House of Birds

Steven Popkes

Description

What if God is an alien who inhabits the body of a macaw? Young Ian finds out when his mother's nasty-tempered bird offers to cure her alcoholism if Ian will work for the alien.What follows is a career spanning hundreds of years and identities, as Ian struggles to save at least some of humanity from environmental disasters: earthquakes, tsunamis, and lost species. He gets used to lots of dying.Is a terraformed Venus full of dinosaurs worth it?

Sujets

• Science fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Book View Cafe
• Date de parution: 10 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781611389753
• Langue: English

Extrait

House of Birds
Steven Popkes
A Howard Cycle Novel
www.bookviewcafe.com
Book ViewCafé/Walking Rocks Edition December 28, 2021 ISBN: 978-1-61138-975-3 Copyright © 2021 Steven Popkes
Also by Steven Popkes
Howard Cycle Novels
God's Country
Danse Mécanique
House of Birds
Jackie's Boy

Additional Works
Caliban Landing
Slow Lightning
Welcome to Witchlandia
Simple Things
The Long Frame
For Opal
Table of Contents
Prologue
Part 1: Land and Sea
Chapter 1.1: Chitra
Chapter 1.2: Ian
Chapter 1.3: Chitra
Chapter 1.4: Ian
Chapter 1.5: Chitra
Chapter 1.6: Ian
Chapter 1.7: Chitra
Chapter 1.8: Ian
Chapter 1.9: Chitra
Chapter 1.10: Ian
Interlude: Percy
Part 2: Who We Are Now
Chapter 2.1: Sunrise
Chapter 2.2: Morning
Chapter 2.3: Afternoon
Chapter 2.4: Shadow
Chapter 2.5: Murk
Chapter 2.6: Night and Day
Chapter 2.7: Ian
Interlude: Georgette
Part 3: Truth and Reconciliation
Chapter 3.1: Here I Am
Chapter 3.2: Watertown
Chapter 3.3: Fork
Chapter 3.4: Skye
Chapter 3.5: Deino Forest
Chapter 3.6: Midnight on the Range
Chapter 3.7: Anklebiter Hole
Chapter 3.8: Safarmo Road
Chapter 3.9: Telsa
Chapter 3.10: Rusalka City
Chapter 3.11: The House of Birds
Acknowledgments
Credits
About the Author
About Book View Café
“Latent structure is the master of obvious structure.”
—Heraclitus, Fragment 54, via The Pre-Socratics, EdwardHussey

”The fabric of the universe is far from perfect. It was a bitof botched job, you see. We only had seven days to make it.”
—Terry Gilliam, Time Bandits, 1981
Prologue
It was Ian’s job to feed the macaw, change thewater, and clean his cage every morning: winter, summer, fall, or, as in today,a beautiful spring day. Today, Pauline was snoring in her bed, braced againstthe wall, an empty bottle of vodka on the nightstand. Percy’s cage was coveredby the tarp. It was strange that no matter how drunken Pauline was when shefinally got home from waitressing at the bar, she always managed to cover thecage before she passed out. The cage took up as much room as the double bed.
Percy stared at him as Ian pulled the cover up.Little, malevolent eyes, blinking only occasionally, head tilted first to oneside, then the other.
Percy squawked suddenly, rocking back and forth.Ian stopped. When Percy was pissed off it was best to wait for him to relax.The macaw was huge, full-grown, with a head the size of Ian’s fist and a beakthat could sever fingers. His back and wings were cobalt blending into a long tail.His undersides were a brilliant orange and yellow. Percy flapped his wings andcried out. Then looked away.
Ian opened the door and carried in the pail. Hestarted scooping up soiled bedding and wadded paper. Percy watched him from theperch. Ian tried to work facing him, so Percy was less likely to surprise him.When Ian turned to clean out a corner, he heard Percy’s wings. He steeledhimself.
Percy landed on his shoulder and nuzzled hishair. He closed his beak on Ian’s ear, tugging gently.
Ian froze. Pauline had always told him this was asign of affection and maybe it was, in other birds. But Percy knew it scaredhim and didn’t do it out of love.
Then, Percy shat on his back and flew back to hisperch, making a sound like Pauline’s laughter.
Ian stared at him, hating him. Other twelve-year-oldboys had dogs or cats or rabbits. Other boys had fathers . He had Percy.
Then, he noticed that one of Percy’s eyes washalf closed with mucous.
Ian felt cold. Leave it came his firstthought. Leave it and Percy might die—macaws could fall over dead from a dozendifferent diseases. He remembered reading eagerly about it online. Or theycould live for a century.
But Pauline would hold him responsible.Okay. But to take care of it, he’d have to wake her when she was hungover.
Thoroughly marked by Percy, he left the cage,closing it carefully behind him. There were worse things than reportingsomething wrong with Percy. Letting him out was one.
“Mom?” he whispered. “ Mom? ”
Nothing.
He didn’t want to touch her. She might come awaketoo fast— “ MOM? ” Involuntarily, he’d cried out.
Pauline looked at him coldly. “This better begood.”
“Something’s wrong with Percy’s eye.”
“What did you do to him?”
“Nothing. I saw it when I was cleaning his cage.”
She stared at him. He waited. A slap, maybe. Orjust some comment.
Pauline looked over towards the cage. “Go on. Getthe antibiotic out of the refrigerator and leave it on the table.”
Ian almost shook with relief. Afterward, hedropped his soiled clothes directly into the washer and went to the shower.
God, how he hated that bird.
oOo
Percy had been named by Martin Bones long beforeIan’s conception. Long before Martin had ever met, wooed, and married Pauline.Before either of them showed up at Whiteman AFB, she to fly Apaches, and he tofly Warthogs. Martin had bought Percy on impulse during his first tour inGermany. He had gone to Algiers on leave and found a shivering fledgling forsale in the market. He smuggled Percy back to his apartment in Weltersbach.Then, when he’d been approved for A-10 training back in the States, Martin hadsmuggled him home. Percy had kept sentry duty over Martin’s Sedalia apartment,watched as Martin and Pauline had negotiated the terms of mutual surrender,observed the conception of Ian, and consoled the pregnant widow when shereceived news from Iraq.
Ian washed his back and left the shower. It wasgetting late. He dressed hurriedly and rushed downstairs to get a piece oftoast. Pauline had eggs waiting for him.
He stopped in the doorway.
“Thought you needed a good breakfast,” she said,smiling at him. She rubbed the back of his head in a way he liked.
He stared at her, a sick, familiar feeling insidehim: he could manage everything if he could only figure out the rules .
“Thanks,” he said. “How’s Percy?”
“He’s fine. I cleaned his eye and rubbed in someantibiotics. You should tell him how concerned you were.”
Ian leaned in and looked at Percy. Percy turnedaround and excretedn his general direction. It was on principle. Percy knew hecouldn’t reach the doorway and Ian knew Percy’s range to the millimeter.
“I’m glad you’re all right,” Ian said, trying tosound sincere. Percy was perfectly capable of imitating or making up anythingIan said if it would get Ian into trouble. But this time Pauline could hear himso if Percy made something up, Pauline would think it was a joke and showed how clever Percy was.
He ate the eggs. She rubbed the back of his headthe way he liked. For a moment, he felt almost normal. Pauline pointed to hischeek and he dutifully kissed her. Who knew what she would be like later?
Down the porch and onto the bus which, lurched onits way to school.
Safe.
oOo
Mrs. Muriel took him aside at the end of the day,looking concerned. “Are you all right, Ian?” she asked.
“Sure.” Ian glanced at the clock. If he missedthe bus, Pauline would have to pick him up. Not a good idea.
“Everything all right at… home? ”
Code words. Ian’s attention snapped back to theteacher. It wasn’t like he didn’t know what abuse was—Pauline’s smacking himaround was exactly like what they talked about in health class all the time.But what were they going to do about it?
Ian’s dead-end street had three houses: Ian’s onthe east side. The Morettis, an old and childless couple, in the middle. ZackPeters and his Mom at the end. The Morettis had reported Zack’s mom—she wassure enough dirt-eating crazy. DSS showed up, committed Mrs. Peters, took Zackright out of that little house, and dropped Zack in a foster home up inMoberly, seventy miles away—a Baptist preacher, too. Turned out the preacherneeded a lot more forgiveness than he had let on. Two weeks later in the middleof the night when Pauline was dead drunk on the sofa, Zack had calledIan up pleading to get out of there. Ian had talked to Mrs. Fields andthe principal both. Nobody listened. Everybody said Ian just didn’t understandthat what they’d done for Zack was the best thing. Next Ian heard Zack had hunghimself with electrical cord. Must have been depression. Poor Zack.
Ian would take Pauline, thank you very much.
Zack’s mom never did come back. Last year theMorettis moved away to some nursing home down south. Both houses remainedempty.
Ian caught the bus before it escaped from theparking lot. Pauline wasn’t home—still working at the bar, he supposed.
Ian went into Pauline’s bedroom. He pulled up astool and sat outside of Percy’s pissing range. Then, he sat down and tried towill Percy to die.
He’d been trying this for the last week. RickVerman sat behind him in Mrs. Muriel’s science class and had told him about hisdying grandmother.
“She lost her sight two years ago,” Rick said,sitting next to him at lunch. “Dad says she’s making herself die.”
“No. Really?” Ian shook his head. “Why is shedoing that?”
Rick shrugged his shoulders. “Dad says she doesn’twant to live anymore.”
Thinking about it, it seemed to Ian that if aperson could will herself to die, then maybe a person could will someone else to die. Or a dog. Or a parrot.
The picture of health, Percy ate sunflower seeds ashe stared back at Ian.
Maybe he could wear Percy down.
Ian sighed and got the pail. Time for theafternoon cleaning. He opened the cage. Percy jumped past him, caught the air,and was out the window before Ian could think.
Percy landed on a branch outside, winded from thesudden flight but not so tired he couldn’t laugh back at Ian in Pauline’svoice.
For a moment Ian stared at Percy. One moment hefelt elation. Go on, you goddamned bird! Get eaten and die in the dirt! I’mfree! I’m free! Followed by terror. What would Pauline do to him?Mixed with guilt. As nasty an animal as Percy was, he didn’t deserve to dieoutside unprotected.
Guilt and terror overcame his desire for freedom,and Ian broke for the door.
oOo
Ian’s house stood a little apart from a rollingcollection of small ridges and bluffs. Like most Missouri woods, the forest wasjust fallow