Chapter Three
Othello sat in a reclining red velvet chair in front of a huge cinema screen. On it he was watching a live broadcast of Desdemona's favourite band, the Supernovas, in concert. She sat in the chair next to him, bobbing her head and mouthing the lyrics. Neither of Othello's heads had a clue what the song was about, but Desdemona seemed to like it, and that was all that mattered.
The concert was drawing to a close when Iago and Emilia came in. Iago seemed quite keen on having Othello inspect the new vacuum atomising cannon that had just arrived. Kissing Desdemona's cheeks, Othello followed him out, leaving the two ladies alone.
"Come and see Cassio with me." Emilia said to her almost immediately.
"I feel so sorry for him." Sighed Desdemona, her eyes filling with tears of sympathy. "Yes, lets go see him." After a short ride on the revolving walkway, they found him admiring the hydroponics facility. Small trees stretched up towards the heat lamps on the ceiling and thick vines covered the walls. Cassio peeked out from behind a fern.
"Hi Desdemona, Emilia." He added Emilia's name almost as an afterthought. "I've been meaning to talk to you."
"I've been meaning to talk to you too. I'm so sorry about your job."
Looking deep into Desdemona's big, brown watery eyes, Cassio knew she would help him. "Would you talk to Othello for me? Please?" He turned on the puppy dog eyes.
"Of course, Cassio. I'm sure he'll reinstate you as soon as all this blows over. I'll talk to him about it." She said most sincerely. Emilia, standing near the door, coughed slightly. When they both turned to her she gestured at the corridor.
"Iago and Othello are coming just now." She said. Cassio looked nervous.
"He might still be mad at me. I better go." He murmured, walking out the door just as they were walking in.
Iago leaned close to Othello's ear, whispering, "Strange that he should be in such a hurry to leave. I wonder what he and Desdemona were talking about." Othello frowned slightly before turning to Desdemona.
"Hello my widdle space monkey." She cooed. "I was just talking to Cassio. Is it possible that you've been a bit hard on him?"
"I suppose." Othello's right head said while his left head nodded thoughtfully.
"Perhaps you should think about re-hiring him." Desdemona prodded gently.
"Perhaps." Said the left head as the right nodded even more thoughtfully.
"I've known him since we were barely out of the cloning tubes, after all, and he's a good man. Anyway, we should go, shouldn't we Emilia." Emilia nodded and they stepped onto the revolving walkway.
Iago picked thoughtfully at the fronds of a small palm tree. "She's known Cassio for a long time?" He asked inquiringly.
"Yeah." Othello stared at him with both sets of eyes, trying to figure out what was going on in his friend's mind.
"Hmm." Iago hummed thoughtfully. "Cassio's an honest man, surely." He mumbled.
"What's going on in that head of yours, Iago?" Othello looked puzzled.
"Well." He took a lengthy pause for effect, but seeing Othello's eyes start to wander and his foot start to tap Iago decided he'd paused just a little too long and said "You can't get all jealous or anything, now."
"Jealous? Me? Never. um. jealous of what, exactly?" Othello's attention was firmly fixed on Iago at this point.
"Desdemona being all buddy buddy with Cassio." Iago blurted.
"What are you getting at?" Othello asked.
"Well, you know Earth women aren't the most." Iago seemed to search for a word, "Truthful women in the universe. and Desdemona did lie to her father about marrying you. Perhaps she's not being entirely honest with you about things."
"You think she's lying to me about something?" Othello said softly.
Iago ignored his hurt stare and continued. "She's a beautiful woman and you. well, you have more than the average number of heads. Anyway, I've got stuff to do, if you'll excuse me." With that he stepped onto the revolving walkway and was whisked out of sight. Othello's right head mused over what had been said. His left head mused over a beautiful, exotic looking purple flower.
"Iago's really smart." He sighed. "I am a mutant. Why would Desdemona want me?"
A gardening robot walked by. "Dunno about humans. Talking to themselves." It observed in it's electronic voice. "Must be out of his little biological mind." It waved it's clippers at him.
Desdemona came in, tripped over the unfortunate robot. She was followed by Emilia, who wandered around the hydroponics facility looking at all the pretty flowers.
"Hi honey." Desdemona said, smiling sweetly and walking over to kiss Othello. He avoided her lips with both his heads and stared at the ground.
"What's the matter?" She squeaked, trying not to look offended.
"I've just got a headache." Othello groaned. Desdemona searched her purse, coming up with the strawberry spotted facial fix-all that Othello had given her before they married. He pushed it away and it fell on the floor. Luckily it had an anti-shock feature and was unbreakable. It simply bounced a couple of times.
"I think somebody needs some cryogenically induced rest." She cooed and led him away. Emilia walked over to where the strawberry spotted facial fix- all was laying on the ground and picked it up.
"Ooh. It has an anti-headache mechanism and an auto-makeup drive. and it's waterproof!" She exclaimed. "No wonder Iago wanted me to steal it."
Iago strolled in.
"Speak of the devil." Emilia murmured.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. I got Desdemona's fix-all for you." She held it out for him to see, face beaming with pride.
"It's about time." He grunted, taking it. "Keep your mouth shut about this." Hurt by his callousness, Emilia stormed out. Iago, looking around to make sure he wasn't being watched, stepped into a nearby teleportation capsule and entered the coordinates for Cassio's room.
"I'll just leave this somewhere where he'll find it." He muttered as he stepped in. Moments later he returned without the fix-all. Pleased with himself he practised his evil laugh again, amazed at how deranged it was starting to sound. The gardening robot limped by, shaking it's head scornfully, if a robot can be said to be scornful.
Othello stormed in, tripping over the robot. This time it didn't bother to get up, deciding that it would be safer to lie there until the clumsy humans were gone.
"You!" Othello shouted, a stern expression on both his faces. He shook both his heads at Iago. After a while he got dizzy and stopped. "How can you say Desdemona's cheating on me? You haven't even got any proof."
"Well, one night I got the sleeping tube next to Cassio and I heard. I heard." Iago trailed off.
"Heard what?" Othello demanded.
"Heard him talking in his sleep. He was talking about love and having to hide his love and he kept saying Desdemona's name." Othello stood and fumed silently. "And just a minute ago I saw him wiping sweat off his face with a fix-all that looked strangely like the one you gave to Desdemona."
Othello's right head fumed some more while his left head dunked itself in an open drainage tube, trying to drown himself.
He pulled himself together long enough to shout, "I'll get them!"
"I'll help you." Iago insisted, trying to look outraged and sympathetic at the same time.
"You want to help? You can kill Cassio for me."
"Yep. Will do." Iago's joviality was catching and Othello smiled.
"How would you like Cassio's old job?" With that they walked off together, Iago practising his evil laugh and Othello trying to develop one of his own.
Desdemona sat in the hydroponics facility, moping around and whinging to Emilia. The fresh smelling plants and colourful flowers soon lifted her mood.
"I'm a bit worried about losing my facial fix-all, but Othello's not a jealous mutant. He'll understand." She said. Othello walked in, seeking relaxation amongst the plants as well. "I thought you were sleeping." She said to him, concerned. He grunted. "Have you seen Cassio?"
"No!" He snapped.
"What's the matter, darling?" She said, going over to him.
"I've just got a bit of a mutated strain of the space flu." He said. An idea came to his right brain. "Have you got your facial fix-all?" He asked.
Desdemona fumbled around in her purse. "Here, I have a nasal swobbler." She held out a small metal case for him to take. He just stood there.
"But where's your fix-all?" He inquired. She mumbled and stuttered for a few seconds. "Don't tell me it's lost?"
"Er, yes. I think I lost it somewhere." She murmured.
"What?! That fix-all was designed by the engineers of Babylon 12! They made it with electrical impulses that promote feelings of love in the cerebral cortex of the brain." His faces were going red.
"Have you talked to Cassio about."
"Cassio, Cassio, Cassio!" He cut her off and stormed out in a rage.
The teleportation capsule coughed and spluttered before spitting out Iago and Cassio. They had been to the Astro Bar and were looking for a place to relieve themselves. The hydroponics facility seemed as good a place as any. It was fortunate Iago nudged Cassio when he spotted the women. Cassio hastily did up his fly and turned to look inquiringly at Desdemona.
She looked apologetically back at him. "I haven't really been able to talk to Othello much. He's been in a bad mood. Must be because of something to do with his official. whatever it is he does."
"You ladies want to join me at the Astro Bar?" Iago inquired. They nodded enthusiastically and stepped into the teleporter with him.
Left alone, Cassio spun around looking for something to do. He accidentally spun into the gardening robot, who had only just decided it was safe to get up. He gave an apologetic glance at the robot and left it writhing on the floor, because at that moment Bianca had come in. She was dressed in a revealing pixellated colour changing dress, which was pink at that moment and set off her lilac skin perfectly. She looked fantastic, and Cassio said so.
"Don't you try to suck up to me, you. you. froodiwinkle!" She shouted, reverting back into her own language at the end. "You've been on the planet for days and haven't even visited me once! Haven't even said hello!" She wailed, her dress changing colour to a violent red. She glared at him with all three of her eyes.
"I'm sorry, sweetie." He tried to soothe her. "I'll come and see you soon, I promise. I've just been busy with official stuff, you know?" Her dress changed to a brilliant shade of green.
"It's not another woman, is it?" She squealed.
"No, no. You're the only girl for me." He assured her.
"Even if I'm not human?" She whimpered.
"Especially because you're not human. I love you just the way you are." She calmed considerably. "Say, you're alright with the gadgets, aren't you?" He asked.
"Sure! I go from hooker to hacker in 60 seconds." She beamed, pulling out a huge pair of square framed glasses.
"Could you copy the wiring in this?" He asked, giving her the fix-all.
"Hmm." She hummed, inspecting it. "I suppose. It might take a while."
"That's ok."
She wandered off, eyes fixed on her new gadget.
Othello sat in a reclining red velvet chair in front of a huge cinema screen. On it he was watching a live broadcast of Desdemona's favourite band, the Supernovas, in concert. She sat in the chair next to him, bobbing her head and mouthing the lyrics. Neither of Othello's heads had a clue what the song was about, but Desdemona seemed to like it, and that was all that mattered.
The concert was drawing to a close when Iago and Emilia came in. Iago seemed quite keen on having Othello inspect the new vacuum atomising cannon that had just arrived. Kissing Desdemona's cheeks, Othello followed him out, leaving the two ladies alone.
"Come and see Cassio with me." Emilia said to her almost immediately.
"I feel so sorry for him." Sighed Desdemona, her eyes filling with tears of sympathy. "Yes, lets go see him." After a short ride on the revolving walkway, they found him admiring the hydroponics facility. Small trees stretched up towards the heat lamps on the ceiling and thick vines covered the walls. Cassio peeked out from behind a fern.
"Hi Desdemona, Emilia." He added Emilia's name almost as an afterthought. "I've been meaning to talk to you."
"I've been meaning to talk to you too. I'm so sorry about your job."
Looking deep into Desdemona's big, brown watery eyes, Cassio knew she would help him. "Would you talk to Othello for me? Please?" He turned on the puppy dog eyes.
"Of course, Cassio. I'm sure he'll reinstate you as soon as all this blows over. I'll talk to him about it." She said most sincerely. Emilia, standing near the door, coughed slightly. When they both turned to her she gestured at the corridor.
"Iago and Othello are coming just now." She said. Cassio looked nervous.
"He might still be mad at me. I better go." He murmured, walking out the door just as they were walking in.
Iago leaned close to Othello's ear, whispering, "Strange that he should be in such a hurry to leave. I wonder what he and Desdemona were talking about." Othello frowned slightly before turning to Desdemona.
"Hello my widdle space monkey." She cooed. "I was just talking to Cassio. Is it possible that you've been a bit hard on him?"
"I suppose." Othello's right head said while his left head nodded thoughtfully.
"Perhaps you should think about re-hiring him." Desdemona prodded gently.
"Perhaps." Said the left head as the right nodded even more thoughtfully.
"I've known him since we were barely out of the cloning tubes, after all, and he's a good man. Anyway, we should go, shouldn't we Emilia." Emilia nodded and they stepped onto the revolving walkway.
Iago picked thoughtfully at the fronds of a small palm tree. "She's known Cassio for a long time?" He asked inquiringly.
"Yeah." Othello stared at him with both sets of eyes, trying to figure out what was going on in his friend's mind.
"Hmm." Iago hummed thoughtfully. "Cassio's an honest man, surely." He mumbled.
"What's going on in that head of yours, Iago?" Othello looked puzzled.
"Well." He took a lengthy pause for effect, but seeing Othello's eyes start to wander and his foot start to tap Iago decided he'd paused just a little too long and said "You can't get all jealous or anything, now."
"Jealous? Me? Never. um. jealous of what, exactly?" Othello's attention was firmly fixed on Iago at this point.
"Desdemona being all buddy buddy with Cassio." Iago blurted.
"What are you getting at?" Othello asked.
"Well, you know Earth women aren't the most." Iago seemed to search for a word, "Truthful women in the universe. and Desdemona did lie to her father about marrying you. Perhaps she's not being entirely honest with you about things."
"You think she's lying to me about something?" Othello said softly.
Iago ignored his hurt stare and continued. "She's a beautiful woman and you. well, you have more than the average number of heads. Anyway, I've got stuff to do, if you'll excuse me." With that he stepped onto the revolving walkway and was whisked out of sight. Othello's right head mused over what had been said. His left head mused over a beautiful, exotic looking purple flower.
"Iago's really smart." He sighed. "I am a mutant. Why would Desdemona want me?"
A gardening robot walked by. "Dunno about humans. Talking to themselves." It observed in it's electronic voice. "Must be out of his little biological mind." It waved it's clippers at him.
Desdemona came in, tripped over the unfortunate robot. She was followed by Emilia, who wandered around the hydroponics facility looking at all the pretty flowers.
"Hi honey." Desdemona said, smiling sweetly and walking over to kiss Othello. He avoided her lips with both his heads and stared at the ground.
"What's the matter?" She squeaked, trying not to look offended.
"I've just got a headache." Othello groaned. Desdemona searched her purse, coming up with the strawberry spotted facial fix-all that Othello had given her before they married. He pushed it away and it fell on the floor. Luckily it had an anti-shock feature and was unbreakable. It simply bounced a couple of times.
"I think somebody needs some cryogenically induced rest." She cooed and led him away. Emilia walked over to where the strawberry spotted facial fix- all was laying on the ground and picked it up.
"Ooh. It has an anti-headache mechanism and an auto-makeup drive. and it's waterproof!" She exclaimed. "No wonder Iago wanted me to steal it."
Iago strolled in.
"Speak of the devil." Emilia murmured.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. I got Desdemona's fix-all for you." She held it out for him to see, face beaming with pride.
"It's about time." He grunted, taking it. "Keep your mouth shut about this." Hurt by his callousness, Emilia stormed out. Iago, looking around to make sure he wasn't being watched, stepped into a nearby teleportation capsule and entered the coordinates for Cassio's room.
"I'll just leave this somewhere where he'll find it." He muttered as he stepped in. Moments later he returned without the fix-all. Pleased with himself he practised his evil laugh again, amazed at how deranged it was starting to sound. The gardening robot limped by, shaking it's head scornfully, if a robot can be said to be scornful.
Othello stormed in, tripping over the robot. This time it didn't bother to get up, deciding that it would be safer to lie there until the clumsy humans were gone.
"You!" Othello shouted, a stern expression on both his faces. He shook both his heads at Iago. After a while he got dizzy and stopped. "How can you say Desdemona's cheating on me? You haven't even got any proof."
"Well, one night I got the sleeping tube next to Cassio and I heard. I heard." Iago trailed off.
"Heard what?" Othello demanded.
"Heard him talking in his sleep. He was talking about love and having to hide his love and he kept saying Desdemona's name." Othello stood and fumed silently. "And just a minute ago I saw him wiping sweat off his face with a fix-all that looked strangely like the one you gave to Desdemona."
Othello's right head fumed some more while his left head dunked itself in an open drainage tube, trying to drown himself.
He pulled himself together long enough to shout, "I'll get them!"
"I'll help you." Iago insisted, trying to look outraged and sympathetic at the same time.
"You want to help? You can kill Cassio for me."
"Yep. Will do." Iago's joviality was catching and Othello smiled.
"How would you like Cassio's old job?" With that they walked off together, Iago practising his evil laugh and Othello trying to develop one of his own.
Desdemona sat in the hydroponics facility, moping around and whinging to Emilia. The fresh smelling plants and colourful flowers soon lifted her mood.
"I'm a bit worried about losing my facial fix-all, but Othello's not a jealous mutant. He'll understand." She said. Othello walked in, seeking relaxation amongst the plants as well. "I thought you were sleeping." She said to him, concerned. He grunted. "Have you seen Cassio?"
"No!" He snapped.
"What's the matter, darling?" She said, going over to him.
"I've just got a bit of a mutated strain of the space flu." He said. An idea came to his right brain. "Have you got your facial fix-all?" He asked.
Desdemona fumbled around in her purse. "Here, I have a nasal swobbler." She held out a small metal case for him to take. He just stood there.
"But where's your fix-all?" He inquired. She mumbled and stuttered for a few seconds. "Don't tell me it's lost?"
"Er, yes. I think I lost it somewhere." She murmured.
"What?! That fix-all was designed by the engineers of Babylon 12! They made it with electrical impulses that promote feelings of love in the cerebral cortex of the brain." His faces were going red.
"Have you talked to Cassio about."
"Cassio, Cassio, Cassio!" He cut her off and stormed out in a rage.
The teleportation capsule coughed and spluttered before spitting out Iago and Cassio. They had been to the Astro Bar and were looking for a place to relieve themselves. The hydroponics facility seemed as good a place as any. It was fortunate Iago nudged Cassio when he spotted the women. Cassio hastily did up his fly and turned to look inquiringly at Desdemona.
She looked apologetically back at him. "I haven't really been able to talk to Othello much. He's been in a bad mood. Must be because of something to do with his official. whatever it is he does."
"You ladies want to join me at the Astro Bar?" Iago inquired. They nodded enthusiastically and stepped into the teleporter with him.
Left alone, Cassio spun around looking for something to do. He accidentally spun into the gardening robot, who had only just decided it was safe to get up. He gave an apologetic glance at the robot and left it writhing on the floor, because at that moment Bianca had come in. She was dressed in a revealing pixellated colour changing dress, which was pink at that moment and set off her lilac skin perfectly. She looked fantastic, and Cassio said so.
"Don't you try to suck up to me, you. you. froodiwinkle!" She shouted, reverting back into her own language at the end. "You've been on the planet for days and haven't even visited me once! Haven't even said hello!" She wailed, her dress changing colour to a violent red. She glared at him with all three of her eyes.
"I'm sorry, sweetie." He tried to soothe her. "I'll come and see you soon, I promise. I've just been busy with official stuff, you know?" Her dress changed to a brilliant shade of green.
"It's not another woman, is it?" She squealed.
"No, no. You're the only girl for me." He assured her.
"Even if I'm not human?" She whimpered.
"Especially because you're not human. I love you just the way you are." She calmed considerably. "Say, you're alright with the gadgets, aren't you?" He asked.
"Sure! I go from hooker to hacker in 60 seconds." She beamed, pulling out a huge pair of square framed glasses.
"Could you copy the wiring in this?" He asked, giving her the fix-all.
"Hmm." She hummed, inspecting it. "I suppose. It might take a while."
"That's ok."
She wandered off, eyes fixed on her new gadget.