Julian
felt like he had not slept at all the previous night. Usually he could sleep through pretty much everything—or rather on pretty much everything—but the lumpy
old couch he chose as his abode for the night didn’t agree with his back.
Throughout the night, it tried incessantly to rearrange his spine so that it
resembled a giant S. By the time Julian
was finally able to get comfortable the sun rose…and with it Joshua. The little boy had been accustomed to wake
up at sunrise, and when he did, he nearly dragged his friends out of bed. The three then sat downstairs for an hour
and a half while the hotel kitchen opened.
“Did
everyone sleep well?” Joshua’s legs dangled a few centimeters over the ground
as he sat at a table in the main room of the hotel. He was busy stuffing himself with the modern wonder known as
‘pancakes’, disregarding all table manners in the process. Julian, set on a sort of zombie mode, yawned
in response. “I guess.” He croaked. “What about you?”
“Okay.
The couch looked better though.” Julian uttered a slight, ‘hmm’ and began
eating his own breakfast, a plate of eggs. “You’d be surprised.” He said. Suddenly his eyes widened somewhat and his
shoulders flexed, producing a loud popping sound in his back. Joshua eyed him strangely out of the corner
of his eyes, but thought nothing else of it.
Instead he turned his head and looked towards the door. “Say, do you
know where Peel went? She took Kir, too.”
Julian
shrugged, causing him to yelp in pain as his back cracked again. “Dunno. She
hasn’t been gone for long though. Probably out for a walk or something.”
As
if on cue, Peel burst in the room, waving a small piece of paper in the air and
dancing around like a lunatic. “Look! I found us a way across the swamp, see?
Isn’t it cool? I’ve never seen anything like it ever! It’s great!” Joshua shot up and went to calm her down
while Julian went over to the nearby couples and assured them that there was no
problem whatsoever (“I think she might have issues.” A nearby person said as
Julian excused himself on her behalf).
Joshua
tried to snatch the paper out of Peel’s hands, but with no success. “Peel, you
haven’t even told us what this is about!” he complained. Instantly Kir jumped up from behind Peel and
onto Joshua’s head and began chattering excitedly, making Joshua back off
slightly. “Oh.” He said to no one.
Julian had joined them by now and looked at his companions suspiciously.
“What is it?” he asked Joshua. The
latter pointed to Kir. “Apparently Peel found a way to get us across the swamp
safely.” He mused. “It’s not that far from here, either.”
Julian
looked at Peel, who was smiling triumphantly, the paper still in her hand. “Is
that true?” he asked. Peel nodded
emphatically. “Look!” she yelled, thrusting the sheet of paper forward and
nearly punching Julian in the nose.
Julian stepped back and held up his hands, trying to focus on the worn
sheet of yellow paper in the process.
It read:
YOUNGTOWN-ELLAY
SWAMP TRANSPORT!
ON
HOVERCRAFT! CHEAP! LOOK US UP!
No
dogs allowed. Hundredth mosquito bite gets you free key-chain!
Julian stared at the paper, then at Peel, then at the paper again. A hovercraft! Of all the wacky things! Still, it was quicker than walking. Probably a whole lot more dangerous, too. They could fall and hurt themselves! Julian pondered the matter briefly and decided that he could go along, assuming he could turn the ride down because of the price.
“Okay
then. Let’s go.”
***
The ‘War Veteran’s Swamp Tour Bonanza’, as the business called itself, consisted of a small tent on the edge of the swamplands, housing an old wooden desk and a large crate labeled ‘EXPLOSIVES!’. As Julian and his friends walked inside an old man with a very long beard, wearing old military clothing and wearing an aviator’s cap on his head greeted them.
“Well,
if it isn’t the young lady from before. Hello!” the war veteran laughed with an
over-excited pitch, then stopped to cough up what sounded like a large
hairball. Julian cringed when he heard
the sound, but refrained from saying anything out of politeness. Instead he took the paper and handed it to
the old man. “Excuse me, but I believe you offer rides to the other shore.” The
veteran laughed again. “That’s right! Ever since those three punks destroyed my
tank five years ago, I’ve been running this business. The swamp’s nicer than
the desert—more people to talk to.”
Julian
pretended to laugh. “…So…how much does this cost, anyway?” the old man waved
his hand. “Nope. Nothing, nada, zilch, zip! Your lady friend over there’s my
tenth customer, so it’s free of charge!”
Julian
saw his little plan going up in smoke, fast.
He turned to Peel, who was still looking smug and wearing a smile that
said, “Just TRY to make me walk across the swamp when I can take this hovercraft
for free!” Julian sighed. “OK, then,” he began. “we’ll take it. Let’s see this
hovercraft.”
The
hovercraft looked more like a raft with a fan attached to the end than anything
else. As the old war veteran fired it
up Julian walked around it, inspecting to make sure it wouldn’t sink. “I didn’t
think they made these things anymore.” He said to the old man. The old man emitted a hacking cough, which
Julian assumed was a scoff of some sort. “Nope, made this myself! I had to take
my airplane apart for the parts, though.”
At
this point Joshua intervened. “What’s an airplane?” he asked. “I’ve never heard
of those.” Peel stepped up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s kind of
like a giant bird people ride on, you know! Made out of metal, too.” Joshua
nodded with an “Oh” of understanding.
Suddenly he turned to the old man. “So, if you had an airplane, why
didn’t you just offer airplane tours instead of hovercraft tours?” The old man
shook his head. “Nope. Like I said, more people to talk to.” He motioned the
children to come aboard the hovercraft. “Now get on, we’re behind schedule!”
***
The hovercraft sped silently over the murky surface of the swamp, leaving a very small wake and shoving several lily pads to the side. The noise from the hovercraft’s fan drowned out all other background noise. The veteran was the only one standing, and he was too busy pointing and things and talking to them to notice his passengers. As for them, they were sitting on the raft and enjoying the ride, although Julian seemed a little uneasy. He had wanted to take the long route around the perimeter of the swamp, but such an expedition would take days.
“Ah!
It’s a fisherman!” the old veteran deactivated the fan and let the raft slow to
a stop, letting his words actually reach human ears this time. “See? Over
there!” Joshua swiveled his head to look at where the old man was pointing and
spotted a distant figure clad in green and handling a long fishing rod. The man looked slightly out of place. Actually, he looked completely out of place.
“Julian,”
Joshua called out to the figure beside him. “does that guy seem odd to you?”
Julian shook his head. “No. Why?”
Joshua shrugged and looked to Kir, who was sitting on the edge of the
raft and peering downwards into the murky depths. “I don’t know…something about
the way he’s holding the fishing rod.” Julian looked to Peel. She indicated with her hands that she didn’t
see anything strange either. He turned
to the old veteran. “Excuse me…can you take us close to that fisherman,
please?”
“Nope.
No problem at all!” was the response, and soon the hovercraft whirred to life
and began heading towards the fisherman, who had surprisingly ignored their
presence.
The
hovercraft glided to a halt in front of the fisherman, who was wearing a green
overall and bore a large hat on his head, covering his face. When they finally got there Peel leaned
forward and waved. “Hello! What are you doing way out here?” she asked happily,
but there was no response. The
fisherman stood there, gripping the pole tightly and not moving a muscle. The group stood there for a while, confused,
until Joshua snapped his fingers and shouted out.
“Now
I know what’s wrong! He’s standing on water!”
The
others turned and gazed at Joshua, who had stood up and pointed to the water at
the fisherman’s feet. “See! There’s no ground below him!”
Julian
did not take this as a good sign, and his eyes locked on to the mysterious
fisherman. He still couldn’t see his
face, but her did notice something up close that he wasn’t able to see from
afar…
The
fisherman didn’t have hands, but rather two tentacle-like limbs.
Instantly
Julian summoned the Aswer and called out to the old man. “Get us out of here,
now!” he barked. The old man stuttered,
unable to understand the outburst or the large green thing floating in front of
him. Peel and Joshua also rose and
walked up to him, rocking the craft slightly to either side. “Julian, what’s
the matter?” Peel asked. “What’s wrong?” Julian turned and pointed at the
‘fisherman’, eyes mere slits. “That thing’s a Starman…”
The
fisherman suddenly moved and dropped the fishing rod, ripping off his clothing
to reveal the metallic armor on his body.
The Starman hovered up a few feet and pointed its appendage at Julian
menacingly. It then spoke with a
monotone voice and a robotic calm that made Julian’s skin tingle.
“Target
engaged. Preparing to terminate.”