‘I don’t have more than a mouthful left.’
‘We’re in trouble.’
Reave looked around.
‘There ain’t nothing we can do about it except keep on walking, and hope we find something.’
They kept on walking. Their lips dried and cracked. Their tongues became rough and parched. They began to feel sick and dizzy. Billy’s feet seemed a long way away. Then his legs gave way and he crumpled to the ground. Reave stumbled to where he lay.
‘Come on, man. Try to keep going. Only a bit further. We got to find water soon.’
‘I can’t. I’ve got to have water. I’m burning up.’ ‘Come on, Billy. Try and make it.’
‘It’s no good, man. You’ll have to go on without me.’
Reave hauled Billy to his feet, and supported him while they staggered on for another hundred yards. Then they both collapsed and fell to the sand. Billy rolled over on to his back.
‘We’ve had it, Reave. This goddamn desert goes on for ever. We’ve had it.’
Reave looked up, and for a long while he stared at the horizon.
‘I don’t believe it!’
Billy looked blankly at the sky.
‘It’s true, man. We’ve had it.’
‘No, no. Look!’
It’s no good, man. If you stare at anything too long, you start to hallucinate.’
‘This isn’t a hallucination. I can see it! I can really see it!’
Billy rolled on to his side.
‘It’s a mirage.’
‘It’s not, Billy. There’s trees and water. I can see them.’
Billy painfully raised his head.
‘Holy shit! You’re right. I can see it too.’
Stumbling and crawling, they made their way towards the oasis. Billy expected it to disappear at any moment, but, as they fought their way forward, it remained and came closer. They were in the shade of tall spreading palms. On their knees they reached the edge of the pool of clear water. They stooped to drink. Then a voice came from behind them.
‘Hold it right there!’
***
‘Cease upward motion.
‘Turn fifty seven degrees’
‘Object.’
‘Object responds as solid body.’
‘Probe.’
‘Probe non-responding. Nature of body concealed.’
‘Assume protective formation.’
She/They shimmered and slowly closed in on Her/Their self. She/They took on the protective spherical form, but once again the sphere was discoloured and dented on one side. In every form Her/Their injuries had their effect.
‘Move forward and observe.’
‘Caution.’
‘Caution is maintained.’
She/They moved towards the object that was concealed in the blue mist. She/They halted some distance from the object.
‘Probe again. High density.’
A round spot on the side of the sphere glowed yellow, and a thin pencil of light cut through the blue mist.
‘Partial response on probe.’
‘Organically arranged mineral construction.’
‘Structure familiar.’
She/They moved a little closer and probed again. This time, the result of the probe struck a trigger response in Her/Their consciousness.
‘Alarm. Object conforms to data on disruption modules.’
‘Object does not conform to normal mass or dimension information stored from previous encounters.’
‘Object has ceased to move.’
‘Assumption that object is small dormant disruptor.’
‘No record of such phenomenon.’
‘Lack of information does not preclude its existence’
‘Hypothesis. Small dormant disruption module will re-awaken if probing continues.’
‘Assumption that object is dead disruption module.’
‘Insufficient data.’
‘Data may be gathered by probing.’
‘Probing could activate.’
‘Close and probe. Increase caution level.’
She/They, still in Her/Their spherical form, closed with the object. It was now visible through the blue mist. She/They probed again.
‘Object remains dormant.’
It was definitely a disrupter, although it was much smaller than any that She/They had previously encountered. Its body, instead of the usual smooth, gleaming, metalflake skin, was a dull black, and its surface was cracked and pitted.
‘Assumption is that the disruption module has been subjected to damage, energy drain or burnout.’
‘Assumption would warrant further probe.’
She/They probed again. The disrupter showed no signs of awakening.
‘Indication of external tampering.’
‘Indication of non-functional human interference.’
Along the side of the disrupter, in crude white letters, was the word WILBUR.
***
‘Hold it!’
Billy looked up in dull surprise.
‘Huh?’
A huge albino stood behind them. He had large incongruous breasts, small pink eyes, and straight white hair that fell to his shoulders.
‘What are you two doing, making free with my water?’
‘Your water?’
‘Sure it’s my water. Who told you that you could go drinking it?’
Billy looked at him in disbelief. His voice was a dry croak.
‘We’re dying of thirst. We just came across the goddamn desert.’
‘I can’t help that. There ain’t too many people come this way, I’ll admit, but all the ones that do want water. If more folks started coming here I’d have no water left at all.’
Billy pushed himself up on to his knees, and pulled out his gun.
‘Listen. I don’t know who you are, or what you do here, but we’ve got to have water and nobody’s going to stop us.’
The albino held up his hands.
‘There’s no call to take it like that. I wasn’t saying you couldn’t have no water. I just like to be asked first. Good manners don’t cost nothing.’
Billy sighed and dropped the gun back into its holster.
‘Could we please have some water?’
The albino beamed.
‘Sure, fellas. Help yourselves, take all you want.’
Billy and Reave drank deeply and splashed water over their heads and necks. When they had finally finished they turned and faced their host.
‘We’re much obliged to you, mister. We were just about dying.’
‘Think nothing of it, boys. I’m always glad to oblige. By the way, what do people call you?’
‘I’m Billy, and he’s Reave.’
‘Billy and Reave, hey. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I’m called Burt the Medicine.’
‘Hi.’
‘Maybe you’d like to come over to the shack and take the weight off your feet.’
‘Sure.’
Billy and Reave followed Burt the Medicine towards a log shack under the palms. There were a table and some canvas chairs in front of the ramshackle building. They were shaded by a multi-coloured beach umbrella. Burt the Medicine waved a limp hand.
‘Sit yourselves down, boys. Make yourselves at home.’
Billy and Reave flopped into two of the chairs, and Burt the Medicine took another.
‘What brings you way out here?’
‘We were getting away from the war.’
‘The war, hey. It’s still going on?’
‘It’s still going on.’
‘You wouldn’t believe the way they could drag it out.’
‘When we ran, it looked like it would go on for ever.’
‘It’s amazing what some folks will do for amusement.’
Reave scowled.
‘We didn’t find it too amusing.’
Burt the Medicine smiled.
‘You done well to get out then.’
Billy and Reave both nodded, and the conversation flagged in the way it does between people v/ho have only just met. The albino pulled a deck of tattered cards from somewhere inside his robe.
‘Fancy a game of Loser Take Nothing?’