Escape Velocity: The Anthology (53 page)

      
Stazzi, now General Stazzi, gleefully received the news of Kel and Helle’s processing. He rubbed his hands together and, in his high black boots, danced a little jig. “Take the two of them,” he ordered, “and put them down on Earth in the spot where this all began.”

Side by side, clothed in robes and sandals, Kel and Helle stood on a hilltop in what is now Israel. In a mocking gesture, Stazzi had ordered that a shepherd’s crook be placed in Kel’s hand. They were amnesiacs, but dimly aware of their own identities. Kel surveyed the territory with the thought deep in his mind that he was destined to be a great leader. Squaring his shoulders, Kel took Helle’s hand, and together they walked down the hill toward a small village.

Jack in the Box

Robert Harkess

When Grandpa Jack died, they brought him home in a box. It was only a small box, but then they only brought back his head. It was kinda weird. Everybody else who died just went to the House of Rest and stayed there. One guy in my class says they burn the bodies, but I think he’s lying. Nobody ever came home.

      
I live with my grandma and grandpa. Well, I guess I used to live with my grandpa. Anyway, I don’t live with my mom and dad because they’re crew on a freighter, and they told me that the grav plates on a freighter would make my bones grow funny, so I have to stay here. They come and see me every time the ship comes home, maybe once or twice a year, and Grandma makes me send a vidblog every month. They don’t always answer, but Grandma says it costs a lot more to send stuff
from
space than it does to send it
to
space.

      
I liked Grandpa Jack. He made me feel grown up, and let me help fix stuff around the house. I liked it when he swore then told me not to tell Grandma. I was really upset when he told me he was sick and not going to get better. They told me I had to be a ‘brave little man’. He got cranky before he died, and sometimes yelled at me, but he always seemed upset after and said sorry.

      
The box freaked me out, and the head was really scary, but I pretended it wasn’t. I wanted to run away when Grandma first opened the box up and the head moved. It didn’t even look that much like Grandpa Jack, but Grandma said it was supposed to be him. Sure didn’t look real.

      
Grandma didn’t let me see the box much after that. I got to see it next when Grandpa’s football buddies came around one Wednesday to watch the game. They had always come around on Wednesdays to watch the game before. I thought it was weird they still did it, with Grandpa being dead. I hung around at the door, hoping someone would let me in. Grandpa usually let me sneak in and sit at the back, so long as I promised not to use any of the swear words or tell anybody what they talked about. One man - Doug - saw me and waved for me to come in. I sat up at the back as usual and said nothing, still wondering why they all came.

      
That was when I saw the box was in the room, sitting on a stool where Grandpa’s favourite chair used to be. Doug opened the box and touched something inside. The head appeared, and started to move.

       “
Hey guys,” said the head “Beer in the usual place, snacks on the bar. Pitch in.”

      
That was what Grandpa Jack always said when his friends showed up. It sounded kinda wrong coming from the box. The voice didn’t sound right, and the face still didn’t look that much like my grandpa, but it kept speaking to the men and reminding them about stuff – funny things people had done, or exciting things like accidents and hiking trips. The room started to smell like it always did when Grandpa had his friends round – muggy and stuffy from SafeSmokes and beer. Everybody ended up talking with the head then they watched the game and went home. Doug touched something inside the box then closed it before scruffing up my hair and closing up Grandpa’s room. I hate it when grownups do that.

      
Grandma wouldn’t let me anywhere near the box, but I caught her yelling at it before breakfast one morning. I was in my room and couldn’t hear what she was saying, but I could hear both voices. By the time I got to the kitchen, she’d stopped and Grandpa’s head had been put away. I sneaked down earlier the next day so I got to hang around outside the kitchen while Grandma was still yelling at the box.

       “
Don’t let your coffee get cold,” she said.

       “
Where’s my paper?” said Grandpa Jack.

       “
It’s in the lounge. I’m not having you bury your face in that thing today.”

      
I wondered what was special about today. Grandma already had a birthday this year.

       “
Today?” said Grandpa.

       “
What a surprise,” said Grandma, sounding cranky. “Well, I suppose it shouldn’t be after all these years. Married for forty-eight years. Only two off our gold anniversary and not once have you so much as bought me a card or a bunch of flowers.”

      
Now that I knew wasn’t true. I remembered a big party for their anniversary a couple of years ago, and Grandpa was always fixing up surprises for Grandma.

       “
But, dear—” was all Grandpa Jack got to say.

       “
I’m just a drudge to you.” Grandma had worked her way up to crying again by now, and I wondered what a ‘drudge’ was. “I’m just the hired help. All I ever do is feed you and clean after you. Never a moment for myself. No time for friends. No social life.”

       “
But, dear—”

      
Grandma didn’t say any more and I heard the box lid slam. I could hear Grandma was still crying, so I sneaked back to my room and waited for her to call me for breakfast. I don’t think I was supposed to hear her talking to Grandpa like that.

      
After I’d eaten breakfast, I screwed myself up and asked Grandma something I wasn’t sure I should ask.

       “
Grandma?”

       “
Yes, Paulie?”

       “
Why do we have Grandpa’s head in a box? Is Grandpa Jack in there?”

       “
No, Paulie, he isn’t in there.” She sighed. “Easiest to think of it as just a holo of your Grandpa, with a recording of things he used to say. And stories he used to tell.”

       “
Why?”

       “
It’s supposed to help us all grieve, Paulie.”

       “
Grieve?”

       “
To help us get over being sad that your Grandpa died.”

       “
Oh. Is it supposed to help
me
?”

       “
No, Paulie. There were only so many things they could save from Grandpa and put in the box. His football nights and our breakfast chats were all they had room for.”

       “
Oh,” I said, then after a moment I asked, “Does it help?”

      
Grandma didn’t answer for a while, and looked very sad. I wished I hadn’t asked. When she did speak, she looked at the box and shook her head. “I don’t know, Paulie.”

Things went on pretty much like that for a few weeks. I heard Grandma yell at the box some more, and I got to hang around more on football nights. The box seemed to look and talk more like Grandpa all the time, but he said the same things over and over. It got boring after a while, and I think some of his football friends must have felt the same, because some stopped showing up.

      
One thing I saw was that the face in the box frowning, or to look cross. That didn’t make any sense. If it was just a talking holo, how could it get mad? Then, one evening, it made a really weird noise when it was saying one of its usual things. Everybody watching the TV stopped and looked at the box. It made the noise again, with the words all broken, and somebody muttered.

       “
Damn thing must be frizzed. Pull the plug.”

      
Then the head said, “Hey, will one of you bums pass me a can?” It was broken up, too, but clear enough.

      
The only sound in the room was the TV, then after a few seconds somebody used a word I wasn’t supposed to know.

       “
Is it supposed to do that? It ain’t supposed to do that.”

       “
How do I know?” said someone else.

       “
Free beer and a giant screen or not, this is just too freaky for me,” said a third. After a general mutter of assent everybody got up to find coats and things.

      
Doug reached out and touched something inside the box like there were bugs on it then closed it. Somebody switched off the TV. Doug pushed me outside, pretty roughly, and locked the door.

       “
Don’t mention this to your grandma, boy,” he said as he left.

The next week Grandma put the box in Grandpa Jack’s den, but nobody came. The den had a door from the house, and a door outside, but I knew the house wouldn’t open either of them for me. Grandma had left one of the windows open, though. She was always complaining about the smoky smell, so I guess she had thought she would let some air in and had forgotten to close it. I climbed in. The house would probably tell on me later – it didn’t like me much – but I wanted to see Grandpa Jack’s head.

      
It was in the usual place. I opened the front of the box, but the head wasn’t there. There was just a transparent sheet and a couple of buttons; one green, one red. I figured nothing was going to happen if I didn’t do something, so I pressed the green button. I stepped back when the head appeared out of nowhere because it made me jump. It was a bit fuzzy at first then it got more solid. The eyes looked around the room.

      
Grandpa said, “Hey guys. Beer in the usual place, snacks on the bar. Pitch in.”

      
A few minutes later, Grandpa said it again, and his eyes moved around as if they were looking for something. I got out of the way, but the head just said the same thing again, like a recording. I stepped back in front of the box, and looked more closely. The head looked confused. Then it looked at me. I mean
really
looked at me, and it started to frown. I could see now that the head was just a projection into the box, coming up through the clear panel. I tried to touch it, just to make sure, and my finger went right into it. The face was still looking at me, frowning, and then it lit up with a smile just like my Grandpa looked when he had figured something.

       “
Hey guys. Beer in the usual place, snacks on the bar. Pitch in.”

      
The smile turned back to a big frown, really quick, and then the face looked like it was puffing with its lips. The frown changed to confused, back to a frown, and then the head said, “Paulie,” and smiled.

      
Now I was scared. Grandma said the box didn’t have any space for me, so how did it know my name? I wanted to run away, but Grandma would probably go nuts if the box was left switched on. I tried to be really brave, and reached out for the red button.

       “
Paulie.”

      
Grandpa's head spoke again, still smiling, just as I hit the button. I jerked my hand back, but the head switched off and I realised I must have been holding my breath. I closed the box and went back to climb out the window. It would be getting dark before long and Grandma would start wondering where I’d got to.

      
When I got to the window, I stopped. If I ran away now, I probably wouldn’t ever get the box to myself again. I didn’t think Grandpa’s football buddies were going to come again, and once Grandma figured that out she’d lock the box away. I went back and opened it again. It took me a minute, and I still felt scared, but I pushed the green button and the head flickered and came back.

       “
Hey guys. Beer in the usual place, snacks on th…”

      
Grandpa looked confused for a moment then saw me. He smiled.

       “
Paulie.”

       “
Hi, Grandpa.”

      
Grandpa smiled at me for a while, then said my name again. I didn’t know what to say back.

       “
Paulie,” Grandpa said again, and then the face looked surprised and said, “Older?”

       “
I guess so.”

      
The face in the box seemed to be making funny shapes with its mouth then, in a sort of broken voice, said, “Where have I been?”

       “
You died, Grandpa.” The face looked shocked, then sad. I started feeling I’d done a bad thing, and that I ought to get out before I got into any worse trouble. I reached out for the red button.

       “
No!” Grandpa snapped. I jerked my hand back. He spoke again, softer. “Please don’t.”

      
Heck, was I in trouble now. Shouldn’t have switched it on, and now I was too scared to switch it off. “Sorry,” I said, “maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”

       “
It’s OK, Paulie. It’s OK.” He paused. “I feel very strange, Paulie. If I’m dead, why am I here?” Its words seemed to be coming easier the more it spoke.

       “
I don’t know, Grandpa.”

       “
Is this Hell, Paulie?”

       “
I don’t think so.”

       “
I feel so strange. There seems to be so much... missing.”

      
I couldn’t think of anything else to say for a while, and it seemed Grandpa couldn’t either. He just looked at me, sort of smiling and frowning at the same time. There was one question I wanted to ask, but I was scared. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing again. The quiet felt so wrong, though, I had to say something. “Is that really you in there, Grandpa?”