8
A SNAP BROUGHT Jessica back from the trance.
She blinked. Stared. Blinked again.
Orange light gilded Ikay’s face, bringing out gold spots in her huge irises. Behind her some curious females still lingered, but most onlookers had gone back to work.
Doors were open at the bottom of the installation’s central pillar. Jessica could see wire cages inside, with lots of balls that glowed like radioactive caviar. A group of females were wearing gloves and loading those balls into bags, which others carried towards the river.
The air was humid, heavy with the minty scent from the females’ bodies and the wet smell of mud. A breeze caressed Jessica’s skin like soft fingers. The most beautiful thing in the universe. Gone was the burning, the pain, the madness and the recklessness. Gone was the
