THE MYRIAD WAR

“…and thus did Fugitor, with his two allies and in accordance with the New and Noble Destiny laid out by the Fates of Time, set out on his ever-eternal quest to fight Injustice in the name of the Temporal Balance…and yet still had no idea of what would truly await him…”

–The Children’s Book of Heroes of the Temporal Balance

 

CHAPTER ONE

I suppose you’re all wondering what I’ve been up to since we last met.

Well, as these things are wont to go at times, it’s another long and even more incredible tale, so like the first time, I’ll just let things fall where they may, thank you so much.

It had been quite some time since I became recently aware of our New and Noble Destiny   that our friend Sidney told us about.  I have to say that it definitely fell into my line of thinking.  I  just wasn’t too certain about Marlena and Arthur’s feelings on the subject.

I can only hope that this notion doesn’t destroy our friendship, and especially my love for Marlena.  In fact, if it wasn’t for her making her way into my existence, I don’t know where I’d have ended up.  Probably dead, I’d bet my last ounce of being.

But…do let’s not dwell on that rather morbid subject.  It is admittedly depressing.

Where was I at….oh, of course.  Our story.

Well, as near as I can distinctly recall, it was shortly after Sidney gave us our commission that we soon resumed our voyages throughout the Myriad Worlds, not fully knowing what to expect by this stage.  But strangely enough, like my earlier adventure, I have to say to you that, again, it didn’t seem all that daunting.

But to my realization, I knew that I had to ask of Marlena and Arthur their true feelings on what we’re about to endure…whether it be for good or ill.

After I took a few moments to compose my thoughts, I turned to Marlena.

“I say, Marlena, may I ask you something?”

She turned her lovely unblemished face ‘round to me.

“Sure, Tony.  What’s on your mind?”

I paused a brief second to carefully conjure up a suitable question.

“Well…I would like to know one thing.”

She gave me a look that was a bit on the curious side.

“Oh?  What’s that?” she asked in return.

Presently I eyed both she and Arthur simultaneously.

“Tell me the truth.  How do you two really feel in regards to our New Calling, as it were?”  There.  I asked them, if only to satisfy the curiosity of whomever I’m constantly relating all this to. I do hope that you try to take no personal offense.

They turned ‘round and looked at each other in baffled confusion.  Then they nodded their heads in an almost musical unison.  Arthur was the logical one to respond, such as it is, I suppose.

“Ah, I ain’t got a complaint.  I’ve been ‘relishing’ it all around,” quipped Arthur, doubtless in deference to his former home which, I’m sure you’ll recall, resembled a rather weird hamburger complete with all the trimmings, or “fixings” for you of the American persuasion.

Next it was Marlena’s turn to answer my odd inquiry.

“Besides, Tony, I won’t dare go anywhere without you in my life.  And I know that you agree with that thought, don’t you?”  she said, her tone on the rather bold if not all-out crass side.

I had to smile at her strong determination to remain at my side throughout it all.  I suppose that’s the main reason why I somehow managed to stay a little on the overly sane and logical side of it all, in spite of the weird circumstances to which we consistently found ourselves in.  But…that’s the way the ice freezes itself, I suppose.

I can try to hope that nothing can much, if at all, go very wrong….

CHAPTER TWO

And so, once more, as these voyages are wont to go at times, we fell into a welcome routine sojourn, with(hopefully, as I just said a moment ago)no sudden surprise adventures or frighteningly weird encounters with every being that have strange tales that come right straight out of every soap opera one finds, albeit on the diminishing side.

Just then, Marlena, her face growing dark with worry, turned unexpectedly ‘round to me.

“Tony?  What’s wrong?  You look depressed.”

Without returning my gaze to her, I made with one of my usual ready-made answers.

“Oh, it’s just that I’ve quite a lot on my mind.  Quite a lot.”

Thereafter, the rest of our initial sojourn remained in silence, until we spotted a blue-red planetoid just twenty degrees below our vantage point.  I assessed the situation, and decided that it was the ideal place to rest up, to recharge my powers…and do some heavy thinking that, not at all surprisingly, was more than a tad on the contemplative side.

Soon after our landing, we took a small spot of time to casually look about our immediate surroundings.  Outside of the rather oddly-colored skies above our heads, it was somewhat indistinguishable from any other planetoid we’d seen up to this point.   I mean, sure, there was the odd temple here and there, a few houses that more than had the appearances of plastic cola bottles, but other than that, it was a tad on the drab side of it all.

Unexpectedly, Arthur made his way ‘round to my position.

“Hey, Tones,” he asked, his approach a bit on the rather crass side. I mean, I do hate being called Tones, but I wasn’t quite in the mood to argue.

Wearily I looked to him.

“What is it, Arthur?”

He got straight to the point.

“I’ve been looking at these houses here, and it got me to thinking.”

“Oh?  And about what, dare I ask?”

He flashed his trademark smug grin.

“I’m thinking that, well–I’m thirsty.”  There.  He’d said it…although I do wish otherwise.

I glared at him intently, yet somehow I kept an even temper about it.

“Well, I’m sure we’ll replenish ourselves momentarily enough.  In the meantime, do try to keep those rather inane thoughts to yourself.  If ever you have anything sensible to say, by all means, be my guest and say those.”

In his nonchalant manner, Arthur acknowledged my response.  Whether he’d actually obey that request, only the Fates of Time can tell.

And speaking of which, I heard another voice call out to me.

“Hi, Tony.  How’re things going?”

I whirled ‘round and there, spot-on behind us, stood one of the mysterious Fates of Time.  It was, in actuality, our mentor Sidney.  You know, the chap resembling a U.S. Army psychiatrist.  A decent sort of fellow, all things considered in the Grand Scheme of it all, I suppose.

“Oh, I really can’t dare complain too much, I can say,” I replied coolly.

He let out his benevolent if overly superior smile.

“Well, that’s nice.  I thought I might stop by and check up on you, that’s all.”

A rather ominous notion wormed its way ‘round the of my mind.

“I say, Sidney, old fellow–no offense intended–you said that our New and Noble Destiny was to root out any and all sorts of Injustice in the name of–what is it?–the Temporal Balance.”

“Yes?  And what’s your point?” he asked without an air of anger in his even voice.

“Well…” I began, “we’ve been traversing ‘round the Myriad Worlds and well, to be quite frank and openly honest, we’ve not encountered any as such.”

“Yet.  Not yet…but you will–and only when you don’t expect it coming.  But I’d still be on my toes if I were you, Tony.  There’s a lot riding on all this, as I know you’re aware by now.”

I received a rather grim sense of foreboding in my psyche…and I do think it rubbed off onto Marlena and Arthur, who had been near my side during the conversation’s course.

Presently Sidney turned about to Marlena, still smiling warmly.

“And how are things with you, Marlena?”

She returned his smile equally warmly.

“Oh, I can’t gripe about it.  In fact, I think it’s going to be an exciting adventure!”

The remaining three of us looked ‘round at one another in grim dismay.

If only she’d truly understand it all, I thought silently to myself.

If only…

CHAPTER THREE

For many a long moment not one sound of speech was uttered out loud.  The pause was a bit on the thick side, I must say.  And yet in a very strange way, I suppose it was to our collective benefit, because it provided the most opportune moment to consider our next course of action.

Then, just as my thoughts found their way to having their voice, Sidney suddenly teleported himself back to the High Realms of Infinity, leaving us to carry on, such as it is.

Marlena whirled her eyes to my features.

“Tony?  What’s wrong?”

I turned ‘round to her, my eyes now blazing, which is not something I usually would do.

“Nothing. It’ll pass,” I stated a tad tersely.

Shrugging her shoulders, Marlena decided to let it be…for the nonce anyway.   And yet I couldn’t help but notice that her “casual” shrug indicated some other thing altogether.

I was still mulling ‘round this notion when dear old Arthur waltzed his way to me.

“Say, uh, Tones–” he began.

I whirled about to face him, trying a tad on the hard side to remain calm.

“Arthur…if you could, please do not call me Tones.  I know it’s your way to be glib, but all I ask is for you to show some manners and at least try to call me by name.  Does that make sense to you?”

He, like Marlena, shrugged his shoulders, that smug grin ever so present.

“Sure it makes sense.  Only one thing bugs me.”

“Oh?  And what’s that, I dare ask.”

He didn’t miss a single beat.

“How much in dollars are we getting paid for this?”

An odd look crossed my face.  Then I got the joke.  And, as is the usual course, it wasn’t at all funny in the slightest bit.  Yet inside my psyche, the relief by Arthur was welcomed indeed.

Of course, naturally I did have the decency if not smarts to not answer that question.  Besides, it was a tad bit on the moot side, anyway.

That gnawing sense of foreboding danger returned with a vengeance.

And for this, well–oh let’s not dwell on it.

That will happen soon enough….

CHAPTER FOUR

The three of us resumed our sojourn throughout the Myriad Worlds(courtesy of the force-field screen about our forms), and then we found ourselves drawn, albeit inexplicably, to a cluster of planets we’d never encountered before.  First off, there was nary a cloud in sight on any of the ones that we immediately saw upon contact, leaving me to suspect that no life existed there, or if it did, it wouldn’t dare be there now.  This struck all of us as rather a bit odd.

So, with my curiosity once more piqued, I decided to move my companions and myself in for a closer look.  I must say, it somehow or other grew to be quite exciting, although I’m sure you’ll find Marlena and Arthur disagreeing ever so slightly.

Upon landing on one planet’s surface, we looked ‘round and got an eyeful of desolation and waste, as characterized by the hideously charred landscape and ruined buildings just lying all about the immediate perimeter, as far as the eye can see.

Marlena turned to me, a grim curiosity showing on her features.

“Tony, what, or who could have done all this?”

It was indeed a good question, but which didn’t have a ready-made answer.  But you can bet it did give me a ready-made dosage of total nausea.

Then I heard Arthur call out.

“Hey, Tones, check this out!”

We raced to his position, and gazed our collective eyes on the shattered remains of what appeared to be a star-cruiser of some such as we’d never before encountered.  I surmised that it was a one-man fighter, not unlike those I’d seen in the science fiction stories.  There were pieces of twin engine nacelles, slabs of metals which had been the wings, the control console looked like a piece of Swiss cheese–well, you do get the picture.

But the most hideous sight there was the lifeless corpse of the pilot.  Evidently it, or rather, he hadn’t decomposed.  He was lying there, face down on the surface.  With my two compatriots looking on, I turned him over to see his face.  When I did, Marlena’s eyes welled up with tears.

And why is that, you ask?

Well, the face was that of a young man, or to be more accurate, a young boy.  He couldn’t have been more than fourteen years old, if even that.

“He’s just a kid,” said Marlena, even as she leaned down to him, stroking his brown hair gently.  I have to say that her devotion to the care of the Noble Beings was admirable, yet in this case it was rather useless.

We decided to take a few moments to properly bury the young boy alongside the shattered remains of his cruiser. While Arthur and I dug a shallow grave, Marlena inexplicably held the boy next to her, cradling him as though he was her own offspring.

With her eyes still teary, she turned ‘round to us.

“You know, Tony, he could be my own child!!” she uttered.

Now that struck me as odd!  It also slightly angered me, as well.

“Oh, do stop carrying on so.  He’s dead.  And anyway, what would you have done to prevent his death?”  Now I don’t want to seem cold about this, but there are things not even I can  control or alter.  If there were–well, again, that’s one of those thoughts I’d just as soon not dwell on, thank you so very much.

After Marlena had regained some of her senses, she laid the boy in the makeshift grave, said a blessing–in Spanish, unbelievably–kissed his cheek, and then turned away.  Her grief was quite palpable, I know.

With the impromptu funeral at an end, we walked from the grave and toward the row of ruined buildings which doubtlessly showed the tell-tale marks of laser fire and photon salvos combined.  It indeed was quite grim and equally hideous!

The question that Marlena asked earlier ran ‘round and ‘round in the recesses of my mind yet I still didn’t have an answer as yet.

Arthur, as usual, came up with his trademark inane quip.

“Wow.  Sure’d hate to see this repair bill.”

For once I didn’t argue, and in fact actually agreed with him, though I didn’t know why I did.  But…it’s the ways of the Universe, I suppose….

CHAPTER FOUR

“I see you made it, Tony.”

I whirled ‘round, and there was Sidney!!  I could never get used to his sudden appearances!

“I say, Sidney, is this part of the so-called New Destiny?” I daringly asked.

If he was angry with my line of questioning, he didn’t show it in the least bit.  His calm answer said as much.

“I’m afraid so, Tony.  This is only a small example of  what could happen if  Injustice isn’t eliminated from the Universe.  This,” he said, indicating all we’ve seen, “was caused by a force deadlier than anything else ever witnessed.”  I could swear that I saw his face become grim with worry, though that may have been the lighting here, I don’t know.

Marlena turned her sad gaze to Sidney. He read that look, answering the question even before she asked.

“Believe me, Marlena, I really understand the pain you’re feeling right now.  My heart goes out his family, but at the moment, there isn’t anything anyone could’ve done to prevent this from happening.  Even I can’t go back through Time to bring back one life back to the Living Realm, as much as we’d like to.”

Instantly my mind returned to the same old question running ‘round the recesses of my mind.  But I knew I didn’t need to ask, knowing Sidney.

“To answer your question, the forces responsible for this is led by the most insidious man imaginable.  His name—is Roger!!”

I grew quite curious at this odd revelation.

“And, uh, who’s this Roger chap?”

Sidney got straight on to the point…in his own way, naturally.

“Oh, you’ll know soon enough, Tony.  You’ll know soon enough, but suffice it for me to say that he will not be a pushover, like your former masters were.  This guy is out for blood, and he doesn’t care who gets hurt, or killed, as in the case of that young boy you just buried.  And if you’re not careful, the next burial could be yours!” And with that now said, Sidney turned away from us, and did his vanishing act.

I digested this information for a spot of time, trying to heed Sidney’s advice.

And yet, that sense of the dark, foreboding sense of the Unknown gnawed at us…

CHAPTER FIVE

Having just gotten only the vaguest notion of the man we were to stop, the three of us resumed our journey throughout the Myriad Worlds.  The daunting notion of us trying to stop and deter some madman from carrying out whatever plot he had in his mind was blatantly obvious from the start.  And let me be the first to admit to you now that, quite frankly, it scared the hell out of us!!

And yet–as I’m wont to think–I couldn’t help but also draw some humor from this.  I mean, just think of this for a spot.  Who, if ever, heard of a tyrannical bloke named–Roger?!

However, I had the sense of knowing enough fighting tact to learn to never, ever underestimate an enemy of any sort.  And I felt that my two comrades knew what I knew.  In fact, I know that they knew, believe me on that, my friends.  Out of their own good manners, though, they didn’t say those out loud.

I remained lost in my little–daydreams, I suppose you’d call them–when an extremely familiar voice called out in a very hearty manner.

“Hello, Tony.”

We turned ‘round and there, straight-on behind us, was our old friend, the gigantic sentient fortress-ship Friday.

“Hi, Friday!!” yelled out Marlena joyously.

“Hey, Friday.  How was your week?” quipped Arthur.

“Oh, no complaints, I can say,” he answered.

As grateful as I was to see our old friend, a new curiosity wormed its way ‘round the recesses of my mind.

“I can see you’re wondering why I’m here with you again. Well, that can be answered easily enough.  See, I was sent by Sidney and all the other Fates of Time to help you out in fighting this new menace that I’m sure you’re aware of by now.”

“Yes, that’s right.  His name is Roger, if I do recall correctly,” I told him in confirmation.

Oddly enough, Friday didn’t seem all that surprised.

“Yeah, I’ve been keeping tabs on that guy.  In fact, if you want, I can give you the facts I have stored in my data file network,” he offered.

This he did with the utmost total efficiency, and soon we had our idea of what this Roger bloke was more than capable of committing as far as Injustice goes.  It did nothing for our morale, I’m afraid I have to say.

I had, in fact, that ever-increasing sense of total doom about to overtake us all!!

CHAPTER SIX

Upon heard the information given us by Friday, Marlena grew frightened.

“Tony, remember when I said that this was going to be exciting?  Well, I take it all back!”

Wordlessly I went to her and embraced her lovingly. Somehow the grim magnitude of it all had finally caught up with her.  And I must say it rendered Arthur quite totally speechless, as felt by the absence of his inane quips…and for that, I’m supremely grateful.

With the info from Friday now placed into our collective consciousnesses, we resumed our wayward journeys through the “normal” regions of the Myriad Worlds…though I knew in the deepest recesses of my mind that it wouldn’t stay normal for all that much longer.  Especially not now with this Roger bloke running about, thinking about who-knows-what kind of Chaos he can create without a flinch.

I turned ‘round to my living colleagues, seeing their fear quite so clearly…never more so than on Marlena’s. I also noticed that her own fear was harshly blended in with more than a dose of all-out anger.  Doubtless it had to do with the young boy we’d just buried earlier.

Deciding to rest my powers, the three of us made our way to Friday’s welcoming interior.   It also gave us a chance to collect our thoughts and try within reason to figure out the danger that Mr. Roger(no, not the one from children’s TV, thank you)was planning if not actually executing.

It was then that we’d gotten another surprise visit from Sidney.

“Still trying to figure out Roger’s plot, huh, Tony?”

I turned about to face him.  How he knew that, I’ll never even try to guess.

“As a matter of course in the situation, yes, I am.”

“You’re wasting your effort, Tony.  People like Roger just can’t be figured out even on a good day.  The best I can advise you to do is just let things in the Grand Schemes of the Balance fall wherever they may.”  And with that bit of “good” news, he turned ‘round and vanished once more.

I mulled over this for quite a lot of time when dear old Friday shook my thoughts into sharp focus.

“Sorry to interrupt your thoughts, but I think you better take a look at this!”

I raced over to the main viewing screen, and was appalled by what I’d seen.

All about was the much-dreaded Chaos that we’d been warned about much, much earlier.  There were remnants of what had been planets teeming with life, now utterly destroyed!!  We also gazed at fragments of star-cruisers, freighters, passenger liner-ships, et al.   Doubtless, though, perhaps the most sickening thing was the massive gathering of lifeless bodies floating all about endless Space.

It all grew too much for Marlena and Arthur, both of whom turned to throw up.

At the risk of sounding cold, I casually turned back to Friday’s main panel.

“I say, Friday…do you suppose–?”

“That this is the handiwork of Roger the Warlord?  Yeah, Tony, it’s now becoming all-too-painfully clear.”  If it was at all possible for Friday to throw up himself, he’d have done so by now.

Now, in spite of my not having met him, my hatred for Roger had increased exponentially.

And I knew that it had become my pleasure to take him out.  Now.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Having finally gotten the full dose of the insidiousness of Roger’s total capacity, I asked Friday to trace the debris-trail back to the source.  To my delight, he did this in the most rapid and efficient manner possible.  I can sense that Friday hated this monster as much as I.

“I’m getting traces of radiation coming from beyond the edge of this system.  It’s a type that I’ve never encountered before.  I recommend that we proceed with the utmost caution.”

“Understood, Friday.  And thanks.”

In a few micro-seconds Friday activated the massive star-drive engine on the aft-side of his structure, and soon we set off.  I knew it was my duty of honor to find Roger and eliminate him, if it came to that, but I also had the feeling that–well, do let’s be frank about this.  It really frightened me immeasurably by this time.  As a result, I made a rather curious if not cowardly request.

“I say, Friday, would you be so kind and decelerate slightly, please?”

Friday had to think about this for a spot.

“May I ask why, Tony?”

Just then Marlena and Arthur came up to me, their faces showing perplexed confusion as well.  I couldn’t fault them for that.

Not really all that mindful of the others, I resumed focus on Friday’s voice input.

“Well, I’m not really in that much of a hurry to confront this Roger character now, am I?”

Oddly enough, their understanding was quite definite.  And so was their sympathy, to their credit, or good manners, or whichever you wish to call it.

And so, we slowed down our speed, partly to save power, partly to properly formulate a plan, but mostly out of my own growing fear and terror.  I mean, there are things that frighten even me, I have to honestly say.  But, for the sake of the lives of the Noble Beings living still on the Myriad Worlds, my own personal feelings would have to put themselves on the backburners of my mind.  Besides, I reasoned to myself, all fears are usually for nothing.

This one particular fear, however, would ultimately warrant itself, to my chagrin, as I was to find out soon…

And so once more I drew myself into a state of dark haziness till I got a signal–well, a spot of talk from Friday.

“Tony, you alright?  You’ve been awfully subdued throughout this journey.”

I clearly wasn’t in the mood for any conversation of the casual sort, but I knew that Friday was one of my dearest friends, so I opened up to him, in a manner of speaking.

“To be honest, Friday old boy, I’m having a great deal of fear in regards to Roger the Warlord.  I have to say that, in fact, I’m quite–terrified about this entire business.”

“Yeah, that’s all-too-understandable there, Tony.  But it’s crucial that we take this vile-minded SOB out before he does any more damage!!”

Against my growing sense of terror, I had to smile.  Friday always knew how to come through for a friend.  And for this, and him, I had to thank the Fates of Time, which is something I don’t normally do.

At that rather unexpected next moment, Marlena walked up to me, and proceeded to embrace the stuffings out of my frame.  I, for one, welcomed it.  Suddenly my fear completely dissipated from my being, and was replaced with my now-customary resolve.  Now I could never be quite all certain about this, but I believed I heard Friday actually–chuckle, though that may have been the engines, I don’t know.

But I do hope that Roger gets the sense that wherever he may be, he’d better be eating his fingernails, or toenail clippings, or some such….

CHAPTER NINE

The closer we drew to Roger’s home realm, the stronger my resolve grew…as did my curiosity as to what he actually looked like.

“Excuse me, Friday, but there’s one thing I’d forgotten to ask you,” I said.

“Let me guess.  You don’t know what Roger looks like, do you?”

“How did you know I was going to ask that?” I questioned.

“Oh, just a hunch.  No problem, though.  I’ll patch his profile data now.”

The three of us humans made our way to the main computer screen now displaying Roger’s profile.  I have to say that, physical-wise, his face wasn’t all that much to look at.  Try to picture a tall, craggly-faced man, with grey stringy yet thick hair, a slightly big nose, a very thin mouth, clean-shaven, and having piercing blue-grey eyes.  His appearance was a bit on the pompous side.

We were quite astonished, I must admit, and also amused.  This is the bloke responsible for all this–death now floating all about us?!

Yet I still heeded the advice about the underestimation of a potentially deadly enemy, as I know for a fact that Sidney said to us.

Marlena turned ‘round to Arthur, then back to me.  Instantly her eyes boggled!

“Tony!!  I think I heard of this guy!!”  she yelled out.

“Oh, yes?  From where, may I be so bold to ask?”

“From–oh, maybe it was a coincidence.  But I have seen this guy somewhere before–and  not from the info that Friday just gave us now.”

Looking at her skeptically, I decided to let the matter die, so to speak.

Then, not unexpectedly, Arthur came up to my position.  He had a rather glum look emanating from his grey-blue eyes.  His fear became all too palpable by this state.

“Hey, Tony, how are we going to stop this guy from doing any more killing?” he asked.

His point was, to my surprise, quite valid.  As a result, I mulled this ‘round the recesses of my mind, trying my damnedest best to respond.

“Well…the best that we can dare hope for is to just reason with him, I suppose.”

Somehow or other, however, that reply did nothing for our collective morale.

And I sensed that somewhere–in fact, everywhere in this part of the Universe, Roger knew this–and he isn’t the least bit afraid to exploit it for his vile crass jollies!!

CHAPTER TEN

A growing depression permeated all about as the sojourn through this sector of the Myriad Worlds carried on, as it’s wont to do whether we wish it or not.  It wasn’t exactly the feeling we were accustomed to, courtesy of our worry and fear of this Roger bloke.  But we also knew that there was the one element we could use to our advantage.  And I can be honest in saying that this was the one thing that Roger just doesn’t get, or if he did, wouldn’t care about.

And that was the strong friendship we three–well, we four have for each other, and especially the love I have, and will eternally continue to have, for Marlena.

So for the first time in long days, a sense of relieved joy re-permeated about our beings, even that of Friday’s as well.  Now we were more than ready for the challenge that Roger, I can be sure of, was due to offer.

I turned ‘round to my two fellow humans, smiling rather a bit on the broad side.  They did likewise, to my delight.  This, too, strengthened me to almost limitless levels.  And I have to say that it also helped my powers increase themselves to even loftier levels, if that’s at all possible.  Our fear had, finally and much to our relief, subsided itself permanently.

And, as I’m sure I’d stated to you many times by now, I do hope that dear old Roger gets the hint that his “time” was due to be up–and soon!

But for now, having left behind the Chaos of Death caused by him, we grew to enjoy our trek through the remaining Myriad Worlds untouched by the stench that is Roger.  A faint glimmer of total hope glimmered in our eyes as we gazed upon planets of all sorts of various shapes and colors; again, some in pained birth, others in the height of their influence and strength, and then, as is the usual course by now, those on a gradual if painful decline till that moment of Total Demise.

All like the Essence of Life itself, as I said to you in my earlier adventure–that is, if you’d been paying attention.  Which I know for a fact that you did.

During the course of our collective reverie, no one uttered a word of any sort at all, especially Arthur, now much to my chagrin.  Fortunately that would change sooner or later.

Just at that moment, Arthur waltzed his way ‘round to me.  Uh-huh.  Right on time.

“Hey, Tony, you got a plan for Roger?” he asked.

Again it was that same valid point that constantly ran ‘round and ‘round in my mind.

“Well, Arthur, I guess the best answer for this is to, unfortunately, let the events fall wherever they fall, and go from there.”

He remained at my side, hoping I’d come up with a lot better response.  There wouldn’t be such forthcoming…for the nonce, anyway.  Now Marlena made her way to my other side, and took my hands, damn near squeezing the life out of them.  I ignored the resultant aching, as I have quite a high pain tolerance, thank you.

But we couldn’t wait much longer to relieve the biggest–well, I guess “hemorrhoid” would fit this human cancer…

CHAPTER ELEVEN

We’d allowed ourselves a few hours’ worth of sleep as our journey throughout the Myriad  Worlds dragged onward and onward.  I guess it was due to the fact that, well, this leg of our trip was boring the stuffings out of us.  And as always, it was more than overdue if not welcomed outright.

I know, that does sound a tad on the weird side of it all, doesn’t it?

But…as I keep repeating myself, we weren’t exactly in a hurry to meet this Roger now, were we?  I mean, would you be if you were in our shoes?

Afterwards, our boredom and ennui gave way to a sense of amazed wonder as the next leg of the voyage took a unexpectedly delightful turn.  And that all started with the first of the awe-inspiring sights we looked upon.

I suppose you’re wondering what I’m on about, aren’t you?

Well, try to imagine, if you can, the same shapes of planets we’d encountered in our first adventure.  Once more, there were cuboids, pyramids, rectangular monoliths, and of course the odd spheroid or two; all these just floating about listlessly in randomized patterns here in Limitless Space.  But that wasn’t the oddest thing about them.

No, the truly weird thing about them was their composition:  they all appeared as though they were made out of–you won’t even dare try to believe this–glistering jewels!!

Naturally, Arthur made known one of his glib remarks.

“Wowee.  Someone’s got money to burn.”

Now it was Marlena’s turn to be amazed by all this, though fortunately her observations were on the more sensible side of it all.

“How did they get here?” she had asked.

“I haven’t the slightest idea there, love,” I said, shaking my head slowly, “but you can jolly well bet that the weren’t put here by any accident what-so-ever.”

Marlena and Arthur nodded their heads in a somewhat somber manner.  They knew.

Roger!!  Of course…

How does he do it all?!!

CHAPTER TWELVE

It seemed to me that the more fascinated–well, obsessed I became with this Roger character, the more uncontrollable my hatred grew.  It wasn’t at all like me, I know, but then again I’d never been too tolerant of anyone whose regards for the lives of the Noble Beings was quite so minimum at best and, at its worst, was lacking.   I mean, I didn’t dare put up with that from the Bureaucracy, and I’m damned sure I’ll not start now!

Yet I still retained my sense of rational logic when it came to formalizing my battle-plan for taking him out of the picture.  Then, during the course of my relating all these emotions, a weird and oddly, reassuringly comfortable thought entered into the recesses of my mind, as if I’d unconsciously summoned help from the Infinite Realms of the Fates.

Marlena was the first to notice this, judging by the look on her face.

“Tony?  You okay?”  she asked, not without a dash of worry.

“Yes, I’m fine.  Why do you ask?”

“Oh…it’s just that I’ve never seen you in such a good mood before.”

Not unexpectedly, Arthur noticed this as well, though I didn’t quite wish to hear what he had to say about this subject…but I did so, anyway.

“Yeah, Tony.  What’s with the sick-pumpkin smile?”

Eyeing Marlena and wisely ignoring Arthur for the nonce, I then turned my gaze ‘round back to Friday’s main console-panel screen.  The initial sense of amazement grew by leaps and bounds, I have to say.

The reason for this was the next thing we witnessed.  Just inches to our right, there lay a brick wall, white in color, made out of the purest diamond ever cut.  We passed by this, and found ourselves looking at our reflections–and a whole lot more!

There were worlds beyond worlds, yet they seemed to be enduring the most hideous event  imaginable!!  Armies and space armadas from planet after planet engaged themselves in a great and terrible conflict…and in the midst of it all was a glittering diamond-shaped satellite-ship, acting like a mediator or, if you will, a referee at an American football game.

Determined to get to the heart of it all, I made up my mind to enter the fray.  With Friday’s help, naturally.  After all, surely I’m not that crazy, unlike Mr. Roger.

“I say, Friday, do us all a small favor and take us into the Realm where that diamond ship, if you please,” I said boldly.

“It’s my pleasure, Tony,” responded the mighty fortress-ship in equally bold resolve.

Okay, Roger old bag-boy, here comes your day in court!!

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The sojourn to the Realm where that great conflict(later and for all Time called the Myriad War) took much longer than we’d originally thought.  The fear that I had much, much earlier vanished completely and joyously.  Now we can see what, if any, fear old Roger had in

his craggly, creaking bones.  If he didn’t have any, well, we’d make sure he get some!!

My patience for this part of the voyage had deteriorated rapidly by that stage.

“Friday, could you be so kind as to increase your speed?”

Unbelievably, Friday had hesitated.  This wasn’t at all like him.

“Tony, we’ve never breached into that sector of Space, and I’m not sure that if we try it, we’ll survive in the attempt.”

“I quite understand that, Friday old friend, but there are lives in severe jeopardy!!  Please do as I requested, okay?”  It was as close to anger at Friday as I would ever get…and it was something I hated to feel.

“Okay, everybody. Hang on…it’s going to get turbulent!!”

Within seconds, the exterior of Friday’s structure felt that turbulence now making its way to his interior as well.  We lurched about backwards momentarily, then found ourselves literally frozen in our spots as our velocity increased to more than eight hundred times the speed of light!!

Soon we breached that dimensional barrier that Friday had told us was impossible to break through.

All known forms of that which we call “reality” was irrevocably shattered as Friday, with us on board, traversed through various Realms, one after the other.  There were lifeforms which didn’t quite fit with what we’ve come to know.

We three, probably the few humans who’d dared such a thing, took it all in stride.  Not one ounce of terror or fear of any sort was felt by us.  And I have to say that it was even quite educational, especially for Marlena, who had never experienced Life on this weird level.  I’d  like to add also that it really kept old Arthur quiet.  His own fascination was palpable, indeed.

As for my own being, well, my resolve increasingly solidified to almost limitless levels…as did my powers which, as I’m quite sure I told you, I’d been resting and recharging.  But for the record to be set straight, like a lad at Christmastime, I couldn’t wait to use them on our dear, sick old Roger!

Gradually our velocity decelerated to normal levels, and we were at last able to get a glimpse of the Chaos that swarmed all about Roger’s diamond-ship.  I decided to re-assess my earlier observation of the events as they transpired.  He wasn’t observing the events–he was actually causing them, as though he was a psychologically deficient answer to your late Jim Henson…only this wasn’t at all amusing for anyone!!!

Swiftly we made our way to the closest position nearest Roger’s ship.  Strolling about its perimeter, we took notice of the stenciled lettering on its hull.

“Hey, Tony, is it me or does that actually say ‘Crazy Diamond’?” asked Marlena.

She was correct on that deduction.  That’s definitely what it said.

“‘Crazy Diamond’, huh?  Fits like a glove, or like one of Roger’s tantrums,” said Arthur.

I actually smiled at that one by my glib friend.  It indeed was apropos in this case.

Only we didn’t know how fitting it would be…

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

We cruised about at a very leisurely pace all ‘round Roger’s ship, the Crazy Diamond.  I had to admit to myself that the diamond-ship was impressive in spite of my now-undying hatred for the man.  But that’s the thing he had in common with every other villain in every Universe.  They all had the weird psychological quirk of using the most highly-advanced technology for their foul, vainglorious  and all-out evil uses.

We’d decided–that is, Marlena, Arthur, and myself–to sojourn out from Friday’s welcoming protective interior and out into the voids of Outer Space itself.  It was risky, we knew, but we also realized to ourselves that our mission just had to take precedence over all else about us.  In other words, it was “do or die!” time.

And thus, with my now-full-strength force-field about our forms, I drew forth my will-power and began a closer orbit ‘round the Crazy Diamond, not knowing at all what to expect.  Indeed, that long-forgotten twinge of fear had returned with a vengeance.  But I didn’t even dare think of letting it consume myself or my friends.  Too much was at grave stake here to cave in now!

We three, out of rash yet noble bravery, deliberately searched for any means–all means of access into the Crazy Diamond.  For over what passed for an hour, our search was a tad on the fruitless side of it.   Finally, we found one–or rather, Marlena did, anyway.

“Tony!!  Over there!!”  she’d yelled out.

Following her finger, we were led to a small opening that gradually grew larger by each passing moment.  The reason for this is because now we were drawn to it via a very powerful magnetic tractor-beam.  I had expected this, as did my comrades housed within my force-field.

“Well, we all might as well enjoy the ride!” I said.

And this we did, with nary a sign of fear from any one of us.  The signs of fear did come, unfortunately, from this now-terrorized sector of the Myriad Worlds.  Now I know this might sound a tad crass on my part, but they needn’t worry much longer.  All they had to do was hold out.  We’d do the rest!

And…I hope that Roger has plenty of fingernails(preferably his own), because he’s going to eat them like(if you’ll excuse the saying)there’s no tomorrow!!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Master the art of karate; lo, we shall rise up and then we’ll make the buggers’ eyes water…”

—Roger Waters, “Sheep” from Animals, 1977

Having been drawn into Roger’s world, such as it was, we became insatiably fascinated by what we’d just found.  All about us was a giant, empty space; in fact, to me it wasn’t unlike Roger’s head, in a way.  (I know, I’m appearing to be quite overconfident.  But try not to worry so.  There’s always those watching out for us, whether we’d wish to admit it or not.)

We also took note of the rather strange absence of light in the room.  It made us, myself in particular, wonder just what we would ultimately find out.  I wanted to know if only to satisfy my rather unusual brand of curiosity.

Suddenly the room lit itself up, giving us a bit of a start.  For an additional spot of time, a deafening silence permeated all about us.  Now we felt a dash of panic, albeit temporarily.

From out of the blue, a pompous, gruff voice called out to us.  We knew, didn’t we?

“Nice of you lot to drop in for a spot of a visit.”

We turned ‘round, gazing at a side-wall now opening up.  Instantly a roll-away chair made its way to a now-activated control panel, not unlike the type sported by Friday.  In the chair–it was Roger!!

An odd smile crossed my face.

“Hello, Roger,” I said.

He curiously turned his craggly grey-blue eyes to me.  He looked exactly like the photo in Friday’s file, right down to the wrinkled shirt and faded jeans he wore.  Overall, he resembled a bum, or if you will, a hobo.

“How d’you know my name, son?”  he asked, playing the innocent act.

I eyed him as though I was in a Clint Eastwood film.

“Oh, I just know, that’s all, Roger old bag!” I sneered derisively.

Roger then turned his wrinkled face ‘round to my companions.

“Who’s these, then, eh?”

“These are my friends.  Arthur Landesburg and my girlfriend, the lovely Marlena Patricia Rodriguez.”  They didn’t smile back at Roger, who himself acted as though they didn’t exist.  He turned about back to me.

“Now….” he said, “what do you want of me, son?”

Oh, I wish he hadn’t asked that!!

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Well?  What d’you want of me?” he repeated hastily.

I deliberately paused a spot before answering, just to see him sweat it out a tad.

“Oh, it’s all so quite simple, Roger old bag.  You see, we’d heard of all the Chaos you’ve been causing and well, it was commissioned by one of the Fates of Time to take you out of the picture.”  There.  That should convince him, though logically we knew he wouldn’t get the hint.

In reply, he went back to his control panel, opened a small compartment chamber, and pulled out what appeared to be a cigar of some sort.  Being the pompous piece of walking wrinkled piece of sandpaper he was, he promptly lit the cigar and commenced puffing away.  He hadn’t gotten it.  As I said, I rather expected that from him.

He resumed looking directly at me, a smug smile creasing his face further.

“Cigar, old son?” he offered.

I declined that offer.  I hated, and still hate, cigar smoke.  In fact, I’m actually allergic!!

“Let me tell you, son, here is what I think.  I’m here ‘cause I provide a service to all that I come into contact with,” he uttered, darting his eyeballs up to the ceiling, still smoking away.

I know I didn’t need to ask this, but I did so anyway.

“And, uh, what exactly is this ‘service’ you so sanctimoniously ‘provide’?”

He stopped smoking his cigar long enough to look at me with his sick answer in mind.

“I provide purpose, son.  See, son–” he began.

“First off, don’t call me ‘son’.  I don’t look anything like you.  My name’s Tony, yet to some I’m known as Fugitor.”

“Oh, that’s right.  The Time Escapee, huh, son?  Yeah, sure, I know you.  Great story you told, chum. Now, as I was saying, before I arrived here, every single stinking one of these worlds were wandering about, all happy and care-free.”

“And what the hell’s wrong with that?!!?” I snarled, my anger increasing.

He took another puff before carrying on.  Behind us, my two friends grew sickened by it all, mostly the smoke(or so I assumed before the truth came).

“Well, nothing’s wrong with that, son, if you get your kicks and jollies from boredom.  See, son–oh, do pardon me, Tony, my mission is to bring Unity to this sector of these–what are they again?–Myriad Worlds by–”

“By starting wars and causing devastation, not to mention loss of life, correct?”

Roger pretended to be offended.  I knew he was toying with me.

“Oh, son, I’m hurt.  I don’t follow this stale ‘good versus evil’ cat-spunk.  That’s all relative, son.  Just relative, son, is all.”  Then he switched up his tactics.  “Tell you what, son–oh, sorry, Tony.  Let’s play a nice game, uh?  C’mon, what d’you say?”

My curiosity was piqued.

“And what kind of game do you have in your sick mind?” I queried.

I was to soon enough find out…

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Roger, as is his usual smug way, smiled at me, though it wasn’t in a jovial manner by any stretch of the imagination.  Clearly I didn’t like what all he had in that labyrinthically  demented mind of his, but for the sake of the Noble Beings, I played along.

Inexplicably, he pressed a button on the control console panel.  An intercom link snaked its way out towards Roger’s face, even as he swiftly grabbed it.

“Syd, would you come in here, please?” he mouthed into it.

A few seconds later, a side panel opened up, and out into the room towards Roger sashayed a rather primitive-looking android.  On its head was what I thought was a depressed expression, as evidenced by the extremely glassy eyes and flat “mouth” on his face.  In his left arm, the ‘droid(whose name, Roger just said, was Syd) carried a refill of those smelly cigars that Roger so pompously enjoyed smoking so much.

Then, once more, Roger turned ‘round to me, offering another cigar.

“Sure you don’t want a smoke, old son?”

And, of course, once again I declined that offer, for reasons I told you before.

Shrugging his shoulders, he regained his thoughts on the “game” he was tempting me to play.  As I related earlier, I’ll go along with this wacky part, if only to find his weakness.  I mean, it’s common knowledge that all megalomaniacs have weaknesses, or hang-ups, or whatever.

Presently he turned to Syd the ‘Droid, acting as nonchalant as ever.

“Syd, would you be a good lad and get the gear for the game?  That’s a good lad.”

The ‘droid lumbered off while Roger looked back to Marlena in particular.  His eyes boggled in perverted delight, and seeing that sickened my stomach to limitless infinity!

“Here!! C’mere, dish!” he crassly beckoned.

She turned about to my face, a sense of nausea emanating from her.

“Just try to ignore him, if you can,” I whispered out of Roger’s earshot.

He was about to beckon to her again when Syd lumbered out with quite a weird set-up.  He handed said set-up to Roger, who hadn’t bothered to rise out of his chair to get it himself.

Getting back to his original train of thought, Roger called out to me.

“All right, son, it’s time for the game.”

Sighing heavily, I made my way to Roger’s chair, even as the lighting intensified.  With Syd behind him, he showed me what I assumed was the gear for the game.

“You know what this is, right, son?” asked Roger, as he presented a headpiece I recognized off the bat.

“Yes.  It’s a virtual-reality inducer.  All the known Realms banned then decades ago.”

He handed me the inducer as he resumed smoking his God-awful cigar.

“And that, old son, is the game you’re playing.  It’s called Tempt Me.  Very cute, I think.  A lot like the lovely dish behind us, eh?”

I felt a great sense of inner turmoil as I prepared to don the VR inducer.

I can only dare hope that I come out of alive–and sane!!

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“A soul in tension, that’s learning to fly; condition grounded, but determined to try…”

—David Gilmour, “Learning to Fly” from A Momentary Lapse of Reason, 1987

That queasy feeling overwhelmed me as I finished donning the VR inducer.  I just couldn’t believe what I’d done, having been forced to go along with Roger’s idiotically mad schemes for the sake of every Noble Being.  Oh, it’s part of the things we do, I suppose.

“Okay, Roger old bag…what’s next?” I asked.

Out of instinct, I turned ‘round to look at Roger, momentarily forgetting that I couldn’t see one damned bloody thing!  Was this part of Roger’s crass joke?  If it was, I didn’t find it amusing in the slightest damned bit!

Then…as I expected, Roger called out to me.

“All right, son, soon we play the Game.  It’s all part of everything called Life, son.”

Out of the blue, Marlena shouted out.

“Tony, it’s a trick!!  Don’t do this!!”

Against my nature, I decided to not respond, trying to focus on Roger’s weird “game”.

Immediately I felt a tugging of my left arm, and I knew I was being led though I didn’t know if it was Roger or his depressed android Syd.  All I do know is that I found myself close to the main console panel, as evidenced by the electronic sounds it made.

“Now…” announced Roger, “it’s time…for the Game!!!”

I could hardly wait, I sarcastically thought to myself.

And so, with everything riding on this, Roger began the Game by flashing me images of nubile young women not unlike Marlena.

“Okay, son, if you had the option of these lovely dishes at your disposable whim, or preserving your so-called Temporal Balance and your aimless Noble Beings, which would you choose?” he smugly asked me.

It only took me a milli-second to respond to that.

“If I had my way, Roger old bag–and in this case, I do–I choose my mission for the Temporal Balance.”

“You’re absolutely certain now?” asked Roger, now–finally–genuinely offended.

“Irrevocably so–old son!!” I spat out.

It was obvious that the more–let’s just say “enticingly” explicit the images grew, the more staunch my resolve held.  I think that irritated him to no end.

“So you think you’ve gained a win, huh, son?  Well, son, that’s only Round One.  Get yourself set up for–Round Two!!”

The images of the unclad women morphed into a flock, or congregation of some sort or other.  Straight away I knew that this was another try at temptation.

“Okay, Tony old son, maybe this will change your tune a little, eh?  Just think of it, son.  Power, wealth, the right to rule everything you see. All this can can be yours if–”

“If the price is right, correct?” I said, thinking of dear old Arthur’s response were it he in this spot.

“Yeah, that’s right, son.  So what d’you say, son?”

I had to quickly think of another answer that’s fitting to his detrimental mind-set.

“Given the choice betwixt being your flunky and sneezing out one of your hemorrhoids, I’ll take the hemorrhoids.  At least then I’d get relief!”

“WHAT?!?!  You mean you give up all the influence one with the power you have would wield at whim?!”  Now he was truly offended–and I flat out didn’t care at all!

In fact–I think I actually  scared him a bit!!

But by then my over-confidence was leaping up by a frightening level.

My sense of it all:  the worst was yet to come!!

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I started to sweat out buckets by the dreaded upcoming Third Round of the Game that Roger had so callously thrust upon my psyche, all in order to compromise my mission to protect the Noble Beings from things such as–well, namely Roger himself!!

In spite of my earlier warnings, my over-confidence, as I had just said, was increasing to the point where my usual rationality was ebbing itself away.  In a rightfully scary manner, I was inadvertantly letting Roger gain the upper hand of the Game.

And then…the dreadfully anticipated Third Round commenced!

“Now then, son, since you’ve power never before held by anybody in these stinking Myriad Worlds, I can wager that you’d like to use them for your every purpose!  That right, son?  I mean, think of it, son.  All these–what d’you call them–Noble Beings, ruled by me, of course, but now with you at my side, total GREATNESS!!  So come on, son!  Join up!!  What d’you say, Tony, old son?”

Even as he rambled on so, the most disturbing series of images flashed from the VR inducer straight on into the recesses of my mind.  These showed all the Noble Beings, literally in chains–including Marlena and Arthur!!–being forced to bow down to Roger and myself.

Now I know for a bloody fact that Roger had made the biggest mistake of his twisted, wasted and useless life!!!

It was then that I did something I normally don’t do:  I’d lost my temper!!!

“You’ve lost, Roger!!  D’you hear ME?!?!?  You’ve LOST IT ALL!!”

And with that said, the VR inducer inexplicably shorted itself out completely.  Momentarily it blinded me, but to my good fortune my sight returned within milli-seconds.

And not once did I ever even think of giving in to Roger’s temptations…which now further irritated him to endless levels.

With my “over-confidence” now fully warranted(and the inducer finally off my sweat-covered face), I turned to Roger.  His wrinkled sand-papered face showed all the rage it could muster, which for him wasn’t all that difficult.

“Now…” I vowed in cold anger, “we’ve tried it in your sick method, and you lost it all in a bad way.  If I were you, Mr. Roger old bag, I’d consider using that miniscule amount of brains and ask for a merciful surrender.  It’s the least you deserve in retribution for the harm and Chaos you’ve caused.  So…what do you say to that?!”

In his usual smugly crass manner, Roger turned about and looked to Syd.

“Be a good lad and activate Plan Z-000-Omega.  That’s a good lad.”

By now Marlena and Arthur raced up to Roger and myself.

“What the hell have you DONE?!?!” yelled out Marlena in terror.

Also in his crass way, Roger lit up another of those awful cigars and puffed away.  And he was actually smiling!!

“You see, since your Tony didn’t want to have the fruits I offered him, I thought it was time to teach all you lot the Ultimate Lesson!  See, I had my good lad Syd commence letting every single one of these nauseatingly wussy-wimpy Noble Beings, still under my control, wipe each other out of our collective misery.  And that’s the Real Game!!”

Struggling to maintain control, I walked up to Roger, grabbing him by his shirt.

“A Game!!  You think letting otherwise innocent lives be exterminated is a Game?!?!!”

Roger tried rather pathetically to plead his case, as flimsy as it was to start with.

“All Life’s a Game, if you think about it, son.  There’s winners and then there’s losers.  Like you, f’rinstance.  You’re like me ‘cause you don’t like to lose.  Now, c’mon, son, admit that.”  His smile grew exponentially sickening by each passing second.

And down below us all, the Myriad War blazed on!!!

CHAPTER TWENTY

“Witness the man who raves at the wall, making the shape of his question to heaven.”

—Roger Waters, “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” from A Saucerful of Secrets, 1968

In spite of our being in Outer Space(which can not carry sound waves of any sort), we heard the noises of battle below.  That was more than eclipsed by the feeling of a wave of innocent screams, crying and shouting for help.

And, of course, there was Roger, still grinning at the grim sight of it all.

I let go of Roger’s shirt, trying to collect my thoughts.

Then, having done so, I then focused all of said thoughts into a course of action.

I’d made my decision…and I decked the SOB!!

That, I dare say to you, felt…great!!

Roger, still reeling, got up and resumed his arrogant ways.

I decked him again.  In a sense, I was fighting my former masters all over again.

And once more, Roger grew as arrogant as ever.

“You can’t fight me and save these smelly Myriad Worlds at the same time, son,” said Roger.  To my chagrin, for the first time ever he was right!!

I turned to Marlena, who herself was grinning broadly.  Now it was she who pummeled Roger in his face, doubtlessly out of vengeance for the young boy-pilot who died at Roger’s filthy hands!!

Immediately I re-focused my thoughts on finding a way of some sort or other to prevent the Myriad War from intensifying to utterly uncontrollable levels.

But first off, there was that damnable android Syd to contend with.

To my relief, dear old Arthur waltzed his way to Syd.

“Hey, Syd, I’m Arthur.  Let’s dance,” he uttered.  Of course, the meaning definitely wasn’t at all lost on me.

And so for the briefest of times we all ceased in our battle, quite amazed, as Arthur twirled and side-stepped his way about–to the nearest airlock possible!!

Afterwards…Arthur bade a not-so-fond fare-thee-well to Syd, who’d found himself pushed out into the voids of Limitless Space; just aimlessly floating about.

Then, to my total amusement…Roger bawled his eyes out as he raced to the main viewing portal.  I could never be certain, but I was thinking I heard him utter a pig-Latin blessing.  Then again, as I’m wont to say, I wasn’t particularly a religious sort.

Roger, having rather a pouty look, turned about to me.  His rage was all-too-obvious.

“You–you–killed my best friend!  You–you–!!” he stammered.

In a cold a manner as I was able to conjure up, I walked up to his face which, oddly enough, was none the worse for wear.

“You’re quite typical.  You show absolutely no concern at all for the Myriad Worlds below us, and yet you become depressed over a piece of electronic junk now floating about in Outer Space.  My diagnosis for you, Roger old bag:  you’re completely insane!!!”

At this revelation, Roger predictably snarled, showing his yellowed teeth.

“Right!! You wanna fight?!?!?!  Right, okay, now I’m ready for you, son!!”

Oh, was I ever ready for this!!

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Like the classic pugilists in the ring, we two, Roger and myself, eyed each other, knowing that there’d be only one clear-cut winner in this bout.

Not to my surprise, Roger made his first move, a wild-swinging “upper cut”.

I dodged this all so easily…even as the Myriad War continued endlessly below us.  Then I swung ‘round, and clobbered him in his back with my two fists combined.

Snarling like an animal, he got back up, and tried the same move again.  This time, I stuck my foot out, and swinging it, tripped him to the ground!!

He recovered long enough to utter out his dash of nonsense.

“You’re not playing it fair, son!!” he spat out.

“Fair?!?!  FAIR?!?!?  How dare you talk ‘fair’?!?!”

Then, having made my point verbally…I reiterated it with a right cross to his jaw!  Figuring that he’d–hopefully–had enough, I made my way back to the control console.

It was time to create an impromptu back-up plan!!

“Friday!!  NOW!!!” I hollered into the ship-to-ship com-link system.

Outside the Crazy Diamond(unbeknownst to Roger) the mighty sentient ship had, fortunately for us, I think I can say, kept up a relentless vigil on the situation.  I had to admit that I felt slightly embarrassed for not revealing this news to Marlena and Arthur but, given these trying circumstances, I’m certain they’ll understand.

Soon afterwards, Friday’s booming authoritative voice was heard all about.

“All right, listen up now.  This idiotic war is going to stop–and I mean NOW!!!”

Unfortuitously, the war dragged on and on.  That made Roger happy as a clam.

“Now who’s the winner, eh, son?” he said exuberatedly.  “See, son, they won’t listen to you–unless I make them!!  And I can do that only with this,” he finished saying as he indicated the control console unit.

Marlena’s eyes brightened considerably!

“Tony, that’s it!!  Use your powers!!”

I have to say that my love came through for me on this one, friends.

And…I definitely don’t think Roger will remain happy for long…

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Roger’s eyes now–at long last!!–boggled almost out of his head upon knowing what I was to do in regards to the plan.

“What’re y’doing, son??”  he asked in confusion.

In my dark clarity, I slowly walked up to the control console unit.  Ordering Marlena and Arthur to stand clear, I raised up my right hand, focused my power and just let loose with a sudden burst of laser-like energy-force that struck the unit spot-on!!

As is the case anymore, Roger clearly didn’t like this a bit.

“You–YOU—YOU–!!!” he stammered.  Then he rushed to attack me from behind.

You do have to give Roger his due credit where his aims are, I suppose.  Frantically Roger rode on my back as though he was your Gene Autry and I was Champion…all while the console unit showered spark after spark as the explosions commenced on and on.

Below us all, the Myriad War yet blazed forth…and I could not do a damned thing about it at present.  Roger was on my back, in this instance literally.  This he kept up, until I gained enough strength and leverage to thrust him off me, and thus throwing him to the ground.

In a flash I once more shouted out to Friday.

“Friday!!  Once more, old friend!!”

It didn’t take Friday long to perform his duty as an ally and friend.

“Maybe you didn’t hear me the first time!!  I said to stop this war–and I mean NOW!!!”

The sounds of the Myriad War had finally ceased for all Time…at least, that’s what I hoped for, anyway.

I turned to Roger, a look of satisfaction on my face.

“Well, Roger, this time you’ve truly lost it all!!”

Roger had gotten up, raced to the main viewing screen, and, upon finally realizing the truth of it all,  went irreversibly berserk!!

“REYARRRGHHH!!” was all he said as he resumed his attack on me, first with his signature horse-back maneuver and then by childishly pounding his fists on my head.

Unable to stand back much longer. Marlena and Arthur did their very best to pull this madman off me.  For a spot they were successful, but then he did something quite unexpected(for me, anyway):  he grabbed Marlena by her long black hair and twirled her about and around, finally throwing her onto a nearby wall, shaking her up a spot.

What happened after that was–well, it is a tad on the silly side of it all, but out of my good manners, I’ll relate it to you–and do forgive me on this, please.

In his calm nonchalant way Arthur, being Arthur, sashayed his way to Roger.

“Hey, Rog.  What’s one-plus-one?” he asked.

For a spell Roger was baffled by this.  Then he shrugged his arthritic shoulders.

“Two,” answered Roger.

Arthur grinned quite broadly.

“Right.”  And with that said, Arthur gave the classic Three Stooges poke-in-the-eye tactic, stopping Roger long enough for him to collect what, if any, was left of his “reasoning”.

Now Roger had really exploded in rage…and in doing so, incurred my wrath!!

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

As I related to you good people earlier, I had to give Mr. Roger credit…as far as his weird aims went.

But this time he went way too far.

In his now-blinding rage, he turned to push Arthur out of his way. Arthur didn’t budge an inch, given the tall frame he had sported.

However, as he did so for a second time, Roger rammed the majority of the blow’s force-strength into Arthur’s chest.

That, saddening to say, proved too much for my friend.

Immediately Arthur clutched his chest in pain, then collapsed to the floor.  He could scarcely breathe by this time.

I leaned down to my fallen friend, tears rolling down my face.  The pain on his face was brutally clear.

“Hang in there, Arthur old fellow.  We’ll get you some medical help.

He tried to speak, yet it was only coming out in a weak whisper.

“Hey…Tones…did I…do good…?”

I looked at him very somberly.

“Your good name will be rightly added to the Book of the Heroes…old friend.”

By that moment Marlena recovered and ran to our position…just in time for her to experience another, and more painful loss.  In the background, Roger uncaringly looked on.

Within a few seconds our staunch friend, Mr. Arthur Landesburg, quietly passed away.  He died for what he truly believed in: freedom and Justice for the Noble Beings.  He indeed was a hero in the classic sense of the word.

Simmering with rage, I made my way back to Roger, who as always seemed none the worse for wear…much to my disgust!

“Tell me right now why the hell I shouldn’t kill you.”

He returned to what was left of his console unit and pulled out another set of his stupidly damnable cigars, stuffing them and his lighter in his shirt pocket.

“All right, son, I’ll tell you why you can’t kill me,” he replied, puffing away.  “Cause you’re Tony, right?  You’re the hero, right?  See, son, without blokes like me roaming around, you wouldn’t have purpose now, would you, son?”

As sickened as I was of his talk of “purpose”, I reluctantly admitted that he indeed did have a point, even if it matched his head.  I began wondering if this is what Sidney had in mind in regards to the fight against Injustice…oh, what am I saying?  We know bloody well it does!!!

God, did I feel like a stupid fool!!

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The mind-games that Roger inexplicably waged via his crass remarks took their toll on my psychological well-being.  In the interim, he’d somehow or other activated an automatic repair system to the console unit, though that was a rather moot point at this stage.  The damage to his plans had been done.  To my (hoped-for)relief the Myriad War ended, although we knew the horrifying results would yet be played out for all to see.

It was all I myself could do from using my power to blast this “human” out of every known form of existence right there and then.  And Roger knew that, too…as evidenced by the ever-present cigar he constantly puffed at, on and on.

But unknown to Roger, I was working on another plan to take him out of this picture.  Now, I have to apologize to you for not as yet divulging this news, but as I said, it was only in the working embryonic stage.

In the meantime, the best we all could do was to wait everything out.  It’d give Marlena and I a chance to properly mourn the loss of dear old Arthur.

At that state, we received quite a shock–from Roger himself!!!

“If it’s any consolation, old son, I’m sorry for your friend,” he said sympathetically.

I wasn’t quite sure how to receive that statement.  I mean, this is Roger we’re talking about here.

Marlena and I took a spot of time to digest this.  We didn’t know whether to cry, laugh or ram his cigar down his throat.  We were at a bit of a crossroads, I must say.

Then…we two, my love and I, looked at each other, nodding our heads.

We had made our decision.

Marlena was the first to move.  She walked up to Roger, doing an Hispanic rendition of one of your Marilyn Monroe’s dances.  I must say her move was also working its magic on me.

Predictably, Roger grew quite aroused by this, therefore not paying any attention at all to me.  I stealthily walked up behind his swivel office-chair, raised my right hand up, and grabbed him by his scrawny throat.  At the same time, Marlena snatched out the cigar from his mouth, and to our relief, stomped it out.

Now I was out for all-out blood–and may the Fates help anybody who denies me!!!

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

With Roger’s throat in my hand, I lifted him as high as I could, and just threw him straight across the room.  I felt like my entire sense of true reason had gone from me as I raced over to grab him again.  My lust for vengeance blossomed even Roger’s first piteous cries of mercy reached my ears.

“Here!!  MERCY!!”

I repeated the same throwing motion again.

“No, Roger.  You don’t deserve any.  I didn’t give it to my former masters, and I’ll be damned to the Voids of Eternal Limbo if I start now!!”

From out of the blue, Marlena intervened between us.

“Wait, Tony!!  Don’t!!  I know you, you’re not a killer!!  Please!!” she begged, raising her hands upwards in a show of her own nature.

For a spell I was once more at the proverbial crossroads.  Do I kill him, or do I let the Fates decide what to do with him?

Sighing heavily and somewhat in some relief, I opted to let Reason re-prevail.  My Marlena was correct.  I’m no killer, and I haven’t the desire to be one, either.

Wearily I turned back ‘round to Roger.  His weird physical resiliency was astounding, to say the least.  To say the most, it was rather annoying to witness.  Again he was none the worse for wear.

“All right, Roger old bag.  Here’s the thing.  Marlena pointed out that I’m not at all like you in any way, shape, or manner.  If you wish to continue living, you’ll do the wise thing and surrender to the sentient fortress-ship now orbiting outside this one.  Now.”

“Hmmm…tough choice, huh, son, you gave me.  Can’t rush this, obviously.  S’how it is, son.  You know?” And of course, he just had to have another cigar now, didn’t he, ladies and gentlemen?

My impatience really began to surface up on me.

“Well?!  Have you decided wisely, Roger?  Or do I have to go against reason?”

A very long drag of his one of many cigars said as much…at least, at first it did.

“Y’know, son, you bother me, you know that?  All this toilet crapola about your ‘Great Mission’ for these allegedly goody-goody Fates of Time really give me a case of hemorrhoid flare-ups, know what I mean, son?”

I couldn’t dare resist my response to that.

“If you want to talk of your hemorrhoids so much, then to see the biggest of them all just go look in a mirror next time.”  That was for Arthur.

He grew even more enraged by this.

Swiftly he ran to the console unit, stopping at the intercom.

Oh, God, NO!!!

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“Bleating and babbling we fell on his neck with a scream; wave upon wave of demented avengers march cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream…”

—Roger Waters, “Sheep” from Animals, 1977  

“Re-execute Plan Z-000-Omega.  NOW!!!!”  shouted Roger.

I raced up to him, grabbing him.

“What have you done??!?!”

His smug smile returned with a vengeance by now.

“Oh, I just made my choice, son.  Now…let’s see you stop this now, hey, son?”

We ran to the view screen, and there below, the Myriad War was forced to resume.  Civilization after civilization once again engaged in that senseless conflict instigated by Roger.

I turned about to Marlena, a totally new resolve bubbling up inside me.

“Come on, Marlena.  We’ve got a war to stop!!”

And in a quick flash of time we flew out of the Crazy Diamond and returned to Friday’s soothing interior.

“Welcome back, Tony.  You too, Marlena.  Listen, about Arthur, I’m–”

I gently stopped him in as graceful a way as possible.

“I know, Friday, but we’ve no time for grieving.  Our mental defect has resumed the Myriad War, and we’ve to find a way to end this once and for all!!”

“Yeah, I know that, Tony.  Only problem is we don’t know where to begin.  Any ideas?”

Marlena had what she thought was an idea.

“Hey Tony, why don’t you ask Friday to just destroy the Crazy Diamond ship?  See, that way Roger can’t use it to manipulate the Myriad Worlds and–”

“You yourself said it, Marlena.  We’re not killers.  For you see, in order to execute that plan, we’d have to kill Roger in the process. And that’s what he wants.  To be a martyr, such as he wants it.  I’ve absolutely no intention of granting that request.”

“Yeah, you’re right, Tony.  It was an idea, even though it was a bad one,” she said.

We mulled over this for some time.  In the interim, out of our true beliefs in mercy, we’d opted to give Roger one very last chance to give himself to the Fates of Time.

“I say, Friday old friend, could you do this one request for us, please?”

Friday knew what I had in mind.

“Sure, Tony.  It’ll be a pleasure…”

We can only hope that it wouldn’t be too late!!!

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Having just left Friday’s calming interior, we teleported ourselves back to the Crazy Diamond in order to, as I said, give Roger one more chance to give himself up, though we knew he wouldn’t take it, I’m sure.

As always, there he was, looking at his “handiwork” and, naturally, puffing on one of his sickeningly present cigars.  Oh, what I wouldn’t give to cease that smoking of his permanently!

He turned ‘round from the view screen, smiling broadly…as ever.

“Well, hello, son.  You’ve come back, I see,” he said.

This time I didn’t mince any words to him.

“I’m going to give you this very last chance to surrender.  And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll take that option.”

He puffed one more time, then looked at me rather funnily.

“Well, what’s this jibber-jabber about?  I mean, what’s the point of this, hey?”

Again I didn’t mince my words, though I did want to mince Roger’s face about now.

“The point, Roger old bag, is that you’ve more than caused enough damage to last more than several thousand lifetimes.  And I, for one, have had more than enough of this sickness of yours up to my eyeballs.  Now…take the option and surrender NOW!!!”

“And, um, what if I don’t, huh?  What then, son?”

I decided to play my bluff-hand at this stage…without telling Marlena, of course.

“Well, Roger, I think it’s safe for me to say that if you don’t, you and your very precious Crazy Diamond could very well be blown into subatomic particles!”

Marlena turned ‘round to me in shock!!

“But you said—!!” she stammered.

I ignored her in this instance.  My bluff-hand was played.

“Well?  What have you chosen?”

He laughed uproariously in his own manner.

“What game are you playing, Tony old son?  You can’t follow through on that.  S’against your vomitizingly sappy ‘moral code’ now, isn’t it?”

He had me there, I must say to you right now.

And did that bother me, you ask me?

No…in fact, I was waiting for this.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

I know what you’re thinking.  You think I’d let old Roger gain the upper hand, huh?

Well, you might think that, but only I know the truth of this plan.

But for the sake of my saga, stick with me on this.  It’ll come to you soon.

Where was I…..oh, of course.  That’s it.

Inside the Crazy Diamond, the three of us, namely Roger, Marlena, and myself stood there idling about, not making any movements what-so-ever.

I must admit it was a tad on the nerve-wracking side of it all, but as I said(and this is where your late Dan Fogelberg would agree, I’m sure) it’s all part of the plan.

(I hope that Friday returns soon…my nerves were shooting themselves!)

With the Myriad War perpetually blazing away, I decided to stall for as much time as humanly possible, so out of my heroic stance, I left Marlena behind and exited the ship. I mean, after all someone had to, am I not right?

And so putting all my power at my total disposal I thrust up one force-field after another, trying to halt the barrage till Friday’s part in the plan came through.  If ever I needed my friend it was now!!

My regret was that it just wasn’t enough!!

To my increasing disgust, I realized that I was only (and I have to reluctantly say) temporarily treating a few symptoms here and there.

But I carried on, like I ever do in these circumstances.  I was not about to even dare give up.  As I’ll wager you’re aware by now, too much rode on the plan.  Way too much!

Oh, Friday, please don’t let us all down now…

And having wished for my friend to be here now, I returned to the Crazy Diamond’s screwball-minded interior.  I walked up to Roger, who was just laughing away at all that, unbeknownst to me, he’d witnessed all this time.

He turned about to me, now not laughing himself silly but nevertheless pleased with himself.  I dare not think what else makes him please himself.  It’s too vile to consider.

“Having fun out there, son?” he chortled joyously.

“Oh, how I hate you, you viral hemorrhoid!!”

He said absolutely nothing, his cigar doing the talking for the nonce.

I eyed Marlena in quite a strange way, even for me.

“Tony??” she asked in a baffled manner.

“Wait for it,” I whispered in her ears.

Now not knowing at all what was going to happen next, Roger proffered me another cigar.  Of course, I declined that thing.

He casually resumed puffing on his own cigar when–

“Better enjoy that cigar nice and slow, Roger.  It’s going to be your last!!!”

That voiced announcement belonged to a mature womanly voice.

Roger turned his head about and around, trying to locate the source…then he’d instantly gotten it at long last!!

“Oh, Mummy,” he said.

Quickly we found ourselves gazing at an aura of intense light.  Out of it stepped a medium-height blonde-haired woman, with shimmering green eyes, shoulder-length hair and nary one wrinkle on her lovely face.  Her hair was parted to the left, adding a bit of intensity to her.  Her apparel consisted of a beige turtleneck shirt, long skirt, blue jacket, and beige zip-up boots.

Roger stood there, gaping in total shock!

“Oh, Mummy,” he said again.

She walked rapidly to Roger.

“No, I’m not your mother, Roger.  If I was, I’d have kicked your ass a long TIME AGO!!!”  Then she grabbed the cigar out of his mouth, and rammed it into his left ear!!

“Here!  You like cigars so much, why don’t you try wearing them?!”

I had to say that this was undoubtedly the funniest thing we’d ever witnessed.

Afterwards, Marlena stopped laughing to try to ask the mysterious woman a question.

Unexpectedly, the woman gazed at Marlena, assumedly(on my part) knowing the question already by then.

“As always with the Fates of Time, honey, I can answer your question.  My name’s Bain-hela but you can always call me Barbara.  Lots of people do.”   Then for the first time, she actually smiled at us.

“But how did you know–?” asked Marlena.

“About Roger and his shenanigans?  Simple.  Your friend Friday had requested that we keep an eye on everything that’s happened.  He also told us that Tony here–” she said, pointing towards myself, “asked Friday to intervene when the time was right.  Well, the timing was perfect.  Now…I think it’s up to me to take Roger on a nice, long field trip.”

Oddly enough, Roger’s face brightened up at this.

“Oh, goody.  Nice to get away from it all for a spot, isn’t it?” he said.

He didn’t know it, but his long-overdue rude awakening was on the horizon!

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“Big man, pig men; ha-ha charade you are…”

—Roger Waters, “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” from Animals, 1977

I hadn’t the faintest idea of what Barbara meant by sending Roger on a field trip, but you can be certain that my curiosity had, of course, grown exponentially.

“I say, Barbara, if I may ask, I don’t suppose that Marlena and I would be allowed to join you on this voyage, would we?  And if so, just exactly where do you plan to send Roger?”

Barbara, to her credit, smiled in her stern yet kind manner.

“You know, Tony, you do tend to be a little too polite–but that’s what makes you the hero you are.  And for your politeness, your request is granted.  Now…” she said, turning her gaze back ‘round to Roger, “are you ready to have your pompous sorry ass set to go?!”

Not at all getting the hint as yet, Roger beamed like a child at Christmastime.

“Right, okay, Mummy.  Where are we going to?” he asked obliviously.

“Oh, just a short trip down to all the Myriad Worlds who’ve suffered at YOUR hands!!!  And don’t you ever call me ‘Mummy‘ again, is THAT CLEAR?!?!”

Returning to his oh-so-usual crass manner, Roger uncaringly drew out yet another cigar, lit it, and had gotten it as far as up to his lips when Barbara snatched this one and rammed it into his right ear!  Again we laughed at such a sight.

“I told you if you like cigars so much, WEAR THEM!!!”

To all our utter surprise, Roger now pulled out a small pocket mirror, and gazed at his image with cigars coming out of either ear.

“Hey!!  Walter Cronkite!!!” he said, grinning from ear to ear.

Marlena and I observed this action.  Our verdict:  Roger was totally and irrevocably insane!!  Of course, I suspected that Barbara knew that all along…though she didn’t say this out loud to us. 

Next moment, we heard the comforting sound of Friday’s noble voice.

“I hope I’m not too late for Roger’s education,” he said.

Barbara turned about to the control console unit.

“No, Friday, you’re right on time.  You’ll join us, won’t you?”

“Barbara, it’ll be my pleasure!!” replied the might fortress-ship in the affirmative.

She then turned back ‘round to the three of us.

“Well.  Now we’ll show this pompous snot-pig the results of his demented mind.”

Soon afterwards we all vacated the Crazy Diamond for the final time.  I managed quite easily enough to generate the force-field about our forms as we entered into the mammoth wideness of Outer Space.  Barbara turned her lovely eyes to Friday.

Without bothering to respond verbally, Friday let loose a barrage of lasers and photon salvos that laid to waste the vile home of Roger; the cause of so much of his evil and immorally foul warmongering that resulted in far too many countless lives lost–all because of this one man who dared treat all the Noble Beings in this Universe as his cheap play-toys!!  Well, no more!!

It now was time for Roger’s education to begin!!

CHAPTER THIRTY

“Stand up and fight, for you know we are right;

We must strike at the lies that have spread like a disease through our minds.”

–Peter Gabriel, “The Knife”, from the Genesis LP Trespass, 1970

We entered the atmosphere of the first of the worlds that were in chaotic ruin at Roger’s hands. All about the perimeter we witnessed charred landscapes, decimated homes, shops, and other business, and crowds of people burying their dead and doing their best to staunchly tend to the wounded.  Both Marlena and I grew quite sickened by it all.

Not at all surprisingly, Roger was actually quite impressed by all he’d done!

“S’beautiful, man.  Just beautiful,” he had the nerve to say.

It was all I myself could do to keep from both throwing up and then ripping Roger’s sick heart out of his chest!!  I think–in fact, I knew that Barbara sensed my feelings as well as Marlena’s own.

We then zoomed in for a closer look at Roger’s carnage-inducing ways.  The hideous sight proved too much for Marlena, who then wept openly and loudly.

With a infinite level of understanding, Barbara embraced Marlena lovingly, in a maternalistic manner.

“There, there…it’s okay.  I’m here, Marlena,” said Barbara softly.

Having landed on solid ground in order to rest, I then allowed my rage to explode!!

“I hope you enjoy this, you pompous bastard, because now I’ll–!!” I snarled.

In a flash I was all over Roger, mercilessly attacking him left and right.  Kicking and punching over and over.  Grabbing his throat and squeezing the air out of him.  I flat out didn’t any longer.  I had wanted to take him out of the picture; now, I was doing it!!

“Mercy!!  Mercy!!  MERCY!!!” he begged, again and again.

I was due to make the final killing move when I realized what I truly am.

And that was not a killer.  This was the killer!

Unbeknownst to me during my attack, Marlena and Barbara ran behind me in order to stop me from becoming like Roger.

Luckily I stopped on my own accord.

I turned with great guilt and shame to the two ladies, my eyes vacant and glum.

“Ladies, I do apologize for this,” I meekly stated.

To my delighted relief, Marlena ran to me and kissed me warmly, with Barbara smiling ever so broadly.  Even old Roger was delighted…if only to keep his own skin intact.

“Say, Mummy, when’s the action to heat up, eh?” asked Roger in his crass way.  Not only was he delighted, as I said just now, he was–I’m afraid to say–aroused!!

In reply Barbara turned and walked up to Roger, her smile present. (Naturally, he quickly recovered from the near-fatal beating…damn.)

“Right now, Roger!”

And thus she stood Roger straight up on his two feet, and swiftly planted an NFL-style kick into his gluteus maximus.

“Ow!! That hurt, Mummy!” he whined.

“Well, I did say I would have kicked your ass a long time ago.  And don’t you ever call me Mummy again, you meathead!!”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

For a long amount of time not one of us move an inch from our positions.  I don’t know for certain if this was due to a growing concern over what was to occur next on not,  but it did little to nothing to ease our minds.

After this amount of time had passed over, Barbara turned to look at me.  Her bright green eyes had a twinge of anger in them, doubtless due–naturally–to Roger’s now-increasing stupidity and lack of remorse for his actions.

“Onward and upward, Tony,” she said in a commanding tone.

Not wishing to anger her myself, I did as I was asked.  So with nothing else to lose I reformed the force-field about ourselves and willed us swiftly through the planet’s morose grim atmosphere.  Soon we were back in the voids of Outer Space where, I have to say, we felt oddly comfortable.  At least, it worked for Marlena.

My eyes narrowed in total confusion…and I wasn’t the only one who felt this, I’m sure.

“I say, Barbara, just what do you have in mind?” I asked.

“Just watch, Tony.  You too, Marlena.”  Now Barbara turned about to Roger.  “And especially YOU, Roger!!”

It occurred to Marlena to wonder about Friday, but Barbara had already sensed this.

“Oh, don’t worry about Friday, honey.  We’ll see to it that he’s okay,” she replied.  And with that bit of reassurance, Barbara commanded us to turn our eyes to the planets below us.

Then she whirled her arms around and about rapidly, chanting along the way.

At first nothing had happened…but then the planets followed the movements of Barbara’s swiftly-twirling arms.  In fact, it seemed to us that it wasn’t just the planets doing this weird thing–it was Time itself, rearranging about!!

It was so awe-inspiring, it even left Roger speechless…if only for a moment.

“S’a great acid trip, eh, son?” he said to me.

I was too stunned to reply to that…as was Marlena, I can bet now.

Then…the forces of Time did an about-face and rearranged themselves again, this time back to its rightful place.

I dared not believe it at first, so I turned to Barbara to confirm my suspicions.

“Are you sure this is what you had in mind?”

She looked about to me, smiling more broadly than ever.

“See for yourself, Tony,” she said.

So we did by means of traversing back down to the planet we’d just left.

What we saw next–well, prepare yourselves!

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

“Roger dodger, sick and mean; show Time’s light, turn him green!”

—The Children’s Ha-Ha Book of Villains in Limbo

Barbara, Marlena, and myself especially were truly amazed at what had happened.

Instead of the carnage and devastation we’d witnessed much earlier, we now saw Life come back to full blossom.  The shops, homes, et al were now intact, the landscape fresh and lively; no doubt the most important sight was the signs of Humanity, alive and in perfect health, carrying on with their daily activities of trading, teaching, loving, laughing…and just plain living.  

I turned to Roger, who had quite a ghastly greenish tint on his face.

“Got any Pepto-Bismol, son?   ‘Cause I think I’ll puke!!”

Not wanting to smell that in the force-field I de-activated the field, thereby(in my one bout of amused mercy, I can say) letting him run out to throw up.

As glad as I was for this, I turned back to Barbara in confusion.

“I say, what’s with him?”

“Well, I think we finally taught Roger his long-overdue lesson.  See, he made you sick with his handiwork, so we gave him a huge taste of his own medicine.  And it’s working, too.”

Then a totally new thought entered into the recesses of my mind.

“So if you reversed Time itself, then does that mean–?”

“Here’s your answer now,”she said, pointing to her right.

I followed her direction, and grinned from ear to ear.

“Hi, Tones.”

Upon hearing that voice, Marlena and I practically leaped for joy.

“Tony!!  Is that–?!” yelled out Marlena.

It was indeed dear old Arthur!!!

“But I was told–”

“That we can’t retrieve a life from Death, right?  Usually that’s true, but since we reversed all Time, then Arthur’s death never ‘happened’.  Besides…he wasn’t dead in the first place anyway.  Knocked out cold, really.”

“Yeah, I faked it.  Kinda like my ex-wife used to say to me in bed.”  He smiled in his trademark glib manner…and I was ever so grateful for this.

Then Barbara turned her focus back to Roger, who still felt nauseated.

“Okay, Roger, it’s time to go.”

Slowly Roger got up, and tried to be as crass as ever.

“Now…how’s about that Pepto-Bismol, huh?”

I have to give Barbara a lot of credit.  When all lives in the Temporal Balance are concerned, she took no nonsense.

“I’ll give you a Pepto-Bismol you won’t ever forget!!”

With that final bit of conversation said, she grabbed Roger by the back of his shirt collar, turned to wave farewell to the newly-reunited three of us…and promptly vanished into the Infinite Realms, where Justice was administered without fail or prejudice.

So long, Roger old bag.  You certainly won’t be missed!

“…and thus did the hero Fugitor, in spite of great temptations, stand firm, ending once and for all Time the crisis that was the Myriad War.  Knowing that his victory was hard-earned, the heroes of that conflict set out for respite.

“For Fugitor, however, that was to give way to a grand and monumental setting-up the likes of which none in the history of the Time Beyond Time had ever witnessed…nor would ever soon forget.”

–The Children’s Book of Heroes of the Temporal Balance

AUTHOR’S AFTERWORD

I know what you’re thinking.

You think I contracted what we authors call “sequel-itis”, right?

Well, yes and no.  Try to bear with me.

After I finished work on the first Fugitor tale, it didn’t take long for me to realize that, in every form of heroic tale, the protagonist needs to have someone, or as in Tolkien’s saga something to combat.

Enter Roger the Warlord, for whom I’d like to personally thank the real-life model.  You see, when I devised this arch-villain I clearly had only one man in mind.

I’m talking about Roger Waters from the seminal prog-rock band Pink Floyd.  Thanks ever so much, Roger.

Next(while I’m on the subject), I’d also like to thank the lovely Miss Barbara Bain, for her unconscious contribution to this chapter in Fugitor’s saga.  God, I could actually see her in action now.

And of course, I wish to once more thank Michael Moorcock, in particular his SF masterpiece The Sundered Worlds.  His words and ideas were the true spark that launched this tale.  Mr. Moorcock, I salute you.

None of this, as I’m sure you know, was possible without the model for the hero, namely Tony Banks from Genesis.  Thanks again, Tony.

To Henry Seymour III, thanks to you for allowing me to pursue my dreams.

And to all my detractors and naysayers, you haven’t seen anything yet.

Finally…I’d like to take time to thank you, my fellow SF/fantasy fans.  These are all for you.

Sincerely yours,

Thomas R. Skidmore

Western Pennsylvania

February 12, 2011   

SENTISIA

Nature, space, and time. 

Three basic elements that shape and sustain the fabric of that which we call the Universe.

But what exactly are they in correlation to the collective known as Humanity?  Are these basics meant to control Humanity, or is Humanity meant to manipulate Them, as many since the dawn of History have been led (some say duped) to believe?  And if the latter is indeed the case, then how is that control to be exercised?  Should such control, or really “power” be utilized in organic fashion?  Or has Humanity, through the aid of Technology, sought selfishly to artificially hypnotize, or indeed enslave, the elemental basics for a pleasure and purpose not easily defined much less attainable?

For Eons upon Countless Eons has Humanity wrestled with this ever- growing and all-consuming“inner dilemma”; all the while the very world-beings of the Universes themselves, in total secrecy and unknown to the eyes of Humanity, sought retribution if not indeed all-out vengeance.  Yet all-out warfare with Humanity was not what these world-beings wished lest all the Universes be consumed in an organic Armageddon.

It was then decided that one of these so-called “sentient world-beings” or Higher Orbs, as they’re properly known, would seek an audience with Humanity, on the Lowest Orb-world dubbed…Earth.  There, Humanity would find more than they had hoped or bargained for.

The One Higher Orb-being soon set off on a journey of purpose, adventure, and resolve.

And she wasn’t in the mood to take “no” for an answer… 

CHAPTER ONE

“How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have an ungrateful child.”

–William Shakespeare, taken from King Lear

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

I have seen all I would wish I’d rather not see as far as certain actions go.

And I have felt great distress and pain such as no other member of the Council of the Orbs should ever be forced to bear, much less try to ease.  Now I know what human parenting is like, albeit in a dark and somber sense.

And speaking thus of Humanity–well, we shall tend to that matter in its own due course.  After all, I wish not to rush into the subject of my dealings with that collective.  Everything must follow its logical road in successive progression.  It would indeed be wrong for you to assume such a rash manner and tone with one such as I, would it not?

Now, please don’t assume that I am against all Humanity.  This is clearly not the case, as witnessed by the achievements attained.  Space travel, for example.  Great strides in medicine is another grand feat.  And more than can be properly listed here.

However…it is also known that Humanity has great power in its waging of warfare not only on itself but on the lesser creatures, and indeed, on the fabric of Known Space-Time as your many interstellar wars and conflicts indicate.  Many times has it ever been my misfortune to bear witness to such hideous sights.  It’s enough to sicken me with no limits.  Of course, I’m not the only one who feels such gnaws of pain and suffering wrought by Humanity’s careless use of its own power.  But it is I who must, with the blessing and sanctioning of the Council of the Orbs, set out to redress these matters lest they lead to full-fledged Armageddon.

There is another reason I do this.

It’s called…love.

On your world there is the One who knows this…even though he’s yet unaware of it.

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

When I was a kid, I really used to believe that Space Travel was as exotic and exciting as the stories and films I read and saw made them out to be.  I was thoroughly convinced of the dreams promised by this idea.

Fat chance!! I heard people tell me over and over.  Naturally I didn’t believe this.  When the opportunity for enlistment in the InterGal Union Star Academy was announced, I jumped at it the first chance I got.  While it wasn’t exactly easy I strived to put in a lot of dedication and sheer detemination, not to mention a bit of luck, in order to make it.  In fact, I was told I’d succeeded beyond even my wildest dreams.

Now here I am, almost ten years later and wondering to myself, is it really worth this amount of trouble I’m going through at the moment?

I can only convince myself as hard as I can that it really is…uh-oh.

Time to focus on the here-and-now.

The reason for this is a shrill siren noise emanated all around the Jim Henson’s main bridge (which is really no more than a slightly larger flight deck).  Instantly it was followed by a filtered male voice, clearly authoritative in tone.

“InterGal Main Command to IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson.  Come in, Henson.”

I quickly replied, not wanting to keep Main Command waiting.

“This is the Jim Henson, Captain John T. Starlin.  What’s the situation, sir?”

There was no time wasted in the counter-reply.

“Return to Earth immediately.  A meeting has been scheduled, and we’d like to have you there, John.  You’ll understand it’s nothing serious, just the routine six-week meeting.”

“Understood.  Will make Earthfall in several minutes.”

The sender (who was, of course, Commissioner of Main Command…and my boss) sounded too obviously relieved.  But I couldn’t fault him, really.  It’s part of his job, you see.

“Okay, John.  We’ll have your favorite beverage waiting for you here at Earthfall.”

“Thanks.  IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson signing off until Earthfall.”

Casually I increased the Jim Henson’s speed until it gradually reached near-light-speed, meaning I can reach Earth in those promised several minutes.  But that didn’t give an answer as to precisely why there had to be a meeting…unless–well, I don’t want to think about it.

However…I had an overall bad sense about the whole affair.

And I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be the only one…

CHAPTER TWO

“Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.”

–Roger Waters, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” from Wish You Were Here, 1975

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

So…I see the One has been summoned back to his planet for a “meeting” that, in their blind minds, they believe to be merely routine.  For now let them think it to be so.  The lesson will come to them all in the due course allowed by Space-Time itself, as requested by the Council of the Orbs.  In fact–and not that I have everything to gain, you must understand–it shall be I who must give the lesson.

Again, I do this out of love…especially for the One in whom I have a great interest.

I can wish and hope that he sees the wisdom in the events of the lesson due to unfold…

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

Within a few minutes after receiving word of a meeting, I arrived at Earthfall and made the rendezvous with IGSS Main Command HQ, situated within the remains of the ancient building once known as the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, which in its day was a mighty venue for the best in all types of beneficial entertainment, such as concerts, sporting games like wrestling and hockey, and even three-ring circuses.

But I had little time for historic nostalgia.  There was a more pressing issue to attend to.

After landing the Jim Henson in the Ship’s Hold underneath the Main Conference Complex I raced out and, stepping onto the star-lift, made my way to the conference chamber.  Almost immediately I sensed a great deal of emotional tension though that may have been due to slight space-to-planet vertigo (similar to the old phenomenon called “jet lag”), or it might be hunger, I don’t know.

Swiftly the Board of Command chairmen stood up, to my great confusion.  Then a whoosh sound made its way to our collective ears.  I turned my gaze to the door on my far right and there, in all his authority and with a bit of pomposity, the Commissioner of Main Command stepped into the Main Conference Complex.  He was tall, with slightly saturnine features (i.e., dark hair cut not too short, unusually bright blue eyes, and was very clean-shaven) and his dark eyebrows were strong but not dominant.  Like the rest of us, he wore the standard IGSS uniform, consisting of a black turtleneck shirt under white collared shirts, dark blue trousers, and beige-white boots.  In addition he had adorned his uniform with a gold-and-platinum braid cord that circled his right arm.  Overall, I knew not to take him lightly.  By the way, his name’s Martin Koenig.  Age:  47 years old though he didn’t look a day over 38, in my opinion.

Having made the way to the conference table we took our positions.

“Be seated,” he said in a strong yet flat tone of voice.

We immediately sat in our chairs.  The tension I felt before really never left.

“Now…what I have to tell you is very vital and, admittedly, very unusual.  So as a result all information regarding the meeting and subsequent discussion must be kept to a minimum as far as dissemination is concerned.  If anyone asks, just give them a small fraction of data…and for God’s sake don’t say anything to alarm them.  This sector of Space-Time has more than enough trouble already.”  Commissioner Koenig looked around at his staff, ultimately fixing his icy stare on me!

I raised my hand in preparation to inquire about the conference.

“Do you have a question, Captain Starlin?”  (He’d dropped the earlier casual means.)

I stood up and leaned down on the table, fixing my own Celtic blue eyes on Commissioner Koenig and trying to maintain my sense of calm.

“As a matter of fact, I do.  What exactly is the purpose of this meeting?  I was told this was just a routine get-together.  And may I ask why this sudden bout of semi-secrecy?”

Then another of Main Command’s top staff, a mustachioed Hispanic man named General Marco Lopez, arose from his chair and echoed my thoughts.

“Yes, that’s right.  What’s going on here, Martin?”  His own face was heavy with worry, as were all the faces in the room…that is, except Commissioner Koenig’s.

“You’ll all know soon enough, gentlemen.  You’ll know soon enough,” he said, smiling.

That tension escalated into a severe case of nausea, indeed.

And…he forgot about my beverage–but that was the very least of my concerns!

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

All is going in accordance with the decree of the Council for whom I serve.  Again, I wish not to rush these events.  After all, like Commissioner Koenig stated to all concerned (including myself, unknownst to him), there is already more strife and fear than is needed for the lesson that even now must unfold in small increments.

The One, still not yet consciously aware, will aid in the process.

I can only beg the high echelon can heed the words due to be spoken–in my name!

CHAPTER THREE

“So dressed in your jewels; you made your own rules.

You conquered the world and more…heaven’s door.”

–Dennis DeYoung, “Suite Madame Blue” from Equinox, 1975

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

Commissioner Koenig was, to my surprise, actually enjoying the tense atmosphere now surrounding everyone in the conference room, as seen by the broad smile on his face.  And when  I see any commissioner smile as wide as he did, the temperature drops at least 20 degrees.  I guess he wanted to milk it for all it’s worth.

Then…he resumed his focus on the meeting’s purpose.

“General Tighe, will you give us your findings?” he asked, turning his head to a chunky red-haired Irish-American man.  This man promptly stood up, bowed and cleared his throat.  What he said next–well, just follow along.

“Thank you, Commissioner.  Our IntelStar officers intercepted a rapid series of sub-space transmission signals emanating from the very edge of our known system.  In fact, according to our Probe Tracker Units the signals are originating from not only the outermost rims of Known Space but also from–and, I admit here’s where it gets to the unusual part–a Time not our own.”  General Tighe paused to gaze intently at Commissioner Koenig, half-expecting a chuckle.  Of course, nothing of the sort was forthcoming.

Next Commissioner Koenig looked to General Bishop, a tall man with short brown hair and blue eyes, and a gloomy expression to match.

“Ed, would you tell us what the Linguistics Drone understood of the sub-space and hyper-time transmissions?”

General Bishop arose from his chair, his pained expression intensifying exponentially.

“Certainly.  As far as we could gather the Linguistics Drone was only able to interpret a small fraction of the transmissions that made their way to us.  But what we did interpret was as clear as crystal.  Now, I don’t want to downplay or make light of the implied meaning behind the message so don’t take this as such.”

I caught a glimpse of General Tighe’s mouth about to crack a small grin.  This escaped General Bishop’s notice but not Commissioner Koenig’s.

“And just what was the message interpreted by the Linguistics Drone?  And please use the exact wording, if you don’t mind my asking,” said Commissioner Koenig, returning his eyes to General Bishop.

There arose a stifling pause as General Bishop sighed and collected his thoughts.

“The message is as follows: ‘Prepare for the biggest spanking of your miserable lives.  So speaks Sentisia.’ ”

Then…a tidal wave of laughter burst forth.  Unfortunately, it had to be from me, didn’t it?

“What the hell’s so funny, Captain?!” hissed Commissioner Koenig angrily.

I didn’t readily answer him.  My laughing was blocking all known logic.

“Well, Captain?  I’m waiting for that answer!” boomed Koenig.

I took a few more minutes to calm down and to organize my own thoughts.

“With all due respect to General Bishop, I did find that ‘message’ to be quite funny.”  I turned to General Bishop, now in seriousness.  “Are you sure those were the exact words the Drone decoded?  Seems there might be a fault–”

“Stop right there, Starlin.  Before you assume a fault with the Drone, let me assure you the Drone is programmed by the best language techs we have.  Besides…” said General Bishop with more than a dose of menace, gazing at little old me intensely, “I don’t have that sense of humor you seem to be born with.”

Now, no one knew it at the time (including me) but there was something ominous in the air this very day…and for all the days to come!

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

I now am taking great delight in the fact that the lesson has commenced in the fashion that has been shaped for such an event.  Truth be known…I think it to be quite amusing to see the so-called “masters” of Humanity’s power become increasingly doubtful about themselves, blind though they may be to said situation.  It is only for the One I seek out that I show the greater love inside my essence.

As I said to you a long while ago I am most emphatically not against Humanity overall as a collective entity.  Rather, I’m against the glitz and vanity that for Eons long has run rampant, spreading such flaws to every sector of Known Space and Time that came into Humanity’s realm.   This didn’t, of course, go unnoticed by the Council of the Orbs.  That’s why I was sent. (Do forgive my slightly erratic wording, please.  It’s not often I record my thoughts regularly.)

But, as I also said, I’ll do this in small increments.  That way, they’ll be sure to learn the lesson…properly.  

In its own due time.  As I know it should be…

CHAPTER FOUR

“There’s an edge to the wind; cutting into my skin…”

–Tony Carey, “Armageddon”, from Planet P Project, 1983

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

I don’t really need to tell you readers that my hearty laughter was undoubtedly and quite extremely unwelcomed in the Main Conference Complex at that moment.  However, I do have to admit the message–well, at least the wording of it, anyway–did come off as a tad ludicrous.  But General Bishop was right about one thing: he didn’t have much of a sense of humor about anything in his life, as you’ve just heard him admit.

Yet in spite of the outburst, my curiosity was piqued exponentially.  In fact, not only my curiosity but everyone else’s as well…in particular Commissioner Koenig.  I couldn’t be too sure but I suspected I saw his eyes twinkle but that was more than likely due to the lighting in there.

“Starlin, I’ve just had an idea,” he said triumphantly, smiling broadly.

Now my curiosity was elevated to an almost limitless level.  I looked around at Generals Bishop (who echoed Commissioner Koenig’s smile), Tighe (as bland-faced as ever), and Lopez, who gazed back at me with a bit of worry.  Then I resumed eye contact with the Commissioner.

“And what idea, pray tell, is that, sir?” I inquired, my curiosity betrayed in my voice.

Commissioner Koenig didn’t readily reply to my question.  That I never liked from him.  Then again, I didn’t exactly like everything that he put forth but I did have a fairly great amount of respect irregarding whatever situation may arise.

Not to my surprise (unfortunately) he turned to General Tighe.

“Roy, would you be so kind as to inform Captain Starlin of our immediate objective?”

General Tighe nodded his head almost imperceptively and sharpened his eyes at me.

“It’s like this, Starlin.  We deciphered, upon further decoding and signal relaying, the exact location from which the message allegedly emanated.”  And with that, he activated a small, light-weight computer console near his position.  Instantly the room darkened and then a holographic display dominated our line of vision.

“According to the data given,” said General Tighe somberly, “the signal originated from beyond our last outpost sector, in the Aries cluster.  But that’s as far as the probe ventured before returning to Earth.  IntelStar agents suspect that a barrier of unbelievable magnitude is blocking all further access to whatever lies behind said barrier.”

“That’s very fascinating,” I replied, “but I fail to see what this has to do with my part in the project.  Now, I don’t wish to be rude or disrespectful but–”

At once Commissioner Koenig held his hand up to me.

“Hold it, John.  Let General Tighe finish his thought, if you don’t mind.”

General Tighe resumed his plan outlay.  Suddenly I got a weird icy chill down my back, matched by an extremely heavy churning in my stomach.  That’s how it is with me…especially in an upcoming crisis or two.  But I try to hold my resolve as much as possible.  Lends a bit of self respect on my part.

“I propose we commission Captain Starlin to attempt a breach of the barrier.  With his knowledge of anomalous phenomenae of Space-Time, we can see what or who is sending the message…and more importantly, why.”

It didn’t take long for the Council to decide.

“The decision is unanimous,” declared Commissioner Koenig with finality.

I can tell one thing: it was not in my favor in the slightest bit!

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

Now this is a bit unexpected, I must confess.  It seems that I have somehow inadvertantly given Humanity far less credit than they truly deserve.  Their collective resolve, including those that employ the One I am observing and anticipating, amuses and yet confuses me.

And, to my slight displeasure, it also worries me as well…

CHAPTER FIVE

“Hello, is there anybody in there?  Just nod if you can hear me; is there anyone at home?”

–David Gilmour & Roger Waters, “Comfortably Numb”, from The Wall, 1979

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

Well, over a week went by as preparations were made for the Jim Henson to somehow breach that barrier from where (according to what IntelStar information revealed) the message from this “Sentisia” emanated.  Now, normally it wasn’t like me to become nervous about a space flight; after all I’ve done dozens of these missions.  But there was a sudden unease about this particular mission.  I mean, I haven’t been that far out beyond the reaches of Known Space and Time, in spite of my rather extensive expertise in the field.

No, I think what worried me so much was not so much what I’d find but more like who would meet me.  It’s as if I was being…I don’t know–set up for some cosmic joke, a kind of temporal-spatial prank where I would be the biggest punchline.  Maybe that’s it.

Anyway…the days sped by all the way up to Omega-hour launch time.  The tightness in my insides magnified with every passing second that ebbed by.  And yet, in quite a weird way, I was actually looking forward to it.  If only for the sake of galactic knowledge, I told myself in a half-convincing manner.  Heavy on “half”, of course.

Then…it arrived!  With Wilma’s electronic yet smooth voice yet.

“Captain John T. Starlin, please board vessel IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson.  I repeat, please board vessel IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson.” (Wilma, by the way, is our base communication drone.)

Without any more seconds left I staunchly made my way to the Jim Henson, welcoming it like the old friend it truly was.  At least now it won’t be so bad, I thought to myself.

Upon re-entering, I gave a cursilory check to the supplies as far as food and drink went.  Much to my delight the Commissioner didn’t miss a beat.  I had everything he knew I liked.  Diet green spring soda, nacho tortilla chips, turkey lunch meat sandwiches, a salad here and there, canned black olives, green olives, prepared pasta; you name it, he furnished it.

I was, however, taken aback by the realization that I really had no means of recreation to occupy my time while I trekked throughout Known Space and Time to breach the barrier.  Then again, though, this was too important to be taken all that lightly.  That much I was readily able to discern.

Finishing my inspection I sat down in my chair near the control console, readying myself as much as I was willing.  Which, in retrospect, wasn’t all that eagerly.  Again…well, you have the idea by now.

I hope I have the idea as well…

From the Heart and Mind of Senitsia, Daughter Higher Orb:

At last he will come, and soon he will see.

This I know, for I am Sentisia.  I see much and I feel even more.  Such is my meaning of existence, I suppose…though it continually pains me almost beyond endurance.

In between the moments of waiting I often find myself thinking to more idyllic temporal settings in Long Eons Past, not fully aware of the Dark Omens that were to soon come to pass, as the Council of the Orbs prophesied to all others.  Or as you humans say, “When it rains, it pours.”

The barrier, to which the Council summoned and ultimately gave self-life, will present a bit of a challenge to the One who even now treks from his native Earth to the encounter which, as yet, he’s still unaware of.  But he’s quite a fast learner, and thus his learning must be to both our mutual advantage if the Conflict is to be averted.

Oh, you know nothing of the Conflict, huh?

Well, we’ll all know in its own due course of Time, won’t we?

CHAPTER SIX

“Above the planet on a wing and a prayer; 

my grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air…”

–David Gilmour, “Learning to Fly” from A Momentary Lapse of Reason, 1987

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

Normally these missions would be what I call “obscenely routine”.  In fact, if anything they grew rather increasingly dull.  At least, that’s what I was leading myself to believe.

However…this particular flight put that cynical ideation to rest.  And not only that, it reawakened my child-like curiosity and sense of wonder; at first I figured it was the thought of voyaging into the Unknown to meet up with whatever, or whoever sent that signal/message all the way to Earth.  And no doubt that had to take any and all precedence over everything else.  Too much was at stake…or so I was told by my superiors.

With that comforting thought in my mind I programmed the Jim Henson’s navi-computer to pinpoint the exact locale of the signal’s main source of origin.  All one has to do was relay the approximate coordinates into the data input sensor, and just let the computer analyze the information and then display the results.

Once that was accomplished, the pilot/programmer (in this case, me) has only if not merely to translate the output into Universal English; that’s to say, you have to interpret and determine the best means of action…which, in one’s thinking, is usually calculated speculation.  Fortunately, though, in my case I’ve done so many missions it’s become all second nature.  Which, of course, is usually a good thing.

Or so I’m led tobelieve…

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

My patience rapidly gives way to a rather unexpected and highly anticipated bout of tense excitement as the One I seek makes his voyage to the Great Barrier powered to keep our respective realms from unwanted contact, lest total Armageddon be the result of such contact.  Now, normally it isn’t in my training to show such impatience.  That leads to rashness and small displays of illogical “reasoning”.  The Council of the Orbs know what they’re doing.

However…even we can’t predict everything now, can we?

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

The voyage to the Barrier’s Rim (as I’ve since dubbed it) settled into a semi-drab routine, the reason for that being I was “encouraged” to relay information to InterGal Main Command Complex.  Of course, that came from Commissioner Koenig.  As always.

But then again, I really can’t complain an ovewhelming amount here.  After all, it is my job to perform these assignments.  Otherwise I wouldn’t have much else of a purpose now, would I?

Fortunately for both myself and all else involved I programmed my scanner/relayer unit to automatically transmit any and all data that made its way to my approximate vicinity.  Plus, I also made the choice of using one-quarter impulse thrust and not used hyper-warp all that much.  Yet I made quite impeccable timing regardless.  That’s the weird thing about space travel in our age as it currently stands.

However, my curiosity in fact grew by rapid leaps and bounds.  Mainly due, naturally, to the mystery of this being called Sentisia.  Very strange name, you have to admit to yourself.  Sounds feminine in nature.  At least that’s my guess.

Even while all these external experiences were dominating my line of thought, something oddly disturbing gnawed at the very deep recesses of my mind.

And my stomach suddenly began knotting itself…for reasons as yet unfathomable!!

CHAPTER SEVEN

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

The time (or such as “organic” forms as yourselves see it) ebbs on its preordained course as even now the One I seek makes his way to our Place.  I sense in him a great deal of confusion and puzzlement, not to mention a dose of fear added as well.

Thus I discover myself at an increasing loss for further words for the nonce.

But I’m not the slightest bit worried about this minute matter.

The Grand Moment approaches.  It is nearly the perfect of all timings.

I am very…pleased.

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

I was actually sweating out buckets as the Jim Henson approached the Barrier’s Rim.  The partial reason is I kept scanning for any breach, no matter how small, I could utilize for making my way to the core from where the original signal emanated.  Also, I found myself wondering if not questioning if this was all going to be really worth the trouble I’m enduring.  After all, I am doing a job, as I stated a short while earlier.

For long minutes the scanning constantly turned up negative, which only exacerbated my frustration.  Mainly at myself but, somewhat partially, at my superiors…especially Commissioner Koenig.  Then again, maybe we had it coming to us.  Or maybe it was probably just a weird if not unsettling coincidence, I don’t know for sure.

Those long minutes inexorably dragged into one tedious hour after another.  And my own frustration also increased to unbearable limits.  Now, I had to ask myself a question or two.  Do I give up, return to Earth and risk court-martial and dishonorable discharge?  Or do I keep trying over and over to find that slight breach in the Barrier’s Rim…and if I do, how will I react to the results of that action?

I had only one choice in the matter: I decided to press on, hoping–praying, even–for the best result possible in this scenario.  That way, everybody’s happy.

Little did I realize that someone else received the very same idea…

CHAPTER EIGHT

“It’s a very extraordinary scene, to those who don’t understand.”

–Michael Nesmith, “Circle Sky” from Head, 1968; re-written and re-released, 1996

Whether it was sheer determination or dumb luck, there seemed to be finally a break for me in regard to the scanning for that breach in the Barrier’s Rim.  However, it didn’t soothe my nerves all that much.  That gnawing and near-obsessive curiosity ate me up like never before.  But as I said earlier, I just had to press on.  It was as if some kind of…benignintelligence were–I don’t know–drawing me to it for reasons I can only faintly fathom.

But I had no doubt in my mind I was expected!!

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

You might be thinking by now that I’m merely toying with the notion of forcing the One to endure such frustration.  Let me assure you now that such ideas are the furthest from my mind.  All will be set in motion in its due proper course…even though I sense that the Council, too, grows impatient.  But they understand how these events are to unfold.

However, the One must learn the main attribute in this matter: patience.

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

Minute after minute passed by so rapidly my nerves, once resolved and calm, deteriorated into a mass of impatience and high anxiety.  Naturally, of course, that’s due to the rather irritating fact that I still wasn’t able to find that breach in the Barrier’s Rim, from whence the signal to Earth originated.  Now, I couldn’t be overly sure but I swore–well, I’m sure you know by this time.  No need to rehash some of the same thoughts over and over.

Just when I verged on giving up and returning to Earth, a loud siren echoed its way around the Jim Henson’s main bridge.  Speedily I darted my eyes to the ship’s primary computer display screen.

The following words it read sent my jaw almost to the floor:

BARRIER’S RIM BREACH DETECTED

PROCEED TO COORDINATES OF BREACH

Before I executed the instructions I programmed the computer with this:

EXPLAIN REASON FOR SUDDEN BREACH

To which the computer, somewhat cryptically, replied:

NO EXPLANATION OR REASON GIVEN

PROCEED TO COORDINATES OF BREACH

At this stage I figured I had little to nothing left to lose so I pre-set the navi-computer and thus sent the Jim Henson to the breach’s coordinates as instructed…and with that journeyed into the most awe-inspiring experience of my life!

But as these things always go, I hope I don’t regret it.

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

My heart grows more elated as the One finally enters into our Realm.  I sense a good deal of honor and nobility in this brave and–well, heroic young man from the world called Earth.  Yet that feeling of fear and bout of uncertainty still cling to his every fiber.  It isn’t often that a mere “human” traverse so far from home to an unknown (to him or her) Universe, where all Laws of Space, Time, and Reality don’t apply to those who think only in terms of logic and three-dimensional reasoning.

My new worry is that the One not be driven to total madness!!

CHAPTER NINE

“They’ve seen places beyond my land, and they’ve found new horizons…”

–Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus, “Eagle”, 1977

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

It’s likely I didn’t describe properly the weird sense I felt upon entering through the breach of the Barrier’s Rim so let me tell this to you as best as I can.  First of all, the effect was blatantly immediate on the Jim Henson’s main chronodometer.  Basically, the system–well, I’m getting a little bit ahead of myself here.

As I said, when I entered the Barrier’s Rim a strange thing occurred.  At first my sense of time wasn’t readily disturbed.  The reason for this is the phenomenon scientists call “temporal-spatial/intra-dimensional dilation and hyper-circularity.”  In other words…all space and time around me were greatly distorted.  First the space-time flow would literally slow down to a crawl, thereby freezing the Jim Henson’s main chronodometer computer, which not only relays the hour and day as detected by the unit’s TS micro-processor but also regulates the everyday function of the Jim Henson’s mechanics, higher computer functions, and even communications.

Oddly enough, however, this only lasted for not more than ten minutes or so. (Luckily, my wristwatch wasn’t affected at all.  That was indeed fortunate for me.)  That uncertainty, on the other hand, never once even considered dissipating itself.  Seeing as how I was committed to this, I didn’t have any alternative but to ride it out.

After those ten minutes had elapsed an even stranger and almost…apocalyptic event took shape around the Jim Henson.  Remember when I mentioned how Time literally slowed to a complete stop?  Well, in the proverbial blink of an eye it not only increased in strength but in fact also somehow charged both itself and the Jim Henson.

And thus the upshot: the fastest voyage through Hyper-Time imaginable.  Now, here’s the really odd thing about it all: it didn’t faze me one iota.  That high surge of uncertainty I felt evaporated instantly.  I was relatively, somewhat surprisingly calm about the entire experience.  Of course, I can’t say the same for the ship’s mechanical functions now, can I?

Just as sudden as the Hyper-Time trip occurred, however, it slowed down to the drab usual flow.  And with that I was finally able to witness the different forms of stars, galaxy clusters, and especially the various planets that lie beyond the Barrier’s Rim.

Now maybe I would be getting some very long-overdue answers…

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

At last, he comes to us.  The One I wish to see, to talk with, to use in my cause.

The Plan now comes to true fruition.  It is as the Council of the Orbs predicted it.

Time to…”lead” the One to me–well, I mean to say “us”.

Pride is not the most welcome “attribute” here in our Realm, is it?

But…there is room for a dose of satisfaction, no?

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

As the trip endured, I found myself at an odd crossroads.  Now before you start wondering it didn’t have anything to do with the mission, or my duty to Humanity.  No, it had something else to do with…me.  Out of the clear blue I began questioning myself and my intentions.  Am I really doing this for honor, or am I afraid I’ll do something I’ll later regret?

If this is the road I wanted to take, I clearly would have done so long before now.  But as the saying goes, “Don’t cry over spilled milk…have your cat or dog lick it up.”

Or you can just clean it up yourself…

CHAPTER TEN

“The more you live, the higher you fly…but only if you ride the tide.”

–Roger Waters, “Breathe” from Dark Side of the Moon, 1973

After a long amount of time in contemplation I made what I felt was the wise moral choice in that I opted not to seek out any personal gain whatsoever.  Naturally I wouldn’t wish to live with myself otherwise.  It’s just how I operate.

(I never really revealed this up until now but I slowed the Jim Henson down to a crawl to save fuel even though it didn’t eat that much up in the first place.  Again, just to be on the safe side.  Finance expenditures, you know.)

And so I resumed the flight throughout the realm beyond the Barrier’s Rim, seeing just about all the strangest of things imaginable.  Every star cluster in perfect geometrical fomation and all intrinsically linked in some grand cosmological fashion.  And all of them had, or really seemed to have a unique personality unto themselves…as I was to soon discover for myself.

But right now my biggest concern, outside of my milli-second-long moment of self-doubt, was to discover the location and–I’m going out on a limb here–identity of the elusive Sentisia.  Once more I felt like I was a Muppet being asked to perform in a kind of–well, I know you got the picture by now.  No need to insult your intelligence.

So…having gathered as much information as both the computer’s main memory board and my own memory could recall I programmed the navi-computer and immediately the Jim Henson veered in a north-east direction.  After a milli-second the audio intake sensors picked up a series of voices, clearly humanoid in tone and definitely in personality if not anything else.  (Again, though, I’m getting maybe a fraction of a tad ahead of myself here.)

Inexplicably the Jim Henson moved as if it was in the throes of a puppet string even though I knew, on a logical sense, there weren’t any other ships within miles if not light-years of the Barrier’s Rim.  Oddly enough I didn’t grow worried one iota.  On the contrary, a weird serenity overtook me as the slow, leisurely voyage took place.  In fact, if anything it allowed me the opportunity (courtesy of the auto-log recording system built into the main computer’s memory board…a nice gift from Commissioner Koenig and General Bishop combined) to see and hear the voices of all the worlds within the Realm beyond the Barrier’s Rim…should the time actually arise, that is to say.

However…no Sentisia.  No message, no signal, nothing.  Just total silence; no contact.

As yet, anyway.

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

I cannot help but be delighted by the imminent arrival of the One I wish to “employ” in order to spread my message to your world lest the Chaos event you dub Armageddon manifest itself in all Universes, across all Planes of Known and Unknown Existence.  Yes, I know my own amusement is now tempered with that very grim realization.  I don’t mean to alarm or frighten anyone reading or hearing my words but this is a truth I must reveal.  To do otherwise would not only be a sign of dishonesty on my part but also erode the trust and respect given by the Council of the Orbs.  And let me tell you right now, people, that’s the last thing I need to contend with at this moment in Eternal Time.

Trust me, there will be enough trials and tribulations to come your way.

I know all of this.

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

Well, I can’t even begin to describe the total frustration in detecting no further signals or messages from the ever-elusive Sentisia so I guess I’ll leave off trying.  Suffice it to say my overall morale was dropping pretty rapidly by this stage.

After some more minutes elapsed I made the decision to report to Commissioner Koenig of my failure in this mission when, purely by accident of luck on my part, the Jim Henson’s Main Communication Relayer intercepted a faint signal emanating just outside the more immediate surrounding area around the cruiser.  My prior decision was replaced by a new and slightly better choice.

“IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson to IntelGal Main Command.  Have detected minute signal in Space Sector beyond the Barrier’s Rim.  I’m investigating this right now.  Will relay further data should such new information come my way.”

Now there was absolutely no way that message would make it to Earth from here beyond the Barrier’s Rim but I did have a job to perform.  After all, it’s what I do for a living.  I’d never hear the end of it otherwise.

Right now, however, that would soon become the least of my worries!

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Almost two hours went by as I frantically searched for the precise origin of the faint, nearly microscopic signal picked up by the Jim Henson’s Main Communication Relayer.  It appeared that the more data I programmed into the computer, the more confusion resulted.  The fact that time was running out (or so I led myself to understand) gnawed at my mind incessantly.

Then all at once, the answers hit me like the lightning bolt of dear old Shazam.

Of course!!  There it was, clear as crystal now.

Now I really had no time to lose. At all…literally!

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

The moment rapidly approaches and then my commission will begin in earnest.  This I can reveal…and no more for the nonce until the One is near my essence.

I just hope he isn’t too slow in his arriving here…

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

I know you’re left wondering what I was getting at when I mentioned the fact that the long-awaited answers suddenly came to my brain in that quick fashion. It’s all very basic if you can understand the fundamentals of intra-universal logic and reasoning.

What it all boils down to is this: things in this Universe are somewhat reversed than in our Universe.  I was thinking in the usual three-dimensional manner to which we’re all accustomed.  In other, more easy-to-grasp terms I thought “A is A” when in truth “A is B, or even C.”  That’s also when I started questioning the nature and fabric of that which we tend to call “reality”.  How can we understand it if we as humans can’t truly use it in a practical way?  Or even attempt to actually control reality?  I’m definitely sure you can sense the truth of what I’m relating to you right now even now as at this very precise moment the Jim Henson, having been fed the new co-ordinates I pre-programmed ahead of this time, set off to encounter the still painfully elusive Sentisia.

Now more than ever in my comparatively young life I just had to fulfill the mission.  I was fully ready to do so with new assurance.

But is the mission ready for me?  I found myself musing once more, if only briefly.

The answer: a resounding “yes, it is.”

Bring it on!

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

I know I promised not to reveal any more than necessary but this is of too great importance to allow it not to be mentioned to you.

He draws near our Realm; the very Realm where the Council resides.  All I have to do is keep drawing him to us–oh, all right.  To me really.

Like I’m sure I related to you earlier I personally have a greater stake in the One than even the Heads of the Council can possibly have dared imagine.  Had I revealed my true emotions all the collective efforts would be in vain.  And that I will not allow to happen.

The things a mother has to do sometimes…

CHAPTER TWELVE

“So lift up your heart, and make a new start.  And lead us away from here.”

–Dennis DeYoung, “Suite Madame Blue” from Equinox, 1975

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

Usually I don’t get too overly excited about finding a strange planet or two when in “our” Universe.  Then again, this isn’t exactly “our” Universe we’re in now, is it?

But I had to admit I felt a great deal of child-like satisfaction as the Jim Henson neared ever closer to the locale where supposedly Sentisia stood.  That soon gave way to a severe bout of nervousness such like I never experienced in my life.  My earlier observation of “A is B, or even C” was never more filled with practical truth.  But I wasn’t going to give that nervousness the smug feeling of self-importance.  Too much–literally–rode on everything.

Slowly and deliberately I braced myself for the weird inevitable…and tried to hope for the best of all outcomes, both probable and improbable.  It was then I felt a slight shudder impacting the Jim Henson, as though some intangible hand grabbed it as firmly as possible without actually crushing it, and me, into a mangled heap.  I programmed a stasis check into the computer.

The resultant outcome both relieved and awed me at the same time:

STRUCTURAL DAMAGE NONEXISTENT

IGSS CRUISER CAUGHT IN HIGH PHOTONIC TRACTOR BEAM

ENGINE FUNCTION CEASING AS A PRECAUTION

Then gradually the ship found itself increasing speed, almost to LS-12P cubed (that’s three-and-one-quarter times the speed of light).  But the really weird thing I observed was the ship’s chronodometer never changed significantly.  Time was going on as normal and mundane as it ever has.  That’s when I understood fully the notion of “A is B, or even C.”   Spontaneity and cold rationale existing in harmonious tandem with one another, maintaining some form of the Temporal Balance I studied in not only my Quasi-Temporal/Spatial Theory class but also the many science fiction sagas I grew up on.

That, however, still didn’t prepare me for what arrived next!

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

It’s getting closer to the Grand Moment I have for so long anticipated.  And it pleases me to know the One I await has truly understood the ways of our Realm; unlike the Universe of which you so-called “learned” humans claim to have the inner secrets.  As I believe your great sage and philosopher Shakespeare would wisely scribe in his way, “There are more things under heaven and earth, Horatio.”

I wish for you to think upon those very words even as the Moment nears.

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

I know I have a very annoying habit of leaving off my log entries in mid-description every so often but there’s so much I’ve experienced that I don’t want to rush through trying to explain it all at one given time. It’s just not the way I like to do things.

Besides…my other bit of reasoning is that there’s nowhere near enough memory storage capacity in the Main Computer.  At least, that’s what I tried to comfort myself with.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“A gathering of angels appeared above my head; they sang to me this song of hope.”

–Dennis DeYoung, “Come Sail Away” from The Grand Illusion, 1977

During the Jim Henson’s rapid voyage (and due to the slowing of Time as I knew it) I fell into a dull stupor, not really thinking much about anything.  If any, I even had the unpleasant sense of my intellect diminish though that may have been once more due to the temporal shift inflicted on me.  Out of sheer effort of supreme will I made cursory glances at the Ship’s Main Computer display terminal, reading the findings detected by the Main Communication Relayer.  For once in my life I was eternally grateful to IGSS Main Command HQ, and in particular Commissioner Koenig’s rather hard-nosed attitude about time-space exploration.  It brought my mind back to its proper focus.

Out of nowhere a loud, high-pitched siren call echoed around the ship.  Instantly the Main Computer’s display told the story:

SOURCE OF SIGNAL IN INTERCEPT RANGE

CRUISER NOW FREED FROM HIGH PHOTONIC TRACTOR BEAM

SIGNAL SOURCE IS CONFIRMED: PLANETOID IN COMPOSITION

That wasn’t good enough for me, so I asked the Main Computer the following:

DETERMINE IF PLANETOID IS CLASSIFIED “SENTISIA”

I should have known better than to ask that because the answer did get confirmed…only it wasn’t from the Main Computer.

“I am Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb.  I have waited for this Grand Moment to come to pass, and it has done so.”

Now, I didn’t know exactly how to react to this but I made as much of a tactful effort as is humanly possible, hopefully without sounding maudlin and tacky.

“Um, exactly what is your orbit location?  Over.”

“Oh, you don’t know where I’m at, do you?  Well, let me bring your fine ship to my primary position.  Then we can properly communicate, for there’s so much you must know, John.”

That really floored me!

“How do you know my first name?!”

I thought I heard Sentisia giggle slightly.  Then again I do have an overactive imagination.

“You’ll know everything soon enough, John T. Starlin.  In the meantime…sit back and enjoy the rest of your voyage, okay?”

Why not?  I wasn’t doing much of anything else anyway.

So I just let the reins go, in a manner of speaking, and found myself on another leg of the all-consuming journey only this time there was no usage of time dilation or hyper-spatial distort to speed up the ship’s movement trajectory.  But I still had to remember we’re not in a “normal” or “logical” Universe.

Oddly in itself the trip only took up roughly ten minutes or thereabouts.  During those ten minutes I stared out and gazed at all the various and unusual planets, filling me with more of that wonderment. Finally when those minutes elapsed I found myself, as well as the Jim Henson, in stationary orbit above a bluish-green planet not unlike Earth.

In addition to that sense of wonderment I realized I was unsure what to do next.

That’s when an even stranger sight met my eyes–from inside the Jim Henson itself!!

I looked around and there, unbelievably, a flock of what resembled young winged teenaged women danced around, or to be precise above my head.  Now, I don’t want this to sound like what you’re going to think but I had to admit to myself that these young “ladies” were quite pleasing to the eyes.  They were blond, with very long hair, slender physiques while very well-endowed in their bosoms, and garbed in shimmering silk (what garb there was on them, anyway).

The girls continued dancing and even making attempts to sing a happy song just for my benefit, which they didn’t do too bad of a job at.   One of them was about to make her way to me, her lips puckered when a wise, gentlemanly voice ceased that operation.

“All right, girls, you had your fun.  It’s time for the Grand Moment.”

I turned to see where that voice emanated and met with another weird vision.  Out of a bright aura stepped a tall, thin man with blue eyes, a greying thick beard, thinning hair going to his shoulders, and dressed as conservatively casual as can be, with pullover sweater covering a white dress shirt, beige khaki pants, and white tennis shoes.  He smiled as he turned back to the flying horde of busty teenagers.  Their disappointment was palpable, to say the least.  But they dutifully teleported out of the Jim Henson, knowing what to do.  Which, at that time, was more than I can say for myself.

If I thought things wouldn’t get any weirder…

“Now…first of all try not to be too alarmed or even disappointed.  I’m sure you’ll be fine, John.”  Then he looked at me intently, as if he’d forgotten something.  “Oh, I didn’t introduce myself.  I’m Jim, of the Council of the Orbs.  Matter of fact, I’m the Chief of the Council.  Now, you needn’t bother introducing yourself.  We know all about you, John–well, at least Sentisia knows.”

“Y-you know Sentisia?!  Personally?!?” I stammered.

Jim only smiled warmly and somewhat enigmatically.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep her waiting.  Oh, and don’t worry about your cruiser too much.  It won’t get damaged.”

“One question.  How are we to get to Sentisia?” I asked.

He flashed his enigmatic smile once more, stretching his arms widely and soon all went white around me…

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“In a Wonderland they lie, dreaming as the days go by, dreaming as the summers die…” 

–Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dawson), “Alice’s Poem” from Through the Looking Glass

How long it took my eyes to regain their full usage I really couldn’t tell you right off the bat but when they did, I was more or less relieved but even now more and more baffled with each passing second.  The first thing that dawned on me was the fact that I was definitely no longer aboard the Jim Henson; in fact I was amazed to find myself in a large, very ornate white room with a medium-sized round table, surrounded by plush office chairs, like that in the King Arthur tales and comics I read as a kid.

Instinctly I raised my head up to the ceiling, or roof and saw that it was in actuality a dome made of a crystalized diamond-glass mix of some sort.  And the view–well, let’s just say that the display was ever-dazzling and eternally luminescent with bright stars and also those same planets I glimpsed at brief moments ago.

When a few minutes elapsed I turned back to Jim, my mind filled with questions.

“Is there where we’re to meet up with Sentisia?”

“Well, in a way, yes and in a way, no.  This is where the Grand Commission was set up and executed, not to mentioned financed but it isn’t where Sentisia actually resides.  Remember, not everything here follows the forms of rational ‘logic’ to which you’re accustomed.”

“Yes, I figured that out once or twice already.  No offense.”

“None taken.  Now…what do you say we get going to meet up with Sentisia?  I think she’s growing more than a bit impatient.  Then again, patience isn’t her natural attribute but we don’t hold that against her.  I can recall when I was just as impatient as she was.”  He stopped his reminiscing quickly enough to regain his thoughts.  “Oh, I’m sorry.  We better get back to the Jim Henson and make our way to her.”

He’d get no argument from me.  Thus we exited the main room of the Council of the Orbs and strode to the Jim Henson.  Before we boarded the cruiser he turned suddenly to look at me, an expression of puzzlement on his slightly wizened face. “Oh, by the way…why did you name your cruiser the Jim Henson?”

I shrugged my shoulders faintly.

“Oh, it’s due to the fact that I grew up on him and the Muppets since I was a kid.  In a weird manner I sort of…revere him, you know.”  Then something struck me!  “Hey, hold on a minute!  I thought we were on Sentisia!”

“Oh?  What made you think that?” asked Jim cryptically.

He had me there, I admit.  But I wanted to know.

“You told me you were going to take me to Sentisia, right?”

Then Jim’s quizzical eyes twinkled in revelation.

“Oh, I think I see now.  You assumed, in all natural logic, that Sentisia’s a planet like your own Earth, right?  Well, don’t forget now this is a different Universe where–”

“The normal rules of ‘logic’ don’t apply.  So then what exactly is Sentisia?  Or should that be really who is Sentisia?”  There.  I’d gotten that out of my system.

“Well, right now Sentisia is getting extremely impatient for your arrival and I don’t think we can delay this any longer.  Oh, as a reminder you’re no longer going to really need your cruiser for the rest of your time here.”

Now that was a surprise.  In fact, it was a trick!  But I held my calm.

“And, uh, how are we going to meet up with Sentisia without my ship, if I may ask?”

Jim sighed rather on the heavy side.

“You know, you’re just as impatient as Sentisia was, and in fact still is as I mentioned.  Sit tight, and we’ll get there in proper due time.  Which is…” he said, stretching his arms as wide as they could go without separating from his shoulders.  During the course of this action he soon  muttered some kind of spell, the nearest possible English translation of which is something like “A La Peanut Butter Sandwiches” (to quote the wise sage Mumford the Magician).

At first this confused me to some extent.  Then immediately afterwards a bright light like the type Jim used to teleport himself onto the Jim Henson emanated directly behind him…all while the incantation continued.

At last the chanting ceased, and Jim turned his eyes to me and smiled.

“After you,” he said, directing me to the lightway.

The two of us, with Jim literally two steps right behind me, stepped into the lightway and in the proverbial blink of an eye found ourselves on the grassy green surface of what was, in my observation, a lush planet.  The sky was as blue as the Pacific Ocean back on Earth, and was complimented by a castle of highly advanced design not seen or dreamed up by any architect in his or her lifetime; sort of a mixture of Cinderella’s Castle-meets-Star Trek, if you can believe that one.  Then out of nowhere a flock of weird birds flew by, in between the occasional airpod cruiser or two that I gazed upon our initial landing.  Oh, before I neglect to tell you the “castle”, such as it was described earlier, was by a crystal-clear lake truly unpolluted by any form of trash or waste.

To put it another way, it was a digital-age variation of Wonderland, even though I was told not to read Lewis Carroll as a kid.  Still, I have to say I was awe-struck…and happy, too.

Having regained my rationale somewhat I turned to Jim, filled with questions I didn’t need to ask him in the first place.  But I asked anyway.

“Is this–?” I began.

“I know what you’re thinking.  No doubt you read Stanislaw Lem’s books.  You think, as I mentioned to you, Sentisia is an actual living planet, don’t you?”  He chuckled slightly, without malice or cruelty.  “Well, here’s a big surprise for you.”

He directed my attention to my left, or his right and there in front of me another light, even brighter than the one used by Jim, flashed briefly…and out stepped a tall, slender yet well-endowed woman with long blonde hair, German blue eyes, and bright pinkish-red lips.  She wore a bright silk gold negligee that more than accentuated her figure.  Now I can’t be too certain but I thought I peeked at a greenish white light emanating from between her large breasts…and the smile she displayed seemed to go with this.  Also, her eyes twinkled as if she–knew me on a very personal level.

What this young woman did next has to seen to be believed.  After a minute or so she slowly walked up to me, her smile ever present (even as Jim casually gave her space).  She then took my right hand and moved it toward the light on her chest.  The moment she placed my hand there a series of frightening thoughts entered into my mind, if only for a brief interval.

Now comes the shocking part, which I’ll let you see for yourself:

“Welcome.  I am Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb.  I’ve been waiting for this moment to happen.  I know all about you.  John Thomas Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson, Officer of InterGal Star Systems.  In fact, I know more about you than you can dare dream or imagine.”

“How is all that possible?!” I asked in total perplexity.

She smiled brightly, even chuckling a little.

“Simple, really.  You see, I’m also…your mother.”   

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“So sweet the hour, so calm the time, I felt it more than half a crime,

When Nature sleeps and stars are mute, to mar the silence even with lute.”

–Edgar Allan Poe, “Serenade” written in 1842

I didn’t believe any of what had happened.  I couldn’t believe what happened.

“This is a joke, right?” I pleaded. “Jim, tell me this is a joke.”

Jim shook his head in an almost melancholic way, his smile fading slowly.

“Sorry to tell you, John, it’s not a joke.  Sentisia will explain everything, I’m sure.”  He turned to leave us but I managed to stop him for a interval or two.

“Wait a minute.  I believe I have it.  Sentisia is both the planet and the woman before me.  Am I not right?”

Jim flashed his trademark gentle smile, nodding his head imperceptively.  Then he took his leave, with me staring out into the space he was…and my head filled with every type of question imaginable.  Emotionally, too, I was reeling in my senses.  Commissioner Koenig and especially General Bishop would never understand this revelation.  Right now I can’t even grasp this.

I was still in that dazed fog when I felt Sentisia’s hand on my shoulder.  Instantly I directed my gaze to her German blue eyes, not knowing what more to say.  She cupped my chin in her hand and moved her head close–very close to mine.  She knew.

“We have a lot to talk about.  Come, walk with me,” she said.

Taking my hand in hers, our fingers intertwined, she led me to the rim of the lake closest to the water’s edge.  Then–and try not to get any funny or weird ideas here–she removed her silk gold negligee, rendering herself totally nude.  She sat down on the grassy knoll, directing me to do likewise.  This was growing more and more surreal by the minute, I found myself thinking.

Finally I gathered up enough courage to initiate a conversation, albeit hesitantly.

“Are you–that is, how do you–?”

She put her right index finger on my mouth, then drew my hand to her chest.

“I know all your questions, and they will be addressed in due time.  Right now you need your rest, young man.  You’ve had quite a busy journey, have you not?”  She gently laid both herself and me down, and stroked my hair.  Next she began singing a slow, soft lullaby in a sort of langauge that was either Swedish, German, Irish Gaelic, or a weird combination of all three.  Regardless I grew very drowsy…

A few hours later I woke up and found it had grown dark, as evidenced by the starry dark sky above my head.  And there was Sentisia, still unclothed, smiling ever so faintly as she looked into my eyes.  She stroked my hair again as well as my face, but it didn’t help my confusion any.

“How are you feeling, young man?” she asked.

“Physically I’m fine.  Emotionally if not psychologically, that’s a different story.”

She nodded but didn’t actually reply at first, instead piercing my eyes with great intensity.  Slowly but surely a wave of memories, such as I had rarely to never experienced, literally slammed into the deepest recesses of my mind.  Now, I don’t want to cast any more strangeness on my lovely hostess here but I swore I saw a powerful beam, like high-intensity headlights, burst from Sentisia’s eyes into mine.  And the truly odd thing in this was I didn’t feel any sense of terror, fear, or panic.  There was instead a great sense of calm taking hold as I fogged out once more…and, after re-focusing my thoughts, decided to confront those memories head-on.

“What the hell just happened to me?” I inquired.

Sentisia sighed heavily.

“Are you sure you want to know everything?”

I nodded in strong affirmation.  I wasn’t going to be denied.

“Okay, here goes.  First of all, what I told you upon our meeting was indeed the truth.  You are my biological offspring, conceived and carried in my womb.  Your father is an Earthman, as I’m sure you’re aware of by now.  He was a space traveller, on a freight star cruiser delivering various supplies to every sector of your Universe.  Mainly food, medical equipment, some of your usual standard armaments, and the occasional musical ‘necessities’  like an entire rock music group or two.  But I digress slightly.  

“One day long, long before your conception your father had inadvertantly breached the Barrier’s Rim and found himself on this, my home world.  It was Jim, the Chief of the Council of the Orbs who guided him to safety…and ultimately to me.  I wasn’t yet on the Council when he and I met.” 

“And how long did Dad stay here with you?” I asked, trying hard not to interrupt.

“Oh, I’d say about two Earth years.  I really grew to love him and with Jim’s blessing I married your father.  In a way he was like you, only with thin sandy blond hair.  Yes, I think it’s safe to say I was glad to have him.  That’s when we consummated our love and thus brought forth your conception.

“Of course the good times didn’t last.  Within a month I was elected to the Council in a very important role of Universal significance.  Your dad flipped when he heard about this, and soon after that we had some marital problems.  You know, the usual stuff.  Money, job, family duties…the safety of the Universe.  Sad to say things grew so bad we made the difficult decision and dissolved our marriage.”

I was slowly understanding some of what took place but I needed to know more.

“You mentioned your election to the Council in some high authority.  What was that?”

“Well…” she said in a forlorn way, “the Council elected me as Daughter Higher Orb, which is a fancy-ass way of saying I’m a fortune teller by trade.  It’s my duty to interpret every Sign and Vision that I come in contact with.  But I had a small problem: there was no way I was to effectively perform my job while I was pregnant.  The first Council member I told this to was Jim.  He pondered this carefully, and gave me the answer.

“I was to send my only baby to Earth for his–your safety.”

“Oh, just like Jor-El did in the Superman comics.”

“Yes, and like Jor-El I found this to be the toughest decision ever made.  So, after your birth I placed you in a teleport pod and sent you to Earth to live with your father and his new wife who, from what I observed, had the charm of a used-up bar of soap.

“It was fortunate that I sent you because immediately I received a prophecy of that which some peoples of Earth call Armageddon, the Time of Chaos, Anarchy, and Destruction.  The Council of the Orbs interpretted this to be consuming our Universe…that is, until I scanned the events on Earth.  Informed by me, the Council decreed that I was to go to Earth and announce this cataclysmic chain to all leaders.  But there was no way in hell I’d be able to fulfill this duty myself, as the Council were aware.  That’s when I thought of you…and only you.  Do you truly understand now?  John…I need you.  Mama needs you, okay?”

“I’ll do it, but you’ll have to start with InterGal brass,” I replied.

“Oh yeah, those paranoid hyper-defensive bellhops you work for.  Good idea. Now…let’s see the Council and get their approval.”  With that said Sentisia–okay, my mother–summoned up another lightway, neglecting to retrieve her negligee…though it was the least of our concerns.

Time was of essential part to everything!

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“So wills its King, who hath forbid the uplifting of the fringed lid;

And thus the Soul that here passes beholds it but through darkened glasses.”

–Edgar Allan Poe, “Dream-Land” written in 1844

We’d reached the Council’s main conference room, where a full-fledged meeting took place.  I glimpsed around briefly and saw a rather odd array of characters, no doubt the “living essences” of the various planets orbiting in this Universe.  There was a bald, brash Marine-type  in a camouflage robe who kept uttering “HOO-rah!”, a pseudo-chef with short, spiky blond hair, wearing a white-and-blue robe, talking in a loud British accent, and one or two other sorts I couldn’t even begin at first to try to describe.  They were discussing in great detail not only the mission told to me but other things as well…and it undoubtedly grew very heated.  Especially when Sentisia–my mother made our presence be known.

“Greetings, fellow Councillors of the Orbs,” she stated reverently, bowing her head faintly.

They returned the greeting in kind, but soon after that the English chef’s face blenched!

“Oh NO!!  Where’s your &*$)#%#$ clothing?!!  You know our standards, yes?!”  He then glared at me.  “And who the bloody crap’s this, then?!  Your new $&%#%@* boyfriend?!?”

“This beautiful young man, Gordram…is my son,” she declared proudly.

Now it was the Marine’s chance to get his two cents in.  He glared at Gordram.

“Since when do clothes equal morality, you jack-wagon?!?!?”  The Marine stood up and saluted in the timely tradition.  “Welcome, soldier.  Name’s Arleguln but you can call me R. Lee if you like.  Semper Fi.

  Carry on.”  I returned his salute in kind, smiling faintly.

All told, this went on for five minutes until Jim held his hand up.

“Now that we’ve gotten that out of our systems and into the open, let’s hear what Sentisia has to tell us.  After all this is her mission.”  He turned to the chef.  “Oh, and Gordram, when the next time we have a guest to our Universe try to at least pretend to act civilized.  Or at least have your vocabulary censored.”

“HOO-rah!” interjected the Marine in smug pleasure which didn’t sit all that well with Jim.  Wisely this was ignored as Sentisia’s presence took importance.  Presently Jim turned to her, his gentle wisdom shining forth.

“I take you told your son John the truth, Sentisia?”

Sentisia nodded her head somberly.

“I have indeed, Chief Councillor.  I have also asked him, as is written in the prophecy, to aid me in halting and preventing the Chaos, Anarchy, and Destruction from coming to pass.  To ensure this I wish for he and I to return to his Earth and contact all leaders, beginning with his higher superior officers.  In turn they will plan the appropriate course of means necessary.”

There was a deafening silence as the Council decided by silent committee, as if trying to deliberate by telepathy.  I just happended to glance at the Marine, gritting his teeth as he stared at Gordram.  Along the way I was finally also able to witness the remaining three members of the Council, including two guys dressed in jade-green robes resembling Mike Nesmith and Davy Jones in middle age, and lastly a tall, thin, silver-and-red pattern skinned female alien (well-endowed, of course) with almost light-bulbish eyes and a head shaped like the Pope’s miter.  She was the only Council member not wearing a robe outside of Sentisia.

The telepathic deliberation took over an hour, and I was feeling every second of it.  By contrast a wave of serene calm washed over Sentisia, as displayed by the faint smile on her youthful, ageless face.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity the Council resumed their focus on us.  Jim, being the Chief Councillor, stood up from his chair and addressed the entire assembly.

“We’ve decided and it’s agreed.  You are to fulfill your assigned mission.”

“Thank you, Chief Councillor.  It will be done.”  She paused a moment to gather her thoughts. “May I address the Council further, if it pleases?”

“Granted.  What’s on your mind?” asked Jim (who, I forgot to add, wore his casual garb).

“I don’t know if I am to disclose this but I sensed a bit of discord and tension among the other Councillors.  And I think I know who the inadvertant instigators are, don’t I?” she replied with a slight smirk, sharply gazing at Jones and Nesmith.

At once the Davy Jones-lookalike stood up and pleaded his case.

“All right, all right. Yes, I have had severe doubts about this whole thing.  I mean, trying to aid a backward planet like Earth-One is, frankly, really messed up.  And what’s even more messed up is our dear old Sentisia using her position and authority to actually lure one of those Earthmen to our Universe!  Do you know what Earthmen are good for?!  Warmongering, greed and crass capitalism, logic that’s at best dubious, and if there’s anything else I can think of, you’ll be the first to know.”  He stared menacingly at Sentisia.  “And another thing.  Why is it that you ladies have to use your gigantic boobs to help do your dirty work?!  I mean, especially with Earthmen, of all beings?!”

At once the silver-and-red-skinned alien female stood up and grabbed Davy by his aging face, shaking it a tad like a set of maracas.

“Listen, you!” she hissed angrily.  “First off, I was also married to an Earthman, and yes I did use my “boobs” to get what I wanted, which is a family and a home.  Did I get them?  Yes!  Did it last?  No!  End of this discussion!”  She let go of his face and returned to her seat, turning her face to me with a look of sympathy I couldn’t readily discern, what with her face resembling a robotic being and all.

“I’m so sorry you had to see that, young man.  But Davy here really put his foot in his mouth this time.” 

“He sure did,” interjected Mike Nesmith, a smug grin on his bearded face. “Truth be known, he shoved twelve whole shoe stores in his mouth.”

Davy flashed his blazing eyes on Mike.

“One more snide remark out of you and I’ll make you eat that beard!!”

“You wouldn’t know what to do with a beard if you tripped over one!” Mike retaliated.

Before the assembly grew chaotic Jim held his hands up.

“I think we’ve washed our dirty laundry enough.” He slowly moved his head to address the alien female.  “And Orda-Ultrana, would you be so kind as to refrain from allowing your 

 strong emotional passions to interfere with the duties of the Council?  I realize that you’re of the M78 Nebulae, and I know you’re sworn to fiercely defend all you hold so dear.  But please let’s remember, too, that we have decided in accordance of the Treatises laid forth by our respective realms.  Besides that, Davy’s head doesn’t really sound all that musical anyway.  So…on to the next step.”   The Council stood up and held their arms up to the diamond-glass dome.  Then Jim made the decision formal.

“Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb.  Captain John Thomas Starlin of Planet Earth-One, son of Sentisia.  May you now be blessed by the Council of the Orbs and fulfill the Grand Mission set forth before you, and may you return in safety and in peace.”  

With that said and (hopefully) done Sentisia and I turned to vacate the Council’s chamber.  Of course, we were stopped by Jim.

“Oh Sentisia?  You might want to get another negligee or robe on.”

Sentisia smiled and nodded her head.  Then we exited the room.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“From out of Time and out of Space, by way of Love’s pure soft breath;

O Seed of my Womb, love me now.  Love me even in endless Death.”

–“Womb-Seed” from The Heart-Song Book of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb

Having just vacated the Council’s main conference room Sentisia–my mother led me to a small chamber-like bedroom which wasn’t overly gaudy or extravagant.  There was the usual clothes cabinet, long mirror, a desk with a lamp on it, a nightstand, and even a computer.  On the back wall was a doorway presumedly leading to the bathroom/shower area.  A window, with the very same diamond glass used in the dome of the conference room, sat adjacent to the bed.  Two silk gold curtains adorned the window which, I forgot to mention, looked out into Endless Space, as seen by the stars shining through.

With a bit of ritual she opened the clothes cabinet and withdrew a long robe, again made of gold silk.  Then she pulled out what I thought was a small metallic case, the purpose of which remained unknown at first.  Walking to her bed she sat down, opened up the case, and drew out a long green stick which she placed between her lips.  Reaching to the nightstand she pulled open the drawer and grabbed a lighter.

I knew now what she was about to do.  Casually she flicked the lighter and held its flame to the long green stick, or in actuality a spearmint-and-eucalytus cigarette.  Taking one long drag into her mouth she slowly exhaled the light-green smoke, sighed heavily and slumped backward onto the brunt of her bed.  She felt as if the weight of every Universe fell on her shoulders.  Now, I can’t be sure but I thought I noticed a stream of tears flowing down her face, or more accurately the sides of her head.

I looked on her with a mixture of mock disdain and genuine sympathy.

“Are you okay?  Is there anything I can do for you?” I asked.

She turned her head toward me, her worries very clearly etched on her face.

“Come..lie down with me for a while.  Please.”

With the Grand Mission in the front of my mind I nonetheless took her up on that offer.  Letting out a long sigh I made my way to her bed and laid myself down on her right side, feeling her fingers stroking my hair softly.

I got the sense there was more she wanted to tell me…only it wasn’t really about the Great Mission.  What she said next somewhat cemented that for me.

“I hope you can forgive me for what I’ve done to you.”

“Forgive you for what?” I asked, now confused.

“I told you I sent you to Earth after you were born, didn’t I?”

“Well, yes you did.  You also said you did it for my safety, if I recall accurately.”

“That I did, but I didn’t say it wasn’t wrong for me to do that.  Do you know I’ve had to live with the guilt of that decision every single day of my life since then?  But…what are you going to do about it, right?”  She sighed out even more heavily and somberly than before.

For at least a few more minutes we didn’t get up off the bed.  Somewhere in my mind’s recesses I suspected there was even more than she was actually telling me, and the expression on her burdened face once more confirmed that idea.  I’m not the kind of person who likes to badger people for answers but I had to fully understand Sentisia’s motives and intentions.

Then abruptly Sentisia rose up off the bed and grabbed the long gold robe, extinguishing her cigarette in the process.  Hurriedly she donned the robe and offered her hand out to me, a miniscule smile on her face.

“Come, my blessed Womb-Seed.  The Grand Mission awaits to be fulfilled.”

She didn’t have to convince me twice.  Seconds later Sentisia–my mother, as you know–summoned a powerful lightway.  That meant one thing in my brain: it’s back to the Jim Henson, on our return voyage to Earth.

Live or die…

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“In visions of the dark night I have dreamed of joy departed,

But a waking dream of life and light hath left me broken-hearted.”

–Edgar Allan Poe, “A Dream” written in 1841

The moment we arrived on the Jim Henson I felt a great mixture of relief and elation.  It’s common knowledge in my circle that I’m not the type of individual who likes to have any major assigned mission delayed for any reason.  Causes unnecessary guilt and anxiety, which are things I definitely don’t need in my life.  Especially right now, at this crucial stage of the mission.  

“I must say I’m quite impressed,” said Sentisia upon gazing at the Jim Henson’s interior.  “Humanity may be warlike, as Davy pointed out in that trademark crass manner of his but when it comes to time-space aviation, you’re aces in my book.”

I wasn’t going to argue with that but it was a moot issue at present.  While she continued looking around I hurriedly programmed the navi-computer for the return to Earth, all the while trying desperately to recall the exact coordinates of the breach in the Barrier’s Rim.  Now, logic would indicate that all I had to do was draw up the information from the Main Computer’s chief memory storage unit.  However, I knew that “A is B, and even C” in this Universe.  I took little to no comfort in that, and Sentisia sensed that frustration in me.  Instantly she walked to the ship’s instrument panel. (Unbeknownst to me at the time of breaching the Barrier’s Rim, the chief memory storage unit didn’t, or wasn’t able to recall the data programmed into it.)

“Here.  Allow me,” she offered.  Sweeping her hand over the panel a bright light cascaded over, causing the various display lights and screens to activate with independent yet very precise functions.  Now it was my turn to be overly impressed.

But that impressed feel didn’t last too long.  It was now or never.

Swiftly the Main Computer’s memory unit retrieved the data I thought was lost, and after a few milli-seconds the Jim Henson pulled out from its stationary point.  Then it maneuvered itself in the precise counter-direction from which it entered the Barrier’s Rim; slowly at first, and gradually increasing speed.  But not too much…after all, there was more I needed to know than what Sentisia had previously told me.  Plus, I’d grown accustomed to fluctuations in the Space-Time flows.

Out of my sense of duty and honor I broadcast a communique to IGSS Main Command:

“Cruiser Jim Henson to IGSS Main Command.  I’ve made contact with Sentisia and I’m now traversing back to HQ.  Will report upon making Earthfall in approximately thirty-six point seven hours.  End Transmission 7-J.”

Now that we were on our way home I decided it was time to have more conversation with Sentisia.  Turning away from the control console I found myself looking at her as once again she removed her long gold silk robe, rendering herself back to her nude state.  She spread the robe onto the floor of the bridge and sat down, her legs folded.

“Sit down.  Now,” she said firmly, pointing at the floor nearest her.

Throwing up my arms in weary resignation I pushed myself away from the Jim Henson’s control console and sat down on her robe, facing her German blue eyes which even at that exact second pierced my own Celtic blue eyes rather sharply; in fact more so than I expected.  Of course, I wasn’t able to fully analyze what she felt but I did confirm in my mind she had a lot more to say than she revealed in her bedroom moments before our departure.

“Is there anything else on your chest you want to get off?” I asked rather on the droll side.

Her facial expression remained unchanged.  If any she grew more and more melancholic.

“Look into my eyes, John.  Not just at them but into them, and soon my deepest and most intimate secret will be known to only you, Seed of my Womb.  Let my mouth’s breath enter into yours such as is written in the pages of the book called my Soul.  Now…feel yourself drawn to me and do not let go of one as I.”

Even as she said all this I literally found myself being pushed closer to her face.  She then pursed her lips into a whistle formation and gently blew a cold, soft breath into my face, and in particular my mouth.  It had the aroma of spearmint-and-eucalyptus (likely from the cigarette she smoked beforehand).  Then more images, sharper and even more focused than those she’d planted earlier, flooded my mind’s recesses…and instantly all really was soon to be revealed as she indicated.

Those pictures gradually began forming the basis of a very interesting journey indeed.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“And do I take you by the hand, and lead you through the land

And help me understand the best I can?”

–Gilmour/Mason/Waters/Wright, “Echoes” from Meddle, 1971

While the Jim Henson maintained its present pre-programmed course back to Earth, I felt myself literally separate from my physical body as my own personal journey with Sentisia was underway.  Of course, naturally it didn’t start off without more than a smattering of nausea, did it?

Soon all known physical forms of “reality”, including those which we accept as Space and Time rapidly dissolved into one massive blob of essence.  Now, I know I stated to you time and time again about those memories planted in my brain after I arrived here beyond the Barrier’s Rim.  And I’m lucidly aware that you want to know about what those memories actually were.  Well, you’re not the only one wondering so I fully sympathize, believe me.

So with all ado at an end I’ll describe what I witnessed in as coherent a manner as possible given the unusual circumstances at the present “time”.

But then again, some things aren’t exactly coherent, are they?

Even as I ran that thought in my mind Sentisia and I found ourselves racing on the first leg of the voyage throughout formless Space and Time.  Our precise destination at that instant was definitely anybody’s guess.  I did know that it wouldn’t be conventional in the slightest bit.

That was confirmed by the sight meeting our eyes…and what a sight it was!

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

Sounds of battle and the cries of the innocent mingled with the songs of the victorious Forces of Chaos, Anarchy, and Destruction.  The lights of Good and Truth all but extinguished by the dark flames of Evil and Strife.

Not a pleasant vision for my Womb-Seed to witness, is it?

But it must be so that he, and his leaders, can understand what to expect if the Council’s prophecy isn’t fulfilled without loss of life and property.  I know in my heart my Womb-Seed’s a good, honorable young man and with aid from the Council, as well as my love for him, he’ll see the Grand Mission through.

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

Wow!

And to think what Sentisia probably told you was only the first sight we witnessed!

The next experience to come was even more frightening and yet at the same time almost exhilarating. Now, I can’t readily put it into so many words but I can tell you that the stories of the Big Bang and the Creation of the Universe paled in comparison, believe me.

We travelled to another sector of formless Time and Space and caught a glimpse of the brightest and most dazzling display of colors and luminescence never before watched by human eyes.  And the resultant images told a tale I was already all too familiar with.  Or so I thought at the time, anyway.

For there, right smack in front of my face, were pictures from that which both theoretical physicists and science fiction writers call “the Multiverse”. (After all I didn’t read up on my DC Comics for nothing.)  I saw one Universe in great turmoil, constant struggle and conflict, not unlike my own from Time to Time; another Universe told the tales of heroes with odd names like Skywatcher, Fugitor, Diamond Flame, and Red Ice.  And yet still another Universe brought forth power and technology such as no one has even dared try to describe let alone harness.

As fascinating as they were, all these pictures led to a question forming in my mind:

“What does all of this have to do with me?!”

In reply those images of the Mulitverse instantly coagulated into yet another massive blob, this time a dark, black void swallowing up all Universes, including both Sentisia’s and mine in particular.

At long last it–the truth, that is–grew painfully clear to me.

This is what the Grand Mission of the Council of the Orbs was.

Even as my awareness rose I felt beads of sweat doing a Niagara Falls routine down my face, and my body shook violently.  Slowly Sentisia led the way back to “reality” as I knew it, and we returned to our physical bodies still sitting on the deck of the Jim Henson.  I tried my very best to stand up only to collapse in Sentisia’s arms, my body trembling violently.  Not to mention my emotions in the process.

“Whoa.  Steady now.  You’re all right,” she said reassuringly.

I wasn’t so sure about that.

Truth be told now I would never be sure of anything for as long as I live…

CHAPTER TWENTY

“Cloudless every day you fall upon my waking eyes, inviting and inciting me to rise.”

–Gilmour/Mason/Waters/Wright, “Echoes” from Meddle, 1971

As the Jim Henson continued on its urgent trek back to Earth I grew acutely and somewhat painfully aware of a experience–make that “feeling” I hadn’t sensed in all my years of service to InterGal Star Systems.  And I can personally assure you it wasn’t something I was comfortable with.

It was a feeling of hopelessness intermixed with a foreboding depression.

Partly it was due to the visions I bore witness to during my journey into formless Space and Time, which Sentisia initiated supposedly for the overall good of her mission.  No, I’m not blaming her in the slightest bit.  Mainly I blame myself; I wasn’t properly prepared for that.  Of course, the theory professors and science fiction authors never fully prepare you for everything, do they?

For hour after hour neither one of us uttered a single word.  In my case I was still trying a bit too hard to understand the full ramifications of what Sentisia brought forth to my life since my arrival to her realm beyond the Barrier’s Rim.

And yet I had an inkling of a revelation in my mind.  A calming one ought to be nice…

From the Heart and Mind of Senitsia, Daughter Higher Orb:

I’m fully aware that what I’ve done to my beloved Womb-Seed was a bit harsh but there was simply and literally no other alternative.  He must understand what is at great stake if the Grand Mission decreed by the Council of the Orbs isn’t fulfilled to its satisfying conclusion.  I know I deserve a bit of blame for his emotional status yet I feel he won’t do so.  It’s not in his nature.  This much I definitely know.

For I am Sentisia…and I’m a concerned parent.

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

Now that I slowly but fully recovered from that weird experience I turned to Sentisia, my mind now in clear focus regarding the objectives of the Council.  Well, at least trying in some way to overcome any and all obstacles.

“Sentisia–I mean, Mother, I need to ask you something about a message that was sent to my superiors.  And I’d like for you to explain in full detail, if that doesn’t offend you too much.”

She flicked a very peculiar glance in my direction.

“Sure, go ahead.  I’ve nothing to hide.”

I drew in a very heavy breath, steadying myself for what I had to inquire about.

“Well…we received a transmission that read something to the effect about–” I said.

“Oh, just spit it out.  Fates’ sake, I hate getting the runaround.”

Here it comes, I thought to myself.

“Okay, the message said, ‘Prepare for the biggest spanking of your miserable lives.  So speaks Sentisia.’  Now…who was that transmission really for?”

She looked at me with a small smile on her ageless and youthful face.

“Oh, you’ll know that answer when we reach your base on Earth.  You and those so-called ‘superiors’ of yours.  No offense, honey, okay?”  she replied cryptically, her smile broadening.

“None taken,” I told her.  There was nothing she could say to offend me in any personal way imaginable.  As far as the brass at IGSS Main Command goes, well, that definitely remained to be seen.

Suddenly I detected a faint sound resembling 1970s-style slow waltz music echoing all around the Jim Henson’s flight deck.  The odd thing about that was that there was no music-playing program in the ship’s Main Computer unit (it’s against IGSS Main Command orders, as the music interferes with vital incoming signals).  Gradually that music grew more distinct with every passing second.  I knew, didn’t I?

Sentisia took my hand in hers, her eyes twinkling into my own.

“Come, my beloved Womb-Seed, dance with me.”

So we did, ignoring everything else around us…and loving it!

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“Sit in a theater, to see a play of hopes and fears, 

while the orchestra breathes fitfully the music of the spheres.”

–Edgar Allan Poe, “The Conqueror Worm” written in 1842

No sooner has our little dance ended when a shrill, high-pitched drone reeled us back to our senses.  Of course it was followed by a harsh, very familiar voice.

“InterGal Main Command to IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson.  Acknowledge and reply.”

Swiftly I raced to the Main Commuinications Relayer to make that response.

“This is the Jim Henson, Commissioner.  Request information regarding communication.”

“Starlin, where the hell have you been?!!?  Do you realize it’s over twelve days since your last message to us was received?!” Of course, I didn’t believe that for a nano-second.  Then again, I wasn’t going to actually tell them that. “We’re all eating our fingernails waiting for your findings!  Are you due to make Earthfall soon?!  If not, do so right NOW!!”

Sentisia, who was now fully robed during this “fun” exchange, leaned her way to the Main Communications Relayer, her German blue eyes blazing in maternalistic anger.

“Greetings, Martin George Koenig of InterGal Star Systems Main Command.  I wish to ask you this simple question.”

At once Commissioner Koenig’s “lovably” grating voice made a snappy answer.

“Who the hell is THAT?!  What’s the meaning of this?!  And how do you know my middle name, for God’s sake?!  Respond!!”

For three-point-five munutes there was silence.  Then Sentisia resumed her dialogue.

“I am Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb.  I am also the birther of Captain Starlin.  Now first off, where the hell do you get off talking to my Womb-Seed in that manner?!  Second, has it ever occured to you that your Universe might be in the gravest and most apocalyptic danger felt by Humanity and yet you, with your high-horse pomposity, aren’t even remotely sensing it?!  Well, you’ll get your precious answers in due Time.  But for now, keep eating your damn fingernails, or your toenails, for all I care.”

She nodded at me, and a second later I ended the transmission relay exchange.

“Are you all right?” I asked, turning my gaze towards her.

Sentisia sighed heavily.

“Yes, I’m fine.  But now it’s painfully imperative that we reach Earthfall in due haste.”  She placed her hands on my shoulders, staring forlornly at me.

That was my cue, and I didn’t waste it.

I strode back to the main control console and programmed the engine for hyper-light drive. Within seconds the Jim Henson lurched backward then thrust itself forward on its urgent journey to Earth, thereby cutting the time amount needed.

End of act one; now it’s really do-or-die time.

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

The drama unfolds before not only my very own eyes but also my beloved Womb-Seed.  I fear that the conclusion will not be to everybody’s satsisfaction but in the wisdom of the Council of the Orbs, that can’t be helped.  The Grand Mission must be fulfilled if all Sentiency is to fully ensure its continued endurance for all Time Eternal.

You must think by now I’m the most despicable parent in all Existence, putting my Womb-Seed through such an ordeal.  Well, let me reveal to you right now that nothing is further from the truth.  The heart between my breasts grows all the more heavier with every moment that passes in Time.  But I know that, logically, the Grand Mission comes before my maternal desires.

Of course the Council didn’t say this was going to be easy, did they?

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

A tightness wrapped around my stomach as the Jim Henson finally reached Earthfall.  I didn’t want to really announce the fact but after all, it’s my job. Plus it’d give me some time to help Sentisia form a plan in dealing with the top brass…and to keep them quiet and happy, too.

“IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson to InterGal Main Command.  Have made Earthfall, and will dock with HQ in five minutes. End Transmission A-4.”

This is going to be interesting.

But definitely not going to be easy.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“Images of sorrow, pictures of delight; things that go to make up a life.”

–Banks/Collins/Rutherford, “Home by the Sea” from Genesis, 1983

That tightness in my stomach intensified as the Jim Henson made Earthfall, adding to my already frayed nerves in re the long-awaited meeting between Sentisia and the top brass of IGSS Main Command.  Outwardly, I tried to act calm but my insides were on a wild roller-coater ride.  I mean, I did mention it was going to be interesting but not easy.

I had no idea of the road we found ourselves upon, but it was far too late to turn back now.  The Grand Mission had to come first.  Existence Eternal depended on it, and Main Command would have to see things our way whether they–well, really Commissioner Koenig and General Bishop liked it or not.

Sentisia felt that tension emitting itself from me, and embraced me tightly.

“Things will work out for us all, my beloved Womb-Seed.  You’ll see.”

After we embraced, and shrugging my weary shoulders in a less-than-nonchalant way, I turned to exit the Jim Henson and Sentisia followed suit.  Once we were off-board ship I raced to the nearest available com-link, again with Sentisia at my side.

“John T. Starlin reporting to Main Command.  I’m on my way to the Conference Complex.  Will be there in five to ten minutes with important news.”

Now my sweat glands went into overdrive as we made our way to the turbo-pod which linked the main foyer to the Conference Complex.  (Oh, incidentally I almost neglected to tell you that the Jim Henson’s Main Computer already relayed the data findings to the Master Unit here at IGSS Main Command.  My mistake.)

Once we entered the turbo-pod the tension inside my stomach reached the boiling point, and I wasn’t able to withstand it too much more.  But again, for the sake of the Grand Mission it had to wait.  But in the weirdest sense possible I found the situation to be a tad on the absurd and near-silly side.

Now, I know that good old General Bishop won’t see it that way.

But as he’s going to find out, that won’t matter a whole hell of a lot.

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

The Moment I have anticipated is now at hand.  My Womb-Seed’s superiors are in for the rudest awakening of their narrow-minded lives, and it gives a good deal of pleasure yet not at the expense of my beloved One with me right now.

I know there’s a hell of lot riding on my Womb-Seed’s shoulders, and I think he’s all too aware of that fact.  It truly pains me to realize there’s very little I can do to ease his discomfort.  But I also know that like his father (to whom I was married), he’s a strong man.

And by the blood of the Council of the Orbs, he’s going to need that strength!

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

The precise second we reached the Conference Complex’s main door, I placed my hand on the identi-scanner.  Immediately we were “joyously” greeted by Commissioner Koenig’s harsh yet melodious voice.

“It’s about time, Starlin!  Get in here!  NOW!!”

Like I reiterated over and over, this is going to be interesting.  But I had no real time to get in on the fun.  Sentisia–my mother would see to that.  Everything rode too much on this meeting of two diverse and somewhat reflective Universes, with values and morals that are not always compatible with one another.  My mother’s penchant for total nudity and disregard for fashion correctness was just one prime example, as the brass at Main Command would find out.  But of course, I am getting way too much ahead of myself here.

Back to the present moment.

A few seconds later we entered the Conference Complex, where everyone waited with highly exaggerated impatience and genuine anger and expectation.  The faces of Commissioner Koenig and the “lovable” General Bishop definitely displayed those liabilities for our viewing displeasure.

Instantly Commissioner Koenig stood up and leaned his way toward us.

“Two things, Starlin!  One, where the hell were you and two, who is this woman with you?!!”  Fortunately we caught him on one of his “good” days.

I was about to half-heartedly offer the Commissioner an answer when I received a very much-needed intervention.

“I am Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb of the Council of the Orbs, and mother of John T. Starlin, Captain of the Jim Henson.  I’m here for a great and important task, the fulfillment of the Grand Mission as decreed by the Council I serve.  And yeah, I’m the one who told you jackasses, quote, ‘Prepare for the biggest spanking of your miserable lives’.  Of course, I can bet that won’t be good enough for you so I guess I have to show you, huh?”

The brass began murmuring amongst themselves, probably deliberating my court-martial if not all-out dishonorable discharge.  Unlike before I departed for the Barrier’s Rim, this time I personally didn’t really give a damn one way or another.  Then suddenly the murmuring and whispering ceased, and all eyes flashed to Sentisia and myself.  Commissioner Koenig stood up and leaned his way, not to mention his boiling eyes, in my particular direction.

“All right, Starlin.  Explain everything in as logically and reasonably a manner as possible.  At least, for your line of thinking anyway,” said the Commissioner in a icy yet smirky tone.

Out of my duty I made ready to open my mouth to answer when (as is the case anymore) Sentisia–my mother–angrily intervened once more on my behalf.

“You know, you clowns never listen to reason, do you?!  Well, I guess it’s time I show you what I’m capable of, huh?”  And with that having been said she ripped open her robe, not only exposing her breasts but also an intense red light emanating from between those large breasts.  The light, laced with frightening holographic yet indistinct images, rapidly raced to the leaders’ eyes and it momentarily blinded them.  Of course, it didn’t affect me all that much.  After all, when you’ve been to where I was you quickly grow accustomed to such weird things taking place before you.

After at least ten minutes of watching the top brass’ eyesight grow dim, all went back to what you and I would call “normal” in that their eyes resumed their normal function.  As did the short tempers of Commissioner Koenig and General Bishop, natch.

“What’s the reason for that, Starlin?!  Is this one of your sick pranks?!!” hissed General Bishop in a tone equally as menacing to the Commissioner’s, if not more so.

I coldly held my ground, turning only to Generals Tighe and Lopez.

“With all respect, sirs, what do you think of this?” I asked.

They had no immediate response, as they continually attempted to shake those images out of their minds.  But I suspected they’d already known; getting every single one of them to all-out admit that, however, elicited further convincing.

Finally General Tighe looked at my mother.

“What on earth did you just do to us?  And was that absolutely necessary?”

More whispering amd murmuring echoed that sentiment.

“Again, General, with due respect,” I said, “I’d listen to what my mother has to say.”  I looked around from Generals Tighe and Lopez, stopping for a few seconds at General Bishop, and ultimately stared intently at Commissioner Koenig.

Commissioner Koenig returned his gaze to Sentisia, his mind filled, I’m sure, with queries.

“All right, uh, Sentisia, just what did you intend to tell us about?”

Not bothering to close her robe she got right down to the point.

“Gentlemen–and I use the word very loosely–you’re all doomed!!”

That didn’t sit at all well with Bishop.

“Are you talking–?!”

“Armageddon.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“There opens fanes and gaping graves yawn level with the luminous waves;

But not the riches that there lie in each idol’s diamond eye…

–Edgar Allan Poe, “The City in the Sea” written in 1842

The air in the Conference Complex was so thickly tense, you needed a laser-scalpel to slice your way through it.  All on account of the basic truth revealed by Sentisia.  (I know she can be a bit blunt but by then she didn’t have time to sugarcoat her words.)

To all our so-called collective “benefit” Commissioner Koenig and General Bishop, in an effort to be themselves, clearly weren’t the slightest bit impressed much less fazed, as seen by their facial expressions.  In sharp contrast to that I sensed a palpable curiosity exuding from General Tighe, judging from the way he narroewed his eyes, which was befitting for the type of guy he was.

Naturally as a result Tighe verbalized his thoughts.

“You, um, didn’t really say–Armageddon, did you?  You know my hearing’s about shot.  Old age can sometimes do that.”

Sentisia’s eyes blazed and narrowed as her voice elevated in emotional intensity.

“Read my lips, chunky!!  Arm-a-ged-don!!”  

Commissioner Koenig, having listened to the entire verbally tense exchange, actually summoned enough tact to address Sentisia properly.

“What type of Armageddon are we discussing, Sentisia?  And what does that have to do with InterGal Star Systems?  Yes, we have military capabilities but that’s only as the very last resort in times of extreme crisis.”

“Commissioner, I’m not here to lie to you.  It’s not in my nature to do so, nor do I enjoy arguing with people.  Right now all Universes, yours, mine, and sundry others, are at this very moment in Time Eternal in the path of forces too powerful for any one being to contain.  That’s where I come in, with my son’s assistance.  With or without your permission.”

“That may be but I’m not sure exactly who or what we’re going to be combatting.”

While that was going on I received a weird disturbance in my psyche.  Sentisia turned to me, worry gravely etched on her ageless face.

“Here, let me.”

Taking my right hand she pulled it toward the light between her breasts, lifting her head and closing her eyes simultaneously.  She placed my hand on her chest, and instantly her body trembled.  I noticed beads of sweat on her brow, and her face in a severe grimace of mild pain if not full torture.

After a minute or so elapsed, she relaxed herself back to normal.  Needless to say, none of this went unnoticed by the top brass, the most vocal being General Bishop.

“Is there a point to that orgasmatic display, Starlin, or is this your idea of bawdry humor?!”

Out of the blue a rather unexpected defense came our way.  Guess from who?

“Now, Ed,” interjected Commissioner Koenig, “I’ve known John Starlin long enough to know he’s very honorable when it comes to his duty.  I’m quite sure there has to be an extremely rational answer for all of this.”

“There is, sir.  I think Sentisia–excuse me, my mother can show it to you a lot better than I can verbally explaining it.”  I looked to Sentisia, who then nodded in the affirmative.

With a wave of her hand, she’d dimmed the lights in the Conference Complex, while at the same time summoned a holographic display even though the Holo-Laser Image Selector wasn’t technically activated; unknown to even me she did activate it, if only for aural augmentation.  Strangely enough, not one of the generals nor Commissioner Koenig showed any sign of alarm whatsoever.

“Okay, gentlemen,” stated Sentisia, “here is what I interpreted as the prophecy of total Chaos, Anarchy, and Destruction.  But first let us witness the basic fabric of that which your comic book writers and scientists call the Mulitverse.

“Contrary to pop-culture belief, the worlds of the Multiverse were not destroyed between 1985 and 1986.  The real reason the Multiverse slipped your minds was that during your so-called Cold War, which we ignored out of spite for your jack-assed politics, the representatives of the many worlds met at a conference summit to determine whether your Earth was in fact ready to accept the knowledge of the wonders our worlds had to offer.  Needless to say the answer we received was emphatically ‘no’.  We’ve seen how you guys operate, and that was one headache we didn’t need.   

“But I digress.  It was decreed that one member of the various Earths was to then meet on a world beyond the last known Universe.  Luckily for you guys, the wisest member was from your Earth.  Perhaps you might know him when you hear if not see him.  Anyway, it was he who, with his gentle wisdom, selected, or really drafted those he felt displayed strength, compassion, truth, and hope.

“It was also decreed that in order to protect and maintain those strengths, a powerful time-space force barrier was activated. It could only be breeched by the One whom the true chosen Daughter Higher Orb–that’s me, naturally–has selected based on his attributes.  Of course, the One you already know but didn’t realize was the One.  That is, until I barged in and told you.”

“That’s a fascinating story, Sentisia, but that still doesn’t explain the type of Armageddon we’re going to combat against,” replied Commissioner Koenig impatiently.

“I’m getting to that right now, Commissioner.  The forces out to destroy the Multiverse are driven by two aspects: logic and monetary greed.  They’re not unlike those corporate raiders which you on Earth no doubt read about, only they’ve got highly advanced militaristic power at their disposal.  No, wait.  Instead of telling you, I’ll show you.”

Instantly she swept her hand over the holograph display, thus changing the images from the basic structure of the Multiverse to those of an invading fleet of warships bearing a corrupted form of the Caduceus symbol usually associated with medicine.  However, instead of a staff the serpents entwined a blood-drip-point sword while the wings weren’t bird-like; if any, they more than resembled those of a demonic bat I’d seen on an ancient record album cover.

The most apocalyptic segment of the Council’s prophecy was coming to our eyes.

And unknown to us, that segment was also literally on its way to us all!!

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

A new and frightening moment is due to occur, and I fear my beloved Womb-Seed may be in over his head.  This is something I can suspect he never expected to partake of in his entire young life.  But as I told you before, he’s a strong, beautiful, and honorable man.

I just hope they’ll be enough to help withstand the event now coming!

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

I continually darted my eyes back and forth between the display on the Holo-Laser Image Selector, and the expressions on the faces of the IGSS top brass.  I noticed General Lopez (whom I’ve had an undying respect) grow pained with worry; General Tighe sweated profusely while eating his fingernails; and of course lovable General Bishop’s face soured even further, if that was possible.

The only exception was Commissioner Koenig, who displayed just about the oddest facial look imaginable.  Now, at the time I had no inkling or suspicion regarding his intentions but I was able to speculate what his emotions relayed to him.  Commissioner Koenig’s usually bland face actually…brightened up!  Just like a kid at Christmas (even though he told me at one point he was technically Jewish).  Again, I didn’t know at the time precisely why he felt like that.

Once the display on the Image Selector finished playing (and the unit thus de-activated) we stood at our positions, not making a move or sound of any sort.  For several minutes did we not do anything but just ingest the visual and psychological data brought forth to us just now.  That deafening silence was thankfully broken when the Commissioner stood back up, his face back to its normal state.

“All right, Sentisia, how long before this comes to pass?” he asked bluntly.

In reply a loud, droning sound entered the Conference Complex.  I saw Commissioner Koenig push the intercom link on his desk.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Sir, we received visual contact with a dark cloud-like structure of undetermined origin.  We’ve programmed the Linguistics Drone to emit friendship message in all known Terranian languages and dialects.  No response.  Also, we’ve lost contact with our outer relay stations.”

(Just so you know, that reply was from our Main Relay Outpost which was manned by my old friend Richard Hazard.  Good guy but a bit overly zealous in his duty, in my view.)

“How is that possible?!”

“Answer unknown, sir, but we suspect the cloud structure actually…swallowed the relay stations whole.  Request permission to establish defense perimeters around all sectors bordering Earth and Mars.”

Commissioner Koenig, to his credit, didn’t hesitate in his reply.

“Do it.  NOW!!!”  He ended the transmission abruptly, turning back to Sentisia.

“That won’t do much good, Martin,” replied Sentisia.  “The beings attempting the invasion are a bit too smart for this kind of defense.  They’ll read it like a cheap comic book.  What they may lack in sheer imagination, they more than make up for in raw power and cold logic.  Yet even they have their weaknesses, one form or another.”

“Which are what, Sentisia?” asked General Lopez, his brow beading with sweat.

Sentisia turned to me, not readily answering General Lopez.

“I think my Womb-Seed knows more about that than even he can imagine,” she replied.

Oh, terrific, I found myself thinking.  Just terrific.

Definitely what I didn’t need…

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

I know I’ve laid an even heavier burden on my Womb-Seed’s shoulders by revealing what I feel he already knows, though he suspects it not.  You’ll truly get the notion of my being the most rotten-minded female this side of Existence Eternal.  Again, as I told you before nothing is so further from the truth of that matter.  Grave cosmological concerns must take great precedence over my womanly maternal lusts.  The Council of the Orbs, remember, decreed that.

Oh gods, what am I doing wrong?  Am I this terrible of a mother?

Can Murphy’s Law go on and on forever…at my Womb-Seed’s expense?

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“But once a year when caverns yawn and hidden things awake, they dance together then till dawn and a single shadow make.”

–J.R.R. Tolkien, “Shadow-Bride” published in 1962

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

You can imagine I was still reeling due to what Sentisia had told the top brass.  I didn’t even know our opponents’ physical appearances much less their weaknesses, or hang-ups.  Just one more headache I don’t want right now but I wasn’t going to really tell anybody that.  All I can do is just deal with it as best as I know how.  Which isn’t all that much, to be honest.

Then another loud, droning sound interrupted my foggy reverie, to my instant relief.  I knew by then it was from the Main Relay Outpost located in the Tycho crater on the Moon.  Presently the Commissioner answered the signal transmission.

“Yes, what is it?” he asked.

The response was tense, almost suffocating us to death.

“Sir, the cloud structure is moving now at near-light speed.  And there’s some sort of green-blue illumination at the center.  Still can’t tell what the cloud is, or the purpose of the light in its center point.  But there is a new development, sir.”

That was a stunner for us all!

“What is the new development, Station Officer Hazard?” demanded Koenig harshly.

The ensuing dramatic pause was not what Koenig needed at that time.

“Station Officer Hazard, I repeat: what is the new development?!”

“Sorry for the delay, sir, but we’re receiving a transmission from inside the cloud itself!”

“Say that again?” queried Commissioner Koenig.

“We’re receiving a transmission from inside the cloud.  The Linguistics Drone is decoding the signal now, as it’s in a dialect not easily recognizable.”

“What is the cloud’s trajectory and position to Earth?”

“Sir, the cloud remains at near-light speed.  It–”

The transmission from the Moon ceased abruptly.  How, I’m afraid to speculate.

“So…” uttered Sentisia somberly, “the Day of Armageddon comes.”

In a rapid flash Commissioner Koenig punched the intercom link, his face hardening even more if that’s humanly possible.  Which in his case really was humanly possible.

“Attention, all IGSS Star Fighter pilots.  This is Commissioner Koenig.  An unseen enemy with limitless destructive power is racing at near-light speed towards Earth.  This enemy has mercilessly destroyed our Main Relay Outpost on the Moon.  The Moon itself, to my estimation, has also been destroyed and we on Earth will feel the effects of this in one day, or one week’s time.  In the meantime I am issuing a direct order to intercept and eliminate whatever, or more accurately whoever is behind this attack.  And that order is to be carried out…now!”

Unbeknownst to Commissioner Koenig, Sentisia had re-activated the Holo-Laser Image Selector to witness our fighter fleet take off from the various position points on not just Earth but also the Outer Rims of Mars.  She and I both knew this attack on the “cloud” was futile at best, and hopeless at worst.  Those young pilots will never stand a chance.

“I tried to warn you, Martin, you’re wasting your time here.  It’s like a swarm of flies going into a mist of Raid bug spray.  This ain’t going to work, Martin.  It just won’t,” said Sentisia.

I nodded my head in agreement.

“I’m afraid my mother’s right, sir.  She knows what she’s talking about.”

That sickening confirmation was further validated when the Star Fighters, after a brief but intense barrage exchange, found themselves joining the Moon’s company.  One by one they were literally absorbed into the cloud, or whatever it was that was even now slowing to a leisurely pace on the trek to Earth.  Not a single pilot knew what hit them.

The Conference Complex grew silent, with not a lone word uttered by anyone.  The mood was extremely funereal, to say the least.  Our hearts, particularly mine and Sentisia’s, went out to those young pilots, some of whom were good friends of mine though I can’t name them all.

All of a sudden I sensed a weird disturbance entering into my mind!  This, of course, didn’t go unnoticed by everyone in the Conference Complex.

“John?  You okay?” I heard General Lopez ask.

“I’m getting a very strange idea right now.  About the One who’s instigating all of this.”

That didn’t still too well with the up-to-now-silent General Bishop.

“You mean you know who’s in charge, and you didn’t report this!?!”

Sentisia lost her temper and raced to General Bishop, her German blue eyes ablaze!

“Listen, dip-shit!!” she hissed, grabbing him by the front of his uniform.  “I don’t sure as hell know what you call a brain in there, but you fucking better learn how to at least try to use it properly!!  And get those cloth ears of yours checked!!  Oh, and don’t you EVER talk to my Womb-Seed in that shitty-assed tone again!!”  Thus with that “hilarious” tirade out of her, she released General Bishop and raced back to her position near me, her large breasts heaving as she sighed wearily.

After a few minutes elapsed General Bishop turned his face to me, shaking his head.

“Starlin…you come from a very weird family.”

Ignoring him, I placed my hand on my mom’s heart.  It’s become my new way of letting her know I’m supporting her on everything…and to also show my growing love, affection, and attraction to her.

Then…I saw the tears roll down.

And I felt them as well.  God, did I feel her tears!

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“At bidding of vast formless things that shift the scenery to and fro, flapping from out their Condor wings–invisible Woe!”

–Edgar Allan Poe, “The Conqueror Worm” written in 1845

We’d all taken about an hour to calm ourselves down and re-focus our thoughts on the Grand Mission which was still at the forefront of our purpose in being here.  In the interim, it allowed me to put a face and/or voice to the One responsible for so much of the Chaos, Anarchy, and Destruction that consumed various sectors of the Mulitverse.  In fact, our dear old General Bishop was getting even more impatient than was possible even by his standards, as narrow as they are to start with.

“Starlin, you did say you have an idea of the leader’s identity, right?”

“Well, yes I did.  But if I reveal my speculation to you, I want you to promise me that you’ll take it at face value.  You know what’ll happen if you don’t,” I said, gazing harshly at General Bishop.

The top brass murmured amongst themselves for several seconds up to a minute.

“All right…tell us what your hunch is,” replied General Tighe sternly.

I drew in a heavy breath, exhaling it as slowly as I could.

“Based on what Sentisia told you prior to now, the beings in charge are driven by cold logic and sheer monetary greed.  But I’m suspecting that there’s an even more insidious motive driving this unleashing of Chaos, Anarchy, and Destruction.  Now, I can’t put an actual face or name to the One in control as yet but I can put my thoughts on his emotional intentions.”

“Which are?” asked General Tighe.

“Well…” I replied, “I sense psychological neglect stemming from childhood, jealousy, overachievement, creative and sexual frustration, a lack of tolerance for just about everything but himself, a very low sense of humor, extreme aristocratic pomposity, and an annoyingly short temper.

“Oh, wait.  I’m just now picturing the actual appearance and voice.  He’s tall, balding with thick tufts of hair on the sides of his head–basically a Larry Fine look, slightly chunky, blue eyed, and talks like a certain Boston surgeon you guys may know from old TV.  Fashion-wise, um, he’s wearing the reverse opposite of the uniforms we wear, revealing the paunch in his stomach.  Does that add up in any form, or is this all way too surreal for you?”

Commissioner Koenig, having heard all that, darted his eyes to Sentisia.

“Is he right?”

In reply she had me place my hand on her chest-light, getting a faint tremor in the process.  Her ageless face showed a pained grimace and drops of purple (!)sweat cascaded down her body.  After about five minutes she gently removed my hand, and in an odd way ran her sweaty finger down my face.

“He’s right, gentlemen.  And I, too, know of the One in charge.”

“Oh?  Well, who is he?” demanded General Bishop.

Sentisia looked at me with a very mysterious look and half-smile on her face.  Then she resumed her focus on the subject at hand.

“His name is Charles Winchester Stiers, and as near as I can figure he was once a high-ranking member of the Council of the Orbs.  Matter of fact, he was from your Earth, like the Chief Councillor.  But I’m digressing again so forgive me for that.  In the beginning of our grand uniting he displayed a compassion which his surface ‘pomposity’  hid.  That is, until he felt that with his election to the Council great power would be his to control.  Like your villain Sinestro in the DC Comics stories, this one-time Councillor allowed his lust and romance with that total power to fully consume his judgment. 

“The Chief Councillor, with his great wisdom in use, realized this and banished him to the Outer Beyonds of the Multiverse.  The rest you can see from your image selector.”

We glanced at the continuous display on the Image Selector, and to our total amazement the cloud somehow or other decelerated to almost a snail’s pace, or turtle’s trot, or whatever.

“Looks like he’s toying with us at this stage,” stated General Tighe blandly.

“That’s part of his game, chunky.”

“How soon will he make contact with us in person?” asked General Lopez, bringing up a very valid point.

“He’ll contact us when he feels he’s damned good and ready.”

“Meaning it could be anytime, whether it’s hours or days,” replied General Bishop.

“Precisely, Ed.  Another part of his game, and he ain’t afraid to exploit that.”

That’s just what the Generals didn’t need right then and there.

“And now, boys, if you’ll excuse me there’s something important I wish to discuss with Captain Starlin, and it’s of a personal matter.”

“Of course, Sentisia.  Nothing to do now but wait anyhow,” said Commissioner Koenig.

The two of us, Sentisia and I, departed the Conference Complex.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“That little time with lyre and rhyme to while away–forbidden things!

My heart would feel to be a crime unless it trembled with the strings.”

–Edgar Allan Poe, “Romance” written in 1846

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

I feel a growing womanly lust for my very own Womb-Seed.

And it’s not  the maternal lust I addressed, either.

As I’m sure I told you over and over, my Womb-Seed’s a very honorable man.  He wouldn’t have tolerated these high-horse bellhops at IGSS Main Command all these years if he wasn’t.

Yet even as I relate these thoughts my wanting to taste of him is increasing…and I actually welcome it.  And I know he’s feeling the call of his own lust for me, as evidenced by the recent physically affectionate display in the Conference Complex.

I now go to him.  I will taste him, and may the seas of orgasmatic oneness wash over us both for all Existence Eternal…and may also the Council forgive me this one transgression.

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

The moment we left the Conference Complex, we found ourselves in my quarters.  Now, at the time I didn’t know what was really on Sentisia’s mind but I figured it might have something to do with the coming Chaos, or actually Armageddon.  Or it might have been a totally different topic pertaining to a very…intimate subject.

Anyway, I sat on my bed trying to clear my head.  Sentisia looked at me in her odd manner, that half-smile on her face.  Then I knew what was on her mind.  But I tried to play it on the safe side of things.

“Sentisia–I mean, Mom, are you okay?” I asked her.

(I realize, naturally, that there may be things I’m describing which aren’t suitable for young readers of the Chronicles.  However, right now they can’t be helped too much.)

In response she slowly walked toward me, removing her robe completely.  Her giant breasts faintly bounced with each step she took.  Gently she held my hands and lifted me to my feet.  Minute drops of her sweat cascaded down her body once again, this time stopping at her thick-black-haired crotch.

She then bent downward to my face (she’s very tall, you know) and slowly, passionately kissed me hard, sticking her tongue in my mouth in the process.  (I don’t know if I should even mention any or all of this but I strangely wanted this to occur.)

In the midst of this I felt my uniform being removed, bit by bit.  First the boots, then my socks, next–well, you get that part, I’m sure.  I also found myself growing a tad dizzy, probably from the rush of what was happening.  Or maybe it was slight guilt mixed with awkwardness, I don’t really know.

Sensing that she gently turned around and laid on my bed, stretching her body and also spreading her long legs, her smile now more radiant than ever.  A pinkish-white light shone from her chest, and she blew her cold mint breath onto my face.

I’ll let you figure out the rest…

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

When I awoke much later, I looked in my mirror and discovered I was once more fully dressed, with my hair combed quite neatly.  And Sentisia was nowhere to be found.

With a bit of frenzy I looked down the main corridor left and right, with no sign of her.  In fact, I literally raced up and down hoping to see her.  Quickly I played a hunch, and ran to the nearest available com-link.  Then I heard Sentisia’s voice out of the blue.

“Hi.”

I whirled around and saw Sentisia, fully dressed (her robe was belted shut) and smiling like a white clam at Pismo Beach on a hot July afternoon.

“Where have you been?” I asked.

“In your bathroom, freshening up after our consummation.”

I casually walked up to her, my own face cracking a small smile.

“That’s great but I think we need to return to the Conference Complex.  I’m sure some new developments arose while we were–you know.”

She didn’t argue the point.

“You’re absolutely right.  Lord Stiers may be in contact with Main Command at this very moment.  Come,” she said, leading me onward.  Then she abruptly stopped her pace, turning her German blue eyes to mine.  “By the way…thank you, my beautiful Womb-Seed.”

“For??” I asked, perplexed.

“Last night, silly.  For making me the true woman I was meant to be…and also for letting my consummated desire wash over you.”  Then she once more hotly kissed me, again forcefully shoving her tongue in my mouth.  Of course I didn’t fight it.  Not one iota.

When we finished that up, we hastened like lightning to the Conference Complex where, naturally, we were expected.

“Glad you’re here, John,” said Commissioner Koenig upon our arrival.  “We just received a communication from God-Lord Stiers the First, as he so arrogantly called himself.  According to the text from given from the Linguistics Drone, he wishes to contact Sentisia and her One within an hour.  That transmission was sent to us at 1003 TDT, which means that if what Stiers says is accurate then he’ll be here in half an hour.”

“Did this joker say why he wanted to contact Sentisia and myself?” I queried.

“No, Starlin, he didn’t,” replied General Tighe.

I sighed very heavily, still tired from the previous night’s “discussion”.

“Well…we’ll all find out soon enough.  If I were you, sirs, I’d pray for all the luck in the Multiverse.  It’s definitely going to be needed.”

And so the longest half-hour of our lives dragged by.  Not a single thought was uttered, plus the wait did little to no good for our nerves or sweat glands, mine in particular.  I kept on hoping that our primary defense perimeters would at least keep them at bay until a proper strategy was formulated.  Even if it was a bluff strategy.

All at once the loud, droning sounds of our communications relay broke that awful silence.

“Yes, what is it?” queried Commissioner Koenig.

“Commissioner, there’s a teleport signal emanating from the cloud.  It’s on a flight path to the Conference Complex.”

“Understood, cadet.  We’ll take action when that signal reaches us.  How long before this?”

The answer wasn’t long in coming.

In fact, it was immediate!

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

A concentrated beam of greenish-purple light made itself present before our eyes.  It wasn’t blindingly intense but the sonic emanation that resulted–well, John Cleese’s guitar playing would have been more soothing to hear.  Out of the beam stepped His Unholiness himself, the ever-unpopular Lord Charles Winchester Stiers, looking exactly as I envisioned him in my mind.

Flanked with him were two of his soldiers.  They were both just about Lord Stiers’ height but while they also wore a less-ornate version of his uniform, the commonality ended right there and then.  The first, standing on Lord Stiers’ left, was a taciturn felinoid, with long, very black hair parted to his right, and dark-brown eyes.  To his right was a rather slow-witted wolf-like creature with extremely light grey-blue eyes, which matched the somewhat droopy expression on his face.  In other words those guys physically resembled the old MGM/Warner Bros. cartoon characters I saw on television as a kid.  But that observation was belied by the fact that they also carried powerful photon rifles (which IGSS officials and all top-ranking diplomatic delegates banned as being illegal and highly dangerous).

Lord Stiers took a few minutes to observe the surroundings he found himself in, letting a faint grin crease his face.  He literally smelled of arrogance and pomposity, as indicated by the wafty aftershave cologne he undoubtely splashed on himself.  After his observation finished he turned his eyes to us, his small grin relatively intact.

“Well, well,” he said in that Bostonian accent I mentioned, “I see we’re all gathered for my rather grand arrival.  Now, which of you is the one in charge of this pathetic set-up?”

Commissioner Koenig stepped forth with all the dignity he could muster.

“What do you want with our Universe, Lord Stiers?” he asked.

Lord Stiers grew unsurprisingly amused.

“Are you presuming to play the innocent ploy with me?  Surely you jest.”

Of course Sentisia stepped in, her German blue eyes once more blazing.

“Hi, Charles.  Surely you answer his question, you prick!!” she hissed menacingly.

Calmly Lord Stiers looked to Sentisia, his oily nature on display.

“Well, hello, Sentisia.  How is the, uh, ‘prophet’-eering business going?” he asked with a chuckle.  Suddenly he turned to his two flanksmen.  “Laugh, my celluloid clods.  It’s a joke!”

The flanksmen gave a half-hearted response to his bad pun.

“Good joke, son,” replied the wolf-being in a thick, slow Southern drawl.

After a few seconds of this, Lord Stiers turned back to Sentisia.

“Seriously, your ladyship, why are you here in this drab Universe?  And who is this young man clinging to your side, if I may be curious enough to ask?”

“You’ll know the answers to those soon enough.  Now…why the hell don’t you answer Commissioner Koenig’s question, you jackassed prick!?”

“ME answer to one of YOUR friends?!  Surely you jest, my dear ballooned-buxomed blonde beauty!” replied Lord Stiers crassly.  This time his flanksmen didn’t need to be cued to laugh in any way, shape or form.  Then he resumed staring at Commissioner Koenig intently.

This wasn’t going to go well for any of us…until I stepped in.

“You best watch what you say to my mother.  Now,” I said, grabbing his shirt roughly.

Lord Stiers gaped at me in total awe if not shock.  That didn’t last.

“Two questions, young man.  One, who the blazes are you, and two, how dare you grab me in that rash manner?” he purred smarmily.

“My name’s John T. Starlin, InterGal Star Systems Officer and Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson,” I said, my Celtic blue eyes blazing.  “And I’m also the biological son, or Womb-Seed of Sentisia Starlin.  Now you take my advice and answer Commissioner Koenig’s damn question.  Or else you get a three-course meal of the righteous anger of the Council of the Orbs.”  After I told him all that, I shoved my cloth-covered hand into Lord Stiers’ person and let him go.

He turned to Sentisia, his initial shocked reaction now back with a vengeance.

“Sentisia, is all that what Captain Starlin uttered true?  About him being your offspring, or Womb-Seed as he puts it??”

“Oh, I’m afraid it is, Charles.  I’m so afraid it is.”

He looked back to me, a new and more frightening look on his face.

“Well, well,” was all he told me by then.

I wouldn’t like what’s coming next…

CHAPTER THIRTY

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

As much as I love my beloved Womb-Seed, there are times where I wish he wouldn’t step in for my benefit.  I mean, for Christ’s sake I’m a grown woman and quite more than capable of handling my own battles.  Well, I can’t get angry with him at all, really.  He gets his courage from his father, and his droll nature from me.  A very good formula for heroism, I say, but that’s just me as a mother saying.  Mainly because it’s the truth…that is, if you’ve been following along all this time.

Still and all I acted nonchalant on the surface but inside my guts were in a panic!

My biggest fear now is what that jackass Lord Stiers has in mind for John…and you damn well can bet it won’t be pleasant by any stretch of even Lord Stiers’ limited imagination!

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

I can tell you right now my sweat glands were ready to put in for overtime, due to the fact that His Rancid Unholiness, namely Lord Stiers, continued staring at me in his manner so very frightful he could give Bela Lugosi nightmares for life.

For some long amount of time I struggled to conjure up a very logical reason for Stiers’ sudden interest in me.  After that long amount of time elapsed I gave up, and summoned enough courage to confront this outright.

“Stiers, what’s the matter with you?  Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked.

Now during all this time Lord Stiers’ smug and arrogant smile remained fixed on his face, much like Det. McGarrett’s hair was on his head.  Then inexplicably, that smile finally faded.

“You are indeed a very resourceful young man, Starlin, and I do have an interest in you.”

I eyed him in the wariest manner possible.

“What kind of interest are we talking about, Stiers?  And what makes it any of your damn business?  As if I didn’t know.”

He began walking at a snail’s pace towards me.

“You have a greater gift–nay, a greater power than even your tawdry science fiction-and-comic book-soaked imagination can dare fathom, much less conceptualize.”  He suddenly turned to Sentisia.  “Am I not right, Sentisia?”

“I’m not going to dignify that with a response, Charles.”

He chuckled in his derogatory way, as is the case anymore.

“That’s, uh, that’s very funny.  Isn’t that funny?” he asked, looking to the wolf guardsman.

“Good joke, son,” replied the wolf in his depressed drawl.

“No, seriously,” Lord Stiers replied, turning back to me, “you do have a great power, young man.  You do see the wisdom in this, don’t you?”

With Sentisia and the IGSS top brass watching I made my casual move, a wry, thin smile crossing my face even as I strode towards Lord Stiers.

“You better hope, for your pompous sake, that isn’t true.  Because if it is then the very first ‘person’  I’d use it on is you.”

“I don’t doubt that, uh, you would, young man.  But don’t you see?  The power.”

I knew immediately what he was attempting to do, and it wasn’t working.

“You think you’re going to get me to join you, huh?  Well, you’re one employer I wouldn’t dare work for if you were the last one in this, and every other Universe.”

Lord Stiers took five minutes to “think” it over.  In the interim of this his two guardsmen watched silently, their eyes inscrutable and secretive.

“Well.  I see you’ve decided to stick to your disgusting and vile ‘principles’.  Very noble of you all to join young Captain Starlin and his balloon-buxomed birther in whatever fate you’ve sealed for yourselves.”  He turned to leave via teleport, then hesitated.  “Oh, and if you opt to beg for mercy, be advised that mercy isn’t among my repertoire of attributes.  Good day…and goodbye,” he uttered, ending that with a menacing hiss in his voice.  A few seconds later another teleport beam entered the Conference Complex, and His Lordship stepped into it alongside only one of his guardsmen (it was, of course, the slow-witted wolf). Inexplicably they were leaving the felinoid behind, or he decided to stay; I can’t be all too certain.  I didn’t think Lord Stiers took much notice of this, but then again what did he care anyway?

Then amazingly the felinoid guardsman defected to our side!

“Request permission to stay and serve, Commissioner, sir,” he formally asked, saluting along the way.  A grim and somber look crossed his face.

“Granted, son,” said Commissioner Koenig, returning the salute in kind. “What’s your name, son?”

“Chris ‘Butch’ Adams, sir.  Former 2nd Guardsman of Lord Stiers, and son of a felinoid female, Mrs. Omaha Adams, and a human, Mr. Neal Adams of New York City, Earth-Two.”  Then he paused, that sad look still on his face.

In my own way, I grabbed his hand and shook it like a slot machine handle.

“Glad to know you, Chris,” I said, smiling.

There would be soon no time for further amusement.

The Armageddon was due to take place, and we had to fight it off.

Winner take all, or none go home!!

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

“It writhes–it writhes–with mortal pangs the mimes become its food, and seraphs sob at vermin fangs in human gore imbued.”

—Edgar Allan Poe, “The Conqueror Worm” written in 1838

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

It actually does my heart good to see an alleged “villain” (or really henchman in Butch’s case) turn from his ways and join the cause of all Noble Beings.  I’m pretty certain that if John and I put in a good word for him, Butch might be added to the Council of the Orbs.  Of course, I don’t see how we could convince his parents of that.

Right now, though, my possible recruitment and/or recommendation would have to wait.  The Day of Armageddon is now upon us, and this last encounter with Lord Stiers was and is only a mere prologue to the events taking shape even as I speak these very words to you.

May God, the Fates of Time, and the Council help us all now.

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

Butch sure picked a very odd time to defect from Lord Stiers’ employ, didn’t he?

However, at the moment I wasn’t going to question it right there and then.  I couldn’t even if I wanted to.  I had that sinking feeling in my stomach Lord Stiers would see to that in any way even remotely if not humanly possible.

The next incoming communique confirmed that for all of us, as Commissionert Koenig raced back to his station in order to respond.

“Yes, what is it?  What’s happening down there?”

No time was wasted in the exhange of information and news.

“Sir, we’re experiencing massive tidal waves on both coasts of the USA, and earthquakes as near as California and Japan, and as far as Great Britain.  No signs of panic so far.  In fact, in the New England region they’re holding–surfing contests.  Grand prize is $1,000,000 cash, or so I’m told.” 

Commissioner Koenig, as well as the rest of us, ignored the surfing contest results.  Matters on Earth grew increasingly critical if not all-out apocalyptic in nature.

“Also, sir, there are now reports of volcanoes on the Hawaiian Islands ready to erupt, and the same holds true of Mount St. Helens in Washington State.”

“Any casualties?  Injuries or deaths?  Property damage?”

“No major damage or injuries yet, sir, but new quakes, tidal waves, and volcano activities  are taking shape with each passing hour.  All armies and civil forces here are now on constant stand-by but for how long, we can’t guess.”   The voice on the other end showed growing signs of panic and fear.

“All right…” sighed Commissioner Koenig wearily, “keep me posted for as however long as possible.  We’ll try to formulate a plan of some sort in order to keep the Chaos, Anarchy, and Destruction to a minimum…but even I’m starting to lose all hope.  Koenig out…for now.”  Then he turned to the rest of us, that grim look plastered on his face.  “Put everything on visual.  I want to know what’s happening, live, as they occur.”

I raced to the Holo-Laser Image Selector, and got precisely what we didn’t want to see!

There was an image of New York City being bombarded with the most massive tidal wave imaginable, and not ever seen on the East Coast.  I didn’t, however, see any surfers trying to ride the wave.  My reasoning was that they definitely would have been lacerated to shreds by the force it created.  A few hundred feet away, facing closest to us, a young, female Asian-American newscaster, wearing a raincoat, fear clearly etched on her face, reported on the disaster:

“…receiving more reports of frequent tidal wave action.  We’ve not seen the last of these large-scale disasters, from what little information we received just now…”

“Switch to next channel,” said Koenig.

The channel satellite immediately broadcast more grim images, this time from the very heart of London, England itself.  We witnessed houses, stores, and other businesses demolished, people bloodied and covered in dust, ambulances carrying off the dead and injured, the brave British Army trying to hold things together.

But I knew, as did the rest of us, that the worst was yet to arrive…and it did so in quite a gruesome and spectacular fashion!

For right before very eyes, the most unimaginable event took place: the long-standing Houses of Parliament and the Tower Clock of London began vibrating apart, bit by bit.  Needless to say we were totally enrapt by the sight of it all.

Then (thanks to Lord Stiers’ vile nonsensical shenanigans) the Forces of Chaos, Anarchy, and Destruction managed to do what History and Warfare couldn’t or wouldn’t even dare to achieve: the very symbol of British strength and honor literally collapsed like a stack of wobbly dominoes.  After it was done I felt my jaw clench and my teeth grind as hard as they could go.  Sentisia turned to me and, embracing me tightly, wept openly.  No doubt it was for the lives now being lost, or were already lost.  And not just my fellow humans, either.  Defenseless animals like dogs, cats, etc., all suffering at the hands of Lord Stiers and his amoral immorality.

Within a few minutes, speaking for not just myself, a resolve fueled by righteous anger and total justice swelled up in all of us.  I, myself, felt this drive the most…and each second increased it all the more.

After those few minutes elapsed, my angry resolve caused me to reach my breaking point!

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

“But see, amid the mimic rout, a crawling shape intrude!

A blood-red thing that writhes from out the scenic solitude!”

–Edgar Allan Poe, “The Conqueror Worm” written in 1838

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

A bitter feeling overtakes every part of my inner essence as the grim sights from the Image Selector continued to display those events that the Prophecy foretold.  First the Moon, with those brave young people, then those young fighter pilots, and now Planet Earth herself.  If I wasn’t so dedicated to preserving all Life as decreed by the Council of the Orbs, I’d go out and nail this aristocratic and pompously vile son-of-a-bitch right here and now.

To do so, however, would only serve to piss Jim off to no end, as I know I just mentioned to you all moments earlier.  Besides, I couldn’t physically destroy Lord Stiers even if I wanted to…which, I’m sure, I still do after what he did, and will continue to wish to do.

But Jim didn’t say my beloved Womb-Seed couldn’t destroy Lord Stiers, did he?

After all…

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

The more gruesome those images grew, the angrier I became.  And don’t forget to add very nauseated as well.  Of course, we all know who’s the cause of all this by now.

At that moment, however, I wasn’t able to think things out all that rationally.  That anger-induced sickness took full yet temporary precedence.  This hadn’t gone unnoticed by the IGSS top brass, especially Commissioner Koenig and now General Tighe.

“Well, Commissioner, the best proposal I can think of for saving our planet and our entire Universe is…surrender,” said General Tighe morosely.

The other generals, plus Sentisia and myself, gaped at him in shock and disbelief!!

“Roy, you’re not really serious about this, are you?” asked General Lopez.

“Tighe, have you taken complete leave of all your senses?!  Because if you have then, brother, you’re in for the most miserable time of your life!!  And that will be for starters!!” screeched General Bishop, his boiling point reaching that critical factor.

Just as matters grew to the point of no return, there and then I opted to put in my own two cents…as if it could help.  But anything was better than what we had at the moment, which was basically nothing important.

“I think it’s painfully and sickeningly obvious that Lord Stiers won’t even consider the possibility of surrender, much less actually accept it.  With all that power and technology at his disposal, and an universe-sized ego to match, he’s not going to hesitate in using it whenever it suits his own interest.  In the interim, I propose we use a delay tactic such as he’d probably never anticipated until the proper help arrives.”

The generals looked at each other in total confusion, then turned their weary and unsure eyes to Commissioner Koenig in search of an answer.  None was forthcoming for the time being.

“All right…” stated Commissioner Koenig wearily, “do what you have to do but don’t let Lord Stiers gain that sudden advantage, regardless of the present situation.”

Without saying a word Sentisia and I departed the Conference Complex.

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

A tightness in my body grows as the hours rapidly turn into the minutes before the Dawn of Armageddon commences.  I didn’t know at the time what my Womb-Seed had in mind as far as a delay tactic goes–oh hell, of course I knew.  After all, I am his birther and I can read his mind.  That comes with the territory of being a Daughter Higher Orb; sort of a fringe union benefit, you could say.  Right now that’s neither here nor there, friend.

I’m also reading more of a rash, headstrung nature in him.  He gets that from his father, meaning my ex-husband…and it worries me now to no foreseeable end.

In fact, for the first time in my long years of existence–and don’t let my youthful face and overly busty figure fool you–I’m getting a bad taste of fear!!  Not for myself but for my beloved Womb-Seed and those he serves with; no, not his superiors but friends.

And the Crisis continues still…

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

“And when, amid no earthly moans, down, down that town shall settle hence,

Hell, rising from a thousand thrones, shall do it reverence.”

–Edgar Allan Poe, “The City in the Sea” written in 1842

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

The moment Senitsia–I mean, my mother and I departed the Conference Complex she suddenly turned her German blue eyes to me, a mixture of worry and anger blatantly etched on it.  And also a hint of an idea forming in her agile mind.

With my customary curiosity I made ready to ask her this.

“Are you comtemplating what I think you’re contemplating?”

She didn’t miss a beat in her response.

“Yeah, I’m thinking about what I–sorry, we have to do to stop Lord Stiers and his evil deeds.  I mean, wouldn’t you think this if you were in my shoes?  Oh wait, babe, you are in my shoes.  So…” she continued, “are you ready to do this with me?”

She didn’t have to ask me twice.  Swiftly I stretched upward and kissed her lips firmly.

“Let’s do this.  While the timing’s still good.”

Within seconds we turned back to the Conference Complex in order to inform my superiors of our actions.  Along the way I slowly suspected there was to be more than what she was going to tell them, but I opted to keep that to myself for that moment of Time.

“Sirs, Sentisia and I have a remote idea of a plan to stop Lord Stiers before he does any more damage and create even more death and destruction,” I said as we huriedly re-entered the Conference Complex.

The generals looked at one another again and then at Commissioner Koenig, who nodded his head and shifted his focus to us.

“Well, we’re all ears, John.  Let’s hear the plan,” he replied anxiously.

“Just so I can quickly and subtly inform you of our actions, Sentisia and I were pondereing the idea of us actually going to Lord Stiers’ ship and taking him and his not-so-funny guardsman out mano a mano.  Now, we know for an ice-cold fact that he might expect that.  Then again, he may yet be so engrossed in the total Armageddon he’s inflicting that even he won’t be able to sense what we’re going to do.

“We haven’t as yet formulated a proper plan but whatever it is we’re doing, it has to be as soon as is humanly possible.  And I’m afraid only Sentisia and I can execute this,” I said with a bit of finality.

There was then a great deal of confusion running rampant among the top brass.

“Uh, Starlin, why is it just you and Sentisia?  Why not have Butch here,” asked General Tighe, pointing to Butch beside him, “sneak on Lord Stiers’ ship with you?  After all, he did work for Lord Stiers, right?”

Before I could reply to General Tighe’s inquiry Butch spoke up rapidly.

“With all due respect, sirs, I have absolutely no desire to step back onto that mobile ode to pomposity and snobbery.  As I stated, sirs, I wish to stay and serve you in the name of Life.  And besides…I don’t have the kind of unique power the Starlins possess.”

Again that mentioning of my “power” baffled me to no end.  But at that moment I didn’t have the ample time to address it properly.  Maybe it would be a bit of a surprise, or maybe–who knows?  Or it could be that Lord Stiers was in fact lying through his expensively-polished teeth about that repeatedly-aforementioned “power.”  I really wasn’t all too certain but I decided to not let it bother me a whole lot, as I told you I didn’t have time to think about it.

However, like with everything else I’ve just witnessed up to about this minute point in time nothing was going to be what it seemed.

Time itself will see to that…

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

A great showdown looms for both myself and my beloved Womb-Seed.  It’s not something I planned for either of us but if it has to come down to such a battle, so be it.  I can but only and poorly speculate as to how History herself will judge the results, whether it’s for good or evil.  All that we can do is to play the very cards we’re dealt, and keep playing until the final hand is shown.

I pray that the Council, who even now take observance of this, use their infinite wisdom bestowed upon them by Jim.  I know in my essence they will doubtless see the righteous intent, and in their own manner give us aid in order to ward off if not totally end the Chaos, Anarchy, and Destruction sure to wipe the remaining realms of the Multiverse out of Existance Eternal.

Believe me, people, when I truly say to you we’re definitely going to need it now!

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

“In the monarch Thought’s dominion, it stood there!

Never seraph spread a pinion over fabric half so fair!”

–Edgar Allan Poe, “The Haunted Palace” written in 1845 

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

I don’t know if I should mention this to you but my usually agile mind was at a total loss as to some kind--any kind of plan we could use to defeat, or at least hold at bay, Lord Stiers and his plans for total annihilation of every remaining part of the Multiverse, including mine and that of those heroes whose names I told you quite a long while ago.  Now, even though it didn’t depress me all that much the fact was still that I didn’t have any inkling or even remotest iota of an idea.  None whatsoever.

However…I also realized that if I was able to conjure up a delay tactic it definitely would have to be extremely subtle.  That way, Lord Stiers won’t sense it much less be actually planning to halt its execution.

Or maybe…we can deliberately make it obvious.

Of course!  That’s it.

Sentisia sensed what the objective was…and to my surprise, didn’t like it one iota!

“You’re not seriously considering this proposal to IGSS Main Command, are you?  If you are then, buster, you’ve just bought yourself a peck of trouble!”

Wordlessly I turned to the docking hangar, walking rapidly toward where the Jim Henson was “parked”.  Throwing up her arms in angry resignation Sentisia strode right behind me, struggling to keep up.  I felt her anger quite vividly as we raced like wildfire to the ship’s entry portway.  But before we stepped on board the Jim Henson Sentisia grabbed my shirt collar and whirled me around to glare at my eyes, her own eyes blazing and her nostrils flaring to match.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going, buster?!” she hissed through her teeth.

“Well, I was planning on boarding the Jim Henson and sneaking up on Lord Stiers’ vessel.”

“Not without official sanction you don’t, buster!  We’re going to march back in there and tell your superiors what jackassed idea you’ve got.”

“Uh, not to be rude or anything but I already informed IGSS Main Command brass while we were in the Conference Complex, and I can personally assure you we’re already approved to execute what I have in store for his Lordship.  Besides that, I also mentioned that only you and I have the ability and strength to pull it off.”

Sentisia paused in her anger, her face growing quite blushed with embarassment if not guilt.  Funny thing was that as far as shame goes–and she only told me this well after the fact–that feeling wasn’t part of her repertoire of emotions.  Seems a bit naive but that’s Senitsia.

“You’re right.  I’m sorry,” she replied remorsefully.  “You’re not angry with me?”

As is the case anymore, I didn’t let her anger get to me all that much.

“Oh, don’t worry about it.  The bozo you should be pissed off at is, not surprisingly, his alleged Lordship.  And I don’t think it can wait any longer.  Agreed?”

She nodded her head, her face showing her ageless and erotic smile once more.

Nothing more was said for the moment…

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

Well, this is going about as much as I expected it to go.  Not that I’m overly worried, mind you, but I am somewhat baffled if not totally confused.

But if the safety of the Multiverse hinges on whatever plan my Womb-Seed has in his agile mind, then I guess the best thing to do is just go along with it and hope against hope that it works out for us all.  If not then, well–and please don’t think I’m making light of this–you kiss your ass as well as the future of the Multiverse goodbye.

And you people know by now that the demise of the Multiverse, and all Life that dwells in it, is something I clearly won’t accept!

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

“But evil things, in robes of sorrow, assailed the monarch’s high estate.

(Ah, let us mourn–for never morrow shall dawn upon, desolate!)”

–Edgar Allan Poe, “The Haunted Palace” written in 1841

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

A very weird feeling overtook me as Sentisia and I entered the Jim Henson.  I didn’t, or more precisely couldn’t put my finger on what that feeling but I sensed that Sentisia knew the events before hand.  After all she is a Daughter Higher Orb, and I’m the offspring of her.  Now, I wasn’t all that certain how it the results would ultimately end up, knowing my time with Sentisia. But Life has its own amusing yet beguiling agenda.  It’s just the overall way things turned out, in one strange form or another.

Shaking my head slightly to re-focus my thoughts I programmed the navi-computer to hone in on Lord Stiers’ base ship still camoflauged in that cloud-like cover that even now was in direct apogee to Earth, from its position where the Moon originally stood.

The grim notion of Earth’s imminent demise was ever on our minds and hearts as the Jim Henson gradually lifted off and, upon departure from the docking bay, commenced maikng its lone and somber sojourn back into space.  This was one voyage I wasn’t looking forward to in any way, shape, or form.

Gary Cooper in “High Noon” had nothing on the kind of showdown Sentisia and I faced, with every known form of Life hanging in the balance.  A tightness in my stomach became all too painfully evident, and beads of sweat (purple, to my own brief surprise) streamed down my face as the Jim Henson continued on its rather unwanted trek toward whatever Destiny was planned for us, and myself in particular.

As soon as the Jim Henson made distant contact with Lord Stiers’  black-cloud-covered base ship I decreased the speed in order to try to concentrate on the plan needed to deter if not flat out try to reverse and even repair the damage he, in all his vile glory, caused to all the various sectors of the Multiverse and the loss of Life that resulted as well.

Remember when I told you I had a tightness in my stomach just now?  Well, that just grew into all-out nausea…and it wasn’t something I was exactly welcoming.  Rapidly I got up out of my chair near the main control console and just literally let it go!  The weirdest thing about that is I hadn’t eaten anything since all this started.

Sentisia saw all this and (after I was done throwing up bits of blood [!]) in her loving way once again disrobed herself, helped me to my feet, and held me warmly and tightly. Then I thought I had a sense of–well, I’m more than certain you get the idea by now.  No more real need to keep on about all this.  If I do stay on this topic, I’m sure you’ll understand.

After we finished embracing one another I raced back to the Jim Henson’s main control console and programmed the navi-computer to increase speed and head straight on to Lord Stiers’ base ship, even now still in that dark cloud-like field.

Those earlier bouts of nausea and fear gave way to something I’d never expected in one million years: the coldest resolve and acceptance of whatever Finality lay ahead, be that for good or bad.  One thing was definitely going to be the case for Sentisia and myself in this instance:

Nothing will ever be the same again.  For any and all of us.

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

At last, the Grand Mission slowly draws to its great and dramatic climax.  All is going to plan, as the Council of the Orbs worked out in every minute detail…save one, of course.  But this, too, will help the overall cause of the Council.

Yet there’s the sense that my beloved Womb-Seed, or indeed I won’t come out of this new but destined encounter unscathed if not still alive.  Maybe it’s just my nerves wreaking havoc on my mind, or maybe it’s just womanly hot flashes.  I don’t really know.

I do know for a cold hard fact, however, that things won’t stay as they are, as I’m certain my Womb-Seed probably told you by now.  Understand I don’t wish to dwell on this but it is of the grandest importance that our cosmological drama play itself.  In other words, namely your poker parlance, no matter how many times you bluff the house, eventually you’re going to have to show the cards, baby.

And we’re getting more than closer to that point.

Time for the final hand…winner take it all!

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

“But still the sunken stars appear in dark and windless Mirrormere;

There lies his crown in water deep, till Durin wakes again from sleep.”

–J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Fellowship of the Ring, 1954

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

Within a half-hour of departure from Earth the Jim Henson, having made contact with the cloud-cover covering Lord Stiers’ base ship, suddenly found itself caught in the grips of a very powerful yet harmless tractor beam.  In other words, it’s just exactly what Sentisia and I expected Lord Stiers to do.  He didn’t know this, or he didn’t care to realize but his time staying alive was rapidly dwindling down to almost zero hour.  But we also understood not to underestimate him in any way, shape or form.  After all, he was a member of the Council of the Orbs at one point in Time and he, too, has some type of power not seen on Earth.  At least, not by anyone I know of.

A sense of amazed wonderment overtook us as we drew nearer and nearer the base ship’s main portal.  The ship itself was like a gigantic floating ocean carrier, only that it was packed with some of the most powerful and insidious machinery ever devised by one twisted “human” mind–and I do use that term “human” extremely loosely.  No “human” had ever dared design much less actually use this!  (Of course, Lord Stiers isn’t exactly “human” now, is he?)

Towards the front of the base ship sat a series of high-intensity laser cannons, at least some twenty in number.  That’s more than enough fire-power to blow every planet in the Solar System ten times over. In fact, to me the Death Star in the Star Wars film saga had nothing on this piece of weaponry, believe me.  And we can all be absolutely certain beyond every reasonable doubt possible that those laser cannons have seen more than their fair share of destrctive usage!

As the Jim Henson continued on its pre-determined path (thanks in no small part to Lord Stiers’ tractor beam) wonderment grew back to nausea mixed with anger.  That was due to the next sight on our unwanted tour of the base ship.  Just below what we assumed to be the bridge, or “brains” of the ship was a vacuum suction intake-like device whose purpose we’d already known in speculation.  How it worked was at the time beyond my own expertise, as I wasn’t trained in that kind of advanced engineering or advanced physics of that magnitude.  Sentisia knew how it functioned; however, I wasn’t going to press her for an explanation.  The simple reason: all Life and indeed Time Eternal stood in grave peril.

Then the tractor beam dragged us “down” toward the docking bay with increasing speed.  Inside my stomach a churning welled up, and it was all I could do to maintain a sense of calm rationale and resolve.  Sentisia tried to do likewise, and I know for a fact it wasn’t all the more easier for her to deal with.  But like everything that takes place in our lives, the pieces have to fall where they may and we have to use those pieces that were given to us.  I realize that it’s not how Life is supposed to be planned out for itself, but that’s the game for you.

Soon we found ourselves at the docking bay, a powerful force field sealing us inside.  A few moments afterwards we landed softly, the tractor beam having since been deactivated.  I took a minute or two to collect my thoughts and tried to keep that calm demeanor even though we both knew this wasn’t going to be an easy confrontation like the last one back on Earth.  No, it was just Sentisia and I facing down Lord Stiers, Destroyer of Order and Life.

I suddenly had the distinct feeling of something awakening inside myself.  Maybe this was the “power” Lord Stiers mentioned to us on Earth finally manifesting itself inside my essence, ready to be used at a crucial moment’s notice.  Slowly and deliberately I pushed my seat away from the Jim Henson’s controls and rose up, turning to face Sentisia with a grim smile on my face.  She gazed at me intently, returning my smile and nodding her head softly.  Then she bent down to retrieve her robe, putting it back on her body in the process.

She then walked toward me, her German blue eyes now tearing up and suddenly taking on a very odd purple color.  Her arms stretched out to me, I grabbed her hands gently.  It was as if we were exchanging something…intimate.

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

I’m not exactly looking forward to this, the final confrontation with Lord Stiers.  It’s as though I’m playing out my concluding scenes in the Grand Mission decreed by the Council of the Orbs.  Now, normally I wouldn’t question their motives or their resultant aims but this time I truly know what’s really at stake here.

Am I really prepared to partake of what is to come next?  If I had known of this event I clearly woudn’t have accepted this.  But now it’s out of all our hands; mine, my beloved Womb-Seed’s hands, even the bozos at IGSS Main Command.

I now understand I can question this no further.

The final scene must be played out its inevitable conclusion.

Nothing else is to matter now…and I do mean nothing!

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

“Out of doubt, out of dark to the day’s rising I came singing in the sun, sword unsheathing.”

–J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Return of the King, 1956

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

Time dwindles down, for all of us.  And naturally it’s a feeling I’m totally uncomfortable dealing with, but again I can’t beg, plead, or question the Grand Mission any further.  I can, however, put some of the hopes for Life and Time Eternal on my beloved Womb-Seed who, even as I now speak these words, is ever more than determined to aid me in my task.

The main event in our drama now commences.

Winner take all!

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

Sentisia and I made our way to the exit door, and thus left the Jim Henson behind.  On a more fortunate level I managed to draw my standard-issue wrist-phaser.  Just as I prepared to arm the phaser, she grabbed my right hand rather firmly.

“You’re not going to need your blaster.  No weapons,” she said.

“If it’s all the same I’d like to have it,” I replied strongly.  “You know, as insurance.”

She sighed heavily, throwing her arms to the ceiling in resignation.

“Oh, all right.  Whatever milks your Guernsey.  Just try to be discreet about this, okay?”

Having agreed to that we resumed making our way to Lord Stiers’ main bridge.  The only trouble was we had no idea where it was located.  Nor were there any form of elevators or even telepods to be found.  Not even a “follow-the-arrow” map available, either.

Then from practically out of nowhere that pompously familiar voice rang out to us, quite undoubtedly from his inter-communications system.

“Ah, splendid.  Glad to have you aboard.  You’ve no doubt come here to face me down, am I right?  Well, far be it from your humble Lord to not appease you.”

“No more of your meatball games, Charles.  Show us where you’re located.  Now!” shouted Sentisia in a fit of righteous anger.

“Well, all you have to is follow the bouncing ball which is on its way to you…now.”

We turned around and there, just as he smugly predicted, a bright-green balloon-like sphere bounced toward us in a slow and very methodical fashion.  It apparently was fitted with a sensor beacon drone unit, which resulted in a sonar signal emanating to our ears.  Then it began to bounce in the direction from where it originated, again very slowly.  Seeing as there was nothing else to do at the present moment we had no alternative but to “follow the bouncing ball”.

“Shall we?” asked Sentisia sarcastically.

“After you.”

The spheroid led us on an unending pathway through the long corridor away from the docking bay and the Jim Henson.  After walking for what seemed like over an hour we came at last to a telepod shaft, stepping inside on our way to who-knows-what.  Plus, it gave us a chance to rest up from that long, tedious stroll.

That’s when I noticed the second and third subtle changes that Sentisia exhibited (the first being her formerly German blue, now dark-purple eyes I saw back on the cruiser).  It was apparent that she’d actually grown at least three more inches in height plus her chest line expanded slightly, thus adding to her ample large breasts.  It still didn’t totally dawn on me, however,  this was merely the prologue to an even grander sweep of events sure to follow, as these things are usually apt to go.

For my own part I happened to glance down at my right hand, and noticed a quite distinctly weird greenish-red glow on my palm and wrist, where I’d placed my wrist-phaser (which, totally unbeknownst to me vanished without a trace).

Putting those ideas aside for the time being I stared intenly at the telepod door, trying to continually and mentally prepare myself for this showdown.  Now, I wasn’t going to try to rush through this in any way, any time.

At long last the telepod door opened up and there, just as pompous and arrogant as he’ll ever get, stood Lord Stiers.  The grin he flashed for our “benefit” told it all.

“I’m quite looking forward to our little…meeting.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

“Near is the hour when the Lost should come forth, and the Grey Company ride from the North.” 

–J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Two Towers, 1955

I quickly noticed that Lord Stiers was totally alone on the bridge of the base ship; thus my curiosity was wakened by leaps and exponential bounds.

“Where’s your loyal guardsman, Stiers?  Isn’t he good enough for your standards?”

He took a very brief second to think of an answer.

“Oh, that’s right.  Well, I decided to give him the time off.  I’m certain you can at least try to be somewhat appreciative of that little token of my good faith, don’t you agree?” he replied.  If anything else, Lord Stiers allowed his grin to broaden even further, if that’s possible.  And knowing him as well as we do, by now it was!

Sentisia was more than ready to confront him when a faint hiss, to my immediate right, made contact with our ears.  Whirling around I saw, to my chagrin, it was the wolf guardsman, casually strolling onto the brdge.  He darted his eyes to us in his usual drab, bland and depressed manner.  Pausing to address his henchman Lord Stiers turned to stare harshly at his flunky.

“I thought I’d given you the day off, Daws.  What are you doing here?!” hissed Stiers.

“Need overtime-and-a-half, you all.  Money thing, man.”

“What in the name of the Mulitverse do you need more money for?  Don’t I more than pay you enough for whatever inane purposes suit your–shall I endeavour to say–rather cartoonishly buffoon fancy?!  Now you just sit down, be quiet, and observe my superior will and intellect at work for you.”

“Y’all got no patience, man.  No patience,” uttered Daws as he did what Lord Stiers just ordered him to do, finding a long, plush sofa near the left viewing portal that overlooked Earth.

Lord Stiers turned his beady eyes back to Sentisia and myself, playing the surprised act to the hilt.  He had to have known but he didn’t let on.

“Now, to what or whom do we owe this little bout of pleasure?” he asked, oozing out all the “charm” he could muster.

Sentisia wasted no time in answering.

“We’re only going to tell you this once, and once only, Charles.  Restore the Multiverse to its original place, and surrender to the mercy of the Council of the Orbs.  And maybe, just maybe you’ll get a fair trial though fuck knows you don’t deserve it in any way.”

Lord Stiers didn’t show any sign of being impressed one little iota.

“And all that means what to me?  As if I had to ask.”

Casually I strolled to him, a thin smile half-plastered on my face.  Then I swiftly grabbed him by the front of his well-ironed shirt, shaking him a little.

“What that means, Stiers, is that you either give up now or you get the hell beaten out of you.  And if I were you, perish the idea, I’d give up.  Otherwise–”

“Otherwise what, my soon-to-be-lamented opponent?”

He would instantly regret asking that question now, wouldn’t he?

“Oh, you’ll know soon enough, Stiers.”

If anything his pomposity increased to an even more absurd level.

“Are you, by even the remotest possible chance, threatening me?  Me, who brought every factor of this God-awful, putrid Mulitverse under some form of Order?  How dare you presume to make such a rash and cheap comic-book gesture to one such as myself?  I mean, what dim purpose can actually arise from this?”  Abruptly he turned to Sentisia, his eyebrows furrowing on  his forehead.  “Good Lord, Sentisia, did you get taller since our last meeting?”

Wisely Sentisia ignored him out of manners on her part.  Lord Stiers resumed facing me down in a rather low-budget attempt to show what miniscule amount of true courage he had.

“Now…just precisely how, my uh, worthy foe, do you really mean to intimidate me?”

With a nonchalant shrug of my shoulders I moved away from and stretched out my hand.  What I didn’t expect was the actual result.  For you see, the moment I thrust my hand forward a burst of dark-greenish-blue light shot out and struck the sofa where Daws was sitting, barely missing him by mere inches.  Needless to say, Daws was awestruck!

“Good trick, man!” he gasped in terror.  Behind me Sentisia smiled softly in sort of a grim, triumphant satisfaction.  I didn’t know what to think, myself, to be honest.

This hadn’t gone unnoticed by Lord Stiers, who acted somewhat mildly impressed.  Then again, his aristocratic pomposity didn’t allow him to be that way for too long now, did it?

“Well, young man, I see at long last you’ve discovered some of your hidden power, yes?  What, pray tell, is the next trick of the tail you have up your sleeve?  Perchance a little bit of ‘ickity-ackity-oop-eep-eep’ or maybe the old standby of something regarding those disgustingly God-awful peanut butter sandwiches?”

Once again Sentisia intervened on my behalf.

“Don’t make us beat the living shit out of you, Charles.  You won’t like it, trust me.”

Lord Stiers, of course, continued to act unimpressed and blase about the whole matter.

“Excuse me, Sentisia,” he said, turning to Sentisia then quickly back to me, “but I do tend to believe this is between your rather exaggeratedly rash and bold offspring, and of course one as highly intelligent as myself.”   As his gaze returned to my face, I noticed minute beads of sweat drip down his face even though he’d more than likely tell you otherwise.

Now, I didn’t fully realize it but the Grand Mission was rapidly–and I mean rapidly–drawing to the Ultimate conclusion.

And I also didn’t fathom the most dramatic of changes that was on the horizon…

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

For the nonce there’s nothing I can further add that hasn’t been said already.  But I do truly know within my essence that this–how shall I say?–revelatory event is drawing to its fruition at the most frighteningly and awe-inspiring pace possible.

The suffering and chaos caused by this “man” will be eased for all Time Eternal.

And may those who attempt to ever hinder that final easing suffer whatever fate necessary.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

“For our days are ending and our years failing.

I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing.”

–J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Return of the King, 1956

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

In spite of that sudden burst of my power a short time before, it seemed that Lord Stiers’ massive ego and pompous arrogance remained unfazed.  If anything they only served to increase to even more unacceptable and unbearable levels.  I knew something had to be drastically done in order to get the universal message across to him, one way or another.

“Look, Stiers,” I told him, “let’s face it.  You can’t win so don’t play the game tonight.”

He darted his eyes back to Sentisia (whom I’ve described as my mother many a time before so as to not repeat myself for brevity’s sake), his beady blue eyes narrowing in total bafflement.

“Rather serious about this, isn’t he, my beauteous buxomy opponent?  And why do you keep growing taller, if I may be so curious as to ask?”

In response to his words, I looked around to her and sure enough, she was growing even taller than the last time.  Also, I thought I glimpsed at her head now gradually taking on a more triangular shape though, again, that may have been attributed to my eyes suffering some strain in this overly lit room we were all in at the time, coupled with some psychological stress for some good measure.  Fortunately that went unnoticed by Lord Stiers.

“Now, once more,” he said, piercing his eyeballs at me, “just how do you presume, in that overly imaginative fantasy-bathed mind of yours, to defeat if not destroy me?”

I had to admit right there he had me, for only a brief moment.

“Oh…you’ll find out soon enough, Stiers.  Trust me.  You’ll know very soon,” I replied, a grim smile practically plastered on my face.

For hour after long hour no one dared make a move of any sort yet the tension amongst us was so thick, one needed a laser-scalpel to just let a small seepage of that out.  I don’t about Lord Stiers or Sentisia but that said tension was eating at my nerves at a fast pace.  My face felt like barrel time at Niagara Falls, and there was a severe queasiness I hadn’t experienced in my life.  Frantically I looked around to the half-incinerated sofa. Wobbling my way to that unexpected bit of comfort I sat down with a forceful thump.

Sentisia and Lord Stiers both took full notice of this.  In fact Stiers did something I never dreamed he’d actually do: he showed signs of concern and worry.

“I say, Captain Starlin, are you feeling all right?  You look ashen and pale,” he said.

I didn’t answer him, focusing solely on trying to shake the cobwebs out of my head.

“It’s nothing…it’ll pass, Stiers.  It’ll pass, like one of your bad farts,” I retorted.

“Ha-ha.  That’s very funny.  No, seriously you better take it easy for a spell,” he replied.

Not wanting to risk another confrontation, I tried my damned best to shake off whatever it was that affected me in the strange manner it did.  It was all I could do to prevent my throwing up, and it really began frightening the hell out of me in all ways possible.  I made the attempt to rise from the sofa, only to fall down with a sickening “thud” noise.

“Here.  Allow me,”  I heard Sentisia say in my direction.

Vaguely I saw Sentisia lift my right hand to her chest, placing it between her large breasts where the light emanated.  A bright yellow glow and small surge of power passed from her, all the way through my arms and into my deeper essence.  A few micro-seconds later a wave of calm relief ran inside my stomach and all through my nervous system.  I stopped sweating, and the dizziness subsided exponentially.

“Whoa.  What happened to me?” I asked out loud to almost no one in particular as I arose from the sofa, shaking my head as I felt my strength increasing back to normal.

“Easy.  You’re all right now.  Relax, and don’t worry about what happened.  It’s all part of the conclusion to the Grand Mission set up by the Council.  So again, just relax and play the part you’re meant to play.”

But I had to know the details of my um, “experience” for my own curiosity.

“Just why–?”

“No more time for questions and answers, John.  The drama that is the Grand Mission is due to come to its total fruition, and I can’t waste time telling you every little detail that pertains to you.  I’m sorry for saying all this to you, I really am, but this is all too important to dismiss right now.  However, I promise that whatever takes place for you, I’ll be here along the way until such moments pass on for all Time Eternal.  Understood?”

For the first time since this entire adventure started I did understand, albeit to a degree.

“I think I’m getting the picture here.  But as Columbo said, one more question.”

Then Lord Stiers, who remained silent, raced his way back to us.

“Haven’t you had quite enough of your insatiable line of interrogation?!” he boomed.

I ignored Stiers, focusing squarely on Sentisia.

“It’s all right.  I don’t believe he fully realizes as yet.  After all this is truly new to him.  But like all who act out their roles, he’ll see the fullness in due time.  Now…” said Sentisia, eyeing me in a very intent way, as if reading my mind (which she knows how to do anyway), “shall we get on with the ordained drama?”

Somehow my question’s answers weren’t entirely satisfactory for my liking, but I couldn’t do much to alleviate that by that stage, now could I?  Like Sentisia said, I had a part to act out and God knows I didn’t want to go against that.  I think that’s as close to purely angry as I’d ever seen Sentisia grow toward me.

It definitely wasn’t something we were all accustomed to…

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

I feel greatly ashamed at my sudden mistreatment of my beloved Womb-Seed.  He didn’t ask for any of these events to form themselves in front of his young eyes but they couldn’t be avoided in any event.  All Life is depending on everything that’s going to occur at the present moment.  Even Lord Stiers knows his part, and that part is due to end soon.  Maybe a bit sooner in his case, but soon nonetheless.

As for myself, my days in this present form I sport will also end…but you didn’t hear that from me now, did you?

CHAPTER FORTY

“The Road goes ever on and on out from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone, let others follow it who can!”

–J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Return of the King, 1956

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

A great and more powerful determination overtook me as my strength and energy returned to their fullest level.  Now more than ever, and in spite of that bout of kindness shown by Lord Stiers (though he’d attribute it to a momentary lapse in his “sanity” ) he had to be made to see, without any shadow of doubt, the pain, suffering, Chaos, Anarchy and Destruction his ravaging of the Multiverse caused to millions of countless lives, and tons of millions of dollars in property damage.

Out of my personal sense of honor I made it a point to tell him.

“Stiers…I want to thank you for your kind consideration but for all Life that remains, I am going to stop you.  One way or another.  I hope you realize that.”

Lord Stiers stood silently, having needed the time to think about my vows.  He took a very long and awful amount of that time to come up with anything resembling a smart answer.

“Well, that’s about as all that I can expect from you, Starlin.  Very well indeed.  Let’s uh, let’s get on with then, shall we?  After all–well, I’m sure we get the picture by now, don’t you think so?  Hm?”

A small smile creased my face, much to my relief.

“Now that’s the Lord Stiers I know and love to hate,” I said.

“But…” he added, “we shan’t do this using that disgustingly crude laser-blast of yours, or any other form of physical power.  Now, I understand you’re quite interested in the fabrics of the Multiverse, am I not correct?”

Now he knew I was fascinated with the Mulitverse.  Why the hell did he even ask?!?

“Stiers, what’s your point?  I mean, why even bother to bring that up?!?”

His arrogant and nauseatingly aristocratic smile plastered itself on his face.  As is his usual routine, as if I had to tell you over and over.

“Just this: we’re going to have our little bout in a part of the Multiverse no one, yourself included to be frank, has ever even dared dream of much less consider travelling to and from which none returned.”

“Oh?  And where’s that, if I may be so bold to ask?”

Once more Sentisia stepped in trying to inform and aid me.

“He’s thinking of combatting you in the White Voids of Eternity, in a battle of the minds.”

I gave a very incredulous look to Lord Stiers in particular, feeling quite baffled.

“You’re not serious about that, are you, Stiers?” I asked, flabbergasted.

“Be assured, young Captain Starlin, that I’ve never been all the more serious in all my life.”  He decided to end any and all further conversation, much to my slight chagrin.

“And how are you going to pull that little stunt off, Stiers?”

He beckoned me to follow him, and this is exactly what Sentisia and I did.  We left the room and found ourselves in a small antechamber.  Inside the antechamber sat two leather sofa chairs (expensive, if I know Lord Stiers’ over-inflated bank account).

“Sit down, Starlin.  If you don’t mind,” he purred.

I made my way to the sofa couch on my right, and he went to the one on my left.  Of course Sentisia, being Sentisia, stood right behind me and blew her cool minty breath onto my face, as though she was actually attempting to give me her very essence in order to aid my battle against Lord Stiers.

However…like I’ve come to discover beforehand, not all is as it seems on the surface…

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

I don’t know about the next person but my Womb-Seed may in fact have bitten off a lot more than he can chew, as far as his accepting Lord Stiers’ challenge of combat in the White Voids of Eternity.  Surely my Womb-Seed knows a trap is to be sprung.

Still and all, though, it ought to be a very…interesting battle to the finish.

If my love wins–oh, what the hell am I saying here?!?  Of course he’ll win.

If he doesn’t win…he’ll lose a hell of a lot more than he dreamed possible!!

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

“I have reached these lands but newly from an ultimate dim Thule;

From a wild, weird clime that lieth sublime–out of Space, out of Time.”

–Edgar Allan Poe, “Dream-Land” written in 1844

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

The moment our heads hit the pillows so graciously provided on the sofa chairs, our eyes shut immediately and we thus found our psyches (which took on the shape of our bodies still on the base ship) drawn on a voyage not unlike the trip I ventured on with Sentisia after our initial meeting.  And like that last trip, it was wondrous on a very psychedelic level.

Stars, planets, galaxies, and entire Universes gradually merged one right after another into a single white field neither in Existence nor Non-Existence; neither Life nor Death.  Outside of that bright white luminescence and the cold foggy clouds beneath us, there was absolutely…the literal form of Nothing.

At the time I didn’t think too much of the significance of such a Realm–that is, if it could be truly called that in my own opinion.  Looking on it now, from this present position in Space-Time’s ever-continuing flow I guess maybe it would’ve been informative to do so more often.  But…what are you going to do about it, right?

In our minds’ combined eyes we stood face-to-face in a Gary Cooper-type “High Noon” showdown stance, or more likely the battle of Obi-Wan against Vader.  We smiled at one another grimly and Stiers’ massive ego, being the sort of ego it truly was, escalated to its most absurd level yet.  I knew he was as ready as ever, if not more so.  As for myself, well, anything–I mean, everything was possible.  Sentisia saw to that now, didn’t she?

Okay, enough rambling for right now; there are more vital things to concentrate on.

Stiers and I paced around each other in an orbital path, still glaring intently.  I knew that one of us needed to make the first and maybe crucial move in our last battle.  Again and again, over and over we circled around one another.

For what seemed to be over an hour we never moved one inch.  Then to his “credit” Lord Stiers–finally, to my unexpected relief–thrust his right arm out, sending a blinding blue ray to my face.  Make that “tried to” for you see, I speedily dodged his move easily enough and held up my own right hand to block the beam.  Swiftly I focused my own power.

“A la Peanut Butter Sandwiches,” I chanted.

A green light beam made its way to Lord Stiers, morphing into a chocolate-and-lemon pudding pie.  The pie hit Stiers squarely in his face, sending bits of sweetened substance all over his costly uniform.

“Ah, the old Mumford the Magician bit.  I see your Sesame Street upbringing has done you a small portion of good.  Such a shame, really,” replied Stiers calmly–well, as calmly as he could muster considering he was a literal mess from the pie incident.

“Oh?  How’s that a shame, Stiers?” I asked with a dash of confusion.

Once again he had to attempt to ponder the answer, as is the usual case anymore.

“Your rather annoying and incessant line of questioning grows all the more tiring.  You, of all people with your high intelligence, know that everything is hanging in the Balance, so to speak.  And with that said for any and all collective benefit–” he stated, even as he positioned his index fingers in a cross-like way.  A small burst of power in the form of a blue-white beam of light raced its way to my face.

Once more I was able to dodge that move and as he tried it again I held out my right hand, absorbing all of the surging force at will.  As impressed as Lord Stiers was, that didn’t stop him from making another try at gaining the advantage. This time he crossed the palms of his hands and almost in an effortless manner delivered a series of energy spheres, one after the other…and with increasing intensity, to boot.

In contrast to my earlier bout of confidence in my own strength, it wasn’t long before I grew to notice it slowly ebbing whereas Lord Stiers’ powers, to my chagrin, gradually increased itself to match that pompous and over-inflated ego of his.  But I knew it was all in my mind that it wasn’t too much of anything to worry about.

Lord Stiers took a moment to gloat over this newfound discovery.

“Are you, by any chance, enjoying this, Starlin?” he asked as he sent forth another salvo burst of power.  One sphere after another made flew in my direction.  I did my damnedest best to block off every shot made but my energy and strength rapidly dwindled with each second that ebbed by (even though technically we were in a realm literally beyond all Known Time and Space, to my understanding).

I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could take, and I had a bad feeling the answer wouldn’t be either long in coming or to my general liking.

I knew Lord Stiers would undoubetdly see to that little confirmation.

But of course he didn’t foresee everything, did he???

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

My part in this little drama is about to be somewhat…expanded, to put it mildly.

Why do I tell you this, you ask?

Well, I can sense my Womb-Seed might and will need my aid in defeating the enemy who even now prepares to pull every trick he was able to afford.

Too bad they ain’t going to save his rich ass!

I’ll personally see to that now, won’t I?

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

“A wind by night in Northern lands arose and loud it cried,

And drove the ship from elven-strands across the streaming tide.”

–J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Fellowship of the Ring, 1954

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

I know I mentioned to you the fact that Lord Stiers didn’t count on Sentisia preparing to step in for my benefit, but right now that wasn’t helping me out with the battle too much.  My energy, strength, and my even my very life were slipping speedily through my fingers as the mind/power fight with his so-called Lordship dragged on and on.  I wasn’t going to let that bit of information enter Stiers’ alleged mind lest I serve to further enhance his ridiculous yet dangerous nature.  I really had to hold my own until her big entrance was set up and ready to go.

And so I mustered up as much reserve strength, energy and power as possible and with all my will-power (which, to my great and fortunate relief, wasn’t at all lacking) sent for a short beam of lightning-like force aimed straight for Lord Stiers’ head, or at least his hair.

The aim was true to its target, searing off his hair almost down to the skin.  I didn’t intend to injure him in the slightest way, as per my own improvised plan.  Needless to say Lord Stiers was pissed as hell at the result.

“You’ll pay dearly for that, my arrogant-minded twit!!  Do you realize how much my hair cost me?!  Surely you understand it wasn’t cheap in the tiniest bit!!” he snarled.

Cost, he says.  He takes countless lives, destroys multiple worlds and universes, and the thing he deeply cares about isn’t in direct relation to his vile actions but his hair!  Clearly his main priorities are totally askew.

It was all I could do to keep a straight face.

“Well, boo-hoo.  I’ll send you my condolences,” was all I uttered.

Of course that didn’t sit too well, but to be blatantly honest…I didn’t give a damn one way or another.  He, Lord Charles Winchester Stiers, once a valued member of the Council of the Orbs, was going to be stopped.  The timing didn’t matter too much.

“Very well…” he said coldly, “it’s your funeral.”

The fight was on again…and again, and again.

From the Heart and Mind of Senitsia, Daughter Higher Orb:

I’m so sick to death of not doing my part to aid the One chosen by the Council of the Orbs; the One I truly love.  Now I’m ready to act out my part in this climax of the Grand Mission set up before me by the Council.

I close my eyes, and with the essence of the Cosmos in my changing body propel myself to the White Voids of Eternity.  In no time at all I arrive, just to watch this asinine battle drag itself out to a long and drab draw.  I can only shake my head in mild disgust.

Then–I mean, now I will put an end to this bit of stupidity.

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

You can rightly imagine how worn out and exhausted Lord Stiers and I were after that long battle.  I was sweating like crazy, and in fact I felt blood seeping out of my nose, ears, and oddly enough my eyeballs (thanks in no small part to Lord Stiers’ shenanigans).   In all I was ready to collapse in on myself, and Stiers knew it.  And he wouldn’t let up on his assault.

Just when my imminent demise loomed, I felt myself being lifted off the ground.  Weakly I turned around and saw it was Sentisia, who had grown even taller than the last time I looked at her.  Gently she wiped my face, nose and eyes with her now-longer fingers.

Needless to say Lord Stiers wasn’t amused to see Sentisia, as witnessed by the expression of angry disgust on his now-slightly-distorted face.

“How dare you interfere in our great combat, Sentisia?  Do you realize what’s at stake here?!  My total victory!  And you have to come between us.”

She wasted no time in replying.

“I’ve had about all I can take from you, Charles.  You’re nothing but a slimy low-life who doesn’t deserve to even eat all the rich foods you do.  You destroy and wreck lives, subjugate countless worlds and disrupt the flow of Space and Time just to satisfy your own inadequate and rather pathetic lust for everything you never actually earned in your miserable life, even when you were on the Council of the Orbs.  And now you want to hurt and kill the One I love.  Well, you know what I’ll do to your sorry ass, am I not right?”

Stiers decided to play the old innocent ploy, for what it was worth.

“And this long diatribe you’re spouting off to me means what?  I mean, do you know, Miss Sentisia, who you’re talking to?  Me, Lord Charles Winchester Stiers the First.”  And with that exchange Lord Stiers casually pushed Sentisia aside and made his way back to me.

As I slowly recovered I suddenly felt my feet lift off the “ground” in a very rough way.  Immediately I knew (though I still couldn’t see too much) that Lord Stiers grabbed my throat, as evidenced by my not breathing all that well.  Also, I heard him chuckling heartily.

And then…as the moment of blackout dawned my eyesight inexplicably resumed its normal function, and my strength rose up alongside my blood pressure.  With that strength I thrust out my right arm, sending forth a blast of greenish-white light that blinded him.  He then dropped me to my feet.  I raced to him and viciously grasped his shirt-front, shaking him violently.

“Stiers, do you know my water bill’s going to go up because of you?!?” I snarled.

“And why’s that?” he had the nerve to ask in response.

“Because after I get done finishing you off, I’ll have to take at least twelve showers to get your stinking stench off me!!  But for right now–!!”  I didn’t complete that last statement due to the fact that I immediately punched Lord Stiers twice, first in his fat stomach and then his face.

“You dare hit me?!?  Me?!?  You DARE!?!” he sneered, as he tried to lunge at me.

I side-stepped his move, and made ready to deck him again when Sentisia, having seen just about enough, walked between us.

It was then that I saw what was undoubtedly the most traumatic experience I’d thought I would ever see.

After she disrobed her body Sentisia’s height increased at a now-rapid and total pace.  In addition, the shape of her head, which was already morphing gradually, had completed its new triangular/pyramid shape.  Her skin color, too, went from pinkish-peach to light purple, and her hair vanished as well.  Plus her breasts grew even larger, if that’s possible, and yet the hair on her crotch was still thick with black hair.  Her eyes, now purple in color, widended to a size just a notch below that of a softball.

I had to admit I was truly impressed if not terrified.  As was Lord Stiers.

“Good grief, Sentisia, who did your make-up and special effects all this time?  Hmm?” he asked with a faint sigh mixed in with that trademark arrogance.

Once more I prepared to deck him when Sentisia, now in her “true” form, stopped me.

“No, my beloved Womb-Seed.  This one we deal with back in the physical realm.  I’m quite looking all the more forward to this,” she said, smiling broadly.

That was all that needed to be stated.

For the moment, anyway…

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

“Let them a a journey new begin, but I at last with weary feet will turn towards the lighted inn, my evening-rest and sleep to meet.”

–J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Return of the King, 1956

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

Now that my part was just about over, I figured it was long past time to reveal to my Womb-Seed what I truly am.  I must admit it did seem a tad traumatic for the One chosen but now it can’t be helped.  As for Lord Stiers and all the Chaos, Anarchy, and Destruction resulting from his vile actions, well, that matter will in due course be righted to the benefit of us all.

Soon–very soon now…

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

No one with all the imagination in the entire Multiverse can picture the relief we all felt as we awoke and re-entered the physical realm from which Lord Stiers departed to do battle.  And what a hell of a battle it was, I have to say.  I’m lucky I survived it, to be frankly honest.

After we arose from the sofa chairs and shook the cobwebs out of our heads, Stiers and I opted to resume our fight in spite of the mental and physical toll it took on us.

Casually I strode up to him, my right fist balled and ready for action.  I raised my arm to connect when swiftly Sentisia grabbed my arm.

“No.  This one must be dealt with by the Chief Councillor, John, not by your fisticuffs.”

I turned to look, and there she was in her “true” form.  Her facial expression was grim, and her eyes glared at Stiers menacingly.  I thought I saw flames sparkling in her purple eyes but that may have been the lighting playing a trick or two.

“Well, Stiers, I’m letting Sentisia have her way with you,” I said, looking at Stiers myself.

His eyes boggled in total confusion.  Then his pomposity escalated to even more absurd levels, even by his narrow, jackassed standards.  What he said next–well, just listen:

“I…see.  Fine, Sentisia, or Mrs. Starlin, or whatever you might be…do your duty and eanr your rather paltry reward from that puke-and-fart-inducing Chief Councillor of yours.  But know this, Sentisia.  You can try to defeat me with force or cosmic power.  You can attempt to drain every green dollar from my greatly limitless bank account, but you will never break the resolve of a Stiers.  I will prevail, and you and your DC Comics-brained offspring will be the sufferers of the grandest of all indingites and insults.”

Sentisia shook her triangular head in nauseated disbelief.

“All right, Charles.  You just sealed your fate…and may the Council piss on your remains.”

And at last Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb, finally showed her full power.  Much to Lord Stiers’ complete displeasure.

“Uh, is there a–?” he began.

Stiers never finished his statement, for at that precise moment in Time a powerful force-sphere emanated from Sentisia, hitting him square in the chest and sending him reeling backward out of the antechamber and into the main hallway.  The anger in her eyes blazed hotter than a kiln in one of Old Pittsburgh’s steel mills in ancient times.

I stood there, in utter shock.  Was this the Sentisia I’ve come to know, cherish, respect, and make love to?  Or was I once more being played like a cosmic Muppet in a bad skit without a discernible punchline?  I just didn’t have all that much certainty.

Getting back to the present events, Sentisia’s fight with Lord Stiers was only beginning.  As Stiers tried to stand up, blood dripping form his mouth, he made a pathetic effort to ward off her onslaught by sending a beam of light towards her lovely purple eyes.

Casually and almost with a dose of humor she created an energy shield around her using the light from between her gigantic breasts.  Now, I didn’t readily notice it at the time but I swore I heard her giggling.  At the expense of Lord Stiers, of course.

“Nice try, chuckles, but that old Manfred Mann’s Earth Band gag ain’t going to work on me.”  Then she lowered her shield and sent forth another light burst from her chest, this time a dark-red laser beam that immediately struck his head, incinerating the last of his hair for good.

“You DARE do this to me?!!” he yelled angrily, pointing at his now-bald head.

Sentisia’s eyes narrowed even more in her righteous fury.

“That’s the least of your worries.  Now I’m going to end this for good.”  She spread her arms and in a low, ominous voice invoked the darkest chant imaginable:

“Anal nathrach orth’bhais’s bethat, do chel denmha!”

Suddenly a black light slowly grew out of Sentisia’s chest, and I knew who was to be the recipient of that light.

“What on earth is that gibberish she’s spouting?” asked Lord Stiers.

“That,” I replied, “is the ancient Celtic spell known as the Charm of Making.  Only in this case it’s making a death charm.  Yours.”

The spell was repeated over and over, as the black light intensified in strength.  Frantically I rushed to stop her but a reflex shield formed around her, pushing me away.

Then just as the light was due to strike, a familiar, kind voice called out to us.

“All right, Sentisia, you don’t need to go that route.”

It was Jim, the Chief Councillor.

I was lucky enough to see him gently walk up to Sentisia, and whisper in her physically nonexistent ear.  Instantly she received the message; the chanting ceased and the death light thus extinguished itself.  Then she turned to look at Jim, a look of guilt overwhelming her.

“Chief Councillor, I beg your gracious forgiveness.  I was tempted to use–”

“The Charm of Making, yes I see.  Well, that’s my fault for letting you watch Excalibur on TV those long years ago.  But you did it for the good of the lives in the Multiverse, and for your beloved Womb-Seed, as you’ve been calling him, so I can’t get mad at you for that.”  Next Jim turned to me, his kind smile ever present.  “Hi, John.  I see you’re none the worse for wear.”

I nodded my head in agreement, though I’m sure my sweat glands wouldn’t support that assertation at the present moment.

“I’m okay, Jim.”  Then I had a burning question in my mind but Jim already sensed that.

“I can bet you’re wondering whether I knew of  Sentisia not being human.  Well, to tell you the truth of the matter, yes I did.  She came to me in her present form, and I discussed with her about her part in the Grand Mission that she had independent of the Council’s decree.  Now, we of the Council were minutely aware of Lord Stiers’ deeds affecting all regions of the Multiverse.”

It was then Stiers decided to interrupt our discussion.

“Excuse me, your Uber-Imminence, but what are you to do with me?”

Jim turned to Sentisia, then back to me.

“Listen, Stiers,” Sentisia said, bending down to Lord Stiers’ face, “you don’t say anything.  We’ll deal with you soon enough!  In the meantime…” She beckoned me to Stiers’ side.

I decked him in the mouth, knocking out four of his front teeth.

“I’ve wanted to do that for some time, Stiers!” I yelled.

In spite of Lord Stiers’ nature Jim walked up to him and healed his teeth.

“That won’t be overly necessary, John.  I’ve got a better form of punishment in store.”

This was going to be good, I thought to myself.

“What kind of punishment are we discussing here?”

Before I could get an answer, however, Sentisia strode to me, a grave look etched on her now-alien yet still attractive facial features.

“We have something important to discuss, my Womb-Seed,” she said.  “And I’m afraid it can’t wait for us to talk in privacy.”

Now this baffled me to no end, and I had to say so.

“Just what is it that’s so vital?”

She smiled grimly as she stood tall (all 9’ 7” of her), her gigantic breasts bouncing softly.

I didn’t know, or was only dimly aware but the biggest and shocking surprise awaited me…

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

“Here grass fades and leaves fall, and sun and moon wither, and we have heard the far call that bids us journey thither.”

–J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Last Ship” from The Tolkien Reader, 1966

From the Heart and Mind of Sentisia, Daughter Higher Orb:

The matter I wish to divulge to my beloved Womb-Seed comes with a great deal of risk to both him and myself.  The good thing about it is we can be rid of Lord Stiers and his ilk once and for all.  However…there still remains the conundrum of restoring to their proper places those which he took by guile and supreme, total force.  And all for what?!  Satisfying of a foul lust for power, riches, fame, and bragging rights?!?!

But it cannot be helped now.  All we–I can do is play the part I’ve been destined to play, like it or not.  Again, that risk is ever present and weighing heavily on all our minds.

And our hearts and very souls especially…

From the Log-Books of John T. Starlin, Captain of the IGSS Cruiser Jim Henson:

A hint of a weird idea began permeating in the recesses of my mind in re the Multiverse.  Somehow I knew, or at least thought I knew it had to be restored to its former/future glory.  But going about it seemed to present more than a few challenges along the way.

The biggest, of course, was pitching the idea to Jim.  I’m sure he’d say it’s against Nature or the Will of God to alter the flows of Space-Time, but I felt in Sentisia’s heart and in mine it has to be so that no one else suffer at the hands of those such as Lord Stiers.

Speaking of whom, that was another dilemma entirely.

“Um, begging your collective pardon–and that, of course, is a first for me–but what about me?  What’s to become of me?  Am I not the one who just about ravaged the entire Multiverse for my own benefit?”

Jim, in his infinite and humorous wisdom, walked up to Lord Stiers and placed his arm around Stiers’ shoulder.

“Well, your fate will definitely not to be your liking, Charles.  You have two choices, but as I said just now, you won’t enjoy either one.”

“Oh?  And what, if I may be curious enough to ask, are those options?”

Sentisia and I stood on the edge, anticipating what those options would be.

“You can either let Sentisia and her offspring have their way with you, in which you’ll be killed by incineration, or you can somewhat “wisely” choose the second option.  And that’s to…go out and get a job.”

This actually delighted Lord Stiers, if only for a minute or two.

“Did you say a j–a job?!?!?  Ha-ha.  That’s very funny, Jim the Chief Goody-Goody.  And what is my new job, if I may again ask?”

In reply Jim summoned forth an opening in Space-Time, and from the bright light stepped out a pair of tall, vulture-like creatures wearing three-piece suits with diamond-studded high-soled platform shoes.  They spoke a very odd language at first amongst themselves, then reverted to Standard English albeit with a weird syntax.  Their claws looked as though they hadn’t been cleaned since Richard Nixon was in office.

“Need done nails, we must.  Is right not?” said the first vulture.

Lord Stiers gazed back and forth at the vultures, then back to Jim.

“Am I to understand that my punishment is–?”

“Yes, Charles, your new job is to be the permanent manicurist for the Skeksons here.  It’s the least harshest punishment, and the most merciful I can decree.”

“Oh, very well.  Let’s get on with this.”  They, the Skeksons and their new manicurist turned to leave but Stiers halted and looked at Sentisia and myself.

“Starlin…Sentisia, you’re both worthy opponents and you’ve both earned my respect. In particular you, Captain Starlin.  Your bravery is duly noted in the annals of History.”  Having talked to us for the last time the odd trio set off in the opening, with Lord Stiers never to return to plague anyone again.

Now came the remaining two matters on my mind.  Gingerly I broached the ideas out loud.

“Um…Jim, I don’t want to seem overly pushy about what I have to say, but–” I said.

“Say no more, John.  I know what’s disturbing you and I think I can help address those thoughts and ideas.  Sentisia can, in fact, answer those questions on your mind better than I can.”  His smile never faded.  “Okay, Sentisia, your grand finale is here.  Are you ready for this moment?”

Sentisia, looking from Jim to me, nodded her head somberly and closing her eyes, levitated off the ground.  Slowly she flew up to the ceiling and then teleported out of the base-ship.

Instantly Jim and I raced back to the main bridge, coming to a nearby observation window.  There, out in the Vacuums of Deep Space she performed an almost erotic dance, twirling her arms and gyrating her hips feverishly.  A white glow surrounded her as she continued her dance.

In the background a group of stars gradually swirled around, almost indiscernible at first.  Then their speed increased, as the blackness joined the stars in the cosmic dance orchestrated by Sentisia.  On and on this endured until such was that literally, all Time came to a complete stop even though Jim and I weren’t affected by that at all.

For several long minutes up to an hour, the Flows of Space-Time held its hibernetic place as Sentisia’s body quavered and as far as I could tell dripped with sweat.

Then…the brightest light imaginable shone to our eyes as she reversed her dance and caused the Space-Time Flows to rapidly return to its proper range of motion.  I knew Sentisia had to be tired as hell but instead of keeping focus on my love out there, I glanced at Jim.  His face brightened like a kid at Christmas.  He knew.  As did I.

All in the Multiverse had been restored.

Suddenly Sentisia teleported back to the base-ship, with her sad expression still plastered on her face and tears falling down from her large purple eyes.

“Okay…it’s time, John,” she flatly stated.

“Time?”

She sighed heavily, then leaned her nine-foot-tall body down to me.

“It’s time for me to merge and become one with all facets of the Multiverse.  And to tend to the new life in it.  So…in other words, my time is done.  Where I’m going, you can’t come with me.  Your task isn’t done yet.”

“But what about your position on the Council?” I asked.

“Oh, that’s right.  Well, I’ve contacted Jim shortly before returning to the ship here, and I think it’s good for you to take my place.”

“You’re not kidding, are you?”

In reply Sentisia shook her head softly, and having said everything she needed to knelt down to me, kissing me gently yet passionately on my lips.

“I love you so very much, my beautiful Womb-Seed.”  She kissed me again, then rose up and stood taut and strong, her gigantic breasts bouncing in a sad motion.  Then…she just simply faded away from our eyes, and the Eyes of History.  Never to be seen again.

Jim came up to me, a look of understanding on his face.

“I’m sorry it came to this, but this was in Sentisia’s own script.  It couldn’t be altered too much, you see.  Now…shall we help you apply for your new position?” he said, grinning broadly.

I nodded my head with a bit of enthusiasm, but a new thought hit me.

“Hey, what about my superiors?”

Jim laughed heartily.

“Oh, they’ll know soon enough.  They’ll know.”

Good enough for me.  Good enough.

And thank you, my beautiful Sentisia, for making my life…better.

A lot better…

AUTHOR’S AFTERWORD

I admit this took a lot longer to bring to fruition than I intended but of course like all else in this we call Life, some things just couldn’t be helped or avoided.  I won’t go into them here but for the sake of brevity, let’s just say that this was indeed the longest path I’d ever walked on.

Now…the purpose of this was to challenge myself both as a writer and as a person.  The writing bit was patience-trying enough; however, I’m still working on the “better person” even as I type these words down.  Better late than never, I say…at least in this case.

Basically, though, the main point of this little posting is to give thanks to the true “heroes” who guided me and aided me in times of great need, both creative and personal.  So I’d like to start by, firstly, giving a round of applause to:

STANISLAW LEM

(September 12, 1921-March 27, 2006)

For it was Mr. Lem’s more philosophical SF that provided the basic spark needed to kick this one off to a good start.  Next up is one of my long-time idols; in fact, a dear old family friend whose loss I still feel:

DAVID THOMAS “DAVY” JONES

(December 30, 1945-February 29, 2012)

And lastly but clearly mostly, the one whose true spirit breathed every dose into Sentisia:

JAMES MAURY “JIM” HENSON

(September 24, 1936-May 16, 1990)

Also, I want to thank Rockne S. O’Bannon, Ben Browden, Claudia Black, Virginia Hey, Gigi Edgley, Anthony Simcoe, Wayne Pygram, and Brian Henson, (the creators of Farscape) for the thrills and additional guidance, plus Michael Nesmith, Gordon Ramsay, R. Lee Ermey, the late Eiji Tsuburaya, Eric Bloom of Blue Oyster Cult, and the works of Edgar Allan Poe and J.R.R. Tolkien.

And lastly the lovely Agnetha Falkstog of ABBA fame for giving me the visual inspiration for the title character and true essence of pure womanhood and elegant galactic beauty.

Without these great people…none of this would be possible.

Simple as that.

Thomas R. Skidmore

Pittsburgh, PA

July 8, 2012

 

 

 

STARSWAN

STARSWAN

by

Thomas R. Skidmore

For thousands of star-years all the Known Federated Systems have followed a strict ordered program borderlining on sterilization of that which at one time would be dubbed “the human spirit”.  Indeed, such is not at all uncommon throughout every Myriad Galaxy spreading over endlessly vast Regions of the Oceans of Time and Space.

Like the once-popular notion of “we the people”, this blight of “de-individualizing” has grown to a near-total if not all-out epidemic level.  Yet even those who grew aware of this felt that nothing could or would ever be done to cure this diesase.  

It seemed, overall, that Humanity was doomed to a life of a “living death”.

Then–she came…and things changed–overnight.

CHAPTER ONE

“And then one day you find ten years have got behind you;

No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.”

–Mason/Waters/Wright/Gilmour, “Time”, from Dark Side of the Moon, 1973

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

I’m still very much in the dark.

About how all this started about, at least.

I mean, how in the name of all the Known Federated Worlds would you feel if your only offspring (daughter in my case) just up and left all that was…I don’t know–normal is the best way to put it, I suppose.

Now, I know you’re thinking that I’m a rotter of a parent.  Well, let me at least try to reassure you that I’m not.  I love my daughter to death (hopefully not literally here) but there were and still are those moments where I just didn’t get what she was on about half the time.  Would you, I keep asking?

Well…that being said I’ll try to, in a reasonably logical sense, to tell you lot this tale of ours and the results of such a tale in the process.

And I guess the best place to start is ‘round about six months (according to the KFE standards, that is) prior to the rather rapid development that took shape.

At the time we resided on an orbiting satellite in direct telemetry above the purplish-green planet I dubbed Roger’s Commode, though its actual name is really PFSB-663905.  It was a tad on the small side, being only the combined sizes of your states of Texas and California.

While the planet may in fact be nice to look at (from a long distance), the chemical composition of the atmosphere alone would either make you vomit, hallucinate, sneeze, or even a weird combination of all three at the same bloody time.  And do not get me started on the land and oceans, if you please.  All in all, to suffice, not a pleasant place to be…unless you decided to use it as a loo, or for you Americans bathroom.  That’s why my wife, daughter, and I took to living up here in this sterile (in more ways than one) floating ball in Space.

What?  You didn’t think I’d actually live on that ruddy planet, did you?

Well, anyways, we three sat about at our tri-kitchen table eating our rather mundane breakfast of faux-raisin bran cereal (which had the appeal of a 1000-year-old pile of mouldy sawdust), choc-milk, and little else.  Hardly a word was said during that blah-minded “repast” until–

“Father, why do we have to put up with this $^&%#@!* from the Federated Worlds?”  That’s what my daughter asked out of the clear nowhere.

I turned ‘round to my wife, an extremely attractive sort though (as far as her contra-terrestrial origins go) she did resemble a voluptuously tall slinky felinoid, with green-blue eyes, long arms and legs ending in paw-like feet.  Her pointed ears were small yet distinct.  The smooth fur she sported more than made up her entire wardrobe.  Yet the one thing I didn’t tell you was that, as much as I desired her in every way, she could go off on a row unexpectedly.  The look on her face that was present said as much.

“Well, Richard?  Ain’t you gonna answer Starswan?” she retorted.

“What do you want me to say, Tabra?  I’m not exactly known as the Answer Man ‘round here,” was my reply.

Speaking of my daughter Starswan, she was the near-exact image of her mother.  From me she had gotten her “human” blue eyes and long straight blond hair (although my hair was dark-brown now grey).  She, too, had a fantastic figure.  But don’t even think about getting any weird or perverted ideas, thank you so much.  Like Tabra, she sported smooth fur, orangish in colour.  Unlike my wife, Starswan was what you call a “clothes-horse” though she actually wore these on rare occasions.

I apologize for this long-windedness.  I’ll do better next time ‘round.  Promise.

CHAPTER TWO

“Starswan, out of Time and Distant Space;  come now to this, our place.”

–The Love Sonnets for Starswan, verse one, line one

Now that the long-winded and dull intros are out of the picture I can, at long last, resume our story in a more reasonable fashion.

As I was saying it grew to be quite a tense time at breakfast thanks to Starswan’s rather uncalled-for line of questioning.  Now, I know it’s normal for teenagers to wonder about a great many things in life but this was not such a normal query.

Starswan once more turned ‘round to me expecting that answer she wanted.

“Well, Father?  Why do we tolerate this from the Federated Worlds?”

“What do you mean by ‘this’, Starswan?” I asked.

There was a pause in the air, to my discomfort and dislike.

“Well, it’s all this…I don’t know–rigidity.  Basically speaking, it stinks worse than Roger’s Commode down below us.  I mean, where’s the spontaneity?  Is that too much for me to ask?”

I had to admit that she had the most valid point imaginable.  As to my actual answer, well, that remained to be seen.

And so I mulled this ‘round and ‘round for a long amount of time.  With a dismissive shrug of my shoulders I had found my answer to Starswan’s question.

“Well, daughter of mine, the reason is that…well, we just do.”

Not surprisingly that didn’t satisfy her in the slightest bit.  And she said so, too.

“Oh brother.  You know, this is a dead life we lead.  It’s making me itch.”  To further prove her point, she scratched her back quite vigorously…like the race of female felinoids she and my wife are descended from.  (More on that episode later, thanks.)

“Do try, uh, Starswan, not to relieve your fleas at the table, if you please,” I said absent-mindedly if not sincerely.

Suddenly Tabra turned about to me.

“You know, Richard?  This is just one reason why my mother said I shouldn’t have married you.  Our marriage is the cause of her going all the way to Earth to star in those awful cat-food commercials.”

I slowly turned back to Tabra, trying a bit too hard to remain calm.

“Well, at least we all were entertained by those adverts on TV.  Gets her out my hair,” I retorted, smiling all the way.

Starswan rose up from the table, not finishing her meal.

‘Where are you off to, girl?” I asked.

She just ran off, not saying one bloody word at all.

With Tabra still looking ‘round to me, I shook my head in perplexed confusion…

CHAPTER THREE

“There’s a silence surrounding me.  I can’t seem to think straight.

I’ll sit in the corner where no one can bother me…”

–Gilmour/Wright/Polly Samson-Gilmour, “Keep Talking”, from The Division Bell, 1994

From the Initmate Diaries of Starswan Wright(recorded electronically):

Hi, Diary.

It’s me again, your secret friend Starswan Wright.

I want to tell you that I’m not really getting any support from my parents, especially my dad.  I mean, what did I do or say that was so…wrong?

All I was asking was a question regarding their opinions.  No more, no less.

Am I–uh oh.  Knock on the door.

Have to go now.

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

I raced up to Starswan’s bedroom door.

“Starswan?  It’s Dad,” I said, tapping on her door.

“Just a micro-sec, Dad,” answered my daughter through the muffling sounds of the door.

That “micro-sec” dragged itself into five very long minutes, after which–finally–she opened the door and stepped out.

“What’s it, Dad?”

I decided to mince no words in this particular instance.

“You know, first off that was a bit rude of you to leave the table in that manner but that’s not the point here.  The real point is–well, to be frank you do have a tendency to wonder about and question far too many things, for which I don’t have any answers.”

“Is that so really wrong to want a better–life?!?!”

Again she had me there.

Then I felt sure I had the real ready-made reply.

“Well no, there isn’t anything overly wrong with that, but just don’t go ‘round getting depressed about it if doesn’t come in the way you expect them to.  I mean, myself, I can remember when I had those same thoughts you did.  Of course, that was before the Dawn of the Federated Worlds.”

I saw in my daughter’s eyes that scary mixture of fear and melancholy.  That always worried me with her…and also with myself, as very bloody well.

But…that’s neither here nor there.  I think she knew that; whether or not that really was the case, well, I couldn’t see to be certain.

After another long and drawn-out pause we two returned to the kitchen table in an attempt to properly air out the issues troubling Starswan.  Not surprisingly Tabra gave me a hard look quite befitting of her race.

“Well, well, well.  I see you’re back for more,” she said.

“Oh, don’t you start, Tabra.  I’ve quite enough trouble with Starswan, thank you so very much,” I replied harshly.

And so we once more said little…

CHAPTER FOUR

“Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?

A smile from a veil; do you think you can tell?”

–David Gilmour & Roger Waters, “Wish You Were Here”, from Wish You Were Here, 1975 

For days after days Starswan’s morale remained at a low standstill.  In fact, if any bloody thing were possible it actually deteriorated ever so slowly.  My wife Tabra was sensing a dark omen about our offspring, not to my surprise unfortunately.  It was all I could do to stay on an even keel myself.

The time arrived for another long family chat.

We sat in our small living room adjacent to the equally-small kitchen.  Tabra and I sat on our sofa, whereas Starswan rested on a chair that vaguely resembled the one your Archie Bunker kicked his resident “meathead” out of all the time.

You can, rightly so, imagine the tension in the air as I waited for the proper second to ask Starswan about what was truly on her mind.

So…I blurted it straight out.

“All right, you.  Out with it.  Now.  But do try to say it in a nice manner, if you can.”

Sighing very heavily and somewhat dramatically Starswan did exactly as I said…in fact, too exact for my liking.

“You want to know what’s on my mind, right?!  Okay, jolly right, I’ll tell you.  It’s you!!  I mean, how can you two just sit about and bloody well accept everything the Federated Worlds tell you to accept?! Can’t you see that!?  We’re bloody slaves!!”

“Are we finished?” I coldly asked.

“Not by a long shot, daddykins!!  Not even bloody close!  And you–” she said, looking about to Tabra, “how can you, a strong sensuous woman of our race, be a part of all this?!”

“And just what the hell do you mean by that, young woman?!” snarled Tabra.

Starswan paused to eye her mother in a fierce way.

“I mean you just…take everything people say to you.  Am I right?”

We sat in utter and irrevocable silence for a long amount of time.  Evidently she’d put us both on the “hotseat”, as it was such.

“Well?!  I’m waiting for answers!” boomed out Starswan.

I’d taken more than my fair share of that.

“First off, don’t ever in one million years use that disrespectful tone of voice on us.  And second, as I told you before I have no easy-made answers for your concerns.  So let me give you a dash of advice.  Since you’re so bloody worried about every galactic problem out in this Universe, why don’t you go out and seek the answers for yourself?”

She mulled this over and over for some time.

“In the meantime…” I said, interrupting the silence, “may I suggest you go back to your room and try on those outfits that you’re constantly buying–with my credit probe, no less?”

“You know what?  I hate wearing clothes.”

Now that floored me utterly.

“If that’s the case, then why the clothes-horse routine?!”

She left for her room, not uttering out anything even remotely resembling an answer.

And as far as my earlier piece of advice, that was something I would, looking on it now, ultimately live to totally regret…

CHAPTER FIVE

“What are you doing for them; what are you doing for you?”

–H. Schuman & A. Mackay, “The Things You Have To Do”, from Rock Follies of ’77, 1977

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (electronically recorded):

Hello again.

I know I keep running to you whenever things get tense but there’s a very good reason for this.  It’s my parents.  They’re all too willing to accept everything that’s told to them whether they like it or not.

But then again they are my parents.  I care too much about them to just let things stay as they are now.  I mean, is it really wrong for me to want a better life of freedom for all of us?  Especially for my mother, whom I know is a strong female of our race…not that I have anything against my dad, mind you.  Getting back to my mom, she, like I just said, is a strong sensuous woman of the race that co-spawned me.  And speaking of my dad, well, I’ve gotta love him in spite of this upper-pie-crust English mentality that he was brought up on.

Now…as for the kind of advice he gave me, well, I may just take up that little challenge.  If there’s one thing you don’t want to do to any member of the Wright family, it’s offer up a challenge.  Of any kind.

The reason being: we’ll beat you to the proverbial pulp with it.

Entry delayed by five minutes or thereabouts; now it resumes:

Okay, I’ve made up my mind.

The time to play my trump-hand is at hand.

I can only and fervently hope that we all don’t live to regret it…

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Ten minutes passed before Starswan returned to the living room.  Straight away I could see a fiercely determined and somewhat grim look on her lovely young face.  I, of course, didn’t like that in the least little bit.

“Mom…Dad…I thought about what you said–well, at least about what Dad had said.”

We grew only a tad perplexed regarding what I had told her.

“Well, have you really thought about my advice?” I asked harshly.

Again there was that pause, only not as long this time ‘round.

“Yeah, I have.  And I’ve decided.”

“Oh, really?” asked Tabra.

“Is that a fact?” I retorted.

“Yes, that’s a jolly right fact.”

Then it dawned on us–well, on me anyway.

“You’re not–?” I stammered.

“That’s right, Dad.  I’m leaving home at month’s end.  Just wanted you all to know now so there won’t be any sudden surprises or shocks of any sort.”

Now if you think we were utterly floored before, well, now we really fell out of our chairs, figuratively speaking.

“You’re kidding about, right?  A little joke, I trust?” I asked in disbelief.

“Honey-girl, you’re not really serious about this, are you?” questioned Tabra with a spot of sadness in her otherwise even voice.

The fiercely grim and determined expression on her young face said as much as it ever did by this state.

Soon afterwards Starswan left for her room (as it was rather late in the evening).   We still had that foreboding sense of awe and total shock…that is, until Tabra turned about to look at me.

“Well, Richard, what kind of topping do you want for the words you’re going to eat?”

My own unease grown by such leaps and bounds by then…

CHAPTER SIX

“Are we winning?  Are we losing?  We can’t tell…”

–Howard Schuman & Andy Mackay, “Round One”, from Rock Follies of ’77, 1977

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically)

When I returned to my room after that extremely tense conversation I felt both physically and emotionally drained so as a result I fell asleep…and that’s when it–well, really she came.

Oh.  Who am I talking about, you’re asking?

I don’t know how to begin off-hand so let me try to do it without perverting your minds.  She was of the race my mother and I hail from.  She was tall, slinky, well-endowed, with the most luminescent green-blue eyes inaginable.   Her face was clearly felinoid yet she was still undoubtedly attractive, as seen by her smile which, by the way, showed her white teeth (pointed as befitting our people).

She wore no artificial clothing, again in line with our kind.  But as I just asked, try not to get any ideas, thank you so jolly much.

I stood there aghast, not at all certain what to do or say.

“Well?  Aren’t you going to even say ‘hello’?” she said, giggling.

Again I stood there…then I slowly walked my way to her.

“Wh–who are you?” I asked.

Again she giggled slightly.

“You mean you don’t know me?”

I shook my head to indicate that I didn’t.  Luckily she wasn’t offended.

“I’m your grandmother.  My name’s Siina.  Yeah, I’m also your dad’s mother-in-law.  I’m sure you’ve seen me in those cheesy cat-food adverts on TV.”

Suddenly I grew aware of it all…well, little by little.

“Well, forgive my bluntness, but why are you here?’ I asked.

Taking no offense she got right down to the point.

“I’m here because you have to be made aware of the great Destiny ahead of you. You’re going to be a part of the most enduring legend in all Human History.  Are you ready and brave enough to hear of your Destiny?”

Figuring I had nothing to lose I felt prepared to hear her out.

Then a thought hit me:  how I’m going to explain this to my parents…especially my Dad.

I was about to ask her when she walked even closer to me.  Her eyes were twinkling brighter, if that’s possible.  I think she knew!

“Oh, don’t worry about that, Starswan.  I’ll see to that.”  With that said, she gently took my hands in hers and led me to sit on the edge of my bed.  Then–now don’t get any ideas–she placed her palm between my bosoms, feeling my heart in her hand.  She softly smiled at me.

“You know, Starswan, you have the most noble and beautiful heart our race has ever spawned.  That’s why you’re troubled with your world as it is, huh?  Well, you won’t have that worry and fear much longer.”  Then she stroked my hair gently even as she gradually embraced me in her strong yet gracious arms.  At that second I wept like a frightened child; in fact, that’s what I still was…

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

I was suddenly awakened for no clear-cut reason; usually I’d either had to go to the loo, get a midnight snack, or a ruddy combination of the two.  By unplanned chance I happened to pass Starswan’s bedroom and I thought I heard a–conversation of some type or other.

Out of that uncalled-for curiosity I knocked on her door.

“Starswan?  What’s going on in there?”

Instantly the door opened up, but instead of my daughter stepping out–

“Hello, Goat’s No. 1-for-Brains!”  It was my “dear” old mother-in-law!

“How did you bloody get here, Siina?!” I boomed out, not caring if it woke my wife up.

Speaking of Tabra, she got out of my bedroom and found us in ready for a free argument, quite unlike that stupid and overly expensive Conflict Center (what you ancient Monty Python lovers refer to as “the Argument Clinic”).

“Hey, what the hell’s going on here?”

I didn’t miss one second of comedic timing.

“Your dear old mummy is probably seeking new flavours for her cat foods.  Or maybe–”

At once Siina hissed at me in an extremely meancing way.

“Look who’s talking.  This from the only guy in the known Universe who enjoys eating sauerkraut potato chips!”

First off, I hate sauerkraut, and it’s sour cream and onion chips I like.  But that wasn’t the overall issue at hand here.  And I very much said so, too.

“In all seriousness, Siina, what exactly brings you about here!?”

Swiftly Siina got to the point.

“I’m not here to listen to your cheap 9-Lives jokes, Goat’s No. 1-for-Brains.  It’s your child Starswan I’m worried about.”

For once in my life I wholeheartedly agreed with her.

“Yes, aren’t we all?”

At that Siina calmed down quite considerably.

“All right…I’m sorry I snapped at you like that.  But I do have something to tell you about Starswan that’s very important.”

Now this I had to hear.

“Oh?  And what’s that, if I may be so bold to ask?”

Siina offered us the oddest look imaginable.  Then we heard Starswan sashay her way out of her bedroom.  Her facial expression changed very little, if any.

“I see we’re all here,” she said sarcastically.

Ignoring that little remark we made our way to the living room and sat down.  All, that is, except Siina, who preferred to stand next to Starswan.

Now, I don’t know about the ladies but I was not looking forward to this at all…

CHAPTER SEVEN

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

There we were, just gathered around waiting once more for the other shoe to drop. Only this time I was the one who was going to drop it.

But I knew I wouldn’t do it without having Siina–that’s my grandmother in case you already forgot–by my side.  As a gesture of that I grabbed her hand while my parents watched, my dad in particular…though in a very angry way.

“Well, Starswan?  What’s all this, then, huh?!” he asked harshly.

I had no time to waste in my answer.

“It’s like I said earlier.  I’ve taken your advice and now with Grandma Siina with me I can fulfill my own destiny.”

Dad eyed my very skeptically.

“And just exactly what kind of destiny is this, if I may ask?”

Now it was Grandma Siina’s turn to reply.

“Well, Goat’s No. 1-for-Brains, see, that’s where I come in.  I’ve made Starswan aware of her part in the greatest Destiny of all.  But in your case, my ‘dear’ son-in-law, that is a bit too much to understand.”

“Before you ramble on any further,” interrupted Dad, “try, at least this once, not to ever call me Goat’s No. 1-for-Brains.  Does that make a dash of sense to you?”

Grandma Siina just looked at Dad, not uttering one word–at least not right away…

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

As I mentioned in passing beforehand, this conversation was not what I was expecting.  And now with Siina in the scene, that palpable disgust grew all the more distinct each and every succeeding moment.

Siina continued to stare at me in her trademark harsh and almost hateful manner.  I mean, I do admit I’m not the easiest man to get on with but I didn’t need my mother-in-law to convince every world in the Universe of this now, did I?

For five minutes no one spoke about anything at all.  Until–

“Oh very well, Richard.  I’ll do my best though it ain’t gonna be easy,” replied Siina.

Then I actually worked up a small grin on my face.

“That’s much better.  Now…let’s get on back to this Destiny that you’re so keen on telling Starswan about.  And do let’s try to be reasonable about this, shall we?”

Presently Siina sighed rather over-dramatically and got on.

“Well…it’s like I was telling you and Tabra.  Your child is to be part of–”

“The most noble Destiny of all, yes.  We’d gotten that already.  Do get on, please.”

Siina glared at me angrily.

“If you wouldn’t interrupt me so much, Richard, I’d be glad to do just that.”

I can only imagine what weird idea Siina would plant in my daughter’s mind…

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Into the distance, a ribbon of black; stretched to the point of no turning back…”

–David Gilmour, “Learning to Fly”, from A Momentary Lapse of Reason, 1987

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

I had to admit, even I was curious about this “Destiny” that Grandma Siina told us.  And no doubt about it, my parents, especially my Dad, were equally as curious if not more so.

Then Grandma Siina turned back to look at me.

“You still have no idea of the Destiny, do you, young Starswan?” she asked with a smile.

I shook my head no.

“Well…” she said as she sat on the right arm of the chair, “you’ll know soon enough, young one.  And when you do, all will take notice; hope, freedom and even sanity will to the Universe be restored.”

Not to my surprise my parents heard all this, as they were in earshot of our conversation. 

“How is that possible, Mother?” asked my mother.  She then turned to my Dad.  “Well, Richard?  Do you have any idea how that’s possible?”

He darted his eyeballs to the ceiling, hoping it would give him any kind of answer.  It didn’t, of course.

“No, not a single ruddy idea, Tabra.”

Naturally I sort of expected that from my parents.

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

If the truth be told now, the real reason I didn’t get a response from the ceiling is because, outside of the ceiling being even more baffled than I was, I just hadn’t any really logical notion whatsoever.   I mean, how else would I be expected to react to such a thing being thrust about?

And so with that very much still on my mind I gazed ‘round back to Siina.

“Well, ‘dear’ mother-in-law of mine, are you going to tell us what this oddball ‘Destiny’ is all about in relation to Starswan?  Or do you wish us to play charades and 20 questions all bloody night?”   That, I hoped, should drive the point home.

After at least five minutes of this, Siina finally got around to giving us an answer.

“Oh, all right, Richard, you’ll get your wish…if only to stop your nagging at me like the goat you really are.”

Normally I’d chew her out for her crass insults but out of concern for my daughter I opted to ignore her.  Plus it would keep Tabra quiet as well. 

CHAPTER NINE

“Starswan, your Destiny still unknown to you yet with strength inside;

With beauty and youth all your form through, be not afraid.  Don’t hide.”

–The Love Sonnets for Starswan, verse two, lines one & two

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (electronically recorded):

All our eyes, especially mine, were on Grandma Siina as she readied herself to fully reveal the facts concerning my Destiny…and it would be nerve-wracking!

And I’ll bet my Dad can’t wait, either.  In fact, he said so, as I can bet he’d told you.

“Well. Siina?!  I’m waiting, as are we all.”

Swiftly my Mom turned to Dad.

“Oh, Richard, when are you ever going to be patient!?”

Dad just flat-out ignored Mom at this stage.  He remained intently focused on Grandma Siina, as though he was trying to injure her by the stark English gazehe always flashed at people he didn’t like all that much.  (Of course, too, he also did that to people he did like so that way nobody felt left out.)

Grandma Siina’s patience, for her part, had run out so she went on.

“All right, here goes.  I received a sense of Starswan’s destiny almost from the day of her birth, in spite of the fact that I wasn’t there physically.”

“Not to mention mentally,” interjected Dad crassly.

At once Grandma Siina glared at Dad nastily but she carried on.

“Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted I got a sense of a more noble Destiny for Starswan.  It has to do with ‘the final frontier’.  I’m sure you can get at least one hint of what I’m trying to describe here.”

Then my parents got the message…

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

My eyes almost boggled out of their sockets upon realizing the enormous magnitude of Siina’s words regarding Starswan and her future.

I had the odd notion of something I’d not seen since my youthful days on Earth.  I’m totally sure it was to do with–well, I’ll not dare reveal it here at press time, thank you.  That’s for you lot to figure out on your own.  Suffice it for me to say now that now Tabra and I viewed our daughter in a truly new light, much to our late-coming in the knowledge of the facts.

However, there were those times where Tabra had thoughts of her own that she wouldn’t dare utter out loud to anyone.  Then again, why would she?

Of course, however, I’m sure you know how wives are, even in this high-tech, overly sterilized day and age in which we’re all living–if, as Starswan now rightfully pointed out, you call this sort of life “living”…

CHAPTER TEN

“So you thought you might like to go to the show.”

–Roger Waters, “In the Flesh?”, from The Wall, 1979

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

As ever, my Dad’s limited patience grew even more so while Grandma Siina closed her eyes as though she had to get rid of a headache–no, not my Dad (although that was what she felt).  We could see and even feel the pain and hell she went through.

Then she suddenly opened her eyes, her face showing a slight grin.

“All right, here it is, plain and simple.  I sense that Starswan is going to be a part of the greatest legacy ever told to Mankind.  She will lead others in the quest for knowledge and have a bit of adventure along the way.”  She eyed my Dad in a peculiar manner.  “There, Goat’s No. 1-for-Brains.  You satisfied?!”

“Not even by a damn sight, Siina.  Just exactly what the hell is this ‘greatest legacy ever told to Mankind’?”  I could doubtless see his tolerance level reach a new high in low.  But I thought I saw a smile creasing his aging face, as if he knew something we didn’t.

“You know what?  You’re giving me a migraine–but then again you are a migraine.  Now will you do me a favor and stifle yourself?!”  Then she sighed heavily and resumed her talk.  “Now…as I was trying to say, Starswan, you are to go out into the world, to use the ancient vernacular, and start your destiny by improving your academic skills.  Your parents, especially this Goat’s No. 1-for-Brained excuse for a father of yours, could use it as well.”

On the outside that sounded great but inside I was shaking!!

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

First off, I was growing increasingly disgusted by Siina’s constant insults regarding my intelligence.  Then it was this idiotic flap about Starswan’s destiny.  I don’t know about you but altogether it was down-bloody-right aggravating!

I think Siina finally acknowledged this fact, and that was due to her getting up from where she sat near Starswan.  What I didn’t know was what she had in that mind of hers.

“Well, Siina?  What do you truly have in store for us?” I asked.

Wordlessly she beckoned us to follow her, leading us to the main viewport window overlooking PFSB-663905 (alias Roger’s Commode, for those whose memories were of the relative short-term variety).  As I told you much, much earlier the planet itself was pleasant to look at…but only that.

I turned ‘round to Siina, a weird look on my face.

“Uhh…what’s with this ruddy view, Siina?”

I had the feeling the answer would not be long in coming…

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“And no one sings me lullabies, and no one makes me close my eyes.

And so I throw the windows wide and call to you across the sky…”

–David Gilmour & Richard Wright, “Echoes”, from Meddle, 1971

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

I had to admit even I was a tad bit baffled by what Grandma Siina had in mind when she led the three of us to the viewport overlooking PFSB-663905.  But of course, I didn’t exactly make it a habit of asking too many questions all at once.

Besides, my guess is that if I did ask she’d only reply, “All in due good time.”

Just don’t tell that to my Dad.  He might not–in fact, I know he won’t agree with it…

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

I’m not at all certain what my only offspring keeps telling you lot reading this but you can jolly well be sure that–well, this entire affair is getting more aggravating and less enthralling with each passing micro-second.

Now…understand right jolly now that I’m not at all angry at my child by a long chalk.  If any such thing it’s that nutcase Siina that’s to rightly blame for all this up to now.  And I do have to apologize to those who have all been so patient throughout this whole weird thing.

All right…that’s enough apologies; back to this ruddy story.

Like a group of dunces we stood out near the main viewport, not knowing at all what to expect next.  But of course, Siina knows all now, doesn’t she?

“Well, Siina?  What’s next?!” I asked harshly.

Naturally in her “lovable” manner, Siina turned ‘round to me.

“Oh, you’re wonderful, aren’t you, Goat’s No. 1-for-Brains?!”

My temper had rapidly, and rightfully so, exploded!

“THAT’S IT!!!” I hollered, grabbing her left arm roughly.  Then I proceeded to shake her about till her eyeballs rolled ‘round like dice in a Neo-Vegas tri-roulette chess match.  At once I realized what I was doing and forced myself to stop before I went way too far.

Starswan and Tabra were both highly terrified by what they’d witnessed, and for the first time ever I felt the biggest pang of guilt one should ever expect to feel.

Then I collapsed!  And not just from physical exhaustion, either…

When I awoke I was greatly surprised to see–Siina, actually showing me some kindness or other.  Not like her at all, I admit, but welcomed nonetheless.

“Are you all right, Richard?”

I didn’t respond at first, still taken aback by everything that’s happened.

“Yes…I’m fine now.  Thank you.”

As Siina helped me up off the floor, I saw what I assumed was only the natural glistening of her eyes, as befitting her race–well, hers, Tabra’s and, in a halfway sense, Starswan’s (though you’ll find, I’m sure, my wife ever so slightly disagreeing).  I’d no idea of the true feelings she felt that moment–at the time at least, anyway.

As grateful as I had suddenly become to Siina, my curiosity was as yet unappeased…

CHAPTER TWELVE

“And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it’s sinking.

And racing around to come up behind you again.”

–Mason/Waters/Gilmour/Wright, “Time”, from Dark Side of the Moon, 1973 

From the Initmate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

Well, the truth was going to come to us all at last.  I hoped that finally my Dad would get some relief–though I was really beginning to doubt it.

For a long time we stood there, not all that certain what would be next.  Of course, Grandma Siina knew…and now, as I was saying, and more importantly, hoping for, she’d at long last give it.  Plain and simple.

“Okay…” she said, “here is the answer you’ve been waiting all this time for me to say.  No doubt it concerns you, Starswan.  So as to not irritate your father any more than necessary, I’ll say to you that–oh, how the hell am I going to say this?–you, Miss Starswan Wright, are going to become a great heroine in the greatest Destiny known to Humankind.”

My jaw totally dropped!

Of course!!  Now I understood.

Then again, my Dad’s rare and harsh laugh said as much…

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Now, I know you lot were thinking that I was laughing at Starswan.  Well, let me try to reiterate to you lot now that nothing could be further from my mind, thank you so very much.  No, I was laughing because Siina unknowingly cemented my earlier suspicions regarding what I discreetly told you lot without giving any much more away.  Again, that’s for you bunch to figure out…assuming you haven’t done so already.

So…on with the show.

Siina’s face suddenly took on a very weird and smug state.

“All right.  Here it is.  I assume you all know the stories, right?”

“And, uh what stories are those, if I may so ask?” I asked, still smiling.

“Oh, don’t play stupid wtih me, Richard.  You know damn well what I’m talking about.”

“Humor me at least this bloody once, Siina.  Just once.”

Siina sighed in her overly dramatic fashion and, shrugging her (admittedly attractive) shoulders, she got on with it.

“All right…your daughter, and my grandchild, is to join in the most Noble Destiny as decreed by the Fates of Time.  And judging by the look in your beady blue eyes, Richard, you’re thinking of Starswan the teenage felinoid Amazon Goddess-Warrior, right?  Wrong.  Just wrong.”

“No, my ‘dear’ mother-in-law, that’s not what I was thinking, thank you so much.”

For the first time in a long while Tabra turned ‘round to me.

“What the hell are you getting at, Richard?!”

“Well, unless I miss my guess–”  I began to say.

“Oh, this ought to be good.”

Totally unlike me, I rubbed my hands in utter satisfaction.

Yes, this will be good, I thought to myself…

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Remember when you were young?  You shone like the sun.”

–Gilmour/Waters/Wright, “Shine On, You Crazy Diamond”, from Wish You Were Here, 1975

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

I still had no real idea what my Dad had in or on his mind in re my potential Destiny but you can be jolly sure it was pretty weird.  Gods, I’m so glad my Mom was finally able to say something about this.

I looked to them as they were ready to “discuss” what was going on.

“Well, Richard?  I’m waiting.”

“Uh, and just what are you waiting for, Tabra?” asked Dad, playing the old innocent ploy.

Mom rolled up her felinoid eyes to the ceiling in disgust.

“The Good Ship Lollypop.”  Then she screamed, “The answer to our question, you DOPE!! What else would we ask?!!?!”  Now you know the true nature of felinoid females toward our human mates at times…if I ever find one, that is.   

Wearily Grandma Siina intervened.

“All right, that’s enough of this.  Starswan’s more important right now, okay?”

Both my parents sighed heavily and nodded their heads in agreement.

“Oh, that’s bloody fair enough, I suppose,” replied Dad.

“Yeah, you’re correct, Mother.” That was Mom’s response.

Inside my guts, I was shaking like laundry in our washer/dryer set-up…

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

First off, let me continually attempt to reiterate to you all right now I was, and still am, getting more than a bit fed up with both my mother-in-law and now my wife insulting my intelligence.  Second, the answer to that question about my daughter’s so-called Noble Destiny would be provided by me when I was damned good and set to tell them.  Plus I didn’t wish undue terror on Starswan in any way, shape, or form.

Basically it’s boiling all down to this simple fact:  she’s my baby girl and I love her very, very much.  After all, she is of the Wright lineage, and that’ll more than make her the strong and heroic woman I believe deep down she is.

So…now that I’ve told you lot my feelings for my beloved Starswan I thought it was time for the answer which my wife, baby girl, and especially my rather impatient ‘dear’ mother-in-law were waiting to hear all this time.

“All right…you wanted to know the answer to your ruddy question, right?”

“Well, the thought has crossed our minds,” retorted Siina in her sarcastic tone.

“Oh, Richard, just get the hell on with it, huh?!  I need my sleep…as do we all,” interjected Tabra tiredly and angrily.

Here it comes for your entertainment but not for ours, sorry to add.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“And do I take you by the hand, and lead you through the land,

And help me understand the best I can?”

–David Gilmour & Richard Wright, “Echoes”, from Meddle, 1971

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

I was led back to the main viewing-port looking out towards both the planet below us and  the endless voids of Outer Space–by my Dad, no less.

“Look about this, Starswan.  Look quite carefully.  What do you think of this?” he asked.

I didn’t say anything at first, trying to figure out what Dad had on his now-worried mind.

“Uhhh…it’s just the stars and Roger’s Commode.  Why are you asking me this?” I said.

Now it was he who didn’t answer straight away…and I thought I knew why.

“Well…” he uttered, “you don’t know why your mum and I named you Starswan, do you?” His voice was heavy and grim.

I shook my head.

“No, I don’t.”

Soon I would find out…and it would change everything!

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Starswan looked ‘round to me with an odd expression on her face.

“Dad, why are you asking me this weird stuff?”

I sighed as heavily as I’d ever done in my life.

“Starswan…you really don’t know about your Destiny, and I can’t dare trust your grandmother to tell you all you need to know.  So…I’ll tell you.”  There was a pause as I readied myself to do so.  “Starswan, you’re going to become the greatest hero ever seen in these sectors of Space.  In fact, truth be told you’ll influence every sector of Space and even Time as well.”

Now my daughter’s confusion and bafflement increased by leaps and bounds.

“What are you talking about?  What do you mean?”

Tabra decided to pick up where I left off.

“I think I know what your father’s trying to get at.  He thinks it’s your Destiny to free all in the Galaxy.  I mean, that was what we kept discussing all this time, right?  Well, you might get your wish–and so will a lot of others.”

Next it was Siina’s turn up.

“Unbelievably, your father’s right.  For a change.”

Well, that’s as it may be but I still didn’t like this one bloody iota.  And like all fathers about to lose their daughters, I said so, too.

“Now…you wanted to have freedom, right?  Well, there is a steep price to pay for that freedom.”  I couldn’t tell for certain but I thought I saw her young eyes tear up.  Of course, that may have been the reflecting of the lights from the Outer Quasars. Again, I don’t know.

“You mean you’re finally seeing how I see things here?” asked Starswan.

I didn’t have to verbalize my reply.  The small grin on my face said as much if not more…

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“What are you giving away?  What are you holding on to?”  

–H.Schuman & Andy Mackay, “The Things You Have to Do”, from Rock Follies of ’77, 1977

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

As the conversation dragged on and on, the collective sadness escalated.  It was especially hard on my Dad, believe me on that.  And my Mom was feeling it, too.

Weirdly enough, Grandma Siina had a dash of–I don’t know–euphoria about herself.  Or that may have been a defense mechanism.  Then again, showing her true feelings wasn’t her strong suit.

I regained enough of my calm to resume hearing what my Dad had to tell me.

“Now…as I said to you before, uh, Starswan, your Destiny lies far, far beyond this sector of Space.  You’re going to fly your way to true noble heroism.  You see, your mother and I knew from the day of your conception if not birth that you discover the ‘final frontier’ of your soul away from here.”

I stood there motionless, in a great deal of shock…

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Though I had the notion in my mind somewhat confirmed it was ever doing nothing to appease my–well, our emotional distress; if any that said distress elevated by great leaps and bounds.  Even Siina, as crass as she could ever get, felt the pain and overwhelming sadness.

But the more looking back I do, the more I sense that Starswan no doubt felt the overall brunt of everything.  After all, it is her story I’m relating here, is it not?

Getting on…sorry…

Suddenly Siina gazed into Starswan’s eyes and held her chin up.

“Okay, Starswan, it’s time to go.”

As much as things have floored me before, this really takes the cake!

“Hang on!  It’s not the end of the month as yet.” I said.

Added Tabra, “Yeah, that’s right, huh?  It’s only the middle.”

“Be that as it may, nevertheless Starswan must embark on her destiny soon.  This can’t wait for the end of school, or a prom, or whatever else is on the more immediate agenda.  You do understand that, don’t you?”

“Well, logically in my mind, I do understand that but emotion-wise, no I don’t,” I said.

“What about you, Tabra?” asked Siina.

“Oh, I just don’t know how I should feel about this.  I mean, it’s all happening so fast.”

Siina stood there, stoically, for at least ten minutes, wordlessly and sadly.

“Well…now it’s time to go, Starswan.  Come, take my hand.”

Now it our turn to become speechless for a spot!

“Hang on a minute!” I finally uttered. “Where are you taking her?”

“As far away from here as soon as possible.  The Destiny must begin now.”

“Now that didn’t exactly answer my question now, did it, Siina?!”

Siina just flat out ignored me.  As usual, naturally.

“Come,” she said to Starswan, taking my daughter’s hand in hers.  And before you lot get any funny ideas, don’t!  Just don’t even think about that, thank you so much.

Starswan took 1 1/2 steps then stopped.

“I’ll go with you, Grandmother, but do you think this one more time I could have my Mom and Dad along to catch a glimpse of this…Destiny of mine?” asked Starswan.

We all stood ‘round in mild surprise.

“Well…all right, granddaughter Starswan.  Just this once, okay?”

In gratitude Starswan embraced Siina passionately and then caressed her.  Again, you lot out there, hold off on your weird, funny ideas!

So…with all that said, including putting you nutballs at bay, we set off.  In the strangest way, naturally…

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Add the guilt to the doubt; how they tire you out…”

–H. Schuman & A. Mackay, “The Things You Have to Do”, from Rock Follies of ’77, 1977

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

I had to admit, we were all greatly confused.

I mean, it normally would not be Siina’s way to include the entire family in on the inner workings of anyone’s Destiny, let alone mine.   I know my Dad was baffled by this more than my Mom was.

And of course, the big question was how we’d pull this off…

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Remember my mentioning to you lot about Siina’s weird manner regarding our voyage into Starswan’s much-talked-about Destiny?  Well, I realize I left you on a cliffhanger as far as the actual method went so I’ll try to do my best to decribe what transpired.

See, Siina had us stand back at least two feet from her position and closed her eyes.  When that was done, she raised her left arm towards our old friend, namely the ceiling.  Then lowering it slowly, she, in some strange and almost mystical way, created what seemed a “rip” of some such.  Now, I’d heard–vaguely, at that–stories of these “rips” but never in a million years had I ever witnessed a sight in my own reality.

“Enter…and be enlightened,” said Sinna in a grand and extravagant tone.

So…we three, Starswan, Tabra, and I, followed Siina into the “rip” (or for you lot of the more technical-minded approach a “temporal-spatial sundering”).

Now, I don’t know precisely know why Starswan asked for us to join her and Siina along for this daft enterprise, as it were.  Maybe it was out of parental obligation, or possibly guilt mixed in with doubt; again I can’t be exactly sure at this stage…

Log-Entry delayed by…a glitch!

…the trip through Space and Time was, in a word, psychedelic!  I had to admit, it really was fascinating to see the total wonders of all Known Space and Time coming together in that weird phantasmagorically–oh, bloody hell, I can’t even begin to describe it all.

But what I can describe to you lot is the boost it gave our young Starswan.  Seeing that smile on her lovely face was more wondrous than all that we were witnessing ‘round us at that moment.  I must say, it also did quite a few wonders in improving my relations with Siina.  For the first time since we left our “sterile” home above Roger’s Commode (that’s PFSB-663905, again for those for who’ve either forgotten or have the more scientific approach to it all).

However, in the middle of all that wonder there was one thing I’d neglected to ask.

“Excuse me, Siina, just where exactly are we going?”

“Somewhere you’ve never been before, Richard.  So…onwards and throughwards.”

“Uh, don’t you mean ‘upwards’?” I asked.

In response to that Siina, in the weird manner now in use, somehow sped up the space-time rhythm even more…

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“You watch yourself act from a distance.  Nothing is clear; it’s more like a dream…”

–H. Schuman & A. Mackay, “The Things You Have to Do”, from Rock Follies of ’77, 1977

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically): 

The wonders of traversing through Known Space and Time grew more and more amazing with each passing second (as we understood the overall concept of “time”).  In a weird way, it reminded me of one of your early to mid-Pink Floyd records (of which both my parents were huge fans).

In fact, I’m not sure if my Dad told you this or not–and I can bet he did, knowing him–the whole voyage had a weird…I don’t know–psychedelic look and feel to it.  Or maybe that’s just me if not both me and my Dad, I don’t know.

I do know, however, that my own uncertainty was leaping up and down on me…

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Onwards and onwards we travelled throughout all Known Space and Time, going literally through every world imaginable both common and not-so-common to our terrestrial eyes.  Of course, it still did little to almost absolutely nothing in regards to our knowing Starswan’s ultimate Destiny, as hazy as it was–and still is–to begin with.

So…once more I turned ‘round to gaze at Siina.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” I asked her, expecting a rational answer.

Without even so much as a minute look Siina tried to reply.

“Just wait a bit longer, Richard.  You too, Tabra dear.  And especially you, Starswan.”

I looked at Tabra, resigned to the fact, as weird and oddly…painful as it grew.

“Don’t look at me, Richard.  You’re the guy who asked,” said Tabra.

Now, I wasn’t remotely certain but I swore I saw Starswan’s face go from amazed to, weirdly enough even for me, sort of…serene.  Sure, that’s it, isn’t it?  A truly–oh, I can’t even try to describe all the more further so I’ll leave off for now.  Let’s just get on, as it is such.

And the best jolly spot of positions is to merely enjoy, as much as possible, the continuous voyage throughout all Known Space and Time.

However…the wonder soon wore itself right jolly well off the longer our journey endured.

And…it still did most emphatically not answer my ongoing question to Siina.

“Now, Siina, you still haven’t given me a straight reply to what I keep asking of you, over and over, on and on.  I ask a reasonable question, and I demand a reasonable answer.  So…I’m going to ask you this only once.  Where are we going!?”

As I was hoping to expect, Siina lost all her patience.

“All right, Richard.  I’ll tell you, if only to keep you quiet…we’re going back through Time.  There. Are you happy?!”

I wasn’t sure about how to answer that one so…I didn’t.

Hang on!

Did I just hear her say–back through Time?!?!

Siina, you’re really impossible at times.  I just don’t know how your family puts up with all this.  Then again, I don’t know how I put up with this.  I really don’t!

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time.”

–Mason/Waters/Gilmour/Wright, “Time”, from Dark Side of the Moon, 1973

From the Intimate Diares of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

I don’t know about you but my jaw dropped when Grandma Siina told us we were actually travelling through Time itself!!  I mean, it just wasn’t possible–or was it?

But…in a weird way it really was no wonder why everything resembled a Pink Floyd record album cover, albeit a moving one at that.

Gods, if Roger Waters could see this now!

If only…

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Now this has to be seen to be believed!

Do you remember me telling you lot how I felt about going and roaming about Known Space and Time?  Well, those old feelings were pushed aside as new sensations crashed their way into the deepest parts of my mind–well, as much of my mind as I was able to retain, at any rate.

Now, I’ve very much heard of expanding one’s own personal horizons and that’s jolly well fine, but if one wants to expand his, or in my case her destiny, then for God’s sake don’t drag the entire family all about Known and Unknown Space and Time to bloody well do so.  It is not at all fun, believe me.  Especially when you don’t know just exactly what that destiny is.

So…with that out for you lot to hear about it’s time to once more re-focus our attention on to the remainder–if even that–of this jolly epic tale of ours.

Well…oh, it’s becoming impossible to even think at this spot now, isn’t it?

I suppose this is what one gets when asked to tag along to places one hasn’t any jolly buisness going to.  Such is the ways of all Known and Unknown Universes alike, I guess.

Out of a bout of matrimonial reflex I turned to Tabra.

“What do you suppose will happen?” I asked.

She flickered me quite the look of anger, I must tell you.

“You’re asking me this now?!?!?  Thanks heaps for this, Richard.  Thanks heaps.”

Having nothing more to add as far as my curiosity goes, I resumed glancing all about our more–well, “surroundings” wouldn’t quite fit but it’ll do.  The Space-Time Flows grew more and more schizophrenic as Time itself went on.  And my curiosity gave way to total nausea as our speed and telemetry increased two-hundred fold!  

All the while I still had no idea how Siina was doing all this.  None whatsoever.

And I grew quite afraid that if–and that’s a big “if”–I asked her, I very well might not like the answer she’d give.  Again, that is if she would actually do so…

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“Under the eaves the swallow is resting.”

–Roger Waters, “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun”, from A Saucerful of Secrets, 1968

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

I don’t know about you but this whole psychedelic “Dark Side of the Moon” thing’s charm was really wearing itself off fast!   And I know it did nothing for my parents’ total morale, believe you me, people.  But out of love for my Grandma Siina, I opted not to utter out one word.

My Dad can do that easily enough, as I’m sure he’s done throughout this whole thing.  I mean, I know it’s taxing your patience level, and for that I apologize on behalf of my entire clan.

But don’t tell Dad I told you this.  He’d never live that down…

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

The more of this weirdness I bear witness to, the more difficult it gets to try to describe it in a rational manner.  And all this is out of our love for Starswan, you can be sure of that right jolly now.  However…there still was the matter of how Siina was accomplishing this entirely and  frighteningly strange fashion.  Of course, fashion isn’t my in-laws’ strong suit, sorry to say.

So…I finally decided to make up my ever-increasingly curious mind and flat out asked the question which I know you lot want me to ask.

“Siina…how are you exactly pulling off this little trick, or hocus-pocus, or which-bloody-ever way you call it?!”

Without missing a single track Siina replied in the old-fashioned way.

“Well, wouldn’t you like to know, dear old son-in-law of mine.”

“Of bloody course I’d like to know.  I wouldn’t dare ask if I didn’t now, would I!?”

Instantly–perhaps to Siina’s relief–Tabra turned ‘round to me, her anger still there.

“You know, Richard, sometimes you’re impossible.  Really impossible.”

I couldn’t help but reply to that.

“Look, Tabra, when I ask your dear old mummy a legitimate question, then by all means I expect a bloody reasonable answer.  Or is that too much for you to understand?!?”

Just when my spat with Tabra reached its most ridiculous level Starswan whirled her blazing young eyes to us in saddened rage (if there actually is such a thing).

“Stop it!!” she hissed through her teeth.

Out of our total shock and horror we did, then looked to our daughter.  We could see teardrops rolling out her eyes and down her face.  It was afterwards that Siina glared at me with an expression colder than an ice-cube.

“Well, Richard, I sincerely hope you’re happy with yourself.”

Now you know that I wasn’t, of course.   And I also tend to believe that I do rather react somewhat harshly to things that are totally beyond anybody’s control let alone mine.

I keep wishing that my entire family, in particular Starswan, can at least try to understand…

CHAPTER TWENTY

“How much of what you’re doing is have to?  How much of what you’re doing is want to?”

–H. Schuman & A. Mackay, “The Things You Have to Do”, from Rock Follies of ’77, 1977

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

For the remaining part of our journey throughtout Unknown Space and Time no one said one word to each other.  The tension was so thick it could literally suffocate you to death, and the emotional temperment grew thinner than a pizza crust.  That’s how bad our relationship got.

And I got also the sense that everything that’s been happening was my fault.

At least, that’s what I was thinking at the time.

Making a firm resolve I turned to my parents as well as Grandma Siina.

“Mom…Dad…Grandma, I think I’m to blame for all this.”

During this conversation we slowed our trajectorial telemetry to a standstill.

“What do you mean, your fault?!” asked Dad in his harsh English way.

I hesitated a moment before getting on.  Clearly this wasn’t as easy as I thought.

“Well, I, uh, just thought that if I hadn’t talked about what’s been on my mind, no one would be so severely angry at one another.  Do you see where I’m coming from?”

I wasn’t exactly looking forward to their response…

From the Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

I’m perpetually unaware of what my offspring keeps informing you lot about but I do suspect–well, believe it or not we’re more or less on the same page, as it were.  Now, I’m sure you’re probably being allowed into her personal diaries to read and feel her thoughts and pains about all life.  Just don’t tell my lovely daughter I revealed all this to you.  Again, over and over these are only things I suspect, not fully know out-jolly-right…oh God, I hate contradicting myself now.

So…returning now to the events at hand here I–well, we took time to ponder what Starswan had told us a brief moment ago.  I have to say now that I felt that her words were a bit accusatory but then again I’m prone to a spot of subatomic paranoia on my part.

And for the first time since this whole wacky business started I’d run out of words to say…

Now Mrs. Tabra Wright speaks a few words in her husband’s defense:

Well, at long last.

I finally get to have my long-overdue say in this extremely unwanted caper of ours.  Not that I have anything against Richard’s words, mind you.

I mean, how the hell would you react upon finding your spouse, parent, and only child journeying throughout Unknown Space and Time just to find out Gods-know-what?

However…I really can’t go too much into my own weird hang-ups.  I have my baby girl Starswan to worry about.

Oh, I’ll bet you’re still wondering where and how she got her name, huh?

Well, I can be honest and tell you it wasn’t exactly planned now, no sir.  It just sort of…I don’t know–happened that way.  Basically, we just liked the name.

Little did we know.  Little did we know…

Oh, sorry.  Where was I here?

Sure, okay.

Well…I don’t know about you and I can’t speak for the next person but the three of us just stood there, floating around in the limitlessness of Unknown Space and Time.  The reason: we kept trying to think of a reassuring answer to help Starswan.  Clearly she’s a troubled young woman desperately in need of finding her own destiny.

Finally a suitable response came.  From Richard, natch.

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

So.  Here we go ‘round this again.

Do let’s hope this little piece of advice suffices Starswan enough to get things started up once more, thank you so very jolly much.

And thus, while we hung about in limitless Space and Time (and not even knowing just how we managed to even breathe in this vacuum), I looked long and hard into Starswan’s tortured young eyes and tried my best to word this quite carefully, so do forgive this, please.

“Starswan…none of this is your fault, or your grandmother’s, or especially your mother’s fault.  It’s mine, I admit, to a small degree. I should have been more aware of your feelings in that morally bankrupt and freedom-deprived system in which we were finding ourselves surviving–barely.

“What I’m trying to tell you–and I’m not very good at this–is simply…I’m so bloody sorry, and so are your mum and grandmother.  I do hope this doesn’t turn you against your family.  Your universe, well, that’s a different story altogether.  Speaking of which–” I said, turning about to Siina suddenly, “suppose you get us onwards, if you please.”

Then for another first and somewhat historical moment (on Siina’s part this time) she actually smiled at me in a rather…pleasant manner.

“Richard…it’ll be my pleasure for you, Tabra…and especially Starswan.”

So…having uttered all this out we set about once more throughtout the vastness of Unknown Space and Time…even as the weirdness grew increasingly prevalent.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“There, beyond the bounds of your weak imagination lie the noble towers…”

–Tony Banks, “A Trick of the Tail”, from A Trick of the Tail, 1976

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

Well, now this is a bit unexpected, isn’t it?

I mean, I admittedly wasn’t looking forward to my family’s response regarding what I told them earlier on.  Took me for a loop, didn’t it?  In a good way, that is to say.  See, I’m one of those who likes to be pleasantly surprised, not those who frequently have the rug pulled out from under them.

Now…where was I at?  Oh yes, that’s right.  Now I remember.

Well, we resumed our long and increasingly tedious sojourn throughtout Unknown Space and Time in order to allegedly find out what my “destiny” is and where it lies.  I know for a fact that my parents had no idea what the future, or even past held for me…

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

I suppose by now you lot are getting quite bored by this whole entire affair, aren’t you?  I can understand that because that’s exactly how I felt, believe me.

Then suddenly Siina pointed out to a faint glimmer just beyond the more immediate perimeter of where we presently stood.

“There it is, Starswan.  Over that way lies the first and most significant part of your Destiny,” she said, only just slightly excited about that.

“What exactly is over there?  If you don’t mind my asking, that is,” I said.

“The answer to Starswan’s destinty.  Or at least, part of it.”

Tabra and I couldn’t believe our ears at first.

“Uh, Mother, could you be a tad more specific?” asked out my wife.

“Just hang on.  You’ll know soon enough.”

That having been told we gradually increased our trajectorial telemetry and thus sped our way to whatever it was that Siina pointed out to us. And, I must tell you now, the constant stop-and-starts took quite a heavy toll on my stomach though I didn’t dare reveal this to anyone with me at present.  Anyway, what did it matter, right?

But I can be justifiably proud in telling you what did matter is my daughter’s future.  Which, I’m sure, would be a damn sight better than the rather drab present state of Time.

So…without any further delay we made our way towards the “whatever” that was briefly described a short while ago.  And we still hadn’t the jolliest notion of an idea as to what it actually was.

(Oh, do forgive the ongoing digression here.  I’ll try not to do it as much.)

So…any way you slice the scones, there it was.

Now, I’ll wager you’re still curious about what it was, aren’t you?

Well…not much longer.  Promise.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“You feel fairly sure that your motives are pure;

But is that mere self-esteem?”

–H. Schuman & A. Mackay, “The Things You Have to Do”, from Rock Follies of ’77, 1977

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

It seemed to me that the closer we drew to the object on the horizon, the more unsure I became of Grandma Siina’s intentions.  Now, I’m not saying that her motives were sinister by any means of the imagination, especially my own.  Then again–well, it’s a bit hard to figure out and fathom a lot of things in this realm-scape called Life.  All we can do is to just do whatever it is you have to do in order to get some sense out of it.

After all, what the hell is there else to do?

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Well.  Now things are finally starting to get just a little bit interesting.

The reason I say this is because we were getting nearer and nearer to the “object” that was sort of in the distance originally.  Now, I don’t about you but I can at long last get a dash of relief from this roller-coaster voyage ‘round Unknown Space and Time.

And…we’d finally get the overly long-awaited vital clue in this whole madcap thing that is Starswan’s “destiny”.  That, as you jolly well know, is what got this started in the first place.

Swiftly I turned ‘round to look at Starswan.

“Well, I hope this clears up any and all misgivings you happen to still have in spite of all this entire run-about we’re on,” I sternly yet un-angrily told her.  “I also hope you realize that your mother, grandmother, and I love you very, very much.”

In the midst of all this lovey-dovey family bonding–not that I have anything against that, mind you lot–I still didn’t have any idea as to how Siina was pulling all this metaphysical space-travel ability in the first place.

Suddenly understanding this I gazed at Siina, my old curiosity piqued.

“Uh, listen here, Siina, I just want to know–”

“How I’m doing all this, right?  Well, it’s a tradition not to reveal certain…abilities to outworlders.  Besides…” she purred, “you’d never believe it, anyway.”

“Try me,” I replied.

Then Tabra turned to me, her exasperation clearly palpable.

“Oh, for the Gods’ sakes, Richard, don’t try her patience!”

“It’s all right, Tabra.  I’ll tell you both as a matter of good manners.”

Now it was Starswan’s chance to interrupt us all.

“Uh, if you don’t mind…I’d rather as soon not know, if that’s all right with you.”

We knew, and I’m certain you know, that it wasn’t all right with us.  But we decided at that stage to utterly just let it go.

“Oh, very well, Starswan.  Tell your grandmother to keep the bloody mystery if she very well likes.  All I want is for this to end, one way or another.  And I’m damned sure your mother wants this to be over as well,” I said.

After that, no one spoke a single word.  For that moment, at least…

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“Let me take you there and show you a living story…”

–Tony Banks, “A Trick of the Tail”, from A Trick of the Tail, 1976

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

Well, once more the excitement grew (though I’m sure you’ll find my Dad disagreeing ever so “slightly”) as the object of wonder got nearer and nearer–well, I meant as we got nearer and nearer it.  Still and all, though, regardless I was excited and also quite curious in addition.

I turned to Grandma Siina, my eyes twinkling.

“Grandma Siina, what do you suppose is that out there?”

Without even looking she took my hand in hers and smiled broadly.

“That…” she replied, “is the key to your Destiny.”

I still wasn’t satisfied in the least bit with that little “comforting” thought…but by leaps and bounds the curiosity mounted!

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Even with the alleged “nearing” to the so-called “object” I can rightly say to you lot that I’m nowhere near pleased with the way these events have gone.  So out of habit I looked ‘round to Tabra, my wife (in case you’d forgotten…which is, I’m certain, highly unlikely).

“D’you have even faintest hint of a notion?”

“Don’t look at me, Richard.  I’m just going along with the ride as you are,” she answered.

Well…as an upshot of that I gazed at Starswan.

“I suppose by now you know what’s going on about, don’t you?”

Instantly Starswan flashed me her felinoid grin, complete with those teeth that cost a hell of a lot on my credit-probe to maintain.  Also she raised her eyebrows to match that costly smile.

“Well, Dad…no.”

I sort of half-expected that from Starswan.

“Okay, if that’s the way it…then there’s nothing I can do, is there?”

Of course I was egging Siina on, partly for my own amusement but mostly to, as I keep wishing, get some ruddy answers!

To my misfortune Siina caught on to this.  How, though, remains a mystery to this day.

“I know what you’re trying to do, Richard, and it ain’t gonna work.”

Somehow I was expecting that as well…

And thus once more nothing was said.  That is, until–

“We’re nearly there, all.  It won’t be long now.”

Now this was one surprise that was indeed welcomed by us all, especially Starswan.  And as yet we still hadn’t one ruddy spot of a clue as to what it was that we were nearing at such the rate of speed at present.  Then we witnessed it at long bloody last.  Now we can try to understand what Starswan’s destiny is after all this prancing and traversing about and around Unknown Space and Time.

I can try to imagine what my daughter’s reaction would be upon discovering this… and also hope it doesn’t destroy her in the process!

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“Gazing through trees in sorrow, hardly a sound till tomorrow.”

–Syd Barrett, “See Emily Play”, from Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd, 2001 re-issue

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically): 

I’m not at all certain why this was, but I felt a sense of…I don’t know–foreboding washing over my body and into my heart.   I guess it’s because whatever it was that we were heading towards would ultimately lead to–and don’t tell anyone I revealed this–my family being torn apart beyond repair.  And let me add that notion scared the hell out of me!

So…out of good manners I turned to Grandma Siina.

(I can hope her reaction to what I have to say isn’t unexpected.)

“Grandma…may I tell you something off the cuff here?”

“Sure, Starswan.  What’s on your mind?”

I sighed very heavily, trying to edit my thoughts carefully.

“Well, it’s just that–oh hell, why don’t I just say it?  I’m getting more than a little frightened here.”

“Oh?  About what, honey-girl?”

Again I measured my words.

“I’m afraid that when I do find my Destiny, it’s going to tear my family up.  And I’m not all that sure I can handle that.”

Grandma Siina held my chin and looked into my eyes.

“I can understand, Starswan.  This is new to you, and it’s overwhelming, isn’t it?”  She paused a moment.  “You know, I think–not that I’m one of those or anything–you’re becoming more attractive every second.”  Then in the way of our race, she put her hand on my heart and hummed a melodic lullaby to soothe my nerves and also to let me know how much she loves me. I think you’re beautiful, too, Grandma.  In a wholesome way, naturally.

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Now of course you bunch must be aware of the fact that the whole entire lovey-dovey felinoid bond thing didn’t go unnoticed.  So out of courtesy do let’s get those weird thoughts and ideas out of your slightly perverted minds, thank you so jolly much.

So…once more getting my opinions out into the open, as it was such, we–well, I decided to try to set this story back to logic. (Note I said “try”, make no mince about it.)

And the first and best place to start is to describe the “object” to which we got nearer and nearer.  To put it mildly, it resembled nothing less than a gigantic yet familiar vessel; one I know for a ruddy fact I’d seen somewhere before.  But as I say again, I’ll leave that for you lot to figure out.  You may, as a matter of due course, actually be…wrong.

Getting on…the excitement did, indeed, intensify and magnify with each single passing second (though Time itself was ever doing its lop-sided twisting and prancing endlessly about). Now, I can’t speak off the bat but I suspect a great yet gradual change overtook Starswan.

In addition to Starswan’s wonderment, I grew amazed at myself.

Why is this?

Well, to be frank I never even dared consider the notion that I would make amends with my dear old mother-in-law under any circumstance, let alone this one.  Even my wife Tabra sensed this in me.  Which, I’m positive, pleased both her and Siina to almost no end whatsoever.

Here’s a small secret for you bunch:  I don’t want it any other way.

Just don’t you even think about revealing that, thank you.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon though down this road we’ve been so many times.”

–David Gilmour & Polly Samson-Gilmour, “High Hopes”, from The Division Bell, 1994

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

So this is the key to my Destiny!

Oh wow!  I didn’t even know this. I really didn’t.

As soon as I was done thinking all this Grandma Siina turned her luminescent eyes to me.

“Well, Starswan, what do you think of all this?” 

I didn’t answer right away, due to the fact that I was still awestruck by the sight.

“Well…wow!  Is this really my Destiny?”

“It certainly is, Starswan.  It certainly is.”

You have no idea how…inspired I’m feeling right now.

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

That instant Starswan turned ‘round to Tabra and myself, her eyes twinkling ever so brightly at this state of time.

“Mom!  Dad!  This is wonderful!  I mean, I didn’t even know!”

Tabra and I gazed at each other in total and utter disbelief!

“She didn’t know,” I said. “All those hours she spent as a kid, sitting ‘round at the table, drawing pictures of all those spaceships and things, and she says she didn’t know.”

“Well, Richard, you know how she was, right?  I mean, we should have seen this arriving but we didn’t.  If you want to blame someone for all this, Richard…blame yourself,” replied Tabra.

Ignoring that little piece of alleged “advice” I focused my eyes back to Starswan.

“Tell me this, Starswan.  Just exactly why did you draw all those cosmic doodles if your Destiny was that unknown to you?”

“Well, John Carter of Mars, Dad, I thought I’d go to Hollywood and design all this stuff.  I didn’t know.  Don’t get mad at me!”

I seethed in anger at this sudden bout of glib sarcasm on my daughter’s part.  Now, any sarcasm from any member of my family is not something I enjoy tolerating.

And, as is in my nature, I said so, too.

“First off, young woman, do let’s keep these facts in mind.  One, don’t get mouthy with me.  Two, I wasn’t at all being offensive, and three–well, do remember your manners.”

Not to my surprise Siina intervened–well, interfered is more apt.

“Oh, Richard, give her a break and give it a rest, will you?  This is supposed to be her great moment, and I’m not going to have you ruin it for her.  Got it?!” Then Siina flashed those razor-sharp teeth to show her crass irritation.

Before I could utter another word, Tabra somehow read my mind.

“Don’t look at me, Richard. It’s your big mouth you opened.”

One other thing I don’t tolerate is being embarrassed by anyone.  It doesn’t matter if it’s at home, at work, or even in Limitless Space and Time.  But knowing better, this time I opted to keep those new thoughts to myself just to spare myself any more of that.

Anyway, in the long scheme of it all, it soon wouldn’t matter…

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“And through the window in the wall come streaming in on sunlight wings…”

–David Gilmour & Richard Wright, “Echoes”, from Meddle, 1971

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically): 

A combined sense of newness and familiarity wormed its way into my psyche even as everything took shape around us.  I still had no idea what it meant for my family, though ostensibly we believed it was all for the best.

At least, that’s what we tried to convince ourselves of.

Ooh, what am I saying here?

Sure, it’ll work out in the end.

I can just imagine right now what my home Universe would say if I was to change its mindset for the better.  I know it’s changed my parents‘ mindset, anyway.

Of course, changing the minds of an entire Universe is a tall order to fill…

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

A rather ominous thought ran ‘round my mind as this odd Destiny of Starswan’s became more and more apparent with each racing second.  It was one with which I felt extremely uncomfortable.  At first I couldn’t figure out why this was so.

Then it dawned itself on me.

It was fear.

Yes, you readers out there, that’s correct.  You’d read it right.

It was the fear of the unknown results of this Destiny coming to–oh bloody hell, why don’t I just be stupid and blurt it out for you lot.  Then when you’re done snickering and laughing about silly, you’ll understand why I’m feeling the way I’m feeling.

I’m afraid of losing my baby girl.  There.  I said it.

And yet I knew, with as much logic as I have left, somehow this was inevitable, one way or another.  Now, that doesn’t, by any and all means, make this easier to deal with, you know.

I started thinking back to when this mad business began.

No, not when we left our home above Roger’s Commode.  Before even that.

Oh, you probably don’t understand all this, do you?

No, I can see you jolly well don’t.

Well…let me say to you now it has nothing to do with Starswan’s birth.  I’m not, as I just got done reiterating, blaming my daughter for any of these weird things taking place all about me.   She didn’t ask for any of this at all.

Truth be known to you lot, I put the blame on…me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

“No more turning away from the coldness inside.”

–David Gilmour, “On The Turning Away”, from A Momentary Lapse of Reason, 1987

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

I started having a very…chilly feeling on my body.  At first it was dismissed as a minor case of the shivers (I’ve always gotten cold quite easily even though I am half-felinoid).  But soon it became something completely…different. (My apologies to Monty Python.)  And it wasn’t physical anymore, either.

Whatever it was made me extremely nervous no matter how you scoop the mayonaisse.

And I still couldn’t figure out why.

Thus once more I turned to Grandma Siina, having a scared look on my face.

“Grandma, I don’t know if you’re aware of this but there’s something…wrong.  With me, that is.  And I don’t know what or why.  I really don’t.”

Then she said something to me that, frankly, I didn’t expect!

“Yes you do know, Starswan.  You know what’s happening to you.  You just won’t admit it.”  Her smile, though, never left her face.

“Won’t admit what?” I asked.

Then her eyes narrowed mysteriously.

“Now you know I won’t tell you that, right?  That’s something you’ll have to figure out for yourself.  And I’m sure you’ll do that soon.”

That really didn’t help things out any…

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

After overhearing the chat between Starswan and Siina I, too, became quite perplexed about what was in due course about to take place. Unlike the last time I had not-so-pleasant thoughts (which I had to keep to myself) this time I rightly decided to reveal this to Tabra.

“Listen, Tabra, I don’t know about you but there’s something weird going on about regarding Starswan…and I don’t like it one iota.”

In reply Tabra offered me one of her trademark expressions.

“Why tell me this?”  she said.

My patience had, by this time, sapped itself rapidly.

“Because, Tabra my love, she’s your daughter, too.  Or did you suddenly contract a bout of momentary senility?!”

At once Siina turned her eyes to us in a dark manner.

“All right, we don’t need any marital disputes, thank you so very much.”

Thereafter all conversation ceased even as we drew ever-so-nearer to the gigantic vessel that allegedly was the “key” to Starswan’s much-touted Destiny that’s been fueling this entire epic and long-winded saga.

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically): 

You know something?

I think I do know what’s happening to me.

And…I also think I’m ready to face it.  I mean, let’s face it right now.  If there’s one thing you don’t want to do to any member of the Wright family, it’s offer up a challenge.

We’ll take you up on it!

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“There is no pain; you are receding.  A distant ship’s smoke on the horizon.”

–David Gilmour & Roger Waters, “Comfortably Numb”, from The Wall, 1979

Continues from the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

That initial feeling of cold that overwhelmed me was replaced by another sensation I never experienced before.  Instead of being fearful and scared I felt almost…I don’t know–exhilarated.

It was called “resolve”…and now I was ready for it.

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

As I just reiterated to you lot just a short while ago, not one of us uttered out a single word of conversation even as the voyage, by this time, was drawing to a bit of a close.

As a result there was an unbearably overpowering tension resonating between Siina, Tabra, and myself.  If anything else, the only one with any dosage of smarts was Starswan.  But I figured she’d had her own little “thing” to deal with.

Here.  Hang on a spot.

There’s one more thing on my mind.  Well, not so much one more thing as more like a grave question or two for us to consider.

Are we actually ready for what’s going to happen next?

And can we live with this for the rest of our lives?

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically): 

I think it’s high time for me to get back on to a more reasonable form as far as this little adventure goes.  And the best place is to start at the point where we neared the gigantic starship. (Just so you know right now, in spite of all this verbal running-about behaviour we continued on with our journey.  That’s metaphysics for you.)

The vessel, or starship (as I just mentioned), was a sleek, streamlined disc-like saucer with only engine nacelles attached–well, more like welded directly onto the saucer’s hull.  In fact, in a way it ever-so-slightly resembled your USS Enterprise.  Oh!  I almost forgot to mention the saucer tapered off to a point.  And…the entire starship seemed as though it was made out of–hold on to your hats, chairs, etc.–crystal-clear diamond glass!  See-through, too!

I have to tell you right now we were all impressed!  Even my Dad was awed by it all!

“Well, Starswan?  What d’you think?” he asked.

Again, I was too stunned to reply at first.  Then the words came to me.

“It’s…beautiful.”  I turned to Grandma Siina.  “Is this–?”

She flashed her bright smile and chuckled.

“Yes, Starswan, this…is your Destiny!”

CHAPTER THIRTY

“New year, new show, new fantasies.”

–Howard Schuman & Andy Mackay, “The Follies of ’77”, from Rock Follies of ’77, 1977 

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Aha!  As I suspected all this–pardon the word here, please–time.

Now, I know for a cold fact that I asked Starswan what her feelings were, and I’m just as equally certain that her response was total impression.  And, I can now rightfully add, a sense of relief on her part.

So…having uttered all this psycho-parentalistic dibble-dabble we can get on.

The next maneuveur was actually entering the crystal-clear diamond glass starship.  Preferably without being detected is nice, wouldn’t you think?

Oddly enough–as if things didn’t get any odder–Siina turned her head and looked at me as though she’d had the very same thought in her own mind.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that, Richard dear.   We can’t be seen anyway.”

“And how’s that possible?” I asked.

“Oh, you’ll find out, Richard.  You’ll soon find out.”

I had a bad sense in my guts about this little trick…

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically): 

I felt right at home in the crystal diamond glass starship, even though I really couldn’t figure out why this was so.  I mean, logically I’ve never been here before but emotionally if not spiritually–well, you get the idea.

But I still made it a point to properly get a tour of “my” starship in order to acclimate myself.  After all, how often does your Destiny come to you, or in, my case have you come to your Destiny?  Answer: rarely to almost never.

I know, I know…it’s silly to answer your own question, right?

But I’m sure that at some point everyone does, don’t they?

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Like Starswan I, too, felt a weird sense in my guts.

No, it wasn’t indigestion and nausea, thank you so very jolly much.

It, in fact, was a good sense…and for that you can thank both Starswan and Siina.  Oh, before I forget my wife Tabra is also somewhat partially responsible for this as well…in a nice way, naturally.

But…getting off this long digression we followed Starswan as she walked about the “bridge” of her starship, just taking it all into her young senses.

And yet I continued to have this weird sense in my digestive tract about the future, which was a topic I’d absolutely no comfort discussing with anyone.

That sense grew more and more uncertain…

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

“And I’m not laying down today.”

–Howard Schuman & Andy Mackay, “O.K.?”, from Rock Follies of ‘77, 1977

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

After my brief tour was finished I sat down at the Captain’s chair and imagined myself voyaging throughout the Universe and trying to learn more about Life and what it takes to not only survive it, but also thrive and even–I dare say–conquer it as well.

Those feelings didn’t go unnoticed by my family…especially my Dad.

“What’s going through that mind of yours?” he asked.

Of course I initially ignored him, irritating him to no end.

“Ahem!” he added.

I turned my head to look at his intense English features, playing the old innocent ploy.

I can’t wait for this…

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

As soon as Starswan moved her head about to my face I really let her have it.

“First off, do let’s get rid of that silly coy act.  You’re not exactly a top actress.  That leads up to No. 2, which is I expect an answer for any sort of question asked by your mum, your grandmother, and especially myself.  Am I clear?!”

She displayed that rather smug thin smile on her–and do forgive the wording here, ladies and gentlemen–puss.

“As cold cream, Dad.”

I decided, somewhat wisely, to ignore that little piece of crass witticism.

“In all due seriousness, Starswan, how do you really feel about this whole experience?”

She furrowed her brow in order to, I assumed, ascertain her emotions.  In other words, she had to measure those thoughts of hers quite carefully.

“You know something. Dad?  I’m not sure how I feel.  I mean, this is still new to me.”

I knew exactly what she meant, believe you me, people.

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically): 

Yeah, I was telling my Dad the truth about how I felt about all this.

And you know what else?

I was starting to have a totally new sensation in my body.  No, not that kind.

It was as if…we were being watched!!

But by who??

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

“Over the mountain, watching the watcher…”

–Roger Waters, “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun”, from A Saucerful of Secrets, 1968

I started looking around the bridge as though I was attempting to discover the answer.  Then it came to me–well, us in a most peculiar manner.

“Oh, hello there.”

We all whirled our heads and there, right behind us, stood a slightly dumpy-looking guy wearing a uniform of some sort or other.  He was a bit short, chunky, with blue-grey eyes, a faintly big nose, very short hair just this side of grey, and a clean-shaven if somewhat overly cheerful face.

Upon seeing this man, my Dad was overcome by a not-so-great feeling of familiarity…

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Having gotten a good look at this chap, a tightness and queasiness ran amok in my digestive system as the recognition grew more apparent as he raced his way to me in the most rapid and direct manner possible.  His expression beat his body by mere inches, sorry to say.

“Well!  Rick Wright!  How are you, old bean old chap!?” he shouted, shaking my right arm as though I resembled an Echo-7 auto-credit slot machine.

“Hello, Nick.  Nice to see you, too,” I replied a bit coldly.

He took no notice of my reply and immediately made his way, not to my wife, but spot-on to Siina, his grin widening…if that’s even at all imaginably feasible.

“Okay, Siina, now that your granddaughter’s here…when do we begin?” he asked her, clapping and rubbing his hands gleefully.

“Hey, whoa, not so fast, Nick.  This is a new thing for Starswan.  I want you to please give her some more time to properly adjust to all this, if that’s okay with you.”

While that was going on, Tabra leaned her head to me in confusion.

“Richard, how the hell do you know this guy!?!?” she hissed softly.

I really had no wish to respond to that…but I did so, anyway.

“Old school chums and bandmates, Tabra.”

Tabra shook her head in pure disgust!

“School chums and bandmates, huh?  Just where and how do you find your strange, weird friends, Richard?”

I shook my head in bafflement.  Good questions, indeed…

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

You can’t imagine my relief when Grandma Siina asked Nick for more time to let me process all this new information into my already reeling mind.  After all, a girl can only withstand so much lunacy, don’t you agree?

“Okay, Siina old girl–” said Nick jovially.

“Don’t call me ‘old girl’ if you don’t mind.  You know I hate that name, right, Nick?” 

Nick shrugged his shoulders, his grin intact.

“Oh, fair enough, I suppose.  Take all the time you want, and then let me know when we can start.  Sound fair?”

Grandma Siina nodded her head in agreement with that idea.  Then Nick left the ship, leaving us just where we were before he showed up out of nowhere.  Like I just told you, that was good for us.  It meant we can think straight for the first time since this whole thing started up.  Plus, I think I now know how I feel about this as well…

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

“Wherever I’ve lived, I have lived there in pain.”

–Howard Schuman & Andy Mackay, “Sugar Mountain”, from Rock Follies, 1976

Now Siina allows us to experience her thoughts:

I know I haven’t related my own feelings about everything happening but then again, this isn’t about me.  This is all for Starswan.   After all, this is her Destiny we’re discovering for the first time ever.

Let me also add that it was mere coincidence that the fellow I requested to see Starswan would be an old buddy of my son-in-law’s.  No, it wasn’t malice on my part though I wish it would have been otherwise.

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

By now I can sense that Siina summoned my old chum Nick partly to irritate me (which she’s already succeeded in doing even without that little maneuveur, thank you).   Of course,  if I know my “dear” mummy-in-law she’d deny the whole entire bloody thing.   I mean, Nick was always a bit of a smug opportunist, one way and another.  It’s nothing too personal, you understand.  It’s just Nick all the way ‘round the board.

So…now that my little diatribe is done, do let’s get on.

After a few moments of Time elapsed into Infinity (or where-bloody-ever it goes) Starswan got up off the Captain’s chair and walked up to the three of us standing about.

“Mom…Dad…Grandma, you can’t imagine how…thrilled I feel about being here.  This is what I dreamed of since I was little.  And I think I’ve finally escaped that painfully drab life above Roger’s Commode.  For that…” she said a bit sadly, “thank you all.”

I didn’t know what to say to that so I just embraced my child in the best way I know.

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

Yeah, I did feel thrilled about being on “my” starship yet I still had a million questions on my mind.  And I wasn’t going to not ask them, either.

So, after my Dad let go of his embrace (and thereby giving me some space) I turned to Grandma Siina, ready to ask those questions.

You can guess which one I’ll start with.

“Grandma, how do you know this Nick bloke?”

I can tell off the bat she didn’t really have any desire to answer.

“Well…” she replied reluctantly, “it’s a bit of a long story but basically he was the first guy, and only human, I dated.  That was before I met your maternal grandfather, and half a decade before I had your mother.  We were also classmates at the Federated Space Academy.  Graduated top of the class, we did.  Of course, I didn’t pursue my career any further.  Never wanted to really.

“But I did want this for you, Starswan.  This is where you belong.  

“You know, all this time I’ve lived with the secret pain and guilt of not sticking with a career.  Not that I regret having your mom, mind you…though I do regret letting her marry that father of yours.  But…it’s all worked out for the best.”

Well, let’s hope so. 

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

“Light into the shadow, shadow into the light.

Come now, Starswan, erase this, our very blight!”

–The Love Sonnets for Starswan, verse three, lines one and two

Now that everything began to settle down, Nick returned to the bridge and made his way towards us.  Naturally my Dad still wasn’t too happy to see him.

“Well, Nick?  What d’you want now?!!?” he asked.

As always Nick zipped right past my Dad and made his way to me.  His smile never left his slightly pudgy face one iota.

“All right, Miss Starswan, are we ready now?”

I didn’t know what he meant.

“Ready for what?”

“Why, for your training.  What did you think I meant?”

“Training for what?” 

Grandma Siina decided to intervene on my behalf.

“Well, Starswan, basically you’re going to save your universe.  How’s that for a mission?” Grandma Siina’s eyes twinkled brightly when she uttered that out loud.

And that’s when my jaw dropped!!

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Just when I thought I’d heard it all, this has to show its way to my ears!

“You’re joking about, right?!” I spluttered.

“Rick, old bean old man…I’m not joking about.  ‘Strewth,” replied Nick.

Before I could say another word Siina turned to Tabra and I.

“Believe me when I say to you Starswan must fulfill her Destiny…and soon.”

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

“Save a whole universe?!?!  Grandma, I thought I was going to change their minds!”

Those were the words I said when my mind stopped reeling in its senses.

“Well…in a way, you’re doing both now, aren’t you?”

I looked at my parents in dismay, hoping for some relief.

“Don’t ask us, Starswan.  We’re just as taken aback as you are.  Maybe more so, in fact,” replied my Dad in resignation.

That, I’m sorry to say, wasn’t reassuring…

Now Siina allows us to hear more of her thoughts:

Like my dear son-in-law I, too, had a queasy feeling in my stomach.  I fear I gave Starswan more of a burden than she was ready or even willing to bear the brunt of.  Now, it’s not my intention to make my granddaughter’s life more complicated than it already is.  In a way–and don’t tell anyone I said this…especially that starchy-lipped English son-in-law of mine–it’s as if I’m living my life through Starswan.  And that’s an idea I can’t live with.

But what are you going to do, right?

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

“There’s no clear line you can define…”

–H. Schuman & A. Mackay, “The Things You Have to Do”, from Rock Follies of ’77, 1977

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded elctronically): 

Do you remember when I told you about my new “resolve”?  Well, that was starting to go a little bit by the wayside as the enormity of the new “commission” became more evident if not all-out clear by this stage.  Emotionally, I was on some very shaky ground.

I guess the biggest thing on my mind was just how all this was affecting my family, particularly my dead old Dad, not to mention my lovely Mom.  I mean, I don’t want my family to split up over this.  I really don’t.

But if it must be…then it must be.

Form the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Well, I suppose by now you’re all curious as to how much more of this I can take.  The answer is quite easy to say.

And the answer is: not much more, I can say.  Yet there is this to add.

How much can Tabra take?

Now we hear from Mrs. Tabra Wright:

I don’t how to say this but although I may have looked calm on the outside, inside I was ready to throw up–and not from the incessant travelling throughout Space and Time, no sir.  Just what is the point of all this?

Oh sure, that’s right.  Starswan’s Destiny, right.

(You’ll have to excuse the small amount of hesitation here on my part.  Between my overly talkative husband and my baby girl, plus the fact that I was still trying my damned best to process everything, I wasn’t able to relate my own feelings on the subject.)

Now..where was I?  Oh yeah, okay.

Well…as much as I can tell–and I’m afraid it’s not very much, at that–we tried our best to maintain a sense of calm order about ourselves.  That, of course wasn’t easy, believe me.

I can only imagine what all this is doing to Starswan…

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

Yeah, my mind was and still is reeling, though not as much as before.  In fact, if anything I’m ready to take my training.  Sort of like Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars movies I watched  with my family when I was little.

So…I turned back to Grandma Siina, having regained my new confidence.

“Okay, Grandma…now I’m set to begin fulfilling my Destiny.”

My parents, in the background, heard every word said…and were stunned.

“I do hope you’re not that serious about that,” interjected my Dad.

“Oh, I am,” I retorted.

“But, honey, you just said earlier–” said my Mom.

“Mom…” I replied, “I know what I said earlier, but that’s past now.  It’s time for me to mature as a woman of our race.  I’m sure you’ll understand that, right?”

Somehow…soon everything would change–and fast!!

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

“So now I move on and I get my reward:  my name on a hundred-foot high billboard.” 

–Howard Schuman & Andy Mackay, “Sugar Mountain”, from Rock Follies, 1976

Now, I didn’t know exactly what entailed embracing my Destiny so once more I turned to Grandma Siina, who I know had great wisdom on these matters.

“Grandma, what am I supposed to do?”

As ever she smiled and even laughed softly.

“Why, you go with Nick and let him train you on how to take control not only of a mighty starship such as this, but also–”

“My Destiny, right.  Got it,” I answered.  Then a bit unexpectedly she turned her head away and raced slinkily to the exit of the bridge.

“Okay, Nick, she’s ready!!”

Immediately Nick practically flew his way towards Grandma Siina and I.

“Well.  Shall we get on?”

My new confidence was at the biggest high there was.

“Yeah, sure.  I’m ready and willing!”

Little did I know…

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

The amount of tolerance for this whole entire mad situation decreased itself to an all-time low by this state…and I was definitely more than ready to ruddy say something about that!

“Hold it one second there!   Who the bloody hell d’you think you are!?” I hissed.

Nick offered me one of his favorite ways of response, which I hadn’t seen since our Federated Union prog-band years…to my chagrin.

“Nick B. Mason, United Fleet Ship Viceroy.  Now…who are you?” he sarcastically said, smiling all the way ‘round the board.

“In all due seriousness, Nick, just what d’you have in store for my daughter?!”

Nick beckoned me, stretching his mouth to my ear.

“Confidentially, uh…this wasn’t my idea,” he whispered, grin still intact.

I didn’t even dare, in one million years, believe it.

“If this wasn’t your idea, Nick, then whose was it?” I asked out loud.

Then, naturally and unfortunately, the truth came ‘round.

“It was mine, Richard.  I planted this seed into Starswan.  Satisfied?”

Oh, that’s right.  Dear old Siina.

“Well, Rick old bean old man, there you have it.  Your answer.”   Then Nick strutted his way off the bridge, leaving me ample opportunity to confront Siina about this once and for all.

“Listen, you,” I said quite testily, “I’ve very well had all I can damn well take from the likes of you!”

If anything Siina eyed me more angrily than even I could.

“You’ve had all you can take?!!?  Let me tell you something right now, Mr. Richard William Wright, the one who’s suffering the most is your DAUGHTER!!!  Do you actually get your English jollies by watching her dreams go by the wayside all these years?!?!!”

“Do let’s leave Starswan out of this, thank you.”

“No, I’m not going to do that.   I love her, Richard.  And you know it, too.”  Then she added, “Can you and Tabra even think of saying that to your own child?!”

She had me–well, us there…

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

A great sense of nausea ran throughout my guts as I witnessed the bitter argument between my Dad and Grandma Siina.  If there’s one thing I hate, it’s people I care about practically at each other’s throats.

So I decided to do something about it…

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

“Starswan, come you now out of  Space and Time.

Starswan, to you now I send this living rhyme.”

–The Children’s Sonnets for Starswan, verse one, lines one and two

Smoothly I made my way between my Dad and Grandma Siina, acting very nonchalantly.

Swiftly they took full notice of me. 

“Well, what do you want, Starswan?” asked my Dad.

I made my move.

“HEY, YOU GUYS!!!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.

That stopped them in their tracks.

“What was that all about?” asked Grandma Siina to my Dad.

“Been doing that off and on since she was two years old,” he replied wearily.  “Comes from those awful ancient reruns of that damnable Electric Company.  The old one, I mean, not the newer.”

Now I was ready to say what I wanted to say…

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

After taking a few micro-seconds to clear out my ears (thanks to Starswan’s booming call) I felt it quite necessary to have a one-on-one chat with Starswan.  Whether she wanted it or not was totally irrelavant in this case.

“First off, Starswan, no more of that stupid routine.  You’re a trifle bit old for that.  Secondly…what is so damnably important that it couldn’t wait?”

As befitting the nature of her semi-felinoid heritage she eyed me intensely.

“Well, Dad…I’m going to fulfill my Destiny, and I’m doing it wholeheartedly in spite of how you feel about it.  Grandma Siina was right…this is where I belong, not hanging about in that tin can above PFSB-663905.  I mean, come on, Dad, admit it.  You and Mom can’t stand it either, right?  I say, am I right?!”

“Of course you’re right. We do hate living above Roger’s Commode but we don’t go ‘round saying so now, do we?” I told her.

“That’s right, Starswan,” said Tabra from out of the background. “We feel the same way you do.  But things are what they are.  You do understand that.”

There appeared a sudden look on Starswan’s face that indicated she wasn’t entirely convinced of all this.

“Well, if you feel exactly as I do, then you’ve got a funny way of showing it.”  Those were, of course, her direct words.

For the moment, I had run out of things to say…

Now we hear from Mrs. Tabra Wright:

You can bet I don’t like being interrogated by anyone…and especially not by my own daughter.  Now, normally I’d give the harsh chewing-out she deserves but under these new and weird circumstances…I’ll let it go.  For now, at least.

But yet…she did have a good point in what she said.

In fact, she was dead-on accurate!!

Of course Richard and I knew it all this time now, didn’t we?

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

Man alive, did I send my parents reeling!  I’m surprised they didn’t spank my keister (not that they could anyway…but that’s beside the point).

But you know what?  They got it!

They really got it…at long last.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

“But you keep on having these incredible highs…”

–Howard Schuman & Andy Mackay, “The Road”, from Rock Follies, 1976

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Now, I don’t know about the next bloke but my suspicion was that some unknown–thing or other had overtaken Starswan.  The Starswan I know would never, ever in one billion years, dare show the kind of “new attitude” now on display for our “benefit.”   But…if it’s to be, then it’s to be, right?

However that doesn’t mean I have to like it one damnable bit.  Not one at all.

And yet–here we go with the emotional paradoxes–I couldn’t help but feel a sense of joy for Starswan.  Maybe, just maybe this really was the solution we all needed.

Only don’t tell Siina I told you this

I’d jolly well never live it down…

Now we hear from Mrs. Tabra Wright:

I’m not sure if you all noticed this but it did my heart a great deal of good to see Richard get along with my mother so well.  In fact,  I think it even strengthened our relationship with Starswan.  That always does a mother proud, I believe.

Of course, I’m not going to tell Richard this now, am I?

No?  Well…

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

My resolve, as I’m sure I stated over and over again, grew more and more firm than ever.  It’s as if–I don’t know–I was growing up!  In a weird sense, my parents did exactly the right thing for me, even though not one of us really knew any of this at the time–well, Grandma Siina knew.  Then again, that’s her way and I can’t help but love her for that, you know.

Suddenly we were brought back to our senses, or what was left of them anyway, when Nick re-entered the bridge of the ship.

“Well, Starswan?  Are you ready to fulfill your Destiny?”

But before I could answer, my Dad decided to intervene.  Once again…

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

As is known by now, I’m sure, Nick and I didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye on many things before but this whole damned “Destiny” thing really broke the camel’s back.  And I no doubt made that point be jolly well known, thank you so very much.

“Now hang on a minute, Nick.  Just what the hell d’you think you’re doing to my kid?!”

He smiled that impishly sickening smile of his in order to make his point heard.

“Oh, just letting your daughter make her own decision, thank you.”  There.  He just said it…though I damn well wish, as is always anymore, that he bloody well hadn’t!!

But…to my own disgusted chagrin, he did have his point, and it was valid.  However, that did most emphatically not appease my anger in the slightest bit whatsoever.

“All right, Nick…” I said rather wearily, “let’s see what Starswan has to say about all this.    Herself.  No outside source of help.”

And so I–well, that is, we all turned ‘round to Starswan, waiting for her response…

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

“There’s an authorised biography; that’s the kind of year we’ll have.”

–Howard Schuman & Andy Mackay, “The Follies of ’77”, from Rock Follies of ’77, 1977

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electroncally):

All eyes were on me as my Dad leaned his head to me.  By the way, I was sitting in the Captain’s Chair, just so you know.

“Well, Starswan?  What’s your decision?” he asked.

I gave him a baffled look.

“Decision?  What decision?”

“Oh, come on now, Starswan.  You bloody well know what I’m on about.”

Then I got it.

“You mean that, don’t you?  Sure, I see.  I get it.”

Then my Mom spoke to me.

“Honey, you’re going to have to decide your future, one way or another.  Grandma and Mr. Nick can’t wait forever, you know.  This is your moment.”

All at once the weight of the Universe bore itself down on little ol’ me…then I made my choice.

I can only hope beyond hope that we all don’t regret this.

“Okay…” I said, “this is it.  I’ve chosen.”

“And?!” uttered my Dad.

I took a long amount of time to think about it.  Then…

“I’m going to accept my Destiny.  I still don’t know what it is yet, but I’ll take it.”

I don’t about the next person but the only people who were glad were Nick and Grandma Siina.  What, did you think my Dad was happy?  You’ve got to be kidding.

“Starswan, I just don’t know about you…” moaned my Dad sadly.

At that instant…all my old cares rapidly faded away as if…they were never there.

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

I thought I’d just about seen it all.

How damned wrong I was.

This takes the ruddy cake and eats it, too.

So…with that said, I looked ‘round to Tabra in total and utter dismay.

“D’you honestly even believe this!?!?” I said.

Tabra rolled her eyes upward to the ship’s ceiling.

“At this point, Richard, I don’t know what to believe.  I really don’t.”

That worked for me.

Not unexpectedly afterwards, Siina sashayed her way towards Tabra and myself.

“Well, what do you two think of Starswan’s decision?” she asked rather glibly.

We had nothing to say…

From the Intimate Diaries of Starswan Wright (recorded electronically):

I guess this is the last entry in my old diaries for the time being.

The reason I’m sure you already know by now.

Slowly I reclined in “my” Captain’s Chair, a broad smile on my face.

“Okay…let’s go.”

“Go where?” asked my Dad.

Once more Nick had a ready-made answer to Dad’s question.

“Out there, of bloody course,” he said, poining forwards. “Rick, why d’you have to be so…glum, chum?”

“I’d rather kiss a rotten egg than answer that inquiry, Nick old bag,” replied my Dad.

“Well, that can be arranged now, can’t it?!” hissed my Mom humorously.

“Oh, very bloody well.  Starswan…take us out.  Please.”

I was ready for this moment…and I didn’t waste it.

Hmm…I wonder if someone will write about us and all our experiences.

Oh, what am I saying?

“All right, Starswan…” said Grandma Siina, “let’s go.”

I gave the signal.

Let my Destiny begin…

EPILOGUE

Six Months Later

“Plans that either come to naught, or half a page of scribbled lines.”

–Mason/Waters/Gilmour/Wright, “Time”, from Dark Side of the Moon, 1973

From the (revised) Log-Entries of Mr. Richard W. Wright:

Well, there you have it.  A rather sad story, don’t you agree?

Will I ever see my daughter again, you ask?

The answer to that is: how should I know that?

I can’t read minds nor can I see the future as far as that goes.  Just take things as they bloody well come, and let the quadra-poker chips fall wherever they damn well please.

Oh…who am I kiddding?  Myself, that’s who.

However…

“Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way.

The time is gone, the song is over.  Thought I’d something more to say.”

–Mason/Waters/Gilmour/Wright, “Time”, from Dark Side of the Moon, 1973

AUTHOR’S AFTERWORD

I have to tell you now this was the most time-consuming story written by me.  A lot has happened to me (in a very personal way, natch) which, for the sake of space and time I won’t go at all into.  But you can imagine how much joy overall I had in creating this more–shall I say, introspective piece of hard yet metaphysical science fiction/family tale rolled in one.

First off, I want to thank my angel Katie Bridges, whose words of inspiration and comfort really helped drive this tale to a good conclusion.  Then of course, I’ll dedicate this to my two friends Henry Seymour III and Bernadette Obermeier, without whom–well, let’s face it, I wouldn’t be here and alive.

Naturally, since this, like all the others, was influenced by British pop culture, I’d like to thank the following:  Nick Mason, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Tony Banks of Genesis, Howard Schuman, Andy Mackay, Julie Covington, Rula Lenska, and Charlotte Cornwell.

And since this is a heartfelt tribute saga, I want to especially and deeply give homage to the creative innovation and quiet genius of:

RICHARD WILLIAM “RICK” WRIGHT

(1943-2008)

…without whom Starswan simply wouldn’t exist.

Because of all of you…Starswan is here to stay.  At least I hope, anyway…

Sincerely yours,

Thomas R. Skidmore

Pittsburgh, PA

July 15, 2011