The Cult of Kishpu

by J. J. Shetland

  “Shh!” Larissa tried to hear the snapping noise she heard again but she couldn’t.

  Then the squad was surrounded by metal cut out goblins with tiny shooting targets on their foreheads under their green pointy hats. They swiftly got out their solar panelled guns.

  “Fire!” Stu Pot yelled, as he fired his solar panelled pistol at them.

  Kathy saw a metal cut out green fire-breathing dragon with targets on its face and wings flying above them and fired at it.

  Mengy and the penguins fired at every metal cut out orc, giant and kraken they could see.

  Rustom just yawned. He was bored and uninterested at what was happening. He didn’t even bother getting a weapon out. Then something in the darkness behind the metal cut out monsters was catching his eye. He got out a metal bow and four metal arrows out of his metal back. He armed the bow, aimed it at the dark corner and released three arrows.

  Then the cut out monsters powered down and the giant model set of the Whanganui National Park was darker no longer as the training session room lights above them took over.

  Skipton walked on the training set where Squad J was standing on the whole time. “Sit down on the cut trees.”

  The trees and fungus were fake, being made out of wood. The squad was very grateful for that as they sat down on them.

  Skipton gave them his wicked smile. “Well, well, well, Rustom.”

  The rhino sighed. “All right, Lieutenant. What did I do this time?”

  “Don’t tell me you cheated,” Kathy snapped.

  “That’s a very quick conclusion you’re jumping to,” said Rustom. “And need I remind you that I’ve been using only my green eye for these training sessions? Private Guzman will prove I’m not fibbing.”

  Kathy didn’t seem convinced. “Well, why did you fire your arrows at the power grid?”

  “He didn’t,” said Skipton.

  “You see,” Rustom said smugly at Kathy.

  “But I do have one question, Rustom.” Skipton got out a wooden remote and pressed the red button. “Do you mind telling me why you felt like killing Susan?”

  Everyone gasped in horror as they saw a metal cut out with no shooting target at all approaching them. The cut out represented a tiny lamb in a green flowery dress who now had three arrows all over her woolly body. Stu Pot and Pedro went around the cut out and gasped again as they saw the top arrow sticking out through the back of the lamb’s head.

  “Well,” said Rustom. “First of all, I didn’t even have my red eye on, let alone use it to cheat.”

  “He hasn’t, sir,” Paula told Skipton. “I can’t hack into him much, but I can hack into his red eye and I could see he wasn’t cheating.”

  “Thank you, Guzman,” said Rustom.

  “Rustom!” Skipton was getting impatient and irritated.

  “Well, there were plenty of monsters coming towards us and more kept on coming. I thought there had to be some sort of strange source for all these creatures to have kept on coming like a portal. So I quickly looked around the room for a hidden source and the only thing I could barely see in the dark corner was Susan. And I thought that everyone would think, ‘Oh, a sweet gentle five year old lamb can’t do much harm in this massive monster invasion. She can’t be a suspect.’ So I betted that she was a suspect and took the gamble of firing my arrows at her in case she was the source that the monsters kept coming from.” Rustom ripped the lamb’s dress off and it revealed three mini wizards between her legs. “And I’m glad to see I betted right.”

  Everyone seemed to be impressed, except Skipton.

  “And I know these guys are not even the main power source. They are merely apprentices.” Without looking at where he was aiming, Rustom fired the last single arrow behind him.

  Skipton was even more shocked when he saw a metal cut out Amur leopard with no shooting targets as well approach them with an arrow sticking into his head. “You trying to make the Amur leopards go extinct, Rustom?”

  “Are you saying we should let him break all the laws just because he’s a critically endangered animal?” Rustom approached the cut out leopard and tore the brown robe off.

  Everyone was amazed to see little wooden human models wearing dark and starry hats and robes holding a giant stick that was holding the leopard’s head.

  “Has the leopard eaten the wizards?” Pedro asked.

  “Either that or the leopard’s head is a perfect disguise for those tiny wizards,” Rustom told him.

  Everyone was amazed with the rhino’s tactics, but Skipton was still silent.

  * * *

  “I don’t know what it was I said,” Rustom moaned. He and his team mates were making for the sleeping barracks.

  “You criticised Skipton’s training sessions,” Stu Pot told him. “You said he was using the wrong monsters.”

  “Well, he was wrong when he said there had never been a monster in New Zealand. They have had their share of monsters from land, sea and sky.”

  “Even I don’t understand it,” Paula said. “We were just proving how we deliver fair justice to all species and Skipton still won’t pass us.”

  “I guess he’s just jealous of our talents,” Larissa said.

  “Or maybe he can’t stand the thought of animals being in charge of humans,” Rustom said.

  “Or maybe we’ve been with Lukeson too much and not enough time with Skipton,” said Stu Pot. “Maybe we’re just adapting to his ways… slowly.”

  Lukeson’s worst nightmares had come true. Skipton had been pushing them too hard with the training tests only to show that they were not right for leadership. He was making them out that they could do nothing right to save their lives. Stu Pot realised reading lessons wasn’t as bad with Lukeson compared to Skipton.

  Mengy blew her trunk and pointed out that neither Kathy nor Pedro was with the squad. Everyone started panicking because they were all worried about Kathy. She had been so depressed that they were always worried if she was going to commit suicide. Paula tried to call Pedro’s wooden cell phone but only discovered that it was five paces behind her. On its own.

  “Let’s search together,” Stu Pot ordered.

  * * *

  Squad J went to check if Kathy was volunteering at the vets, but she wasn’t. And no one there had seen Pedro either.

  Next, they went to the café where both Kathy and Pedro sometimes volunteered to bake, but neither of them was there. Then the squad tried to the cinema, the post office and even the sewage system. They still found nothing but they knew they couldn’t give up.

  “Pool!” Larissa exclaimed. “Kathy does a lot of swimming there.”

  “Does Pedro do some swimming exercises, too?” Paula asked.

  “No, the only thing part of swimming he likes is looking at the swim –” Then Larissa saw that Mengy had teleported her and their friends next to Pedro. They were standing at the edge of the eco friendly Olympic-size swimming pool in the massive leisure centre. It looked more like a lake; it was big enough to be one. The room was surrounded by indoor trees, plants and big and small white rocks.

  “How long has Kathy been underwater, Pedro?” asked Stu Pot.

  “She hasn’t come back to the surface for six minutes,” Pedro told them. “She must be breaking the longest hold-your-breath world record.”

  “Why did you leave your phone?” his aunt Paula demanded.

  “Oh, I don’t have my phone with me?” The mischievous penguin checked his trouser pockets and saw she was right. He quickly took it before she could say or do anything.

  The squad feared that Kathy was trying to drown herself. They’ve been wondering if she had been trying to commit suicide without them knowing. She only showed up for training sessions and became distant after they were over. The head of the Vets, a female human, told them she had not volunteered for there for four days. They’ve been wondering whether they’ve been leaving her alone too much, though she frequently said she needed it.

  Then everyone saw a gasp for a
ir coming from the pool. It was Kathy in a bright green bikini reaching the edge of the pool. She started to catch her breath.

  “You all right, lassie?” Stu Pot asked.

  “I’m fine, Stu Pot,” Kathy said. “Apart from someone pinching my tail. And I’m the only one in this pool.” Then she gave an angry glare at Rustom.

  “Just making sure you’re not committing suicide,” he said. “Because you ain’t immune to be killed like me.”

  “I was just clearing my head,” Kathy protested. “Why would I bother changing into this bikini if I wanted to commit suicide?”

  “Maybe you just wanted to die sexy,” Rustom joked.

  No one laughed.

  “How did you pinch her, Mr. Rustom?” Pedro asked. “You didn’t enter the pool.”

  Rustom turned around and opened his metal back, ripping the back of his G.C.A. shirt in the middle. Out came two metal arms each on a metal pole. “I call these babies ‘Stealth Arms’ because they are long and can pinch, grab and even kill you without you knowing. They’re a great backup if something happens to the arms on my body.”

  While Stu Pot, Paula and Pedro were asking him more questions about his stealth arms, Mengy and Larissa approached Kathy.

  “Are you okay, Kathy?” the little penguin asked. “I know we’re not your closest friends and you lost Rachael and your old mentor, but we’re doing everything we can to help you and –”

  “And I appreciate all of that, Larissa, don’t get me wrong,” Kathy interrupted gently. “But your help and advice is not the problem. The problem is me and how I’m dealing with this. I’ve got to sort this out from within myself. And this is something that only I can do –” Then a big splash took over her. “Rustom!”

  “That wasn’t my doing!” the rhino snapped back.

  Kathy looked back and saw the pool water growing into a tidal wave. She quickly got out and Mengy tapped her on the shoulder. The zebra was dry and back in her army uniform.

  “The whole place is wobbling!” Stu Pot said. “Everyone, outside, now!”

  As Squad J escorted the animal citizens out of the leisure centre, they saw it wasn’t just the building that was rumbling but the whole town of Blackpool Underground. The metal columns were still holding the ceiling… only just. Some of the buildings were falling down, but no one was worried about them as they were all made out of wood and they could be rebuilt quickly. Even though they weren’t getting hurt, the civilians were running around the city and panicking as if they were in the middle of an epic alien invasion.

  “Could it be an earthquake?” asked Kathy.

  “I doubt it,” Paula said. “It’s coming from the surface, not below us.”

  “They’re missiles,” Rustom told them. “I’ve been bombed by one before so that’s how I know. But why the humans are bombing Blackpool, I have no idea.”

  Then the rumbling came to a complete stop, but Squad J was still confused about the whole event.

  “To the radar room!” Stu Pot ordered. “We should get some answers over there.”

  They all followed him, ignoring the still panicking animals running around the city like headless chickens.

  * * *

  Squad J made their way to the sixteenth floor of Log Scraper and entered the radar room, which covered the entire floor. The room was as big as the launch control room of NASA and had lots of computers. Only the area had more wooden computers and desks, decorated with tree branches and leaves and the giant recycled radar glass screen at the far end wall. The squad was delighted that the rumbling hadn’t knocked it down at all. Paula thought because the room was made out of strong giant redwood that it was able to stand up during the event.

  Squad J couldn’t believe what they were seeing on the giant screen. Not just Blackpool, not just Lancashire, not just England, not just the British Isles, but every country, every continent and tiny island was getting greeted by missiles.

  “What are you guys doing here?”

  The squad turned around and saw Tugson and Skipton glaring at them.

  “There are a lot of civilians panicking in the streets and you are the only military squad to help the city guards keep them in order,” Skipton said. “Now, get on with it!”

  “But what about the surface, sir?” Stu Pot asked. “How are we getting involved in this war?”

  “We’re not,” said Tugson.

  “Why not, sir?” asked Stu Pot.

  “Because we don’t exist to the human world,” said Tugson. “Why should we risk our lives to those who won’t accept us?”

  “I thought that it would show the world what we’re capable off, sir,” said Stu Pot.

  Skipton laughed rudely. “The world doesn’t work like that, Private. You can’t change it that easily. The humans up there will never change. They still have issues with war and prejudice between them. If we, an intelligent Yorkshire man and a –” He tried to think of the right words to describe his commanding officer, who was giving him a hard look. “– bright Lancashire man –” Tugson gave him a big smile. “– can’t make a difference, then you guys have no chance at all. They won’t even want you as pets. You should consider yourselves lucky to have us.”

  “We’re not saying we’re not grateful, sir,” said Stu Pot. “We were just –”

  “Good!” snapped Skipton. “Now, get out! And I don’t want to hear another word about this war, let alone take a part in this.”

  “What about Sergeant Lukeson, sir?” Paula asked.

  “Well, since we can’t find him or contact him,” Tugson said, “we shall just have to assume that he’s somewhere safe.”

  Squad J just looked at each other and nodded at each other.

  “Hey, nodding gits, why are you still here?” Skipton shouted. “Get the hell out!”

  The nodding gits left the room.

  “See what I mean, sir?” asked Skipton. “How they must have taken over Lukeson’s mind?”

  “Yes, I see,” said Tugson. “If he is going to see a psychologist, I don’t know how he’s going to find one during this war. Maybe he’s helping humans for a change.”

  “Or maybe he’s trying to get to the bottom of this war itself,” said Skipton. “You know what he was like when we met him in the first time. He hasn’t changed since.”

  Tugson shook his head. “But maybe there is something that’s causing him to not want to stop. I don’t think we’ve turned him into a workaholic. Maybe’s it’s something like a –”

  “Sir!” A turtle yelled to the captain, holding his telephone. “Very urgent phone call from the duck security team.”

  Tugson rolled over and took the receiver. “Hello.” Then his face frowned. “You know what to do: alert the Aqua Security Team. I don’t care if you are ducks; don’t just sit there like sitting ducks!” He slammed it down.

  “What is it, sir?” asked Skipton.

  “Squad J have only headed to the vehicle section and is heading out to the sea without authorisation,” said Tugson.

  “What? Why?” cried Skipton.

  “Their loyalty to Lukeson, I suppose,” said Tugson.

  “Right, I’ll go and stop them,” said Skipton. Then he ran to the lift. He pressed the buttons, but the doors didn’t shut. He tried again and they still didn’t shut.

  Tugson wheeled to him. “Don’t waste your energy. The maintenance crew said that Private Guzman has overridden the entire power system and it will not be brought back on for at least five minutes.”

  “Why five minutes?” asked Skipton.

  “That’s all the time the squad needs to get out of here,” said Tugson.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “Inspired by Jules Verne?” Rustom asked.

  He was in awe as he followed his squad mates in the corridor of the wooden, canary melon shaped submarine they were in. It was no bigger than a one bedroom bungalow, but it was easy to move around with and everything looked beautiful. Like most of the G.C.A. properties, the walls, doors and controls were made o
ut of wood. And the cockpit’s windscreen appeared to be made from recycled glass.

  “Now, Paula, are you absolutely sure Lukeson is somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean?” asked Stu Pot.

  “Affirmative,” Paula replied confidently, as she sat in the driver’s seat and took the small wooden helm.

  “But you said his tracker must have stopped working, remember?” Larissa said. “That’s why Skipton and Tugson couldn’t find him.”

  Everyone in G.C.A. had to wear a small tracker around their chest. It was made to let the company know that their users were still alive and well. Luckily, they were both comfortable to wear and tightly secure. Paula was the creator of them and it was one of her first jobs since Lukeson and Squad J found her, Pedro and Larissa. Out of all of her inventions, she was the most grateful to her trackers as it was the first one to show G.C.A. what she was capable off.

  “Only his chest tracker,” said Paula. “He has another tracker in his body.”

  “In his body?” Stu Pot asked. “Whereabouts?”

  “You don’t want to know. And, in answer to your next question, I did it when he went unconscious after we fought those demon fish in the South China Sea a year ago.” Paula showed them her Spy Pad and it showed them a map of Atlantic Ocean with a red flashing dot. The words ‘Sergeant Lukeson’ appeared below the dot.

  “How can this small sub possibly get us to the middle of the ocean?” Kathy asked.

  “This small sub isn’t just any small sub,” said Paula. “This is the Rouge Wave. You see that hatch? Open it.”

  Mengy lifted her arms up and the hatch near Paula opened. Everyone looked inside and saw an engine.