Light My Roamin' Candle, Charlie Boone! - 4. Part 4

They found Engris - or it found them - and the moment they detected the wandering planet, the shadowy trace of the pursuing ship vanished from the sensors.

"I was right," Pacha said, nodding. "I knew they had tried to find Engris before, and failed. The moment the planet became visible to us, it and our ship moved to another part of the Cooee. To our pursuers, it no doubt looked as if we simply vanished."

"So they can't find us?" Max asked.

"No. And when we leave Engris again, I have a feeling it will be far away from where we found the world, and far away from our pursuers, as well."

"Hmm," Rufe said, eying the mysterious dark world in the display that Murcha had erected for them. "This place is in the new revisions of the guidebook. We can come and go here without need of the telzee route."

"What's the telzee route?" Kippy asked, giving Charlie's arm a fond squeeze. They'd all moved into a large circle to talk, and Kippy had immediately taken Charlie's arm in his hands and pulled him close.

"That's the way I brought the guys into the ship," Max said. "Whew! Talk about some draining magic! But it's the only way to open a route to a place where you've been, but no one else back home has gone before."

Charlie understood now. Max had somehow contacted Frit and had him alert the others, and then had opened a tunnel of some sort between the ship and the shop where the elves worked, in order to get them there.

Rufe nodded. "Do you think you'll need us again soon?"

Max shrugged. "No way to know."

"Well, me and the boys are gonna head home, then. We can go from here easily because it's in the guidebook now, and we can get back just as quickly. So we'll head back to work, and if you decide you need us before you leave here, just give me a holler and we'll be back."

Max nodded. "Sounds good." He extended a hand. "Thanks, Rufe. Tell all the boys I owe them one."

The other elf laughed, and clasped Max's hand warmly. "I think that was just a small return on what we owe you!"

"Can we stay?" Frit asked, a pleading look in his eyes.

"Pretty please!" Pip joined in.

Max rolled his eyes, but nodded. "Yeah. It's okay. I kinda owe you two a little something, after all you did for us, organizing the rescue and all."

"Yay!" They replied, in unison. Both young elves looked ecstatic, and Charlie and Kippy looked at each other and grinned.

"Then we'll be off," Rufe said. The older elves assembled into a group, smiled and waved at Max and the others, and then vanished with a slight whoosh of displaced air.

"Is that a good idea, to let them go?" Ricky asked. "What if we meet up with those...those Beltracians again?"

"They have a schedule to keep at the shop," Max said, giving his head a little shake. "They can be back here in a flash, if we decide we need them again."

For a moment no one said anything. That there were a lot of questions in the air was apparent to everyone, though, and Max looked about at the many faces with a small, knowing smile. "Everyone feels about like I do, I see. So how about we sit and talk a bit? We're in no-time now, so it won't cost us nuthin', and it may help a lot."

"It will certainly help me," Kontus said, smiling. "I am as totally lost as I have ever been in my life."

"You and me, both," Bobby agreed, nodding. "I feel like I'm visiting Mars, or something."

Max whipped up three nice, comfortable sofas, and asked Murcha to supply grub that everyone could eat. Then they all took seats, and looked about expectantly.

"Who goes first?" Kippy asked, brightly.

Mike immediately raised a hand and waved it, and then patted Pacha, who was seated beside him. "What happened to you on Roorapynta?"

The Kifta gave a little sigh. "You and I were watching the auction. I heard something then. Like...like someone calling my name, only it was not sound, but in my mind."

"That's why you left?" Mike asked, looking incredulous. "And you didn't tell me what you'd, um, heard?"

The koala looked up at the boy. "I truly apologize for my error in judgement, Mike. I had a sense of direction, but that was all. It seemed wise to go and have a look, but not to raise an alarm without knowing there was even any danger. My first thought was that it was another Kifta, who had recognized my pattern, and just wished to say hello."

Mike shook his head. "But it wasn't."

"No. It was our new friends. I was lured out of sight of the crowd, and then whisked aboard their vessel by some sort of bilocation device."

"Truly?" Kontus asked. "By definition, a bilocation device allows one to be in two places at the same time."

"Yes. Only in this instance, once the dual location is established, the original is phased out, leaving only the second location for the subject to remain in. So I found myself quite suddenly aboard their ship, where four of them immediately acted together to subdue me."

"They're strong users," Max admitted. "A lot stronger than the Moth."

"Yes, but still not at the level of you or I. It takes several of them to incapacitate one of us. But once I was cut off from escape, they were able to hold me."

"But why?" Mike asked. "Why did they want you?"

Pacha sighed. "It goes back to our original trip to Engris. The seller from which we purchased the star map for Adrian was known to the Beltracians, who had been working to track him down. Apparently, our seller had looted a storage vault on a dead Beltracian outpost somewhere between the stars, and made off with - among other things - a selection of maps to secure Beltracian facilities. Military bases, may be a better term. The Beltracians have some astounding technology, and were able to trace the seller's ship even long after it had left the abandoned outpost."

Charlie nodded, understanding then. "But they lost him when he got to Engris."

"Exactly. The purpose of the Beltracians is not a peaceful one. That ship, and the six aboard her, comprised an exploratory mission to the Whorl, which left while the Beltracian Empire was still at the height of its power. They expected to complete the journey in the Cooee - in no time, in other words - exit at the Whorl and make their examinations, and then return via the Cooee to find their empire only a few short months older. Only that is not what happened."

"What's the Whorl?" Adrian asked. "Something that spins, I take it?"

Pacha looked to Mike. "You call it...what?"

Mike stared in disbelief. "That's M31. The great spiral galaxy in Andromeda."

Charlie gasped at the revelation, having read more than a little about astronomy. "That's two and a half million light years away!"

Pacha nodded. "Yes." He clasped his small hands before him, thoughtfully. "At that time, the Beltracians thought as we do today, that one within the Cooee existed unconnected to the time flow of normal space. Apparently, that is not always the case. They have since learned that time spent in the Cooee may be static relative to the normal universe, or actually flow faster, or, even...in reverse. It depends on the place within the Cooee where you happen to be."

Mike shook his head. "So they left...when?"

"Approximately twenty-five thousand years ago. Five thousand years after they left, their empire here vanished for unknown reasons, and upon their return, it was to find that their people were the dust of legends for twenty thousand years now."

"That must have been a little scary," Kippy decided. "They were upset, I take it?"

"Angry would be a better word," Pacha returned. "They returned to find their own empire vanished, and a new one in its place. The Moth empire."

Charlie stared at the koala. "And?"

"It is their intention to be rid of the Moth, and to reclaim their worlds."

"There's only six of them," Bobby said, speaking up for the first time. "Even if they're hell on wheels in the sack, they'll never rebuild an empire in a single lifetime."

Charlie laughed, along with some of the others.

Pacha nodded. "Their ship contains a great many star maps, and some seem to indicate the sites of Beltracian genetic centers - places they stored DNA structures to ensure the survival of their species. They have been to one such center, found it still functioning and the stores viable. They will be able to reproduce a million of their kind in very short order. And there are a multitude of these genetic vaults hidden all over their former empire."

Charlie blanched, envisioning the reintroduction of a million - or even millions - of Beltracians to this part of the galaxy, equipped with a technology superior to any currently in existence, and a will to conquer and reclaim what they still considered to be theirs. "Oh, crap."

"Yes." The little Kifta also seemed to have considered what might be to come. "I have seen a map of their former empire. Only part of it occupied the space now held by the Moth. They also held space now claimed by the Braunigan, and space now held by " -- he turned solemnly to Kontus - "the Trichani."

Kontus stared, and then cursed. "By the great horned one! My people must be alerted to this danger!"

Pacha raised a hand. "Wait." He shook his head in a surprisingly human fashion. "Even if the Beltracians were to birth millions of their kind, they do not have the wherewithal to take on three current star empires. That was their purpose in hunting up the ancient Beltracian outpost located in the darkness between stars. They were a civilian expedition, but a science expedition, and so held some knowledge of Beltracian military affairs. They knew that their people had a dozen great arsenals hidden among the stars, but their locations were classified, and they had no way to find them."

Kippy blew a burst of air between his lips. "Good for that!"

"Not quite. One among them knew of the hidden outpost between the stars, and was certain that maps to at least several of the arsenals could be found there. Unfortunately, by the time they arrived, the Galoolian thief had already found and plundered the place."

"So the maps were gone," Ricky said, nodding.

"Not all, no," Pacha countered. "Our light-fingered friend apparently selected maps at random to make off with, and left the bulk of them behind. The Beltracians located three maps to ancient arsenals - only the fourth stored there at the outpost had been taken. They followed the maps to each of the three arsenals, only to find them devastated by whatever vast conflagration befell their empire so long ago. The fourth map was to have shown the location of an arsenal at the farthest fringes of their former empire, in a place far away from main centers of population. It is their hope that this last arsenal somehow escaped the fate that befell the others."

"So you say it was a war that befell their kind?" Kontus asked. "I have long held this theory myself."

Pacha grimaced. "I am not certain that war is the correct term. The evidence they have found thus far would seem to indicate that their people were eradicated by a much superior power, one they could not even properly fight."

The room grew silent at that pronouncement, as everyone considered the idea of a power so great that it could eliminate an entire empire on the technological level the Betracians had attained.

"Who?" Kontus asked, clenching his fist before him.

"They do not know," Pacha returned. "And they probably never will. But that some great catastrophe befell their region of the galaxy those twenty thousand years past seems certain. The Beltracians do not wish that to be the final word on their race. These six have dreams of a resurgence - and a new empire."

"Not at our expense," Kontus said. "What can we do?"

Pacha looked from one face to another. "I had it in mind that we would follow this map to its destination, and see for ourselves if the great arsenal still exists."

"Is that possible?" Charlie asked. "You said once before we would have to locate a region of space that had changed considerably in the time interval since Beltracian times."

"I have already begun the task. Or, rather, Murcha and Illia have."

"What would have proved difficult for you is much simpler for me," the shipmind spoke then. "I have access to Moth star maps, and so already have mapped areas from which to extrapolate the movements of stars in the period indicated."

"We've spilt the data," Illia added. "My calculations are that we can review all of it in twenty-one hours of subjective time."

"A single day?" Charlie asked, incredulous. "That's it?"

Pacha tchick-tchick-tchicked. "Remember, when I first mentioned the possibility of following that map, we were considering doing so with Kifta star maps, which were understandably lacking in detail when it came to Moth space. Now we have the Moth's own maps of their territory, in Murcha. That has greatly reduced the time involved in searching."

Kippy squeezed Charlie's arm, and Charlie turned to look at his boyfriend. Kippy's eyes sparkled with excitement, as it he was trying, telepathically, to say, Isn't this great!

Charlie sighed, nodded, and leaned closer and kissed Kippy's cheek. "I'll go anywhere, with you," he whispered.

Kippy closed his eyes and nuzzled Charlie's cheek. "You sure know how to show a guy a good time."

Charlie opened his eyes, smiling - and found Bobby watching them. "What?"

The boy shook his head. "You guys, too?"

Kippy frowned at him. "Got a problem with it?"

Bobby looked around uncertainly, apparently unwilling to step on any toes among his rescuers. "I...no. I'm sorry. I just...it's...I've never seen this before. It's...it's illegal where I come from."

Kippy laughed. "I know it's Nebraska, but being gay has been legal everywhere in America since 2003."

Bobby choked, and stared at them. "Since when?"

"Since 2003," Kippy repeated. "The supreme court said so."

Bobby suddenly became agitated. "What year is it now?"

Charlie and Kippy traded questioning looks. "Its 2019," Kippy said.

Bobby shook his head, staring at them in horror. "What? How...how..." He dropped his face into his hands, and started sobbing.

Mike, who was seated next to him, immediately threw an arm about the shaking boy's shoulders."It can't be all that, mate. Relax. You're with friends now."

Bobby heaved another few seconds, and then looked up at them, his face streaked with tears. "How can it be 2019? I just left Earth a few weeks ago! And it was 1957 then!"

Charlie and Kippy both gasped in shock at Bobby's words. Kippy closed one eye, briefly calculating. "That's sixty-two years ago!"

Bobby shook his head. "So I'm eighty-two now? I don't feel like it!"

"You don't look it, either," Mike said kindly, giving the other a pat on the back.

Pacha held up a hand. "If I may." He turned to Bobby. "You mentioned a people called Markites, and a 'dark world'. Can you explain that last more fully?"

Bobby shrugged, wiping at his eyes. "They swooped down and took me right off the road to home. Aboard their flying saucer, they kept me locked in a room, but one wall was like a TV, and I could see outside. It was dark as pitch for a long time, and I slept once or twice while we were going. And then I saw a funny dark blob ahead of us, and soon figured out it was a planet, also dark as pitch. We landed there."

"No stars in the sky?" Pacha asked.

"Not a one!"

"That sounds like Engris!" Charlie said.

"What did the planet look like when you landed?" Pacha asked. "Was there a spaceport, next to a small city?"

"No." Bobby shook his head. "We landed on a dark field that turned out to be dirt. There was no city anywhere nearby that I could see. Just six rows of low buildings, all with lights in the windows. The Markites lived there, a couple of hundred of them. A bunch of thieves, they were. They stole stuff someplace and brought it all back to the dark planet to sort out. They had a few hundred robots - they called them Paglogs - that did most of the work. Least, I think they were robots."

"No cities?" Pacha asked, surprised. "How about forests?"

"No, not them, either. What I could see of the place, it was all dirt. Mountains in the distance, but they were a fair way off."

"But you could see?" Charlie asked.

"Yes. The ground seemed to glow. It was enough to see by to walk around, but it sure wasn't enough that I was going to strike out for those mountains in the dark! I waited for daylight to come, but it never did."

"Not Engris," Pacha decided. He turned to Max. "You said once you sensed more than one planet in the Cooee. Could this be such a world?"

"Don't see why not. If one could be put there, I'm sure others could be, too."

Pacha sat back, thinking. "Well...we've just learned from the Beltracians themselves that the state of no-time is not uniform within the Cooee, as we once thought. One can live on Engris for an eternity without a second passing out in the universe...but suppose there are other places...other worlds, within the Cooee where time is not so static?"

Max pointed at Bobby. "You said you were on that dark planet a coupla weeks?"

The boy nodded. "At a guess. I don't know for sure. But it wasn't no sixty-two years!"

Pacha sighed softly. "I am very sorry for your misfortune, Bobby. Did you have...family back at home?"

Bobby's face pinched up. "Just my grandma Sue." He wiped at his eyes. "My dad was killed on Tarawa, during the war. I was little then. My mom just kind of faded after that, and was never the same. She died two years ago. I was of age by then, but my grandma Sue wanted me to come stay with her." He wiped at his eyes again. "She'll be passed by now. As far as she ever knew, I just disappeared. She'll never know what happened to me!"

Mike looked troubled, and leaned closer to the boy. "I have someone back on Earth who probably wonders what happened to me," he confided. "But no one else. I know how you feel, mate."

Bobby looked over at him. "You're alone, too?"

Mike looked surprised. "Me? No, I'm not alone. I got Pacha there, and all these guys are my friends." He smiled. "You're not alone, either."

Bobby shook his head. "When I get home, I'll be alone. And living in a future time, too. I don't know what I'll do." He looked up at Charlie. "How will I live? I can't say I was kidnapped by a flying saucer. They'll think I'm nuts, like they thought that guy Arnold was nuts!"

"What guy Arnold?" Kippy asked.

Bobby frowned. "Uh...I don't remember his first name. He said he saw flying saucers while he was flying his plane near Mount Rainier. This was ten years ago...well, in 1947. He said later that reporting it was the worst thing he ever did, that people everywhere thought he was the next Einstein, or a total screwball."

Charlie couldn't help smiling. "I read about that. Kenneth Arnold was his name. The account I read depicted him as more sane than the people that reacted to his story. Nothing brings out the nutty responses in people faster than an amazing or unbelievable story."

Bobby nodded. "See? They'll say I'm crazy!"

Pacha laid a small hand on Bobby's knee. "I'm sorry, but this will need to wait. We will determine a course for you later." He offered up the closest thing to a smile he could manage. "But I promise you that things will be okay. Trust me."

Mike nodded. "If Pach says you'll be okay, you'll be okay. Okay?"

Bobby blinked at that statement, but then managed a shallow smile. "I can wait, I guess. I don't want to stand in the way of some war of the worlds, or anything."

Max turned to Pacha. "We got off track there for a minute. I wanted to ask you, if these Beltracian guys was chasing the thief that stole the map, how did that lead them to you?"

"Ah, it took me a while to understand how that happened," Pacha said, a note of excitement creeping into his voice. "The Beltracians apparently had some sort of lock on the Galoolian's vessel, determined by some sort of signature it left behind at the outpost. I didn't understand it all, and they did not care to explain the technology involved. Needless to say, they found the Galoolian's ship and were making for it, but lost him when he landed on Engris. So they simply halted and waited for the signature to reappear again. And it did. They picked him up again when he left. But Engris apparently released the Galoolian a great distance from where the Beltracians lost him, and it took them some time to catch up with him again. But they were able, somehow, to trace his vessel across many light years of space."

"Good trick," Max admitted. "So they caught up with him again?"

"Yes. And quickly determined that he no longer had the map. All of their technology is somehow traceable, and they could detect the map from a long way off. The Galoolian no longer possessed it, having sold it to Adrian at the market. But they were able to infiltrate the Galoolian vessel's data systems, and one item they found there was the record of credit transfer between my account and the Galoolian's account for the purchase of the map. So that is what led them to me."

Charlie shook his head. "That's incredible detective work on their part. Just knowing who you were enabled them to find you? In a whole galaxy of people?"

Pacha sighed. "Credit records are always extensive, Charlie, even on your own world. They were able to get much information about me from that single listing, including the transponder number of my ship. The Beltracian technology is frighteningly efficient. They picked us up at some point and followed us to Roorapynta. And again determined that the map was not aboard my vessel. So the only thing they could do was take me and demand its location. I did not tell them, of course, and they could not force it from me."

Mike threw up his hands. "And then I called the guys for help, and Adrian brings the map right to them."

Adrian winced. "How was I to know?"

"You were not," Pacha comforted. "But when your vessel arrived at Roorapynta, they again detected the trace of the map, and so tried to take you - and the map - at the auction plaza."

"I still don't know how they managed that," Kontus said. "They simply arrived over the plaza and deposited their...troops, or operatives, or whatever they were...right at our feet. They should not have been able to even approach Roorapynta without being detected."

"Their technology cloaks them well," Pacha said. "This is the danger they present to all of known space at this time. The ability to attack without giving any notice beforehand."

Kontus considered that, and nodded. "It's the same with the Moth. We cannot really penetrate the scat fields they use - not yet. Our greatest security with them lies in the completely unprofitable nature of warfare between us."

"It would not be so with the Beltracians, who seek to reclaim what they feel is theirs by right."

Kippy turned to Pacha. "If these aliens had a lock on the Galoolian ship, couldn't they have done the same to us? Doesn't that mean they could find us again, once we leave Engris?"

"I would say yes," the Kifta agreed. "Our hope will be that Engris releases us with sufficient distance between us and the Beltracians that they will be unable to get to us before we get to Mohenja."

Kippy's jaw dropped. "Where?"

"Ah." Pacha tchicked out a laugh. "I'm sorry. That is the name of the arsenal planet we seek."

Ricky gave a faint curl to his lip. "Has a nasty ring to it."

Pacha nodded. "I agree. Especially as, from what I have learned of the Beltracian language in my short stay with them, Mohenja is one of their words for death."

 

* * * * * * *

 

"That's it?" Charlie asked, looking at the star map projected in the air before them. "That's where Mohenja is located?"

"Yes," Murcha returned. "It is to the extreme rear of Moth space, on the frontier. The star systems there do not even have proper names, and are largely still unexplored. This star is known as 341 Duronna in the catalog. But it is the destination indicated within the Beltracian crystal, without question."

Charlie examined the indicated star as it floated among the many others in the projected map. It was a red dwarf star, unappealing to the eye, and he could see why the Moth had yet to take an interest in it. The Moth favored yellow-white dwarf stars, slightly hotter than the yellow dwarf star that smiled upon the Earth and gave it life. By that criteria, the Moth may never have found that this particular star held a surprise, for there was nothing to immediately capture their attention and draw them to it.

Charlie turned to Max and Pacha. "Are we going?"

"I think we must," Pacha decided.

Max looked at the red star a moment, and nodded. "Me, too. We can't have these Beltracians finding this place if it's loaded up for war.

Adrian frowned at the floating stars, and held up the crystal before him. "That star is not the same color as the one in the map."

"No," the shipmind agreed. "Illia and I both agree that the colors of the stars in the crystal map were purposely shifted in order help mask the true location."

Kippy tsked. "Don't even trust each other, huh? Nice people."

Pacha turned to him. "Empire builders come in many flavors, Kip. The Beltracians are true conquerors, unlike the empire builders of today. Races in the Beltracian empire were subjects, not members. The Beltracians make even the Moth look placid by comparison."

"That seems so evil," Kippy said, frowning hard at the star map.

"A matter of perspective," Pacha said, sadly. "The Beltracians see themselves as unifiers - creators of something grand in scale. They feel that it is their destiny to own all of space someday. There is no evil in this, to them. Other races are simply lesser beings, tools with which to assist them in forging an eternal imperium."

"I ain't no tool," Max said, annoyed at the very idea. "And these ain't no benefactors of the galaxy." He snorted. "Even in their day, they didn't have it all their way. They fought with other empires, didn't they? And they finally met someone strong enough to take them out, too."

"So it would seem," Pacha agreed.

Kontus, who had been listening quietly, nodded. "We have records of several very large precursor empires, that were coincident with the Beltracian period. They didn't have it all their own way, definitely. They had competition, some of it as technologically proficient as they were."

"They evidently took precautions against a downward turn in their fortunes," Pacha surmised. "If they seeded their realm with genetic repositories and great arsenals of ships and weapons, they must have foreseen, even then, that things could go wrong for them."

Ricky grunted. "All this crap sure makes me see how well off we are back on Earth. These guys play rougher than we ever did."

"Let's hope it stays that way," Charlie said. He turned to Max. "Should we get Rufe and the others back? We might need them."

Max nodded. "Yeah. But just Rufe and Izzy and Zeke...maybe Lukey, too. That will give us six against six, and we're stronger than they are."

"We're here, too!" Frit said, slightly indignantly.

Pip nodded, his eyes large.

Max smiled, and nodded in return. "Yes, you are. I'm sorry I forgot you.. Now we'll have a real advantage!"

The younger elves looked pleased, and Charlie smiled at the note of affection in Max's gaze. Frit and Pip were far down the scale in power from Max's generation, but what they lacked in experience they more than made up for in exuberance. Their fight with the two Moth in Charlie's bedroom, when the Moth had first come looking for them, had been spirited and courageous, and only their lack of experience had counted against them.

The two younger elves tried hard, and their hearts were in the right places. That made them valuable in any fight that might come.

Max closed his eyes a moment, smiled to himself, nodded to himself, and then laughed and opened his eyes. "They're on the way. Zerfa, too!"

Frit and Pip stared at each other, then jumped up and down excitedly. "Now we know we'll win!" Frit said.

Charlie edged closer to Max and lowered his voice. "What's a Zerfa?"

Max grinned. "Rufe's wife. She said he wasn't going off to fight with any galactic conquerors without her, and that she was coming along. So she is."

Charlie laughed. "Is this a good thing?"

"Sure. Zerfa has a knack for organizing magic. She's a coordinator at the shop, helping to keep all that creative elf magic on track. She'll make us twice as strong...if she doesn't kill us, first!"

 

* * * * * * *

 

The stars burst into light ahead of them as the Lollipop - the name had stuck now - emerged from the Cooee. Front and center in the screen was a sullen red star, looking less than inviting in nature, and strangely alien to their minds as a place where someone might live.

But as the location of a possible alien arsenal of hugely destructive nature, it seemed ideally chosen.

"Ugly," Kippy said, watching the sun as the ship moved in-system.

"Depressing," Adrian added, nodding.

"Whoever heard of a red sun?" Bobby asked, wonderingly. "It's scary looking, isn't it?"

Mike smiled at him, and nodded. "There are a lot of red suns out here. You didn't know much about astronomy as a kid?"

Bobby shrugged. "Oh, some. I've heard of red stars. Read about them. I just never really thought of them as suns with planets, where people might live." He laughed. "I've read lots of good stories about stuff like this - Heinlein, Asimov, Van Vogt, Norton - it's just completely different being out here than it is imagining it in your mind while reading."

Mike blew out a soft breath of air. "It is that. Holy Dooley! There's more great stuff out here than you'll ever find just reading about it in a book."

"I'm starting to see that."

Charlie came over to stand by Kip, and put an arm around him as they watched the display together. Ricky appeared with a small tray of biscuits, and went to stand beside Adrian. Rick offered the tray to his boyfriend, who took one of the crunchy treats and offered a quick kiss in return. "Pass it over to Kip," Ricky whispered.

Frit and Pip were sitting on one of the sofas, also watching the screen, while the elder elves talked quietly nearby about the coming encounter with the Beltracian arsenal. Frit had Pip's hand in his, and periodically lifted it and kissed it, causing Pip to smile.

Bobby watched them all, and sighed. "Are there lots of homo...lots of gay people in 2019?" he asked Mike.

"Sure. There's always been lots. They just don't have to hide anymore."

Bobby turned to look at him. "And it's really okay? You can't get arrested for it?"

Mike laughed. "Nope. Well...not unless you get a little too friendly with your guy in public. But that can happen to any couple!"

Bobby nodded, watching Mike's face. "Are you...?"

Mike's eyebrows bounced upwards in surprise. "Me? Well, no. Well, not exactly. Well..." His face reddened just slightly.

"He wants to be, but he hasn't found the right guy yet," Kippy said, turning to look at them. He smiled. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but you guys weren't exactly whispering."

"I was just wondering," Bobby said, smiling. "I didn't mean to pry."

"It's fine," Kippy returned. His own smile grew. "Curiosity is a good thing."

Bobby looked surprised, and then thoughtful. "It killed the cat, though."

Kippy laughed. "Only because he wasn't looking where he was going. Keep your eyes open, and you'll be fine."

Bobby seemed to like that answer, and sat back, smiling.

The meeting of the senior elves broke up, and they and Pacha came to stand before the display. "Find anything yet, Illia?" Pacha asked. Both shipminds were plugged into the vessel's sensory array now, and could split the duty of protecting the vessel.

"Three planets that we can detect," the shipmind returned. "Two are gas giants, outside the habitable zone. There is one compatible, habitable world, as well."

"That's the one we want," Max said, nodding. He looked at Rufe. "Can you feel that?"

"Yep. Not good, is it?"

Max shook his head. "Nope. It ain't."

"What's the matter?" Charlie asked, turning to look at them.

Max frowned. "This place is booby-trapped like the king's underwear drawer." He looked up at the overhead. "Slow us down, Murcha. We don't want to get too close."

The could feel the vibrations of the ship's machines beneath their feet, but the change in motion was not apparent on the display.

Zerfa, Rufe's wife, was a cheerful lady with long, golden braids and a smile that had probably set many a man's heart aflutter. She had bright blue eyes that seemed to miss nothing, and Charlie and the others had liked her instantly on meeting.

But now her expression looked serious, her eyes closed and one hand held out before her, in the direction of their travel.

Ahead of them, a faint dot appeared against the red flank of the sun, and started to grow quickly, until the recognizable disc of a planet was before them. They were unable to see details beyond a faint glimmer covering the curved edge of the world, an indicator of an atmosphere, Charlie knew.

"I would stop here," Zerfa said then.

"Stop the ship, Murcha," Max said, right on her heels.

Again, the deck beneath their feet vibrated almost imperceptibly, and the disc on the screen stopped growing in size.

Max shook his head. "Murcha, can you magnify that place?"

"Absolutely, Max. We are close enough that I can get a view just about down to the surface."

Max looked over at Pacha, who nodded. "Good. Do that. I wanna see what's there."

In the display, the planet suddenly ballooned before them. In an instant they were atop the atmosphere, gazing down at a multi-hued landscape of red and gold, streaked with green. The image closed with the surface, and mountains appeared, and a few small bodies of water; but mostly, the world was a desert, which stretched from one horizon to the next.

The desert was crowded with objects: buildings of incredible design, some tall, some squat upon the ground. Straight lines seemed to have been shunned; everything was curved, rounded, spherical, or cylindrical in the making. Lines in the sand connected each structure together, like a vast printed circuit board, etched into the hard red silicon sand.

The view moved about, and another great stretch of desert came into view. It was covered with what looked at first to be giant cactus; but as the view drew closer they could see that the objects in question were huge spheres covered with spikes, each looking like the studded head of a mace, or an old fashioned sea mine. Each looked brand new, and each looked quite deadly.

"Are those ships?" Charlie asked, unable to believe his eyes.

"Yes," Pacha said. "They resemble the Beltracian vessel on which I was held captive."

"We never saw it - not really," Charlie returned. "It just looked like a big shadow when it came over the auction. And when it neared us when we rescued you, Pacha, it had no real shape in the scanners, at all."

"Their ability to conceal themselves is excellent," Pacha stated. "To most of the vessels traveling the five empires today, they would not have appeared at all."

"Murcha's sensors are a cut above the norm," Max said, nodding. "Murcha, how big are those things?"

The Moth shipmind had been using human measurements since joining them on their first mission. "Each vessel measures slightly more than seven-hundred meters in diameter."

Max whistled. "And how many are here?"

"I count four thousand, three hundred, and fifty-seven," Illia supplied. "And there may be other storage ports like this one, on other parts of the planet."

Everyone just stared at the display. Here was a vast fleet of warships, that had been sitting on this desert plain for over twenty thousand years. Yet they looked like they had just come off the line, as did all the structures they had seen so far. Here was what the Beltracians were seeking - a method of regaining their lost empire. It would mean war for the empires of the galaxy today, should these vessels and the war materiel here be found by their adversaries.

"What are we gonna do?" Rufe asked. "We're too far away to wreck the place."

"We cannot get closer," Zerfa said, shaking her head. "The security here is unbelievable. These people were proficient power users, and so understood the limitations of distance. Their defenses are set to activate well beyond the range where our powers would be most effective. This ship would not get within a thousand miles of the ground before we were all incinerated. The defensive forces here - just the ones I can detect - are Herculean. There's just no deflecting the stuff they could throw at us at these power levels." She sounded frustrated. "There's a key for entry, but it's based on a nine-digit prime number. Even if I had another thousand years, I doubt I could break it."

Rufe looked disappointed. "That's a first for you, dear."

Zerfa smiled at him. "This isn't simple population/time calculations, love. There are only seven billion people on Earth. Figures for them are easy compared to breaking this entry key."

Izzy turned to Max, looking grim. "If we can't break this place down, then we have to stop the Beltracians themselves, right? Stop them from being able to use it?"

Max looked at Pacha, who did not look happy. "I don't know if we can do that," the Kifta admitted.

"How about the shift thing your people used to push the Arpies into a side universe? Could we do something like that with these Beltracians?"

Pacha nodded. "Yes. If we had time to go back to my world and have the council recreate the Ka for it. But that would take time. I have a feeling our enemies already know where we are, and will be joining us well before we could accomplish such work."

Kippy poked Charlie with his elbow. "What about us?"

Charlie stared at him, uncomprehendingly. "What about us?"

Kippy sighed. "Oh, you...we have the wishes that Kiley and Kiri gave us." He turned to Max. "What about wish magic?"

Zerfa perked up at that. "You boys have wish magic? How much?"

Charlie shrugged, thinking about the little sparks that circulated around the back of his mind. He hadn't thought of them lately, and when he didn't think of them, they tended to recede from his thoughts. But just thinking about them now brought them out of hiding, and once again they swirled about the back of his thoughts, almost playfully. "I don't know. I've tried counting them, but they don't stand still, so it's hard." He shook his head. "Um...more than twenty, but less than a hundred? I used one to help me create a painting I gave someone for Valentine's Day" -- he flashed a smile at Kippy, who flashed one just as quickly in return --"but I still have the rest of them."

Zerfa frowned. "Wish magic is some of the most powerful magic there is, but it has to be used just right. You have to wish for the exact thing to occur that will make the difference, or the wish will be wasted dealing with a multitude of side issues."

"Couldn't you just wish for the Beltracian ship to explode?" Mike asked.

Even Charlie knew that answer to that. "No. It doesn't work for bad stuff. I mean, you can't wish for these guys to just die, and expect it to happen. Wishes come from the heart." Charlie looked around at his friends. "None of us can wish anyone to die."

Kippy shook his head. "I can't, I know that much."

Mike looked surprised. "Even if it means saving maybe millions of lives?"

"No," Zerfa said, nodding in agreement. "Wish magic is a gift, obtained from someone that loves you. It's the only way to get it. Born of love, it cannot be used directly for harm." She looked at them more closely. "Only indirectly, does harm to anyone come from a wish."

"I don't want to kill the Beltracians," Charlie said, patiently.

Mike looked frustrated. "Better six of them than maybe millions of the galaxy's people."

"I must agree," Pacha said. "But I also understand the test you face in applying such a force to our problem. Without a purposed attack upon our adversaries, I see no way to directly influence them."

Kippy stared at the planet in the display, and then turned to Zerfa. "You said the security here is tremendous. That would keep out the Beltracians, too, wouldn't it?"

Zerfa nodded. "Unless they have the key, or can break it, or have some other means of satisfying the provisions for entry, they will be kept out, as well."

"Maybe that will happen, then."

Pacha crinkled his nose at that. "They must have a reasonable expectation that they can enter this place, or why even seek it out?"

"Wouldn't just the fact they they're Beltracians make the difference?" Adrian asked. "Wouldn't it let its own people in?"

Ricky pointed at the planet on the screen. "If that place is anything like a human high-security compound, just being human won't get you in. The Beltracians had to have had a hierarchy, just like everyone else. Pacha said this was a scientific party of Beltracians, not a military one. So why would they have the key to get inside some super-secret military base?"

No one said anything for a moment. All eyes were turned to the distant planet.

Pacha cleared his throat. "I make an assumption here, but I am thinking there is perhaps a process whereby they can gain themselves entry to perhaps a lower security holding section of this facility, where, after that, they simply need to convince the artificial mind that runs this place of their need for complete access."

That made sense. Charlie had forgotten that all the alien facilities were run by artificial minds. That added element of intelligence might make all the difference here. "They might be able to talk their way in, you mean," he said. The thought intrigued him, and an idea started to form in his mind.

Bobby sighed, and looked at Kontus. "You have any idea what's going on?"

The big Trichani smiled. "Not even a little."

"You play cards?" Bobby asked.

"I could learn," Kontus said.

Max waved a hand, almost without a thought, and a deck of playing cards appeared in the air before Bobby and dropped into his hands.

"Come on over to the couch," Bobby said, holding up the deck and grinning. "We'll still be able to see and hear everything that's going on."

Kontus nodded, staring at the cards. "You intrigue me. Proceed, and I will follow."

Max let a quick smile follow them, before turning back to the issue at hand. "So we gotta assume they might get into this place."

Charlie's thought had grown to maturity by then, and he turned quickly to Pacha. "What sort of mind would be here, running this place? One like Murcha, you mean?"

The Kifta was silent a moment, thinking. "Well...I would imagine the technologies would be similar, not taking into consideration Beltracian advancements in the area. I just don't know for certain."

Charlie nodded. "Murcha? Can you give me a rundown on how your mind performs its functions?"

"Yes, Charlie. Easily."

Kippy poked him with an elbow. "You have an idea?"

Charlie nodded. "Maybe." He turned to Max. "If these minds work like I suspect they might, we may have a simple enough way to wish ourselves out of this situation."

Max grinned. "Seriously?" He laughed. "I like the idea of you taking this bull by the horns."

Charlie smiled. "We aren't there yet. This is just an idea at the moment." He looked up at the overhead. "Murcha? I'm ready for that tutorial. Can you make it simple so that even some high school guys can understand it?"

 

* * * * * * *

 

It took four days, wristwatch time, for the Beltracian ship to appear. Murcha spotted it before it was dangerously close, and Max and Pacha and the elves had their defenses up. The Beltracians obviously detected that, and made no hostile moves. Their ship drew closer to the planet, and paused as it came abreast of them, but at a safe distance away.

"I am receiving a communication," Murcha said then.

Charlie looked over at Pacha. "Will we even be able to understand them?"

The Kifta gave a tiny shrug. "Why would they bother, unless they thought we would understand?"

"Let's hear it, Murcha," Charlie said.

"There is video as well," the shipmind added.

The view of the planet on the screen before the sofas dimmed, and a face looked out at them. Charlie stared, along with everyone else.

His first impression was of that of a lion, but in an instant he could see it was a false one. The face was not furred, and the mane seemed to consist of tiny, fleshy appendages, almost like cilia on a grand scale, that waved slowly as if in a light breeze. The eyes were large and black - a predator's eyes if Charlie had ever seen them. The snout was square, with the twin slits of nostrils at the end of it, and the mouth beneath seemed filled with small, very pointed teeth.

A voice came to them, and Kontis leaped to his feet. "That is my own tongue!"

"I will translate," Murcha said then.

The voice that came to them was soft, almost whispery, yet scarcely without volume despite those qualities. If a snake could talk, this would be the voice that Charlie expected it would have.

"So, at last we meet."

Charlie looked about, expecting Max or maybe Pacha to answer; but both of them were looking at him. Charlie started, then swallowed hard and nodded at the display. "Yes."

"I do not recognize you. You are not one of the primitive species of the old empire, now grown haughty against your masters." The gaze moved among them, and fastened upon Kontus. "Your type, I do recognize. You were hunting with spears on the lonely plains of a single world when we last ruled this part of the galaxy."

Kontus cleared his throat, and looked unimpressed. "And yet, now we rule, and your type is extinguished from space."

"Not quite yet," the one onscreen said. "The grand never truly perish. They regroup, and return again. Even now, as we speak, forces beyond your comprehension are awakening. The empire of old will return."

"I don't think so," Charlie said. "We have no place for your kind here now."

The eyes onscreen narrowed. "You are power-users, and of a strength we have never encountered before. That makes you dangerous. Our first mission will be to seek out your place of origin, and erase it from among the stars. Our stars."

"Good luck," Charlie said, feeling angry now at the threat to humankind. "It's been tried before, and we're still here."

"It was not done properly, then. We will do it correctly, I assure you."

Charlie offered up a thin smile. "Six of you? It will take more than that."

"There will be more than that."

"Oh - that's right. Your people have genetic stores all over the old empire, right? You're planning to breed a few million of you, in short order?" Charlie laughed. "We're onto your plans there. I don't think that will be allowed to happen."

The one onscreen watched them a moment, but seemed unimpressed by Charlie's threat.

"In a moment we go to the planet below. There, we will awaken a fleet such as your kind has never seen. Wait about, if you like, and witness our return. We shall be sure to send a few vessels up for you to inspect first hand."

"Why?" Charlie asked. "Why do you need to do this? Your kind has had it's run. Others have built a life here now. You would kill millions just to reassert your power?"

The face on the display watched him a moment, and a brief flash of hope appeared in the back of Charlie's mind.

"We do not believe in needless killing. All that is required is for us to reclaim what is ours. We built the greatest empire this galaxy has ever known. Should we simply turn our backs on it now, when the means to rebuild it are at hand?"

Charlie sighed. "The people that have this space now will not simply hand it over to you. They will fight for it. Many of your kind will die, too."

"Yes. It is the way that greatness is always built - on sacrifice."

"Someone will stop you," Charlie said, in a last, desperate attempt to halt where he could see this conversation going. "Like your empire was stopped once before. You never learned what happened to your people, did you? What killed them off? Aren't you worried it might happen again?"

The one onscreen issued forth a soft sound, an almost sigh. "It is our natures to build. We must, or die. You are strong, but not strong enough to stop us. So we go, to meet our destiny."

Charlie sighed, and nodded, tiring of the game. These people would never listen. "This planet has safeguards. You have to get in there, first. The security is pretty tough, in case you don't know about it."

Something like a laugh crossed to their ears. "We do know of it, and we also know how to get in."

Charlie waved a hand at the screen. "Then be our guests."

"Then farewell, until we next meet again." The image on the display vanished.

"Yeah," Charlie said softly, "I don't think that's gonna happen."

"Nasty," Pip said, shaking his head.

"Trouble," Frit agreed.

They had rehearsed what needed to be done next. Kippy closed his eyes. "I wish...I wish I could see what was happening inside the Beltracian ship."

The screen, which had dimmed, lit again, and they were suddenly looking at what appeared to be the control center of the Beltracian vessel. Six of the aliens were seated in a row before a large display, that showed the growing bulk of the planet before them. The room itself was dimly lit. Things that glowed stood here and there about the deck, but the great display screen was central to everything, and Charlie wasted no time thinking that the room looked more like a darkened movie theater than it did the control center of an advanced starship.

"Establish contact," a whispery voice said then.

One of the other aliens launched into a long string of words, naming the science vessel, its mission, and their authorization code to establish contact with the planetary mind. And then it offered a short synopsis of what they had found upon their return to the empire, and the dire condition of the Beltracian race.

The planetary mind responded, acknowledging that there had been no contact with anyone for x-number of years, and that a discussion would be allowed on what had happened and what might be done about it. The ship requested permission to land in a safe area, and the mind offered up the coordinates for them to do so. The vessel was then warned not to utilize any defensive or offensive technologies, either of which would be deemed as threatening and dealt with accordingly. Those on the ship agreed..

The Beltracian ship descended. Charlie and the others could see the continent grow, and then the desert within it, and then the great structures of buildings and the ranked rows of warships, stretching into the distance. The ship continued to drop, until a great, circular paved area came into view. The ship drifted sideways, toward it, until Charlie was certain that that was where the aliens intended to land.

He sighed, and closed his eyes. "I wish...I wish I could watch the Beltracian planetary mind at work, from the inside. Up close."

The air to one side of them formed a cloud, and then they were looking at...something. An amazing number of tiny lights seemed to be flashing and swirling and moving everywhere, and winking out and reappearing, But suddenly, even as they watched, the flurry of activity slowed as the lights suddenly came to brief rests before moving on again. A congestion of sorts built, and then blocks appeared here and there, and then...

On the surface of the planet, a dozen great turrets suddenly thrust upwards from the ground. Immense muzzles trained skyward at the descending ship, and opened fire. Bolts of energy such as the Titans must have wielded lanced skyward, to converge on the Beltracian ship. The bolts were as large in diameter as the vessel itself, and were scarcely slowed as they reached the unprotected steel of her hull. There was a clap of thunder such as might herald the end of the world, and the ship vanished into a raging cloud of superheated gases. The echoes of the destruction reverberated across the great desert, to fall upon the deaf ears of a now vanished race.

Charlie felt a pain lance through him, an acute sense of loss. Six lives had just ended. Alien lives, enemy lives...but lives, nonetheless.

He sighed, and closed his eyes. "That's all. We've seen enough."

 

* * * * * * *

 

Charlie moped for a while afterwards, knowing in his heart he was responsible for the deaths of six living beings. The others tried to console him, but he simply sighed and said he was fine. The Lollipop withdrew from the fortress world, quickly surveyed the entire star system, and found no others present. Murcha popped them into the Cooee, and the red star vanished from sight.

"Back to Engris," Max said, pointing around at the group. "Want to go to Engris, everyone."

Charlie finally found that he could smile, and let the others draw him back into the fold. Kippy stayed with him, touching, smiling, being close. He knew how much Charlie cared about life, and how the violent ending of the drama had affected him.

"It's not your fault," he whispered, as the group laughed and talked in the released tension after their ordeal. "They did it to themselves."

"I should have figured it would end that way," he whispered back. "As much as they thought of themselves, I should have known they'd have a shoot first and ask questions later mentality built into their artificial minds."

"It's not your fault," Max said, overhearing. "Son, you need to understand that in this universe there are always gonna be people that won't play nice. You can stand up to them, or you can let them run you down. I think you did the right thing, and you know how I feel about life."

That helped, and Charlie smiled with more feeling after that. "Thanks, Max. I just wish there'd been another way."

The elf came and sat next to him, and patted his arm. "Charlie, I'm proud of you. I'm proud of all you boys. You guys always try to do right by the world, and you always try to help it stay on course." He grinned. "You'd make great elves."

Charlie was touched deeply by the words. "That's a wonderful thing to say."

The elf sighed. "It sucks, Charlie, but sometimes there is only one way out of a trap. Having the courage to take that route, especially when you really don't like, is the mark of a good man."

Kippy hugged him some more, and Charlie felt better after that.

"I still have no idea what we did," Adrian confessed, once Charlie was feeling more sociable again.

Ricky laughed. "That's easy! Britannica Brain strikes again!"

"It wasn't that hard, really," Charlie said, as they sat to eat some lunch. "I was reading about quantum computers and how they worked one night back at home, and that gave me the idea on how to use a wish to do what was needed here. Murcha confirmed that the structure of his mind is a quantum device, and so subject to quantum laws. That made me think that the Beltracians probably had a similar system, because it really is the most efficient one available."

Max sighed. "These electronic thingies are beyond me, Charlie. How did a wish make the planetary mind shoot at the ship?"

Charlie closed his eyes, recalling the article he'd read on quantum computing. "Well, computers with silicon chips, like we use every day at home, process information in bits, which exist either as a one or a zero. That limits the speed of the calculations they can perform, because each bit is set in only one state. To change a condition, you have to change a bit from one state to the other. From a zero to a one, or the reverse."

Kippy eyed him. "You lost me already."

Charlie laughed, knowing that was untrue. "Just listen. In a quantum computer, every single bit is not set. These quantum bits, or qubits, can exist in what is called a superposition, which allows them to be both a one and a zero, as well as every point in between. That allows them to perform many calculations at a single time. A quantum computer can work on a million calculations at a time, compared to your desktop computer only being able to work on one at a time. This is why a quantum computer becomes fast enough and powerful enough to host an actual mind - an intelligence."

"I read that quantum computer bits are just atoms or photons, or other particles," Ricky said. "They use a bunch of different methods of controling them."

Charlie nodded. "That's right. And because these bits are subject to quantum rules, they suffer the difficulty of existing under quantum laws. And one of them is very simple: if you observe a quantum bit in superposition to determine its value, the action of observation actually changes that value. That makes it hard for a quantum computer to operate and produce usable results, because simply querying each action, alters it."

"So how does it work, then?" Kippy asked.

Charlie gnawed on his lip, thinking. "Another quantum rule is that if you apply an outside force to two atoms, it can cause them to become entangled, and the second atom takes on the properties of the first atom. The first qubit. That way, you can query the results of one atom in the entangled set without disturbing the functions of the second atom, thereby preserving the calculations. An atom left alone spins in all directions, or a state of superposition. If you disturb it by measuring it, it chooses one spin, one value, and becomes a one or a zero. That messes up whatever calculations it was working on, and slows the operation of the computer. Enough interactions like that by an observer, and the computer is paralyzed."

"That's what happened?" Adrian asked."We paralyzed the planetary mind?"

"Uh huh. By wishing to watch the planetary mind in action up close, we directly observed the qubits in their calculations, which altered their states and began to cripple the mind. It could only view that as an attack, and the only source of that attack was the ship then landing. I didn't know how it would react to that, but I don't think I thought it would destroy the ship"

Pacha eyed him. "Really, Charlie?" he asked, gently. "Be honest with yourself. You'll feel better for it."

Charlie considered the Kifta's words, and knew then that he had really been aware of what might happen. It didn't make him feel any better, but at least he felt like he was not trying to hide the truth from himself. "I didn't want to kill them," he said, and meant it. "But...I guess I did know that might happen."

Pacha patted his hand. "You've a good heart, Charlie. You just need to know that even a good heart sometimes needs to make very difficult decisions. There are billions of people in several star empires that may very well owe their lives to our actions here today. Feel good about that, and let the dead lie in the debris of their own poor decisions."

For a moment, the conversation died as everyone became thoughtful.

"We'll have to go back to that planet," Max said then. "We can't just leave it there. Someone else might find it. Or, the mind there could decide that something had happened to the Beltracians, and that it needed to send that fleet out to look for them. Those weapons are just as dangerous without their real owners there to use them."

Charlie winced at the idea of going back, but knew that Max spoke the truth. "Just let us know when, and Murcha will take us."

"What do you plan to do?" Kippy asked. "Zerfa already said we can't break the code to get in."

Max sighed. "Well, I'm really good with gravity, see? I know a few of the boys at the shop that are really good with gravity, too. We'll come back, and make some adjustments to that planet's orbit. I figure we can alter it pretty handily. Enough that, say in a month's time, it will fall into that red sun."

Kippy gaped. "The whole planet?"

Max nodded. "Terrible waste, but the galaxy needs to be safe, Kip."

Adrian shook his head. "What about the life that lives there?"

"There's none at all, not even little one-celled guys," Max said. "Rufe looked it over really well. The Beltracians apparently sterilized the place to curb any possible contamination or corruption of what they had stored there."

The idea of destroying an entire world was sobering, and it took a little while for the conversation to bounce back. But it did, proving once again that people can get past anything, in time.

"I have a question," Bobby finally said, smiling at Charlie.

Charlie nodded. "Shoot."

"Uh...what's a computer?"

Charlie stared at the boy, and then laughed. "They were around in your time, but they were as big as a room. I think the British used one in WWII to help break codes, even."

Bobby looked shocked, and then nodded. "Oh! A super calculator? With vacuum tubes and stuff? I read about them in Popular Mechanics."

Charlie grinned. "They're a little more compact today."

Bobby sighed. "I can see there's gonna be some amazing stuff to learn about."

Mike smiled at him, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Plenty of time for that."

Bobby turned and grinned at him, and Kippy gasped, suddenly leaning closer to Charlie. "Do you see what I see?" he whispered.

Charlie blinked, and turned to look at his boyfriend. "What?"

Kippy sighed. "Oh, Charlie. You can be so blind sometimes."

Charlie looked back at Mike and Bobby, at the way they were smiling at each other, at the way their eyes were engaged, and immediately thought of his own explanation of quantum entangling. You could almost see the state of one boy, reflected in the other.

Charlie gave a little laugh, and pushed himself against Kippy. "Well, I'll be!"

 

* * * * * * *

 

Sefton, the big Molkar tour guide, let them out at the spirit dome, and stood by the round touring flyer, just as usual. "You go. Have fun. I be here."

After arriving back at Engris, Rufe and his wife, Zerfa, and the other elves, said their goodbyes and went home. That left Charlie and Kippy and Ricky and Adrian, along with Max and Pacha'ka, and Mike, Bobby, and Kontus. The big Trichani had become quite happy to be with them, marveling at the items for sale in the pirate market, and just overawed at being on the fabled planet of Engris. Charlie enjoyed the man's excitement, able to understand it completely because he usually felt the same way himself when confronted with such delicious mysteries.

"I hope we can see Will and Billy," Kippy said, the pleasure at the idea he was feeling plain to Charlie. They held hands as they walked towards the great dome, and Charlie's eyes traveled over the shadowed, quiet towers beyond the dome, before coming back to the huge, ornate doors that let into the dome itself.

"I'm getting fond of this place," he said. "It feels like our place, now."

"I know what you mean," Kippy said. "I feel welcome here."

Inside the dome, they explained the technology to Bobby and Kontus, and that they were going to try to summon up their friends, Will and Billy, for a visit. Kontus looked like he thought they were pulling his leg, but Bobby was thrilled at the idea. "Oh! Like a séance!"

"Better than that," Charlie said, grinning. "This is the real thing!"

The gathered by the great pit in the center of the dome, and began calling Will's and Billy's names. Kontus watched with skepticism clearly marked on his features, and so lurched backwards in surprise when there was a flash of motion near the edge of the pit.

Charlie turned to look, just as a tall, wispy, glowing cloud of light rose up out of the tunnel and hovered in the air above it. It was like a mist that he could see through, with tiny sparkles of light inside. Even as he looked, another of the same things rose beside the first one, and both wispy clouds moved away from the tunnel opening and approached them. Bobby took a step backwards, and looked like he was about to run. Charlie snaked out a hand and grabbed the sleeve of the other boy's jacket, and smiled. "Easy. They're friends."

The two clouds stopped a few feet from them, and the sounds started. It was like voices, but from afar, and so many that it was a chorus, with each separate voice lost among the others. Charlie and the others simply stared, unable to do anything at all but watch.

The two shapes pulsed and flowed, and settled to the paving stones. Slowly, the many voices began to quiet, even as the misty clouds darkened and started to change form. Charlie could not pull his eyes away, even as the two forms took on arms and legs and heads, and the many voices ebbed away, until only one was speaking.

"Hello, Charlie. Hello Kippy."

Will and Billy appeared, ghostly, glowing, but obviously the same two boys they had known in a more tangible, if spectral form, back on Earth.

Kippy stepped forward, his hands clasped before him. "It's so good to see you again! I wish I could hug you both!"

The two ghosts laughed. "It's wonderful to see all of you again. Adrian and Ricky, hello! And Max and Pacha, too! And two new faces! We welcome Bobby and Kontus among us."

The Trichani's jaw dropped. "You...know of me?"

"Yes," Billy said, nodding. "We observed your latest adventure from several different views - several different possible outcomes. We are pleased that it worked out for you in this reality."

Will smiled at them. "There is a great deal of power in this reality - a great deal of luck that arises from the strength of your group's friendship. That seems to be the factor that continuously draws your endeavors here to successful conclusions."

Charlie looked around at the others, and nodded. "We do okay together."

Will turned to gaze at Bobby. "Your plight has saddened us, Bobby Felsen. It is as Pacha'ka has surmised, that the dark world of Kanthakos, where you were briefly imprisoned by the Markites, exists in a time frame where many years pass in the real universe compared to planetary time. And so you have been displaced from the world you knew."

Bobby nodded. "Yeah. I don't know what I'm gonna do about it, either."

Billy smiled. "We have someone with us who wishes to see you. We thought to prepare the way, so that you would not be shocked."

"Someone to see me?" Bobby looked amazed. "Here? Who?"

Another wispy, glowing cloud of light rose up out of the tunnel and hovered in the air above it, before coming over and settling on the the pavement beside Will. It instantly firmed, and the figure of a woman looked out at them.

Bobby dropped to his knees. "Grandma!"

The woman came forward, standing near Bobby, and then sank to her knees before him. "Oh, Bobby! It is so wonderful to see you again."

Bobby snorted, and tears ran down his face. "Are you...are you dead?" He reached out for her, but grasped only air.

"I am passed on," the woman agreed. "But as you can see, I am not dead."

"How...?" Bobby asked.

The woman looked around the great chamber, and smiled. "This wonderful place, that has let me come to see you. The moment I passed, I became aware of your predicament, stolen from earth and trapped on that dark world in the nether regions."

"The Cooee," Charlie said, before he could help himself.

The woman smiled at him. "Yes." She returned her gaze to Bobby. "You have made good friends in these ones, Bobby. Each time you come here, we can visit together."

Bobby shook his head. "But...I'll be going back to earth, grandma. How will I get here again?"

The woman leaned closer. "Is that what you want? To go back to a world that no longer knows you? That you no longer know?"

"But...what else is there? What else can I do?"

Mike stepped forward, and sank to his knees next to Bobby. He carried Pacha, who reached out a hand and laid it on Bobby's shoulder. "Mike and I were discussing you, Bobby. We would like to ask you to join us in our travels."

"To go along with us," Mike said. "Stay with us."

Bobby suddenly smiled. "To travel around the stars with you?"

Mike simply nodded.

"It would be good for you," the figure of Bobby's grandmother said. "And, like I mentioned, we can visit each time you come here."

"I want to," Bobby said, looking at Mike. "I want to go with you."

Kippy sighed, and leaned against Charlie, and took his hand and squeezed it. "Told ya," he whispered.

Charlie smiled, and squeezed his boyfriend's hand in return.

Will turned to Charlie then. "As Billy said, we observed the possible outcomes of your latest adventure, Charlie. You triumphed here, in this reality; but in others the Beltracians were not stopped. I want you to know that in some realities, where you did not think to do as you did here, hundreds of worlds were laid waste, and millions upon millions died. Lost among the casualties in many of those realities was our very own Earth."

Charlie gasped, feeling his knees get weak. Kippy held onto him, and nodded. "See? It was for the best, Charlie."

"I ...I just can't believe that we can be so...so pivotal."

"It is the strength of all of you, Charlie. The unique strength of your group is unlike any other, anywhere. You should cherish what you have found together." Will turned, and smiled at Bobby, and Kontus. "And your strength continues to grow, with each new addition, each new talent. There are many things yet ahead of you, Charlie, where you will need such strength. The universe has taken note of you now. You will forever play a part in moving it onward."

Charlie simply stared at Will. "Uh...but no pressure, right?"

Will and Billy both laughed, as did the others.

"No, Charlie, there is no pressure. Because you and your group will always act when needed, without anyone telling you it needs to be done. It is your nature, and we are happy that it is so."

 

* * * * * * *

 

Charlie put his arm around Kippy and pulled him a little closer as they waited for the first fireworks to burst overhead. Max had whipped them up a great, long sofa, with room for them all, and Charlie had to admit that it was a whole lot better than sitting on the ground.

Nearby, Kontus fanned himself, and gave a short cough. "Is it always so warm here?"

Charlie laughed. "It's summer, I'm afraid. And our planet is not air-conditioned like your Roorapynta is. Sorry."

The Trichani smiled at him. "It is still quite a beautiful world." Something buzzed past him on wings, a bumblebee, perhaps, and the big man's eyes grew wider. "And quite full of life!"

"We'll take you home after the celebration," Charlie promised. He smiled then. "Unless you don't want to go right away."

Kontus cleared his throat, and looked thoughtful. "Actually, the idea of going back to my job at the port, aimlessly floating about, just watching as ships come and go on their adventures in space...bores me."

Charlie grinned and leaned forward and looked the other way down the sofa. "Pacha? Anything you can do about that?"

The little koala tchick-tchick-tchicked. "There is plenty of room aboard my vessel, Kontus, if you would like to go with us."

Mike grinned, and leaned forward, too. "Yeah. We're heading over to Plastark, in the Crab Nebula."

The Trichani's eyes widened. "The Tower of Arimides is there! It was thought to have been constructed by an even older race than the Beltracians!"

"You're welcome to come along with Mike, Bobby, and I," Pacha said. "We can drop you off later, if you like."

"Or not," Mike added, laughing.

Max leaned forward further down, a huge bowl in his grasp. "Popcorn, Charlie? There's plenty."

The other way, Ricky leaned forward and gazed past Kontus. "We'll take some. Right, Ad?"

Adrian sighed, and snuggled closer to his boyfriend. "Sure, Rick. Whatever you want."

The bowl was passed down, and Ricky took it, grinning. Charlie looked back the other way, in time to see Max spin his hand and create another bowl on his lap, heaped high with freshly popped popcorn. The elf grinned at him, dug himself out a handful, popped it into his mouth, and sat back.

The first rocket burst far above them, and everyone's eyes moved skyward.

"Ooh!" Frit called, from beyond Max, automatically squeezing Pip against him. "It's beautiful!"

"It's stupendous!" Pip agreed. "Colossal!"

"It is quite magnificent," Kontus said, shaking his head in small wonder. "And you do this for entertainment purposes?"

Kippy laughed. "It's a celebration, Kontus. Of our freedom. And of our intention to stay that way."

Another rocket burst overhead, and they all fell silent as the show got under way.

Charlie sighed, pleased to be back home, pleased that they were all together.

Kippy squeezed his hand as another rocket burst, and Charlie leaned over and kissed him. "Love you, Kip."

Kippy turned his head, and offered up a kiss. "I love you, too, Charlie. I couldn't have wished for a nicer Fourth of July."

Charlie laughed, and pulled his boyfriend even closer.

"Wishes count, Kip. There's always next year!"