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.Shestroked as you might stroke a dog to make it let go a ball.Of whatball did she want me to lose hold?Shaman said, "Does the Eartherknow what you are to him, Nora? This isn’t Sanduleak, you know.Somethings are frowned upon in this galaxy."Gypsy emitted a blast of redvapor.His skin ballooned outward like a swollen calf’s belly, andexploded.The wet shards settled.Some stuck to the ceiling andwalls, where they slid and dripped.He was the snake, or a giganticyellow neuron, more like, bulbous at the bottom, grey dendrites likeMedusa’s hair tangling on top."Run!" Gone Joe rasped.He was out.And I was out.I couldn’t stayinside Nora any more.Soul and body were shriveling to a bead.Icouldn’t act.Nora groaned disappointment and withdrew frommy mind, leaving the ball in whatever jaws held it there.Gone Joetook one look at Gypsy and beat it into the kitchen."Did you get it?" Gypsy askedNora.He used his whole reptilian body for a tongue."No," she said."You see," Shaman gloated, "theboy’s not like you Sanduleans, Gypsy.You’ll come in anyone, won’tyou, even your mother? In fact, especially your mother, ey,Gypsy?""Damn! How did you get here,Shaman?" Gypsy yelled."I know you can’t epoché worthspit.""Didn’t have to," he cooed?fromthe kitchen, sounded like.And there, at the swinging door, whereGone Joe had been a moment before, stood Shaman, his featuresmelting from Gone Joe’s into the ones I had seen in the New Mexicotent, by candle light, like a dry, crushed sponge duck springing outin water."I came along in him, Gyp.A little reconnaissance.I figured someone like you would try to spoil my party.You’retrumped, Sandulean.Thanks for the ride, Mel.""Are you my father?" Isaid."I’m you."Incomprehensible. 18.You Are My Sweet Burrito(Please Be True)Many years later, on Sanduleak,collapsed by then to a neutron star, a pulsar, in the LargeMagellanic Cloud, I happened to hear the following song by JohnnyAbilene and the Haymakers.Folks live on bebop there, always have,always will, but on the station I was tuned to they liked tointerrupt the Top Million every now and then for a little down homeCountry Western, especially tunes that have to do with me,since I am a sort of galactic hero there, or mascot, morelike.The Sanduleans are funny thatway, like Bible thumpers on Earth who like to pepper every exchange,however secular or banal, with references to the Gospel:"Can you believe it, Ethel?They charged me three-fifty for one pair of athletic socks at theSpend-and-Save.I felt like turning over their table.""Render unto Caesar,Georgette.""Praise the Lord!"On Sanduleak they say thingslike this: "as tight as Gone Joe in Izzy’s bung." Or when they justalmost get something they want, but fail at the very last moment,they often say, "It was like Mel and Nora in Texas."The number was announced as"You Are My Sweet Burrito (Please Be True)," I think.Things go byvery fast on a neutron star, and the news came on right after:I won’t call you "honey,"’cause you know you’re not that sweet,Or "knockwurst," though youknock me offa my feet.You’re a sight too lumpy tobe my "cream of wheat."Yes, you’re just my salsaverde sweet burrit-O! Please be true.Don’t leak on my place mat.Just be youUnderneath that space hat!You popped from my heartlike refries out a tortilla.Pretty mama, I’m hoppin’happy to be here and see ya.Just like Mel when Shamanpopped outa his mind,I’m a durned sightspun-around, run-around loco behind.But if you’re true to mydream,I’ll be your sour cream,My roly-poly holy guacamolesweet burrito queen!Please be true, true, true!Won’t you please betrue?(The phrase "space hat" in theeighth line refers to the pleated headdress popularized by Abual-Hawl, the Great Sphinx at Giza, a sort of interstellar thinkingcap he used for performing epochés.It became quite fashionableamong Earthers of the Egyptian Fifth Dynasty [circa 2500 b.c.] wholived in the vicinity of his landing site.On Sanduleak, it’s stillla look.)By the way, what Shaman said isquite true.On Sandy, when a singer calls his loved one "prettymama," he generally means just that. 19.Lingua Franca"Let’s be human, shall we?"Shaman proposed.Diplomats settling on a lingua franca
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