by Tom Hoffman
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. They have limited power and can only look back a finite amount of time. I don’t know how far, though. Papa didn’t know that either. I am now quite certain the ship with the green ball creatures was an Anarkkian Command Control Scout Vessel. There were not many of them and the technology they utilized was shrouded in secrecy. I suppose to some advanced civilizations this would be antiquated technology, but during the war there was nothing better.”
“I don’t know. I know how much you loved your Papa, but if you really think about it... goggles that let you see into the past? Think about what you’re saying.”
Sophia gave groan of exasperation. She held out the goggles and the cap for Orville. “Put them on. No talking, just put them on.”
Orville slipped the stretchy red cap on over his head and strapped the goggles on tightly. “Do you think this is a good look for me?”
“Quiet. I said no talking.” Sophia pulled two thin cables out from the side of the brass goggles and plugged them into the red cap. She grabbed Orville’s shoulders and turned him so he was facing the path they had been walking on. Sophia tapped three silver tabs on the top of the goggles and slowly turned the brass knob sitting between the two bright red lenses. “Tell me when you see something.”
“The only thing I see is your paw turning the–” Orville let out a shriek. “No. No! That’s not possible. I can’t be seeing this!” He tore the goggles off his head.
“I saw us! I saw you and me walking backwards down the path! That’s not possible. It can’t be real.”
“And yet you saw it with your own big brown eyes.”
Orville frowned. “You’re right. I did see it. I can’t deny that. Urghhhh. I suppose I should know better after all the things I’ve seen in the last month – Rabbitons, mechanical glowbirds, shaping, all those strange devices in the Metaphysical Adventurers headquarters, gigantic centipedes, and those strange green ball creatures. It’s almost too much. I liked things the way they were.”
“I know this is all new to you. I grew up with shaping and advanced technology. You’ll get used to it. It won’t take long, I promise.”
“Maybe you’re right. Wait, why do we need those four dimensional goggles anyway? What are you going to do with them?”
Sophia’s shoulders sagged. “I’m going to do something I dread with all my heart, but it’s something I have to do. I’m going to watch my Papa being murdered by Draken Mouse.”
“Oh.” Orville had no idea how to respond.
They walked silently through the great forest for several more miles until Orville spoke again. “Sophia, if it would help at all, I could watch it instead of you. We’d have the proof you needed and you wouldn’t... you know, have to see it happen.”
Sophia squeezed Orville’s arm. “I couldn’t ask for a better friend than you, Orville, but I need to see it for myself. It’s something I have to do. I guess it’s one of those things you called the fires of life. Things that change us forever.”
“Well, if you change your mind, just– hey, look at that weird tree. I’ve never seen a bright yellow trunk like that before.”
“That is strange. Usually trees grow in clusters. It’s odd that there’s only one of them.”
“Oh, there’s another right over there. They’re kind of pretty, aren’t they?”
One of yellow trees abruptly slid several feet across the forest floor. Sophia skittered backwards with a shriek, grabbing Orville’s arm. “Look up! Look up!”
The first thing Orville noticed when he looked up was that the two bright yellow tree trunks were not tree trunks at all, but were in fact a pair of legs, a pair of legs connected to the body of a gigantic black bird. A gigantic black bird who was staring at Orville with intense curiosity.
Orville was feeling dizzy but managed to snap a sphere of defense around Sophia and himself. He stammered, “G-g-giant bird. Giant bird looking at me.”
“I don’t think he wants to eat us. He’s just watching us.”
Orville gave a tentative wave at the bird and whispered, “Hello, very, very large bird.”
The bird’s enormous black eyes blinked rapidly. “Gnorli. I’m a Gnorli bird. I was looking for something, and now you’ve made me forget what it was. Drat. Double drat.”
Orville gaped at the Gnorli bird. “Good heavens, you can talk?”
“Of course I can talk. Why shouldn’t I talk? You can talk. Plenty of creatures can talk. What are you doing in my forest anyway? Wait – don’t tell me. You’re a couple of rough and tumble adventurers looking for treasure and you’re going to plead with me to fly you somewhere. You know, ride on my back and that sort of thing. You’re thinking, oh, my, what a lovely adventure that would be, soaring through the sky on the back of a great Gnorli bird. Am I right? You know I am. You’d be surprised how often I run into adventurers like you in this forest.”
Sophia gave the Gnorli bird her brightest smile. “I’m Sophia, and it’s a great pleasure to meet you. I’ve never met a Gnorli bird before. Do you have a name?”
“Gnorli.”
“You’re a Gnorli bird and your name is also Gnorli?”
“You’re a clever one, figuring that out so quick like that.”
“Well, it just seems a bit odd that you don’t have a different name than the kind of bird you are. You know, like Blacky or... Feathers...”
“Feathers? Who has a name like that? All Gnorli birds have the same name. We’re all called Gnorli. That way when I see another Gnorli bird, I just say, ‘Salutations, Gnorli. Seen any yummy centipedes?’”
“Well... suppose you’re talking to one Gnorli bird about another Gnorli bird? How would he know which Gnorli bird you were referring to?”
“Are you dim? He’d know I was talking about Gnorli. You’re giving me a terrible headache. What did you want again? Why am I talking to you?”
“You said you might be able to fly us somewhere on your back. We’re adventurers.”
“Adventurers? Why didn’t you say so? I’ve flown plenty of adventurers on my back. My name is Gnorli, by the way. What’s yours?”
“Sophia, my name is Sophia. This is my best friend, Orville.” Sophia pointed to Orville, who had a very puzzled expression on his face.
“Are you hunting for treasure? I like treasure, especially when it’s sparkly and shiny. Where are you headed?”
“We’re trying to get to the Senyph Ocean.”
“Oooohh... scary. You’re not going to go swimming are you? Not a good idea to go swimming in the Senyph Ocean.” Gnorli threw his head back and let out a great cackling laugh that shook the forest.
“Well, we hadn’t planned on going swimming. We’re going to spend some time along the coast and then cross the Senyph Ocean.”
Gnorli pulled his head back and stared blankly at Orville and Sophia, his eyes blinking rapidly. “Say what?”
“We need to cross the ocean. It’s the only way we can get home.”
Gnorli threw back his head again gave the great cackling laugh but stopped abruptly. “Hold on, what was I laughing about? Drat. It was something funny... something about... oh, I don’t know. Okay, so what are we doing again?”
Orville studied the Gnorli bird carefully. “Gnorli, you were going to fly us to the Senyph Ocean, remember?”
“Well, if you say so. Here, I’ll stoop down and you can scamper up onto my back. Just sit on my neck and hold on to my feathers. I’ve flown a lot of adventurers around, you know. You’re not my first adventurers.”
Gnorli squatted down on the forest floor while Sophia and Orville grasped his feathers and clambered up his side, then scooted across his back to his neck. Orville sat down, his legs straddling Gnorli’s wide neck. He grabbed a pawful of feathers and held on tightly. Sophia sat down behind him and put her arms around Orville’s waist. “Gnorli, I think we’re ready to go!”
“Okay, my adventuring friends! We’re off to fight the deadly giant carnivorous centipedes!”
“No! No, Gnorli, we’re going to the Senyph Ocean.”
Gnorli let out a great cackling laugh. “Just kidding. Hold on tight. Next stop is the Senyph Ocean.”
Gnorli flapped his gigantic wings and took to the air.
“Yikes! Sophia, we’re flying on the back of a gigantic bird! Tell me again why we’re doing this?”
Sophia could not stop grinning. “This is amazing! It’s more fun than flying in The Glowbird!
Orville gripped the feathers tightly as the Gnorli bird rose into the sky. The ride was surprisingly smooth and after a while Orville began to relax. “It is kind of comfortable sitting on all these feathers. Hey, Proto, do want to come out and take a look?”
“No, thank you. I’ll just stay in your backpack if you don’t mind.”
“Why aren’t you afraid of heights when you fly by yourself?”
“Oh, that’s quite different, I assure you. Yes, quite different indeed.”
The Gnorli bird abruptly let out a terrible shrill shriek, veering wildly across the sky. “What is that? What is that on my back?? What are you doing there?”
Sophia was quite aware by now that Gnorli had a dreadful memory, and in fact he couldn’t remember much of anything for more than a few minutes. “It’s just us, Gnorli. Your two adventuring passengers, Sophia and Orville. You’re taking us to the Senyph Ocean, remember? We’re hoping to find some nice shiny treasures for you.”
“Oh, that sounds nice. I do like shiny treasures. You’re not the first adventurers I’ve carried on my back, you know. Say, would you like to see some of my shiny treasures? It’ll be fun, hold on!”
Gnorli took a sharp banking turn and headed north.
Orville cried out, “Gnorli, we need to get to the Senyph Ocean – that’s east, and you’re heading north.”
Gnorli laughed. “There it is up ahead! That’s where I live.”
Sophia peered across Gnorli’s gigantic head. “You live on that mesa? Good heavens, Gnorli, that’s gigantic! Can you fly that high?”
“Oh, I don’t live on the top of the mesa. That would be crazy, unless you don’t mind a bunch of scary looking invisible creatures walking right through you. I have a glorious nest on a spacious ledge with a breathtaking view only a few hundred feet from the top. Here we go!” Gnorli began flapping his wings in earnest and they rapidly gained altitude. Orville was beginning to feel very warm and was beginning to panic.
“We’re pretty high up, Gnorli. Are you sure this is safe?”
“I’ve flown plenty of adventurers on my back, you know. You’re not the first. Look, we’re almost home!”
Orville looked ahead at the rapidly approaching mesa. The mountain range surrounding Muridaan Falls was a little over twelve thousand feet tall and this mesa looked taller than that. His best guess was the massive formation towered almost three miles above the ground and was ten or twelve miles across.
Gnorli was now circling the mesa several hundred feet below the top. “Here we are! My marvelous nest!” Gnorli swooped in and landed in a gigantic nest built with thousands of tree branches and filled with enormous mounds of soft dried grass. “Okay, everyone off. Time for the grand tour.”
Orville and Sophia slid down from Gnorli’s back into the mammoth grassy nest.
Orville was trying to conceal the overwhelming terror he was feeling sitting on a rocky ledge nearly three miles up in the air.
“A lovely nest indeed, Gnorli. Well, I suppose we should get going. You remember, you were taking us to the Senyph Ocean?”
“The Senyph Ocean? Scary place, that Senyph Ocean. Whatever you do, do not go swimming there. Not a good place to go swimming.” Gnorli let out another great cackling laugh, but stopped abruptly. “Oh, yummm! Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Gnorli pointed with one wing to some distant invisible point.
“See what? We’re three miles up, Gnorli. We can barely see the ground from here!”
“Centipedes! Yummmy! My favorite!” Gnorli leaped off the ledge and dove straight down for a thousand feet, then spread his wings and soared out across the great forest, disappearing into an enormous bank of puffy white clouds.
Orville quickly realized at that moment he and Sophia were trapped in a gigantic Gnorli bird nest three miles above the ground. His eyes were still on the cloud bank where Gnorli had disappeared. “Umm... Sophia... do you think he’ll remember he left us here?”
Sophia put her paw on Orville’s shoulder. “I think we have two choices. We can climb up, or we can climb down.”
Orville peered over the edge of the nest at the smooth vertical rock face dropping three miles down to the forest below. “Up it is, then. One question. What do you think he meant by ‘invisible scary looking creatures who walk right through you’?”
Orville was interrupted by the squawky voice coming from his backpack. “Oh, my, that does sound quite intriguing! Do you think these ghostly creatures will have poisonous fangs and great long claws?”
Chapter 22
The Looper
Orville was lying on his back in the Gnorli nest, his eyes on the smooth vertical granite wall leading to the top of the mesa. “This is kind of a comfy nest. I can see why Gnorli likes it. The dried grass is nice and soft. What do you think, Sophia? Some kind of rope ladder to the top? I don’t see anything to tie it to though. It’s just smooth rock for the whole two hundred feet up.”
“I’m not sure. Hey, Proto, could you fly up there and take a look around?”
“No, thank you. Would you be a dear and make sure the flap is buckled tightly? I don’t want to fall out of Orville’s pack while he’s climbing.”
“I thought you didn’t mind heights when you were the one flying?”
“My maximum altitude is two hundred and fifty feet. If you will note, we are currently well over fourteen thousand feet above the forest floor.”
Orville nodded. “You make a good point, Proto. Sophia, back at the centipede pit you shaped that iron ring into the rock. Do you think you could do the same thing here? Could you shape a metal ladder and bolt it to the rock face?”
“That’s a great idea. I could shape a section of ladder, climb it, and then shape another section above it.”
“Wait, can’t you just blink us up there?”
“I’m not ready for that. I blinked you off the sticky green ball but that was a life or death situation. I still need a lot more practice and instruction with Master Marloh.”
“Okay, metal ladder it is. I’ll shape some sturdy safety harnesses for us that hook securely to the ladder.”
“Good idea. I don’t think a sphere of defense will help much after a three mile fall.”
“Unhh... I wish you hadn’t said that. Wait, we won’t fall all the way to the ground, we’ll just fall two hundred feet down into the Gnorli nest.”
“Did you hear what you said? Just fall two hundred feet?” Sophia stood up and stepped cautiously across the mounds of spongy dry grass to the rock face. With a flick of her wrist two ten foot metal poles appeared, bolted securely into the rock wall. A series of solid metal rungs then blinked into place between the two poles. Orville handed Sophia her safety harness and hooked her to the ladder. Sophia scampered up to the top rung. Two more metal poles appeared and one by one the connecting rungs blinked into place. It was slow going and rather tedious, but an hour later they were halfway to the top of the mesa. Orville was being exceedingly careful not to look down. He only slipped once, but his safety harness functioned perfectly, averting a sudden and very dismal end to their adventure.
Almost two hours later Sophia clambered off the final rung up onto the surface of the mesa. She turned around and grabbed Orville’s paws, hoisting him off the ladder up onto solid ground.
“Whew! We made it!” Orville’s eyes were roaming across the mesa. He squinted, trying to focus on a very peculiar misty, wavering shape. “Do you see that? I can’t tell what it is. It’s kind of cloudy... sort of ghostly looking.”
Sophia shaded her eyes with one paw
. “That is strange. I see it too, but I’m not certain what I’m looking at.” She strode across the mesa for a hundred feet then stopped. She was looking at a barely visible silver wall that curved upward several hundred feet. She squinted her eyes, trying to follow the path of the wall across the mesa. Finally she had her answer. “It’s a ship. It’s an Anarkkian Attack Cruiser.” Sophia reached out cautiously to touch the barely visible craft. “My paw goes right through it. I don’t understand what is happening here.”
Orville stood at the far end of the ship. “Wait, remember what Gnorli said about scary looking invisible creatures walking right through you? This must be what he was talking about. This ship is at least three hundred feet long. Why can’t we touch it, though? Maybe it’s some kind of advanced Anarkkian technology. You know, so the enemy can’t see it?”
“Even if that were true, we’d still be able to touch it.”
Orville let out a screech and dashed toward Sophia. “Defense spheres up! We’re being attacked!” He pointed to a hoard of heavily armed ghostly creatures dashing wildly across the mesa toward them. A few of the them were holding up clear glass tubes and shooting barely visible beams of light at whatever was chasing them.
“I don’t think they can see us. I think they’re running for the ship. They’re trying to get away from something.”
“You’re right, Sophia, they’re heading up that ramp that just opened and going into the ship. Let’s go look.”
Proto called out, “I’d like to get out of the backpack, if you wouldn’t mind! This sounds quite thrilling! Transparent creatures being chased by some dreadful unknown monster with huge poisonous fangs?”
Orville unbuckled the flap and let Proto out. “I didn’t say anything about huge poisonous fangs.”
“Oh, I just assumed they would have them.” Proto shot up into the air and soared past the Anarkkian Attack Cruiser. “I’m going to see what manner of beast is chasing them!”
Five minutes later Proto was back. He swooped down onto Orville’s shoulders. “It’s far worse than I thought. Far worse. There are at least a dozen Autonomous A6 Warrior Rabbitons heading this way, and they look very, very angry.”
