Chapter Eleven: Miss Pearl — Part 1

“I made the Gash, you know.” Chen said half-heartedly as he sipped on a half filled snifter of warm sweetened brandy. “I came from the other side of the sky, and boy did I come down hard. In fact, I came down so hard that apparently I split in two, which is why the gash has two legs.”

Bamboo tilted his head slightly, conveying a sense of disbelief, knowing better than to question a self-appointed planetary overlord. Chen sucked on a cigar, the smoke from which he blew into his snifter. After allowing the aroma of the two toxins to mingle, he inhaled the smoke back into his lungs, and exhaled. If Chen noticed Bamboo’s lack of trust, he didn’t express it verbally. In that sense, the two had each other at a disadvantage, because most of Bamboo’s emotions for the event were intentionally fabricated so as to encourage continued conversation. Bamboo sipped a little brandy to settle his mind. Chen continued the discussion with no small amount of lightheartedness. Chen had taken him to a study, where the two sat alone, entertaining notions as commonplace as pissing in a bender suit before shifting to more personal topics. The study, which Bamboo couldn’t see, was crammed with books, and a lone servant, ever courteous, tended to Chen with some considerable civility.

“I know it seems unfathomable, but I have eye witnesses that described every last detail of my arrival. The Bugs told me all about myself after I woke up and grew to a position of power. I don’t think you would like who I was before the fall, but the Bugs were certain that I was not to be held accountable for crimes I had no memory of committing.” Chen paused. “I suspect you don’t like me much now.”

“I hardly know you.” Bamboo admitted. “Jun’s opinion of you is rather complicated.” He sipped his brandy, “I’m sorry again, that Nikkei couldn’t be here. She had business on Earth that she simply could not be drawn from.”

“Yes, on Earth.” Chen paused. “Word comes back to me of a treaty and a man named Quet, and a need for me to stay home, which is why I invited you to me rather than just stopping in at your quaint little dive on Earth for a drink and a discussion. I’m glad one of you could come, at any rate. I can see why Jun was so endeared to you.”

“Perhaps we can discuss why you have requested my presence specifically, rather than, say, Orchid.” Bamboo said.

“Because you and I are kindred souls. Like you, I am also in love. And like you, part of me is missing. She left with another, a lover I think, fled my feel for her, this person who I can’t remember but know as part of who I am. I felt her as she came of age, and then she was gone, fleeing the sensitivities of my mind. You will find her, I hope, before Quet does. He will crave her, no doubt, as we have both fought on her behalf before. The Bugs warned me of this history — they are really quite charming little historians, all things considered. If she is not wise enough to request asylum on Earth, I can hope that you will grant it to her and whomever it is she has taken as her lover, grant them the protection I cannot provide.”

“How much of your past do you remember, Master Chen?” Bamboo asked, curious.

“Only waking on a beach, looking for others like me. Given her uncanny talents, I had hoped Nikkei could tell me something that might help me to make sense of my life, of my longing for this part of me that I fear I can never have again.”

“I don’t know how deep into history Nikkei’s talents can take her.” Bamboo said. “I don’t know if she can see things that have happened that are not directly a part of that person’s current consciousness.”

“I only know what the Bugs told me, and what I’ve read in the historical archives on the behavior of the ones who had my genetic profile, those who were me with more memories: Those who were born and dissolved before me. I commissioned a painting of that part of me that has fled my world. She sits behind us over the mantle, she does not share my DNA, oddly enough. If you could return that image to those who can see, and if she does indeed have the same form in this life as she did so many centuries past, maybe I can find out why I feel so incomplete without her.”

“Glyph has scanned the image, sir, and I will return the minutes of this meeting to Orchid and Nikkei.” Bamboo said, standing to leave. “I should hope that if you do choose to leave Zon, you would not make yourself a stranger, but feel welcome to visit us.”

“I assure you, dear sir, that if necessity forces my hand, and I do travel to Earth, I will accept your hospitality, rather than risk hostility.” Chen said, smiling despite himself.