how you like, Billie. It's over to you now. This meeting between us never happened. I have witnesses to say exactly where I am tonight, and it isn't here. In the morning I will call you and offer you the chance to travel to Planet Blue. The call will be recorded.'
He was gone.
I watched his dark shape disappear across the fields. I went inside and looked around me. Is this how easy it is to lose everything?
Nightstream — and, hurtling towards me, another day.
Answer the phone, Billie. Answer the phone.
* * *
Chance of a lifetime — new start — brave new world — wipe the slate clean — blue-sky moment — open the box — never too late — historic opportunity — commemorative plaque/T -shirt/travel mug/bath towel. Fifteen minutes of fame — live for ever — immortalized in space — happy few — happy ever after — don't look back — no regrets — something to tell the grandchildren — giant leap for mankind.
Tripped over on the red carpet, she did, winner of the MORE- Life Competition, dazzled by celebrity, Pink McMurphy aboard the Starship Resolution: 'Y'know, this is the best day of my en-tire life.' It wasn't that she was going to Planet Blue, it was that Little Senorita would be cutting the tape, smashing the bottle, waving the blast-off flag and kissing the lucky winner on both cheeks.
Cheers, tears, saxophones, catwalk celebrities, webcam, blog, helicopters, live coverage, pom-poms, confetti, clock, countdown, blast-off Yes!
We were lining the windows of the Ship, we were watching the crowds wave and shout. The band was faint and far away. The silver confetti was falling back to the ground. We were pushing out of the hazy carbon blanket that lies above Orbus. It was as though we had left a harbour at night, and in fog, and then, as we waited on deck, listening for the last muffled bell of land, the sun rose and we set sail through the clean emptiness of another chance.
Captain Handsome was a space privateer — don't use the word 'pirate'. He was a swashbuckling freelance predator with semi-official sanction. Where there was work to be done that couldn't be seen to be done, enter Handsome.
Handsome had his own ship: a light, fast, solar-sailed craft that he used to traffic booty for rich collectors. The trade in other worlds was like any other, but still romantic. Handsome was part swagger, part-alchemist. He had girls and gold, but he had a poetic side too. He had bargained with the dead, he said, and brought back more than trophies: his rocks and minerals in their sealed cases, his hostile atmospheres, captured in jars and swirling like genies, were something more than money could buy — they were the runes of other lives, silent and mysterious, clues that might be followed one day, and lead to . . .
'There are mountains so high you can't see to the top, and inland lakes, locked and closed, far from any water source but agitated beneath the surface by dark shapes.
'There are valleys that lead to the bottom of the world, so it seems, but what world is that? The universe has no sides, no end, can't be mapped. Enough to make a man talk about God, make a man superstitious and worship an idol. The science never gets as far as the strangeness. The more sophisticated my equipment, the stranger the worlds it detects. I sometimes think I'm sailing through a vast thought.'
Handsome had tracked the official space mission to Planet Blue. In the pay of MORE- Futures he had been trophy-hunting the Jurassic equivalent of Big Game. Now he was playing for much higher stakes.
'What use is a planet that belongs to the dinosaurs? For the first time in my career I find myself with State approval. Not that I haven't worked for the State before, you understand, but let's say it was kept quiet. This is a Central Power Mission. Flags, bells, whistles. Yes, I am travelling for the President. My job is to get rid of the dinosaurs — and when I do, we're going back to a fairy tale. I will defeat the dragon
He was gone.
I watched his dark shape disappear across the fields. I went inside and looked around me. Is this how easy it is to lose everything?
Nightstream — and, hurtling towards me, another day.
Answer the phone, Billie. Answer the phone.
* * *
Chance of a lifetime — new start — brave new world — wipe the slate clean — blue-sky moment — open the box — never too late — historic opportunity — commemorative plaque/T -shirt/travel mug/bath towel. Fifteen minutes of fame — live for ever — immortalized in space — happy few — happy ever after — don't look back — no regrets — something to tell the grandchildren — giant leap for mankind.
Tripped over on the red carpet, she did, winner of the MORE- Life Competition, dazzled by celebrity, Pink McMurphy aboard the Starship Resolution: 'Y'know, this is the best day of my en-tire life.' It wasn't that she was going to Planet Blue, it was that Little Senorita would be cutting the tape, smashing the bottle, waving the blast-off flag and kissing the lucky winner on both cheeks.
Cheers, tears, saxophones, catwalk celebrities, webcam, blog, helicopters, live coverage, pom-poms, confetti, clock, countdown, blast-off Yes!
We were lining the windows of the Ship, we were watching the crowds wave and shout. The band was faint and far away. The silver confetti was falling back to the ground. We were pushing out of the hazy carbon blanket that lies above Orbus. It was as though we had left a harbour at night, and in fog, and then, as we waited on deck, listening for the last muffled bell of land, the sun rose and we set sail through the clean emptiness of another chance.
Captain Handsome was a space privateer — don't use the word 'pirate'. He was a swashbuckling freelance predator with semi-official sanction. Where there was work to be done that couldn't be seen to be done, enter Handsome.
Handsome had his own ship: a light, fast, solar-sailed craft that he used to traffic booty for rich collectors. The trade in other worlds was like any other, but still romantic. Handsome was part swagger, part-alchemist. He had girls and gold, but he had a poetic side too. He had bargained with the dead, he said, and brought back more than trophies: his rocks and minerals in their sealed cases, his hostile atmospheres, captured in jars and swirling like genies, were something more than money could buy — they were the runes of other lives, silent and mysterious, clues that might be followed one day, and lead to . . .
'There are mountains so high you can't see to the top, and inland lakes, locked and closed, far from any water source but agitated beneath the surface by dark shapes.
'There are valleys that lead to the bottom of the world, so it seems, but what world is that? The universe has no sides, no end, can't be mapped. Enough to make a man talk about God, make a man superstitious and worship an idol. The science never gets as far as the strangeness. The more sophisticated my equipment, the stranger the worlds it detects. I sometimes think I'm sailing through a vast thought.'
Handsome had tracked the official space mission to Planet Blue. In the pay of MORE- Futures he had been trophy-hunting the Jurassic equivalent of Big Game. Now he was playing for much higher stakes.
'What use is a planet that belongs to the dinosaurs? For the first time in my career I find myself with State approval. Not that I haven't worked for the State before, you understand, but let's say it was kept quiet. This is a Central Power Mission. Flags, bells, whistles. Yes, I am travelling for the President. My job is to get rid of the dinosaurs — and when I do, we're going back to a fairy tale. I will defeat the dragon
Similar Books
