Authors: Don Hurst
"Precisely."
"So, whoever you are, precisely, can't you get me a ride and tell me how I can do all that saving stuff?"
"Silly lad. Your ride has been summoned and awaits you. Do not worry about the height; your gift of imagination is able to reach any altitude. You have already exceeded Harry Winsome's elevation."
"Did dad have to save the solar system too?"
The fox glanced to the side, planning his escape route. It bounded from the ledge and disappeared through the trees, as Reshape's voice faded. “Harry Winsome saved planet Earth. Your task is monumentally greater.” Reshape's voice disappeared with the fox, its final words barely audible. “Only you can save us. Sorrrrrry..."
Paul stood looking where the fox disappeared from his view. He felt numb. Only I can save the solar system? Easy for him to say.
The memory flashed. Maken Fairchild saying, ‘Allow your mind to be free, Paul. Let it express what it will. Feel yourself drifting into a daydream. A great part of your life is imagination. As you imagine, so it is. Drift into it. Leave behind expectations and see the life you desire. Live it as real and it will become your reality.
'
Paul pictured an unseen cloud. He merged with the thought of a cloud large enough to ride. A blink of time passed and he landed on a cloud ride, feeling as solid as the ground had been on Earth, yet comfortable as sitting on a pillow.
"About time, Paul. Boss."
The male voice thought-spoke matter-of-factly.
Paul looked at his cloud ride, a unicorn, larger than Silk had been. Its horn stretched a full six inches longer than Silk's. By the sound of his voice, this ride didn't seem friendly at all. They rode in silence for close to an hour.
"Hold on! Boss. Fire tube!"
the cloud warned.
A long pointed cylinder with fire shooting out of its rear created ripples in the air, and Paul's ride quaked with the disturbance. The roar attacked his ears like a continuous peal of thunder. The rocket climbed. Slowly the air around them stabilized.
"What was that?” Paul shouted.
"Keen Aware says a Russian space explorer. Boss. Keen Aware is our guardian against a sneak attack from the fire tubes. Boss."
"How come I didn't hear Keen Aware's warning?"
"It's a cloud thing. Boss. We've got some distance to travel and not much time to do it."
Its speed increased and Paul held onto the unicorn's mane to keep from being blown off.
"Without Keen Aware, we clouds would be blown apart by those ghastly manmade fire pushers. Boss."
"You don't need the boss bit,” Paul said. “I had another dear friend, a unicorn like yourself. Called herself Silk and she insisted on calling me master all the time. Did you know her?"
"My Mother. Boss. I am Satin, son of Silk."
"Wow! That's neat, Satin, son of Silk. Could you please stop calling me boss?"
"Unicorn tradition. Boss. We clouds retain a part of our parent and I would have a cloud-ache if I did not call you boss."
"You mean Silk is part of you?"
"If you wish to say it that way. Boss."
"What was your father's name?"
"We have only one parent. Boss."
Paul's hair became wind whipped as their speed increased. He wisecracked, “You're kind of a chip off the old cloud, huh?” When he received no answer, he thought better of trying to be a cloud comedian. “I'm trying to find my sister, Vicki.” Still no communication from Satin. “Listen, I'm supposed to save the solar system, okay?"
"Be ready to see something that will horrify you. Boss."
Again the unicorn increased its speed.
"Prepare yourself for Vile Extinction, who is trying to enter our solar system. Boss."
"Why me? What makes me such a warrior that I should be the one to confront this Vile Extinction?"
"We clouds have the same question. Boss. Why you?"
Satin speed increased until Paul had to shut his eyes against gusts threatening to blow him off the unicorn's back. Paul hugged its soft white backside. He didn't have the feeling of height so much as being attached to a lightning bolt.
The sky slowly darkened. Far ahead, the rounded lips surrounding a gaping hole grew larger as they approached at a speed indicating his cloud ride wanted to blow him off.
"Please stop,” Paul begged, feeling his face skin flutter like an unsecured sail in a windstorm. “Like, now. Please."
Satin applied his air brakes, stopped and Paul almost flew over his cloud's neck. He imagined himself impaled on the horn and quickly withdrew the thought.
No! Belay that! I do not see myself stabbed by that horn.
His parallel-imagined-life was going to catch up and devour him yet.
In front of them, massive yawning lips stretched as far as Paul could see, framing the blackness of a great cave-like entrance. Inside, far within the dark void, barely visible, a moving mass of planets and moons spun around twin stars. Paul stared and the two stars stared back. “And we're here, for why?” Paul knew the answer. Inside the darkness—Vile Extinction. “How far away are we from entering that thing?"
"In meters or miles? Boss."
"Are you kidding me? First you try to throw me off into that thing, and now... Miles, okay."
"Thousands. Boss."
"Oh for crying out loud!” Paul yelled. “How many thousands?"
"Do you see a measuring device on me? Boss."
Satin paused and Paul fumed.
"Inside spins Vile Extinction. And, I am not about to go in there. If you go in there you do so alone. Boss."
Satin shook his head side to side.
"Order me into that hole and you are no longer boss. Boss. I will caution all my fellow clouds to drop you like a hot spark from our sun. Boss. Going into that hole is a no go. Death by solar system a horrible cloud nightmare! A Vile Extinction kill! You see it only by order of our queen, Calamity Horrid. Calamity Horrid is boss. You are boss. Satin is not boss. Boss.
"You don't want to go inside that thing,” Paul said, assuring his cloud ride he understood the limitations of his flight plan. Inside the long cave-like wormhole spun a flat disk which dipped and disappeared, and dipped again to appear. And so at long last he met his foe, the threat to Earth's solar system. “You mean that's Vile Extinction in there? And do I see a measuring device on you? How do you know about measuring devices? You're a darned cloud, remember?"
"Keen Aware teaches us about measurement. Boss."
After a long hesitation, Satin's voice took on a puzzled tone.
"Why do you ask if Vile Extinction is in the hole? Boss. Do you not see her stars and spinning planets and moons? Boss. There. Look there! Two big suns. Her eyes. She's coming out! Boss! Help us!"
"She's a flat disk? Why is she flat? She could be a giant CD."
Satin backed from the wide mouth.
"I can not answer that question. Boss. Would if I could. Boss. Rumor amongst us clouds is that she has a missing dimension. Boss. Queen Calamity Horrid tells us as well. So says Keen Aware. So says Claude Nab. No, come to think of it, I don't think Claude Nab was here when it was discussed. He was otherwise occupied. Collecting time-screamers, I think Lady Horrid said. Boss."
A new voice came into Paul's mind.
I warned you!
This voice attacked, a nasty alarming announcement beating up on his brain and hammering into his stomach.
Stay away! Do not come closer! My son shall kill you! I shall kill you! Link Traver shall kill you!
The voice scared and angered Paul at the same time. “I'm thousands of miles away!” Paul cried toward the spinning disk. “And who is Link Traver and why does he want to kill me too?"
"Link Traver is the wormhole. Boss."
Vile's warning took over the conversation.
My son does the honors. Die now!
The voice sounded like a discordant blending of a hundred orchestras and rock bands inharmoniously tuning their instruments. The announcement swirled, advanced, retreated, faded and increased in a garish sound mix.
A green laser shot flew past him and lit up several nearby clouds, bright, green and deadly. Paul had grown used to Kid Badd's erratic aim and the heat coming from a near miss. But it had an element of added eeriness seeing Kid Badd's vile mother inside her wormhole and to hear her malicious voice as her son carried out his killing duties.
"That's Kid Badd, Satin,” Paul explained in a whisper. “Don't worry, he always misses and now he has to recharge."
"I know. Boss."
Inside Link Traver, planets played tag with their two suns on a spinning stage performing a show for Paul. Then she dipped and disappeared, the light from her distant suns remaining.
"That's no lady,” he whispered.
"She is another solar system needing to grow by invading our space. Boss."
"Stop the boss bit. You've made your point. Why does anyone think I could defeat this Vile Extinction thing?"
"My question also. Boss. Do you realize the size of Vile Extinction? Compared to you? Boss?"
"I think Vile Extinction is more of a description than a name.” Paul did have a question for Satin, one only he could answer. “Why did you bring me here if you're so scared of getting close to that hole thing?"
"It is written within cloud history, Keen Aware and Calamity Horrid tell us, of the coming of an invading solar system called Vile Extinction, within a wormhole by the name of Link Traver. Boss. It is also written of a human lad of fourteen years who will attempt to save our solar system. Boss. His name is Paul Winsome from the small planet known as Earth. Boss. There is no doubt amongst us clouds you are that Paul Winsome. Boss."
"No pressure, huh? It is also written in a big book back on Earth."
"You must be very brave. Boss."
"I have no idea what to do.” He waited for Satin to mind-speak additional information. Satin apparently thought his boss didn't need more information, so Paul corrected the assumption. “Can you tell me more?"
"We leave now. Boss."
Satin sped away from the mouth of the worm hole.
Paul bent forward and hung onto Satin's mane. An hour passed. Looking back he still couldn't see any boundaries to the yawning lips containing Vile Extinction.
Pushing Vile Extinction from his mind, Claude Nab's giant hand came into Paul's psyche, a nightmare grasping a kicking and squirming Vicki. “Are we on our way to save Vicki?"
"Not exactly. Boss."
"Then, where are we going, exactly?"
Satin's flight became the speed Paul figured Superman could fly. Too fast for his liking, unless its destination had the name of Vicki.
A bright light bulb whizzed past Paul and Satin, stopped, returned and wiggled its screw-end bottom in greeting. “Hey! Where you all going?"
"Reshape?” Paul asked.
"If I said yes, would it shed some light on the subject?” The bulb flashed. “Pardon me. When you have to glow you have to glow.” The light bulb exploded.
Reshape reassembled his exploded bulb fragments into coils of multicolored lights. The end piece burst outward and became an evergreen Christmas tree, dipped its tip under the loops and shoved itself up inside the wraps. He shook his branches and wiggled his trunk, cheerfully proclaiming, “Merry Christmas!” The lights brightened in flashes of sparkling red and green. “Ho ho ho!"
"You know it isn't Christmas!” Paul yelled. He stared at his supposed sky guide and shook his head in disbelief. They had just sped away from a super humongous wormhole which contained an invading solar system, and Reshape/Maken Fairchild played silly games. “Why do you keep doing these changes? And don't tell me it's to escape Kid Badd. He could start a forest fire in those branches."
"So you are into blaming a guy for trying to have some fun? Where's your Christmas spirit?"
"It's stuck down on Earth waiting for the right season!” Trying to keep irritated words from flying out of his mouth became useless. “And what about Vicki? You remember Vicki, don't you? Blond hair and blue eyes—who just happens to be my sister?"
"So, where you going?” the tree said, completely ignoring Paul's questions. Its lights flickered. From his branches, ornaments of many designs and colors appeared and disappeared, as if chased away by the lights.
"If you're not into helping me find Vicki, can't we at least go and see how Will's doing in his search for Holly?” Surely there had to be a way to arrange his words so Reshape would understand his need not to play games.
"Paul, my boy. I am a Christmas tree. I am in no condition to go after Will or Holly, am I, don't you know, I believe,” the tree ended in a perfect Will imitation. “I have answered your question, don't you know, I'm thinking. So it is your turn. Where we going, mate?"
"Quit making fun of Will."
"
Five
years, don't you know, I'm thinking, kind of, isn't it.” Will's imitation left off and became happier in a Christmas way. “Ho ho ho. Merry Willis time, who has not been up here for five years. Only been about four years and four hundred days, don't you know, I'm thinking."
Paul glared at the tree, its lights blinking and changing colors. He gritted his teeth. This almost seemed funny in its stupidity. “Rather than make fun of Will, why not short-out and let the sparks set you on fire. Do something useful and burn yourself up."
"That's mean,” Reshape said in a perfect imitation of Vicki.
"That's not fair!” Paul bristled.
"Just as fair as you not giving me an answer to my question. Where are we going?"
Once again the question baffled Paul. Why wouldn't he know? “Where are we going, Satin?” Paul asked his unicorn cloud ride.
A roar interrupted. The cone front of a rocket shoved through the clouds, seeming to run from the fire coming out its rear-end. The airwaves from the rocket's force shoved Satin and Paul aside as it pushed through cloud forms. The stars and stripes of an American flag were painted on its body. The rumble of its thrust hurt Paul's ears and its fiery smell assaulted his nostrils.