It is raining big time here in Scotland, everywhere is flooded and a few roads are closed. So I thought I would cheer you and me up with another taster from The Other Side Of Planet Hy Man…
Chapter Two-ish-The Book Signing
The second time Woody asked, Mex was dealing with a mechanical rat situation and Pete was reluctantly advising her. There was more than the usual amount of loitering about the bins and Mex months into her new semi-retired advisory status was curious, she had never known a rat to loiter before, especially in groups.
“Are you sure there are no other countries on this planet?” Said Woody handing around mugs of steaming caffeine.
“What?” said Mex lifting a lifeless mechanical rat with a sniff.
“He means like in China and India,” said Pete.
“We don’t have takeaways here” joked Mex.
No one laughed.
“He means separate countries,” said Pete.
Mex turned to Woody with a flummoxed look, she couldn’t think of an answer and felt, well, stupid. Like Pete, Mex never thought of such a thing, no one had on Planet Hy Man.
* * *
The third time Woody asked Pete they were in the marketplace. Pete was showing off his latest look of red everything with a black wig. He had just developed a new corset range, a coset so tight bending was impossible. Pete rigidly upright was holding court with his ‘I’ve been to earth and back and definitely wouldn’t do it again without a bra’ story, while Woody handed out signed copies of his“The Tale Of Two Robots’ memoirs, and Mex with Woody’s Nokia dealt with the cash.
On earth, Woody’s Nokia was an out-of-date phone that constantly needing charging. On Planet Hy Man, the atmosphere charged its’ inner circuits, transforming it into a super sleek, mind of its’ own, smart-arsed interconnector, way above the abilities of even an H Pad. Which took a bit of getting used to for Woody, it had answer for everything, recorded everything and could calculate on a par with Albert Einstein.
There was a queue a mile long, all hanging on Pete’s every word——so Pete thought until the Nokia pointed out that the queue was in front of Woody.
Woody catching Pete’s stiff face slid his Nokia to ‘rest’, sparking a ring tone that faded away as Woody slid it into his pocket.
Pete signed his last book when Woody popped the question.
“What do you mean?” said Pete, playing for ‘thinking up a decent answer’ time.
“You know, like on earth, China ….India…”
“We don’t do takeaways here” muttered the stall owner next to them.
Nobody laughed.
“We are but a solitary civilization,” said Pete.
“I find that hard to believe,” said Woody.
Pete signing another book sighed. “You earth folk you always think you know everything.”
“What’s civilization, Woody?” Yelled a small voice at the back of the queue.
“Something us earth folk know a lot of” yelled Woody handing the book to the young woman.
She sighed, reached to touch him then with a blush pulled back.
“But we know more,” said Pete, “and there is no other civilization here.”
“Has anyone looked?” Said the small voice at the back of the queue.
Pete yelled across to Mex who was now giving the cash box a bit of a dusting.
“Have you seen any ‘Chinas’ lately?”
Mex looked up confused.
“Has anyone?” yelled Pete expecting a laugh.
“My pal says she’s seen things,” said an older woman.
“What?” Said Woody?
“Rats.”
“Rats are always loitering around, they’re everywhere, aren’t they Woody?” said the stall owner.
“You’re never more than six feet from a rat ain’t that right Woody?” Sighed the young woman.
“Not sure…” muttered Woody.
“I think you’ll find that is on earth,” said Pete.
“Is that right Woody?” Chorused a few women.
“But these are different,” said the older woman.
“How?” Said the stall owner.
“They are bigger and dopier like they are on something,” said the older woman.
“Robots are always revolving,” said the stall owner.
“You mean evolving,” said the small voice at the back of the queue.
They looked at Woody waiting for a pearl of wisdom.
None came.
“My pal said, it didn’t run, even when she took a swipe at it…just rolled onto its’ back,” said the older woman.
“I have seen them too” yelled a husky voice, “over there.”
A rumble of disapproval rattled through the crowd as they looked up at the tall Building of Opulence dominating the skyline. It was the most expensive building on Planet Hy Man, being that it was for those who ruled————H2 and her leadership team.
“Not there,” said the husky voice. “There!”
Her brown hand pointed to the basement.
The women gasped.
The basement was a ghost pit of the past with the sort of creaky shipwreck noises that would scare the comatose. Years ago it was a gym that produced energy for the planet until solar power came into its own. Now empty, it was merely a storage facility for out-of-date equipment that didn’t cut the mustard. The only time anyone went there, was to dump and run.
“Someone tripped over one the other day,” said the husky voice. That’s how big it was, she was so shaken she got a day off…”
“No” gasped a few.
“…and compensation”.
They stared at the empty building almost willing a rat to emerge.
October Sci-Fi Sales -ends November the 11th
Something for everyone…
Bodacious Creed -A Steampunk Zoombie Western
Something a little different….
Flight Of The Gazebo-An Epic Sci-Fi Adventure
And last but not least something to tickle your imagination….
Until next time happy reading