Terraform (an Ell Donsaii story #15)

by Laurence Dahners

  Eli snickered, “What, are you an alcoholic too?”

  “No, it’s just that I have to have daily injections. It’s a different medication.”

  Eli said, “Are your shots what makes you a genius?” He elbowed Ray, still speaking to Zage, “Maybe I should get some of those too.”

  “No, it’s for a different problem,” Zage said, a small syringe now visible in his hand. He pulled up his shirt, saying, “It’s pretty easy—”

  “Not out here!” Ray said, stepping closer so the bulk of his body would block sightlines.

  “No one’s watching,” Zage said, mildly indignant.

  “You don’t know what they’re doing, little man. They could just be sitting in their apartments, staring out at you with nothing better to do than call the cops.”

  Zage shook his head, looking even more annoyed, “This isn’t an illegal drug.”

  “Trust me, little man, you don’t want the police taking you down to the station to cool your heels while they try to figure out what the stuff actually is, do you?”

  Carley was feeling more and more disturbed. She agreed they shouldn’t be doing an injection out here, but she did not want to take Eli into her apartment, much less Ray. Of course, Eli chose that moment to say, “Let’s go to your apartment, Carley. You can show me how to do it in there.” He started walking that way.

  Carley really didn’t want to take Eli into the apartment if her roommate was home. She spoke to her AI, “Check with the house AI to see if Diane’s home.” She started walking slowly after Eli.

  Her AI said, “Yes, Diane’s home. Do you want me to connect you?”

  “No,” she said. Eli was almost to her apartment, so she hurried after him. “Eli, Diane’s home. We can’t go in there.”

  Ray said, “Diane’s your bitchy roommate, right? It’ll be okay. I’ll charm her. It’s something I’m good at.”

  Carley managed not to roll her eyes. “I don’t think that’ll work.” She turned to Eli, “We’re going to have to do this some other day.” Uncomfortably, she noticed a couple of other men had entered the central commons of the apartment complex. The two men seemed to be converging on them.

  “Oh, come on, Carley,” Eli said from where he stood at the apartment door. He sounded irritated, “After we came all the way over here? We can just step inside, the kid’ll give me my shot and I’ll be on my way. Even Diane should be cool with that.”

  Reluctantly, Carley said, “Let me just see. Maybe she’s in her room and we can do it without her even knowing.” She stepped up close to the door, asked her AI to unlock it, then pushed it open a little bit.

  Diane sat at the little table, staring at her. Carley started to pull the door shut, but Ray shoved it open. “Diane, right?” he called across the room as he shouldered his way inside. “I’m Ray, one of Eli’s buddies.”

  Carley pulled on his sleeve saying, “Ray! Do not go in there…”

  Carley paused when Zage twisted past her and appeared in front of Ray, holding up his hand like a policeman halting someone. Zage said, “You heard her. Stop! Go back outside and wait for us.” For a little boy, he had a surprisingly commanding voice.

  Ray bent forward, saying jovially, “Don’t worry little man, I’m just gonna talk to her.”

  Diane had risen to her feet, looking white-faced, furious, and frightened. She was edging toward the door to her room.

  Ray said, “Hey Diane, relax. I’ve heard a lot about you and…” He moved toward her. She shrieked and scurried toward her room.

  Carley only had time to think, Oh shit! when Ray just fell down.

  Later, when she had time to watch the record from her AI’s cameras, she saw Zage—moving surprisingly fast—punch him in the crotch. When he reflexively bent forward, Zage reached up, pulled his head down further, then kneed him in the temple.

  Hard!

  Diane had vanished into her room, slamming the door behind her.

  Eli plaintively said, “Ray?”

  Carley, not sure what’d happened, looked for Zage. The boy was bending over Ray, peeling back his eyelid. “Zage?” she asked, “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” he said, though he sounded upset. “Um, I’m kinda worried about Ray?”

  Till that point, Carley had just been thinking that Ray’d stumbled. Now she realized he wasn’t getting up. She stepped closer. The eye Zage had exposed was twitching. Did he have a seizure? Carley wondered. It didn’t seem unlikely in a guy who lived on the street with Eli.

  Carley went down on one knee, picked up Ray’s wrist, and felt for a pulse. Or, tried to. She realized that the fact she’d seen a lot of people checking pulses on TV shows didn’t mean she actually knew where to feel for one.

  Zage said, “I’ve already checked his pulse. It’s eighty-two, which’s fine. Also, we can see he’s breathing regularly. I counted that at twelve breaths a minute. Also normal. I think he’s just concussed…” Apparently deciding that might’ve been too obtuse, he elaborated, “Knocked-out.”

  Since Carley hadn’t seen Zage’s knee-to-the-temple strike, she hadn’t been considering the possibility of a concussion. Maybe he hit his head when he fell? But, then there’d still be the question of why he fell? “Eli,” she asked, “do you know if Ray’s epileptic?”

  Ray chose that moment to moan and roll onto his back.

  Watching from about 6 feet away, Eli said uncomfortably, “I don’t think so.”

  “What happened?” Ray asked, then produced another long moan.

  “I don’t know,” Carley said. “You fell down and were unconscious for a little bit. Are you epileptic?”

  “No!” Ray said in an offended tone, as if he’d been accused of something loathsome.

  “I think he’s going to be okay,” Zage said thoughtfully. He looked over at Eli, “Do you want me to show you how to do an injection while we’re waiting?”

  “Okay…” Eli said, without enthusiasm.

  ~~~

  Carley sat cross-legged beside Ray as he gradually became more alert. She noticed he did have a missing front tooth. The one next to it was grey. Nonetheless, she thought he could be fairly handsome—with some dental repair, a haircut, and a shower. But those things wouldn’t fix his assholian attitude, she thought, wondering whether he was an alcoholic like her brother. Or, maybe he’s got problems with other drugs?

  Behind her, she could hear Zage explaining the injection to Eli. Some more quiet words and he apparently injected himself. The boy came over and got the syringe Carley’d prepared for Eli, then returned with it to her brother.

  Eli apparently injected himself without any of the whining or foot-dragging Carley’d expected. Maybe because he didn’t want to seem like a wimp in front of Zage.

  Ray started trying to get up. Carley said, “Wait a minute. How’re you feeling?”

  “Fine. Just a little dizzy. Help me up.”

  “Maybe we should call an ambulance?”

  “No. I hate hospitals.” He glanced at her, “If you call one, I’ll just refuse treatment.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Let’s try just getting you up on the couch.” She stood and held out her hand.

  Ray took her hand. Leaning heavily on it, he climbed to his knees, then heaved himself onto the couch.

  “How’re you feeling?” she asked.

  “Better. Can you sit here with me?”

  “Okay,” Carley stepped over and got one of the dining chairs. She pulled it over near the couch and sat down.

  “No, I meant, can you sit here next to me,” Ray said patting the couch beside him. “The touch of another human can be healing.”

  Carley shook her head, “You’re not getting that from me.” She turned her head, “Eli, do you want to come sit here next to your ‘Brother’?”

  “No,” Eli replied in a surly fashion. “That’d be weird.”

  Carley wondered whether this was evidence that her brother was homophobic, or whether he didn’t actually like Ray either.

&nbs
p; Ray gave her another of his covered-tooth smiles and said, “What’d I do to make you mad?”

  Carley gave him a stony look, “Hugged me when I didn’t want you to. Entered my home without permission. Frightened my roommate, who’s already mad at me. Generally ignored my requests about how you should behave.”

  He lifted his eyebrows, “Wow, that’s quite a list.”

  “Now, I’m going to ask you to leave my apartment. Do you think you can do that without acting like a jerk?”

  Lifting his hands out to the sides, palms up, he said, “Come on. I was just unconscious. You oughta cut me a little slack.”

  “If you think your condition’s serious, I’ll be happy to call you an ambulance.”

  Ray’s face turned ugly. Planting his hands, he pushed himself to his feet. “I’m sure I’ll be fine,” he said in a sour tone. He made his way over to the door, saying, “You ready to go Eli?”

  Eli got up and moved to the door as well.

  Ray said quietly, though it was loud enough that everyone in the room would be sure to hear, “It ain’t just her roommate that’s a bitch, you know?”

  ~~~

  As soon as the door closed behind them, Carley told the house AI to lock it. Shoulders slumping, she said, “Let me just tell Diane I got them out of here. Then I’ll have my car pick us up so I can take you home.”

  “Um, don’t worry,” Zage said, “My AI’s already called a car for me.”

  Carley studied him a moment, thinking how unlikely it was that a six-year-old—make that a barely-six-year-old—would’ve thought to call for a car. Considering all the other crazy stuff he can do, this’s minor, she decided. “Well, let me talk to Diane, then I’ll walk you out to the entrance to meet your car.”

  Carley went to Diane’s door and tapped it lightly. “Diane, I’m really sorry. They’re gone now. Gone and hopefully won’t ever come back.”

  Diane didn’t say anything, so Carley stood there at her door wondering what to do. A moment later, the door opened a crack and Diane’s eye peered out. She briefly surveyed the room, then pulled the door open the rest of the way. Flatly, she said, “I’m going to be looking for another place to live.”

  Carley sighed, “I can’t say I blame you. I hope you know that I really don’t want any of these things to happen.” She looked away from Diane, unable to face those accusing eyes. “But, Eli’s my brother. He’s got his problems, but… I feel I owe him something, you know?”

  Diane said, “Yeah. Well, I don’t owe him anything, do I? And, whatever you owed him, I think you’ve paid your debt.” She walked back out to the little dinette, took her glass off the table and went back into her room. She pointedly shut the door.

  Carley turned to look at Zage. He was watching her, concern in his eyes. She asked, “Do you know if your car’s here yet?”

  His eyes twitched in a way she’d learned meant he was checking the HUD in his contacts. “It’ll be here in two minutes.”

  “Okay,” Carley said to Zage. She spoke to her AI, “Can you access the apartment complex cameras through the house AI? Tell me whether Eli and Ray have left the complex or not?”

  “They’re gone.” her AI said, “In case it matters, you should know that two other men are standing out by the pool.”

  “Really?” Carley said, then felt silly for saying something like that to an AI.

  Her AI produced an inflectionless, “Yes.”

  “Let me see.”

  An image popped up on her HUD. Carley saw two men standing out by the near end of the pool. She thought they were the ones who’d walked into the complex’s common area when she’d been trying to keep Eli and Ray out of her apartment. “What’ve they been doing?”

  In answer, her AI rewound the video to the point when the men had entered the complex, one from each side. Then it fast forwarded. She, Zage, Eli, and Ray had met and were moving toward Carley’s apartment door, gesticulating as they argued. The two men entered, then seemed to focus on the four of them. For a moment, Carley thought the two men seemed to be hurrying toward them, but then Ray pushed into the apartment, everyone else followed, and the door closed behind them.

  The two men slowed. They stared at the closed apartment door for a moment or two, then turned back toward the pool. They met at the near end of the fence around the pool and leaned up against it next to one another. They’d been standing there ever since, as if they were carrying on a conversation

  At first, Carley felt like it was nice that a couple of strangers had been concerned about the argument between herself and Ray. Then she started to wonder what they’d been doing there in the first place. She was pretty sure she’d never seen them in the complex before.

  And, why they were still there…?

  She turned to Zage, “Eli and Ray’re gone, but there’s a couple of other guys hanging out there by the pool. People I’ve never seen before. I’d rather wait until they were gone, unless… Are you supposed to be home by a certain time?”

  A flash of what looked like frustration crossed Zage’s face, but then he said, “No. No worries. I’m not in any rush.” He turned and walked over to the window, looking out. With her hearing, Carley could hear him mumbling quietly to his AI, though she didn’t think most people would’ve known he was doing it.

  Motion attracted her eye back up to her HUD. The two men had abruptly turned and started walking out of the apartment complex, leaving in different directions. It’s as if they were spies, she thought, just come here for a brief conversation with one another. Now they’re taking off. She wondered whether she should be worried about it, but decided any spying they might be doing probably didn’t apply to her. Or Zage. Maybe they’re undercover cops following Eli and Ray around? she wondered, thinking that Ray seemed like the kind of person who might be in trouble with the law. She decided that wasn’t her problem either, but still worried about whether Ray could be the kind of crook who might drag Eli into his problems.

  Carley turned to Zage, “They’re gone from the inner part of the complex now, but let’s give it a couple more minutes before we go.”

  Zage nodded. “I’m sorry everything went so rough here today.”

  “Yeah,” Carley said with a sigh. “I’m a lot sorrier than you are. I should never have brought a kid your age into a situation like this.” She looked over to where Ray’d fallen down. “I was afraid Ray was going to cause a lot of trouble until he had his… seizure, or whatever it was. I wasn’t watching when he fell, but you were over there closer to him. Do you have any idea what happened?”

  “Um, yeah.” Zage said, looking embarrassed, “When Diane shrieked, I thought she could tell he was about to do something really bad, so I…” Zage stopped talking as if he didn’t know what more to say.

  Puzzled, Carley said, “So you…?”

  “I don’t even know Diane. I’m not sure why I thought she’d understand what he was about to do better than I did. But… I guess, ‘cause she’s an adult…”

  “Because she’s an adult… what?”

  “I trusted her intuition. I, um… I punched him in the testicles.”

  Carley drew back in astonishment, “You did?!”

  “Yeah.” He sighed, “I should’ve stopped then. But in self-defense class they teach us to follow through. So when he bent over, I kneed him in the head.”

  Carley gawped at the boy, not knowing what to say. Not really knowing whether to believe him. Finally, she slowly asked, “How long have you been taking self-defense courses?”

  “Just this year. But I’m a pretty good athlete.”

  “You are? Do kids your age even do sports?”

  He nodded solemnly, “I do martial arts.”

  Carley stared at him for a minute, trying to come to grips with the idea that this small boy was the reason a large man had been rendered unconscious. She shrugged and looked toward the window, “Well, those guys’ve been gone for a bit. Shall I walk you out to your car?”

  Big-eyed, Zage said, “Yes
please.”

  As she walked Zage past the pool, Carley had to suppress a hysterical giggle, Do I really need to walk out the kid who took down a big guy like Ray? She shook her head and turned to the boy, “Thanks for coming along and showing Eli how to give himself an injection. Did that go okay? I wasn’t watching that either.”

  “Yeah, he did fine.” The boy paused, then said, “If we were giving him a test dose, shouldn’t we have kept an eye on him for a while afterward?”

  Carley sighed, “Yeah. You’re right. But I couldn’t stand having Ray in the apartment a single moment longer. I hope rushing them off doesn’t turn out to be something I regret.” She looked over at Zage, “Thanks for stopping Ray. If he’d hurt Diane, I’d have a lot worse problems than her wanting to move out.”

  Zage looked chastened, “I still think it was the right thing to do. But… I also think I overdid it.”

  A small pickup truck, old but looking well-maintained, was waiting at the complex gate. Zage got in and it drove away with him. When Carley turned back toward her apartment, a movement caught her eye. She thought it’d been a man pulling back behind the corner of one of the buildings. Could there really be spies here? she wondered. What in the world would they be spying on?

  Chapter Seven

  Research Triangle Park, North Carolina— Extra Terrestrial Resources (ETR) announced that their surveys of the large metallic asteroid known as Psyche 16 have found an area particularly rich in platinum series metals. David Stephenson, ETR’s spokesman, said, “I wouldn’t want you to think that we’re talking pure platinum or anything like that. But a few of the samples have been as much as 4% platinum group metals which is pretty rich.”

  ETR’s begun sending small quantities of this material back for processing in the same refineries it’s been using to purify the metals from asteroid 2019 UB40.

  While he was waiting for ETR’s legal weasel, Allison Branson, to pick up his call, Jason poured another two fingers of whiskey in his coffee mug.

  He heard a click, then a frustrated sounding Branson said, “Yes, Mr. Stackhouse?”