alien’s throat as he could.
The thing had a mouth and it breathed, after all, so there had to be an air
passage in the neck somewhere. If he could sever that, it would only be a
matter of remaining alive long enough for the alien to choke to death on its
own blood. It was a thin chance, but he would take it.
‘Look here,’ he said, picking up
the body of the gordita. With its legs and scales cut away, its flesh
was soft and pink as raw tuna. Maneck leaned closer, as Ramon had hoped, its
eyes trained on the dead flesh in his left hand, ignoring the blade in his
right. The heady elation of violence filled him, as if he was in the street
outside a bar in Diegotown. The monsters didn’t know that this thing they’d
captured knew how to be a monster too! He waited until Maneck turned its head a
little to the side to better squint at the gordita, exposing the mottled
black-and-yellow flesh of its throat, and then he struck -
Abruptly, he was sprawled on his
back on the ground, staring up into the violet sky. His stomach muscles were knotted,
and he was breathing in harsh little gasps. The pain had hit him like a stone
giant’s fist, crumpled him and thrown him aside. It had been over in an
eyeblink, too quick to be remembered, but his body still ached and twitched
with the shock. He had dropped the knife.
You fool, he thought.
‘Interesting,’ Maneck said. ‘Why
did you do that? I pose you no danger, and so you need not defend yourself. I
am not food for you, and so you need not kill me to eat. You have not declared
war upon me. I have not gone to a bar, nor do I have money. I have not fucked
your wife. And still you experience a drive to kill. What is the nature of that
drive?’
Ramon would have laughed if he
could; it was comic and tragic and deserving of his despairing rage. I le
levered himself up to sitting. Blood was smeared on his hands and chest from
writhing on the corpse of the gordita.
‘You…’ Ramon began. ‘You knew.’
Maneck’s quills rose and fell.
The evil, implacable orange of its eyes seemed to glow in the soft light that
filtered through the forest canopy.
‘The sahael participates
in your flow,’ it said. ‘It will not permit actions on your part that would
interfere with your tatecreude. You cannot harm me in any fashion.’
‘You can read my mind, then.’
‘The sahael can prevent
action that is aubre before the action takes place. I do not understand “read
my mind”.’
‘You know what I am thinking! You
know what I’m going to do before I do it.’
‘No. To drink from first
intentions would disturb the flow and affect your function. It is only when
your intention expresses aubre that you are corrected.’
Ramon wiped his eyes with the
back of his hand.
‘So you can’t tell what I’m
thinking, but you can tell what I’m going to do?’
Maneck considered him in silence,
and then said, ‘Every movement is a cascade from intent to action. The sahael drinks from far up the cascade. The intention to act precedes the action,
so you cannot act before I am aware of the action you are taking. Attempts to
harm me cannot be completed, and will be punished. You are a primitive being
not to know this.’ It tilted its head to stare more closely at him. ‘Please
return to the issue at hand. What is the nature of that drive? Why do you wish
to kill me?’
‘Because a man is supposed to be
free,’ Ramon said, pushing ineffectually at the thick fleshy leash at his
throat. ‘You’re holding me prisoner!’
The alien shifted its head from
one side the other, as if the words meant nothing to him and were literally
falling from its ears. Maneck lifted him easily and set him on his feet. To
Ramon’s shame and humiliation, the alien gently placed the wire knife back in
his hand.
‘Continue the function,’ Maneck
said. ‘You were flaying the corpse of the small animal.’
Ramon turned the silver
The thing had a mouth and it breathed, after all, so there had to be an air
passage in the neck somewhere. If he could sever that, it would only be a
matter of remaining alive long enough for the alien to choke to death on its
own blood. It was a thin chance, but he would take it.
‘Look here,’ he said, picking up
the body of the gordita. With its legs and scales cut away, its flesh
was soft and pink as raw tuna. Maneck leaned closer, as Ramon had hoped, its
eyes trained on the dead flesh in his left hand, ignoring the blade in his
right. The heady elation of violence filled him, as if he was in the street
outside a bar in Diegotown. The monsters didn’t know that this thing they’d
captured knew how to be a monster too! He waited until Maneck turned its head a
little to the side to better squint at the gordita, exposing the mottled
black-and-yellow flesh of its throat, and then he struck -
Abruptly, he was sprawled on his
back on the ground, staring up into the violet sky. His stomach muscles were knotted,
and he was breathing in harsh little gasps. The pain had hit him like a stone
giant’s fist, crumpled him and thrown him aside. It had been over in an
eyeblink, too quick to be remembered, but his body still ached and twitched
with the shock. He had dropped the knife.
You fool, he thought.
‘Interesting,’ Maneck said. ‘Why
did you do that? I pose you no danger, and so you need not defend yourself. I
am not food for you, and so you need not kill me to eat. You have not declared
war upon me. I have not gone to a bar, nor do I have money. I have not fucked
your wife. And still you experience a drive to kill. What is the nature of that
drive?’
Ramon would have laughed if he
could; it was comic and tragic and deserving of his despairing rage. I le
levered himself up to sitting. Blood was smeared on his hands and chest from
writhing on the corpse of the gordita.
‘You…’ Ramon began. ‘You knew.’
Maneck’s quills rose and fell.
The evil, implacable orange of its eyes seemed to glow in the soft light that
filtered through the forest canopy.
‘The sahael participates
in your flow,’ it said. ‘It will not permit actions on your part that would
interfere with your tatecreude. You cannot harm me in any fashion.’
‘You can read my mind, then.’
‘The sahael can prevent
action that is aubre before the action takes place. I do not understand “read
my mind”.’
‘You know what I am thinking! You
know what I’m going to do before I do it.’
‘No. To drink from first
intentions would disturb the flow and affect your function. It is only when
your intention expresses aubre that you are corrected.’
Ramon wiped his eyes with the
back of his hand.
‘So you can’t tell what I’m
thinking, but you can tell what I’m going to do?’
Maneck considered him in silence,
and then said, ‘Every movement is a cascade from intent to action. The sahael drinks from far up the cascade. The intention to act precedes the action,
so you cannot act before I am aware of the action you are taking. Attempts to
harm me cannot be completed, and will be punished. You are a primitive being
not to know this.’ It tilted its head to stare more closely at him. ‘Please
return to the issue at hand. What is the nature of that drive? Why do you wish
to kill me?’
‘Because a man is supposed to be
free,’ Ramon said, pushing ineffectually at the thick fleshy leash at his
throat. ‘You’re holding me prisoner!’
The alien shifted its head from
one side the other, as if the words meant nothing to him and were literally
falling from its ears. Maneck lifted him easily and set him on his feet. To
Ramon’s shame and humiliation, the alien gently placed the wire knife back in
his hand.
‘Continue the function,’ Maneck
said. ‘You were flaying the corpse of the small animal.’
Ramon turned the silver
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