‘I guess I must have been asleep at the time.’
Billy tried hard to keep a straight face.
‘That’s right.’
‘In bed with Burt?’
‘Yeah, as far as I could see.’
‘I … uh … was pretty drunk last night.’
‘Yeah?’
‘I … er.’
Billy laughed.
‘Don’t worry about it, man. I don’t care who you ball.’
‘But I …’
‘It doesn’t matter, Reave. We ain’t in Pleasant Gap now. There aren’t any rules any more.’
‘I guess not.’
‘So stop looking so fucking guilty. Did you have a good time?’
‘He was pretty weird.’
‘Yeah. He’s coming back, so leave it for now.’
The albino set a tray down on the table. There was chilled melon, sliced ham, croissants and a pitcher of cold milk. He grinned at them.
‘Breakfast, boys.’
For the next half hour they ate and made small talk, and then, while Burt the Medicine was clearing away the meal, Reave looked at Billy.
‘What do we do now?’
‘I guess we should move on sooner or later.’
‘On foot? Back into the desert?’
‘Maybe we should talk to Burt the Medicine about it.’
‘Talk to Burt the Medicine about it.’
He had returned from the shack. Billy glanced up at him.
‘We were talking about moving on.’
‘Moving on? You only just got here. What’s the matter, don’t you like it here?’
He looked sideways at Reave.
‘Bored already?’
Reave coloured.
‘No, no. It’s just that …’
He quickly borrowed a phrase from the Rainman.
‘… We’re travelling men.’
Burt the Medicine stared out into the distance.
‘Travelling men.’
His voice was wistful.
‘A lot of travelling men used to come through here before the war started.’
He switched his attention back to the present.
‘What do you want to do then?’
Billy spread his hands.
‘That’s the trouble, we don’t really know. I suppose this desert doesn’t go on for ever.’
‘No, but it goes on for quite a way. I suppose you want to go on to the river?’
‘The river?’
‘That’s the only place to go, except back to the war.’
‘What happens on the river?’
Burt the Medicine grinned.
‘Just about everything you could think of. You’d best head for Port Judas. From there you can take a river boat all the way down past Dropville, Arthurburg and right through to the nothings.’
‘How far is it? How long will it take us to get there?’
The albino shrugged.
‘Depends how you go.’
‘I guess we’ll be going the same way we came.’
‘You came on foot.’
‘That’s what I mean.’
‘It takes a week to reach Port Judas on foot. You’d probably die before you got there.’
Billy frowned.
‘Then we’re in trouble.’
The albino smiled.
‘Not really. I’m sure I can fix something. I’ll see what I can jive up on the stuff beam after we’ve eaten lunch.’
Billy grinned.
‘Sure do a lot of eating round here.’
Burt the Medicine shot Reave another sidelong glance.
‘That’s true.’
He stood up, and bustled back to the shack. Billy and Reave continued to sit at the table. Burt the Medicine came back with a bottle of Campari, a soda syphon and a dish of ice. He put them down on the table.
‘This’ll keep you two amused until lunch. I’ve got a few chores to do.’
He disappeared inside the shack again. Billy and Reave drank Campari and soda until the albino appeared with yet another meal. When they’d finished, Burt the Medicine took a deep breath, as though he was about to make an announcement.
‘I’ve been looking through the Stuff catalogue. There’s a nifty little two-seat buggy. I think I could get it for you without them wanting to push up my quota. That’s if you’ve really got to go.’
‘We’ve got to move on, I’m afraid.’
Burt the Medicine stood up.
‘I’ll go and dial up the buggy for you. It’ll take me a while to set up the large cage. If you just wait here, I’ll bring it round to you.’
He went round to the back of the shack, and after a few minutes there was an intense flash of static and then the low hum of a flux motor. Burt the Medicine swung round the outside of the shack in a small two-seat pink buggy with huge white balloon tyres. He halted it just outside the line of trees. Billy and Reave hurried over to join him. He climbed out and patted the fibreglass body.
‘There you go, boys. That should get you to Port Judas inside of two days.’
Reave scratched his head.
‘I don’t know how we can ever pay you back for this.’
The albino laughed.
‘Don’t bother about it. Stuff Central are always getting on to me about how I ought to consume more. It’s like you’re helping me out.’
Billy and Reave came over adolescent tongue-tied.
‘Well thanks.’
They threw their few belongings into the buggy, and Burt the Medicine once again disappeared inside the shack. He returned moments later carrying a wicker basket.
‘I just packed up some food for your trip.’
Billy was about to make a crack about grandmother’s house, but decided it would be unkind.
‘Thanks.’
‘Be sure and stop by here again.’
‘We will.’
Reave set the buggy in motion, and they pulled away from the oasis. Their last glimpse of Burt the Medicine was as he stood waving, a solitary white figure between the palm trees.
***
At ten forty-five sharp, exactly three quarters of an hour after the meeting had started, A.A. and Valdo Catto entered the boardroom. It was a grand entrance. A.A. Catto had made sure of that. Both she and her brother were dressed in white. He wore a uniform modelled on ancient film of the legendary hero Hermann Goering, while she had on what she liked to refer to as her vestal virgin outfit.
The five families of the hereditary directorate were all present in the circular, domed room. The Cattos, the Glicks, the Meltzers, the Mudstraps and the Ferics, each sitting in their own wedge-shaped section of the hall. The most senior of the families sat at the front, after which the seating was allocated, rank behind rank, in succeeding generations.
The young of Con-Lee were noticeable by their absence, and the oldsters mumbled together about irrelevant problems of fiscal logistics. On a rotating podium in the centre of the hall great-great-grandfather Dino, the senior Mudstrap, was taking his turn at chairing a meeting. Valdo and A.A. Catto took their seats with the maximum of noise and fuss.
When they were able to prolong the disturbance of their arrival no longer, the meeting resumed, and Bull Feric got to his feet and, in a long rambling dissertation, presented an esoteric motion for the restructuring of the Exec level grading system. After the first twenty minutes, Valdo nudged A.A. Catto.
‘Remember our agreement.’
A.A. Catto waved him away.
‘I know, I know. We haven’t even started yet.’
Bull Feric continued for another half hour and then abruptly sat down. Dino Mudstrap called a vote. A.A. Catto, who had understood nothing of the argument, looked at the yes and no buttons on the arm of her chair. Quite at random she pressed the no button. Dino Mudstrap studied the results as they were relayed to his podium, and announced the motion carried. A.A. Catto felt mildly pleased that she had instinctively disagreed with the majority of the oldsters.
Dino Mudstrap was swivelling his podium looking for the next motion. A.A. Catto jumped to her feet.
‘Mister Chairman.’