Allan rolls himself through the dusty but firm ground toward a glow on the horizon. That glow is the city of Dantia. Dantia is a little scary with its towering buildings and hordes of strange creatures carrying out strange customs. Allan pauses, considering his plan. He can’t roll into town any more than he can open up a halo shop in hell. He has to find Asantia or Mizzi first. And since Dantia is so huge, Mizzi’s treehouse seems an easier find. It is on the outskirts of the mushroom forest, which isn’t far away at all.
Allan rolls across the dry landscape for a few hours and comes to an incline. He tries to muscle his way up but finds that his arms are too tired. He shouldn’t use the electric motor because it isn’t an emergency. There’s no way to tell how much charge it has left, but considering how many times he used the motor, it’s probably on its last power cell. Since there are no creatures or soldiers after him, now is a good time to rest.
He looks around. It’s dark, but he can see that he’s in a shallow basin. It will be a perfect resting spot. The slopes all around will help keep him from being seen.
It doesn’t stop all the wind, though. A cold breeze manages to swoop down into the depression. Allan digs out his jacket, but it isn’t thick enough to stop the chill.
He collects a handful of dead branches, which there are plenty of. Allan snaps the branches into short pieces and places them in his lap.
“Oh, Lan Darr. Here I am again. I knew I could find you,” Allan says. He hums a song while he works. When he has enough fuel, he slips out of his chair. He places stones in a circle and arranges the twigs into a small tepee. With a lighter he’d brought, he tries to light the twigs. The wind is too strong. A dozen times he tries but fails. “Come on, Lan Darr. Do me a solid and hold the wind off me for a moment.” But the wind continues. It blows out the flame every time. Allan finds more stones and builds the fire ring up higher.
After a considerable struggle, the tinder catches fire and burns bright. Allan quickly adds larger pieces of wood and blows into the flames gently. The fire takes hold of the wood and is soon tall and warm. Allan uses his backpack as a pillow and lies down. Three moons shine down on him in sideway smiles, their pitted surfaces visible.
Allan feels safer here on Lan Darr than on the other planets. He knows which plants are dangerous, which are not. Jibbawk isn’t lurking in the shadows hunting innocent beings anymore. The Lithic Furies aren’t here, and there are no enemies after him. He relaxes and his eyelids get heavy.
Lights appear in the night sky, looking like slow moving planes. The planes move steadily closer. No, they don’t have planes here, they’re airships like Asantia’s. Large round shapes creep closer, black against the moonlit sky, except for their lights. Fifteen ships total. The ships line up in a horizontal line and are hundreds of feet off the ground. Maybe Asantia pilots one of them. Allan sits up, wondering if they can see him or his fire. If the ships belong to Killian Crow, being seen would be a bad thing. Killian Crow is the evil leader of Dantia and had bent over backwards to find Allan when he was here one year ago, and he might still hold a grudge on Allan. Killian certainly went to the ends of the planet while hunting Asantia.
But Allan isn’t as young as he was. Allan’s voice is deeper and he’s even grown a little facial hair. Surely they won’t mess with me now? Would they? For a moment, Allan’s hand twitches as he considers dousing his fire with sand.
The fire was too difficult to start, so Allan chooses not to put it out. The ships are really high up so maybe they can’t see him. He watches the flotilla of airships coast gently through the sky. The lights are placed sporadically over the ships, and they flicker like candle flames. In their glow, Allan can see some details. None of the ships has the style of Asantia’s old ship, but they are stunning in their own ways. One ship looks like the steering wheel of a car. It has a circular ballast connected to an oval cockpit in the center. One ship has four separate balloons tied together by fat metal beams. Another ship has an oblong body and a decorative dragonhead made from cut metal plates. Allan studies each of them as though they are floats in a parade.
The airships move toward the faraway lights of Dantia, and Allan loses sight of them. If they saw his fire, they don’t care.
Allan lies back down feeling the weight of his eyelids and closes them. “Ahh, just a little rest,” he mutters.
The ground rumbles lightly. He hears stomping.
Allan sits up. “Every time I try to get some sleep something crappy happens! I just need a few solid hours.”
People armed with rifles approach from the direction the airships had come from. They’re marching in a straight line. Allan tenses up and scoots close to his chair. He flips out his pocketknife and hides it under his thigh. Whoever messes with me will get it in the guts.
The soldiers wear gray wool suits with long sleeves. They have large backpacks on and round helmets. Their rifles are long and half-wooden, similar to the flintlock rifles of the 1800s. Instead of bayonets on the ends, they have shock poles, which spark occasionally.
The soldiers step around Allan like a stream flows around a boulder. Fifteen rows of soldiers six deep pass without saying a word to Allan, like he’s some inanimate object. Some are bird-like, similar to Jibbawk. Others have short snouts, and a few have large noses, protruding jaws, and thick fangs pointing up. When the last soldier crests the top of the hill, the night becomes silent once more.
Allan considers the soldiers for a long time. Were they off to war? Doing drills? Are they from another city? Another planet? Allan shivers and puts more wood on the fire. As long as they leave him alone, he’s happy. The flames grow tall and hot, and he bathes his stiff hands in the heat.
After getting comfortable again, he lets his eyes close and he listens to the fire speak in crackles and snaps. Unless more soldiers come, he can sleep in peace. In the morning he’ll find Mizzi and get some answers.
His body melds to the sand as it relaxes. Allan looks at the moons. They’re lower now. He wonders about them, about the stars. How many planets mingle with Lan Darr? How many moons? Allan’s father had given him his first telescope, and it was a big one. The moon was crisp and clear and so were Jupiter and Saturn and Mars, but they were so far away. It seemed to Allan that he would never get to go to another planet or to another star system. The telescope remained unused, dusty, shoved in the closet and forgotten.
Allan wanted to explore Earth’s mysteries and faraway places. He’d forgotten about space and, instead, dove into documentaries and adventure stories. He dreamed of exploring the jungles of Peru, the mountains of India, or even the depths of the sea.
The accident took away that possibility, but his All-Terrain chair and the van gave him back a slice of that dream. Then the Hubbu flower changed his life forever. And he wasn’t the only one. How many people found their way across the galaxy to Lan Darr, or to Peebland, or the other worlds? Martin and Bella took advantage of their new world and carved out a wonderful home. There were a few humans on Katonaay, too, and even on Lan Darr.
But still, Earth seems largely in the dark about Hubbu travel. Why is that? Because these worlds are a treasure. Those that travel here don’t want to share their little secret with the other Earthlings. They don’t want these worlds commercialized, abused, or overpopulated.
Allan thinks about his friends and schoolmates. Some of them deserve to see these places. It isn’t right to decide who gets to experience these sights and sounds and oddities. It’s selfish.
Adam Boldary was selfish for keeping it a secret. Though he was also trying to help the new worlds too. He taught them English, brought them some technology. In his books, Morty’s Travels, he was even introducing kids to the creatures he met. Maybe his way was the best. A slow, methodical introduction to each other, starting the conversation off with pleasantries. Maybe Adam Boldary had it right.
Maybe it was up to Allan to continue Adam’s work.
“Hey, you. Yeah, you, with the knobby knees!”
“I’
m just lying here, trying to get some freaking sleep!” Allan’s eyes snap open. He sees the tip of a large sword hovering over his nose. “Sorry, so sorry. I don’t need sleep. Not at all. I’m just…”
“Oh relax. You’re such a weenie,” Asantia says.
The blade moves away, and Allan sits up like a sprung mousetrap. Asantia stands over him, one hand on her hip and the other spinning her blade.
“Asantia!” Allan squeaks out, his voice mouse pitched. He coughs and brings it back down. “Good to see you!”
Asantia squats next to Allan. Her tight leather pants creak like an old door. Her top is a similar gray-collared, long-sleeve shirt as the soldiers’, but her undershirt is white and frilly at the collar and cuffs. She wears a thick belt with two pistols clipped to her hips. “What are you doing here?” She guides her sword over her head and into a sheath on her back. Her long brown hair has been cut to her chin, and her face is thinner.
Allan clears his throat. “Is that how you say hello to an old friend?” His voice is the right deep tone this time.
Asantia smiles, revealing her shallow dimples. The firelight illuminates her skin and traces a few new scars. “Sorry, Allan.” She kneels and hugs Allan hard. “It is good to see you again.” She pulls back. “It’s been quite a year here. Not a good one.”
Allan frowns. “The soldiers? Did you see them? Are they… bad?”
Asantia nods. “No, I am with them. We’re at war.”
“With who?”
Asantia sits cross-legged. It is clear to Allan that she doesn’t know where to start. She adds a few thick sticks to the fire and warms her hands. “Dantia is mostly destroyed now. Killian Crow and his people still have the city, but we’re breaking them down.” The firelight gently flows over her skin in waves. She’s so close to Allan her knee rests on his thigh. He wishes he could feel the weight.
“I’m sorry. I…” Allan doesn’t know what to say. He pictured the reunion with Asantia going differently.
Asantia picks up on his hesitation and punches his shoulder playfully. “Don’t worry. Like I said, been a tough year, but we’re winning.”
“What are you fighting for?”
“To outlaw slavery and to end the Testing of children. We also want a council to make the laws, not just Killian Crow.”
“Democracy?”
“Yeah, boy!” She looks at him, lingering on his face for a moment. “You’re older now.” She touches his cheek gently and then pinches it. “Almost look like a man!”
Allan shrugs and blushes.
“How did you get off Earth? Not by Lorebs, you know, those balloon creatures.”
“No, by Hubbu.”
Her brow lifts up. “You’re so lucky sometimes. Not many Hubbu are left on Earth.”
Allan’s chest puffs up. “I found some. I searched that entire mountainside. They didn’t bring me here, though. I stopped at Peebland, then Katonaay, then here.”
“Oh! You went to Katonaay! I’ve heard stories. You’re lucky to be here! I forgot you have some guts in you.” Her expression is bright and full of life.
“It was hard. I had to fight my way out.” Allan suppresses his smile. “I fought a soldier. Took his club and pounded him into the ground like a nail.”
Asantia squeezes the muscle on Allan’s bicep. “You sure have grown up! You’re not a doughy boy.” Her golden eyes twinkle in the firelight. “And I’m assuming you met the Peebles?”
“Yeah, they love you there.”
Asantia laughs and scoots closer to Allan, putting her arm around his shoulder. “Look at you! Exploring the universe without me.”
“I was coming to see you.”
“I hadn’t forgotten about you. I remember our deal.”
“I didn’t think you forgot about me. I…” Allan remembers the dream he had about Asantia showing him the video of Jibbawk escaping from Plethiomia. “I had a dream that you came to see me. Jibbawk escaped, and you wanted me to come with you because you were afraid Jibbawk was going to come after me. Us.”
Asantia’s eyes open wide. “Well that’s a weird dream. I assure you Jibbawk is still on Plethiomia and may even have been eaten by a kargas or a zeiguite by now.”
Allan looks at the fire. “So it was a dream. It felt real. It’s pretty crazy to think you could visit me in a dream like that.” He picks up a stick and pokes the fire. “How did you find me this time?”
“We’re monitoring all Hubbu reactions. We saw you arrive. They thought you were an enemy scout. So did I, until I saw you through the scope. You were so cute trying to light your fire in the wind.”
“Cute, huh.” Allan shrugs at her babyish description of him. He’d like to point out the fact that he succeeded instead of struggled.
A tall bird-man approaches from the shadows, followed by two smaller bird creatures. Asantia stands tall and straight with her arms to her side. When the bird-man stops at the fire he picks up one leg, standing like a flamingo. The bird-man has a short and fat beak with a red swath on top similar to a puffin. His feathers are all black except for a patch of blue on his neck. He wears the same gray uniform, but has a star painted on the left chest. He isn’t wearing pants, and his powerful legs are similar to Jibbawk’s ostrich-like legs. His wings are full feathered and folded on its back. Copper bands with mounted pistols are clipped to each forewing. “So am I to assume your idle chitchat means this man is not of the enemy?” the bird-man says in a deep voice. The two smaller creatures, which have simpler uniforms, stand quietly behind it.
Allan watches with amusement seasoned with a pinch of amazement and a dash of wonder.
“Correct. He is a friend from Earth,” Asantia says with a sharp tone.
“Fine,” the bird-man snaps then moves on to more important matters. “What is your update?”
“The advance is going as planned. We’ll make camp in the mushroom forest and attack by dawn,” Asantia answers.
“Good. You will be joining us?” The bird-man asks Asantia, but then looks at Allan and sneers.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Asantia responds.
The bird-man and his two followers continue after the army.
Asantia sits and resumes warming her hands.
“That guy is really nice. I want to be his best friend,” Allan muses sarcastically.
Asantia laughs. “Oh, he’s good, just a little grumpy like he has a thorn in his you-know-what.”
“Someone should pluck that thorn out,” Allan says, smiling.
“You volunteering?” Asantia’s eyes widen.
“Not a chance.”
When the two finish laughing, they stare at the fire for a moment. “Besides the dream, I had to come back,” Allan says.
“Oh?”
“Everyone at my school thinks I’m crazy. No one believes I came here. They think I copied a book Adam Boldary wrote about a boy named Morty. Adam’s book has a lot of creatures that live on Lan Darr, and I thought I was crazy too. When I first ended up in Peebland I knew that Adam Boldary had traveled by Hubbu. For some reason, he didn’t tell anyone about it, but instead, wrote fictional children’s books.”
“Boldary was a good man.”
“You knew him?”
“Mizzi did. So did others. He came around quite a bit. So did others from Earth. They built up schools and taught us some technologies. We learned his language.”
Allan laughs. “That I’m glad for.”
“The books he brought were so beautiful. There were so many. We copy them and pass them around. They were technical textbooks. That’s how we learned to make electricity. Though Killian Crow only lets the few privileged have it.”
“And one of his books taught you how to build your old airship?”
“That’s right.”
“Were you able to build another one?”
“What do you think?” She smiles.
“Where is it?” Allan looks around, assuming the dark night obscured her landing spot.
“Be
ing repaired. It was damaged in a battle. But one of Adam’s books is teaching me how to make a more solid frame. It’s an original book of his. I’m layering my frame in a flexible fiberglass coating. I’ll have the lightest and strongest ship on this planet. I’m lucky to have found it before Killian did. He hordes books he finds and burns copies.”
“That’s funny. On Earth, Adam Boldary wrote and sold books for children; books with weird and wacky aliens and talking animals. I’ve met many of the creatures he drew,” Allan says, wondering about Adam Boldary’s real motives. “Looks like he was teaching us as much as he was teaching you guys.”
“Different planets need different books, I guess.” Asantia brushes a strand of hair from her face. “He also said that we have to discover and invent some things on our own. He’d say, give a man a fish and he’ll eat for one meal. Teach him how to be a fisherman and he’ll eat for a lifetime.”
“I’ve heard my uncle saying that. It makes sense.” Allan looks at the three moons. “I’m really glad I’m not crazy. I found Lan Darr again. I really did.”
“Yup. Pretty brave to come by yourself.” She points to his wheelchair. “Came with some slick wheels this time, I see.”
“I do love my chair. Though, I would rather use the mechanical legs Mizzi made, if I had a choice.”
“I’ll bet. Well, I gotta go. We’re breaching the wall tomorrow.”
Allan lowers his head. It took a lot of time trying to get here, to find Asantia. Instead of finding her, exploring the universe with her, he lands in a war zone. A war that Asantia will fight in. “I hope I will see you again.”
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