Vurt 2 - Pollen by Noon Jeff

Author:Noon, Jeff
Language: eng
Format: epub

Zero Clegg called me at 11.55 a.m., Saturday morning, asking if I’d been listening to the Gumbo lately? “No, no, don’t answer,” he said, before I could say anything. “It’s obvious you haven’t, Sib, from your reaction.”

“What’s he broadcasting now?” I asked. “A list of all known Mooners?” Another half-a-dozen Mooner corpses had been uncovered during the night.

“It’s worse than that.”

“Tell me.”

Zero went quiet for a moment, which was unusual. Something was wrong. I have lived one hundred and fifty-two years, and have lived through many, many strange and surprising times, but the words I heard that day over the telephone will forever be part of my deepest Shadow. Zero played me a tape recording of Gumbo YaYa’s show broadcast that same morning, from 11.42 to 11.45. It started with a piece of music fading away, and then a voice coming in over the top of the last moments. Except that it wasn’t Gumbo’s voice, it was a woman’s voice…

“This is Boda the maverick cabber calling the people of Manchester from the Gumbo wave. (FOUR SECONDS OF SILENCE) My name is now Belinda Jones. That’s my pre-cabian name. I never killed Coyote, and I never would have done. Xcabs are lying about my cab-whereabouts; I was never at Alex Park at that time. Columbus tried to blame me. Maybe I knew too much about his secret schemes, or maybe I just loved Coyote too much. I never got the proper chance to express it. He was taken from me early, too early. (TWO SECONDS’ SILENCE) I’m determined to find out who did murder him. Coyote picked up a passenger named Persephone on his last-ever trip. Columbus set Coyote up for this ride. The Cops are helping the King Cab. Chief Kracker himself… Kracker tried to kill me. Keep trying, dumb-fucker cop. Persephone is a young girl, age of ten or eleven. She may be the source of the fever. Anyone with information can ring the YaYa number. He’ll pass it on to me. (TWO SECONDS) Pollen Count is at 1607 and rising. (FIVE SECONDS) Gumbo is going to play Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby (Standing in the Shadow) by The Rolling Stones. Which is a special request going out to Sibyl Jones of the Manchester Cops. You seen any good Vurtball matches lately, Sibyl? (TWO SECONDS) I’ll be back at one o’clock with an update. Take it away, Mick and the boys. (THREE SECONDS) Erm… was that okay, Gumbo?”

And then another voice, the Gumbo’s: “That was just fine, kid. Aaaaccchhhhhoooooossshhhhhhh!!! Pardon me. And more from the maverick cabber later on today. 1.00 p.m. Stay turned on now, you hear?”

And then the music started, and Zero turned off the recording and came back on line. But he didn’t say anything. I could hear his wheezing, feverish breath in the darkness of my Shadow, which was trembling with closure. He sneezed over the line and then said, “You know what this means? Gumbo has claimed your daughter.”

“What can I do, Zero? I want her back.

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