Cantilever Jones Swings Low, Part 1
“You said the girl was still in her ‘hiding phase’. What does that mean?”
{You know, the phase when human females are old enough to breed, but they hide it for some reason.}
“There are reasons, Norl.”
{Yeah, breeding’s a nightmare for you guys. You should really lay eggs instead.}
“I’ll get right on that.”
I went back into the ship, intending to stop our passengers and get some more details. I didn’t need to pick up
another charter since they were already paid up for the trip back, but to me, that was all the more reason to pry.
When I’m bought, I like knowing what I’m bought for.
They were already back in their quarters. I knocked at the door, and after some minor shuffling, Pale-Face
answered, looking as though he was expecting me. The girl was sitting on the bed, with her robe off, in a plain
cloth shift. I felt revulsion.
“What are you doing?” I asked
“We will require transport too the polar zone,” said Dark-Face, in the back of the room.
“So?” I said.
The girl looked at me with her green eyes and I thought I saw fear. She was skinny and looked cold.
“When can you arrange it?” said Pale-Face.
“I’m a starship captain, not a tour guide,” I said, completely unhinged, utterly bereft of xi. This all felt wrong, and
the wrongness was permeating my system down to the digestive level. I wanted to puke on them.
“We will add another five thousand to your fee to act as broker on our behalf,” said Dark-Face. The girl just kept
looking at me.
“Save your money and do it yourself,” I said. “I don’t know what sick kalsch you’re up to, but I want no part of it.
In fact, you can keep your return fee, I…”
She suddenly stood up. She stood up and padded over to me on skinny bare feet, eyes locked with me as though
Pale-Face and Dark-Face were not in the room. I could feel the heat of her skinny body as it stood near me, feel
the awareness of her soul and the awareness that she had brought her soul into the presence of mine. I could hardly
breathe for the sense of her. I could hear Norl shouting in my ear but couldn’t make out a word he said.
Like a clinging vine in time relapse her hand came up and laid itself gentle on the side of my face. “Please,” came
her voice. “Please help us.”
I couldn’t say anything. I’ve been through a thousand pages of sacred wisdom from schools current and forgotten
about keeping clear the framework of your mind, of knowing yourself, of purging the poison that comes from