A Very Schticky Thing To Do - 15. Chapter 15

Thabbt was down in the retail area trying to imagine what it would look like with customers wandering around admiring his wares, but what would that be? Since they were a couple thousand bnarloo (Bazt measure of distance equivalent to approximately 1.5753 kilometers) from the nearest place of any sizable population, whatever he might sell should be so unique the product itself would draw customers from some of those nearby cities. Of course, there might be some form of advertising, but that would only be for the grand opening and maybe for an end of year pre-inventory sale.

The problem as he saw was the space. It was small, so whatever he was going to sell would have to fill the space, but still leave room for customers to walk around and choose. Choose implied a multiple of products. Would they be different sizes or would there be different models of the same and similar products? What could he sell that met those conditions and wasn’t available anywhere in the region?

“Dadi?”

“Who’s there?” Thabbt asked as he turned around in the empty room. There was only one person who ever called him that and she’d been gone for only three weeks. The voice definitely sounded older.

“Dadi?”

There it was, again. Was he going insane? Had all he’d been through in the recent past finally caught up with him?

“Dadi?”

“Stop that!” Thabbt exclaimed. “I don’t know who or what you are, but you’re not Doopo.”

“But I am, Dadi.”

Thabbt spun around and only a few paces in front of him stood a young girl about ten years old. She was wearing a green jumpsuit and black leather sandals. Her black hair was straight and trimmed neatly above her collar.

“Who are you?” Thabbt asked. He really did think he’d gone insane.

“I’m Doopo,” the girl said.

“No, Doopo isn’t even two years old yet,” Thabbt protested.

“Yes, if I was here, now, I would be nineteen months old, but I’m not here, now. I live on Mendom Three and I’m eleven, now. Didn’t Pubi explain the recondite dimensions?”

“He tried, but it was too confusing,” Thabbt admitted. “You’re really Doopo?”

“Yes, Dadi, I’m Doopo,” she said. She held out a book. “I’ve brought you this because I think this is when you needed it.”

“What is that?” Thabbt asked. He knew it was a book. That was obvious, but what kind of book? And, why was she bringing it to him, now?

“It’s a book, Dadi,” she said. She took the few paces that separated them. “Are you going to hug me and give me a kiss? What kind of dadi are you?”

He took her in his arms and held her close.

“I’m still confused,” he admitted. “How could you have aged so quickly?”

“It’s taken me nearly ten years to do this,” she said. “I might’ve gotten smart quickly, but people age at the same rate no matter where they are. Here look at the book. It’s the Bazt translation. I’ve kept the Argottean version because Benz prefers it to the Bazt.”

“Benz? Who is Benz?” Thabbt asked as he looked at the cover of the book. The title threw him until saw the name of the author: A Very Schticky Thing To Do: My Life Among the Bazt, by Spid Doop (Zzppd-do-Zzt-doop). “Where’d you get this?”

“You and Pubi gave this and the Argottean version to me and Benz Camb when we got married,” Doopo said. “My older self said I should bring this to you now because you’re trying to figure out what kind of shop you’re going to open.”

“Your older self,” Thabbt said trying desperately to believe this young girl was who she said she was. He randomly opened the book to a page and began to read. He stopped, looked up, and saw he was completely alone in the empty store. He ran as fast as he could to the stairs leading up to the backdoor of the apartment where Zzppd was putting out some trash for tomorrow’s pick up. He stopped and held out the book.

“What’s that?” Zzppd asked.

“Your book,” Thabbt panted.

“You look as if you’ve seen a ghost,” Zzppd said taking the book from Thabbt. When he looked at the cover he nearly dropped the thing. “Where’d you get this?”

“Doopo gave it to me,” Thabbt said. “She said, and I quote, ‘My older self said I should bring this to you now.’ Her older self who gets married to someone named Benz Camb. We give her that and the Argottean version at their wedding. They kept the Argottean one. I think I’m to open a bookstore.”

“That sounds a lot easier than writing a book,” Zzppd said as he thumbed through the book scanning random pages. “It says here that we’ll have four more children: Dimpl, Daabi, and the twins, Ssthaat and Ssthimt. Do you know how difficult it is to deliver twins? Do you know Zzts usually die from having twins? Oh, Prisi don’t do this! We end up living on Bazt in a small habitat on top of Nits Knob. Oh no! No! Not that! Anything but that!”

Zzppd dropped the book and ran back into the apartment. Thabbt picked it up and read, “For whatever reason Hurl thought of, Dimp Nivl didn’t have his molecules dumped in the vacuum of space when I was transferred to Bazt Four nor did he die from the Bazt introduced virus that killed 99.99% of all Argotteans on Bazt, though the virus did affect his mental processes as with nearly all the survivors, which made it easy for the Bazt armies to retake Bazt. He lives with Thabbt and me doing simple tasks around our home. All our children love him.”

* * * * * * *

“A bookstore? Where am I going to find books to sell to Bazts who no longer read books?” Thabbt pondered out loud as he lay beside Zzppd who was sobbing. Thabbt hadn’t asked whether he was crying because Dimp lived or because he turned into something slightly smarter than a Bazt who had been addled. He wondered what Dimp looked like. The book didn’t mention whether he liked the Gurdian, only that their children liked him. “Zzppd? Are you going to cry all day? It’s been three hours, now. Don’t you think it’s time to stop?”

“Dimp’s alive,” Zzppd cried.

“Yes, well, what is a Nits Knob?” Thabbt asked. “And, why do we want to live on top of it?”

“It’s a tall rock overlooking Burpiburg,” Zzppd said as he turned onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “I used to go up there before going to work and watch Normal children at a school and wish I could be a student, too. Dimp saw me up there and well, I guess, the rest is pretty obvious. Where are you going to get books to sell?”

“Well, it’s obvious they still exist. You write one, but I don’t think it will be the only one we sell.”

“We have to get married, now,” Zzppd said. He blew his nose with his hand and wiped the snot on his leg. “For the children, at least. Four, I guess you and Ssthi and Aabi were right, one for each nipple.”

“Do you have to do that?” Thabbt asked. He got up and went into the bathroom. He quickly returned with a damp cloth and began wiping Zzppd’s face. He leaned down and kissed Zzppd. “Do you want to make one, now? If you’re pregnant, we’ll have to get married. Why do you think Dimp didn’t fuck you right off?”

“Because he wanted a Schtickist cock up his ass,” Zzppd said. “He wasn’t a very good Schtickist owner. He was too kind. If anyone else had bought me, I’d have been fucked as soon as I entered the house, probably before. They would’ve kept me in a cage and fucked me every day; probably every boyo in the house would fuck me, plus all their friends from school. And, then, when they tired of me or I could no longer maintain sufficient control of my anal and rectal muscles, they’d have me vaporized.”

“Will you fuck him when you see him, again?” Thabbt asked with a worried look.

“No, it wouldn’t be right to do that to someone who has the mind of a child,” Zzppd said.

“Maybe he won’t be that bad, maybe he’ll ask you to fuck him,” Thabbt persisted. “Maybe, I’ll fuck him, instead.”

“No! Don’t talk like that!” Zzppd exclaimed. “What are you, some kind of monster?”

“I’m just thinking ahead,” Thabbt said. “You never know how this is going to work out. Do you?”

“No, but by the way the book is written, everything in the book has to occur before Doopo marries Benz Camb,” Zzppd said, “so I’ve got a little time before starting. Will you please fuck me, now?”

“Are you going to imagine it’s Dimp fucking you?” Thabbt asked.

“No, yours is the only cock that’s going up my ass,” Zzppd said. “Lay down, I want to suck you before.”

“I’ve never told you about Bazt marriage traditions, have I?” Thabbt asked.

“No, why?”

“I think it’s better if it’s a surprise,” Thabbt said. “Turn around, I want yours, too.”

* * * * * * *

“You know, Zzppd, we don’t know enough people here to have a proper Bazt wedding,” Thabbt said the next morning as Zzppd was putting out their breakfast meal. “We’re going to have to go back home so there will be enough people. You could invite some of those Zzts where you worked. Didn’t you say your boss was Baztli?”

“What about Ssthi and Aabi,” Zzppd offered. “Won’t they want to come, too?”

“Ssthi is a traditionalist and won’t come if he’s not invited and Aabi, well, maybe I’ll let Aabi come, after all, he birthed me, so I owe him something,” Thabbt said picking at his vegetables.

“He applauded when Ssthi raped you,” Zzppd said as he sat next to his lover. “I wouldn’t be comfortable seeing him applaud after we exchange our vows. We do exchange vows, right?”

“What do you mean, exchange vows?” Thabbt asked, still picking at his vegetables.

“In a Schtickist wedding and, well, in any Argottean wedding, the priest of your cult asks each party certain questions and then they vow to honor, cherish, laugh at each other’s jokes, that’s only in a Schtickist wedding, and, well, a few other things,” Zzppd said. “I suppose we’ll do a Bazt wedding ceremony.”

“Well, you’re here and you’re Baztli, why would you want to do it the Argottean way?” Thabbt asked as he continued to pick at his vegetables. “You’re going to want to invite some Minto, aren’t you?”

Suddenly, Thabbt vomited and fell over as every muscle in his body began to spasmodically quiver. Zzppd went to him and held him tightly against his body. Thabbt began to moan as he lost bladder and bowel control. Zzppd continued to hold his lover until Thabbt slowly began to calm, though he didn’t regain consciousness.

After thoroughly cleaning Thabbt, Zzppd went to the ’xrsc terminal and sent an email to the One asking if she knew how he could help Thabbt recover from his experience with them. Her answer was troubling. It said, “Unfortunately, the Bazt will never recover. His mind has been altered.”

Zzppd returned to where he’d made Thabbt comfortable and saw that the young Bazt had shit himself, again.

“What am I going to do with you?” he asked no one in particular.

“You could try a recondite time shift,” a voice said.

Zzppd looked around the room, but there was no one else there.

“It’s proper to you show yourself when speaking to someone who can’t see you,” Zzppd said.

“Greetings, Spid Doop,” a ’xrsc human interface said as it slipped into the three dimensional awareness of the room.

“Greetings, ’xrsc,” Zzppd said. “Are you always here watching us?”

“You gave the child Doopo to us,” the ’xrsc said. “She is well. In many future times, she is fully ’xrsc. She is concerned about the welfare of the Bazt and has asked us to be vigilant to your needs.”

“Well, I know for a fact a recondite time shift is very, very expensive,” Zzppd said as Thabbt urinated.

“You and yours are friends of ’xrsc,” the ’xrsc said. “We will help.”

Thabbt disappeared and then reappeared awake. He looked up at Zzppd and asked, “What just happened?”

“In simple terms, you were taken back to a time before the Minto had you and that person has become part of your present,” Zzppd said. He knew the next step was vital to linking the disparate mentalities. “Do you remember what the Minto did to you?”

“Yes,” Thabbt whispered.

“And, what was that?” Zzppd asked.

“They made me feel pain, more pain than I ever imagined I could feel,” Thabbt said quietly. “They took me to places where pain was all that I could be aware of. Oh, Zzppd, forgive me.”

“I forgave you long ago,” Zzppd said as he lay down beside his betrothed. “It’s all over. You’ve paid your debt.”

“Is the Bazt well?” the ’xrsc asked.

“I think so; could you leave us, please?” Zzppd asked.

“As is proper,” the ’xrsc said as it moved back into a recondite dimension that wasn’t there, then.

“I can remember all of it as if it all occurred just a minute ago,” Thabbt said calmly. “I couldn’t do that before. Every time I thought of the Minto, just the Minto, not what they did to me, I couldn’t handle it and, well, I guess I was a mess, wasn’t I,” Thabbt said. “Does this mean I won’t pass out, again?”

“I don’t know, but if you do, we might be able to try that again,” Zzppd said.

“Zzppd?”

“Yes?”

“You can invite some Minto if you want,” Thabbt said as he put his arms around Zzppd and held him tightly.

“I don’t think they’ll come,” Zzppd said. “Would you be willing to go to them, just the few we knew?”

“I don’t want to meet any that hurt me,” Thabbt said. “I don’t think I could handle that. You can’t imagine what they put in my mind to make me hurt. You can’t imagine what they did to my body. You can’t imagine not being able to scream because it hurts so much.”

“No, I can’t imagine what happened to you,” Zzppd said.

“I was bad,” Thabbt said. “I deserved to die. I should’ve died, but you saved me. I love you so much. Let’s try to make a baby right now. Please?”

“We’ll have to get married,” Zzppd said. “You’ll have to make an honest Baztli out of me, if I get pregnant.”

“Anything, Zzppd, I’ll do anything,” Thabbt said. “Now, give me some of your sperm.”

“First things first,” Zzppd said as he rolled Thabbt onto his stomach and slowly shoved his growing, hardening cock up inside the Bazt.

* * * * * * *

Thabbt was reading what looked like a small catalogue, except catalogues were a thing of the past. Zzppd walked up and sat next to him.

“How’re you doing?” Thabbt asked.

“What’s that?” Zzppd asked intentionally ignoring Thabbt’s question.

“A book catalogue the ’xrsc gave me,” Thabbt said. “I guess there is a UMS marketing plan I can use to get my bookstore off the ground. Of course, I’ll have to buy everything from them, but they’ve got limitless resources. Plus, well, they take a percentage of the business, too. I asked how you are doing. Has the egg entered your womb?”

“It hurts down there,” Zzppd whispered. Thabbt noticed the beads of sweat on Zzppd’s forehead.

“I need to take you to a medifac,” Thabbt said. “Come on, we have to hurry. There’s a free clinic around the corner.”

“Oh, shit!” Zzppd exclaimed. He ran to the waste receptacle and held his cock over the opening.

“Are you okay?” Thabbt asked as he came up beside Zzppd.

“Aah,” Zzppd moaned as a stream of very bloody urine splashed into the bowl. “Unh … aah … fuck!”

Thabbt caught Zzppd by the shoulders as the Baztli’s legs gave out. Bloody urine continued to come out in dribbles and streams until it was only blood. Thabbt raised his comcard and said, “We have an emergency. We need medical assistance.”

“They are not needed,” a voice said behind Thabbt. He glanced behind him and saw two ’xrsc robots. “Your call was intercepted and dealt with. We are programmed to assist human medical requirements. Move away from the Zzt, please.”

“He is aborting the fetus,” one of the robots said. “We will return shortly.”

With that, the robots and Zzppd disappeared. Thabbt stood in shock not knowing what to do until he realized he’d better clean up the blood Zzppd left on the floor.

He knew Zzt pregnancies were definitely not a sure thing and next time he was going to make sure Zzppd stayed in bed until they were positive the fetus was affixed to the womb. He was about half through cleaning up when he heard a voice. He walked out of the bathroom and followed the sound of soft talking. When he entered the bedroom he saw Zzppd asleep on the bed and a woman in gray coveralls speaking with a robot model he hadn’t seen before.

“Who are you?” Thabbt asked. Rather quickly, he became aware of who the woman was.

“I’m sorry Dadi, but I thought he’d do better with a woman helping,” Doopo said. “This is Forty-three; he will take care of Pubi after I go back home. Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not,” Thabbt said as he lowered himself down next to Zzppd. “You’re an adult.”

“I’m fifty-seven, now, by Argottean standard year reckoning,” Doopo said. “I thought it best to come back at this age rather than younger. Forty-three, please check Dadi. I think he needs a mild sedative.”

“Yes, mistress,” the robot said.

“How is Zzppd?” Thabbt asked.

“He aborted the fetus,” Forty-three said. “Fortunately, it occurred after nano-meds had been injected and located the cell mass. They were able to reattach the fetus to an undamaged area of the womb and will remain in place until it is safe to leave. The patient will be kept in a somnolent state for the time being. You are well, though somewhat agitated as can be expected from a human inexperienced in the ways of the ’xrsc. I will give you something to calm you.”

Thabbt saw the needle and felt the spasms enveloping his body. He wouldn’t remember vomiting, shitting, or urinating as his body was overcome by unwanted memories of many, many needles piercing his skin in many, many places at various times during the Minto torture.

* * * * * * *

“Hi,” a small child said to Thabbt when he woke.

“Who are you?” Thabbt asked.

“You don’t remember?” the child asked as tears welled up into its eyes. “Nimmy, Dadi Thabbt doesn’t remember me.”

“Good afternoon, Dadi,” Doopo said. She leaned down and kissed Thabbt on the forehead. “Run along Dimmo, find your sister and ask her to play with you.”

“Why doesn’t he remember me?” Dimmo asked. He hadn’t made a move to leave.

“Because he hasn’t met you, yet,” Doopo said. “You remember this is before you were born.”

“Oh, yes, he wouldn’t remember me,” Dimmo said in a small voice. “I’m Dimmo; I’m one of your nimbas. Isn’t that right, Nimmy?”

“Yes, it is dear, now run along,” Doopo said.

“Who is he?” Thabbt asked.

“Well, like he said, he’s one of your nimbas,” Doopo said. “He’s Ssthaat’s youngest. He was visiting when Zzppd got sick. It was easier to bring Dimmo and his sister here, than trust Benz to take care of them. He feeds them chocolate cake for breakfast. Can you imagine that?”

“What’s chocolate cake?” Thabbt asked.

“Sorry, I keep forgetting you’re still here on Bazt Four,” Doopo said. “Well, after your wedding, we’ll have to get you and Zzppd to visit.”

“How is Zzppd?” Thabbt asked as a spasm raced down his leg.

“A lot better than you,” Doopo said. “I think he’s looking at a cookbook UMS sent over. It’s from Belenda. It’s full of beach food. I swear, they’re always going to some picnic.”

“Doopo, you’re confusing me,” Thabbt said. “I’m a simple Bazt who’s never left Bazt Four. Oh, no, not that, again.”

A spasm raced up Thabbt’s leg and into his abdomen. His cock hardened and immediately ejaculated. He looked up at Doopo as she brought the needle close to him. He startled himself from the loudness of his scream, but the drug that was injected quickly calmed him until he fell asleep.

“What’re you doing in here?” Zzppd asked as he practically ran into the bedroom. He saw the needle in Doopo’s hand. “Give that to me, now. You cannot use needles to inject medicine into Thabbt. He is deathly afraid of them.”

“We’ll have to use suppositories,” the ’xrsc medical robot said as it appeared in the room. “The reaction is from his experience with the Minto. We will have to adjust his memories. I’ll order the nanos.”

“Rather abrupt, aren’t they?” Zzppd said.

“They’re ’xrsc, they don’t have emotions,” Doopo said. “If you’re around them enough, you get used to them. I’m sorry I gave Dadi the injection, I though he needed it.”

“He did, but not with a needle,” Zzppd said. “Will this ’xrsc cure work? They tried a time shift, but I guess it wasn’t strong enough to handle the sight of needles.”

“Nanotechnology has been around since before the dispersals from Terra,” Doopo said. “Some think bad nanos were responsible for all those mutations, including ours. How about some soup?”

“Bumpti?” Zzppd asked with a smile.

“No! I’ll have the food prep make some chicken stock and we’ll have cream of broccoli,” Doopo said.

“What is chicken stock?” Zzppd asked.

“On Terra, a bumpti is a bird that doesn’t swim and is called chicken,” Doopo said, “but they’re still good to eat and taste like a thousand different animals that you wouldn’t eat unless it tasted like bumpti and was smothered in Minto blue sauce. Frankly, I prefer the green.”