AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Onlyin a male’s brain,”GoodieBo-long said. “Ivery much regret to say that there is no cure for the female brain which has become infested by theMagroagaricustrisporusspoors.”Sheshrugged. “Butthen, why would youwantone?Whowishes to be cured of being smarter and having an unbeatable sex drive?”
Andicould think of several people—herself included—that might not want a sex drive with the dial turned up to eleven all the time.Butshe said nothing—she could live with the changes to her own body, she told herself.Butshe couldn’t live withCadebeing so changed.
“That’sall fascinating,GoodieBo-long,” she said. “ButI’dlike a dose of the antidote forCaderight now.Ihave to take him back to theKindredMotherShipandIcan’t bring him there acting like an animal!”
“Oh, do you think the way he’s constantly wanting to mount you might be a detriment to his career?”GoodieBo-long sneered.
Andihad just about had enough of the other woman’s snide remarks and sarcastic humor, but she held onto her temper with both hands and didn’t shout.
“Iwant to bring him back in the same condition he was in before we crashed here onZo’rathThree,” she said firmly. “IswearIwon’t try to spread the antidote to anyone else—I’veheard from several people how oppressive the men here used to be and how women weren’t allowed to have any kind of a life or a job outside the home.Itseems to me you’re all better off now.”
“Wemost certainly are!Thoughagain, to hear theNOstalk you wouldn’t think so,”GoodieBo-long remarked. “Butit wouldn’t do you any good to try and spread the antidote anyway—it’s an intramuscular injection.Andeven if youcouldinject every male on the planet, they’d all be re-infected within an hour or less if they stayed here.That’sbecause the spoors are self-replicating and by now they’ve spread to every corner of the planet.There’snowhere on all ofOblivionwhere you cannot smellTheScent.”
Andisaw that she must be right—it was true that the fresh strawberries scent did seem to be everywhere onZo’rathThree.Butthat didn’t change her determination.
“Iwant you to give it toCadeanyway,” she said stubbornly. “We’reflying away on theMoonshuttle tomorrow—Iwant him to be in his right mind.”
GoodieBo-long arched an eyebrow at her.
“Why, so he can learn how you’veexpandedyour relationship while he was a mindlessManimal?” she enquired.
Andifelt herself blushing with shame but she kept her chin up.
“Iwant the antidote andIwant itnow,” she demanded.
“Oh,very well,”GoodieBo-long pouted. “ButIwarn you, it takes some time to take effect because it has to completely dissolve the web of fibers in the male brain.SoifIgive it to him now, he ought to be coming back to his regular mental faculties in anywhere from twelve to twenty four hours.”
“Thatlong?”Andiexclaimed.
“Yes.Andwhen hedoescome back, you have only about a thirty-minute window to get him away fromZo’rathThree—away fromOblivion.Otherwisethe spoors will simply re-infect his brain and send him right back to theManimalstate of mind,”GoodieBo-long warned.
Andibit her lip, doing some mental calculations.Itwas past midnight now andFlow-da had said theMoonshuttle came at noon and left promptly with no time to spare.Ifshe gaveCadethe antidote injection now and he returned to his right mind in around twelve hours, they would be cutting it very close.Butif he took longer to come back to himself, they should comfortably reach theMooncolony where there were noMagroagaricustrisporusspoors and she could explain everything to himbeforethey contacted theKindredMotherShipand asked for a ride home.
“You’llbe cutting it close, my dear,”GoodieBo-long remarked, clearly thinking along the same lines. “Butonly if he comes back closer to the twelve hour mark than the twenty-four hour mark.It’sa rather broad window.”
“CanIwait and give him the injection in the morning to be on the safe side?”Andiasked.
GoodieBo-long shook her head.
“Unfortunately,Ionly make one batch of antidote a week.Iusually give it to my dear husband there—Ifeed it into the continuous drip catheter he has implanted in the port in his chest.Ifhe didn’t have that, constantly medicating him every thirty minutes, he’d be re-infected with the spoors.”
Shenodded at her husband, who was shirtless andAndisaw that he did indeed have a lump under the skin on the left side of his chest.Therewas considerable scar tissue over it, as though he had ripped it out several times.
“Yes, he manages to get it out and goesManimalonce in a while,”GoodieBo-long remarked, obviously seeing whereAndiwas looking. “ButthenIjust knock him out and put it back in.ThenIhave the fun of ‘waking him up’ to the painful facts of his new life all over again and letting him watch asGobimounts me.Thatalways makes himsoupset for some reason!”Shegave a nasty laugh.
Dr.Bo-long made an aggrieved and disgusted sound at the back of his throat but said nothing—he seemed to have lapsed into a depressed silence.
“Soyou see, in order to give yourManimalthis dose of antidote,I’llhave to let my poor husband goManimalhimself again,”GoodieBo-long continued. “ButI’mwilling to do it because you’ve been excellent company…up until now.”
“Thankyou but why can’tCadetake it in the morning?”Andiasked.
“Why, because it has an extremely short shelf-life, my dear.Thisbatch has been ‘cooking’ for well over a week,”GoodieBo-long explained. “Andit will take me another week to get a new batch ready to go.Meanwhile, this current antidote is only good for the next few minutes before it begins to degrade.SoImust ask you again, do you want me to inject yourManimalwith it or not?”Shenodded atCade.
Cadestill had his arm aroundAndi’swaist and now he dipped his head and nuzzled her hair briefly.
“Ifyou’d rather,Ican give this batch to my husband and then cook a new batch for you,”GoodieBo-long went on, beforeAndicould answer. “Butit will take another week.Youcan stay here, of course—Ithink we have a rather unlikely but mutually beneficial friendship.Ikeep you off the streets and you and yourManimalkeep me entertained with your constant fucking.”Shewinked. “Idolove a good show!”
Andididn’t like this characterization of her time withGoodieBo-long at all.Itmade her sound like some kind of whore!Plus, she didn’t want to hang around the other woman anymore, now that she knew her hostess was responsible for turning half the population of the planet into mindlessManimalsand also that she was fucking her stepson.Whichjust seemed needlessly and egregiously nasty.Whodoesthat?
