Potlendh

by David J. Wallis

  “We’re safe!” Uniqua cheered. Then to Cassandra, she said: “You should have more faith, Dear. Negativity breeds more negativity. We should all be positive. Maybe that is why the Lord of Power is testing us. He wants us to be more positive and hopeful.”

  *

  One benefit came out of this rather scary ordeal. Uniqua took the opportunity of being so close to the Mountain of Power and from the advantage point of being high up in the air to make several acute observations. She was counting on this knowledge to be useful in the future.

  A wide moat of water surrounded the Islet from the Island. In these waters lived several monstrous fishes, whom the inhabitants called “Terrible Jaws,” and very few adventurers ever survived an encounter with these. The moat and the monsters served but only one purpose: to prevent any and all from reaching the Islet, except through one narrow and perilous pathway.

  In the northwest corner of the Islet, a narrow, wood-slat bridge hung suspended high above the moat. Hungry guards swam beneath this span, eternally waiting and hoping for choice meals crossing the bridge to lose their footing and fall into their jaws.

  But even after crossing this bridge, it was not going to be a cakewalk to the Lord of Power’s door. In fact, there were many more hazards awaiting the Group—very dangerous hazards. And Uniqua realized that when the portals had been repaired and the children restored to health, they were but halfway only in their quest to return home. Whereas the first half was relatively easy, the second half might be downright impossible.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  THE PORTALS

  The flying boat successfully made the journey over the mountain barrier by cheating the corners where the mountains sat at the Mountain of Power’s Islet. When Uniqua spied the concave bowl of the Engineer’s laboratory, she directed Captain Lump to land.

  To say that the Engineers were surprised by the landing would be an understatement. I mean, they were very surprised. They had never seen a flying anything before, and they wanted to know all about the boat. How did it work? How did it fly? How did one steer the boat in the air? And many like questions.

  “No questions!” Uniqua demanded as she disembarked from the boat and addressed the four Engineers. “We have the spare parts for the portals. We want you to fix the portals now.”

  “But we have no authorization,” E tried to explain.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Without authorization,” Equals added, “we cannot make any repairs or changes to the portal equipment.”

  “And where to you get this authorization?” the Unicorn asked, barely able to control her temper.

  “From the Chief of Installation and Management,” C answered proudly.

  “Then find the Chief and bring him here!”

  “Uh, we can’t.” M looked down at the rails crisscrossing the laboratory floor.

  “Why not?” Uniqua was seething.

  “He is—well—he kind of fell apart a long time ago,” M explained. “We are wearing some of his parts.”

  “I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!” Uniqua exploded. “Carl is already near death, and his sister has now fallen very ill. I need those repairs now!”

  “We cannot make any repairs without authorizations from the Chief,” Equals insisted.

  “Bunnies!” Cassandra roared from the deck of the flying boat. “Attack!”

  Uniqua wheeled around to face her. “No! Wait!” But it was too late.

  I wish I could have been there to watch the Rabbits in action. In one bound, the triplets leapt off the ship and jumped over the railing. Hitting the ground, they were airborne again. Before Equals could react, the triplets were punching and kicking his head and body. Body parts that had acquired from non-functioning Engineers were flying up into the air and landing on the floor. Uniqua and the other three Engineers had to constantly move to keep from being hit by the falling debris. When the short fight ended, Equals was lying on his side, his eyes closed.

  “Now,” the Unicorn asked the remaining Engineers, “will you fix the portals?”

  “Without authorization—” M began, but he did not have a chance to finish. The triplets jumped on him as well with the same results.

  Now only two Engineers remained standing.

  “I do not approve violence,” Uniqua told them. “But now will you repair the portals?”

  C was about to refuse when E interceded. “Wait! Wait! Perhaps if you would make C or myself the Chief, then there would be no problems.”

  “How do we do that?” Uniqua asked.

  “The Inspectors could appoint one of us,” E said quickly, looking at the Bunnies fearfully. He was afraid they would attack him next.

  “Done,” Uniqua decided. “Engineer E, you are now Chief of Installation and Management. Please begin fixing the portals.”

  “Well, there is a matter of protocol; you know: ceremony.” E began. “Then there is a lot of paperwork that has to be filled out, inspection of the portals themselves, an inventory of the spare parts, the sorting of the spare parts for each portal, documentation of changes—”

  “Bunnies!” Uniqua readied them.

  “Oh, wait!” E protested. “I suppose all the administrative details can be done later. “He tried to grin. “Is it really all that important to you that the portals have to be fixed right now?”

  “Your existence depends on it!” the Unicorn declared gravely.

  “Yes,” E understood her meaning. “Well, in that case, C and I will begin the repairs right away. But I must protest. This procedure is not according to the book, the regulations, you know. It is most irregular and improper. It could set a very dangerous precedent, you know.”

  “Move!” Cassandra bellowed, and the two Engineers needed no more urging.

  While Uniqua and Cassandra were “helping” the Engineers make up their minds, Captains Lump and Helf were busy dismantling the flying boat. Yes, they were taking the boat apart. Captain Lump was not upset this time, because they would not need the boat to return home. By taking the boat apart, the crew could get to the spare parts’ crate and more easily unload the crate that held them.

  “It’s a shame we have to destroy such a beautiful national treasure,” Captain Helf said sadly.

  “We’ll have a work party return from the FOB to haul her back. She’ll be as good as new in no time,” Captain Lump assured his comrade. It was a rare moment for the Dwarf to be so upbeat.

  So, by the time that E had accepted his new promotion and promised to start repairing the portals, the crew of the flying boat had removed the left side of the ship and pushed the spare parts’ crate onto the basin floor.

  With help from C, E managed to load the heavy crate onto his rear platform. Then the two Engineers proceeded towards the location where all of the Island’s portals were kept and maintained.

  “We will be going with you,” the Unicorn told the Engineers firmly. She motioned for Cassandra and the Bunnies to accompany her.

  “Oh, that’s not necessary,” E told her. “The Room of the Portals is secret.

  “That’s okay,” Uniqua said. “We won’t tell anyone.”

  The Engineers were not very happy. For as long as they could remember—and that would be a lot of years—no one from the outside had ever told them what to do. They had always been an autonomous society. They had rules and regulations, and they followed those to the letter. No questions asked. They did not deviate from the rules, which means to make any changes or shortcuts, from the rules. They did not bend the rules. The rules gave them order, and they were very happy just to follow the rules.

  Of course, nothing in their rules and regulation told them how to deal with the breakdown or loss of their fellow Engineers. When the first Engineer stopped working, they really were not sure what they should do. After a time, when the other Engineers failed, they thought about adding bits and pieces of their fellows as more of a reminder of lost friends.

  The work and responsibilities of maintaining the equipment housed
in the Portaland was not very difficult. Most of the time, the Engineers had nothing to do. A few, like Q, traveled through the portals to other parts of the Island. But only a handful of these travelers ever stayed away from Portaland, because Portaland was a comfortable home for them.

  When at last there were only the four Engineers left, they found themselves quite busy—like, for maybe an hour out of each day. As we know from the information above, their work did not amount to much. No one in charge was left to tell the remaining Engineers that there were a lot of problems that had to be fixed. Again, they followed the rules and regulations to the letter, so that they did not have to think or make decisions.

  Now that there were only two Engineers left, they were beginning to grumble between themselves.

  “This is going to take several hours,” C said.

  “Very irregular,” E argued. “Strictly violates protocol.”

  “Well, you’re the Chief now. Why don’t you do something about it?”

  E glanced back at the Bunnies following close by. “I’d rather not be reduced to a pile of bolts and springs right now” He thought for a minute as he rolled along. “You want to be Chief instead of me,” he accused.

  “Me? No way. I don’t want the responsibility.”

  The pair rolled up to a large lift or elevator. They turned themselves around and backed into the open compartment, making those loud and high-pitched beeping noises like trucks and busses back in our world. Then the Bunnies, the Dragon, the Unicorn, and Captain Helf entered beside them.

  Oh, yes. Captain Helf had grown quite curious for a Dwarf. He later stated that it was not like a Dwarf to be curious or like danger. But he had never been underground before. Oh, he had heard stories about his long-dead ancestors living underground. But since his forefathers, the many generations before him, had built the artificial cave on top of the earth, no Dwarf alive today knew what it would be like to live underground.

  E pushed the bottom of two large buttons on a panel next to him. The buttons were clearly marked with an “up” arrow and a “down” arrow, so no one could be confused about how to work the elevator. The floor of the chamber shuddered a little. There was a lot of creaking noises as the chamber descended.

  “Sounds as if the shaft needs greasing,” C remarked.

  “Rules and regulations,” grunted E. “No Inspector report has been written, evaluated, and submitted. No authorization from the Chief has directed maintenance of the shaft.”

  “Well, you’re Chief now. You could order it.”

  “Yes, well, I need an Inspector’s report, don’t I?” He then looked at the triplets. They had crossed their arms in front of their chests and were glaring at him. “Very irregular. Nothing in writing. Very well. C, make a list of added duties: grease the elevator shaft.”

  “Noted, Chief.”

  “And don’t call me Chief. It doesn’t feel right.”

  The elevator chamber finally came to a rest, and the assortment of animals, machines, and Dwarf exited. Captain Helf was not impressed. The underground looked too much like the laboratory upstairs. Everything looked metallic. He later called it sterile: no life, no beauty, very much the same everywhere.

  Rows of machines stood side by side like soldiers in a parade, waiting for orders. There was this kind of electronic hum, as if they were singing the same hymn over and over again. Every once in a while, a beep or a chattering sound could be heard, as data was accepted, interpreted, and then made available. Printouts streamed from exit ports onto the floor, which, by now were accumulating in mountains of wasted paper. Then the machines would go back to singing their favorite hymn as if nothing had happened. As an added note, many of these machines had also been either turned off or had ceased functioning. Since no one except for the Engineers knew why these machines were here, no one knew if the machines that did not work were important or not.

  E and C rolled casually but purposefully through the main aisle to a large door on the other side of the expansive room.

  “This is off limits to everyone but ourselves,” E told Uniqua.

  “And?” The Unicorn sounded a little threatening.

  E sounded a little frustrated. “It’s—it’s just that you’re not supposed to enter.”

  “We’re entering,” the Unicorn told him firmly. “Now, let’s get on with it. I promise you: if those children die, there will be no more Engineers left on this Island.”

  E made a noise equivalent to a groan and then opened the door. It led to a real cave.

  “Now this is more like it!” Captain Helf exclaimed. He was, what we say, “all eyes.” He kept looking this way and that, taking in all of the sights of a real cave.

  “Don’t touch the stalactites and stalagmites,” C cautioned. “You’ll kill them.”

  The portal cave was quite large. How many portals were housed here the twins did not know. But each one was easily identifiable. The Submarian portal was encased behind a pane of glass. A roaring ocean pulsed behind the glass, trying to drain down a narrowing tube. Unfortunately, no water was pouring through the tube at the moment. A gauge on a panel nearby registered zero gallons of seawater flushing though the pipe.

  “This one first,” Uniqua pointed.

  Without argument, the Engineers unloaded the crate from E and began sorting through the spare parts. Fortunately, each set of spare parts had been labeled for easy installation.

  “Two sets,” C commented. “This is unprecedented.”

  “Just fix it. Quickly!” Cassandra barked beside them. She made the Engineers jump, as they had almost forgotten about her, she being so diminutive.

  There were portals to every part of the Island, every part except the Mountain of Power and its islet.

  The Lava World portal was a sea of molten rock. Every few moments it erupted towards the top of its case. Again, a gauge nearby indicated that no heat or molten rock was escaping to the surface.

  “That one next.”

  The portal to Cassandra’s castle was a huge mirror. Right now it cast no reflection, which meant that it was not working. The mirror Sweetie the Ogre had was a distant cousin to the real portal, and it only worked one way.

  The portal to Big Head was—yes, you guessed it: a large giant head with a huge mouth that opened and closed. Only right now, the mouth of the head was closed. A conveyer belt carrying carrots to the mouth was also not moving. Since the head could not eat any of the carrots, that portal, too, was not working.

  There was a portal to the Bunnies mushroom, which was in the shape of a large mushroom. Robotic Rabbits were supposed to be gathering fruits and vegetables that were supposed to pop up out of the ground. There was no activity here either.

  One portal had been destroyed. If you remember Cassandra’s story, after the Lord of Power had punished Cassandra’s parents and the Rabbits, a great desert formed in the northwest corner of the Island, called Dearth Desert. The portal connected to this once luscious land was now just a pile of sand.

  “Finished,” E announced after a while.

  “Good,” Uniqua praised. “I’ll leave you, Captain Helf, with Cassandra and the Bunnies. I want to check on the children.”

  Jumping now to the point of our story where the Unicorn reboarded the ship, Uniqua entered the children’s cabin, expecting the worst. But to her delight, Carl and Karen were sitting up on their bunks, happily chatting away.

  “Uniqua!” they chorused and ran to her, alternating hugs.

  “Stop that, children,” she told them. She tried to be stern, but she was so happy to see them well again.

  A loud boom in the distance startled them, and they all ran outside onto the deck to see what was happening. In the far off distance behind the mountain barrier, which they could not see, a red glow pulsated. A cloud of white smoke followed with much darker ash rose high up into the sky.

  “It’s working!” Carl yelled in joy. “The Lava World portal is working!”

  “Oh, my lord!” Karen exclaimed, pointing
towards Submarine Lake. A rainbow appeared over the lake, one end touching the opposite shore. “That’s not your rainbow, is it?”

  “No, no.” Uniqua shook her head. “That’s the Queen of Submaria thanking us.”

  “What the devil has happened here?” A new voice caught their attention, and they raced to the port side of the boat.

  *

  Excuse me while I answer a very important question: how do people use the portals to travel instantly—or almost instantly—to other parts of the Island?

  As I understand it, people used telephone booths. Well, not exactly real telephone booths, but the “doorways” of the portals looked a lot like old-fashioned telephone booths. In Portaland, all of the booths were lined up together near the far side of the Engineer’s laboratory. Each telephone booth was clearly marked with a sign—kind of like what you might see in a subway—that named the destination or arrival.

  *

  It was out of the telephone booth marked “Machines-Exit” that a queer looking creature had emerged and was now looking around very unhappily. He looked a lot like a toaster on legs, which had been fashioned out of barbecue forks. A short metal tube gave him a neck, and his head looked something like a square television set from the early 1960s, the kind my mother liked to have in her kitchen. (She could cook and watch TV at the same time.) The TV screen displayed a large, round face that resembled someone famous from a long time ago. Atop his head, like a crown or a hat, sat an enormous light bulb that flashed on when he was thinking.

  “Who and what are you?” Uniqua demanded.

  “Who and what are you?” the creature replied in the same tone of voice. H approached the ship, causing the Dwarfs to back away for safety and stopped only when he saw the children.