Read Online Fiction River: Moonscapes by Fiction River - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Fiction River
Tags: Fiction
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Paqil, just a simple brown teddy bear with black satin paws and blue buttons for eyes. She had carried it everywhere with her—and it was cradled in her arms when I found her, its head turned toward her chest just as this girl was doing with her bear. Turned away so it wouldn’t see.
Strawn moaned. I looked at the bloody mess I had made of his face. He may not have hit his daughter so far, but someday he would. Or worse. Once I left, he would do his best to ruin me, but it would all be worth it if I could somehow make him into the kind of father his daughter deserved. But no matter how many times I hit him, it wouldn’t change his nature, and there was no way I could be there watching his every move.
I grabbed the scruff of his shirt and pulled his face up to mine. He blinked at me, his eyes full of hatred.
“Here’s the thing,” I said. “I can’t make your wife go to the police. But this bear is watching, you see. And that means I’m watching. I had a few tweaks made to its programming. If it runs again, it runs directly to me. It’s also now got a pulse-feed set up to the nex-links, and that pulse stops the moment the bear is destroyed or is inactive for too long in some box or someone even tries to tamper with it—which means I’ll know. Got it? I’ll know. Plus I’m coming back here for a little unannounced visit. It might be in a few days. It might be in a few months. You won’t know when. And I’m going to take this bear to someone who can show me what it’s seen. If I find out you’ve been hitting her, or your little girl, or somehow you still managed to get the bear’s memory wiped, I’m going to hurt you. I’m going to hurt you bad .”
It wasn’t fear I saw blooming in his eyes, so much as recognition. It may have been a hollow threat coming from another man, but he knew it wasn’t from me. After all, my reputation preceded me.
I lowered him to the ground. Alexa continued cradling the bear, her dress billowing around her legs. I watched her, thinking about Linna, thinking about all the ways I had let her down.
The evening light was fading, the wind turning cool. I started down the stairs, thinking about taking a vacation, despite my bleak finances. I had been on precious few vacations in my life, but I imagined that somewhere out there was a warm beach under a hot sun, with an endless stretch of blue ocean that could wash away even the worst of my memories. And there would be a moon in the sky. And it would be a good moon—always present, always watchful, always reminding me that there were more important things in life than money or power.
“I’m an important man, Duff!” Strawn shouted after me. “You’ll regret this!”
I didn’t turn and look at him, but I spoke loud enough for him to hear.
“Maybe,” I said, “but at least I won’t regret it today.”
Introduction to “ The Payment”
The average writer flirts with a few careers before turning to full-time writing, but Maggie Jaimeson is no ordinary writer. She’s had careers in everything from family and marriage counseling to software design and development before settling (for a while) in academia. Maggie also managed to publish a lot of science fiction short stories between 1979 and 1989, then turned to non-fiction. In 2004, she returned to fiction. As a full-time novelist, she routinely crosses genres, writing everything from SF and fantasy to romance and suspense.
About “The Payment,” she writes, “Throughout history those who do not conform to the norms of the day are killed, imprisoned or shipped to faraway places. When faced with writing a story for Moonscapes , I immediately thought of the isolation of traveling to an unknown place and how one survives. Some find great freedom in isolation while others search for blame. Exploring that juxtaposition interests me, and ‘The Payment’ is one part of that journey.”
The Payment
Maggie Jaimeson
Carrie James stood stone
Strawn moaned. I looked at the bloody mess I had made of his face. He may not have hit his daughter so far, but someday he would. Or worse. Once I left, he would do his best to ruin me, but it would all be worth it if I could somehow make him into the kind of father his daughter deserved. But no matter how many times I hit him, it wouldn’t change his nature, and there was no way I could be there watching his every move.
I grabbed the scruff of his shirt and pulled his face up to mine. He blinked at me, his eyes full of hatred.
“Here’s the thing,” I said. “I can’t make your wife go to the police. But this bear is watching, you see. And that means I’m watching. I had a few tweaks made to its programming. If it runs again, it runs directly to me. It’s also now got a pulse-feed set up to the nex-links, and that pulse stops the moment the bear is destroyed or is inactive for too long in some box or someone even tries to tamper with it—which means I’ll know. Got it? I’ll know. Plus I’m coming back here for a little unannounced visit. It might be in a few days. It might be in a few months. You won’t know when. And I’m going to take this bear to someone who can show me what it’s seen. If I find out you’ve been hitting her, or your little girl, or somehow you still managed to get the bear’s memory wiped, I’m going to hurt you. I’m going to hurt you bad .”
It wasn’t fear I saw blooming in his eyes, so much as recognition. It may have been a hollow threat coming from another man, but he knew it wasn’t from me. After all, my reputation preceded me.
I lowered him to the ground. Alexa continued cradling the bear, her dress billowing around her legs. I watched her, thinking about Linna, thinking about all the ways I had let her down.
The evening light was fading, the wind turning cool. I started down the stairs, thinking about taking a vacation, despite my bleak finances. I had been on precious few vacations in my life, but I imagined that somewhere out there was a warm beach under a hot sun, with an endless stretch of blue ocean that could wash away even the worst of my memories. And there would be a moon in the sky. And it would be a good moon—always present, always watchful, always reminding me that there were more important things in life than money or power.
“I’m an important man, Duff!” Strawn shouted after me. “You’ll regret this!”
I didn’t turn and look at him, but I spoke loud enough for him to hear.
“Maybe,” I said, “but at least I won’t regret it today.”
Introduction to “ The Payment”
The average writer flirts with a few careers before turning to full-time writing, but Maggie Jaimeson is no ordinary writer. She’s had careers in everything from family and marriage counseling to software design and development before settling (for a while) in academia. Maggie also managed to publish a lot of science fiction short stories between 1979 and 1989, then turned to non-fiction. In 2004, she returned to fiction. As a full-time novelist, she routinely crosses genres, writing everything from SF and fantasy to romance and suspense.
About “The Payment,” she writes, “Throughout history those who do not conform to the norms of the day are killed, imprisoned or shipped to faraway places. When faced with writing a story for Moonscapes , I immediately thought of the isolation of traveling to an unknown place and how one survives. Some find great freedom in isolation while others search for blame. Exploring that juxtaposition interests me, and ‘The Payment’ is one part of that journey.”
The Payment
Maggie Jaimeson
Carrie James stood stone
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