by Alex Getz
“Alright, now I will leave you for a bit, and you can practice wishes making on your own,” Chloe said and went inside the house.
“Can I go first?” asked Arthur
“Go ahead,” said Carol.
“Okay.” Arthur pondered for a few seconds and then blurted, “River, I wish that your nose would become as long as Pinocchio’s! Davriada!”
Suddenly, the tip of River’s nose stretched quickly. At first, River wanted to scold Arthur, but the other children’s laughter was infectious, and River couldn’t help joining in with them after catching sight of his reflection in the mirror.
“I’m sorry, River, but I just couldn’t help myself.”
“I will forgive you only if you will take it away!”
Arthur wished his nose to go back to normal, and after davriada, it decreased and became as it was before.
“I hope someone will turn you into a pumpkin!” River said to his brother. “But I’ll spend my wish on something better. I wish that Carol looked like an inhabitant of Alpha Centauri! Davriada!”
Suddenly, Carol’s hair lightened, and freckles popped up over her entire face. Instead of her jeans and t-shirt, a beautiful golden dress adorned her.
“Wow!” Vic exclaimed.
“You look just like our solar guests!” Liz said.
Carol blushed as everyone was staring at her.
“Now I’m going to make a wish for Vic,” Carol stated to switch the attention. “I wish that the present I wasn’t able to buy him for his birthday appeared now in front of him. Davriada!”
A thick, worn book appeared before the boy. He opened it right away.
“Whoa! This book is insanely expensive and almost impossible to find anywhere! Thanks, Carol!” Vic clutched the book delightedly. As he looked at Carol’s present, he seemed couldn’t believe that what just happened was real. He was turning pages with curiosity and like trying to make sure that the book is real.
“I wish that Arthur could speak the language of Minders! Davriada!” Liz said merrily.
“Rashooo zhad ashe gieeeq!” said Arthur.
Everyone burst into laughter again. Arthur pronounced such bizarre words, which didn’t resemble any language the kids had ever heard before.
“Akosh zhaooo,” Arthur said, laughing. “Duadla, dakaaan arkaaag taka!”
“Do you understand what he’s saying?” Carol asked Liz.
“Yes, Arthur is asking to cancel this wish. Aku ialo daoul,” Liz was speaking to Arthur in the same language. “Ok, I am canceling this.”
“Thanks, God,” Arthur said.
Just at that moment, they heard thunder, and drops of rain fell on the ground. The sky turned a dark blue color. A heavy downpour doused the children.
‘Run into the house,” shouted Liz and rushed out of her place.
While running, River took a glob of mud in his hand and threw it at his brother.
“Hey! What the heck?” Arthur shouted back at River.
But River moved on to helping Vic with his appearance as well, lobbing mud at Vic’s back. River decided to escape by breaking into a brisk run. Catching up to him, the three boys began to goof around, trying to get each other as dirty as possible. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the ground at the end of the garden.
“Holy fudge nuggets!” Arthur exclaimed.
“We should get out of here as quickly as possible,” said Vic.
“Uh-huh.”
Undercover of thunder, the boys darted home. When they arrived at the doorstep, Chloe froze upon catching sight of them.
“Oh! Boys. Go clean up in the bathroom. Luckily I just transferred some of your clothes from your wardrobes.”
“These must be our guests!” Mr. Ketling said when he saw the boys after they changed their clothes. He just returned home. “Hello, everyone, and welcome!” Mr.Ketling was a tall and thin man, wearing a linen suit with a pocket watch in his waistcoat. “Is Germaine still at school?”
“He should be getting home soon. He has a swimming class in Lake Tevinser.”
“Diving for pearls again, I presume,” Mr. Ketling said, and then turned to the children again. “You probably don’t do things like that at your schools back home, do you?”
“No, we don’t have lessons like that,” River answered.
“Unfortunately,” Arthur added.
At that moment, a boy entered the kitchen and spying Mr. Ketling, hugged him tightly.
“Dad, you here!” the boy exclaimed. He then turned and saw the guests, “Hi, everyone!”
“Germaine, meet Carol, Arthur, River, and Vic,” Chloe introduced each guest to her son.
Germaine looked like an average teenager, with mussed hair and red cheeks from running. A folder was tucked under his arm. His appearance had carefree disarray about it.
“Today was a crazy day. We swam in the lake, and my classmate Mariam started to sink—straight to the bottom! At first, we thought she found a pearl, but by the time we swam up to her, she was already too weak to move,” Germaine shared about his school day excitedly. “Mrs. Brighton brought her round once they returned to shore, but Mariam absorbed so much water that it only leaked out after three life-saving wishes. She had water pouring out from her ears, can you believe it?”
The children gaped at Germaine while listening to his story. Carol seemed to have forgotten about the steaming cup of tea in her hands.
“So, are we all going tomorrow to the intergalactic station?” Germaine asked his parents.
“Oh my goodness,” Arthur said quietly.
“Yes, as it planned. We will set off tomorrow morning, very early,” explained Mr. Ketling.
“Yay! Finally! I’ve been waiting forever to do this!” Germaine cried out, skipping around the table joyfully. “This is going to be amazing!”
That evening, the children spent in anticipation of their next adventure. Together they had a nice dinner, during which Ketlings were telling about the local way of life and also sharing stories that were hard to believe were real.
Chapter six
Intergalactic Station
The next morning, Mr. Ketling, Germaine, River, Arthur, Carol, and Vic gathered into the living room. Mr. Ketling opened a trapdoor in the floor. Reminiscent of Florence’s house, a tunnel stretched out beneath the trapdoor into outer space. Saying he loved sliding through the cosmic tunnels, Germaine jumped through the trapdoor first. To everyone’s surprise, Carol leaped next; Vic, Arthur, River, and Mr. Ketling followed close behind.
The journey through the cosmic slide lasted a few minutes now. They landed in a very peculiar place: a large, brightly lit, many-leveled interior lay before their eyes.
“Welcome to Intergalactic Station No. 3,” Mr. Ketling announced.
A tall man in a purple tailcoat flew toward them in something that looked like a giant soap bubble. The bubble flew ten more meters, drew close to the floor, and popped with a loud burst. The man landed on his feet and walked toward one of the many spaceships berthed to the station. Many other bubbles floated around the station’s space.
Pointing at the bubbles, Mr. Ketling explained, “Those are vehicles we ride in here. We are going to take a ride in it right now.”
Within a second, the children stood in one of the bubbles. Mr. Ketling directed the bubble off the ground and up into the air.
“May I ask, sir, how do you drive this, if there is no wheel or any buttons?” asked River.
“Most of the vehicles here are driven telepathically. In my mind, I am setting the route and control the speed,” Mr. Ketling explained. “Now, about the station. It’s divided into different sections. Each belongs to a specific galaxy.” Mr. Ketling gestured toward the right side of the station, “Ships from our galaxy line up along that side. Other galaxies have their territory. There is, however, a communal area, and also a room where gatherings and conferences are conducted regards technical aspects of flying objects and the creation of new routes and vehicles.”
The bubble f
lew to one of the highest levels of the space station. It was barely noticeable when the bubble popped, and they all stood on a narrow road.
“Now we will walk to section number forty-four. Follow me.”
There been all varieties of spaceships, from the small ones like Gamp’s to multi-story ships, which looked so big, that it was hard to believe that they hang in the space. Some were advancing toward the station from the darkness of the cosmos, while others were flying away.
“Look, that’s a spaceship from Pluto, this is the one we will take a flight on,” Mr. Ketling called out, pointing to a large ship. They approached it, and after entering, they found themselves in a round structure. The minimalistic interior had no complicated steering mechanisms, control panels, or screens. Only windows around the circumference and sitting chairs with safety belts. The captain of the ship greeted the group. He was a man of medium build, and his skin, hair, and clothes were all the same metal color, he looked like a came to life statue.
“Everyone, meet Mr. Helmire,” Mr. Ketling introduced the Captain to the kids. “Today, you have the opportunity to fly on his ship and observe other dimensions!”
“Wow!” Germaine exclaimed, barely able to contain his excitement.
“Children of Earth, very nice to see you. I hope you will enjoy our flight,” the ship’s captain greeted the children. “Now, please take a seat and fasten your seatbelt.”
When the spaceship set off, special flight glasses were automatically placed over the passengers’ eyes. The glasses helped passengers to see other dimensions.
It was almost impossible to tell that the spaceship is moving at a very high speed. The only view through the window showed the opposite. They started from a second dimension. When the ship flew near one of the planets in this dimension, it looked as they were flying above flat objects. Everything seemed dull and unnatural. It was strange to see that someone could live in such a completely different way.
“Can they see our spaceship when we are flying by?” asked Carol.
“No, they perceive only their dimension. And our spaceship is in the fourth now,” answered Mr. Ketling.
As they switched over to a dimension several levels higher, the surroundings suddenly changed as well. The black space looked now as a canvas with different patterns colored in bright paints, some of which were impossible to describe in words. They were approaching another planet, and when the spaceship flew close enough, they saw it wasn’t only one planet, but it looked like the same planet was copied and pasted many times near each other.
“Now we are in a sixth dimension. You can see the different versions of this planet that exist simultaneously. Its inhabitants are choosing the version they want to live in, depending on what they want to experience. And after that, they navigate their reality in one of those versions. The versions are approximately at one level of development, but still, they differ one from another,” Mr. Helmire said.
“Are you steering the spaceship right now?” Arthur asked.
“Yes.”
“But how do you do it without a steering wheel? Telepathically?”
“Yes, I do it in my mind. The artificial intelligence is built in the system of this spaceship, and I have telepathic contact with it.”
“Why can’t we see other dimensions without glasses?” River said after he took off his flight glasses.
“Your minds are just not ready yet to perceive other dimensions. If you learn and train, with time, you will be able to see more. For example, Mr. Ketling, to my knowledge, can see up to the eleventh dimension.” The Captain looked at Germaine’s father, who nodded his head in agreement. “I, as a spaceship captain, am required to see no fewer than fifty levels.”
“What happens, say, in the hundredth dimension? The sixth dimension is already so different from the second and fourth dimensions,” Carol asked.
“Unfortunately, I can’t give you an exact answer to this question. The only thing I know is that each dimension has different experiences, and also, in a visual sense, they differ one from another. But civilizations on every level adhere to the law of the intergalactic unity.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Well, almost every civilization.”
“Do you mean Ortigon?” Vic clarified.
“Yes,” Mr. Helmire said and switched the subject. “Stephan, I believe at the end of our trip we can fly to Sirius? The view there is simply incredible.”
Mr. Ketling confirmed, and they flew into another direction much faster as before.
“Sometimes we can see info about extraterrestrial civilizations in our movies and books. Do people who make them also visited Octavia?” River asked.
“Can’t say for sure, but it is quite possible. Or, maybe, the curse has a weaker hold over them, so they can sense the truth more than other people without even visiting Octavia.”
“I always knew—”
River didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence because Carol interrupted him.
“Vic, what happened to your hands?” The girl looked at her brother in horror.
“Whoa,” Arthur gasped.
Starting from his fingertips, Vic’s hands began to become more and more transparent.
Mr. Ketling shouted in alarm, “Capitan, turn the ship around! We need to fly back to the station!”
Mr. Helmire turned the ship in a single, sharp swerve, forcing the passengers to grip their chairs tightly.
“What does this mean?” Vic asked, beginning to hyperventilate.
“It means you’ve spent too much energy here, and your clone in your world is also beginning to disappear.”
“But what am I supposed to do now? Why am I the only one losing energy?”
“When the distance is increasing between you and your clone, to support life in both of you, more energy required. The distance now is considerable, and it saps a lot of your energy. Usually, it doesn’t reflect on the body like this. I’ve been warned that Ortigon’s curse has a stronger hold on you. But I hoped that this wouldn’t happen, as we never had such cases before…”
Vic’s arms and legs became almost entirely see-through. His torso was gradually beginning to lose density as well.
“How many minutes until we reach the station?” Mr. Ketling asked.
“Three, at most,” the Captain replied.
“Dock the ship at the Urgent Care section!”
“Vic, you look almost like a ghost,” Arthur said.
“Arthur!” Carol hushed, and he bit his tongue.
“One minute left,” Mr. Helmire warned. “Get ready for landing.”
The spaceship glided up to the station. The Captain signaled, warning of the emergency. When the spaceship came to a halt, Mr. Ketling commanded to exit quickly. Vic was isolated in a separate ward, while others were left to sit in a waiting room.
“This situation is out of our control. I must teleport to discuss this with Florence. Wait for me here. I will try to return as quickly as possible,” Mr. Ketling said and left the room.
The children were sitting nervously on the sofa. Now, Vic was in danger, and Carol’s heart was torn to pieces.
“Oh, we can’t just sit and wait like this!”
“What can we do?” River asked.
“I don’t know yet, but I have to think of something. Every second is precious. You saw for yourselves how Vic’s body was disappearing right before our eyes. Most likely, Florence will send him home. But that can’t happen, as there is still so much to learn here. I don’t want Vic to go back to our world now. If they wipe his memory, is it true that I won’t be able to tell him anything about this?”
“It’s quite possible,” Germaine said.
Carol stood up and paced the room. Suddenly she stopped in place and said, “I’ve got it! I’ll share my energy with him, and davriada will help me to do that. What do you think?”
“You could lose your energy along with him,” Germaine warned her. “And that would only make it easier for Ortigon to find your clones and there
fore Octavia. But, there is a chance it may also work out.”
“What do I do?!” Carol sat down heavily on the couch with her face in her hands.
“I’ll share my energy with him too!” Arthur proposed. “That way, we’ll have a better chance of saving him.”
“And what if all three of you start to disappear?” River asked.
“Well, then people in our world will be convinced that ghosts exist.”
“Arthur, I don’t want you to risk it,” Carol said.
“I think if two of us will share the energy, then there will be less risk that we also start to fade out. As two sources of energy are more than just one,” Arthur looked at the rest on the sofa for support.
“I’m with you,” River said. “I guess indeed, the more people, the better.”
Germaine eyed the three other children thoughtfully.
“Ok. I’m with you as well.”
The four children stood in a circle and piled their hands in the center.
“Now we can make a wish,” Germaine led the process. “Carol, you can say it out loud, and the rest of us will repeat to ourselves. Ready?”
The girl nodded and said loudly, “I share my strength with Vic! Davriada!”
Everyone repeated after her. For some time afterward, they remained frozen in anticipation, until they heard a stern voice from behind.
“What are you doing? Germaine?” Mr. Ketling teleported back, catching the group in a circle.
“We were just making a wish,” Germaine mumbled.
On several occasions, Germaine saw his father look anxious, but at this moment, he seemed merely beside himself.
“By Florence’s order, Vic must be immediately returned to your world. There is no other way out from this situation,” Mr. Ketling said and set off in the direction where Vic was.
“Are you alright?” Germaine asked Carol.
“Yeah, just feeling a bit weak.” Her legs grew heavy, and her head began to spin. The other children seemed fine and felt no changes.
