Chapter 9: Futura

Tom gently put the baby down on the ground.

He fished around in his pack and found his wallet in the side pouch. He pulled out the card. Making sure the wallet was safely returned to his back pocket, he put his pack back on. He picked the baby up again and checked on her. Lorena, as he decided to call her, was still breathing but hadn’t regained consciousness.

Tom held the card up in the air and hoped the bus didn’t take long to get here. He was looking down at the baby when he realised the bus was in front of him and dust was billowing around his feet and legs.

He blinked at the lit-up bus and watched the doors swoosh open. He stepped up into it and swiped the pay-device with his Go-Card. It beeped and went green, and he took the next step to stop beside the driver. “We need to get to a hospital and fast.”

“What did I tell you about changing things?” the gravelly voice of the ghoul barked at him.

“I didn’t! Well I don’t think some dingos missing a meal will change much, but I couldn’t let them eat her,” Tom explained and showed the driver the state of the baby.

“Well, what are you going to do with it?” the driver grumped as he peered at the baby with feigned disinterest.

“I don’t know! I need to get her some help first,” Tom almost screeched, since he was so upset and still in shock.

“Stupid boy, go find a seat,” grumbled the driver as he closed the doors.

Tom put the card in the pocket of his pants. He laid Lorena on the seat so he could take his pack off and he put it on the seat behind his. He gently picked her back up and then sat down in the seat behind the driver. He looked down at the baby, worry etched across his face.

‘Don’t you die on me baby girl, don’t you dare,’ he thought at the baby as he gently rocked her.

Suddenly he had a fantastical thought and wished he had healing powers like a wizard. Then he could heal her and make sure that her body didn’t end all scarred up as it surely would be if she did live. The small blood covered bubbles on her lips had him very worried.

Tom wished her not to die, over and over again, as the bus sped to its next destination.

Tom heard a ding as the bus pulled up.

He got up and made his way to the driver. “So where did you take me?”

“The Moon,” the ghoul replied with glee.

Tom frowned as the words chased around in his head. He had to ask, “Why the bloody hell are we on the Moon?”

The ghoul chuckled, and it wasn’t a pleasant sound, “You didn’t ask when?”

Tom groaned, “When in time did you take me to the Moon and why?”

“You wished to be a wizard, so here you can get the items to be one and fix her yourself. Ask for Captain Cool. Remember which airlock you used and swipe the card over the controls to call me back. Don’t forget to swipe your card on the way out or I don’t get paid.”

Dumbfounded, Tom hugged Lorena to his chest as he retrieved his backpack, slinging it over one shoulder. He made his way back to the driver and stepped down to the door. Juggling the baby and the pack, he pulled his Go-Card from his pocket, and he swiped the pay-device.

He even looked at the cost and was amused despite himself. It said the fee for his last trip was one dollar. He still had fifty dollars and twenty cents on the card. A buck to get to the Moon from Uluru was rather good value as far as he was concerned.

The doors of the bus opened, and Tom stepped into a spotless white room that was 2.5m cubed. As he walked across to the other side of the room, a fine mist filled the room and swirled around him.

At the doors on the other side, he put his hand on the panel that indicated that it needed his handprint. He wasn’t sure how this was going to work, but all he could do was wait until the doors opened.

Tom rechecked Lorena. She still hadn’t woken, and her breathing was very shallow to his way of thinking. The blood was drying on her face, but he felt that the back of the shirt was damp on his arm. She was still bleeding.

He was impatient for the doors to open.

Finally, he saw the red light above the door change to green, and the doors slid open.

Tom stepped back involuntarily at having four guns pointed at him. They looked a bit like sawn-off shotguns, but he had no idea what they were, other than lethal. Two men, flanked by two women, were holding the guns.

All four were wearing tight-fitting camouflage-patterned uniforms as well as gloves and closed in boots. They had the visors on their helmets down, and all Tom could see was his reflection mirrored back at him. He could only guess that they were prepared in case he had breached the outer doors.

“The baby needs help, it was attacked by a dingo,” Tom said and flipped his shirt off from over Lorena’s face so they could see.

He heard gasps, and one of the men exclaimed, “Bloody hell!”

“Please, the ghoul said I needed to find Captain Cool,” Tom pleaded.

“How the fuck did you get on this ship?” one of the men asked.

“The bus, it let me off at the other set of doors. What ship, the ghoul said I was on the Moon?”

“Let’s get him to medical, and then we can ask all the questions we want later,” one of the women said.