Sirens, page 8
That's what frightens me; it diminishes me in some way.' 70 He shook his
head. It's your fear that diminishes you, Ase.' s stared back at him
defiantly. NN me home with me.' Fot tonight,' she said, opening the
door. The muscles of her jumped and twitched as she watched the limo
disappear the hillside. at night, wrapped in her bedcovers, she dreamt
of a time gone: the days of Woodstock. People for as far as she see in
all directions. Fringes swinging and beads clicking the beat of some
cosmic clock; hair streaming across g eyes, down bare backs like the
manes of sweating . The air is humid with dope. Here, beside her, a
couple e love oblivious to the forest of humanity around them, a man in
a tangled ponytail lifts his pink, naked son over head while a
stringbean of a boy is lofted upon the surface he throng, head lolling
insensate - tripped too far on acid, : the well - and he is directed on
the moving litter of s towards the first-aid station, sent there with
love. st of the announcements floats through the air as prelude e music
running rampant like a long-caged bull stampedthrough the crowd like a
living thing. What are they saying the loudspeaker? Over half a million
souls camped here, ing, yearning. And what a cheer that announcement I
An entire generation displaying their solidarity in the of Aquarius,
brought together by the war; there are no before them, merely the muse
of the music echoing loud, r, loudest in order to drown out the din of
death in the ,, snouted submachine guns flickering and napalm g, a
hideous rain of gelatinous fire. Hell no, we won't go! d the music rages
on, trumpeting their defiance, incant in its adamantine resolve,
igniting a firestorm in her or, perhaps more accurately, triggering the
sunshine dropped. images leap and squeal like laser bursts as her body
les in the bass' vast booming, a miniature earthquake ding her in a
physical web. ring this long celebration she has cooked for the crowd,
ripped denims for strangers who became family in the 71 close communal
atmosphere, been thrown up on and, some time yesterday - or was it the
day before? - saved a frail young girl from swallowing her own tongue
during an epileptic seizure as violent as the music. She has eaten
little and slept not at all and now, in the midst of the milling throng,
she sits back and is taken by forces she does not comprehend, losing for
a moment her humanity, slipping atavistically into the millennia,
becoming pure animal. Abruptly there is a shattering as if she has
caused all the mirrors of time to come crashing down. She arises to see
herself one dot among the countless masses, part of a throbbing organic
conglomerate and, twisting herself around, sees only the sea of
humanity, and feels herself lost as if there is no longer any her, any
Daina, left at all but only a great seething they. She is a cog in a
wheel, a cell in a body, a spoke on a mandala that is turning at a rate
of speed, she realizes now, not of her own choosing. She feels immersed
in a depthless sea, drowning on a tide she never even suspected existed.
She turns. The music rattling her bones as if they were plastic. Faces,
faces, a torrent of faces bobbing, rushing at her like raindrops. Then
Daina is gone and she realizes that she too is but a raindrop.
Terrified, she leaves. She leavts. She leaves. It takes a long time.
Like leaving Manhattan on and on. Faster and faster, gaining a kind of
crazed momentum. Houses without end rush by her. People without end.
Faces like windows, doorways, backstreets. Until, at last, trees, grass,
the wind and, above her head, the vast blue-and-grey-streaked sky,
echoing. And, having left, she is spent. , Heather was on her knees,
gently lifting James' head up from the spreading pool of his own blood,
cradling it against her thighs. Her arms were streaked red. ',' she
whispered. ', James, whatever possessed you to do such a foolish thing?'
His eyes opened, large and blue, and be tried to smile at her.
His lips were moving but there was nothing coming out save an odd,
chilling kind of chirping that had only a passing resemblance to human
speech. 72 tried to claw her way to where they were but took her by the
back of her blouse, jerking her s and away. sorry,' she said to Heather.
"I'm sorry.' around them, the terrorists were rounding up the rest
people. The Americans and the Frenchmen were uncomfortably together on
the plush sofa; the two MPs stood huddled on the far side of the marble
ce as members of the cadre began to bind their wrists One of the
terrorists brought the maid and butler shoved them angrily down at the
feet of the MPs. a wave of his arm, El-Kalaarn sent four of his men e to
scour the grounds and patrol. ther.' It was a croak. h, Jamie.' The
sound of her own voice or his set her off mg again. ' were right.
They want their land back.' took her face out of her hands, looked
hopefully at him. they said if we co-operate with them, we'll be out of
soon enough.' n't do it, Heather! His eyelids were drooping. f course
I'm going to do it,' she said hotly. ' sooner nightmare ... is over, the
sooner we'll be able to get a in here to fix you up.' that what they
told you?' He shifted a little in her arms, " Inouth twisting in pain. '
mind about me. You just ber not to believe a word they say.' in one
comer near the front door, a tall thin man with a moustache looked up
from his fallen compatriot. The of his hand was across the wounded
terrorist's forehead. laam, he's delirious.' bearded man, who had been
conferring with Malaguez, rt, broad-shouldered man who was almost bald,
looked .?'Will he begin making noises?' t has already begun,' the man
said. ' cannot help elf.' ithout another word, El-Kalaam strode across
the room making certain every hostage could see what he was g,
unsheathed a hunting knife. It had a twelve-inch blade shot light-sparks
from its gleaming, surface. El-Kalaarn 73 bent and, without preamble,
made a quick, violent motion with the edge of the blade against the
wounded man's exposed throat. There came a soft, horrible gurgling and
the body, gripped by the tall man, jumped as if speared. A froth of
blood formed on the dead man's lips just as if he were a child blowing
bubbles. El-Kalaam wiped his blade on the dead man's trousers with two
economical movements, sheathed the weapon at his left hip. He jerked his
head. ' two, take him outside.' ' Godp Heather whispered hoarsely to her
husband. ' just murdered one of his own men.' il'm not surprised,' James
said thickly. ''s a professional, Heather. Beware of him. Words are only
a political expedient for a man like him. He speaks merely to set the
stage for his actions.' ' right,' El-Kalaam said, looking across the
roorn. ''s enough for them. Rita.' The statuesque woman took three
strides, reached out, jerked Heather to her feet. ' along now,' she said
harshly. '?" Heather was bewildered. ' can't just leave him like that.'
' had your time with him,' Rita said. ' did you expect? That we would
bandage him up for you and send the two of you on your way?' She
laughed, a musical sound at odds with her tone of voice. ', no.' ' that
isn@t fairp '?' Rita scowled. '? What is fair in life? Is it fair that
we should be deprived of our homeland? Is it fair that our women and
children are starving to death? That our men are tortured and butchered
by the Zionist pigs?' She shook her head violently. '! Don't dare talk
to me of fairness. There is none in this world.' ' want someone to -
aaahp Rita had grabbed her arm, forcing it around behind her back. ' of
this 1 Come with mep El-Kalaam came towards them.
"What is going on here?' He looked from Heather to Rita. ' gave you a
simple order. I expect it to be carried out.' 74 ', being carried out,'
Rita insisted. ' just -2 herto me-'he began. Heather screamed.
"Bastard to do such a -2 El-Kalaam was like a snake lashing out at her,
pulling her f her eet. '!' he cried frenziedly. ' are you trying
X;@p'do?' -Heather pulled away from Rita, began to fight him off.
xv '" Marion yelled, leaping up off his chair. ' He past the gaping
crew. ', George, what the hell think you're about?' His hands spread as
he attempted pry George Altavos, the actor who played El-Kalaam, away
Daina. ' -V t`What does this bitch mean by ad-libbing lines on mev They
were struggling now, all three of them in the centre of set while
everyone stood as still as statues awaiting the ome. And as they fought,
a whispering sprang up - not any one discernible source but from
everywhere at Alfbis is my scenev George yelled, now grabbing at Marion
' as he was at Daina. ies how we damn well rehearsed Now she's adding
lines -2 ill you, for the love of God, calm yourself!' Marion was Yasmin
who broke the deadlock. She played Rita now she thrust herself between
Daina and George with force that Marion was obliged to grasp George's
arm in not to be spun away.
smin,' he said, panting, and the dark-haired woman Daina by the elbow,
led her off the set until they could ger hear George's rantings. hat
sonofabitch!' Daina cried, flinging herself away from in's grip. She
rubbed her shoulder. ' really hit me! t, what's the matter with hirn?"
that moment, Don Hoagland, the assistant director, d up. ''m terribly
sorry about this, Daina,' he said. t George did was inexcusable ...
inexcusable.' He shook ead. ' want you to know that Marion is with him
now -2 ure,' Daina said, sardonically, ' him exactly the speech, no
doubt.' 75 Hoagland gave her a small smile. He was an Irishman with a
clipped silver moustache and slicked-back hair who worked every project
with Clarke. It was easy to see why; he had a 9 silver tongue.
"Really, Daina,' he said more quietly, that's not true at all.' He
touched her hand, an endearing, avuncular gesture. ' fact is, Marion's
beside himself. He thought the additions you made were perfect.
I thought he was going to throttle George back there! He patted the back
of her hand. ''t you worry. We'll all take the rest of the day off and
by tomorrow morning, it'll all be forgotten! ' had better have his head
on straight by then,' Daina said--. Hoagland smiled at her.
"Marion'll make certain of that. He turned away. ''t worry about a
thing! ' you okay?' Yasmin asked when they were alone. Daina wiped at
her face, looked at her as if for the first time. ', yeah. Sure! She
smiled then. ' for pushing yourself in between us.' Yasmin waved at the
air. ' it. I think it was my fault really that this whole thing erupted
today and I'm very sorry about it.' ' mean this's going to happen
again?' Daina said, wiping at her face. ' don't know. Part of it depends
on me, I think.' She nodded her head. ' is go outside, though. It's
still a bit evil in here.' They went across the darkened part of the
soundstage with its snaking cables and piled hardware.
Bright sunlight hit them as they opened the heavy metal door, went down
the concrete ramp to the back lot. ' trailer or yours?' Daina laughed.
She pointed. ''d like some of that rotten coffee.' And they went over to
the huge truck dispensing food and drink from its open sides. They took
their cups into the shade, stared out at the endless passing parade of
actors and actresses in and out of costume. ' truth is,' Yasmin said
after a while, ' and I have broken up. I moved out last night! 76 one
knew that George and Yasinin had been living r. happened?" shrugged. ''d
had enough of him. His bitching .,moaning about getting it up while he's
working; his es about getting older, losing his hair "Where all the
leading roles gone to?"' She looked at Daina away at the busy lot. At
length her eyes dropped to her ',' she said and threw the cup away. '
don't know I'm lying. It's a habit, I guess.' a looked at her, ' don't
owe me any explanation, e other woman smiled.
"Perhaps not. But I think I owe myself.' She put her nervous hands on
the railing against they leaned. ' truth is, we - that is George and I -
struck a bargain. At least I thought of it as such. He ted to go to bed
with me and I wanted this part in Heather She shrugged. ''s simple, no?
Everyone does it at one or another. We both won.' She sighed. ' didn't
want to get hurt.' ell, you didn't sip a contract," Daina said. ' mean,
eare people, not things. They have feelings and they say something at
the time, really mean it. But feelings Were not made of stone! eorge
certainly isn't,' Yasmin said sadly. ''s in love me.' She turned to
Daina. ' didn't know until just now much I'd hurt him, Daina. I didn't
mean to but it's ened anyway. As if neither of us have any control any
As if we're both sliding away.' do you feel about him?' Daina said,
thinking of S. t's the really awful part. I don't know. I mean just een
us girls, I did what I had to do and I'm here now g with you because of
that. Our weapons arsenal is just t than theirs, that's all.' She
laughed shortly. ' problem is, I'm not a conscienceless bitch. I still
care t George.' hen the only thing to do," Daina said, ' to tell him
that.' h, he won't listen to anything I have to say now.' 77 'Then
you'll always have it on your conscience. D'you want that?' ' George,'
Yasmin said, squinting into the baking sun- light. There was movement
ahead of them. They both stared at the enormous silver stretch limo
coming towards them. All the windows were coated with that silvery
substance that allowed you to look out but not in. All the grillework
was clear acrylic. Many of the crew had stopped what they were doing to
turn their heads, wondering who was inside. It came abreast of Daina and
Yasmin and slowed to a halt. The rear window on their side slid
soundlessly down and music erupted from the interior - shrieking guitars
and flailing drums. Daina saw Chris' grinning face in the dim depths. He
wore black-lensed, steel-rimmed sunglasses. As he slid across the seat,
she could see that he wore a pair of tight jeans, washed so many times
their colour had faded almost to white, and a fire-red T-shirt with a
black and silver guitar silkscreened obliquely across his chest. It was
the same shape as his custom-made instrument.
"Hey hey hey,' he said lightly. His fingertips curled around the rim of
the window. ' busy, or what?' Daina came over. ' you crazy? How the hell
did you getin here?' He laughed. ' God's chillun is fans you know.' He
looked around them. ' a bad time or what? You shooting?" "No. I'm off
for the day courtesy of a temper tantrum.) ', goodo.
Get in, then.' Daina turned her head. Yasmin had come up beside her. She
introduced her to Chris. He nodded, said, ',' turned his attention back
to Daina. ', hell, d'you mind?' Yasmin shook her head, smiled.
Daina opened the heavy door, got in. ' you later,' she said to Yasmin as
Chris pushed a button and the window slid up, sealing them. She smelled
his scent, clean and strong and masculine. She sat back in the plush
seat that held her like a hand. A darkly iridescent barrier isolated
them from the front of the limo where the driver sat. She saw the set
sliding by. It was like looking through a pair of the ultimate
sunglasses, all colours subdued, green s everywhere overhanging the sun
and the stark of the buildings, superseding reality. looked at Chris as
they passed through the heavily entrance and headed towards the freeway.
His dark was uncombed, his nose as sharply defined as a razor's It was
difficult to tell just how old he was - late thirties? face streaked by
the powderflash of accelerated time which they all lived, these special
people, patched with ows of another world as if he were a survivor of
some ing existential war that mere mortals could only guess at. ell.' He
grinned, snapping his fingers pop-pop-pop as if e to music only he could
hear, making the muscles of @biceps bulge beneath the thin T-shirt. The
blast of highrock had long since ceased and only the faint whisper
limo's thrumming engine remained. ou're up early,' she said. Then,
"Where's Maggie?' P use, perhaps, she was slightly nonplussed by this
im- iate intimacy. He had never made this kind of gesture her before.
She wondered just what kind of gesture ly was. me,' he said, his fingers
popping. '.' He shrugged. youn'me,. fancy free.' He looked for a time at
