Don't Label Me! (6 page)

“
The Valeton council has cut us off.
They’ve gone as far as dumping Tyra and cancelling our rubbish
collection and other services. The national government will
probably want to keep tabs on us as we’re useful to them when it
comes to liaising with the other sentient species on the planet but
I suspect the destitute state government will follow the council’s
lead in ditching us. In which case I think we may as well stop
paying rates and state taxes altogether and set up our own council
to govern us.” He paused and sat back, silent while Adelaide took
in the ramifications.

A grin stretched from nearly ear to ear as
she beamed. “Well I’ll be. What is it you guys say? Thank the
all-spirit, or something like that. We can totally overhaul the
curriculum and the way we teach.” A small worry crossed her mind
though. “There is the matter of what we will pay the teachers.”

“
It’s will be a totally different
economy Adelaide. It’s going to have to be up to the people of
Boswell how they want to head into the future. The Malakim have
their own ways but there is no saying whether or not they are
appropriate or appealing to the humans here. We might need to
consult with the other sentient species on the planet for ideas on
viable options on how to run our little part of the neighbourhood.
I’m thinking that those with specialised skills like your teachers
will be highly valued within the community but they’ll still need
to grow at least some of their own food, maintain their homes,
things like that. Our engineers and scientists are working on a
free energy solution which could be something we could gift to the
outside world by getting the plans out on their internet,
distributing them widely before the Din can pounce on them. Our
genetics research we’ll also share, where we think there will be
general benefit and where it doesn’t have the potential to be used
against the planet and its occupants. We’re not aiming to make a
dollar out of our advancements so how we position ourselves here
and how we choose to engage the outside world will be critical.
We’re going to need someone highly skilled in administration to do
the hard negotiations for us. That’s where Hideo’s mate will come
in. She graduated from business school and since she’s been in
Australia she’s put herself through part time open university,
completing a master of business administration. I have funds I can
use to tide us over while the important decisions are made but I
can’t promise your teachers a wage beyond that. If they want pay
they’ll need to consider whether they stay in Boswell at all. But
if they enjoy the lifestyle and the freedom to teach in a whole new
way I think it is safe to say the town will make sure their needs
are met.”

“
So no promises but a lot of a
potential. Leave it with me Simon. I’ll speak to them at the staff
meeting this afternoon and let them know. I’ll get back to you with
their thoughts.”

“
Good. One other thing. We’ll need one
of you on our proposed town council as our expert on education.
I’ll leave that to you to decide who to nominate but the town will
need to endorse them.”

“
Wow, no mucking around then? Okay
I’ll put it to them as well. When’s Kit start?”

“
This afternoon.”

“
I see.” Normally she’d have to get a
whole heap of clearances and permissions to go through to get
someone like Kit in as a volunteer but like Simon said, they were
now effectively cut off, they could do what they wanted. “Can’t see
a problem.”

“
Good, if you’ll excuse me then I have
a couple more people to see.” With that he vanished.

Adelaide took a moment to reminisce, a
wistful smile on her face.
Oh well, past
is past
. When she looked back down at the papers on
her desk she noticed a couple of books that hadn’t been there
before. Her eyebrows arched steeply as she viewed their covers. One
looked to be a saucy romance novel if the well built handcuffed man
with feminine hands on his shoulders was anything to go by. The
other work looked to be non fiction, something about family jewels.
She read the back and coughed in shock. “Oh, um.” She fanned
herself with some papers from her desk then carefully hid the books
in her desk drawer and locked it. What had Simon said again? Be
open to opportunities. What was he up to?

George finished his car mag over his morning
cuppa. The sun streamed through the windows that opened onto his
back deck warming his bare toes. It might be chilly outside this
morning but it wasn’t too bad in here. He decided he’d do some work
on his blueprints for the town’s energy system next, finalizing
them before taking them back to the team this afternoon. Better
text them to warn them he thought. Too much chance of walking in on
the three lovebirds doing something that would burn his eyeballs.
Sheesh. If it wasn’t Ally, Mendal and Upal exploring their new
relationship it was his friends next door, deepening theirs.
Loneliness encircled him, looking for a way in but he’d have none
of its moroseness today. After all Simon had said his turn would
come and soon. After years of waiting the last two years had been a
roller coaster of change in their small part of the world.

A warmth of gratitude welled up in his heart
and he channeled that wave out to Simon, knowing his boss would
feel it wherever he was. He owed his friend a lot. Simon had turned
up just in time to rescue him in the Sudan and gotten him safely to
a refugee camp. The guy had been furious about George delaying his
plans. Little did he know at the time the complex jigsaw puzzle of
people and events that Simon was trying to bring together. Yes he
knew it wasn’t solely for his benefit. Simon made no secret of the
fact that he was trying to find a way to rescue his imprisoned
friends as well as free the world of the yoke of Din, no small
task. George was more than happy to come on board, to help in
anyway he could.

Unfortunately his own rashness in going home
to bury his parents meant he was effectively trapped in a refugee
camp until he could get his case heard to come out here. It had
taken years, literally.

He’d spent those years as the camp engineer
and mechanic, helping the camp administrators to improve the lot of
his fellow internees. They hadn’t been keen to see him go. Indeed
it had taken Simon’s intervention, again, to bribe a few key
officials to get him out.

When he’d finally arrived in Australia he’d
been destitute. No job, no accommodation. He’d lived in a Salvation
Army shelter for homeless men for the first few days until Simon
turned up at his door with a sparkling new Bentley and asked if he
wanted to be his driver. They’d become firm friends.

Simon had had to put some of his plans on
hold for even longer as he patiently waited for George to realize
and accept that the town’s blonde bombshell of an electrical
engineer and electrician, Ally, wasn’t for him. He’d had to
reluctantly give up his pursuit of her when he realized that her
heart belonged to others, his friends and fellow scientists Upal
and Mendal. She’d not only fallen for the two ex-Din-human hybrids
but had been radically altered by their DNA the first time she made
love with them. Like all the townsfolk she was as good as immortal
but apparently now she was something more, something a lot like
Upal and Mendal only feminine. He’d heard whispers of the details.
He couldn’t exactly miss the tangerine eyes which had once been
blue but really, the rest of it he didn’t want to know. As long as
she was alright and happy that was all that mattered.

Simon had said there was another out there
waiting for him, Thex’s ship’s communication officer, from all
those millennia ago, her soul and essence still encased in Sama
crystal. He felt guilty that his lust for Ally had delayed Orea’s
freedom. He didn’t like to bother Simon but since his boss always
had schemes on the go no time was really a good time. He’d try and
corner him when he next caught him on his own for a minute. It was
time to go and free Orea from her tomb, wherever the hell that
was.

Deep within a jungle filled sinkhole in
Borneo, Orea’s consciousness stirred. If she ever got out of her
shady green prison she planned to make the Din pay for what they
had done to her and her colleagues. Yet she winced at that thought;
revenge wasn’t the way of her kind. There was no getting away from
the fact though that a 100,000 years existing as little more than a
large, incredibly dense and indestructible crystal was the pits.
She still had nightmares about having been thrown out into space to
fall on this patch of ground. At least it was a beautiful and
pristine patch of ground. Long ago her kind had come to try and
rescue her but finding no way to release her from the stone they
had negotiated with the local people to become her guardians. Not
to worship her but to keep her hidden from the Din. Of late the
logging companies were encroaching deeper into the limestone karst
system that surrounded the sinkhole. Soon the jungle would be gone
and with it the birds,bats and butterflies that were her constant
companions. She mourned their impending loss. Was this her fate? To
watch as the Din ravaged the planet. Would she still be here long
after they left to plunder other planets, long after the sun had
burned out and the earth was no more than a remote barren rock on
the outer edge of one of the spiral arms of the galaxy? But she was
no wuss. She wouldn’t give up hope. She let her consciousness
radiate out to touch the forest for a bit, caressing it, loving it,
hiding it from those who would prey on it and when she had had her
fill she let her mind rest again in the boundless vastness that was
the all-spirit.

A knock on his door startled Hideo from his
classroom prep. He put the books down and reached out with his
mind. Even before opening the door it was Simon. “What brings you
here Simon-san?”

Simon looked casually around the book laden
room, filled with tomes on East Asian history, language and martial
arts. He found a green velvet covered footstool that was book-free
and took a seat. His penetrating pale gray eyes gleamed a mixture
of assessment and mischief as they took Hideo’s measure. “I need to
send you on a mission. I’ve already seen your boss and arranged for
Kit to take your classes while you’re away.”

“
Kit?”

“
She’ll behave. Mostly. No doubt your
students still manage to get a few juicy historical details out of
her.”

“
Hmm.” Kit was a good friend but her
views on many things were counter to his. Like martial arts. He
taught Aikido as a way of peace, defensive techniques that
immobilised or deterred an enemy who was to be respected. Kit
however was far more pragmatic and would use any lethal deception
or technique needed to thoroughly vanquish a foe. They came from
the same country but they’d been born centuries apart, their
respective experiences, gender and knowledge giving them entirely
different slants on the same culture and history. He hoped his
students were able to discern that for themselves. He’d have to
make sure of that when he got back but whatever Simon needed he
knew he wouldn’t hesitate to help. He had a great deal of respect
for the quiet indomitable visionary who’d changed all their lives.
“Tell me what you need from me.”

“
There’s a woman in Sydney. A friend
of Kit’s and Helena’s. She doesn’t know it yet but she needs
you.”

“
This is the woman Kit turned immortal
when they swore a blood oath of friendship to each other. Does she
even know that she is immortal yet?”

“
I doubt it. Would any ordinary person
consider it a possibility? Yet she’d know there was something that
had changed. She just wouldn’t know the how or why or even the
extent of it?”

“
So she may be frightened.”

“
Worse. She may be starting to attract
attention from the wrong quarters. We need to bring her
here.”

“
Okay, I’ll go retrieve her but I’m
not sure why you particularly need me. Anyone who can teleport
through the non-local could go and get her even you. Not that I
mind the day off but...”

“
Trust me, it has to be you. There’s
something that complicates things though. Something I did in the
past to help her. I’m hoping you can forgive me.”

“
Simon, whatever it is I’m sure you
had your reasons. Spit it out.”

“
Take too long. I’d best show you but
I won’t invade your mind without permission. Would you be okay
doing a partial mind share with me?”

“
You won’t overwhelm me with a 100,000
years of memories?”

“
No, just a specific period of time.
You’ll need it as much to judge me as to have essential background
information on the woman.”

“
I won’t judge you Simon. I give my
word.”

“
I’ll remind you of that when you
realize what I was to her.”

“
You can remind me but it won’t change
my respect for you. Show me.”

“
Very well.” Simon approached and bent
his forehead forward to touch Hideo’s then let his consciousness
flow.

Hideo started to sag as the mental onslaught
hit him. Despite being contained to a particular point in time the
vastness of that fraction of Simon’s consciousness still swamped
him. Simon grabbed him before he could fall. Looking back at the
man whose mind he’d just touched he gazed in new awe and a certain
degree of astonishment. “How do you keep all that in your
head?”