Who Was That Boogeyman I Saw You With Last Night, Charlie Boone? - 8. Chapter 8

In the morning, Charlie felt that his body had rested, but that his mind had not. He'd had Kippy to hold onto through the long night -- a longer night than those back on Earth, surely -- and Rick and Adrian had had each other, too. But the rest of their group had met the night alone, and they all looked a little weary. The walls of their redoubt had greatly reduced the sounds of the forest outside, but not eliminated them completely. Some of the voices of the night had been quite alluring, but others sounded as if the belonged to creatures that were best left alone. The idea of such things roaming about just beyond their walls was unnerving, at best.

Max's pack produced more coffee, and a meal for each of them that was much more like a breakfast back home. They talked while they ate, and it was plain that everyone had had their thoughts fixed on their current situation.

Casper asked the question that had perhaps been foremost in everyone's minds."My first thought is, should we bring Auggie in on this? I mean, if the popper came from the allmagic, who would know more about that than him?"

"I thought about that, too," Adrian offered. "But then I wondered if it would be dangerous for Auggie to come here. What happens if two of these kinds of beings meet?"

Max nodded, taking the question seriously. "I don't know. But if you mean, could the popper absorb Auggie like it did its own copies, I'd have to say no."

"Here's another question," Kippy said. "This popper can absorb skwish beings it has created. Well, aren't we also beings that use skwish? Could it absorb one of us?"

"There's a nice plot for a horror movie," Rick said, frowning. "But...I don't think this popper can absorb us. It can absorb the copies it made of itself, because it made them from its own self. But we aren't the same at all."

Robin swallowed a sip of his coffee and shook his head. "If this popper made a million copies of itself, it must have been one powerful dude when it started out. We saw how it got larger and more powerful by just absorbing one copy back into itself. That means it sacrificed some of its own power to make the copies, but can get that back by taking them back into itself. What would have happened if it had absorbed hundreds, or even thousands?"

"That's why it brought us here," Max reminded. "It wanted to re-absorb enough copies to be more powerful than we are." He smiled at Charlie. "Your idea on changing the time threw a real wrench into the works for our blue pal."

Will set his coffee cup on the table and sighed thoughtfully. "I gotta wonder how this planet figures in this. If the popper is not a real life like we know life...like people, it didn't come from any particular world. You know, like evolve somewhere, I mean? But here we have a planet with a city on it that seems made for poppers."

"He apparently made the copies with a purpose in mind, and he had to have somewhere they could stay while he made his plans," Ragal said. "But I have been thinking about that, too." He looked around at the room. "The copies obviously are thinking beings. They organize, they associate, they produce things. They're alive. So, they would need places to live, like cities. Perhaps the hives came later, as they decided to move about the galaxy. They have a technology at their command, and a pretty decent one, it seems. So...where did all that come from?"

Charlie knew his friend well enough to know that Ragal often posed questions so that he could debate the possibilities.

"You have an idea on that?" Charlie asked, smiling.

"Yes." Ragal looked pointedly around the room they were in. "This place, this world. Let's suppose--"

"I love these supposes," Kippy whispered, grinning.

Ragal smiled, but continued on. "--that this is the only world that the poppers ever inhabited. The only world they ever lived on before they took to the hives to move about the galaxy."

"What's your basis for that idea?" Rip asked. "We never knew how many hives there were, but estimates ranged from twenty to fifty in this part of the galaxy alone. We always supposed there were more elsewhere."

Ragal shook his head. "I tend to believe now that the population was smaller than you thought, because this is not a normal race of beings. If we estimate the population of the hive we visited at 5,000, that would yield a population of only 100,000 to 250,000, if there actually were twenty to fifty hives."

Rick whistled. "That's small for a population of people."

"But it's a heck of a lot of copies," Kip pointed out.

"Exactly," Ragal agreed. "But since we are pretty sure now that they are copies from one master, it makes more sense to me to believe that they originated on one world, and moved from there directly to the hives."

"You think they came from here?" Charlie asked.

"I do."

Will grunted. "Then these fellas couldn't all have been in the hives. This popper expected there to be reinforcements here."

"I agree," Ragal said. "I would consider this their base of operations, then. They had to build the hives somewhere. Probably, they constructed them here, and used resident copies living here to man them."

"How?" Rick asked. "If they came from here, how did they get here?"

Ragal nodded. "That's what we will need to determine. And, the only way I can think of to do that is to better explore this world and see what is here."

Max sighed. "To do that means we'll have to move around, and as dense as this jungle is, that means flying. The popper will be able to detect our movements. He'll come this way."

Ragal shrugged. "You and Charlie -- all of us, to some extent -- can detect this creature's peculiar and distinctive skwish signature. We'll know if he is approaching. We'll just need to stay ahead of him."

"Oh, is that all," Rick said, grinning. "I love races!"

There were a few appreciative chuckles, but Charlie felt that most of the group seemed unnerved by the idea of the popper chasing them around the face of the planet.

"We'll be okay," he said then. "The popper is not anywhere close to us. We need to move quickly, is all. And away from our friend." He looked around the table. "Everyone done eating?"

They cleaned up the place, and Max put away the pack for the time being. The sofas and table they decided to leave in place, just in case they came back. Charlie smiled at the notion of alien archaeologists of the future finding the furniture in this place, and puzzling over the meaning of it all.

Max determined that there was nothing close to the section of old wall he'd used to close their doorway, and pushed the obstruction to one side. Daylight, with a distinct reddish hue, filled the entry point.

Kippy oohed over the color of the sunshine. "Isn't that beautiful?"

It was. As they stepped outside it was into a day reposing beneath a rose-colored sky streaked with lighter clouds. The red sun had still yet to rise high enough to be seen in the gap of the jungle's canopy directly overhead, but the light that filled the old tiled plaza outside looked anything but menacing.

"A little redder and it would be spooky," Kip admitted. "But the way it is now, it looks like a scene from a fairy novel."

"Present company excepted," Adrian said drily, with a grin.

"Looks like great flying weather!" Browbeat pronounced, and launched himself from Kip's shoulder. He buzzed rapidly around the open area, and returned to hover in front of Charlie. "Reconnaissance pilot first class Browbeat reporting, sir! The area looks clear!"

Charlie grinned at the flyer. "Wanna ride with me for a spell, pardner?"

Browbeat tittered happily, and circled about to land on Charlie's shoulder. "I was doing a war movie, Charlie, and you were doing a western. I don't think they mix very well."

Kippy laughed, and reached over to rub the flyer's fur with his finger. "It'll do for now, though. Just think cowboys in airplanes, and you'll be good."

Browbeat's eyes widened. "Are there any movies like that? Why haven't I seen them?"

Rick sighed. "Don't mess with his head, Kip. When we get home, he'll be looking through all the streaming channels, looking for cowboys in fighter planes."

Max blew out a frustrated breath, and rolled his eyes. "I think we need to get goin'. Let me do the flyin', okay?"

Max replaced the slab of wall in front of the doorway, just to keep the weather out, and they assembled into a close group. Max lifted them into the air. They rose until they were above the jungle, and Max turned the group slowly and stopped. "Our boy is that way," he said, nodding straight ahead. Again they rotated, until they were facing the opposite direction. "So, we go this way."

They moved off, gaining speed, until they were covering distance at a good clip, but still able to focus on the ground below. But the jungle canopy seemed unbroken for close to a half hour, before Rick suddenly yelled and Max drew them to a halt.

"Did you see somethin'?"

Rick turned his head to gaze over his shoulder. "Back there a little way. I thought I saw something unusual in the canopy of the jungle, like a bump. Maybe there's something underneath it."

They reversed course and backtracked themselves slowly, until even Charlie could see the unusual hump in the forest canopy. "It doesn't look like much. Maybe it's just a hill below."

"We'll see," Max returned, lowering them carefully into a tiny space between trees. The light immediately dimmed, and the forest floor took on an almost ghostly appearance.

Rick was proved correct. Beneath the small rise in the canopy were the remains of a building, this one totally unlike the remnants of the tower they had spent the night in. This was a round structure with most of a domed roof remaining. And, nearby and stretching away into the woods, were the circular foundations of many more of the same sort of structures, indicating a habitation of some size. The one Rick had spotted was simply the most intact remains of what had to have been a town of some size.

"Look at the doorway," Robin said immediately. "Look at how low it is."

"Definitely not sized for poppers," Rip agreed.

"We'd have to bend down to get in there," Dick observed. "But see how wide it is? Whatever used that doorway was broad and low to the ground."

Charlie examined the odd doorway, but made no move to get closer. "Anyone sense anything inside?" he asked.

"I don't," Max said. "Not at the moment, anyway."

"Let me look first," Browbeat advised, coming off Charlie's shoulder, and turning to face him. "I can run faster than you guys!"

Charlie smiled at the flyer, and nodded. "Be my guest."

Browbeat moved closer to the doorway and peered inside.

"What do you see?" Casper whispered.

Browbeat edged closer, and stopped within the doorway. Then he moved inside, and for a moment was out if sight, before he suddenly reappeared and headed back to Charlie.

"There's nothing inside, but something sure lives there. All sorts of bones and junk lying around, and a big nest made of sticks and leaves and who knows what in the center of the room."

At that moment, a loud call of some sort echoed through the forest, making Charlie's hair stand on end. It didn't sound that close, but it did sound especially irritated.

"Maybe it knows someone is calling?" Casper asked, with a smile.

"Who's that sleeping in my bed!" Rick added, with a small laugh.

"There's some things of interest inside, Charlie," Browbeat said. "Looks like tech stuff."

Charlie's curiosity was immediately piqued. "Ragal, shall we have a look?"

"What about the rest of us?" Rick asked then.

"Guard the fort," Charlie said absently, moving now towards the opening in the tumbledown structure, and sensing Ragal move to follow him.

"We don't have a fort," Rick said, plainly disappointed. Adrian turned a hush look on his boyfriend, to which Rick just pouted. "Well, we don't."

Charlie understood Rick's annoyance. After all, Rick had spotted the place, hadn't he? But Charlie wanted Ragal to have a look before anything was said. Sometimes their friend's first impressions were important.

They reached the doorway and bent to look inside. This was more of a task for Ragal than it was for Charlie, but the lanky alien was astonishingly limber. It was clear now the building had once had a door that drew aside to allow entry and exit; that barrier now lay twisted and blackened on the floor to one side. In fact, the entire interior of the building looked to have been burned out at one time. That did not hide the evidence of low machines or devices of some sort standing around the interior walls, their faces also blackened, but their technological heritage clear.

The nest that Browbeat had described filled the center of the room, large enough to be alarming at the idea of what sort of creature might call it home. The doorway might be low, but it was more than wide enough to allow entry by something of size that crawled on all fours.The remains of meals, some quite sizable themselves, only added to the idea that this was a place best left alone.

Ragal inspected everything, and turned to Charlie. "I'd need to look within one of these devices to be certain, but I think we are seeing the remains of a pretty fair level of technology."

Charlie nodded, turned, and waved at Rick to come over. The other boy grinned, and was quickly at their side. "Thought you should have a look, too." Charlie said, bumping his shoulder against the other's.

Rick surveyed the room, and frowned at the equipment he could see. "Looks like pretty advanced stuff, but I'd just be guessing." His eyes focused on the nest then, and the litter around it, and he frowned. "Looks like the place is well-guarded at night, too!'

"This building was obviously never a popper dwelling," Ragal said. "The race that used this structure were of less height than humans, though apparently broader."

Charlie nodded, and turned to wave the others over, while he and Ragal and Rick moved back to clear the doorway. As they did, the mysterious and very loud voice of whatever creature they had heard before blared forth again, sounding closer this time.

"Everyone that wants to, have a quick look. And then we need to be out of here."

"This looks like different folks used these buildings," Max said, joining them. "I'm starting to get a feelin' about this place."

"You think all these buildings were once the same?" Rick asked, pointing to the round foundations visible all around them.

"It stands to reason the they were at least similar," Ragal answered. "Especially in the idea that none were habitations of poppers."

"Then who were they?" Rick asked.

The tall alien offered a shrug. "I can only guess now. I suggest we resume our explorations and see what else we can find."

"That's what we'll do," Max agreed.

They gathered together into a group and Max took them back into the sky. The red sun still had yet to get to zenith, and now Charlie was certain that the day here was longer than back home on Earth. He said so then, to which Ragal agreed.

"We'll just have to take it as it comes," Max said. "When we get tired, we'll stop."

"I have to wonder who these other people were," Casper said wonderingly. "Could this have been their planet, and not the popper's planet?"

"That's my assumption at this point," Ragal agreed. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves in our deliberations."

"I've learned more about poppers in my short time with you than I learned in all my time fighting them," Rip asserted. "One thing even Khaj never guessed was that they might not be a natural species. Nor did any of the races we assisted against the poppers seem to suspect this."

Max nodded. "We didn't suspect it until the battle outside the hive. Our blue buddy gave himself away when he reabsorbed that other popper. But when he latched onto us and thumbed a ride, the proof the pudding was cooked to perfection was clear."

Charlie and the others laughed at the somewhat mixed metaphor.

"You have a way with words, Max," Kippy said, smiling.

The elf laughed. "I can chop 'em up with the best!"

Charlie had always wondered at Max's use of language. The elf could be surprisingly analytical and succinct one moment, and almost folksy the next. He'd decided that the usage was a refection of Max's comfort at what was going on around them at any given time. The more at ease Max felt, the looser his dialog became.

"Any more thought on bringing Auggie out here?" he asked then.

Max looked over at him. "I let the boss know what's going on. We'll have to wait and see."

Charlie felt surprise at that, and then some measure of relief. That Nicholaas was aware of their situation and where they were was comforting. But the man had been allowing Charlie and the others to handle their problems on their own for some time, and just Nicholaas knowing their situation was no guarantee that the man would come to them. Charlie wondered then what Nicholaas had found in his own investigations into time. That he had also been looking into the actions of the poppers in his own way was interesting. Nicholaas might already have an idea how this would all work out in the end. But Charlie felt certain that if Nicholaas took action to assist them, then it was almost certain that Auggie would be along for the ride.

He sighed, and smiled at Max. "Nice to know we have back up."

"Sure. The boss loves you guys, you know that. But he thinks you learn so much more on your own, if he doesn't just rush in to help you. He says you guys have the makings of being really great power users one day."

"He said that?" Kippy asked, a glowing smile on his face. "Why, that sweet old Santa Claus!"

That brought a round of laughter, and an easing of the tension everyone had been feeling.

They sailed on over the jungle for an hour or more, seeing nothing else that might indicate structures hidden within.

"I noticed the feeling that our friend is coming our way has strengthened a little," Max said at one point. "He's clearly figured out we're moving, and is following."

"I felt that, too," Charlie admitted. "He doesn't seem to be in a hurry to meet us, though. We're just meandering along. He can go a lot faster, if he wants to."

Robin laughed. "If he could detect Esmerelda's power but not her, like Max said, that should be enough to make our popper friend exercise some caution. He knows he has been brought to the wrong time, and that there are no reinforcements here he can absorb. That means he has to deal with us one-on-one, and he already knows how that played out the last time we met. So, he's probably trying to figure out some way of dealing with us that won't get him killed."

"He can't be killed like those other poppers could," Max reminded. "He's more than just a skwish being."

"I was speaking figuratively," Robin answered. "I just meant he doesn't want to be obliterated, or whatever nasty end can happen to him."

"I would think something like that would be hard to get rid of," Casper considered. "What do you with a piece of the allmagic that is displaying bad behavior?"

"There's the question," Max agreed.

"Could he be returned to the allmagic some way?" Adrian asked.

"Not a good idea." Max grunted. "Auggie is my only experience with this situation. When he was just a foobear, the Keepers could have returned him to the allmagic. That's what they were going to do, until we stopped them. But once we all realized that Auggie was alive it would have been a crime to try to do anything like that to him."

"Could the Keepers do anything about this popper?" Kippy asked.

Max sighed. "That would be up to the boss. It would still be a crime to return this blue guy to the allmagic if he is a sentient being. Alive and aware."

"But he's dangerous," Dick pointed out. "Even if he is alive and aware."

"I know. And we killed four of his copies in that battle. But there are rules about this sort of stuff, especially where it comes to the allmagic. Not only would we be extinguishing a life by returning the popper to where he originated, we'd be committing a second crime by putting the allmagic at risk. The allmagic is not alive, not aware. There is risk at returning a broken piece that is aware, and not just because it would end the unique existence of the piece returned. There is always the danger of infecting the allmagic with awareness from the returned piece."

"Could that happen?" Charlie asked, stunned at the idea.

"No one knows, for sure. But since there is the slightest danger of it, it's not permitted. Can you imagine what would happen if the allmagic became aware? What would happen to skwish users trying to do magic, if the allmagic decided not to let them?"

"It could be the end to magic!" Kippy said, sounding aghast.

"I could be," Max agreed. "So returning this guy now is not really an option."

"I remember that night when Auggie appeared at the workshop," Rick said. "The Keepers just thought he was a foobear -- a piece of raw energy broken off the allmagic. They were going to return him there when they caught him. But Auggie was really good at eluding them, and as the night progressed, and we all wondered what he looked like, and we imagined our own versions, he took on those qualities from our minds, and became who we wished him to be." He smiled. "A big, pretty kitty with a strange sense of humor."

Everyone laughed at that.

"Wouldn't the same thing had to have happened with this original popper?" Adrian asked. "If it was just a piece of the allmagic that broke off, someone had to imagine it into what it became."

"A monster," Kip supplied, frowning. "Auggie had so much energy that he cancelled small magics just going past them. That's why there was trouble on the lines in the shop. The Keepers saw him as a great danger. Maybe the people that first encountered the popper imagined it as a monster, and that's what it became."

There was quiet at that idea, for quite a long time, it seemed.

"You make some startling comments, sometimes, son." Max finally said. "You may be closer to the truth then you think."

"Frankenstein," Rick said then. "Holy crap!"

Will spoke up then. "I see something ahead."

They'd all been busy talking, and Charlie realized no one had been looking. Well, no one but Will and a few others. All eyes went forward then, and Charlie took a breath of surprise along with the others at what he saw there. A winking green line along the horizon, that sparkled faintly with a rose radiance.

"What's that?" Browbeat asked, sounding just as awed as Charlie felt.

Will chuckled at their apparent mystification at what they were seeing. "Been seeing that all my life, when the light is just right, Oh, not those colors, but the same thing." He pointed at the line now, and nodded. "That's water, gents. The ocean."

Kippy made a final, amazed gasp. "And I didn't bring my Speedo!"

 

* * * * * * *

 

It had been a sizable city, once. The remains of it spread for miles along the coast, more of the round structures, many apparently once more than a single story in height. Now they were just ruins, displaying the same blackening within that the building they had inspected earlier in the forest had exhibited. The straight, well-planned roadways between the buildings were littered with the decayed remains of what might have once been vehicles, and there were open areas that might have once been parks, but in which nothing at all grew now.

In a similar situation on Earth, after humans had left a place, the wildlife moved in. But unlike the domed building in the forest they had encountered, there was no evidence at all that animal life had so much as visited these sad remains. There was a dark swish aura there that pervaded the place, even in the cheerful rosy sunlight, that gave them all the shudders, and after an initial inspection, prompted them to be away again. Max moved them to one of the hills overlooking the dead city, to where the ruins were strikingly visible in the midday sun, but where the dark skwish aura was lessened to something more tolerable.

"I'm beginnin' to seriously dislike this popper," the elf said, standing with his hands on his hips, surveying the desolation below.

"You think he's responsible for this?" Dick asked, also looking less than cheerful.

"Yeah. I do. Him, or him and his copies."

Dick looked out across the city again, and shook his head. "Native American cultures have described the destroyer, the savage avenger, and what can happen when he is provoked. This seems much like some of those legends. Whatever happened here, it looks like these people didn't have much of a chance to fight back."

"It has the earmarks of a surprise attack," Robin agreed, sounding cold. "This popper and his kind have to be dealt with. I have a particular aversion to those that think a sneak attack is the way to open a war."

Charlie looked from one man to the other. "You don't think the poppers made these people destroy themselves, like on other worlds?"

Max shook his head. "This place stinks of skwish used to destroy things. Even power users at war with each other couldn't make such a uniform mess as this one. There ain't no individuality to this. It's all the same, as if committed by one mind."

"One evil mind," Will added.

"We don't know if this popper understands good and evil," Adrian reminded.

Rip snorted. "Who cares about that? They've committed evil acts all over the spiral arm." He shook his head. "I agree with Max, that this one looks like the work of one hand. This place wasn't nuked. It was erased with some form of power use."

Adrian squinted at the man. "How can you be sure?"

Shannon waved at the city. "Notice how the buildings are not damaged by force, but just by nature? They've fallen down over a long period of time, from weather and lack of maintenance. But the real clue is the interiors of the buildings. They're all blackened, every one we looked at, like they were burned out." He set his jaw grimly. "But they weren't burned out with fire. Not like fire we know. What was burned within them was the population of this city. Incinerated to ash and black smoke. That residue all over the walls? It's whats left of the people that lived here."

A horrified silence greeted that pronouncement. Max stared at the ex-time ranger. "You sound certain."

"I am. I have seen this same thing one time before. At a base on Larkoz, at which two of our people were assisting local power users against the poppers. The poppers found them, and...ended them."

Rick shook his head at that. "But the people here couldn't have all be indoors at once. What about people in the streets?"

Rip laughed, but it was a harsh laugh. "They met the same fate, I'm sure. But out in the open like that, the black ash of their remains was removed by wind and rain. What was in the buildings had time to set on the walls, centuries, or even more, perhaps, before the buildings reached a state where they began to fall down. By then, that black coating had become one with the walls. The people of this city are still here, Rick."

Browbeat's wings buzzed furiously, and he lifted off Robin's shoulders and moved among them, his agitation clear. "What are we going to do about this? We can't let it happen to others!"

Kippy immediately held out an arm. "Come here this instant, young man." His tone was not one that allowed for argument.

Browbeat looked astonished, but then moved meekly to settle on Kip's arm. Kippy sighed, and smiled at the flyer. "I know you care. We all do. But getting upset like that isn't good for you. We have to look at this smartly, not in fear or anger. So you just calm down, little one, and we'll think this out."

He brought his arm in, and cradled the flyer against him, and ran a fond finger down Browbeat's back. "Now, relax."

Browbeat smiled up at him, and turned to Charlie then. "We need a plan."

Charlie smiled back. "I think we're working our way towards one, even now." He turned to Ragal. "Where are you now in your thinking about what happened here?'

Ragal looked less than happy. "My take on this has become a simple one, based on what we have observed." He pointed at the ruins below them. "This planet was once home to a race of living beings. Power users, it seems, and people with an advanced technology. As power users, they apparently were experimenting with skwish, as do power users everywhere."

Capser looked alarmed. "You think one of their experiments got away from them?"

"Yes. I think they were trying to tap directly into the allmagic, and instead, broke a piece of it off somehow." He looked pained. "Or, even deliberately."

Charlie frowned at that. "That sounds like a dangerous experiment to me."

Ragal nodded. "But not the first of its kind. In my own day, several of the races of known space that were power users had sought to find the source of that power. Many experiments were made. What I know of what was public information at that time is that most of these experimenters later deemed it too dangerous to poke too hard at the source of skwish."

"Good thinking," Max said. "My people learned that a long time ago."

Ragal frowned. "But for some people, curiosity sometimes outweighs caution and good sense. Curiosity can become a form of greed, a thirst to know that relegates standards of safety to the sidelines. I think someone, or maybe more than one someone, among these people took that experimenting one step too far."

"They created a foobear," Adrian said quietly, "A pretty big one, by the evidence."

"Yes. And then they sought to understand it, even perhaps to harness its power in some way."

Max grunted. "A foobear on the loose can wreak havoc in a society of power users. Everybody uses small skwish operations around the house and at work to make life easier. A foobear can trash them just by being close to them."

"It must have become widely known that something strange was happening," Charlie said. "Something that was disrupting their society. The experimenters wouldn't have been able to hide the presence of a large foobear for long."

"They must have been found out," Max agreed. "Or, maybe they even let it be known what they had done. But the news wasn't taken well by some part of the population. And it probably got worse as the foobear upset their culture at a basic level by trashing small skwish operations everywhere. Some group of the population, and probably a large one, began to see this new foobear as a threat, a monster. Something dangerous. And in doing that, they made it into just that."

"A monster," Browbeat said softly. "A real one."

"You people play in a big pond," Will said quietly. "Makes me miss my woods, and Gawdáan, and the peace we had there."

Charlie sighed. "It's a big universe, my friend. With a lot going on in it. But I'm sorry you got pulled into this like you did."

The shaman looked surprised, and then smiled. "Are you kidding? I've learned a lot, Charlie." He laughed. "I wouldn't wanna have missed this show for anything!"

Charlie smiled at that, and nodded. "Well, I will say that most of our investigations don't get quite this wild. But we have enjoyed having you along on it, definitely."

Rip released a pleased-sounding breath. "I have to say that I have had more excitement in the last few days than I've had in the last few decades!"

Kippy smiled at him. "Once Rick teaches you to teleport, you can come visit anytime you want."

"Yeah," Adrian added, grinning. "We can always use help in our investigations."

Shannon looked amazed. "Teach me to...what?"

"Teleport," Rick said. "I can see the talent in you." He pointed at Will, and then at Dick. "All of you. Teleporting is one of the most basic of skwish talents. If you have skwish to begin with, you should be able to teleport. It can just be very hard to bring it out in some people, just trying on their own. But if you have skwish-using friends--"

"Like us," Kip interjected brightly.

"--it's a lot easier to learn with help," Rick finished.

Dick's eyes were as wide as Charlie had ever seen them. "I don't see me teleporting around!"

Max laughed. "That's funny. I do!"

Charlie held up a hand. "That's for later, guys." He turned to point at the dead city. "We have to deal with this now, before any more lives are lost."

"I've had a thought on this," Robin said. He looked at the city a moment. "If the people that lived here decided they had a monster on their hands, the natural thought to follow would be to find some way to get rid of it."

"Which the new popper would surely pick up on," Max said. He nodded. "Auggie didn't become afraid until he sensed the Keepers were out to catch him and return him to the allmagic. By then, he saw that as the same thing as being harmed."

"Until Uncle Bob got his attention with a card trick," Rick added, smiling at the memory. "And he suddenly found we weren't out to get him."

Casper turned to look up at Ragal, and then laughed. "Maybe what we need here is a new card trick?"

Ragal smiled down at his friend. "Do you have one in mind?"

"I don't play cards." Casper offered. "But I do play Norpita."

For a moment everyone looked around at each other, not getting the reference. Casper picked up on that, and looked up at them. "It's something we played on my home planet."

"I don't know that game." Ragal smiled. "Care to tell us about it?"

The little alien laughed his squeaky laugh. "I could, but I didn't!"

 

* * * * * * *

 

"This is an odd plan," Nicholaas said, smiling at Casper. "But I think it has merit."

"Merit," Auggie agreed, looking happy to be there among his friends.

"I think it's hot!" Browbeat said, looking excited. He smiled at Casper. "You the man!"

"It will take all of us, acting together, and Esmerelda to help," Max said patiently. "And you and Auggie, boss. It has to be such a show of force that what we can do is unmistakable to this guy."

"Do we expect to be able to communicate with the popper?" Rip asked. "So far as I know, no one has ever managed that. The language wasn't deciphered, even by some of the advanced cultures we worked with."

Nicholaas nodded. "I suspect it isn't like the languages of organic beings, other than in it is vocal and audible. The concepts conveyed are surely unknown to us." Nicholaas dropped a hand into Auggie's mane and scratched the bearcat's head. "I do believe that Auggie will understand him, though."

"Understand," Auggie agreed. "Talk, if needed."

"I think talk will be needed," Nicholaas assured. He nodded at Charlie. "This is your show. Go ahead and get it started."

"We need to let him know exactly where we are," Rip said. "Do that, and he'll come on his own."

"He's been makin' his way towards us all day," Max said. "I doubt he thinks he's sneakin' up on us, though. He has to know we can sense him."

"I know I can sense him," Ragal said. "That strange aura is becoming familiar by now."

"I'm amazed he's coming at all," Kip added. "He couldn't beat us before. He has to know he can't do it again."

"He doesn't have much else to do," Will offered. "He can't leave. He has to come, and try us again."

Robin frowned at that. "I wonder if his kind know fear? Auggie?"

The bearcat turned to history's favorite thief, and offered a smile that Charlie thought uncharacteristically sad. "Know fear."

Kip squatted beside the bearcat and hugged him. "You never have to be afraid when you're with us, sweetheart."

Browbeat landed on Auggie's back. "You're among friends!"

Auggie grinned. "Love you, Keepy."

"We love you!" Browbeat returned happily.

"Strange, to think something formed from skwish energy could know fear." Dick said.

"I would suspect our popper friend would have had to know fear, to react the way he did to his discoverer's wish to be rid of him," Nicholaas offered. "It is never wise to threaten someone who may act in fear as a response."

"The popper destroyed the population of this entire planet," Kip said tightly. "And then it went off world, seeking more races to destroy."

Nicholaas nodded. "Suppose it felt it needed to defend its existence?"

"I don't care," Kippy replied. "We can't let it continue doing what it's been doing. All I can see in my mind is that city on that planet where we found the hive. All burned and smashed, the people all dead--" He waved a hand towards the city by the sea below them. "And this place, that city right there. The same thing, more or less, except it looks like the popper did that himself!"

"I agree we cannot allow it to keep to its present course," Nicholaas agreed. "But if we deflect that course, it must be into one more profitable for us."

"That's what we're going to try to do," Rick agreed, smiling at Casper. "If we play the game right."

"I was good at it!" Casper said proudly. "But you've changed the rules a little."

"It was the substance we wanted, if not the exact game," Ragal responded.

"So, we just wait?" Rip asked.

"We just wait," Charlie agreed. He smiled at Casper. "You may as well get us ready."

It didn't take that long at all. The hill was broad and long, mostly flattened at the top, and covered with an ankle-high field of what very much resembled yellow grass. Beyond it was a wide plain, covered in a similar grass, some miles across, which eventually ended at the forest -- or jungle, as they had come to see it. More than enough area for the two adversaries to meet.

When the popper finally appeared on the hilltop, it simply materialized at the other end of the large field, and stood there, doing nothing.

Staring, is what Charlie would have called it.

For at the other end of the field, opposite the newly arrived popper, stood another popper, this one larger and broader than itself. It was an illusion created by Casper, but one propagated through Auggie to guarantee that the popper would sense it exactly as what it looked like. Charlie and the others were concealed within, presenting only as the powers that the illusion around them could bring to bear. Charlie could sense the other probing and prying and pushing and pulling, trying to peel away the facade to see what was within. But Casper's power of illusion was strong, and Auggie's ability to present it unassailable. After several minutes of using every ability at its command, the popper ceased its attempts, and the two stood staring at each other in silence.

"Ask it what it wants, Auggie," Charlie said quietly.

Above them, the popper illusion opened its mouth and spoke, the voice so loud and the language so clipped and harsh that it made Charlie cringe in response.

The illusion had barely ceased speaking when the popper responded, its own voice nearly as loud, and just as hard on the nerves.

"Say he know we here," Auggie said. "Say he not fooled."

"Tell him we are more powerful than he is."

Again, words were exchanged in the harsh tongue. "Say he not whole, so cannot dispute."

Here was the kicker. "Tell him we will make him whole."

The words rang out, and Charlie turned to Max. "It's time for Esmerelda to act."

Max nodded, and closed his eyes.

Almost instantly, their perspective shifted as they moved from the hilltop down onto the coastal plain behind. The popper was moved, too, and still stood the same distance away, watching them, showing no surprise at the sudden shift.

The air over the plain shimmered mysteriously then, and a popper hive appeared. And then, the air beyond that wavered, and another hive appeared. In an instant, the wide plain became a mirror dance of shifting columns of air, as Esmerelda found every single popper hive, no matter where it was in the spiral arm, and brought them all here, to this world. The giant hexagonal pyramids lined up in rows across the plains, one after the other, and Charlie had counted thirty-nine of the massive structures before the appearances ceased.

"That's all of 'em, Essie says," Max whispered.

The popper at the other end of the plain turned towards the hives and raised its arms. Charlie turned to watch, and was amazed at the clouds of small dots he saw appear there, which quickly formed into a dark swarm that headed towards them at breakneck speed, like enraged hornets. They arrived in an instant, more poppers than they could fathom, but they did not land, did not attack. Instead, they arrowed straight at the master popper, and were absorbed at incredible speed. The master popper began to grow then, gaining height and breadth with astounding and alarming swiftness, as several hundred thousand copies merged once again with the original.

But Casper was on the job, inflating their own popper image just as rapidly, keeping it larger and broader than the other every step of the way. Soon both popper figures towered hundreds of feet into the air.

"Almost there," Max said, his voice displaying a cool calm that Charlie found amazing. "Soon...soon...now."

The streams of black dots ceased issuing from the pyramids, and the larger cloud dwindled as all the copies merged back into the original popper.

Two things happened at once: all thirty-nine of the hives faded, and disappeared as one. And the world sounded as if it were ending as forces beyond human comprehension struck at Casper's illusion. An amazing, fierce golden flame surged around them, while bolts of lightning flashed at the edge of it all. The plain all around their popper erupted into geysers of dirt, rock, and ash as even the very soil was vaporized around them, and a fine cloud arose and darkened the rose-colored sun above them. Charlie could feel the ground quaking beneath them, and had to close his eyes as the noise grew to near unbearable proportions.

And then, the sounds faded to a soft murmur, and Nicholaas spoke to them. "Well, well. We're it not for Esmerelda and her friends, we would all probably be dead now."

Charlie gasped. "You, too?"

"I'm afraid so, Charlie. These forces are beyond human scale. You can't see it, but we are now at the bottom of a crater nearly a mile deep. Us, and the popper. There will be a hole blasted in the face of this world that cannot be filled in by nature. A permanent scar, to mark this meeting, this day."

"You said Esmerelda and her friends," Kippy said, sounding breathless.

Nicholaas nodded. "Of course. It wasn't just myself and Auggie that arrived. I brought several of my own hernacki friends with me."

Charlie breathed an amazing sigh of relief. "I thought...I kind of thought you'd have us solve this whole thing ourselves. You know...a learning experience?"

Nicholaas looked surprised, and then he smiled warmly. "Charlie, I think you and your friends did solve this problem. Casper's solution is an admirable one. Merciful. It's just that his solution is, well, a bit beyond your own capabilities to apply." He nodded. "Mine, too, without hernacki help."

"What's happening?" Rip asked, his eyes wide. "It sounds like the world is coming to an end out there."

"Not yet," Max said. He turned to Nicholaas. "Essie wants to know if you're ready?"

Nicholaas closed his eyes a moment, and nodded. "Shall we?"

The earth gave a final leap beneath their feet, and the now muted sounds simply vanished. But the darkness beyond their illusion did not abate in the least.

Nicholaas held up a hand. "Let me get us up out of this hole."

Charlie felt no sense of movement, but the world outside their illusory popper began to lighten, and in a few moments they emerged into daylight. But they had not just returned to the surface, but were now high above it. A cloud of dust and debris had covered most of the plain they had started out on, and now an invisible hand seemed to press down on the cloud, pushing it back towards the ground.

"Don't want all that stuff in the atmosphere, floating around and causing problems with the ecosphere here," Nicholaas said, smiling.

As the cloud settled, the popper came into view. It was now standing at the edge of a whale of a hole in the ground, one that reminded Charlie of the time that he and his family had visited the Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona on vacation one summer. That had been an amazingly large hole punched into the hide of the Earth by an ancient meteor striking with a force of ten magatons of TNT. This crater was far larger, and far deeper. Just its size alone convinced Charlie that Nicholaas was right. They were outclassed here, definitely.

But no living being was up taking on the hernacki. They dealt in fantastic time periods and the forces that drove the universe. Their power, next to that of a human, even like Nicolaas, or a being like the popper, might as well have been infinite.

The popper seemed stiff, its arms rigidly to its side, and was unmoving. They settled to ground nearby, and walked towards the popper while Casper moved the illusion above them. And in a moment, the two artificial creations were facing each other.

"Ask him if he can hear us," Nicholaas told Auggie.

Their illusion spoke out in the fantastic, frightening tongue, and the popper, scarcely moving, answered.

"He say yes," Auggie replied. "Sense he mad, but sense he scared more."

Nicholaas nodded, and turned to Charlie. "You know what comes next."

Charlie spoke up, while Auggie translated.

"You murdered the population of this planet."

The popper's reply was swift, and Auggie translated. "Say they try to kill him first."

Charlie nodded. "But then you created the hives, and left this world, and started meddling with other races out in the galaxy."

"They all the same," Auggie replied. "All would try to kill me, if allowed."

"So, you set out to kill them first."

"Yes."

"That's all over now," Charlie replied. "It's done." He waved a hand around at the gutted plain, where most of the dust and debris had been returned to ground by Nicholaas. "Your hives have all been dropped into this world's sun. They are no more."

Auggie listened to the popper's reply, and looked amused. "He ask what are we, to have such power?"

"Tell him we're the cops," Kippy spoke up, sounding annoyed. "And that he's going to jail!"

Charlie waved a hand at that. "Auggie, tell him we could have destroyed him...but that we are not going to."

Auggie translated that, and no reply came back immediately. Charlie stared at the enigmatic eyes of the popper, but they revealed nothing. Finally, the alien creation spoke.

"He ask, 'why not'?" Auggie said.

"Are you afraid?" Charlie asked, through Auggie.

"Yes." The popper's admission was frank, and seemed to carry no shame.

"Think of all the people that used to live here on this world," Charlie answered. "They were afraid of you. They tried to destroy you. And yet, you are acting just like them."

"Must survive," Auggie said. "Want to live."

Charlie nodded. "And so you shall. We could have destroyed you, but we did not. But we do confine you to this world, forever. When we leave, the force that holds you here in space and time will remain. You cannot teleport away, you cannot move through time, you cannot leave. Do you understand?"

"No kill?"

"No. No kill. But you will be unable to leave here. No one will be able to get to you, either. You will be safe here, and the galaxy will be safe because you are here. Do you understand?"

Another brief period of silence followed, before Auggie answered. "Yes."

Charlie turned to Casper. "Have the illusion point to the mountains over that way."

That followed, and Charlie spoke again through Auggie. "Go. That way. Do not return to this place. We will be going, and leaving you here.'

The popper's black eyes held no clue to what it was thinking, but the stare somehow conveyed amazement for a moment, before the giant was suddenly freed, and turned promptly to move in the direction Charlie had indicated.

Kippy leaned up against Charlie and pouted as the popper moved off. Charlie turned to him. "You don't look happy."

His boyfriend sighed. "He's going to be here, alone, forever."

Rick hooted at that. "Wanna bet? The first thing he'll do is start cranking out copies again. He will never be alone."

"They did seem to be individuals, all on their own," Robin agreed. "Though part of a larger group mind. They may be copies of our friend in form, but they will become people in their own right. He won't be lonely."

Dick stared in the direction the popper had gone. "I can't believe it was that easy."

Nicholaas seemed to find that funny. "That was not easy. Had we not had the assistance of Esmerelda and friends, we would not have survived this encounter."

Dick nodded. "I didn't mean that way." He smiled at Casper. "I mean that the solution seemed so easy. Impress the popper that we could have easily destroyed him, and then give him a reprieve by saying we wouldn't."

"It kept him from continuing the struggle," Max said. "He knew he was beat. He was expectin' to get finished off. But then we didn't do that. There ain't nothin' quite like expectin' death, and then finding out it's not gonna happen."

"On my world, it's a game of honor," Casper said. "I could have done you in, but I didn't. Two players face off in virtual, and at the end, one player is victorious. He tells the defeated player that he could kill him, but won't. Then he turns his back on his enemy."

Kippy's eyebrows rose at that. "And what happens next?"

Casper laughed his squeaky laugh. "Most of the time, the guy that lost takes off while he isn't being watched, and lives to fight another day. But sometimes, the defeated player will jump at the the guy that won, and stab him in the back with his neuro-prod. The victor dies in the virtual, and the defeated becomes the new victor."

Kippy made a nasty sound. "That sucks!"

Casper grinned. "Yeah, but every other player now knows the guy that stabbed his co-player can't be trusted. That he has no honor. It's hell for someone to keep playing once they're marked like that!"

Will frowned at that. "But we didn't turn our backs on the popper."

"We didn't need to," Nicholaas said. "When the battle stopped, it was in part because the popper gave in. He understood that if he continued the fight, he would die. So, he acknowledged that he was beaten by calling an end to the battle."

"He stopped it?" Charlie asked.

"Yes. He simply lessened his attack, and kept doing so when he found we didn't increase ours. We matched him, but did not overpower him. That gave him the courage to stop.

Kippy blew an exasperated breath out between his lips. "I think we'll all need to sit down and talk about this one."

Nicholaas smiled, and reached inside his jacket and pulled out a large old pocket watch, which he examined before returning it to an inner pocket. "We can do that. But not here." He smiled. "I'm heading back to Earth. Anyone want a ride?"

 

* * * * * * *

 

They dropped Will off first, arriving at the front porch of his bungalow just as the late afternoon sun was moving behind the trees near the house. "I had fun," the shaman said, grinning. "When I wasn't scared, anyway." He nodded. "And, I learned a lot, about myself, and about other things. Thank you. Best spirit walk I've ever been on."

"It was our pleasure," Kippy said, leaning forward to hug the man. "And now that we know how sweet you are, you can be sure we'll stay in touch. You might want to go with us again sometime."

"I might." The shaman smiled at Max. "I like your coffee."

Hugs were traded all around, and the man entered his house, waved a last time, and shut the door.

"I like him," Adrian said. "I hope we'll see him again."

"We will," Charlie assured. "We want to ask him some more about his grandfather, and have Dick here get some background on these spirit things that come from the Northern Lights. There's a whole new line of skwish knowledge here, waiting to be understood."

Dick laughed at that. "I'll be glad to help, especially since I was a fifth wheel on this adventure."

"No one was a fifth wheel," Max said. "Everyone contributed."

Nicholaas smiled at that. "I have told you before Charlie, that the groups you assemble create a cooperative thought environment. Every one of you moves the understanding of what you are dealing with along towards a successful conclusion. Everyone that participated in this investigation needed to be here."

"There you go," Charlie said, smiling at Dick. "Now, let's get you back to Shadow."

Nicholaas raised a hand. "I will depart you here, my friends. I promised Ronja that Auggie and I would be home for dinner."

That produced some disappointed looks, and then hugs all around again. Auggie looked sad at leaving, and promised Browbeat and Casper that they'd all get together soon at the pirate market on Engris for some fun and exploration.

"Be there, don't be square!" Browbeat called. He watched as Casper hugged the bearcat, and then turned to look sorrowfully at Charlie. "I'd trade these wings for arms about now!"

Charlie smiled, and leaned down before Auggie so that Browbeat could nuzzle the bearcat's face. "See you soon, friend!"

A large, golden tear appeared in Auggie's eye, and ran down his furry face. "Friends!"

Nicholaas waved, dropped a comforting hand on Auggie's back, and the two of them disappeared.

"I can't believe I might be able to do that someday," Dick said, his eyes wide with admiration.

They took him home next. He went into the house and brought Shadow back to the shop, and she wagged her tail furiously and went around to give everyone licks.

"It was a hell of an experience, Charlie," Dick said quietly, as he watched his dog greet his friends. "Thanks for inviting me."

"You were needed," Charlie countered. "I felt it."

"I sure don't know what I did."

Charlie smiled. "As much as anybody there."

"You'll be back soon?"

Charlie nodded. "Count on it."

They shook hands, hugged, and then Dick walked around and did the same with the others, before squatting next to Shadow and waving as Charlie took them away.

 

* * * * * * *

 

"The house is going to feel lonely now," Rip told them, looking around his living room. "I didn't realize I'd become a hermit until I was around people like you again." He sighed. "I hope this won't be the end of it."

Rick smiled. "Kippy and I will be back next week to get you teleporting. And then we can visit anytime we like."

Rip placed a hand to his forehead. "I don't know what to say."

Browbeat buzzed off Robin's shoulder to hover before the ex-time ranger. "Say you'll do it!"

Rip laughed. "Okay. I'll do it." He shook his head. "I can't believe the popper menace has been dealt with. After all these years." He smiled at them. "I have a feeling that Khaj would be proud of us."

"He would," Kippy said, matter-of-factly. "The job is done."

Rip looked around the room again. "Tomorrow is going to feel like a real anticlimax after this."

"Get some rest," Charlie said. "You've earned it. Rick and Kip will be back next week, and then the real work will begin."

Kippy suddenly took a startled breath. "Oh! What day is it?"

Rip looked confused. "What day?"

"Yes! What day of the week?"

Rip shrugged, but then walked over to his laptop and checked the date. "The 31st. Thursday." And then he got it. "Halloween!"

Kippy turned to Charlie. "We have to get home by dark! Our first Halloween at the new house! We don't want to miss it!"

"Sunset isn't for at least three hours yet," Rip said.

"Here," Charlie pointed out. "We live a lot further east."

"Oh, right. I forgot about that." Rip clapped his hands together and patted the open lid of his laptop. "Well, you guys get going, and I think I'll just get started on my next writing project."

Adrian offered a curious look. "You never did tell us what you were writing."

Rip laughed. "History, mostly. I've lived enough to be an authority on some of it." He shook his head. "But the hell with that. I have an idea for a new project that might actually make some money!"

Charlie felt a strange sense of anticipation, and smiled at that. "What's it going to be?"

Rip grinned. "My first science fiction novel in almost fifty years! It will be stupendous!" He leaned forward, and winked at them. "But I'll change all your names, just to be safe."

 

* * * * * * *

 

Lugh welcomed them home, the house offering a sense of warmth at their arrival that all of them could feel. Castor grew warm at Charlie's chest, and Charlie had the impression that Castor was telling Lugh the story of their adventure. It was amazing that the skwish entity had simply watched the finale of their meeting without comment, and Charlie could only wonder now if that was because Castor had weighed the odds, and found them on the side of his friends. Funny thing, probability. The most interesting people put stock in it. He smiled, thinking they would need to go see Eseffa and Jorli tomorrow and tell then what had happened.

But that they already knew, he was certain. The odds were in favor of the Madracorn!

He called his parents, told them he was home, and that he would be by the next day to fill them in on everything. His dad seemed especially excited to hear that, and Charlie had to smile as he turned off his phone. His dad's sense of wonder certainly seemed to be revived now!

"I'm for a pizza or two," Rick said, sprawling on a sofa. "Casper? You and Browbeat wanna go get them?"

"Whoop!" Browbeat launched himself from his by now favorite place atop the wing of Kippy's chair, and swooped once around the room. "No-time! Casper and I will do it!"

Ragal laughed. "Don't be spending relative days there, exploring the pirate market. Get the pizzas and come back, okay?"

Browbeat offered a tiny pout. "Party pooper!"

They all laughed at that.

Casper leaped up and waved at Browbeat. "Race you to the stairs!"

"That's hardly fair," Kippy complained. "Browbeat has wings!"

Casper whooped, and took off through the doorway. Browbeat wheeled to go after him, but paused briefly before Kippy. "He'll win! I'll just use one wing!"

And then the flyer buzzed from the room, hot on Casper's back.

Max sighed, and sat down. "The missus will wonder where I've been. I should get home, guys."

"I probably should go, too," Robin added. "You guys don't need me for your Halloween."

Charlie felt disappointment set in. He went to the sofa and sat between the elf and the thief. "You guys can't stay a little longer? At least until the excitement wears off a little?"

Robin and Max exchanged glances, and Max placed a hand on Charlie's arm. "Well, when you put it that way---"

Charlie smiled. "Thanks. There's a few things I'm curious about that only you two can probably answer."

At that moment Rick and Adrian, who had gone to the kitchen, returned with a large wooden bowl heaped high with candy.

"I'll put this by the front door," Rick said.

Max stared. "You expectin' visitors way back here?"

Kippy laughed. "Of course. We have a whole bunch of illuminated skeletons, ghosts, and goblins down by the road and along the drive."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Frit and Pip supplied them. Guaranteed to be a draw, and guaranteed to be indestructible."

Max frowned. "Goblins?" He gasped then. "I hope they ain't what I think they are!"

Charlie looked puzzled at that. "Something wrong with them?"

Max turned to him. "You mean Frit and Pip, or them goblins?"

Charlie simply stared at that, the wheels turning in his head now. "They wouldn't!"

Max stared back. "They heck they wouldn't!"

At that moment the doorbell rang. It was just dark outside now.

Kippy jumped to his feet. "Our first trick or treaters!"

He went to pass Charlie, and Charlie reached out to stop his boyfriend. "Kip? Better wait a second."

His boyfriend laughed, and reached down to pull Charlie to his feet. "You're coming with me. Let's go!"

Rick and Adrian joined them, and the four of them headed for the front door.

Max sighed, and hauled himself to his feet to go after them.

"Is everything okay?" Robin asked. He and Ragal got up, too.

"You look worried," Ragal said.

Max waved a hand for them to follow. "Not really. Charlie and the guys can handle themselves. After them poppers, dealin' with a buncha goblins will be easy!"