Dronikus, a novel set on a burning planet called Earth.
Polka dot, Mama, polka dot
Rators manning a desk waved Enrike, Zola, and Arno through the security gate and into a long passage towards a far wing of the Shangdu complex. The late afternoon sun shone through the long row of passage windows. Zola recognised the cycad, ferns, and palm gardens, where many varieties from all over the world were laid out in elaborate designs around walkways, rockeries, and water features.
‘Isn’t this where the aunts lived?’ said Zola, a note of excitement in his voice.
‘Yes. But all three are long gone now, sad to say. Azvedo is still lurking around here somewhere,’ said Enrike.
‘Oh great. I’d love to see him. I’d somehow forgotten about this side of the estate.’
As they were reaching the end of the passage, Enrike spoke in his recognisable, low, commanding tone. ‘Zola, very few people have seen what I’m going the show you and I expect that you will respect the situation and treat it with utmost secrecy. Please don’t talk about it to anyone, particularly that woman.’
As they came into the lobby area serving the wing, Zola felt a rush of memory. The elegant octagonal room had windows of tall, coloured glass panels, reaching up high to a vaulted wooden roof, matched by the black timber floors and dark ancient furniture. Zola swivelled around, his head back, marvelling at the old building; it seemed almost unchanged since he was a child.
At the first door off the lobby Enrike rang and they were invited into a suite and settled into a luxurious lounge area.
‘This is where Aunt Nadja lived, isn’t it?’ said Zola.
Enrike nodded but said nothing. Despite his stern exterior, Zola sensed that he was a little nervous.
Zola took a drink when it was offered by the rator. He still had no idea of what this was about. A child’s voice surprised him; looking up, he saw a woman standing at the door holding a young girl on her hip.
‘Zola, this is Yolanta. And Panduan.’
The child was coffee-coloured, plump with puffy cheeks and big lips. Over her eyes she wore glasses; so thick were the lenses and the supporting frame that it was as if she was wearing a diving mask. Yolanta was dark skinned, fine boned, her hair bound in a bun behind her head. Her face was soft and she held the girl gently.
‘Polka dot, Mama, polka dot.’ She held her mother’s scarf against her face.
‘Yes, my love. Say hello to your Uncle Zola.’
‘Hello Panduan,’ said Zola. After his initial surprise, he had risen and approached them.
‘What’s he wearing, Mama?’ the child asked.
‘See for yourself, Pandie.’ Yolanta came towards Zola and held the child out to him. He saw her peering through the thick lenses.
‘Hello Panduan,’ he repeated softly as he held out his arms.
The child jumped and clung to him and put her face close to his floral shirt. ‘Mmm… very nice flowers. I like your flowers, Uncle Zola. But do you know paisley? Paisley is my favourite. You should try paisley, Uncle Zola.’
‘I do like paisley. I’ll try it, yes. What are you wearing Panduan?’ asked Zola.
The question momentarily upset the child. She looked down at her shirt, possibly unable to see it clearly. ‘Mama! Mama! What am I wearing?’
‘The triangles, dear. You wanted the triangles, remember?’ said Yolanta.
‘Yes, the triangles. I’ve got triangles, Uncle Zola.’
Enrike stepped forward. ‘Hello Pandie.’
‘Dada, Dada,’ Panduan shouted and stretched out her arms to him.
Enrike took her from Zola and hugged her tightly. ‘I’ve missed you, my darling one.’
‘You’ve been gone for 4 hours and 16 minutes and I don’t count the seconds if it’s above 2 hours, as you know. But I wasn’t worried, Dada, ‘cause Mama assured me you would be back in less than 5 hours. And I’m so happy that you’ve brought your brother Zola. Can I go back to Zola, please?’
Enrike passed her to Zola who carried her to the settee and sat down, the girl snuggling in his lap.
‘Ah, my lovely girl. It is so wonderful to meet you.’
‘You too, Uncle. It is sad that you were away for so long.’
Zola nuzzled his face into her hair. ‘I love your hair.’ As he did so he tickled her ear with his nose. She laughed and jumped. ‘How old are you, Pandie?’
‘I’m 4 years, 7 months, 7 days and 13 hours… I was born in the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. Many people believe it to be auspicious.’
‘That’s wonderful,’ said Zola. ‘But tell me Pandie, how do you know so much about polka dot and paisley?’
‘I know a lots of things, Uncle,’ she said, her tone matter of fact.
‘And have you seen examples of paisley and polka dot?’
‘Yes, of course, on the network.’
‘And can you see the pictures on the network?’
‘Everybody asks me that.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Zola, apologetic at perhaps causing offence.
‘Oh, it’s alright, everyone asks me a lot of questions. I know it’s because I am different. People say that I am special. Yes, I can see pictures on the network and even videos and live events with my eyes closed. But I do have to be careful to not confuse my brain. That’s right, isn’t it, Dada? Dada teaches me.’
‘Yes, my darling, keeping those thoughts in order, like we said,’ Enrike replied.
‘And are you friends with your Aunt Leilu, Pandie?’ asked Zola.
‘Oh yes, she’s my bestie-bestie. We talk all the time, don’t we Dada? She’s talking to me right now.’ She tilts her head away slightly. ‘Your brother is wearing flowers, Aunt Leilu. He says he will wear paisley for me next time.’ She turns back to Zola, ‘she says for me to kiss your cheek Uncle Zola.’ She stretches up and pecks Zola on the cheek.
‘Tell her that I send my love.’
Panduan smiled, ‘oh, I do adore her so. She’s working on very special projects, y’know Uncle? Special secret projects that will help us all, which includes the whole world. Isn’t that right, Dada?’
Enrike nodded. Both he and Zola noticed Panduan’s head drop fleetingly before jerking back upright. Yolanta had also noticed. She came forward and put her hand on Panduan’s shoulder. ‘Come, Pandie, time to…’
‘No, I want to stay with Uncle Zola,’ she whined.
‘I’m sorry, dear,’ said Yolanta firmly. ‘Uncle Zola and your Dada have to talk business.’
‘I can talk business too.’
‘I know you can, darling. But let’s leave them to their affairs and go get some rest, OK?’
‘Can I have some ice cream?’
‘Of course ice cream. For you, every day is ice cream day.’
‘Bye Uncle Zola. Come back soon. Wear your paisley shirt.’ She jumped into Yolanta’s arms and buried her head in the polka dot scarf as her mother carried her out the room. ‘Bye.’
Zola leaned back into the soft cushions of the sofa, his mind trembling, at once delighted, confused, perturbed, astonished.
Enrike returned to his seat opposite him. ‘She does need to sleep a lot. But isn’t she wonderful?’
Zola nodded enthusiastically, ‘astounding. I’m lost for words.’
‘She’s a true marvel of creation.’
Zola did not respond. He looked about him at what used to be Aunt Nadja’s lounge, trying to get a handle on what he had witnessed. All he could say, after an extended pause, was, ‘how?’
Enrike smiled and sipped his wine. ‘Yolanta was a senior researcher with us when we met. She believes in the future of humanity, just as I do. She suggested that we use the gene-splicing procedure that we have developed at Pandoke on her ova. After much trial and error – with Leilu leading the research – Panduan was born.’
Zola gasped; he could hardly believe what he was hearing.
‘It is quite something, I admit, but so confident are we in what we are doing… You can see that the network is alive in her brain.’
‘That she and Leilu can communicate like that… It’s staggering.’
‘There are still some issues to resolve, as in any prototype. But, Zola, even if you wish to ignore everything I’ve said, you know that you have just held our future in your arms.’
‘Mama and Dada?’ said Zola, still in shock.
‘Yes, Mama and Dada, Yolanta and me.’ His laugh sounded like a grunt, but Zola could see his brother was, by his standards, extremely happy.
‘Yolanta and you? But aren’t you…?’ Zola said.
‘Married to Rose? Yes, but this is way beyond those narrow confines. Don’t try to make any other sense of it. All I ask is that you take in what you have heard and what you have just experienced and reflect deeply. Panduan is the outcome of some exceptional science. Nothing will ever be the same for our whole species after this.’ He stopped. His eyes bore into Zola. ‘I think you’ll agree that this is a big fork in the road for you, Zola.’
Zola looked away from Enrike, scanning Aunt Nadja’s lounge again as if he were looking for her – or maybe even a sign from her to help him in his confusion.
‘You and I have always been at loggerheads. Through all those years we sat at a right angle to each other.’ Enrike made the shape of a ‘T’ with his hands, ‘if I was going in this direction, you would be going in that direction. But here, now, Panduan is the living proof that you and I can move in the same direction. She represents a future we can both believe in.’ He put the palms of his hands together, the fingers pointing up to the heavens.
Finally, Zola looked at Enrike, nodding yet remaining inscrutable.
‘I am totally confident that you will join us. You are the one who will talk of these miracles as signs on the road to our salvation. You, the new messiah. I’m sure even Aunt Nadja would approve.’ He smiled as he took the final sips of his wine. ‘Think hard, brother.’
Zola continued to nod while remaining silent.
‘We’ll talk some more.’ Enrike stood: ‘Come, I’ll show you to the door. The rator will lead you back to your quarters.’
Dronikus is a novel published in 2023, now being serialised here on Substack. You can read a chapter every week for free.
Liking what you’re reading? Don’t want to wait to see what happens next? You can read the full book now by purchasing a digital or print copy of Dronikus from:
AndAlso Books (print edition)
Amazon (epub), Smashwords (epub), Apple Books (epub), Barnes&Noble (epub)
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