Chapter Fourteen – Carrie’s Replacement
“We did our best,” said Carrie.
Dave turned his head. He sniffed and blinked, and wiped a finger under his eye. “This needs to stop, Carrie.”
“I know.”
“Then do something.”
“I’m trying.” Carrie stood. In the distance was the red leaf forest. The custard sea flopped and withdrew, flopped and withdrew, no trace of the recent bombardment visible on its glossy surface. Everything had returned to normal. The only signs of damage were the dried remains of oootoons on the beach. Yet Carrie couldn’t forget the shouts and cries of the victims. She needed to talk to Gavin and get him to help her force the placktoids to stop the bombing. She would demand they show evidence the oootoon had taken their missing members. She took out the translator. Maybe she could figure out how to use it to communicate with Gavin.
“Are you going to talk to the oootoons?” asked Dave. “You need to find out their side of the story, remember?”
“Oh, come on, Dave, you’ve heard the mass of chatter that stands for oootoon communication. I tried listening to their side of the history of the conflict before I found out they hadn’t drowned you. It was gobbledogook. Incomprehensible. And we haven’t got all the time in the world.”
“I think you can do it. You’ve made some headway already.”
But Carrie shook her head.
“What’s that?” asked Dave.
Carrie followed the direction of his gaze. He was looking towards the boulder. A patch of green mist was forming in front of it. The faint spot of colour grew wider and deeper, and began to glow and spin. Dave stood.
Carrie gripped his arm. “That looks like...”
A leg appeared through the mist. It was long, shapely, and womanly, and it was clothed in fluorescent orange. A firm, curvaceous buttock followed the leg, joined by another buttock and another leg. An hourglass torso began to appear, and shoulders. A woman appeared, clad in a perfectly fitting orange jumpsuit. A mane of tawny hair hung down, so that it was impossible to see her face. As the mist faded, the statuesque female stood upright. She shook back her hair, revealing even features and a finely chiselled bone structure.
As she scanned the surroundings, the woman’s eyes alighted on Carrie and Dave, open-mouthed and wide-eyed, but moved quickly on. Over her shoulder was an attractive designer handbag, which she opened. She pulled out a translator, glanced once more at Carrie and Dave and turned her back before speaking into the device.
“Wow,” said Dave.
“I know,” exclaimed Carrie. “How rude.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“Huh?” Carrie looked from Dave to the woman, who was deep in conversation, and back again. “But you’re...?”
“I may be gay, Carrie, but I’m not blind.”
“I suppose she is a bit, I don’t know, drop dead gorgeous.” Carrie frowned. “But what’s she doing here?”
“She’s got all the stuff you have: a handbag, a jumpsuit like the one that was on your table, a translator. She’s doing the same job as you of course.”
“But...” said Carrie, “but I’m doing this job. What’s she doing here? And why won’t she say hello?” The woman was scanning the sky. She began walking away. “Where’s she going?”
“I don’t know. There’s nothing that way but forest. Maybe she’s going to try and find a placktoid to talk to?” Dave grabbed her arm. “Carrie, look.” In front of the blasted boulder, the green mist had reappeared. It was thickening and swirling into a spiral. “Do you think that’s an exit? A way for us to go home?” He tugged her arm. “Come on, let’s go.” He ran towards the hole, checked over his shoulder, then stopped and turned. Carrie hadn’t left the spot. “Come on. What’s wrong?”
She found her legs reluctant to move. “We don’t know where it goes. It could lead anywhere.”
“I don’t see why. It isn’t like these things appear randomly. Gavin must have created it so we can leave. It makes sense. That woman’s been sent to replace you. The job’s over, Carrie. We can go home.”
Still her legs felt like lead. Her pride and annoyance seemed to be gluing her to the sand. She folded her arms and set her lips. “You go if you want to. I’m staying.”
Her friend hesitated at the edge of the mist. “But why? Don’t you want to get back? Aren’t you tired of all this? Your pets must be missing you by now. ”
Carrie’s mouth twisted. He was right. She was worried about Toodles and Rogue, but they would just have to wait a little longer. She went to Dave’s side. The green mist lifted and pulled at her hair, but she resisted.
“All my life, Dave,” she said, “all my life I’ve never been able to hold down a job. Even a crappy temporary job. I don’t know why, but things always go wrong for me. And I think I’ve messed up the call centre job, too. But this job...maybe I can do this. I don’t want to give up yet. Maybe I can stop this war between the oootoons and the placktoids.”
Dave ran his hands through his sticky hair and looked longingly at the mist. He looked at Carrie and rubbed the back of his neck. The edges of the mist were fading and the hole was beginning to contract.
“But you go,” said Carrie. “You don’t need to stay. I can do it on my own. I think I can, anyway.”
Dave’s eyes lifted skyward. The hole was smaller now, barely wide enough for a person to pass through it. He spoke to the ground. “I didn’t want to say this, Carrie, but that woman looks like she knows what she’s doing. She’s an experienced professional, and this is a serious situation. We saw the oootoons dying today. They need someone to put an end to the conflict. Maybe you should leave her to it.”
Her voice trembling, Carrie replied, “You should go now if you’re going, before it’s too late.”
There was a silence. Dave looked wistfully at the mist. The spiral grew smaller and smaller and finally disappeared. He hung his head and sighed. “No, it’s okay. I’ll stay.”
“Oh, thank you, thank you.” Carrie threw her arms around him. “I know what you were saying is right. I know that woman’s a professional and I’m not. But I can’t give up and walk away again. I just can’t. We have to help the oootoons, don’t we? Who knows what she’s going to do? She hasn’t even tried to talk to them yet.”
“Yes, I suppose. But I still think all this stuff is way beyond you and me.” He squinted into the sky. “If we are staying, maybe we need to hitch a ride on that?” He pointed at something swooping down so fast its outline was a blur. Carrie could make out the shape, however. It was rectangular, with curved edges and a hollow centre. It was a guard from the placktoid mothership.
Below it, the beautiful woman waited.