The Space Traveler (The Space Traveler Saga Book 1)

by Devon Shubin

  “Inspector?” Mizpah’s eyes lit up and he glowed a bright white. “What do you inspect? Inspector.”

  “You are a very curious fellow, I must say. I inspect the seven planetary systems for dlom growth. Why? Do you have any dlom here?”

  “What is dlom, Inspector?”

  He knew the being was synthetic of some kind. Although it could appear and reappear, it spoke and reacted as a robot would. If he helped Mizpah understand what dlom was, he could manipulate it to help him unravel the mystery here.

  “Dlom is an organic substance, it comes in many colors, but many greenish black colors. Dlom can cause beings to react in a strange way.”

  When he said the word ‘strange’ that activated inside Mizpah another Earth song that began playing. It was ‘Strange magic’ by ELO, now causing Mizpah to dance while he was floating backwards.

  “Mizpah, do you like music?”

  The word ‘music’ now triggered in him the song ‘Listen to the music’ by the Doobie Brothers. The steady strumming of guitars, drums beating and then the melody came crisp and clear through Mizpah. They were ten feet from the entrance of the pyramid now and four Cudat guards stood at the single entrance. The song continued playing. The Space Traveler looked behind him where the large group had surrounded Mizpah and they had all but dispersed now. He found that very peculiar. Mizpah, not only entertains the Cudats, he mesmerizes them.

  He turned his head back to Mizpah as they entered through the doorway of the pyramid and he asked him, “Mizpah, I need to speak to the leader here about my assistant who is injured. Can you help me translate that to him?”

  Mizpah seemed to always have a smile on his face. He widened he smile now and answered, “We have him in the medic chambers recovering from his damaged arm.”

  The Space Travelers heart jumped, “You have him? How? When?”

  Before Mizpah could answer him, heat began to burn into his back and he winced, knowing he slowed down his pace. “Hey!” he yelled behind him to the guard, “I’m moving alright. Just cool your jets!”

  “They cannot understand you Inspector. You have wasted valuable energy,” Mizpah explained as the song ended.

  Walking, he replied, “Yeah, I realize that. Now, before we meet the leader, oh, what is his name?”

  “The leader? You must be referring to Oneguld. He is hierarchy of the Cudats in this location. All over Col there are millions of hierarchies.”

  “Is there someone who everyone obeys?”

  Mizpah looked confused. He did not know how to respond so he did not. Inside the hallway, it opened to a large room with steps in square patterns of gold that sunk down into areas where tables and seats were joined together. It looked as if it were a convention center of some kind. The Space Traveler could not be sure but it also looked to be blue liquid stained and some fresh on the floors around the tables. The Cudats bled blue.

  “Is this a sacrificial room?”

  Mizpah turned around, still in midair to look out into the grand room of the pyramid and he then answered, “this is the punishment chamber.”

  “Punishment chamber! Mizpah, why am I being brought in here? I need to speak with the leader.”

  Mizpah turned his head and faced him again. He replied, “You are going to be punished. And then the curdglanak eat you.”

  Now his eyes did double in size as he saw two guards escorting Fretch who could barely stand on his own two feet. They were bringing him across the chamber down the golden steps to the tables. A closer view of the floor section he could now see two lateral poles resting on stands over a pit. The pit was dark and to the Space Traveler looked endless.

  “Mizpah,” he asked him as he reached the steps, “what are the poles and pit for?”

  “That is for you and your boar.” Now, the Space Traveler had never heard the word board. It was specifically an Earth term for a wild pig. Regardless, as they approached Fretch being ushered by two guards holding him up on each arm, he noticed that his right arm, was now made of metal. The Cudats had surgically transferred a mechanical arm on his shoulder.

  “Mizpah, did the Cudats give him a robotic arm?”

  “They used me to perform the procedure. I am the only technology on this planet.”

  Now this had the wheels inside the Space Travelers mind turning. If he could get Fretch to use his arm to free them both, he could grab the spear of a guard and use that as Fretch swung his new robotic arm, knocking down a few Cudats as they escaped. It was all a well-conceived plan in his mind, that is until he was standing next to Fretch who was drugged out of his mind.

  “Fretch,” he called to him, “Fretch! Can you hear me?”

  Fretch could only respond with moans as drool dripped down his hairy lips. He knew his assistant was no good to him now. It was up to ‘S.T. to handle this situation,’ he said to himself. Meanwhile, many other Cudats began marching into the grand room from entrances high above and from below where the stairs descended into darkness. The only illumination in the room was from the flame spears that the hundreds of Cudats carried with them. He did not know what was going to happen next, but he did not like the looks of this mob.

  The two guards tied rope around Fretchs wrist and ankles to the pole. They swooped the plump pig-man up in the air as another guard grabbed the pole between the stands. He held the pole over Fretch and then wrapped the rope around the pole tying it in knots. The Space Traveler looked at Mizpah who watched in silence.

  “What, no song?” The Space Traveler mocked.

  With his standard smile, Mizpah responded, “I have deactivated the musical instrument for the punishment ceremony.”

  “Oh, it’s a ceremony? Do we get any plaques or awards? Maybe a giant check?”

  “This is where you will die Inspector. No one has ever had the intuition to pass the test of the curdglanak.”

  He just stared at the star man and thought about how he would like to toss this creep down the endless pit. He knew it wouldn’t work because Mizpah was translucent like light. But he did have another idea.

  After they tied the pole to Fretch, the three guards lifted him up over the pit and then they placed the pole on the stands. Poor Fretch just hung there, drugged and resembling a pig that was ready to be roasted over a fire. Except there was no fire, not yet anyways. Now it was the Space Travelers turn. They wrapped his wrists and ankles with rope, tied him to the pole and up in the air he was hanging over the pit. They lowered him on stands and he hung there, suspended over the unknown. He peeked over his right shoulder and could see only pitch black darkness. Indeed, it was a very cold and deep hole.

  “Mizpah, I would like to have one final request.” The Space Traveler said.

  “I will relate your request to Oneguld.”

  “O.k. well, where is he?” The Space Traveler said as blood began to rush to his head. He knew if he stayed suspended upside down for long he would go unconscious. If that happened, he would never wake up again he thought.

  “He is coming,” Mizpah promised him.

  The Cudats began to encircle the top of where the steps descended. It was a formation well planned and rehearsed. Each Cudat held his flaming spear in his right hand and began pounding the end of it on the golden ground.

  “Mizpah,” he called out to him, “what’s going on?”

  “Oneguld is coming for your ceremony.”

  “Oh, good, I was beginning to wonder.”

  He could not fully see the leader’s appearance but he knew he was there when the stomping of spears ceased. He moved his head around and tried to get a glimpse of this Oneguld before he approached them. He wanted to size his opponent up. Unfortunately, he could not see the larger Cudat who came stomping down the stairs. Most the Cudats were fit, stood upright and were disciplined, not Oneguld. He stood six inches taller than the typical Cudat. He was a large being, overweight, sloppy and was continuously eating. The foul smell from his body odor was present when he reached the stairs. The Space Traveler knew that he and his
assistant were in serious trouble.

  Now, you probably are wondering, how do the Cudats eat, they have no mouth? Great question. And there is a logical answer. The way the Cudats eat is through a process called skin absorption. Say you take the leg of a turkey and put it to your mouth, you open, place the meat inside and start chewing. Not the Cudats. They place the food to where their mouths should be and the nutrients dissolve through the skin. When they are finished drying out the food, they discard the dried portion. This should cut down on bulimia. However, Oneguld is greedy, and he continues drying the food out until it turns to dust.

  Oneguard now stands over the pit facing the two prisoners, the Space Traveler and his assistant Fretch, who is completely unconscious. Mizpah float over to Oneguld and seemed to wait for a request. But Oneguld said nothing. Now, the Cudats can speak, but it very different than you or me. The vocal cords emit through and opening in their necks, almost as if a mouth is in your Adams apple. The sound from their voices is similar to that of a buzzing bee.

  Oneguld finally spoke to Mizpah, buzzing his words for his synthetic being to translate. Mizpah then translated, “Oneguld has spoken this. ‘Two trespassers. I know that you are here for the daughter of my enemy. I will now stop you with Curdglanak.”

  Now, the Space Traveler was very confused at this point in the adventure. First, they kidnap Fretch and get him to the pyramid before he can arrive, give him a new robotic arm and now they are talking about a daughter and curdglanak. He absolutely had no idea what Oneguld was talking about.

  “Mizpah, tell Oneguld that I have no idea what he is talking about. Make sure you remind him I am an Inspector with USHA.”

  Mizpah nodded and turned back to Oneguld. He buzzed his words in the language of the Cudats translating what the Space Traveler had commissioned him to say. Oneguld was sucking on some sort of tree root as he listened to Mizpah. He did not reply immediately, he studied the two prisoners with his black eyes, still sucking the liquid from the root. Then he replied.

  “Oneguld said, ‘Curdglanak will now test you. If you are intuitive, you will live.” Mizpah explained as he hovered next to his leader.

  The Space Traveler lipped to himself, ‘curdglanak?’ He had no idea what was going on at this point in the day he thought. And he had no clue how they were going to get out of this predicament. He looked over at Fretch who was going in and out of consciousness. The drugs they gave him during the five-minute surgery had taken a toll on the pig-man.

  When a cool draft blew from behind him he knew that the test was about to begin. The Space Travelers sense is very strong, and intuition was one of the strongest he had. He could not hear anything other than wind whistling through the deep chasm below, but he knew something was about to happen. With all the chaos going on, he did not even notice that a few feet to his right, closer to the edge of the pit, was another set of stands for the poles. As if instinct grabbed him and pulled him up and over to the next set of pole stands he had hoped over just in time as the curdglanak came out from the darkness and missed him. He looked over at the brown hairy worm-like creature who sunk back down into the pit.

  The massive crowd of Cudats stomped the end of their spears to the ground together. It was a sign of approval. The Space Traveler had passed the test. Sadly, he looked over at where Fretch was, but he was already taken by the Curdglanak. “No!” he shouted. Poor Fretch, all that he had been through and now he had met his demise. ‘Thank god he signed those waivers,’ he thought.

  Mizpah floated over to him and said, “You are intuitive. Your boar was not. He is a mind reader. Having the capability to foretell what Oneguld will say or do. Our plans are secret. You will now be punished for associating with the boar.”

  “Mizpah, tell Oneguld that I have one final request before I am punished.”

  Mizpah related to Oneguld what the Space Traveler had asked. He again patiently waited as the large Cudat leader looked at him with those lifeless black eyes. He replied his decision and Mizpah translated, “Oneguld will hear your request.”

  “Mizpah, I would like to hear music before my punishment, have your musical device turned back on.”

  Mizpah looked down into his chest area and pulled out a hand held electronic player. It was the size of a tablet but was covered in white slime that was hardened. “It is my musical instrument.” He laughed a wily laugh again.

  The Space Traveler looked at the musical player and corrected Mizpah, “that’s not an instrument, it’s a player. It plays music that the musicians on Earth have made.”

  Mizpah danced and jumped, “I have been to Earth.” It continued laughing and dancing. Now the Cudats were all too familiar with how their synthetic star person behaved. They watched it spinning and twirling as the song played through the electronic device. It was almost as if they were being entertained vicariously through Mizpah, as they themselves did not know how to have any fun.

  “Mizpah, ask Oneguld if this is a reasonable request.”

  Mizpah stopped his dancing and twirling momentarily while he looked at Oneguld and inquired of the request. Oneguld finally answered with his buzzing noise that came from his throat mouth. Mizpah turned and looked at the Space Traveler, still dangling over the endless pit, he began to sweat.

  “Oneguld has granted your request, Inspector. What song shall I play for you?”

  “That is very good Mizpah. But I can't see you well and I want to watch your dancing and twirling it is quite fascinating, probably my favorite. Would you please go away up to the top so everyone can see your performance?”

  Mizpah was more than happy to agree to the Space Travelers request and floated his way to the top as the Cudats cleared an opening for him. Mizpah stood there looking like a goofy star in the middle of a video game. He patiently waited as the Space Traveler, still dangling from the pole thought about what song he would request. He stared up at Oneguld who continued sucking now on some sort of veiny animal leg.

  “Mizpah, I would like to hear ‘All Night Long’ by Lionel Richie.”

  If the star man's face could get any bigger it would, as his smile reached one side of his face to the other. The song began playing its slow pace and as it kicked up to its fast beat during the chorus Mizpah exploded into dancing, jumping and spinning around as bright lights shot out of his limbs throughout the chasm. Just as the Space Traveler thought, it drew the attention of all the Cudats in the entire assembly. Many of the bird-like men started walking towards Mizpah. Even Oneguld turned to face him. Halfway through the second chorus, Mizpah was surrounded by three hundred plus Cudats.

  Now, it was safe for her to swing down from the Wire she set up while the Space Traveler distracted them. Coming in quick and nimble with her limber body, she grabbed him up from the poles and up to the top of the stairs before anyone noticed.

  “Alegna! How did you get here?” he asked as he looked down at Mizpah and the army of enchanted Cudats.

  He began untying him from the pole and before she could answer, Mizpah had stopped his singing and dancing to the music. The trance was over and now and the entire assembly of Cudats were staring up at them. Oneguld finally stopped sucking on whatever he had in his face and called out to his army, “Seize them!”

  Alegna looked back at him and said, “I have your ship. Now let's get out of here.”

  He looked back down at the Cudat army that were quickly racing up the golden stairs to stop them. He then looked back at her, “That is the best news I have heard all week, and believe you me, I have had a rough week.”

  Running down the hallways of the pyramid they could hear the pacing feet of the arms behind them. It sounded like they were gaining on them. Torches were placed on the wall every thirty feet or so to allow some light, but behind them when they looked back they could only see shadows and darkness. The Space Traveler turned his head to look forward again and he was facing Mizpah. It startled him, but the adrenalin running though his body prevented him from putting on the brakes.

  �
�Mizpah!” he called out to him, “can you help us get to Earth?”

  That question intrigued Mizpah and he quickly responded, “Yes, I can take us to Earth and visit the stadiums in New York U.S.A. I am also very fond of the amphitheater in Hollywood California U.S.A. and The Greek amphitheater.”

  Alegna had no idea what he was talking about, nor where U.S.A. even was. And as they ran as fast as they could Mizpah pushed her left shoulder and his right shoulder separating them as a flaming spear flew between them and went through Mizpah. They ran by it as it lay on the ground still flaming. Trying to catch her breath, Alegna inquired, “what is this thing?”

  “Mizpah, meet Alegna?” the Space Traveler said.

  She looked at the star robot floating in front of them and he smiled at her with as if he had not a care in the universe. Mizpah stated, “I will take you to Earth if you are a lover of music.”