Albuquerque Woman

‘Cal! Viz, man!’ Raoul called as he gently brushed the damp earth aside to reveal the ancient artefact. Cal put down his trowel and came over to Raoul’s trench. ‘What you clock, man?’
Raoul gestured toward the artefact: ‘Dis arc, innit, man?’
Cal sank to his knees and gazed deeper into the trench to see the corner of what was clearly some kind of casket. It was clearly arc, meaning archaic. He nodded. ‘Yeah, dis arc, right enough! We ‘date Rena?’

Rena, the I archaeologist would certainly need to be updated. The depth at which the artefact was found could be Pre-Flib. “Flib” was the general term for FLB or Fairly Large Bang: the event that obliterated all historic records that had existed until then. It was generally understood that the FLB was actually caused by the people rather than any kind of natural disaster. No one knows for sure why but the most generally held belief is that the people ‘ascended’ to another realm. Not everyone, of course, for everyone alive today is descended from the few who didn’t make it. The ones who were left behind.

All known history stops at Flib. If Rena could find some form of record PreFlib, it would be a window into that unknown past. This would be a huge boost to Rena’s standing. The Quest of the whole culture was to discover the origins of their own people. Anyone who could shed light on pre Flib history would be appointed The Enquirer. This was a most exalted role and second only to Supreme I. The role of The Enquirer is to break boundaries in historical research… and there had not been an Enquirer for three hundred years.

As they approached Rena’s tent, they both picked up speed, walking briskly and each wanting to be the first in the tent. They burst in together, forcing the opening wider than it was designed to be. ‘We got arc, Rena!’ Cal spouted before Raoul could open his mouth. He frowned at Cal. He felt he had been usurped.

Little-by-little the earth was brushed away, revealing more of the uniquely intact metal casing. ‘It look like tec, man!’ Raoul said.
‘Yeah, man! That tec! Course that tech, man!’ he said, hoping to imply that he had, quite naturally, made that very observation, which he had not.

Rena looked a little more closely and took out her eyeglass. She gazed at the formation of rust that seemed to suggest text. Where there appeared to have once been printed text, the formation of rust had been impeded. It was in the ancient text that the Old Ones had brought over after Flib. Rena was one of the few able to decipher it. It seemed to spell out the word: ‘PENTIUM’. Whatever it was, she was convinced that Raoul was right. This was technological. This could be information, if only it could be read. Her heart leapt. If it held pre Flib information, it would be the archaeologists’ most sacred goal.

*

‘Dis like InfoPro’ Rae said as hesh examined the extracted disk. Like many of the tec people, Rae was hermaphrodite, the Third Gender, who were particularly adept at complex technologies. Hesh clicked shis tongue. “Dis like old type InfoPro’ hesh added ‘but dis way older than any tec I seen.’
‘Casing check out at two thousand years’ Rena said with excitement. Rae whistled ‘Dat go back before Flib!’ Hesh gasped.
‘Keep it close!’ Rena warned. Protocol demands that such a find must not be publicised until (a) they were sure that info could be extracted from it and (b) that Supreme I had granted disclosure.
‘Dis secret?’ Rae asked.
‘For now.’ Rena said. ‘Can you get info off it?’
Rae shrugged. ‘Maybe if it like InfoPro… but dis old and fragile! Maybe not.’
‘Any info, you call me straight’ Rena instructed hesh. Rae shook shis head. ‘Gotta call Supreme I first. Call you next.’
Reluctantly, Rena accepted this.

Possibly, the most difficult thing to maintain is secrecy. Just a moment’s indiscretion and all veils fall away. It began with an exchange between Cal and Raoul in the institute canteen. Raoul had pointed out that, as the casing had survived, at least some information must have survived also. Cal, as usual, made light of it with a shrug, saying: ‘Yeah well that don’t need mention. Course info make it OK’
‘Quit that!’ Raoul snapped suddenly.
‘Quit what?’ Cal said, genuinely taken aback.
‘Quit jumpsailin’ me, man!’
‘I not jumpsailin’ you!’ Cal protested
‘You clock what you do!’ Raoul insisted. ‘I say “Dis thing tec” and you say “course dis thing tec!” like you knew already. You don’ know shit, man!’
‘Tell me I don’ know shit!’ Cal yelled back ‘A dog coulda dug it up! I clocked what it was!’
Raoul was outraged at Cal’s distortion of the facts. ‘I clocked what it was! You just jumpsailed an’ said “Oh yeah… I knew dat”. You don’ know shit!’
‘I know stuff!’ Cal countered.
‘You not even brained out that dis info gonna be pre Flib, man!’ Raoul yelled ‘Yeah… dat right! Now waddaya gonna say? “Yeah I knew dat. Everybody know dis info gonna be…’ he trailed off as he realised the entire canteen had fallen silent and all eyes were on him.
‘They do now’ Cal said.
‘Oops!’ Raoul said.
And so it was that this became the most talked about secret in the history of subterfuge.

*

‘So you gonna be the next Enquirer?’ Korin remarked as she caught up with Rena in a corridor. ‘Where you hear dat?’ Rena said in alarm.
‘Todo. Everybody say you next Enquirer. You find pre Flib info.’
‘Not yet. Dis thing must be kept close! Rae trying to get info off it now.’
‘Dey say it tec… over two thousand years old!’ Korin said excitedly, hoping for confirmation.
‘Shhhhhhhh!’ Rena hissed
‘What you shooshing! Everybody know already!’
‘Then why you askin’?’
‘I not askin’! I just sayin’ what everybody sayin’! It no secret’
Rena could see her chances of becoming The Enquirer evaporating before her eyes. ‘Well, we pretend it secret and not graz about it!’
‘You mean what? It a secret dat it aint no secret?’
‘Dat right!’ Rena confirmed.
Korin shook her head. ‘Don’t take no Enquirer to brain out dat dis plan aint gonna work!’

Rae was still trying to extract the information from the disk when hesh was summoned to the Palace. Supreme I was fuming at the leak of sensitive information. ‘WHO GRAZ!?’ she demanded as soon as Rae was brought to her presence.
‘Unknown, your Oneness’ Rae said.
‘Everybody say Rena next Enquirer! I decide next Enquirer, not dem!’
‘Of course, your Oneness’
Supreme I saw the anxiety in Rae’s eyes and felt a twinge of compassion. ‘Not you. Me culpa. Nothing to keep close for so long one forgets how.’
‘Your Oneness’ Rae said… feeling it would be inappropriate to agree… and unthinkable not to agree with Supreme I.
‘No info yet’ Supreme I mused. It was neither a statement nor a question.
‘Not yet, your Oneness but we know info der. One small section got viable. We just got to extract it.’
‘You clock text?’ Supreme I asked.
‘No, your Oneness. Rena 428 is reader. She clock text.’
‘When you get info, call Rena first. She read dis old text to me.’
Knowing that Rena would be delighted, Rae decided to claim this as a personal favour. It would certainly be advantageous to be owed a favour by The Enquirer.
‘Your Oneness’ Rae said simply.

Normally Rena would resent being awakened in the middle of a beautiful dream but this occasion was the exception. Her dream had been about finally reading the wisdom of the ancients. She was about to gaze upon the computer screen to see the words for the first time in over two thousand years when she was snatched back to the Here & Now by the bleeping of the Toktome.
‘We got info!’ Rae said excitedly.
‘Supreme I der?’ Rena asked
‘Call her tomorrow. Call you first.’
‘Blessed One!’ Rena exclaimed.
‘Remember dis when you Enquirer’ Rae laughed.
She certainly would. Rae deserves to be elevated to I status. Rena decided that, when she is The Enquirer, she would promote shim accordingly.

The lab was a buzz of excitement, which increased on Rena’s arrival. The first rays of the sun were still hours away yet no one showed a trace of fatigue, despite the lack of sleep. Within seconds of her arrival, Rena was seated before the computer with the lab staff crowded around her. As she suspected and hoped, it was in the same text as the word: “PENTIUM” on the casing.

‘Dis from high up!’ She said breathlessly. ‘It say about Mother of Folkkind!’
There was an animated murmur. ‘What it say?’ Rae said eagerly. Rena had difficulty with one word: Alubquerque. But she could see that this was an important word and she had to appear competent in the translation. She read it out in broken syllables: ‘Ahl-boo-kwer-kweh’ she said to the mystified audience. ‘Albuquerque Woman. That the title of the Mother of Folkkind.’
There were a few exchanged glances around the room. ‘What Albuquerque mean?’ Rae asked. Rena thought on her feet. Showing any sign of uncertainty now could blow her chances. ‘It mean Exalted One’ she said confidently. ‘It mean Mother of all folkkind’ That should grab Supreme I’s attention, she thought.
‘What else it say?’ someone demanded. They were hungry for info. Having broken the ice, Rena got into her stride making bold and confident assumptions about the precise meaning of the obscure passage. ‘Albuquerqe Woman have half-brother, AhGed. Him Star Child.’ Again, an excited murmur circulated the room ‘Name and number: AhGed 34’ she added in a confident display of her ability to translate precise details. ‘Dat all it say’ she said, wanting to read far more into the text but afraid of assuming too much.

When Supreme I was told the tranlation the following morning, her already frosty countenance took on an additional layer of ice. ‘Dis must be suppressed!’ she announced firmly. Everyone… and Rena in particular… was dismayed. Discretion was one thing but suppressing info was unheard of. The very nature and essence of the culture was to probe information.

‘But… your Oneness…!’ Rena began but a glance from Supreme I was enough to freeze dissent before it was expressed. ‘Der many truths’ Supreme I said. ‘Many stories. Everyone have their own story how it begin. Dis info say too much and not enough. It say enough to destroy all other stories… but not enough to replace any.’
‘But further research would…’ Rena began again.
‘No research!’ Supreme I interrupted. ‘Der no Inquiry. Der no Enquirer!’
Rena felt her world evaporate.

This was something the lab staff and Rena found difficult to deal with. They had never experienced a suppression before. Wherever she went, she was asked about the artefact and if there was any information. She had not been instructed to lie and saw no reason to do so. ‘Can’t tell’ she would answer. ‘Supreme I order silence’. She felt bad that she would not become The Enquirer, of course. But what really cut to the quick was that she would have no further access to the artefact and no further research along this line of inquiry. In fact, there would be no inquiry.

*

Sol 837 had always felt uncomfortable about the power held by the Court of Supreme I. Although Supreme I had never abused her position and her wisdom was generally respected, Sol believed that any individual having power over others was dangerous. This new action by the Palace gave Sol the justification he had spent his life waiting for. To suppress knowledge of their history was more than a forgivable error of judgment. It was the greatest of all crimes against Folkkind!

Within a week or so, a crudely-produced paper was circulated. It was called The Seekers Of Truth and Sol was, so far, the sole contributor. But, after a short time in circulation, other contributors came forward. Some, though written under pseudonyms, were clearly written by experts in the field of archaeology or political protocol and were boldly critical of the Palace. The Seekers Of Truth thus became a movement. This unnerved Supreme I. Never before had she experienced dissent among the people and there had been no conflict for six hundred years. The records were held at the Institute. This was the only record of conflict and the only source of info on how to respond in case of an uprising. She called the Institute.

Rena had devised a small shrine to Albuquerque Woman. Copying the style of the ancients, she had fashioned an effigy of the Mother of Folkkind. She visualised her with a grotesquely wide pelvis and huge breasts. A woman who could give birth to a whole civilisaton. She was asking for directions from Albuquerque Woman when the call came through from the Palace. It was not Supreme I herself but Kaaj 482, who was I of Records. ‘Her Oneness ask info about Great War’ he said simply.
‘Dat war in year of Magenta. What info her Oneness want?’
‘All records’ he said, adding ‘and all copies’.
Rena felt an uneasy shadow creep over her. Palace want strategies! She thought. The Palace wanted all copies so they were concerned about anyone else having access to this info they had held since it was first compiled. Rena did something she never thought she would be moved to do. She defied a Palace directive and made a copy before taking it to the Palace.

That night, she studied the records. Supreme I had any translations that were necessary but Rena didn’t need these. The more she read, the more alarmed she became. The brutality with which the uprising was crushed and the harsh regime that followed made terrifying reading. This cannot be allowed to happen!

The Seekers Of Truth were already established and the Palace troops were not sufficiently trained to crush an uprising. After over half a millennia of peace, troops were only familiar with standing around and looking stern. But it would only be a matter of time before they were adequately trained. If there were to be an uprising, it would have to be now!

Later that same night, Sol received a message from a contributor called “Deep Mouth”. It had only two words: Albuquerque and Woman. The first he could make no sense of. What dis word mean? He wondered. He reasoned that, if it is an unknown word, it’s likely that the word came from the artefact. There was only one person who would have this info and reasons to subvert the Palace directive. He called Rena.

Rena did not admit to being the person who sent the message but she advised Sol to do what any learned person would advise another regarding information they had received: pay attention.

Sol decided to hang onto the message but didn’t publish it yet as it wasn’t useful info at this stage. The following day came the second contribution from Deep Mouth: Follow the info and a list of the documents that had been released to the Palace. Sol took the list to the Institute to look up. But the records were not at the institute. They had been signed out to the Palace. Sol had some knowledge of these records and came to the same conclusion as Rena had. Later that day, he received a package marked Keep close! Inside was the copy of the records Rena had sent to the palace.

Although Rena had not admitted to being Deep Mouth, Sol was in no doubt that his mystery informer was indeed Rena. He decided to call her again. ‘Who Albuquerque Woman?’ he asked.
Rena said: ‘Can’t answer that. But I ask you question: Who Mother of Folkkind?’ and, with that, she terminated the call.

*


As the weeks progressed, it became apparent that the Palace was preparing for conflict. Any action would have to be now before the troops were effectively trained and in condition. Little snippets of info had filtered from Deep Mouth and, from the information about Albuquerque Woman and AhGed 34, the StarChild, a vast underground movement had evolved.

Supreme I attended a demonstration to show how the troops were shaping up General Brian 48 proudly introduced each demonstration. ‘This one: Interrogation…’ he said, clapping his hand for the demonstration to begin. Two soldiers quickly leapt from the ranks. One took position in a chair and the other stood over him as the interrogator. ‘Who got plans!?’ the interrogator snapped.
‘Son of pig! I tell nothing!’ the interrogatee responded. The interrogator then mimed slapping the interrogatee without making actual contact. The interrogatee mimed receiving a slap by jerking his head to the side… albeit the wrong side. ‘Him got plans!’ the interrogatee blurted, pointing to another soldier in the ranks. They both then stood and bowed to Supreme I as the General clapped with glee. ‘Excellent! Excellent!’ he cried. ‘And now: apprehending suspect…’ again he clapped to indicate that the demonstration should commence. Another two soldiers broke rank and took up positions, one wearing a felt hat to indicate he was a civilian. The soldier marched up to the ‘civilian’ and demanded ‘Are you terrorist?’
‘No!’ said the civilian
‘I think you lying’ said the soldier ‘Come with me’, with which, the soldier took the civilian’s arm and led him away. Again, the General clapped enthusiastically ‘See how cunning he is! He not just believe the man. He arrest him even though he say No!’

‘IDIOTS!’ yelled Supreme I and stormed away from the demonstration.

A little later, Major Vile 852 requested an audience with Supreme I, which she granted. ‘I make suggestion, your Oneness?’ he asked and Supreme I bowed her head in consent. The major cleared his throat. ‘Soldiers just play-acting. No imperative. We give imperative.’
‘Tell more’ Supreme I prompted.
‘Begin by ordering soldier to kill a comrade. If he refuse or even ask why, I kill soldier. Then order another to kill comrade…’
‘But this cost us our own soldiers’ Supreme I pointed out.
‘Yes, your Oneness. But cost soldiers that no good. Soldiers learn: get good or die’
Supreme I could see the logic of this strategy. ‘You have good sense of conflict. I make you General. You take over from General Brian. Begin by executing Brian in front of troops.’
The Major-now-General bowed and left the palace with a gleeful sense of purpose.

Sol led the Resistance up the slope to the Palace, keeping low so as not to be seen too early. His resistance fighters were concealed in bushes as Sol crept to the brow of the slope and took out his telescope. General Brian 48 lay on the ground with a fist-sized hole in his head. Around him lay the bodies of twelve other soldiers. Major Vile, now wearing the uniform of General stood in front of the troops, brandishing a hand-cannon. He called one of the soldiers over to him and gave a command. The soldier looked confused for a moment… then Vile shot him and called another soldier over to him.
Sol looked over his shoulder and beckoned to his comrade: ‘Ramon! Viz dis!’ he hissed. He handed him the telescope. ‘That Major Vile!’ Ramon said
‘Look like General now’ Sol said.
‘Why him shooting troops?’
‘Unknown’ Sol said. “Methink they gone crazy!’

‘I SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS!’ Supreme I bellowed as she watched the carnage from the State Hall window. ‘Him kill fifteen soldiers and they still not get message!’ She called her advisers to her and stormed down to the parade square to intervene before Vile can kill any more of her dwindling troops.

‘STOP DIS NOW!’ she bellowed as she marched toward Vile. Give!’ she demanded, as her hand shot out like the tongue of a serpent. Vile handed her his hand-cannon, with which she blew Vile’s head from his shoulders.
‘If I may make an observation, your Oneness…’ said Tomk 86, her chief adviser. It was the last thing he ever uttered.

Belatedly, Supreme I glanced up to see what Tomk had intended to bring to her attention before his untimely demise. The Resistance marched over the brow of the slope and approached the palace…. Hordes of them… well, not hordes exactly but quite a lot. She couldn’t possibly shoot all of them and her troops were at a complete loss. All sign of authority drained from her as she dropped the hand-cannon and walked slowly back to the palace. ‘Prepare for guests’ she ordered her servants as she walked dejectedly back to her offices… ‘a lot of them’ she added.

The State Hall was filled to capacity with the people demanding to know The Truth and now their moment had come. Sol had demanded the artefact and inserted the disk into the adapted computer they had acquired from the lab… care of Deep Mouth. The text, of course, meant nothing to him but the words he had learned by heart (… also care of Deep Mouth) and recited them slowly and deliberately as if reading them directly: ‘The National Enquirer…’ he began, pausing to let the enormity of the importance of this document to sink in. ‘May two zero one two’ he continued without understanding anything he was saying. ‘Leader article…’ No one was quite sure what this meant either but it sounded important. At last, he came to the important part: The Ultimate Truth: ‘My step brother, Aged 34 is half alien… says Albuquerque Woman’ A ripple of murmurs radiated through the gathered crowd.
‘What else it say?’ someone asked
‘That it.’ Said Sol ‘Der nothing else’
‘Oh…. Right…’

Epilogue:

Cal stared at Sol for a while before turning to Raoul: ‘Dat the Ultimate Truth??’ he asked.
‘Guesso’ Raoul replied.
‘Er… yeah… I knew dat. Everybody know……’ his words were cut short as Raoul’s fist slammed into the side of his head.

This is not the end… this is simply the Beginning….

Glossary of terms used:

Arc: archaic.

Brain: As well as the name of the central nervous system, it is a term meaning to think something through or figure something out. To brain or to brain-out.

Clock: to see with understanding of what is seen. Related to “Viz”, which is to see but not necessarily understand. “Viz dis”= “look at this”.

Close: as well as the original meaning of proximity, to keep something close is to restrict information about it or restrict who can share the information.

Enquirer: A role of office that is only held when there are new breakthroughs in historical understanding. It is usually awarded to the person responsible for uncovering the information and continues for life. The Enquirer has absolute authority regarding his or her research and cannot be denied any data or facility that may further understanding.

Flib: FLB or Fairly Large Bang. The event that wiped out all records of history prior to it.

Folkind: Mankind or Humanity.

Graz: to unofficially disclose. Origins: “grass” meaning to inform on another.


“I” a leader in one’s field.

InfoPro: An ancient form of computer language

Hesh: a term of reference for hermaphrodites (the third gender). As “he” for male and “she” for female.

Jumpsail: to diminish the perceived value of another’s contribution. From the archaic term: to take the wind out of one’s sail and also from the ancient sport (now rarely practiced) of sailracing (land sailboard racing) in which, jumpsailing was the legitimate practice of positioning the sailboard behind an opponent so that your sail block the windstream from the opponent’s sail.

Shim: A term of reference for hermaphrodites. As “him” with males and “her” with females.

Shis: A term of reference for hermaphrodites. As “his” with males and “hers” with females.

Tec: technological

Todo: All. Everyone or everything.

Toktome: A kind of communication device like a phone. Taken from the term “talk to me”.