Into the Fairylands
By J. R. Bennett
Chapter VIII
The call to arms
~*~
The group sat in the
living room. It had been long past
breakfast and Alice, Zach, Travis and Ed were sitting about, watching the
television, agreeing it was time for a lazy day. The old tube television was glowing as it
showed a rerun of a program called The
Late-Night Variety Show. A man named
Louis Fitzgerald, danced about in front of them telling jokes and introducing
the next act. Suddenly, without warning
the program was interrupted by a breaking news item.
“We
interrupt this program for an urgent bulletin from Bathill,” explained the news
anchor that appeared on the screen, “where the Prime Minister, Samuel Holland,
is about to make an announcement.”
The image changed to outside of the
parliament building in Bathill. The
prime minister stood outside of the big, iron gates with a sheet of paper in
his hand.
“It is with
great regret,” said the politician, “that I, Prime Minister Samuel Holland,
must announce that our great empire has been placed under threat. As of midnight tonight, the Crown Island of
the Gallan-Gallet and her colonies in the Deltic Empire will be at war.”
Ed look
mortified and before anyone could say anything about it, he had dashed to the
kitchen for the telephone. His hands
shook as he tried to spin the number ring.
After several failed attempts, Ed finally put in the correct number.
“Hullo…
Kina? Oh, good. I’m guessing you’ve
heard the news. Uh huh. Li’l Dill will be jumping for the chance to
test out his army… I see. When should I go? …No, that’s fine. What about the others? I can’t just leave ‘em. I’ll let you know when he can come.”
Ed hung the
phone back up. He had not noticed that
Alice, Zach and Travis had followed him to the kitchen. Ed looked solemn at his friends.
“Kina has
given me orders to join Little Dill when he charges for the Manookoo cloud.”
“What about
us?” asked Zach.
“Your
safety can’t… it can’t be promised. Kina
has arranged for Bug-a-boo to take you all home before it is too late.”
“We can’t
just leave you.” piped Alice.
“I don’t
want to lose any of you.” Ed explained.
“I would rather, send you three home and have you all safe than having
you all killed.”
“But you
could die doing this.” cried Travis.
“I guess
I’m a fool for not wanting to have people, who mean a lot to me, get hurt in a
war they have nothing to do with.”
“Then I
guess we are fools too for not wanting to leave.” said Zach.
Ed looked
at his friends. He did not have to say
anything, Alice, Zach and Travis knew exactly what he wanted to say.
“So you are all going,” concluded Bug-a-boo.
“That’s the
plan,” said Ed.
“Good. I just want you to know… those three care
about you. They’re willing to face
hellfire and ice for you. People like
that are rare in quality so treat them well.
Like a flower, give them light through encouragement and water in the
form of loyalty. Alice is your
encourager, Travis your confidant, Zach is your judge. Don’t take them for granted.”
“I won’t.”
Ed promised.
“Good.” Bug-a-boo was about to draw smoke from his
pipe when he paused. “Before I forget,
remember what I told you that night at the house, do not cause your lack of
awareness be your downfall.”
“I won’t.”
“This is no
joke. A premonition was passed to me
from an important source. This
premonition showed you blind with red ray casting from your sockets. I do not understand its meaning, but you were
alone. I won’t have you forced to face
death alone, I won’t able to bring you back here for good. What I am trying to say is whether you make
it out of this unscathed; I just want you to understand… I will do anything
within my power to ensure you and your friends are together.”
Before Ed
could say a word, the wizard became consumed in the smoke and was gone.
The group made their way to a small hamlet located next to a
wider part of the Tashford River called Kelton.
They were met by Kina, who had hired a boat for their voyage. Little Dill and his army of brownies were
busy loading the boat with supplies, which included non-parishable foodstuffs,
weapons and a radio so they could track the progress of the Deltic Army against
the cloud.
“Good luck
you four,” said Kina. “Bloom tells me
that the warship Pedigree is already
out to sea and keeping watch for the Manookoo.
I advise to reach there as quickly as possible. Bloom will send word through the Ministry of
War’s channels of your arrival. Wire the
Order once you have arrived at the Pedigree
and leave only when you have received orders from me or by forces beyond our
own.”
Ed shook
hands with Kina. The old professor leaned towards Ed’s ear and whispered: “Try
not to get yourselves killed.”
As Ed, Zach, Alice and Travis journeyed across the Tashford
River for the ocean and ultimately the imperial warship Pedigree, the government of the Deltic Empire were hard at work
making the necessary preparations for the arrival of the Manookoo.
In the
office of the Prime Minister, Guthrie Bloom, General Blunt, Minister of War,
and Prime Minister Samuel Holland sat around a large desk.
“What is
the current state of our military?” the Prime Minister asked.
Blunt stood
to attention with the same attitude reminiscent of his days as a private in the
imperial army. “Our war ship, the Pedigree, is making head way toward the
Nimbian[1]
coast. The Empress and the Leviathan,
are holding a blockade in the area of predicted path of the cloud. My associates in the militant department have
air guns planted in every major city and trains set up to keep the flow of
supplies going. The air force has
arranged a series of squadrons to patrol the skies for the cloud. I can say that we have put everything we’ve
got available into this fight.”
Holland
turned to Bloom. “What would you have
done when you were prime minister?”[2]
Bloom
looked at his successor with a look of grimace.
“I'd do the same bloody thing.” was his reply. “If we do not act fast in this confrontation,
the entire empire is lost.”
Across from
Bathill, and high above, two pilots were on patrol of the skies. Captain Smith-Blake and his co-pilot “Blinky”
Rogers looked about them in their normal military fashion, with two cups of
cocoa to lift their spirits.
They
weren't the only ones about. As Blunt
had explained, the Imperial Air Force, had been dispatched to watch the clouds
for the Manookoo. The mighty airship Avolare
served as a floating base, providing a location for wireless messages to be relayed
and as a place for pilots to rest between watches.
Smith-Blake
and Blinky had only been sent out a few hours ago on their plane, the Neon
Gypsy. The pair had only their cocoa
and a few snacks Blinky and Smith-Blake had smuggled aboard from their mothers'
care packages.
“Cheese and
crackers!” cried Smith-Blake.
“What
cap'n?” asked Blinky.
“I thought
I squashed the cheese and crackers,” replied the captain.
“Oh,”
replied Blinky. “I hope the jam wasn't
damaged, my mother travelled all the way to Little Picking to-”
“OH HAM!”
shouted Smith-Blake. “Look!”
There in
the distance was a massive cloud. From
left to right it seemed endless, its purple hue making it look larger. The mass was moving close to the surface of
the Periculosus Ocean.
“Radio to
base.” called Smith-Blake to the radio.
“This is
base,” replied the clerk on the other end.
“What’s your status? Over.”
“This is Smith-Blake. We see a tottie[3]
straight ahead, over.”
“How fast
is the tottie moving?” asked the clerk.
“I estimate
twenty minutes from the cork[4].
As the
message of the Manookoo's location, a large and massive creature began to come
from the cloud. It was some sort of
dragon, large, massive, deformed and black.
It was this moment, as Smith-Blake sent his final message to warn of the
creature, that it was realized that the war for the Deltic Empire had begun.
[1]Pronounced:
Nim/bee/an
[2]Author's
note: Holland is referring to Bloom's
10-year period as Prime Minister (1980-1990).
A period in which the empire faced near collapse and antagonism from
both within and outside of the empire.
[3]Tottie:
Deltic military term for a specific target.
[4]Cork:
Deltic military term for allied ships and planes. Enemy navel and aerial vehicles are crudely
referred to as “stones.”
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