osmoala

This was a jungle planet. From far above the greenery and the spikes of mountains made you think of a jackfruit. Below the canopy of the trees, a hundred metres tall, there were the rivers, the waterfalls and lethal, flesh eating animals lurking around, waiting to attack you within seconds. Tony Cox did not worry about them, he was prepared with lightweight but   powerful tools to defend himself against the aggressive creatures and he had killed six of  them in the first hour since he had materialised here. 

   It’s a beautiful and yet deadly place, but everything and everybody has two sides. Zen says that you are not your emotions - you are merely observing your feelings and actions and responding to them. 

   He had something else on his mind that worried him, and her name was Jennifer.   

   She was from the Earth and she had the same powers as he had. She had been trained by the same group as him so she could also travel through space and time. But she had been working undercover, she showed her true colours by escaping from the training centre with a trail that connected her to some bad people. His mission was to bring her back to Earth for a trial. Or kill her if necessary. Those were the orders but the orders didn’t bother him because he didn't obey orders anyway. That’s how he got the job done, and the people who called him in knew about it but they were pleased that he got the job done with minimal loss. 

   She was working for the other side, the Backs, creating havoc and destruction bringing chaos to the universe by making the universe go backwards in time to get rid of the mental disorders she and everybody in the group had been developing when they were young  children to uncaring and irresponsible and mentally insufficient parents. 

   Fuck - this is a job for a psych doc, and they send me across the universe to bring her back home. Still - time going backwards sounds like a great idea. Maybe? Why? Why not?  

   He knows what she looks like, tall and blond and beautiful. Uma Thurman could play her in the movie version. This is not the movie version though, this is the real MacCoy.

   The humidity is overwhelming and some of the plants give off a scent that has a hallucinogenic effect on his extraterrestrial human body, much like LSD, but Cox has taken his tablets. 

   As long as I have this gallipot with pills in my pocket I am in control of my mental bearings. 

   He shot another fast moving creature that was charging at him now. It looked similar to a big cat, without the fur, instead solid panzer skin, and a big mouth with razor blade teeth and hungry eyes, now staring into eternity especially when the creature was dead. 

   One more kilometre to the village where she is hiding. Fucking Jennifer, why do I have to go through this shit?And what will happen when I get there?

For those who don’t know who Tony Cox is, here is a brief summary: He is a freelancer, connected to an intergalactic agency called The Organization, which keeps peace in the multiverse by preventing attacks by villainous creatures from dystopian societies that seem to be lurking around, well, everywhere. Cox was discovered by the agency because he could see the winner in a Cambodian beer can just before opening the can itself. It was like being able to look ten seconds into the future. If you have one superpower you might as well have another one, and yet another one. They trained him and finally let him know things, like how to go with the flow of space and time. 

   There was a catch though - when you shifted locations nobody was allowed to see you disappear, otherwise it wouldn't work. Cox was living in Siem Reap for now and he lied to his landlady - “I’m going to Phnom Penh, see you when I get back”.

Cox had been cutting his way through the jungle with a device that looked like an Army Swiss knife, but every blade could expand to a metre when you put your thumb on it. And he had gear in his safari jacket, from 9 millimeter guns to rocket launchers. Yes, lightweight stuff, of course, but he was not sure that would be enough to catch Jennifer. He was supposed to take her alive. If possible.

   It was dark now. He stopped here at the edge of the jungle. He could see her sitting cross legged by the campfire, with her friends. Around the fire there were huts, like in Southern Thailand or Northern Laos. 

   Cox makes a move. He leaves everything of his arms behind in the jungle, except for the packet of cigarettes and a lighter and walks into the village. The lighter is a flamethrower, of course, if you press a special button at the bottom, but he will find out he has no use for it anyway. He is thinking that he’ll possibly be able to run 20 meters back to get his weapons if necessary. Jennifer has never seen his face before because they were in the academy for different years, and she is probably ten years younger than he is. 

   Her friends get up in a hurry and surround him. They are from different parts of the Milky Way - bodies and faces, some have four arms and fangs that will slit the throat of a polar bear in seconds, others look like turtles standing upright on two legs with strong arms that are strip searching him now. For a split second Fox feels like he is inside a Gary Larson cartoon. 

   “Only this,” the turtle guy says, showing his lighter and the pack of fags. 

   “Oh, cigarettes,” Jennifer says - “Give me one, haven’t had a smoke in a while.” She lits the cigarette with the hidden flamethrower and says, “You are from Earth - speak English?”

   “Yes, a little bit - you’re also from Earth then. How’s things here?”

   “It’s okay.” She is looking at the cigarette in her right hand.” She takes a puff. “No, it’s not so easy … sometimes … tell me about yourself, now!” She laughs. “You say you crashed a spaceship here, but it’s not true -  You’re a fucking spy!”

   “Why do you say that? Why do you speak to me like this? - You’re the spy, you know.”

   “Maybe I am …  Aren’t we all?”

   “What about the scent in the air? From the flowers around us you know?” 

   “I know, but you get used to it somehow.”

   The aliens are sitting around the campfire examining the bottle with anti drug pills. Cox is beginning to feel it slowly now, it comes creeping at you like the sun rising behind the mountain where you have been hiding so long. Cox feels elevated, free of the boundaries that have tied him up all his life. It’s all very strange. He is here and there and everywhere at the same time. 

   The guy holding Cox’ pills is sitting next to him. He reaches out with an unsteady hand to take them but the turtleneck won’t give them back. He tries sign language - “I’ll show, now give it to me.” He stretches out his hand again and he gets the box from the turtle who has a curious glimmer in his eyes. Cox shows him how to do it and swallows two anti hallucinogenic pills himself. There is also a beverage involved somewhere … but where the fuck am I now …

These tribal people have never seen, say, clarity in their whole lives. We are all popping the pills from my bottle now, the women come out from the huts, we all sing something, something rhythmic, it’s like the pulse of the universe itself.  

We ran away from the maddening crowd into the jungle to be able to take off with nobody seeing what’s happening. It’s a smooth ride, as always. Like switching the channel on a TV. Then, afterwards back on Earth I say, “I have to turn you in, you know. These guys are around.”

   “I know. Well, how about the last beer over there?” We are standing on a road in a place that at this hour of the day looks like a deserted cowboy town. She is pointing at a bar 20 metres away across the street.  

   I look at the guys behind me and they shrug their shoulders, why not? They are not really devoted to this mission anyway - they are underpaid guys with families to feed so I slip on some money that vanishes into their pockets. We walk into the bar, well, it’s actually a saloon with the cowboys entering the premises later on tonight, but now it’s 25.25 so it’s only us and the bartender. The guards sit down at a table behind us, order drafts, enjoying themselves, especially now when I am buying and they seem to be relaxing. Good. 

   We order two beers each. Time travelling makes one thirsty in almost a greedy way so we drink up and order two more each. She says,

   “I’m tired of this shit. You know, we’ve been through this so many times - will there ever be another ending to this?”

   “Of course, but it’s up to you.”

   “Yeah, I know. But I'm scared.”

   "Yes, you are. And I’m scared too. 

   “You have a different scare, mine is the worst fucking scare. I don’t think you understand.”

   “What makes you say that?”

   “Sorry, I’m just jittery right now. You have a joint on you?”

   “No. You know the drill.”

   “Fuck. I hate to die because I’ve become used to this mind and this body. Everything is so fragile.”

   “It’s not so fragile. Remember the vibrator?”

   “Of course I know about the vibrator. It makes sense, and then afterwards everything will be okay. But I’m so fucking stuck to this reality! - Mr Barman, can we have two more beers each, please!”

   “Yeah, let’s do it, I’m thirsty too,” says Tony Cox, but he is getting a little bit annoyed now.  “So, you are scared of losing control?”

   “Stop it! I know what I am and you’re not gonna change it!”

   “You are wrong, and this will help you through the transit.” He has the little device in his hand. It’s the vibrator - the size of a pen from any supermarket in town but deadlier than a cobra and more liberating than a Shakespearean stanza.

   “Stop it - I have the right to say no and you know it!”

   “I do. It’s up to you. I’m not even going to try to persuade you, you know the rules. Fuck it, I’m tired of this shit anyway.” He throws the vibrator on the table. He takes a sip of beer.

   “Do you know how long we have known each other?”

   “I do - long time.”

   “It’s like we melt into each other sometimes - you are I and I am you.”

   “That’s the way it works.

   “Can I stay here?”

   “If you want.”

   “And? - And but?”

   “No ands and buts - you are free to go whenever you want.” 

   “Okay. I’ll just go to the bathroom then.”

   Then she escapes again, through the toilet window. I’ll catch you there. As always. When you jump down that toilet window, I’ll grab you and we will run through that jungle from our childhood days. As always. We are free and wild and crazy! Yes, we are on the repeat.