Galaxy's Edge Magazine: Issue 2, May 2013 by et al. Mike Resnick Page A
Authors: et al. Mike Resnick
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originally, no.”
“But you are Raza?”
“I grew up in the barrios of Oakland. Joined the Army at 17. When I got out of the Army, I moved south and went to the police academy.”
I remembered when I told my mother I’d joined supermetro’s PD. She’d cried. But then, she’d cried when I’d joined the military, and when my brothers ran away, too. At least with me she’d known where I was and what I was doing. But it had still upset her a great deal. Always terrified I was going to get myself hurt, whether it was overseas, or here in California working Vice, or second-level Theft stuff, or the small army that ran herd on gangs.
I mumbled something to that effect.
“My mother was almost proud of being poor,” Josefina said. “Our family had been in East L.A. for almost five generations, all in the same crappy little house. Elvira and me, we hated it. We wanted something better. But the schools in East L.A., what good are they? For you, the Army was your avenue out. For Elvira and I, just two poor sisters with homely faces and no education…”
I nodded my understanding—so far.
“Anyway, I got a cleaning job. They sent me all over. One day I got sent up to Madam Arquette’s house in Beverly Hills. I’d never worked for a Special before, much less someone that rich. She’s like a peacock, you know. Beautiful and grand and when I started asking questions, she told me how it works. If a girl will undergo Specialization and work in the Aerie, Madam will carry the cost. You pay it back over time, plus interest, and after that, you keep everything you earn, minus a house fee.”
“But if you wanted to go into business for yourself—” I started to say, but Josefina cut me off.
“Look at me, Señor,” Josefina stepped away a couple of paces and flared her wings wide, filling the tiny apartment, her hourglass silhouette accentuated through the thin fabric of the dress. “Men and women both will pay hundreds an hour to be with me. We have the richest clients in the entire city. People who want the Special experience. Crave it. A pro Normal girl in Long Beach, how much does she make, compared to that?”
Not much, I had to admit.
Josefina lowered and folded her wings.
“I didn’t want to be just any working girl,” she said. “I wanted to literally be a different person. Because someday, I want to have enough money of my own to leave Los Angeles on my own two feet, and not look back, and not need anyone else’s help, and not have to take this…this part of me with me when I leave.”
“Reversal of the Specialization is twice as expensive as the initial procedure,” I said.
“I don’t care. Once I’ve earned enough to pay the Madam off, I’ll keep working until I can pay for the reversal, and get myself out of here to boot. When Elvira came to visit me and I told her about my plan, she’d wanted to come with me, but it would have been too expensive for both of us, so I told her she had to find a way to help with costs.”
Josefina stopped, her face in her hands, wings gently shaking as she sobbed.
I felt my cheeks growing red.
“Look,” I said, “I meant it before: Madam Arquette can’t rely on just four men to keep her establishment free of trouble.”
“But you’re here, when you know you don’t have to be,” Josefina said, her nose sniffling.
“I didn’t know your sister,” I said, “But I don’t like the idea of anyone killing a young woman and getting away with it.”
She seemed to accept that explanation at face value, lame as it was.
“I can’t make any promises,” I said, reaching into my pocket and feeling the cool plastic of the thumb drive. “All I can tell you is that I’ll take a look.”
“Do what you can,” Josefina said abruptly. “It’s better than nothing.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, sticking out my hand, which she shook. Then she leaned down quickly and pecked me on the cheek.
How long had it been since a woman— any woman, Special or
“But you are Raza?”
“I grew up in the barrios of Oakland. Joined the Army at 17. When I got out of the Army, I moved south and went to the police academy.”
I remembered when I told my mother I’d joined supermetro’s PD. She’d cried. But then, she’d cried when I’d joined the military, and when my brothers ran away, too. At least with me she’d known where I was and what I was doing. But it had still upset her a great deal. Always terrified I was going to get myself hurt, whether it was overseas, or here in California working Vice, or second-level Theft stuff, or the small army that ran herd on gangs.
I mumbled something to that effect.
“My mother was almost proud of being poor,” Josefina said. “Our family had been in East L.A. for almost five generations, all in the same crappy little house. Elvira and me, we hated it. We wanted something better. But the schools in East L.A., what good are they? For you, the Army was your avenue out. For Elvira and I, just two poor sisters with homely faces and no education…”
I nodded my understanding—so far.
“Anyway, I got a cleaning job. They sent me all over. One day I got sent up to Madam Arquette’s house in Beverly Hills. I’d never worked for a Special before, much less someone that rich. She’s like a peacock, you know. Beautiful and grand and when I started asking questions, she told me how it works. If a girl will undergo Specialization and work in the Aerie, Madam will carry the cost. You pay it back over time, plus interest, and after that, you keep everything you earn, minus a house fee.”
“But if you wanted to go into business for yourself—” I started to say, but Josefina cut me off.
“Look at me, Señor,” Josefina stepped away a couple of paces and flared her wings wide, filling the tiny apartment, her hourglass silhouette accentuated through the thin fabric of the dress. “Men and women both will pay hundreds an hour to be with me. We have the richest clients in the entire city. People who want the Special experience. Crave it. A pro Normal girl in Long Beach, how much does she make, compared to that?”
Not much, I had to admit.
Josefina lowered and folded her wings.
“I didn’t want to be just any working girl,” she said. “I wanted to literally be a different person. Because someday, I want to have enough money of my own to leave Los Angeles on my own two feet, and not look back, and not need anyone else’s help, and not have to take this…this part of me with me when I leave.”
“Reversal of the Specialization is twice as expensive as the initial procedure,” I said.
“I don’t care. Once I’ve earned enough to pay the Madam off, I’ll keep working until I can pay for the reversal, and get myself out of here to boot. When Elvira came to visit me and I told her about my plan, she’d wanted to come with me, but it would have been too expensive for both of us, so I told her she had to find a way to help with costs.”
Josefina stopped, her face in her hands, wings gently shaking as she sobbed.
I felt my cheeks growing red.
“Look,” I said, “I meant it before: Madam Arquette can’t rely on just four men to keep her establishment free of trouble.”
“But you’re here, when you know you don’t have to be,” Josefina said, her nose sniffling.
“I didn’t know your sister,” I said, “But I don’t like the idea of anyone killing a young woman and getting away with it.”
She seemed to accept that explanation at face value, lame as it was.
“I can’t make any promises,” I said, reaching into my pocket and feeling the cool plastic of the thumb drive. “All I can tell you is that I’ll take a look.”
“Do what you can,” Josefina said abruptly. “It’s better than nothing.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, sticking out my hand, which she shook. Then she leaned down quickly and pecked me on the cheek.
How long had it been since a woman— any woman, Special or
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