The formidable Chimera destroyer was found orbiting Neptune’s moon Triton—with only a handful of energy crystals on board. The rest of the fabled trove? A mystery. The Treasure of Makrow 34 will probably turn into one of any number of myths about the Solar System.
As Slovoban had guessed, the government of Colossa never deigned to reveal the name of their wayward behemoth. A curious sense of honor, to say the least. Something like “he was a fucking traitor, but he was our fucking traitor.”
As for me, “in recognition of my outstanding service,” the aliens put a little pressure on my buddies to grant me nothing less than the privilege of a secondname.
I think I surprised everybody with my choice.
Oh, I suppose they all expected me to pick Chandler. Sure. But I figured that would be like naming a dog Dog. Too commonplace.
Hammett, Spillane, Himes, or even Tracy (after old Dick) would also have been on the list of unsurprising choices for those who knew me. I imagine more than one might have bet on Fernández as a logical pick—after all, without Vasily and his powers, Makrow 34 would still be a thorn in everyone’s side, and I’d still be just plain Raymond.
But Slovoban? Nobody saw that coming. An old gypsy mafioso I’d only met twice? (Though the second time around he did save my life, of course.) A heroic death, but a suicide, after all.
I hope Vasily finds out what I did someday, out there among the Grodos. He left before I was given the honor.
Some have told me that this story shouldn’t get filed away in a bureaucratic report. They say I should write it all down, in words, old style, the way Chandler would have done it. The original Raymond.
And maybe I will. Someday.
If I do, I’d like to begin this way:
The desert wind was blowing that night, loaded up on red dust….
Rome, October 23, 2002
About the Author
Born José Miguel Sánchez Gómez, Yoss assumed his pen name in 1988, when he won the Premio David in the science fiction category for Timshel. Together with his peculiar pseudonym, the author’s aesthetic of an impenitent rocker has allowed him to stand out among his fellow Cuban writers. Earning a degree in Biology in 1991, he went on to graduate from the first ever course on narrative techniques at the Onelio Jorge Cardoso Center of Literary Training, in the year 1999. Today, Yoss writes both realistic and science fiction works. Alongside these novels, the author produces essays, reviews, and compilations, and actively promotes the Cuban science fiction literary workshops Espiral and Espacio Abierto. His novels in English include A Planet for Rent, Super Extra Grande, Condomnauts, and Red Dust, all translated by David Frye.
About the Translator
When he isn’t translating, David Frye teaches Latin American culture and society at the University of Michigan. Translations include First New Chronicle and Good Government by Guaman Poma de Ayala (Peru, 1615); The Mangy Parrot by José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi (Mexico, 1816), for which he received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship; Writing across Cultures: Narrative Transculturation in Latin America by Ángel Rama (Uruguay, 1982); and several Cuban and Spanish novels and poems.
Copyright © 2004 Yoss
Translation copyright © 2020 David Frye
First published as Polvo rojo in Premio UPC 2003
by Ediciones B, Barcelona, 2004
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without the prior written permission of the publisher.
First Restless Books paperback edition July 2020
Paperback ISBN: 9781632062468
eISBN: 9781632062475
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018956661
This book is supported in part by an award from
the National Endowment for the Arts.
Cover design by Edel Rodriguez
Typesetting, text design and eBook by Tetragon, London
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