Raiders (11 page)

The crowd jumped around in fevered applause as the announcer re-armed his microphone once more. “Holy Moses above you saw it with your own eyes folks! The Raider’s hit all ten targets from a distance of two thousand and five meters! Hang out with us for a few and you all will get to meet her for your very self! Thanks again for your support and on behalf of the City government we are grateful for the financial help for those in need!”

Kama returned to the crowd and waited for the cycle rickshaw driver to dismount before she extracted herself from the hand-made car. She held up her Coilgun with her left arm and as she did so the crowd yelped out cheers and chants of admiration. She walked forward with her guards in front. The horde rapidly surrounded the small entourage which made Kama anxious. She wasn’t used to being in the center of such a huge ensemble much less being the
reason
for a crowd’s assembly.

Children grabbed at the leather and metal wraps that covered her legs and patted them in youthful curiosity. A few men asked for her autograph.. Several women appeared steadfastly jealous of this leatherbound, mysterious beauty as their husbands fawned over her at such close proximity. Others stood in quiet admiration of her. One woman muttered “I heard she’s a franken-chick” to her boyfriend in an envied huff.

A few weeks passed and Kama continued to keep to herself inside her Pod. She couldn’t walk a hundred meters outside without people asking her questions about her previous life and the mysteries she left behind. Not everybody liked her though and the occasional scoffs and downward looks from random passers-by made her felt increasingly self-conscious and alien. She spent most of her time sifting through sporadically picked videos and music from the last six hundred years within her Pod’s solitude. Although her English continued to be weak she managed to enjoy the media offerings thanks to the City’s universally available auto-translation engine and Chinese subtitles.

While she watched an old music video from the early 1980s entitled
Ratt: Lay It Down
she thought she heard a knock-knock-knock sound in her headphones. The knocks were out of place and not timed to any particular aspect of the ancient low resolution video. She realized that the knocks were actually emanating from her Pod’s entrance door and not the media center after all. Kama removed the phones and stood next to the door with an obligatory greeting, “Hello. Who is there?”

“It’s Mirabella and Calliope. You’re being kidnapped girlfriend.”

Kama paused a second then reluctantly opened the door. “Yeah. Just try it.” She shook her head and waved them in.

She met Mirabella and Calliope during one of her solo ventures out to the City’s Night Market the week before which never closed. The Market continuously pulsed with activity year-round except for the three major Holidays. Calliope worked at a bubble tea stand and one time Kama stopped there on impulse. She asked Calliope what the enigmatic bubble tea drinks were. Calliope described the process and contents of bubble tea, at least the variations that she knew how to make and somehow or other they just started to talk.

It was true that Calliope knew full well who she was talking to but she treated Kama just like anyone else, as if Kama were any old workaday customer who enjoyed milk and tea and pearls of bobbing tapioca. Kama loved that about her and to be sure she had no real friends in this great Polar City deep under the earth and far, far away from her lost and distant homeworld of Reso.

“No, here drink it with this thing. It’s a straw. Just suck on it.” Calliope plunked a wide diameter straw into the lid. “It’s okay, just be careful because the pearls come right up the straw.”

Kama drew a sip and chewed at the tea soaked pearls. “Good!” She smiled quickly and smacked another sip down. “How much?”

“First one’s free babe. You’ll be back.” Calliope pushed a wayward lock of black hair that had come loose from her tall paper hat. Stenciled onto the hat were the words BUBBLE TEA YUM! above what appeared to be smiling cartoons of a girl and boy sharing a tea together. “They are ten though. For future reference. Twelve with double pearls.” She sidestepped to the left and asked the couple who stood next to Kama what they wanted. They pointed down at the desk front. “Sorry we’re out of the peach mix,” Calliope said and then pointed to the dynamically rendered menu. A digital image of a peach orange colored tea glass with the letters EACH on it was lined out and greyed. The P was hidden under the straw container’s edge.

Kama nodded to Calliope as she drank some more of her bubble tea. “Thank you,” she said.

“Sure. Take care now.” Calliope continued on with her task as the bubble tea stand attracted an increasing number of walkers-by. Kama didn’t move aside but instead stood there and studied the machinery and the hoppers and the spinning things inside this brightly colored overlit booth. She nipped at the cup of milky sweet mango bubble tea.

At once a girl emerged from the passing crowd and ran up to the bubble tea stand, vaulted onto the serving counter and as her butt slid across the glassed surface she landed right next to Calliope who was smack in the middle of ringing out a customer. She was about the same height as Calliope but unlike Calliope her clothes were phosphorescent green red and black smattered with small built-in lights. Kama learned later on that the miniature lights were called
eternals
since they were powered by ambient light sources, artificial or from the Sun itself. The girl's hair was an attention grabbing hodgepodge of red, purple and black streaks with a few braids thrown in here and there. The back of her hair was pure bleach-white and went straight down to her mid-lumbar spine. She appeared to be excited about something. As she grabbed Calliope’s left arm she rapidly shot out, “Holy shit Calli I got tickets to Club Fire!”

Calliope pretended to ignore her for a moment but her efforts were in vain as Mirabella flapped three large pieces of gold and black cardboard in front of her face. “Wow, that’s, that’s incredible. How’d you pull that off?” She raised her eyebrows as if excited at the news but her voice carried a sarcastic undertone to it.

Mirabella looked at the customers who stood on the other side of the bubble tea stand. They appeared to wax impatient at the new and sanguine intrusion Mirabella injected into the moment. She turned back to Calliope and said, “My friend Surinelle is going out on the next Expedition and she had no need for them so she sold them to me real cheap! We can finally see the Deathtones!”

Without turning to face Mirabella, Calliope continued on with her duties as she handed a customer a strawberry bubble tea. She asked from the side of her mouth, “Yeah, great. When?”

“Next week. Friday at ten. Holy shit isn’t this so awesome?” Mirabella danced in place that made her appear as if she had to urgently use the bathroom.

“Yeah it’s mind blowing. Stop flapping your arms around like an idiot I’m trying to work here. Christ it’s like you’re on synth-meth or something.” Calliope nodded to the customer who presently held a newly born strawberry tea, waved him off and said, “Next!”

“Sorry,” Mirabella responded as she rested her arms at her sides. Kama never looked at the two girls who populated the small stand but she still listened in to their conversation while she stood there and nonchalantly observed the City people who passed on by.

“What about Branson. Why don't you take him?,” Calliope asked as she spooned some tapioca pearls from the ice water tray and into a large clear cup. “I mean the third ticket.” She pointed the ladle at the black and gold lined tickets cradled in Mirabella’s hand.

Mirabella wrinkled her nose and scrunched her eyes down. “Ewww no he’s a dork. I mean he’s nice enough but, just no, no. Yuck.”

“Well then who then?” Calliope asked with a threadworn interest in Mirabella's response.

It was at that moment that Mirabella turned her head to the left and noticed Kama who stood nearby. Kama’s backside faced them as she continued to stare out into the road and its flow of pedestrians and cyclists. She whispered really low into Calliope’s ear, “Jesus isn’t that that Raider girl?”

“Yeah she just bought a tea from me.”

“Serious? No shit.”

Calliope matched Mirabella’s whispered tone. “Yeah. She didn’t say anything. I don’t think she’s ever had a tea before though. I don’t think she has any friends either. Just been standing there for the past couple of minutes like a wierdo.”

Mirabella quietly said, “Holy shit we should totally take her with us.”

“What? You’re fucking crazy,” Calliope protested.

“No, think about it Cal. Look at her she’s one of those genetic things. S She’s like fucking perfect.”

“Perfect for what?” Calliope shook her head side to side and gave a fleeted sideward glance at Kama. “She’s like a hundred years old.”

Mirabella shuffled closer to Calliope in an attempt to mask their conversation. “Come on she’s thirty tops. Who cares how old she is? Every guy in that joint will be all over her. Shell be like, like a babe magnet.”

“Yeah, so what?” Calliope asked.

Mirabella said, “So dummy, she reels them in and we can pick the hottest ones that she doesn’t want. Hell she might not even be into guys for all we know.”

“Sounds like a stupid plan.”

Mirabella widened her eyes and whispered, “Come on. Trust me this’ll work. Holy shit this is gonna be so epic!”

“Fine, whatever. Stop saying holy shit you’ve said that like three times in the past two minutes.”

Mirabella turned to face Kama who continued to stare out into the road. “Hey! Hey you there!”

Kama turned around, looked straight at Mirabella but said nothing.

“Yeah you! Come here!” Mirabella said again.

Kama stepped up to the desk front, sucked a pearl up from her bubble tea and chewed on its spongy, slippery texture. “What?”

“Hey you’re that Raider girl aren’t you.”

“I am Kama.”

“Hey whatcha doin' next Friday?”

Kama paused since she wasn’t sure at that precise moment what day Friday actually fell on but it didn’t really matter since she had no real plans anyways. “Next week I’m,” she paused. “Nothing.”

“Wanna go to Club Fire with us? I got an extra ticket. Hey I’m Mira this is my buddy Calliope here.”

“I don’t know what the Club Fire is.”

“No, it’s like the coolest shit. You should go with us! You’ll have fun.”

“What do you do there?” Kama asked the two girls.

“Yeah like stand around and drink and listen to the band. Lotsa guys gonna be there.” Mirabella smiled and held up the tickets mid-air. “These are really hard to get.”

“What are they?” Kama asked.

“Tickets. Place is small so they only let so many people in. Even with the tickets there’s still a line but it’ll be so freaking worth it.”

Kama considered the offer for a moment and then said, “Good. Okay I will go with you. But how do you, I mean, what do you wear to this place?”

“We’ll take care of that. We’ll just pick you up at your Pod two hours early.” Mirabella waved her hand in a circle right in front of her, palm outward. “We’ll work on
all
that
later. We got you covered. Just bring some credits. How much you got?”

“I don’t know. I think twenty thousand? I need to check my bank module.”

“Great. Yeah. Wow that’s way more than what we need. Okay so Friday at eight. We’ll be there so be ready.” Mirabella smiled and nodded.

“Do you know where my Pod is?”

“We’ll find you, don’t worry about that.” Mirabella winked at Kama.

Calliope drew her head close to Mirabella’s. “This is really really stupid. What if she kills us or something?”

Mirabella said, “Shut up she’s not going to kill us dummy.” Mirabella turned and faced Kama once more. “Hey Kama nice meeting you, we’ll see you then don’t forget! Gonna be cray-zee!” She sang out and waved her hands over her head in a circle.

The next Friday the three unlikely companions walked away from Kama’s Pod and down the lowlit road on which Kama lived, lockstep and three abreast. Calliope and Mirabella were dressed full-tilt in what they considered to be some seriously heavy-hitting going-out gear. Their clothes were multi-layered and colorful and laced with tiny illuminated
eternals
top to bottom. Calliope decided to wear glitter-gems over her eyebrows. They weren’t quite in vogue but she swore they were going back into style soon. Kama wore a basic black City issued casual pant and shirt ensemble.

“Okay so here’s the deal. Kama, we’re gonna take you to Lunvane’s Clothing Shoppe and deck you out.” Mirabella said. “It’s just about ten minutes thattaway.”

They arrived at Lunvane’s and were greeted by their old friend Danny. He held out his arms and greeted them with a syrupy sweet singsong welcome. “Well hello there my sweets! Welcome back! Oh ho ho! What do we have here now? “Danny stopped mid-step and stared at Kama from her hair to her feet and then did a once over.

“Danny, we need some fast work done. You know, Club Fire in two hours. What can you do for my girlfriend here?” Mirabella jammed her head in Kama’s direction and brushed a red microbraid strand aside that always liked to take up residence in the front of her face and directly over her right eye.

“Oh well let’s see what we have here.” Danny walked up to Kama and placed his hands on her hips. He patted them up and down her sides, down her butt and then squared off her shoulders and arms. “Hmm well you know girls, I think...”

Kama stepped away from him and tightly grabbed his hands in a blur. Danny blushed over, pushed his eyes into saucers and then tremulously exclaimed, “Sweety!”

“No Kama! It’s okay he’s just getting a feel for your frame. For the clothes. Let him go.” Mirabella said.

“Oh.” Kama released him and brushed his shoulders with her hands. “I am sorry. Continue please.”

Danny let out a nervous but subdued laugh and said, “That’s okay honey! Now.” He patted her lower legs lightly down to her ankle line, turned to Mirabella and said, “Shouldn’t be too much to find something nice for her. Let’s try some things.” He nervously winked at Kama who looked uneasy and twitchy in spite of her attempts to hold herself in place. After a lifetime of elevation above almost everyone else, she was going to have to get used informal everyday interactions with other people.