Gobby Johnny and The Book of Space: Ariel Hope Chronicles 2 Page 2

  "We are protected here by magic. It protects our rights as Magnificents."

  Ariel is intrigued.

  "Is everyone here named 'Magnificent'?"

  "Of course. We are a cooperative of like-minded souls. We are all the same.

  Except for me. I am in charge and with my proactive Stewards, I rule this planet with my magical fist."

  "Proactive Stewards?"

  "They are my security. Highly trained, extremely busy soldiers. Always busy. They never stop. If there is a problem, they attend to it at once. All of them. At the same time. You shall come with me, as my guests. Unlocking your doors now."

  "Harry, stay switched on. Liaise with Pierre."

  Harry takes a formal bow. She is dressed like a lamp rubbing, poor boy, soon to be prince.

  "Glad to see you are coming back to us, Harriet."

  "Ah, you use formalities at the end."

  "It is not the end, Harry. Just watch our backs. Please. And while you're at it, rub us an escape route!"

  "Your wish is my command."

  Ariel rolls her eyes. Once.

  Any more would be demonic.

  *

  Ariel is met on the deck of the giant ship by Magnificent Mike.

  He does not look magnificent. At all. Standing just over 5 feet 2 and just under 5 feet 3, including spiked hair, he looks nervous, fidgety, his small piggy eyes darting around like a small, nervous, fidgety man being asked a difficult question.

  Stevie wants to tell Ariel something but she's too far away. He whispers it to Yvette instead.

  "The man shows malevolence towards us. Do not trust him."

  Yvette nods, passing the message to Poppy.

  "The man knows no violence to us. Do not truss him.”

  Poppy looks at her quizzically before finally passing it to its intended recipient, Ariel.

  "The man's nose is violet. Doughnut truce homhom."

  Ariel looks at Stevie.

  "Cheers," she mumbles.

  Ariel counts 10 proactive Stewards surrounding Magnificent Mike. They wear bright orange tunics, a large 'M' emblazoned on the front.

  Magnificent Mike's elite personal bodyguard.

  They look like Mike, only wider, half grown straggly whispers of scruffy whiskers sprouting from bad skin.

  Their radios, however, look the business.

  The Beta crews are bemused and shocked as without warning, they are surrounded, their hands yanked behind their backs, their wrists bound...with nothing.

  Magnificent Mike bends in an exaggerated bow, like a French aristocrat agreeing to a duel.

  A preposterously unfair, cheating duel.

  "Magical binds, my dear new friends. Unlockable only by magical means which, alas, you seem not to possess."

  Ariel stares pleadingly at Stevie. Not for him to free them but to avoid turning into his wolf. A time and a place, her eyes say.

  Stevie Lo receives her unspoken message. The emotional attachment has loosened since Yvette joined his ship, enabling him to read Ariel's mind.

  Hooray for fickle feelings.

  Magnificent Mike barks his order.

  "Take the Earthlings and that Whistler woman to the dungeons."

  His piggy red rimmed eyes bore into Poppy.

  "And NO whistling while you are down there!"

  Poppy stays quiet. She stares back, having to look down, with a look that says, 'one day, sunshine, one day'.

  Ariel yanks her bound arms free of the grubby proactive Steward guarding her.

  "Before we go, I demand you tell us why we are being held prisoner!"

  Mike stands on his tip toes.

  He is still not tall enough.

  "Our planet is at imminent risk of being dragged and destroyed by the nasty big blue massive planet. We have already witnessed the dust storms that are the prelude to the end. We need your ships as this is too old and big now."

  He looks to the sky.

  "Ah, here comes another fool, thinking he can fly by our planet at will. One more ship to the tally!"

  Ariel stares as a cruiser slowly drifts down. It is not a Beta.

  "It might not be a 'he'," she says defiantly.

  "It makes no difference to me, haha. Just another idiot to waste away in my smelly dungeon hole!"

  With that, the 4 Beta crew members are pushed roughly down several sets of steep concrete steps, barely able to keep on their feet.

  Yvette, surprisingly, does not look as terrified as she should. She stays close to Stevie.

  I would hazard a guess that those 2 are up to something.

  And it ain't hanky cranky.

  Chapter Four

  Planet Whistler (A problem with noisy neighbours)

  As StarTapped Beta Command flies in formation over randomly picked terrain away from the whistling, Beta 6's Captain, Andy Oliver, feels the time is right for a serious question.

  "Sir, can we not just return to Whistler City and stem the whistling revolt? We cannot fly randomly around here forever. With respect, Sir."

  Important Captain Nicholls roars his agitated answer.

  "You again, Oliver. Andy. Oliver. Blast your idle parents giving you 2 first names! I will decide if and when we return to face the insurrection!"

  Captain Oliver is not deterred by Nicholls' rudeness; authoritarian or not.

  "Sir, there are trained diplomats, civil servants and politicians on board who believe we need to establish proper contact and thrash out agreements for possible power sharing or dictatorship. They are becoming restless, Sir."

  "Liars and thieves, the lot of them, too, I bet. I shall establish a military dictatorship and to the rotten, smelly dustbins, the lot of them can go, too! My First Officer is in agreement with me. Aren't you?"

  "Erm, no Sir, I am not actually."

  "But you are a proud military man, a celebrated test pilot and astronaut. It is our glorious time!"

  Beta 10's Captain, Lady H, has heard quite enough.

  "Sir, perhaps you should have a little lie down? You sound awfully vexed, Sir, probably due to exhaustion. You have led us on a wonderful mission, Sir."

  "A lie down? Oh, should I now? Well, Miss newly title stripped Holly blinking Haversham, I will tell you something. My First Officer and I are tirelessly spreading and sowing the plans for a military government. I am too pickling busy to have a lie down!"

  Nicholls' First Officer is not impressed.

  "Are we, Sir? Since when?”

  "Shut up and play along will you?”

  "Sir, the interconnecting intercom is still on; everyone can hear you."

  Former Lady H is sobbing quietly as she gallantly holds formation.

  "I thought my promotion title was permanent, Sir. I have told my mum and dad and everyone," she sniffles.

  Nicholls is unrepentant.

  "Well that is what you get for arguing, you insubordinate strumpet!"

  Holly cries uncontrollably now.

  Beta 9's Captain, Jeremy West, has also heard enough.

  "You are still Lady H to the rest of us; always and forever. Sir, with respect, Lady H is not a strumpet."

  Subdued shouting from the other cruisers.

  "Hear, hear; Lady H forever!"

  "To the smelly, stinking bins the lot of you. Come on then, you miserable shower of wee, let us go and trample this Whistler lot!"

  Beta 1's AI, the schoolmarm-like Penelope, disarms all weapons systems on Nicholls' cruiser.

  *

  As the StarTapped power play painfully plays out, aboard Beta 3, Gobby Johnny Hope frantically follows the diagrams found in The Book of Space, using this new and exciting knowledge to reassemble 'The Whistler.'

  Unbeknown to everyone except Horace Strange, who sadly passed many years ago, this often laughed at device was developed to counteract the harsher elements of the signals from Whistling Way.

  Gobby Johnny can feel a hero moment coming on.

  He just dropped it.

  Maybe later.

  Once he
’s found all the bits and put it back together.

  *

  StarTapped Beta Command returns to Whistler City, where a large crowd has gathered.

  Pursed lips and sunken, hollowed cheeks indicate the great effort by some of the Whistler population to repel the invading alien Earthlings.

  Their effort is working.

  The relentless, annoying shrill whistles distract the Beta crews as they concentrate their holding position above the main City Square.

  Denny, Kenny, and Lenny lead the whistles with renewed gusto.

  Sometimes they even shout, to whip the small crowd into an unbridled frenzy.

  Denny shouts the loudest.

  “Go home, you invading horde!”

  Kenny disagrees.

  “No way, Denny. Get lost you mean spirited alien Earth things!”

  Lenny’s furious.

  “Are you two stupid, or what? Scram out of here before you’re whistled into the next galaxy, you moronic humans!”

  A whistling bystander makes a wry comment from the corner of his lopsided mouth.

  “They’re humans but they look just like us!”

  He is pointing at Important Captain Nicholls, banging his fist against the cockpit windscreen as his missiles refuse to fire.

  Well thought out, Penelope.

  *

  As the whistling intensifies, the pain becomes too much for the cockpit crew of Beta 7.

  Captain Josh Steele slams his hands over his ringing ears just before he passes out.

  His First Officer is in agony too, his brain trying to shut down. Looking to the AI for help, the screen is blank as circuits pop and fizzle.

  No one is in control of Beta 7.

  She starts to roll, throwing crew and passengers around in a battering sideways spin as the cruiser prepares to meet a catastrophic end.

  *

  Aboard Beta 3, Gobby Johnny Hope ignores the pain in his ears as he fits the few remaining pieces to ‘The Whistler’.

  Without the time to check electronics, he uses the manual override, winding the handle as the power waves stream through the ship to the City Square below.

  As Important Captain Nicholls continues his mad tirade against the ultra-toughened cockpit screen of Beta 1, Denny, Kenny, and Lenny scream in horror as their devastatingly annoying shrill whistles are forced back down their argumentative throats.

  The small crowd gasps, mid whistle, their own mouths contorting in reverse whistling action mode.

  As Beta 7 enters the final approach to annihilation, its AI activates emergency power, bringing the cruiser out of its terrifying death spin just as Captain Steele recovers consciousness.

  Talk about timing.

  *

  Gobby Johnny Hope has just saved the lives of over 100 crew and passengers.

  He remembers a self-help book he borrowed from his father, written by an extremely clever man with an amazing, winning smile.

  He also remembers this clever man having very large feet.

  Remembering details like this helped Johnny reassemble ‘The Whistler’ in time to save Beta 7's temporary inhabitants from extinction.

  Not a daily occurrence for anyone.

  There is a point to this.

  The extremely clever man said that if you imagined your dreams hard enough, eventually they would come true.

  Gobby Johnny Hope dreams of space supremacy, with as little effort as possible.

  Remarkably, he is on his way.

  Small steps.

  Much easier with the help of big feet.

  *

  The crews and passengers disembark from the Beta cruisers in a sense of wonderment.

  Most of them wonder where they are.

  After everyone sets foot on their new home, an extremely agitated Important Captain Nicholls is led as quietly as possible down some side steps by his First Officer.

  Nicholls' hands are restrained by old fashioned nylon ties.

  For his own safety, you understand.

  No magic cuffs on this ship.

  Military command is immediately passed to Captain Edward Hope of Beta 3, his seniority and lack of imminent craziness making him the ideal choice.

  Senior diplomat and Space Ambassador Bernie Hunter lays the task before him.

  "Captain Hope, I formally elevate you to the head of StarTapped Beta Command. May I suggest you think of a better title than your predecessor? I believe 'Important Captain' to be an extremely childish name for a position so important."

  "Thank you, Ambassador Hunter. I was thinking of Admiral. Or, perhaps your Excellency finds that a little pompous?"

  Ambassador Hunter slaps Ed on the back.

  It sends the newly properly promoted Admiral flying.

  "Nonsense, my good man. You kept your head when all around you were keeping theirs too. You kept yours tighter to your neck than the others though. Well done. I expect strong leadership from my Admiral."

  "So, your Excellency, are you in total charge now?"

  "Yes, I am, Admiral Hope. As the most senior diplomat able to escape Earth, I claim that role. Others are in unanimous support."

  "Others, your Excellency?"

  Bernie Hunter coughs, like a cougher trying to hide a big truth behind a cough.

  "Wife, children, friends, dog. Everyone, really. I can count on your unwavering support, Admiral? Seeing as I just promoted you and all that."

  Bernie looks at Ed expectantly. His large, strong, Roman nose guides his gaze with pinpoint accuracy.

  "Of course, your Excellency."

  Bernie breathes a huge sigh of relief as he slicks the sweat from his forehead through his immaculate silver hair.

  Jobs for the boys. Sorted.

  *

  The StarTapped Beta cruisers land in Whistler Park, next to the City Square, as Denny, Kenny, and Lenny discuss their next pivotal move.

  They spin 360 degrees, each in turn.

  Denny, as usual, puts his plan forward.

  "They have reversed our whistles, making our insurrection impossible. I say we surrender as tribal chiefs!"

  Kenny shakes his head. Hard.

  "Nonsense. They thwarted our rebellion like space tyrants. I say we offer our humble services as local dignitaries!"

  Lenny's not amused.

  "Imbeciles, the pair of you! The Earthlings beat us unfairly and unsquarely as the great Imperial power they are. We shall serve them loyally as newly appointed agents of the Whistler takeover!"

  They shake their heads in positive disagreement.

  *

  Gobby Johnny calls to his father over the excited shouting of the crowds. As he reaches Admiral Hope, his father pats his hand on top of his shoulder.

  It's annoying but Johnny tries his best to stay quiet.

  Bernie beams at Johnny.

  "Ah, the hero of the hour! You shall receive a Glorious Conduct Medal for your noble actions, young man. Who would have thought some crazed ramblings of an old man could bring such relief, eh?"

  Bernie taps his Roman nose.

  “But, it is your passed down family heirloom so it is your business haha!”

  His twinkling diplomatic eyes dance a mesmerising jig around Johnny and his father.

  Gobby Johnny's face lights up like a 1 coloured light on a tree.

  "It was touch and go, Sir, touch and go. Sir."

  "Now, now, no need for 'Sir' from a StarTapped hero such as yourself; Excellency will do fine!"

  Johnny's treasured and extremely useful, The Book of Space, is held firmly in his quivering hands, open to a special page.

  "Your Excellency, what will happen to Important Captain Nicholls?"

  "Now, now, young man. Do not worry yourself with internal government affairs."

  Johnny does not waver.

  "Your Excellency, he is a military commander so will he be tried by court martial?"

  "Now, now, youngster. Mr Nicholls will be tried fairly and as square as a perfect square. I shall decide on his punishment."
/>
  Johnny tries from a new angle.

  The family angle.

  "Dad, can you ask one of the locals if there has been a local full moon these last few days?"

  Admiral Hope spots Denny, Kenny, and Lenny.

  "I say! You 3, come here please."

  "Yes, Sir?"

  3 synchronised voices.

  They look at each other. In another Whistler miracle, it is the first time the 3 brothers have not contradicted each other.

  Ever.

  "Has your moon been full lately?"

  "Yes, Sir, these last few days, Sir."

  Synchronised again. Blinking marvellous.

  Ed turns to his son.

  "There is your answer, Gob...er, Johnny. What of it?"

  "Dad, according to Horace Strange's book, a full moon can turn a man lunaticus. It is Latin for 'Moonstruck'. When the moon is full, the effects on a previously sound mind can be devastating."

  Bernie looks shocked, taken aback, stunned.

  "The boy is right, you know! Free Mr Nicholls at once and give him a job as a gardener for the rest of his days; nice, unobtrusive position without responsibility should keep him happy. Oh, and make sure he has his sweets."

  Ed looks to his son with immense pride.

  "I am so glad you like the book, Johnny. Turning out to be jolly useful, is it not?"

  Gobby Johnny whispers in his dad's ear. He has 2. Johnny chooses the left one.

  "What does this mean for my position as a Spacie, dad?"

  "I shall think about it son. Perhaps it is time we expanded the secret society and let more youngsters in. With you as leader, of course."

  Gobby Johnny beams.

  His rise to power begins right here, right now.

  *

  Johnny briefly wonders about his sister, wishing she could, not share in his glory, but witness it.

  He is not the only one thinking of Ariel as StarTapped Beta Command tentatively celebrates its landing on Whistler.

  Gerry’s hands quiver as she holds a picture of her beloved daughter, looking resplendent in her freshly pressed StarTapped Academy uniform. Nudging away a loose tear, she replaces the treasured photograph before checking her image in the silver compact she carries everywhere.

  For Gerry, wife of newly promoted Admiral Hope, appearance is everything.

  Admiral Edward Hope wishes more than anything he had stayed to find Ariel instead of assuming she would make it to a cruiser.