Chapter 9

As soon as I got back to my pad I looked up my standing at the Bank of Uranus. The balance looked better than I hoped. I checked the incomings and saw the last one was from a Bank on Earth. 20,000K. ref. Veronica and to check my mail.

I asked the house computer to read me any new mail especially any from Earth.

‘Only one item fits that description, Sir. From a Miss Lake.’

Some people have their house computers humanized so they can have them wait on them as well as run all the household that in Franklin Roosevelt’s day would have  been at least 50 head. I prefer to have mine just for conversation. No extra body to get in the way cleaning the bath when I want a shit.

‘So Brian read it to me’ The seductive tones took me back to the Tango.

‘Hi Fats, thanks for the gig. It got a bit out of hand, but fortunately no one of any import got whacked. For the extra scenes you had to put in I have credited your account with 20,000K over the agency fees, so no deductions Honey. Just for your chubby little butt. So long and spend it wisely. If I need you I’ll whistle’.

‘Is that it? No forwarding address. I would like to meet her as me, mess around, shoot the fat, plus the extras.’

‘That is all Sir, shall I read the other messages?’

‘No save them for later I need to relax, I don’t want to hear from nobody who wants to lighten my wallet.’ I popped a zoomer and got ready for a quiet night.

                                                            **************

I was in the middle of a dream set to X rated on the dream ometer when I was rudely coitus interrupted by the cell burring at me using its frantic this is urgent note. I looked at the clock. 3 frigging 30. I had been in dreamland for exactly 30 mins.

Brian I thought I told you no interruptions, the phone ringing at 3.30 is not , no interruptions.

‘I am sorry sir but is a code red emergency call’.

‘Code red. I don’t get code red, only people of importance, like the Queen, get code red.’

‘Tell them to Fuck Off, I’m busy.’

‘No can do sir, you have to answer it’

I am resigned to answer it. Brian switches me over to sight and sound. A hologram of Veronica Lake appears at the bottom of my bed. She looks me in the eye and pouts.

Well if this is a code red call, then bring it on. I have just woken up from an Xdream starring her and me.

‘Hi Fats’ This must be her moniker for me for I am no longer in Fats guise but just me, and she must know my name code to buzz me. But if Fats is what she wants to call me then Fats it is.

‘You must have some power to pull a code red call. Is this national emergency?’

She moves around and sits on the end of my crib. Crosses right leg over left and leans in. I know this is only a hologram, but I am convinced she is right there.

‘Listen Honey, the man who was whacked at the fish fry, was a real cop. It was not part of the show.’

‘So’

‘So the IGPD are sniffing around, and I’m No.1 suspect’.

‘So you should be, it was you after all who nailed his head to the wall’

‘But that is the point, it was not me but someone who was prossed up to be me.’

‘One of the dilemmas of the Galactic age, how do you tell who is who. How do I know that you are who you say you are. You cannot possibly be the real Veronica Lake.’

‘I have a very good surgeon.’

I had to admit he was indeed very good. She was perfect. Even the voice.

‘So what now?’

‘I need to get you to a recall station and playback your memories of the night. The false Veronica may not have paid the top dollar for the makeover and we may be able to spot some nuances that place her there and not me.’

‘Incidentally, where were you?’

‘I was having a night in with a book club novel I had been saving for a perfect evening chez moi.’

‘Not helpful.’

‘Look Veronica, I have a very busy schedule, tonight I am doing a Cecil Tailor concert over on the Ice planet. I have to get prossed up and be over there by 1900, and you are keeping me from my rest period.’

‘I’ll book the recall station and give you the coordinates, oh and there will be a fee. Nothing is for nothing in this world.’

                                                ****************

Cecil Percival Taylor (born March 25, 1929) was an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor was generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music was characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and intricate polyrhythms. His piano technique hds been likened to percussion, for example described as "eighty-eight tuned drums" (referring to the number of keys on a standard piano. He has also been compared to "Art Tatum with contemporary-classical leanings."

The Ice Planet was as described is covered in ice except for a temperate region around the equator which is a lake of fresh water. The Winter Olympics are held there every 20 years split between the other four ice planets in the galaxy. Gravity is 0.6 of Earth, the standard by which all gravity is measured. It’s major export is, guess what, water.

Still, sparkling, interfered with, etc. The people there are mostly of north European stock and have that moody temperament to go with it. That is why Cecil Taylor goes down so well there. I go as him at least five time a year, playing the Olympic stadium which is all carved out of the ice. The acoustics are fantastic. The sound seems to have moulded out the perfect reflectors in the ice for the faintest overtone to be heard in the gallery seats without electronic enhancement. I look forward to this gig immensely. Cecil Tayor is the 20^th century piano player who is closest to my own sound and ideas. I could play him without the chip.

After Veronica had gone, I went over to the piano, a full grand, Bechstein copy, self tuning, a gift from a happy punter, and played myself into a calmer mood. As an entertainer you expect to see some strange things. You travel the Gallaxy  giving your all to the arts and hope for some little reward and hopefully leave behind a happy crowd. You don’t expect one of the punters to follow you home and turn your world upside down. As stunningly beautiful as she is Veronica or whatever her real name is trouble with a capital T. She must have some pull to track me down and use a code red call to get me to stand up and listen. I get the feeling she did whack that cop, and is trying to find a scapegoat . Well count me out Honey I ‘aint playing.

After a few hours of warming up I am ready for prosthetics. But first a sandwich and glass of original Ale from Brooklyn still brewed to the same formula as it was in the 1970’s back on Earth.

‘Brian’

‘Yes sir’, What’s in the fridge?’ This is a regular call just to wind him up. We don’t have fridges we have transopsers which can create any dish from anywhere, but when you are on the road especially in olden times, transopsers have not been invented yet, so I like to keep my hand at choosing a dish, so I’m not flumuxed on an assignment.

‘We have Tuna and sweetcorn’. This is him winding me up, he knows I hate sweet corn in a sandwich especially with tuna, and all that yucky mayo they stick it in with.

‘Brian, I don’t have time for badinage, I am on a tight schedule.’Give me a salt beef on rye, with a gherkin, and a glass of Brooklyn, and heavy on the mustard.’

‘I have Zeno on the line Sir, are you in?’

‘Fuck I’d forgotten all about her what with one thing and another. Zeno is my latest sex toy. You wouldn’t know her from the real thing. That is because she is the real thing, pretending not to be for extra excitement. The double take double take. The only problem is, that she is expensive. Cheaper than a wife I agree, but non the less a big hole in my income. I met her on a gig back last month. She was playing a Lindy Hopper, all short skirt and ankle socks. When we dematerialized together and stood in our own skin so to speak, we liked the look of each other. And she was good enough to explain her terms to me. Exclusive she was top Dollar. A one night stand, reasonable. I opted for the one nighter, but she has crept up on me and now she is exclusive. With the extra moolah in the bank from Veronica, she is not such a heavy burden this month so I accept the call.