“I’LL TELL YA, this would be a pretty nice place, if it weren’t for all the Perverts.”
The taxi driver said this the same way he had made all his comments since picking us up: over his shoulder while carelessly steering his vehicle full tilt through the melee of traffic.
I had ignored most of his chatter, which didn’t seem to bother him. He apparently didn’t expect a response, but this last comment caught my interest.
“Excuse me, but aren’t you a Pervert ... I mean, a Pervect?” The driver nodded vigorously and half turned in his seat to face me.
“There. See what I mean?”
Frankly, I didn’t. If there was logic in his statement, it escaped my comprehension. What I did see, however, was that we were still plunging forward without slacking our speed. There was a tangle of stopped vehicles ahead which the driver seemed oblivious to as he tried to make his conversational point. A collision seemed inescapable.
“Look out!” I shouted, pointing frantically at the obstructions.
Without losing eye contact, the driver’s hand lashed out and smashed down on the toy stuffed goose that was taped down in front of him. The thing let out a harsh, tremendous “HONK!!” that would have gotten it named king of the geese if they ever held an election.
“Anyway, that’s what I’m talkin’ about.” The driver finished and turned his attention forward again.
The traffic jam had miraculously melted away before he had finished speaking, and we sailed through the intersection unscathed.
“Relax, Skeeve,” Kalvin laughed. “This guy’s a professional.”
“A professional what?” I muttered.
“How’s that?” the driver said, starting to turn again.
“NOTHING! I ... nothing.”
I had been unimpressed with the taxi since it had picked us up. Actually, ‘picked us up’ is much too mild a phrase and doesn’t begin to convey what had actually happened.
Following Kalvin’s instructions, I had stepped to the curb and raised my hand.
“Like this?” I said, making the mistake of turning my head to ask him directly.
Facing away from the street, I missed what happened next, which is probably just as well. The normal traffic din suddenly erupted with shrieks and crashes. Startled, I jerked my hand back and jumped sideways to a spot a safer distance from the street. By the time I focused on the scene, most of the noise and the action had ceased.
Traffic was backed up behind the vehicle crouched at the curb beside us, and the blocked drivers were leaning out to shout and/or shake their fists threateningly. There may have been a few collisions, but the condition of most of the vehicles on the street was such that I couldn’t be certain which damages were new and which were scars from earlier skirmishes.
“That’s right,” Kalvin said, apparently unruffled by the mayhem which had just transpired. “Get in.”
“You’re kidding!”
The vehicle which had stopped for us was not one to inspire confidence. It was sort of a box-like contraption hanging between two low-slung, tailless lizards. The reptiles had blindfolds wrapped around their head obscuring their eyes, but they kept casting from side to side while their tongues lashed in and out questing for data on their surroundings. Simply put, they looked powerful and hungry enough for me to want to keep my distance.
“Maybe we should wait for another one,” I suggested hopefully.
“Get in,” the Djin ordered. “If we block traffic too long the cop will be back.”
That was sufficient incentive for me, and I bravely entered the box and took a seat behind the driver, Kalvin never leaving my shoulder. The interior of the box seemed safe enough. There were two seats in the rear where I was sitting, and another beside the driver, although the latter seemed filled to overflowing with papers and boxes that would occasionally spill to the floor when we took a corner too fast ... which was always. There were notes and pictures pinned and taped to the walls and ceiling in a halo around the driver, and a confusing array of dials and switches on the panel in front of him. Basically, one had the suspicion the driver lived in his vehicle, which was vaguely reassuring. I mean, the man wouldn’t do anything to endanger his own home, would he?
“Where to?” the driver said, casually forcing his vehicle back into the flow of traffic.
“Um, just take me to a hotel.”
“Expensive ... cheap ... what?”
“Oh, something moderate, maybe a bit on the inexpensive side.”
“Right.”
I was actually pretty well set financially. A money belt around my waist had over two thousand in gold I had brought along to cover expenses on my search. Still, there was no sense throwing it away needlessly, and I figured since I didn’t plan to spend much time in my room, I wouldn’t need anything particularly grand.
Within the first few blocks, however, I had pause to reconsider the wisdom of my choice of vehicles. As far as I could tell, the lizards were blindfolded to prevent their animal survival instinct from interfering with the driver’s orders. I couldn’t figure out how he was controlling them, but he seemed determined to maintain a breakneck pace regardless of minor considerations like safety and common sense.
“So, have you two been on Perv long?”
The driver’s voice dragged me back to the present my mind had been trying so desperately to ignore.
“Just got here today, in fact.”
Suddenly, I zeroed in on what he had said.
“Excuse me, did you say ‘you two’?”
The driver bobbed his head in acknowledgment. “That’s right. It isn’t often I get a Klahd or a Djin, much less one of each in the same fare.”
He not only knew how many we were, he had spotted what we were! Needless to say, the news was not welcome.
“What the ... ” Kalvin started, but I silenced him with a gesture.
“Before I answer, do you mind my asking how you knew?” I said, casually glancing around to see if there was a way we could exit rapidly if necessary.
“Scanned you when you got in,” the driver said, pointing briefly to a small screen amidst the clutter of his other devices. “A cabbie can’t be too careful these days ... not with the crime rate the way it is. We’re moving targets for every amateur stick-up artist or hijacker who needs a quick bankroll. I had that baby installed so I’d know in advance what was sittin’ down behind me.”
He shot me a quick wink over his shoulder.
“Don’t worry, though. I won’t charge you extra for the Djin. He don’t take up much space. So far as I can tell, you two are harmless enough.”
That reassured me, at least to a point where I no longer considered jumping from the moving vehicle.
“I take it you don’t share the general low opinion of folks from off-dimension?”
“Don’t make no never mind to me, as long as you pay your way,” the driver waved. “As far as I can tell, you got enough money on ya that I don’t think you’ll try to welch on anything as piddling as a cab fare. Keep up the disguise, though. Some of the merchants around here will raise their prices at the sight of someone from off-dimension just to make you feel unwelcome ... and things are already priced sky-high.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
“ ... And you might be careful carrying so much cash. Everything you’ve heard about crime on the streets in this place is true. In fact, you’d probably be best off hiring yourself a bodyguard while you’re here. If you want, I can recommend a couple good ones.”
“You know, that might not be a bad idea,” Kalvin said. “In case I hadn’t mentioned it, Djinger is a pretty peaceful dimension. I won’t be much help to you in a fight.”
I ignored him as the cabbie continued, apparently unable to hear the Djin despite his various devices. Remembering some of the dangers I had faced in my adventures, the idea of hiring someone to guard me just to walk down the street seemed a little ludicrous.
“I appreciate your concern, but I’m pretty good at looking out for myself.”
“Suit yourself, it was just a suggestion. Say, you want something to eat? I sell snack packs.”
He used one hand to pick up a box from the seat beside him and shove it in my direction. It was filled with small bags with stuff oozing through the sides.
“Uh ... not just now, thanks,” I said, trying to fight down the sudden queasiness I felt.
The driver was not to be daunted. He tossed the box back onto the seat and snatched up a booklet.
“How about a guidebook, then? I write and print ‘em myself. It’s better’n anything you’ll find on the stands ... and cheaper, too.”
That might have come in handy, but glancing at it I could see the print was a series of squiggles and hieroglyphics that were meaningless to me. I always travel with a translator pendant to get around the language barrier, but unfortunately its powers don’t extend to the written word.
“I don’t suppose you have a Klahdish translation, do you?”
“Sorry,” he said, tossing the booklet in the same general direction the box had gone. “I’m takin’ a few courses to try to learn some other languages, but Klahdish isn’t one of them. Not enough demand, ya know?”
Despite my continuing concern over his attention to his driving, the cabbie was beginning to interest me.
“I must say you’re enterprising enough. Cab driver, publisher, cook, translator ... is there anything else you do?”
“Oh, I’m into a lot of things. Photography, tour guide ... I even draw a little. Some of these drawings I did. I’d be willing to part with them for the right price.”
He gestured at some of the sheets adorning the interior, and the cab veered dangerously to the right.
“Ah ... actually, I was interested in something else you said just now.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“Tour guide.”
“Oh, that. Sure. I love to when I get the chance. It’s sweet money. Beats the heck out of fighting the other hacks for fares all day long.”
I glanced at Kalvin and raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Go ahead,” he said. “We could use a guide, and you seem to be getting along with this guy pretty well. You know what they say, ‘Better the Deveel you know.’”
Obviously the Djin’s knowledge did not extend to Deveels, but this wasn’t the time or place to instruct him. I turned my attention back to the driver.
“I was thinking of hiring you more as a guide than a tour guide. How much do you make a day with this cab?”
“Well, on a good day I can turn better than a hundred.”
“Uh-huh,” I said. “How about on an average day?”
That earned me another over-the-shoulder glance.
“I gotta say, fella, you sure don’t talk like a Klahd.”
“I live at the Bazaar at Deva,” I smiled. “It does wonders for your bargaining skills. How much?”
We haggled back and forth for a few minutes, but eventually settled on a figure. It seemed fair, and I wasn’t exactly in a position to be choosy. If the device the cabbie had used was widespread in his profession, my disguise would be blown the second I stepped into a cab, and there was no guarantee the next driver would be as well disposed toward off-dimensioners as our current junior entrepreneur.
“Okay, you’ve got yourself a guide,” the driver said at last. “Now, who am I working for?”
“I’m Skeeve, and the Djin with me is Kalvin.”
“Don’t know about the Djin,” the cabbie shrugged. “Either he don’t talk much or I can’t hear him. Pleased to meetcha, though, Mr. Skeeve. I’m Edvik.”
He extended a hand into the back seat, which I shook cautiously. I had encountered Pervish handshakes before and could still feel them in my joints in wet weather.
“So, where do you want to go first?”
That seemed like a strange question to me, but I answered it anyway.
“To a hotel, same as before.”
“Uh-uh.”
“Excuse me?” I said, puzzled.
“Hey, you hired a guide, you’re going to get one. You’re about to check into a hotel, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, you try to check into a Pervish hotel the way you are, without luggage, and they’re going to give you a rough time whether they figure you’re from off-dimension or not. They’ll be afraid that you’re trying to get access to a room to steal the furniture or maybe to try to break into other rooms on the same floor.”
That was a new concept to me. While I had a fairly extensive wardrobe at home, I usually traveled light when I was working ... like with the clothes I was wearing and money. It had never occurred to me that a lack of luggage would cause people to be suspicious of my intentions.
“What do you think, Kalvin?”
“Beats me,” the Djin shrugged. “I’ve never run into the problem. Of course, I travel in a bottle and people can’t see me anyway.”
“Well, what do you recommend, Edvik?”
“Let me take you by a department store. You can pick up a small bag there and maybe some stuff to put in it. Believe me, it’ll pay in the long run in dealing with a hotel.”
I pondered the point for a moment, then decided it was senseless to hire a guide, then not listen to his advice.
“All right,” I said at last. “How far is it to this store you were talking about?”
“Oh, not far at all. Hang on!”
This last warning was a bit late, as he had already thrown the cab into a tight U-turn which scrambled the traffic around us and sent me tumbling across the seat. Before I could recover my balance we were well on our way back in the direction we had come from.
As accustomed as I was to madcap excursions, it occurred to me that this one was quickly becoming more complex than anything I had previously experienced. I hoped the education would prove to be more enjoyable and beneficial than it had been so far.