towards the road, he bellowed, “Stop, brothers. You’ve had your fun. We have visitors.”

  Janux looked over to see Siegfried coming down onto the beach, Jack trailing behind him.

  “I’m Siegfried Plante, mayor of this island,” he said to the group. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “It’s none of your business, old man,” one of the short men said. “Now back off to where you came from, Granddad. We’ve got prisoners here who need to be taught a lesson. This is a Ryxin problem and Humans have no part in it.”

  All the men laughed, then turned back to their victims, Janux now kneeling in the sand with her head bowed.

  “Wait,” Jack said in a loud voice, walking towards the group and standing beside Siegfried. “I’m Ryxin and I don’t like what you just said to my grandfather.”

  The wavy haired Ryxin turned to him. “That’s too bad, kid. When you’re a man you can do something about it. Now you go home with your granddad and forget all about today. You see, we don’t tolerate scum like these two, and soon they will be taught a severe lesson. We are taking them to the Master as we have been ordered. What you see here is just our way of having a little fun with the vermin before they are taken to be condemned by the committee. Off you go, boy, before I am forced to deal with you as well.”

  “But you don’t understand,” Jack said, standing his ground. “I am the son of a pure-blood. His name is Oro Garvey and he’s descended from one of The Ten.”

  The Ryxins were suddenly very quiet. They all turned to face Jack. No one spoke.

  “On the blood of my ancestors I’m telling you to step aside. This island is our home. Don’t spoil the peace and quiet here with your games. My ancestor was one of the first Ryxins to step onto this planet.”

  The five men stopped and lowered their guns. Janux could hardly believe they were obeying Jack. It must have something to do with his lineage, she thought. There was a hallowed respect for any of The Ten, their names were saint-like to her people. She had always known that but never seen it put to the test before. Then Siegfried and Jack walked slowly towards them.

  “These two have vanished one of their own,” the wavy-haired man said. “For their crime a traditional Ryxin punishment will be meted out to them.”

  “Who are you?” asked Siegfried.

  “I am Kitz Werven, descendent of Fyno Werven, also of The Ten. Why do you not support us?”

  “These people are our friends,” Siegfried said. “I am Human and do not favour one species over another. I am not a Human law enforcer. I am neutral, so I’m asking you to respect my position as mayor. If wrongs have been done they must be addressed in ways that are fair.”

  Jack then spoke. “My father taught me a non-violent way of life. The first Oro Garvey was once leader of all Ryxins. He taught non-violence too. This is how he showed us.”

  He picked up a piece of driftwood and drew a large circle on the sand. Then he drew patterns inside the circle. Janux saw that he was drawing the planet Ryxin and all the countries it once had before it died through lack of sunlight. When he’d finished, he and Siegfried stepped inside it and sat down facing each other. This was an ancient Ryxin peace rite, well known to all Ryxins.

  “Join us,” Jack said, and one by one the five men entered the circle and sat. Then they began chanting, just as their ancestors had always done. They chanted the names of The Ten, over and over - Garvey, Applen, Werven, Hurzy, Tretze, Lavenox, Kurlty, Pentezek, Logopex, Yanly.

  While they were doing this and going into a trance-like state, Janux managed to get Curtis’s bonds untied and they prepared to leave the beach. They knew Siegfried would be protected by Jack, who appeared to be highly revered because of his ancestry, so they dismantled their campsite and after packing all the gear into the car they drove back to Curtis’s home.

  CHAPTER 23

  “I can’t believe those brutes gave in so easily when Jack appeared,” Janux said.

  “Reverence for descendants of the leader of The Ten is obviously no small thing,” Curtis replied. “He’s sacred to those guys. You know there’s a pure strain of Ryxins who’ve never succumbed at all to Human ways and who’ve made this island their home. I’ve worked out some of them are secret descendents of The Ten. I guess until now they haven’t had reason to advertise their presence.”

  “It’s like they almost bowed down to Jack. He’s only a kid after all.”

  “There’s something about him though. Did you notice? He’s got authority.”

  “So you reckon we’re out of the muddy waters now?” Janux said as they sat at the kitchen table, both nursing whiskeys on ice.

  “Kieran only knows,” Curtis said.

  In the morning Curtis found some stale bread and made toast for them both. As they sipped black tea he looked up to see Janux gazing into his soul with her sea-green eyes.

  “We made it out of there thanks to you,” he said, seeing her fresh beauty as if for the first time.

  “My father was a good teacher. He taught me how to whistle like that, saying I might need to use it someday to protect myself. He was secretive about why but said he’d tell me when I was older. He never did.”

  “So you didn’t know why you needed to learn to whistle long and loud?”

  “No, though Dad was always trying to ensure that if anyone found out about my telepathic powers I would know how to fend off trouble. But we never knew any pure-blood Ryxins when we were growing up. I thought they were kind of like ghosts or mythic beings. Yet all the time they’ve been there.”

  “Same with our folks - we were all half-bloods like you.”

  “So why isn’t our Human side protected by Human law and the Human police?” Janux asked.

  “They no longer know which men are pure-bloods and which half-bloods.”

  “So the only way to spot true-blood men is by their name. What about females?”

  Curtis thought for a minute. “From what I’ve been reading lately it seems that when the first-generation pure-blood Ryxins were born on Earth they tried to find pure-blood partners. But as time went on this no longer happened as frequently - and as you know the Ryxin world sees women a little differently than men.”

  “Huh, there’s a huge difference. We’re only seen as hatching machines.”

  “Not by me, you’re not.” He took her hand, something he’d told himself not to do because she was his client. But he hated the PI handbook sometimes - like now. “I think I lo
ve you,” he said.

  She rested her head on his shoulder and he stroked her blonde hair, which still smelled salty from the sea.

  “Hey, did you hear that?” she said, pulling slightly away from him.

  They both stood still, listening. There was a vehicle outside, the engine making a low, throaty sound. As they waited the noise stopped, and then someone was hammering at the front door.

  “Go into your bedroom,” Curtis whispered. “Don’t come out until I say.” Then he went down the hall and opened the front door.

  “Gidday, brother. I’m here as a friend,” Sly Onyx said.

  Curtis looked past him and saw a woman with long red hair sitting in the passenger seat of his ute. “You’d better come in then. What about your friend?”

  “She’s no trouble. She obeys me without question.”

  “I’m sure she does. Want to bring her in too?”

  Sly signalled for the woman to follow. She was twenty-something, with fine, noble features of a kind rarely seen on the island. “This is my companion, Zady Pentezek.”

  “I’m Curtis McCoy. Come in.”

  He called to Janux. She came out of hiding, and they sat around the kitchen table while Curtis brewed another pot of tea and laid out four mugs and a bowl of sugar.

  “‘I have some important things to tell you,” Sly said. “There have been new developments, which a friend of yours was persuaded to tell me about.”

  “And who could that be?” Curtis asked, puzzled by Sly’s changed attitude towards him.

  “A certain Mrs Peace, recently appointed House Controller at our new Pohatu Cove Home for Abandoned Babies.”

  “Claudette Peace? How did she get involved in that?” Curtis didn’t want to divulge that he already knew about the radical change in Claudette and her new occupation.

  “She fell in love, brother, like some Humans do from time to time. Half-bloods too occasionally, or so I’m told.”

  “With a man called Vandy?”

  “Vandy Legox is the one she fell in love with, brother. But he had to make a hurried trip to the mainland on his own, so Mrs Peace decided to stay here and assist us with some things. She has been very helpful after weighing up her options.”

  “Very helpful in what way?”

  “She knew Lion was trying to usurp me, brother. And she was involved all along. But she admitted all this last night.”

  Curtis was confused. “You’d better tell me what the hell you’re talking about, brother.”

  “It was Lion. He wanted the power to act alone, without having to consult the committee or obey me.” Sly leaned forward and took a slurp of his tea, then grimaced and added three teaspoons of sugar which he stirred in vigorously. “I’d put him in charge of the Ryxin Breeding Programme at Pohatu Cove with Vandy his right-hand man. Apparently that wasn’t enough.”

  “What more did he want?”

  “He and Vandy wanted to run it differently and Vandy wanted his new girlfriend involved.”

  “You mean Claudette?”

  “Of course. He’d been seeing her for a while and knew she’d do anything for him.”

  “Maybe he brainwashed her.” Curtis was sure Claudette had been totally transformed by someone.

  “She was told how to behave if she wanted to remain his lover. That’s how some of us work. If our women step out of line they usually become less than nobodies.”

  Curtis looked over at Zady Pentezek. He guessed from her name that she was a pure-blood Ryxin. She met his gaze without flinching. Surely she knew better than to hang out with Sly Onyx? But then Curtis was seeing a different side of Sly now, though he found it hard to believe he was genuinely feeling emotion. Wasn’t he supposed to be soulless? Curtis remembered what had happened at Xlesky Street with 17 and how he was told to get lost afterwards.

  “So what about the letters Janux received? Apparently they were from the RBP committee,” Curtis said.

  “No, they were from Lion Chrys-Morngel with the help of Spryz Frurster. He also left for the mainland in a big hurry.”

  “So Lion’s death is no loss to you now?”

  “Correct, Mr McCoy. But it also means I have no one to run the home at Pohatu Cove. This is why I have come to visit you, brother. You have already successfully fulfilled your obligations in the breeding department. Now I am offering you a new position. You must also control Mrs Peace, whom you will have authority over. If she wishes to remain as House Controller she will have to learn that we have no leniency where disobedience is concerned. What do you say?”

  Curtis was taken aback and couldn’t understand why Sly wanted him for the job. After all, he wasn’t a pure-blood like the rest of Sly’s committee – though of course the numbers of pure-bloods were now drastically diminished. “I cannot even consider such a position,” he finally said. “I am a Private Investigator and my client here, Janux Lennan, has employed me to find Roscoe Chamonix’s killer.”

  CHAPTER 24

  Sly glared at Curtis. “That’s easy sorted, fellah. I’m ninety-nine point nine per cent sure he was killed by Lion Chrys-Morngel, the dirty bastard.”

  “Why would he want to kill Roscoe?” Curtis looked at Janux who avoided his gaze.

  “Why bloody not, I ask you? Roscoe and I were the last of our family line, and since he hated me he would have hated Roscoe too, him being my half-brother. All because of a feud between his family and mine going back a very long way, in fact back to 1905.”

  “You mean revenge for something that happened then?”

  “Sure, man,” Sly said, sighing and getting up from the table. Zady rose too.

  “Wait,” Curtis said. “Someone saw a person at Moa Bay that day, standing on the clifftop.”

  Sly’s face remained impassive.

  “But the distance from a boat out in the bay was too great.”

  “I see.” Sly’s voice sounded flat.

  “What was the family feud about?” Curtis asked, hoping Sly and Zady would stay a bit longer so he could find out more.

  Sly hesitated then sat down again, as did Zady. “It was about The Ten. There were only five out of thirty-five first-generation children who didn’t marry pure-bloods.”

  “Three of the four Kurlty girls,” Curtis said, “and two of the five Yanly boys.”

  Sly stroked his chin. “You know your Ryxin history. One of the Kurlty girls never married.”

  “So what did that have to do with Lion’s family?”

  “It’s a long story. You see Pricillix Chrys-Morngel, one of the fifty women who first came to Earth, was ordered to marry Erng Kurtly when The Ten were chosen. The problem for her was that she was already married. This marriage had taken place in Ryxin, not long before she and her husband left. But once on Earth all Ryxins had to obey orders. The man who ordered that to happen was one of Zady’s ancestors.”

  Curtis was thinking fast. “You mean a Pentezek?”

  “No, brother, it was Oro Garvey the first. He had two boys and a girl. The girl married Zorn Pentezek, one of the four first-generation Pentezek boys. Priscilla had four girls with Erng but the girl who never married did have a partner and six children. Her partner was Taygir Onyx the first. So there began another pure-blood line. They were my ancestors.”

  “But Taygir must have been a lot older.”

  “Yes, over thirty years older. But you see, he’d been in love with Pricillix Chrys-Morngel when they still lived on the doomed planet, Ryxin, long before she ever met her first husband. And Taygir swore he’d never marry anyone else. Then once they arrived on Earth Pricillix was ordered to marry Erng Kurlty and once again Taygir was thwarted. He wasn’t even chosen as one of The Ten, but he waited patiently until Pricillix had her first daughter.

  “He already knew that first-born daughters had to marry whoever Oro Garvey said they should. That was a new rule made up by him to try and control the breeding of pure-bloods. As soon as they were born Oro Garvey pledged them to marry this or that first-born son. But Taygir was determin
ed to have her for himself. He waited as the daughter, named Elva, grew, and one night when she had just turned fifteen he crept to their house and raped her. By this act he hoped to claim her as his own. He was lucky - Elva became pregnant and Ryxin rule was that she must go away in shame and live with the man who’d impregnated her. In those days women who were raped bore more shame than the man who raped them. They were never allowed to have a legal marriage. So that’s how Taygir Onyx, my ancestor became Elva Chrys-Morngel’s partner and fathered all her children. There were six altogether - four girls and two boys.”

  “Why didn’t she use the surname, Kurlty?”Curtis asked.

  “She had to take her mother’s name so as not to give shame to the Kurlty name. Her daughters and their children had to take the same name, Chrys-Morngel, as they too were never allowed to marry. While sons and their future children had to take their father’s name, Onyx. So Lion Chrys-Morngel was a descendent down through the women’s line of the partnership while me – well, of course I took my father’s name. This splitting of our family has always caused ongoing hostility through the generations.

  “Pricillix never forgave Taygir for what he did to her daughter. Neither did any of the female ancestors. They made sure they never forgot what happened to Pricillix and Elva. As for Lion - well, he wanted revenge and he wanted it badly. I thought he was happy following my orders, but I was mistaken. He harboured a secret rage and his way of getting back at one of the Onyx line was to prove that he was stronger and cleverer than I was.”

  “That’s an incredible story, brother,” Curtis said, seeing the logic in what Sly had told them. But he wasn’t so sure about Lion having killed Roscoe. Why hadn’t he killed Sly instead if he wanted revenge? Roscoe was a half-brother - and a half-blood only, not a pure-blood like Sly. He looked over at Janux who met his gaze.