Far-out Show (9781465735829) (15 page)

Edith put on her most intimidating expression
and called, “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

Edith wasn’t happy that after the briefest of
looks of surprise Ms. Regimentator matched her in intimidating
looks and added insult with a sneer that telegraphed her disdain
for this woman who thought she could look scary. “None of your
business and go fly a kite.”

“You don’t live in this town so you have no
right to be here. Scram before I...take action against you.”

Regimentator heaped insult on Edith by not
responding or giving any sign she noticed her now. But when Edith
angrily grabbed at her to make her pay attention Regimentator
warned, “Lay one finger on me and I lay you out in a hospital bed
and sue you for anything you’re worth.”

Careful now to keep her hands at her side and
to keep her threats verbal, Edith continued, “This is a private
park and you need a permit from the town to take pictures here.”
She hoped that didn’t sound as lame to this woman as it did to
her.

Regimentator’s response was a snort of
derision. Then she growled in annoyance when she saw that Krinkle
had moved while she was distracted and for a moment she couldn’t
see him.

* * *

At the car Nerber waited while Krinkle
reached in from the back passenger side door and put the Fodd and
jammer on the back seat. He started to reach for Wilburps but
reconsidered and gestured for Nerber to put the zerpy in there.
Nerber looked over the spot beside the cartons and slid the big
device in there where it hovered an inch above the seat.

Krinkle closed that door, ran around and got
behind the wheel. When he looked over Nerber stood outside, unsure
what to do. The man leaned across and pushed open the front
passenger side door for Nerber - who got in, looking all around and
feeling all the parts within reach.

With a shrug Krinkle got out, went around and
closed Nerber's door from the outside. At that Nerber almost
panicked. Was this a trap after all?

He relaxed and pretended not to have gone
through that sweep of emotions when Krinkle got back in behind the
wheel.

Krinkle hesitated, considering whether to
insist on the use of seat belts but decided not to since that might
further frighten his obviously nervous passenger. If a policeman
pulled him over because of that he would have to figure out how to
talk them out of it but that would be then, right now he needed to
get his visitor out of sight.

“Will it make a problem for you if I leave
the Fodd and jammer machines on?”

Nerber called back, “What is your status,
Wilburps?”

“I have lost contact with the producers. That
seems to be caused by the new interference that comes from very
close to me and makes communication with the others impossible. All
I can detect are sounds like none we ever experience at home – for
which fact thanks should be given. I find that, based simply on the
word’s definition, yowling in the local talk-talk list seems to
best fit this noise. There have been no new signals from the
unknown near space source since last you asked.”

Krinkle took it all in but asked no questions
and tried not to seem too interested in case that might seem
threatening. He started the car and drove slowly away, glancing
over to see if Jones was aware they were leaving without him. The
young man was to all appearances totally oblivious.

* * *

By the time Regimentator could get a clear
view, Krinkle and someone else were already in the car. When the
car began to move she seriously considered doing major physical
damage to Edith who was rocking side to side and, as needed, waving
her arms in the air and even jumping up and down to block Reggie’s
view of whatever was happening over in the park behind Edith’s
back. If Edith couldn’t scare off the competitor she could at least
frustrate her by blocking her camera views.

Muttering threats and curses under her
breath, Regimentator ran for the corner and her own car so she
could follow Krinkle.

* * *

Unseen by them, Adam Parker had been watching
Nerber and Krinkle from among the trees at the end of the park.
When the car moved it finally occurred to him that it would pass
him so this would be his only chance to take photos but if he acted
fast he could still get usable images since Nerber was sitting
fully visible in the front passenger seat.

He ran out of the woods and stopped by the
curb, holding the video camera and coaching himself aloud. “You
rented a video camera since film is worth a lot more than still
photos. Remember what the salesman said, ‘point and shoot’. But he
said a bunch of stuff before that and I was too worried about
wasting my time and money if I didn’t get here while Nerber is
still around... I don’t know how to use this thing. Which buttons
am I supposed to push?”

The car pulled by him as a slow speed since
Krinkle was wary that this stranger might do something dumb like
jump in front of the car so he could use the camera in his
hand.

As soon as he was beyond anyone he could see
Krinkle sped up but only to the legal thirty mile limit for this
area. It wouldn’t help to be stopped for speeding.

Nerber retrieved Wowseyla from his hat and
hunched forward in his seat. Krinkle watched this move out of the
corner of his eye, worried that it meant his passenger was ill.
Seeing the small device with the keyboard and view screen deployed,
Krinkle decided it was some alien equivalent of a Gameboy that the
visitor was using to amuse and distract himself during this time of
stress.

“Anything new to report, Wilburps?” Nerber
called.

“The same circuit-melting interference blocks
everything else. I am monitoring signals only at the lowest volume
to protect myself,” the zerpy replied. Then it added,
do you
wish that we switch back to no sound communication while we are in
the presence of the inhabitant?

Nerber nodded with satisfaction. The big
zerpy didn’t detect the small newer model.
No, this is suitable.
Unless I give you specific orders to the contrary make all messages
to me to be hearing with my ears.

He typed in code and waited. The results were
reassuring, the noise interference wasn’t bothering Wowseyla’s
functions. A diagnostic scan of the systems of
Whizybeam
,
the space ship he’d come here on, confirmed that that interference
wasn’t caused by any ship’s system and wasn’t coming from deep
space. It also showed that the ship’s engine problems continued. It
still wasn’t clear if he could safely disable his own and
Wilburps’s self-destruct units or initiate transport back to the
ship at will. Not the happiest of news but at least useful as he
moved into this new phase of his adventure on a far planet.

He closed down the mini-zerpy, palmed it,
then casually reached up and pressed it back onto his hat and sat
back. Glancing over he noted that Krinkle was much interested in
the device. Taking a chance on being properly understood, Nerber
touched a finger to his lips and nodded toward Wilburps.

Krinkle gave a small nod of agreement. No
questions about this device within range of the big one. Maybe this
species made droid-type things that could become jealous.

Krinkle hadn’t driven far before guilt
overcame him. He turned onto a cross street and began the circuit
to bring them back to where the car had been parked. “Sorry, we
have to go back and pick up Zippedy. It’s not fair to just drive
off and leave him there chewing on his tacos without even telling
him. He’s a good helper and I’ll have to trust him. He might feel
lost and confused when he realized I was gone and he couldn’t
remember if I asked if he was ready to go along. He gets twisted
around in his head by things like that. I’ll drive him home, then
we can go somewhere and talk about a lot of things. I hope that’s
all right since it’s what I’m gonna do. Loyalty to friends and
helpers is important.”

Nerber sat quiet as Wilburps silently sent
him the best translation he could come up with for that.
Zippedy
was not in the zerpy’s dictionary;
chewing on his
tacos
suggested there was more to these creatures’ anatomy than
the Ormelexians’ limited information about them hinted at;
twisted around in his head
suggested a physical event they
had no reason to expect was possible until this mention. Nerber
chose to focus on the passing scene rather than seek clarification
of these points.

They made a several-city-block-square loop as
the one-way streets would allow and pulled smoothly to the curb
behind Jones who stood looking around as he put away his music
player. He looked mildly confused but not really upset or
afraid.

Down the street Mimi Brownowski walked in a
big circle in the nearby grassy area of the park. Edith and Adam
Parker were on the sidewalk nearby having an animated discussion as
the taxi they had called for approached, the driver apprehensive
since it wasn’t clear whether or not they were actually ready to
purchase his services. He hated to have to listen to angry or
whining fares’ complaints.

In her car Penelope Regimentator was almost
worn out from thinking of new bad things to call Krinkle and those
people who got in her way. She hated to repeat uncomplimentary
descriptions of or curses on those who crossed her even when she
was the only one to hear them. She did though always shout those
out since vocalizing them gave her more satisfaction for her
trouble. It was only with considerable difficulty that she had been
able to get to where she could see Krinkle’s car far ahead of her
in time to see his several turns so she could follow. She didn’t
believe he would simply make a circle and go back to that park so
she drove slowly, fully alert for places where he might have pulled
in to hide as part of an elaborate plan to elude her.

When she was back on the same street near the
park where she had retrieved her car only a few minutes ago she
sped up. The path no longer made sense and she feared she had lost
track of him.

Imagine her surprise and devilish delight to
see his car stopped by the bench just down the street. She was back
on target. She wouldn’t let him slip away again.

Krinkle stepped out of his car, went around,
opened the other doors and Nerber moved to the back seat with his
zerpy and the Fodd and the jammer. Then Krinkle waved over Jones
who came and got in the front seat as if nothing seemed
unusual.

As they drove off Krinkle said, “Zippedy, pay
them no mind. I’m just giving this hitchhiker and his backpack a
ride. I’ve decided to call it a day so I’ll drive you home.”

“Okay,” was all Jones said. Neither his tone,
his expression, nor his body language gave any hint of it if he had
further thoughts or doubts about what was happening. He gave a
vague welcoming gesture to the fellow in the back seat and settled
to watch the passing scenery.

The unexpected reappearance of Krinkle’s car
caused the Parkers considerable consternation. The taxi Edith had
called for was here but now there was reason for her to think her
work here wasn’t finished after all. When Regimentator turned the
corner farther up the street and promptly pulled to the curb, Edith
glanced at the taxi but hesitated about waving him away.

When Regimentator jumped out, camera in hand,
and headed at a run for Krinkle’s car Edith decided she did need to
stay to help her son get the pictures they had gone to this much
trouble to get.

Krinkle now saw Regimentator approaching from
behind them with a camera. He put the car in gear and pulled away
from the curb. His first thought was to get away from here fast;
his second thought was to avoid arousing the suspicions of the
people ahead of them by speeding or acting like he had something to
hide. So he drove fast enough to stay ahead of Regimentator but not
fast enough to be ticketed or arrested.

Krinkle was distressed enough to briefly
reconsider his decision to avoid running anyone down when Adam
Parker now raised a still camera as he stepped to the edge of the
curb while the taxi made a tight U-turn to get away from the
confusion here, momentarily forcing Krinkle to stop. This brief
pause made it likely that Regimentator would reach his car and be
able to take photos before he could safely drive away.

Regimentator shouted, “Out of the way,
amateurs! This scoop is all mine.”

That had an effect on the Parkers but not the
one Regimentator wanted or expected. Edith launched herself at the
approaching woman, her grasping hands and expression making it
clear she intended this to be a grapple and she didn’t intend to
allow this intruder to get useful photos.

After his initial shock at his mother’s
action, Adam felt compelled to do this. He raised his camera to
focus on the car.

For the moment Edith was simply blocking
Regimentator’s path and view of the car but it seemed clear she was
ready, even eager, for some fisticuffs. At another time Reggie
might have happily obliged the older woman but right now there were
important pictures to be the first to offer for sale to the news
media and others.

Krinkle recognized the problems it would
cause if this man got clear photos of the back seat rider but since
the taxi was slow making its turn there wasn’t a lot he could do to
prevent those from being taken. At least he was relieved to see in
the mirrors that Regimentator was being kept at bay by a crazy
woman. Served her right.

Suddenly Jones released his seat belt, rolled
down his window, and hung halfway out that opening to silently wave
and mug at Adam. That move so startled and flustered Adam that he
lowered his camera to decide how to get the view he wanted of
whoever was in the back seat.

We will never know if that was Zippedy’s
intention since now that the road ahead was clear Krinkle drove
them off as fast as prudence would allow. Jones simply slipped back
inside, reattached his seat belt, rolled up his window, and settled
to watch the passing scene as if he had never made a move.