Space Tripping With the Shredded Orphans

Chapter Eight - Shredded Orphans, They're Not Just for Breakfast

Once everyone was up and had eaten, Lix went to find Geo again. He saw little Arnie sitting with Geo. Geo was writing letters with the burnt end of a stick on a small sheet of metal.

"Am I interrupting school?" Lix asked. He was impressed with the boy's progress.

Reading and writing were prohibited for slaves, with very few exceptions. Lix's mother had taught him to read and write in secret when he was very young. He would always be thankful to his mom for that bit of knowledge. It had saved him more than once before.

"Good morning, Gene," Geo said. "Have a seat."

"Actually, it's Lix now. I changed it when I switched over to the Music Industry Department. I thought it would be more catchy for the whole seismic rock image," Lix informed him.

"Go find your mother." Geo handed Arnie the metal sheet.

"Cute kid." Lix watched Arnie go.

"He's my life," Geo said gazing after the boy. Then he turned back to Lix. "I guess we have some things to discuss."

"Oh, definitely. Thanks for everything you've done. We really appreciate it," Lix said. Then added to himself, 'Except for the bump on the head and taking all our stuff.'

"Thank you," Geo corrected. "It's not everyday that we get visitors."

Lix raised his eyebrows. Did they ever get any visitors?

"We were in need of a few supplies. Most of our things are starting to wear out or break. We've been here quite a while."

"So I've heard," Lix said. "You keep what you need, but we'd like to take a few things and get going as soon as we can."

"Well," Geo began slowly, "as soon as you can, but after you've helped us. You did promise to help us, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Lix replied. "We promised to do that. No problem. What do you need?"

"We never really needed much. We were just so glad to be free, most of us anyway. I think we can use your blasters to cut some trees. Those will really come in handy. With those and your help, we can make living here a little more comfortable," Geo finished, giving Lix a meaningful look.

Lix realized that Geo did not mean to give the blasters back. That was a blow since it was no easy task acquiring them in the first place. He also had an uneasy feeling that although they had not been killed last night, it may not be as easy to leave this place as he was led to believe.

"I'm ready. What should we do first?" Lix said with a false air of enthusiasm.

"I'd like to build a house out here in the clearing. It would be some place where we could gather and have meals or hold school. I think we could really use a place like that," Geo said.

"I'll just get the others and meet you back here," Lix turned and walked away.

Lix found Ophelia, Mac, Justice, and Chitto sitting on the ground gathered around several of the younger ex-advertising slaves. They were watching a show on his former comm cuff. On the ground was his ear bud sitting on an old style Ear Wair™ speaker dock.

"Are you getting a signal?" Lix asked. He subconsciously touched his ear, feeling naked without his ear bud.

"Sure," Tryphan answered. "We can get a signal when it's not being blocked and the weather is good. These new comm cuffs are orbital. It's changed a lot since we've been gone, hasn't it?"

Lix eyed the young man. He must be about nineteen, twenty? His hair was long and he had the beginnings of a beard. No one said 'orbital' anymore. He sighed. "Yeah, I think it has changed a bit since you've been out here."