Maysie's Galaxy ONC 2023

Rescue

"Oh, man, now that's a woman worth marrying on sight." Janis Caune whistled as their suited tracker rounded the dip of the asteroid supporting a tall wild woman decked out in furs.

Mobo Ethan Abimbola, better known as "That Yoruban Maniac" spat out his half-chewed cigar in distaste, thinning his lips as he carefully considered what concisely he wanted to say to Janis' ignorance. "That's exactly why the boss put the finds under a betrothal contract. You're to keep your hands off her, boy."

"No offense, no offense!" Janis raised his hands in mock surrender. "She looks half chewed up by life right now. I'm talking about how tough she appears to be, which is hard to come by on the main continent. She looks like she'd bear many sons and daughters and beat you upside the head if you showed an ounce of disrespect--a throwback to the grannies that were alive before man landed on the moon."

Ethan narrowed his eyes, speculating. "She might be feral. Those types don't integrate--they tend to die when forced to be human. That's why she's protected until the boss can make an assessment--just like any woman found on the edges of the Turtle."

"Man, why aren't men protected like that?"

"Men found out here are nightmare fuel." Brittany Brigman's voice cut out from her suit's speaker. "She seems to be aware that men are dangerous because she didn't relax until I spoke."

"Damn, I may have to reassess my statement," Janis muttered. "She may be too weak."

Ethan had enough and smacked the back side of his head. "Get out there on that bulge, Demolition Donut."

Their boss had a 6th sense about when the turtle would choke on a spacial body and sent them out right as the dumb thing swallowed Ceres whole. Conventional travel worked well until the dropoff from the shell, despite it being wilder than the armpit of hell past the continental remnants. Those logistics were Ethan's concern. Janis did nothing more than find the weak spot in the asteroid and then irritated the bird into coming and attacking its own neck until it cracked the asteroid. Everyone else remained a safe distance back, in case Janis didn't make it out in time.

The young man ran screeching down the incline from the back to the small hump that was the base of the distended neck. Ethan gestured for the rest of the crew to fall back under the shell's shelf, where the feathers were short but dense. The only way the turtle could crush them was by retreating its whole neck and head. A crew of 20 armed men stood at the edge, watching Janis act a fool by shooting at the neck, and setting off fireworks. That sharp little beak whipped around quickly, making a lie of how much time it took to travel that distance.

The tall stranger let out a strangled shriek as the turtle landed its first blow into Ceres. The crack was deafening, causing the head to whip back around and away from the pain it caused itself.

Then came their lone madman, dancing like a lunatic with his arms stretched up for victory. He was singing something, but it wasn't clear until he was closer: something about catching and serving and telling people off.

Ethan grimaced. "I hate The White Stripes."

"That's because there are only 7 nations left, and you can't stand the idea of all that might fall to little me."

The Yoruban Maniac didn't disagree. Janis wasn't a threat to many people, which is why he fantasized about women strong enough to break him. But he was smart enough to be able to enrage all that was left of society into hunting him down, which meant that one day the remnant of their world would choke to death and the miracle that was the rest of their lives would die.

Like many of those who found themselves with odd quirks that were hard to claim as assets yet served a purpose in this mad world, Janis had a self-destructive streak that was only lessened by his ego.

"Head up!" Ethan bellowed.

The men moved out immediately, including the insane nut that had a few of the younger men laughing at his antics--the usual stress relief since they weren't sure what they'd meet on the way back to what was left of Gibraltar.

Ethan turned to Brittany. "Leave the woman to me, go get out that diving suit, alright?"

"Yes sir! " She had to peel the tall woman's grip off her. "He's not going to hurt you, miss."

She stood without aid but wobbled severely. Ethan had seen this before, on the rim of everything, especially off the fins of the turtle. "You got the bends, don't you?"

The woman nodded, staggering. Ethan went to brace her in much the same way as Brittany did, which she gingerly accepted. "What's your name, miss?"

"I was born Susan May Hornsby, but I'm never called that, just Maysie."

"Understood. I'm called Ethan because Mobo and Abimbola are hard on white tongues."

"You're Black?" Maysie couldn't remember seeing a descendant of Africa before--she didn't expect someone with deep brown skin that was beautiful to stare at. Alder was brown, and there was a world of difference in their tones. In fact, her pale skin and tawny hair were far closer to her father's than Alder was to this man.

"Yoruba tribe out of Nigeria, not just a skin color but a whole history I could grasp with my own hands--although my tribe's lands slumped off. You?"

" Out of Sioux City."

"So, right off that sinkhole."

"Yeah, and too young to know my background. I grew up with a half-Sioux named Alder."

They reached the slope of the shoulder, where it joined the shell and was a shallow climb. Ethan paused before going up.

"Miss, remember to never use African American on Africa's children."

"I remember that being used in texts, but Alder stuck with black. What's wrong with African American?

"Nothing, except most blacks that are left have no ties with America. Black is just a bad choice for skin tone. There's no one truly black or white. But African American screams of stripping Yoruba from me."

He waited until she nodded, mask still in place. He hauled her up over his shoulder and grasped the tank in the hand underneath her as he free-climbed the rim of the shell, where hands awaited to lift them over the lip of the new world.

His strength shocked her a little.