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“I’msorry—Idon’t understand,”Andisaid blankly.
“Well,Imean if you plan to give him yourSweetDropsto control him, then you don’t want him drinking too muchBoom-boom juice.That’sclear enough, ain’t it?”GoodieOo-lah exclaimed.
Itwas, asAndi’sDadwould have said, “clear as mud” but she was afraid she might offend the friendly shopkeeper if she kept on asking her to clarify further.
“Oh,right,”she said and nodded. “Well,Iwas hoping you could give me some information.Sincewe crashed here and my ship seems to be dead,Ineed a way to call home—that’s theKindredMotherShip,” she added, butGoodieOo-lah only gave her a blank look.
“Kindred?Can’tsay asI’veheard of ‘em,” she remarked.
“They’remy employers andIlive on their ship.Cadehere is actually aKindredwarrior,”Andisaid, pointing at herProtector, who was licking the last drops ofBoom-boom juice out of the small cup. “Buthe sort of, uh, lost his mind when we crashed.”
“Yup—that’sTheIncidentagain.”GoodieOo-lah nodded. “He’saManimalnow and you might as well get used to it.”
“But…isn’t there any kind of antidote?”Andiasked desperately. “Someway to cure him?”
“NotthatIknow of,”GoodieOo-lah remarked. “Ihaveheard thatGoodieBo-long was trying to come up with something—her husband was a scientist and she was too, some say, beforeTheIncident—butIdon’t think nothing ever came of it.Seeingas how she’s down here on the regular with several of herManimalsin tow,” she added.
“GoodieBo-long?”Andisaid, frowning “Andshe has more than oneManimal?” she asked curiously.
Howcould anyone handle more than one of the wild men who had been reduced to their most basic instincts?Shecould still remember the barking cries of“Fuck!Fuck-fuck-fuck!”from the pack of wild green men who had attacked them and the way they kept trying to get their faces under her skirt.Thememory made her shiver.
“Yup!She’sgot a whole lot of ‘em up at her mansion, you know.”GoodieOo-lah nodded. “Sherescues the wild ones sometimes to try and civilize ‘em some.Shemainly uses theSweetDropsto control them, but the ones that get all horned up and can’t be calmed down, well, them she puts a collar on.”
“Doyou have a, uh,Manimalyourself?”Andiasked her.
GoodieOo-lah burst out laughing.
“Doyou see howI’mdressed?” she demanded, pointing at the shapeless brown dress she was wearing. “DoIhave nip-holes or a short skirt?”
“Well…no,”Andicouldn’t help thinking how odd the older woman would look if she was wearing clothing like she described.Butthen,anyonewould look odd in that, she thought.
“That’show you knowIain’t got noManimal,”GoodieOo-lah said, nodding. “Myold man died about a year beforeTheIncidentand of courseIdidn’t have any interest in replacing him with aManimal.Andanyway,I’mtoo old to make theSweetDrops, not to mention fiddling with all the paraphernalia that comes with caring for aManimal—especially one as big as yours,” she added. “Whyis he still dressed, by the way?”
“Stilldressed?”Andiasked.Shelooked atCade, who was wearing his tight black leather trousers, high black boots, and long-sleeved dark blue uniform shirt. “Whywouldn’the be dressed?”
“Why, because it’s illegal to dressManimalslike they was regular males,”GoodieOo-lah said. “Notthat you’d be knowing that, since you only just got here,” she added. “ButI’mafraid you’ll get a ticket for indecent lack of exposure if you run into any of thePeaceKeepersaround town.AManimalhas to have his shaft showing—at least in town.Thatway you know his intentions and if you have to look out for him or not,” she added.
“ButCadeis myProtector—weworktogether.Ican’t just strip him naked!”Andiexclaimed, feeling shocked. “Whatwould he think if he suddenly, uh, woke up and became himself again?”
“Oh, that’s not going to happen—mark my words, girly.”GoodieOo-lah shook her head. “No, sinceTheIncident, all the males that lived here or came here has turned intoManimalsand that’s that.Anddon’t think bringing him back to where you came from can help either,” she added. “Causethat’s been tried and it didn’t work.Oncethey breatheTheScent, it’s all over for them.”
“TheScent?”Andifrowned, wondering if she was talking about the all-pervading fresh strawberry scent which seemed to be everywhere here.
“That’swhat we call it,”GoodieOo-lah said, nodding. “Turnsall males intoManimalsas soon as they reach sexual maturity, don’tcha know.That’swhy all male babies that’s been born since have to be sent up toAnterize—our second moon—to be fostered when they’re about ten or so.Theysend them a little early, to be on the safe side, you know,” she added. “Sothey don’t turn intoManimals.”
“Whata sad way to live,”Andisaid without thinking. “Sendingall your sons away and living with men who used to be men but now they’re just animals.”
“Oh, it’s not so bad.”GoodieOo-lah shrugged. “Imight feel different ifI’dever had a son, butIdidn’t.Andas for the males, well—they ruled the roost around here beforeTheIncident, don’tcha know.Wewomen-folk weren’t no more than dust under their feet.Andnow, look who’s in charge!”Shegave a crowing laugh. “Sono,Idon’t regret it—not a bit.AndIbet a lot of women around here will tell you the same, if they’re honest.”
Thiswas all fascinating, butAndiknew she needed to get back to the subject at hand.
“Doyou know whereIcould make an interstellar call to theKindred?” she asked, trying to getGoodieOo-lah back on track. “Ineed to getCadeback home.Iknow you say there’s no antidote for the, uh,Scent, but theKindredhave very advanced medical technology andI’msurethey can help him.”Shecertainly hoped so, anyway.
“Ohwell, as to making a call that far, your best bet would be the station up onAnterize.Theyhave a long-range rig up there on theMooncolony,Ido believe,”GoodieOo-lah said nodding.
“What—up on your second moon?”Andiasked. “Buthow canIget up there with my ship broken?”
“Oh, there’s aMoonshuttle you can take,”GoodieOo-lah assured her. “Butunfortunately, it only comes once a solar month and it just left yesterday week, so it’s gonna be a bit before you can catch it and get up there toAnterize.”
