by Tom Jolleys
By taking giant leaps, he reached the foot of the hills in only a few minutes, and feeling adventurous, he decided to climb to the top. As he climbed, loose rocks fell away and rolled down the hill, but after fifteen minutes of careful climbing, he reached the summit. Feeling a little weary from his exertions, he sat down on top of the hill and looked out into the dark sky above, and there in the far, far distance, lay the planet Earth. ‘Well it must be the Earth,’ he thought. He had seen maps of the world, and he could make out the continents of America and Europe. But what stood out most to Johnny was the vast expanse of light-blue water, glimmering in the glare of the golden sun. It was amazing that he hadn’t noticed it earlier, but he had concentrated so much on the moon’s surface, his “magical” feats and climbing, that he hadn’t bothered to look out into space. The sight of the United Kingdom made him feel lonely again and a little afraid. ‘How do so many people live on that small island?’ he whispered. Then he thought about home. ‘Somewhere, Diana is listening to her pop music, David is playing football, mum will still be in the kitchen, and dad still at work.’ He jumped up into the air. ‘Oh no,’ he shouted out loud, ‘my tea will be ready and mum will go crazy. I’d better go back right now.’ He took the controls out of his pocket, and as he did so, he decided to give the hill a name. He bellowed out in his loudest voice, ‘I name this hill, Mount Johnny,’ which brought a huge smile to his face. He was just about to key in, JODADI 81112, on his control box when he noticed some lumps of metal and a flag, on the other side of the hill. In fact it was the American flag. ‘This must be where one of the Apollo space rockets landed,’ he thought. ‘I’ll have to go and investigate, after all I haven’t been here that long.’ But just as he stepped forward to climb down the hill, a rock slipped from under his feet. He fell over and rolled down the hill. The controls fell from his grasp and landed near to the summit. As he stopped rolling, he banged his head on a large boulder, rendering him unconscious. If he didn’t wake up in the next half-hour and find his controls, his oxygen supply would run out and he wouldn’t be able to breathe, in the moon’s lethal atmosphere!
After twenty-five minutes, Johnny was still unconscious and he only had five minutes of air left. Time was running out for Johnny, but just then his eyes flickered before opening fully. Then he reached up to feel a large lump on the back of his head. ‘Ouch my head,’ he groaned. He felt dizzy as he stood up, and he started talking out loud. ‘Oh no, how long have I been asleep? Where are my controls?’ Johnny sensed that he couldn’t have much time left, and he started crying as he searched feverishly for his controls. ‘Jodadi, help me,’ he shouted, but JODADI 81112 was unable to save him until he was called upon by the computer link.
Having searched the foot of the hill, he started to climb back up, all the time looking around for his small, grey box. But it was a hopeless task, like looking for a needle in a haystack, as the grey controls blended in with the grey, dusty soil. Then he heard a bleeping noise coming from the top of the hill. Johnny, still crying, scrambled furiously up the slope. He knew that he had less than a minute’s supply of life-giving oxygen. When he had nearly reached the summit, and with the controls in sight, the bleeping stopped. Immediately he became dizzy again and his breathing became difficult. Johnny tried to hold his breath as he staggered over to the box, but as he bent down to pick it up, he was forced to breathe out because his lungs felt as though they were going to burst. Johnny’s face turned bright red, and he had to breathe in the thin air of the moon. Quickly he keyed in, J-O-D-A-D-I-8-1-, Johnny fell to the ground, still holding the controls, -1-. He was really dizzy, becoming unconscious again, -1-. Now he couldn’t see the numbers on the control panel because his vision had become blurred. His index finger moved across the digits, but he didn’t know whether it was the -2- or the -3- that he had pressed. But he did know that this could be the last thing he ever did! Suddenly a brilliant flash of colour appeared overhead. It was JODADI 81112. Johnny realised that he had pressed the right button, and he tried to focus his eyes upon the huge, red figure that hovered above him. It was still the same shape of Jodadi, but it was surrounded by an enormous, oval-shaped ring, which seemed to be electrified as it crackled and hummed. Johnny was breathing very fast, trying to use up every pocket of oxygen as Jodadi began to speak. ‘I am JODADI 81112, Master of Time and Space. Where do you, Johnny Dalton, wish to go in time and space?’
With his very last breath, Johnny said, ‘Home!’
Immediately he felt himself drifting into the red square of Jodadi, and then floating through the brilliant-white Time Zone Corridor. As soon as he entered this walkway, he was able to breathe real air. He breathed quickly in and out until his lungs were full of oxygen. The next thing he knew he was lay on the carpet in front of a blank computer screen, still crying and choking, his face still flushed red.
‘Is that you coughing, Johnny?’ shouted his mother from the kitchen. ‘Come and get a glass of water – I’m just on the phone.’
Johnny stood up, brushed his clothes and tidied his hair before walking into the kitchen.
‘What are you coughing for?’ asked his mother, who turned around. ‘And you’ve been crying.’
‘Oh it’s just a toffee that’s stuck in my throat.’ He filled a glass with water and went back into the living room. ‘Well that was a close thing,’ he thought as he sat down on the sofa in front of the television. At least the water made him feel better, but then he started muttering again. ‘Now who can I tell about Jodadi and my trip to the moon? My mum and dad are both scientists but I doubt if they’ll believe me – it’s got to be either David or Diana. David knows a lot about computers – I’ll tell him later.’
Just then the pendulum clock began to chime, and Johnny looked up at it. ‘It’s only half-past four, but I’ve been away for over an hour. Oh there must be something wrong with the clock.’ He stood up and walked back into the kitchen. ‘Where’s dad?’
‘It’s only half-past four – you know he won’t be home for another half-hour. Are you feeling all right?’
‘Oh yea, I’m fine.’ He ran back into the front room with a puzzled look on his face as he tried to work out what had happened. His first thought was that he’d been dreaming, but then he looked down at his trainers. They were covered in grey dust, and when he felt the bump on the back of his head, he knew that it had actually happened. Then he thought about JODADI 81112, Master of Time and Space. ‘That’s it – Jodadi is a master of time, so time must stand still when I’m with him. Now no one’s going to believe me.’
‘Did you say something, Johnny?’ called his mother, who had heard a muffled noise coming from the living room.
‘No, no, it’s nothing mum.’ He turned the television on, but couldn’t concentrate as he decided to tell David about his adventures on the moon. He just stared blankly at the screen.
‘Did you have a good day at school?’ asked his father. Johnny was still staring at the television, unaware that his father had come home from work and was talking to him. ‘I said did you have a good day at school?’ repeated his father, who nudged his arm.
‘What, oh yes dad, mmm, we watched a film,’ replied Johnny, as if awoken from a dream.
‘Is it a good programme that you’re watching?’
‘Not really, dad,’ said Johnny, who didn’t know whether it was good or not, because he was still thinking about Jodadi.
Within twenty minutes, David had arrived home after playing miserably in a 6-4 defeat. Soon afterwards they were all sat round the kitchen table. David and Diana were chatting to their parents, mainly about their day at school, while Johnny sat quietly, nibbling away at one of his fish fingers.
‘Are you sure you’re all right?’ asked his mother.
‘You do look rather pale,’ added his father, which was in stark contrast to a little earlier when his face was bright red.
‘Oh I’m OK, but I don’t feel very hungry.’
> ‘You’ve probably eaten too many sweets,’ said his mother. ‘All that good food going to waste.’
‘I’ll eat it,’ he said, forcing a large chip down his throat.
Afterwards they all settled down in front of the television, and at ten-to-nine, Johnny was told to go to bed, even though he didn’t have any school in the morning. He said goodnight to everyone before pounding upstairs to bed, where he lay in wait for David. It was nearly ten o’clock when he heard his brother brushing his teeth in the bathroom. So when David was curled up in bed, Johnny whispered, ‘Do you know where I’ve been today?’
‘No I don’t and what’s more I don’t care,’ snapped a tired David. ‘Anyway you should be asleep by now.’
‘Well don’t tell anyone but today I went to the moon.’
‘Oh yeah, and I flew to Mars,’ said David, sarcastically.
‘But I did, honestly,’ said Johnny, a little upset. ‘I knew you wouldn’t believe me. It was your computer. I clicked on an icon called ALF, which I found out stands for, Alien Life Forms. I’ve seen it before on mum’s desktop. Well it started tracking something out in space. When I noticed this yellow dot I clicked on it. Suddenly this amazing figure appeared called JODADI 81112, Master of Time and Space.’
‘I’ve told you not to mess about with my computer when I’m not there. I bet you’ve been dreaming again or watching some new kid’s programme on the television. Anyway, if you went to the moon, how did you breathe, or did this Jodadi give you a space suit?’
‘Well clever-clogs, as I went through the Time Zone Corridor, Jodadi sprayed me with some special gas. He said it would help me to breathe for one hour.’
David was quite surprised, even impressed. ‘How did he know about time zone corridors?’ he thought. ‘And the gas spray did sound plausible.’
‘Do you believe me or not?’
‘Well let me put it this way Johnny. I am not saying I believe you, but I am not saying I don’t believe you. Tomorrow you can show me exactly what you did, and then I will try and come up with some logical explanation.’
‘Whizzo,’ he shrieked. ‘That’s great.’ He was really chuffed that his brother at least half-believed him. ‘Goodnight then.’
‘Goodnight,’ yawned David. ‘Hey Johnny.’
‘What?’
‘Jodadi – how do you spell it?’
‘J-O-D-A-D-I. Why do you ask?’
There was a pause. Johnny looked at his brother who was deep in concentration. David always closed his eyes and held his chin when he was concentrating. Then his eyes flashed open and he stared blankly at the wall. Johnny knew that something was wrong, and he suddenly felt extremely anxious. ‘Johnny, something’s going on and I don’t know what it is.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘The word JODADI is made up of our three names: JO for Johnny, DA for David and DI for Diana!’
‘Wow, that’s mega! How did you work that out?’
‘Probably because I play around with words and numbers in my head – mum says I’ve got a logical mind. What were the numbers?’
‘8-1-1-1-2.’
There was another pause. Again, David took his pose of concentration. Then his eyes opened with a start and he shook his head several times. ‘Oh no!’
‘What’s up now?’
‘Johnny, someone’s playing games with us. Those numbers are our ages: 8 for you, 11 for me, and 12 for Diana!’
‘Phuuf, this is a bit scary, David.’
‘Yes I know, but we won’t tell anyone. OK Johnny?’
‘Yea sure.’
‘And when we get in touch with Jodadi we’re not going anywhere in time and space, all right?’
‘OK but why not?’
‘Because it could be really dangerous that’s why. If everything you’ve said is correct, then you’ve tapped into some form of time machine! I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. You’re a cool dude Johnny.’
‘And so are you, our kid, so are you.’
‘Goodnight Johnny.’
‘Goodnight David.’
‘Hey Johnny, I’m dying to know – what happened on the moon?’
‘Brill, wicked!’ blurted Johnny, who jumped up and nearly fell out of bed in his total excitement. He told David everything he could remember about his trip to the moon before settling down to go to sleep, but he was so excited he thought he would probably stay awake all night long. Within five minutes, Johnny was fast asleep!
Chapter 4:
In Search Of Robin Hood
It was almost seven o’clock when Johnny sat up and looked at the Spiderman clock on his bedside cabinet. ‘I wonder if I should go downstairs and get in touch with Jodadi,’ he thought. ‘Maybe not, he’ll probably be asleep.’ So Johnny lay back on his bed and went off to sleep again. He didn’t realise that Jodadi was always awake, always awaiting the call of anyone who knew how to contact him. But he was now restless, and he awoke again just fifty minutes later, so he went over and nudged his brother.
‘What do you want?’ moaned David, who didn’t want to be disturbed.
‘Let’s go downstairs and try out the computer before mum and dad get up.’
‘Oh all right, but if it doesn’t work then I’m coming back to bed.’
‘Great,’ bubbled Johnny.
The two boys put on their dressing gowns and crept quietly down the stairs. David switched on the computer and sat back in the swivel chair. ‘Right then, just do exactly what you did yesterday and we’ll see what happens.’
‘OK then,’ whispered Johnny, who went onto his own desktop as usual. ‘It’s still there,’ he gasped as David leant forward in his chair. ‘Here goes.’ He clicked on the ALF icon and the programme started to run. The title, “Alien Life Forms” appeared on the screen.
‘Tracking, tracking, tracking,’ said the computer. The telescope in the garden had once more risen above ground level and was tracking for alien life forms. Suddenly the screen was filled with thousands and thousands of stars.
‘There it is,’ said David, excitedly.
‘Locked on, locked on, locked on.’
‘Yep, I’ve spotted it too.’ He left-clicked on the yellow dot with his mouse. Immediately a yellow light flashed up on the screen, followed by a red square at the centre and a red, semi-circular head. When the diagonal line and a few red facial features had formed, Jodadi spoke in his slow, deep voice.
‘I am JODADI 81112, Master of Time and Space. Where do you, Johnny Dalton, David Dalton and Diana Dalton, wish to go in time and space?’
The boys hadn’t noticed Diana. She had come downstairs for a drink, and was stood directly behind them. She thought they were playing a new computer game and said quickly, ‘We would like to go and visit Robin Hood and Maid Marian in Sherwood Forest!’
The boys were just about to say something when Jodadi spoke. ‘Sherwood Forest is a dangerous place to be during the time of Robin Hood and Maid Marian, and their battles for freedom against the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. But I sense an even greater evil, a presence possessing tremendous supernatural powers. This power should not be there, but it is, and if you are to survive you will need to use all of your resourcefulness and combined powers. These powers I will now give to you. As you pass through the Time Zone Corridor you will collect certain objects. David, you will pick up a sword, a sword invincible, a sword that can be controlled by your very own thoughts – it is the Sword of Davalon. You, Johnny, will pick up a grey cloak, which when placed over your head will give you the power of invisibility – it is the Cloak of Mennea. Diana, you will pick up the silver dagger – it is Odessa’s Dagger of Life and Death, containing the mystical Pollen of the Odessa Tree, not known to this planet. It can be used to heal the injured, but use it wisely as lives may depend on it. You will also see three forest-green outfits and three pairs of brown, leather boots. N
ow look into the centre of the red square and concentrate on Sherwood Forest, think deeply of Robin Hood and Maid Marian.’
The three children stared at the computer screen and felt themselves floating into the red square, then walking through a bright, white corridor. In front of them lay various objects. The Sword of Davalon was in a plain, brown, leather scabbard attached to a leather belt. Next to this lay the Cloak of Mennea, three sets of clothes, three pairs of boots, and on top of these a small, silver dagger in a soft, furry sheath. The children bent down and picked up their respective items. As they walked onwards, the scenery gradually changed until they were walking through a forest, Sherwood Forest. While all of this was happening, no one spoke a word, but now was the moment for Johnny to gloat. ‘I told you so, I told you David. You should know I don’t tell lies.’
David didn’t answer, he still couldn’t quite believe what was happening, and as for Diana, she was feeling both frightened and guilty. ‘What have I done?’ she gasped. ‘And what have you both been doing with that computer?’
‘Ah, well that’s my friend, Jodadi,’ grinned Johnny. ‘We can go anywhere we want.’
‘So how do we get out of here?’ urged Diana.
‘That’s easy,’ said Johnny, proudly producing the miniaturised computer controls from beneath the Cloak of Mennea. ‘Jodadi wouldn’t leave us stranded here. All I have to do is key in JODADI 81112, and he’ll come and take us back home.’
