TIMO
9
For a while I just hung there in mid-air.
"Go on," said Wolfgang. "Lean on the hazelfork."
"Let me just enjoy the view here for a minute."
"It won't hurt you," said Hester, now that she had made a perfect landing. "It's like swimming. You can do it automatically if someone throws you in."
"Can you?" I said. "What's holding me up anyway? It doesn't seem scientific."
"Never mind scientific," said Wolfgang. "Science always looks like magic to a savage."
I was going to say that the hazelfork couldn't work because it didn't have any moving parts. But a jet engine doesn't have moving parts. Neither does a rocket.
"Quit stalling," said Hester. She wanted to move along to psychokinesis.
Keeping my arms fully extended, I leaned forward on the hazelfork.
"Don't stiffen your arms," said Wolfgang. Don't lock your elbows. Relax. Breathe in your belly, not in your chest."
Then it happened. The hazelfork pulled me so abruptly that I felt like the end of a cracked whip. I shot across the clearing. I didn't have to wrack my brain for something terrifying to slow me down. I stopped as abruptly as I started.
"Always overdoing it," Wolfgang shouted.
The second time I leaned forward more cautiously. I felt the hazelfork pull me through the air. My body stretched out behind it. I could turn by turning the twig, rise by pushing down on the handles so that the nose of the twig pointed up. The place where it branched out acted as a pivot point. I managed to do everything with slow curves this time. It felt so natural that I considered trying some acrobatic stunts. But I decided to wait until I gained a little more experience.
Levitation reminded me of the times I've used a paddle board at the YMCA. I mean the floating plank you hold onto when you're kicking your way across the water strengthening your legs. The hazelfork felt the way a rocket-powered paddle board might feel. Except that it responded without the annoying sluggishness of a paddle board. And it didn't limit the swimmers to any surface.
I flew around for quite a while, and felt so exhilarated that I wondered where I would find a mood to bring me down to earth. But I saw Wolfgang showing Hester how to use her ironwood wand. I felt left out. I used my moment of self-pity to slow me down. I settled to the ground inside the circle of rocks.
"Oh, Timo," said Wolfgang. "Glad you could join us. I was just telling Hester about the limits of levitation."
"How come I have to stay on probation for years, and you tell Hester everything on the second night you've known her?"
"Why Timo," said Wolfgang. "You yourself told me that Hester's a feminist."
He said it as if anyone could see what he meant--a perfect example of wisedome logic.
"Now where was I?"
"Moonlight," said Hester.
"Oh yes. You already know that levitation only works if you can find water. Once you take off, you can move anywhere that allows the energy of the water to reach you."
"I'm not sure I follow," I said.
"It's like this," said Hester. "When you're on the ground you have to stand practically on top of the water supply. But the higher you go the more freedom you have. As long as you can draw an imaginary line to a source of water, you can stay afloat."
Wolfgang said, "The higher you go, the broader your horizon. So you can draw energy from a far greater area of earth or rather from the underground water in that area."
"OK," I said. "But what does moonlight have to do with it?"
"I'm coming to that," said Wolfgang. "Levitation only works by moonlight."
"How come?" I asked.
"Never mind how come. You don't know enough science to understand it."
"Can I help it if you keep erasing everything I learn in school?"
"Just take my word for it. It only works by moonlight."
"And what about psychokinesis?" asked Hester.
"You do that with ironwood, and you don't need moonlight."
"I can't wait to show Brian how to do all this stuff."
"Don't bother," said Wolfgang. "First of all, he could never learn to do it. Levitation is a human talent. Wisedomes know how it works. But we can't levitate any more than an ornithologist can use his knowledge of birds to flap his arms and fly."
"Or her arms," said Hester, "as the case may be."
"You mean Brian can never learn to levitate?"
"Correct."
"It's not fair."
"In time he'll be able to do things beyond the ability of any human. Instantaneous teleportation, for example."
"Oh yeah," for Hester's benefit I explained. "He means going from one place to another without bothering to go anyplace in between."
"I know what instantaneous teleportation means," said Hester." You think I'm ignorant or something?"
I still felt sorry for Brian. I had experienced both ways of traveling. Instantaneous teleportation is faster, but levitation is a lot more fun.
"Besides, Timo, you're not supposed to tell Brian anything. I thought you understood. It would come as quite a shock to him. You can't just tell a kid he's not human and expect him to have no reaction. And how could you explain your knowledge of levitation without going into the whole story?"
"I already told him how mom and dad found him living with the sewer rats."
"You what?"
"It just sort of came up one time. I mentioned how they found him in the sewer."
"This is serious. A trauma at his age could give him nightmares for the rest of his life!"
"Don't worry. He didn't believe me."
Hester already knew about Brian and the sewer rats, so our conversation didn't surprise her.
"In the future," said Wolfgang, "I'll expect you to act with more wisdom. Brian has to live a normal human life, until he passes into the next stage."
"When will that happen?"
"You let me worry about it. Now we've wasted so much time we can't do psychokinesis until tomorrow."
"Come on!" I said.
"Just a little," said Hester.
"Sorry," said Wolfgang. "Bring your ironwood wands along with you tomorrow." And with that he and the two foxes worked up a whirlwind and vanished.
"I knew what it meant," said Hester, "but I never actually saw it done before."
"Come on," I said. "We'd better get some rest."
"Let's fly back to the barracks."
So we did.
10
The next night we met again inside the circle of giant stones. Wolfgang had company.
"Meeko!" I shouted when I saw him. He ran up to me and jumped around the way he does when he's glad to see you.
Then Hester surprised him by descending from the sky. He scrambled away from her, head low, paws extended in front of him. He started growling.
The fox Hester was supposedly following came trotting into camp. Meeko paid no attention. He and the foxes were old friends. But a strange feminist falling out of the sky gave him a bit of a scare.
"It's O.K., Meeko, "I said. "She's a friend."
He barked.
"Nice doggy," said Hester.
He growled.
"His name is Meeko."
"Nice Meeko."
He growled louder.
"He always growls when anyone says the word nice. We say it when he's bad. Be nice!"
He growled even louder.
"He's just purring," said Hester. "We'll get along fine. I always get along with animals."
"Why didn't somebody remind me to bring the magnetic learning machine?" asked Wolfgang. "I meant to bring it yesterday and nobody even mentioned it."
"I don't see what I need it for," said Hester.
"She already knows everything," I said. "Encyclopedia Schwartz."
"I want you to know the bugbear's native language," said Wolfgang. "Maybe I should go back to Ireland and get it."
"Ireland?"
"My headquarters," said Wolfgang. No bugbears on the island yet. They live mainly on snakes."
"You mean they eat them?" said Hester.
"Right. Not bad eating, actually, or so I hear. I prefer grubs myself. But I've heard that many snakes taste pretty much like chicken."
"Light meat or dark?" I said.
Wolfgang ignored me. "Since there aren't any snakes in Ireland, the Aliens haven't chosen to settle there."
Meeko was sniffing Hester. He wasn't growling any more, but when she leaned over to pet him he stiffened his body.
"See?" said Hester. "He likes me."
"He'd like to take a bite, you mean. Talking about chicken gives him an appetite."
"Oh, he wouldn't bite anyone."
"Tell that to our paper boy," I said. "Convince my father while you're at it.."
"He's a nice dog," she said. He started growling again.
"My uncle won't even visit us anymore," I said. "Meeko bites him every time he comes over."
"I guess I don't have time to go tonight," said Wolfgang. "You'll have to wait until tomorrow."
"Too bad," said Hester. "I'll just have to make do with a lesson in psychokinesis."
"You want to see Meeko do his tricks?"
"Let's," said Hester.
"Meeko! Beg!"
Meeko sat.
"Meeko! Speak!"
He rolled over.
"Meeko! Play dead!"
He put his paws up like a beggar dog.
"Meeko! Sit!"
He jumped up in the air and barked.
"Can we get on with it?" said Hester.
"He knows a lot more tricks," I said.
"I'm sure he does," said Wolfgang. "And before the night is out, we're going to teach him how to fly."
I had almost forgotten--canine flight!
"But first you have to master elementary psychokinesis. Meeko will derive the ability to fly from your psychokinetic energy.
"Wish I had a dog," said Hester. "Does it work on iguanas?"
"You have an iguana?" Wolfgang seemed amazed.
"At home."
"Why didn't you say so? As it happens, bugbears have a deathly fear of alligators. And most of them have similar feelings about iguanas. How smart is your pet?"
"Extremely smart, for an iguana."
"It might just work. Of course, there are risks. If the bugbears have a chance to kill your pet, they will. To them iguana meat tastes almost as good as snake."
"How could anyone eat an iguana!" said Hester.
"Oh, they're cruel devils," said Wolfgang. "I've never denied it. And once an iguana's dead, it doesn't care if anyone devours it."
"Well I care," said Hester.
"Of course you do," said Wolfgang. "You're a feminist. You have in you the germ of civilization."
"Are you going to talk all night?" I asked.
"No, I'll have you back by one, as usual."
Meeko had lost interest in us. He was sniffing around the rocks and raising his leg every few seconds.
"What's your iguana's name?" said Wolfgang.
"Who cares?" I had the feeling that Hester would talk about her lizard until Christmas if we encouraged her."
"Juanita," she said. "Juanita Iguana. She's a natural pacifist."
"Well, pay close attention to the way we train Meeko, and next time you go home you can try it on Juanita and see how it takes."
The two foxes were sitting around doing nothing, as usual.
Wolfgang got going. "Now. Perhaps a short history of the ironwood wand is in order."
"Can't we skip the history?" I said. "We've wasted half an hour already."
"Very well," said Wolfgang. "Remind me to go into it tomorrow. Now. Hold the wand in your right hand. Extend your arm along its natural curve. That's right, Hester. Timo, don't lock your elbow. Never hold a wand by the end. Always in the middle. Hold it more or less vertical until you mean business. Now."
"You said that already."
"Save your wisecracks for the bugbear, Timo. You need only send the energy from your center out your arm and through the ironwood wand. Point the top of the wand at the thing you want to move. Then intend to move it."
"Intend?" As usual, I didn't get it.
"You heard me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
But Hester was already intending. She had Meeko off the ground. He rose to her eye level as she pointed the wand at him. His legs were scrambling. He was trying to run on air.
"You really should start with something inanimate."
Meeko let out a yelp. His wiggling was turning him upside down. He was tumbling slowly over and over.
"Sorry, Meeko," said Hester. She set him down gently. "Nothing to it." He went about his business again, shuffling and lifting his leg. "You try it, Timo."
"What should I move?"
"How about a rock," said Wolfgang, and pointed.
I looked for a suitable stone in the direction he indicated-- something the size of a golf ball maybe. But I couldn't see anything there. "What rock?"
"You must need glasses if you can't see a rock as big as a greyhound bus."
"You're kidding," I said. "He must be kidding."
Meanwhile Hester pointed her ironwood wand, and a rock the size of a greyhound bus detached itself from the mossy earth and hovered in mid-air.
11
I remember we had rain that month. Some nights I would go to sleep expecting a visit from one of Wolfgang's foxes, and wake up when I heard the counselor's bell the next morning. Other nights I knew at bedtime not to expect anything--if it was raining, I assumed Wolfgang wouldn't show.
But I can't remember exactly when the rainy nights interrupted our training. When I think back it seems we enjoyed a little levitation every night. I realize that my memory is fooling me. Even on nights when we did meet the wisedomes, clouds sometimes came between us and the moon and kept us from lifting off.
For a few days the camp had suffered from a shortage of food. We came down to breakfast expecting the usual food, and had to satisfy ourselves with a bowl of oatmeal. At dinner we had leftover bologna from lunch. When Wolfgang didn't show up one clear night, I went out on my own and found Hester in the air already. We agreed to levitate over to Taco Bill's for a midnight snack.
It made me a little nervous to float down to the parking lot. Wolfgang hadn't told us to keep our power secret, but I had a feeling that some people wouldn't approve. Nobody saw us though. We walked into Taco Bill's and read the lighted menu behind the counter. Hester ordered 2 refried bean tacos, and I had 3 beef burritos with green inferno sauce.
We sat down in one of the booths. Several people were eating there--college kids mostly. Somebody had a radio on.
"Why do you think Wolfgang didn't show?" I asked.
"I don't know."
"Maybe we didn't wait long enough."
"I don't care. I had to get some decent food."
My green inferno sauce naturally blistered my tongue. I really enjoyed it. We both settled down to some serious eating. Hester didn't say anything for a while and neither did I. The radio said that a number of local people had seen a flying saucer. They were calling the radio station for some reason. The disk jockey was talking to some guy on the phone.
"Can you explain in more detail what you saw?"
"Well, you aren't going to believe this. First these two kids, see, sort of floating along in the air. Then a few minutes later, a flying saucer following them."
"Floating children?"
"But you could tell the saucer didn't want them to see it."
"How could you tell?"
"I don't know. It was obvious I guess."
I thought the guy was nuts. I mean, I believe in flying saucers, especially since Wolfgang said that bugbears use them all the time. But this stuff about floating children made me think the guy was crazy.
"Do you smell something funny?" asked Hester.
I did--sort of an acrid stench.
"When was the last time you took a shower?" Hester asked me.
"Look!" said one of the college students, "What is it?"
A bugbear walked past the counter and looked around.
"Some kind of advertising stunt."
"At this hour?"
"Maybe they want to test it out."
The creature saw us and started over to our booth.
"They ought to make him take a bath at least."
"Maybe its an ad for deodorant."
The creature made it halfway to our booth in two steps.
"Don't just sit there," said Hester. She was sliding out of her seat.
"Come on, Wolfgang," I said. "You fooled me once with that disguise. You think I'm dumb enough to fall for it again?"
The creature grabbed the front of my shirt and plucked me out of my seat. Hester had made it out to the parking lot. As the creature dragged me through the door, the college students gave him a round of applause.
I tried to remember what to do in a case like this. I couldn't seem to recall any appropriate technique of ju-jitsu. The creature was seven foot tall. He was carrying me like a suitcase.
I saw two more bugbears outside. They were closing in on Hester. She extended her hazelfork in front of her and lifted off. Just then a cloud covered the moon. She spun back to the asphalt like a falling maple seed. One bugbear grabbed her hazelfork. The other tucked her body under a hairy arm.
Then I saw their saucer. Actually, it looked like two saucers, the top one upside down on the bottom. The creatures carried us up a ramp. Inside they had a room full of cages and glass boxes. The boxes held all kinds of snakes, thousands of them. The cages held several foxes.
In the clear space among the pens, a living room had been set up--a rocking chair, a studio couch, a stereo and a television set. We came up behind the rocking chair. A kid was sitting in it. He stood up and turned to face us.
"Hello, Timo," he said. "Glad you could join me. Who's your girlfriend?"
It was my old pal Thomas Zubov.
12
"Zubov!" I said. "What are you doing here?"
One of the bugbears said, "Stinking earthlings! Let's get out of this zoo."
"What did he say?" asked Hester. Wolfgang never had remembered to teach her the Alien tongue.
"How should I know," I said, and gave her a wink. She caught on right away. No use letting the enemy know that we understand the language.
"I was asking this Zubov kid," said Hester.
Meanwhile, the bugbears had left the room.
"I don't know either," said Zubov. "When they want me to do something, they speak English."
"Never mind that," I said. "What are you doing here?"
"It's sort of a summer job," said Zubov.
"A summer job!"
"Yeah. You can help. I answered this ad, SNAKES WANTED. I wrote a letter telling about my snake collection, and how I can find snakes whenever I want, because I know how a snake thinks."
"A summer job?"
"Sure. I get minimum wage. I can eat whatever I want and I don't have to eat a balanced diet. And I like the work. Kind of lonely, though. I could use an assistant, Timo."
"Come on, Zubov. Didn't you notice anything strange about your employers?"
"They're harmless. I saw a movie about them. They're just shy vegetarian creatures. The movie said so."
"I suppose you believe everything you see in the movies!" I was disgusted.
"Not everything. But this was scientific. It was a--you know. I forget what they call it."
"A documentary," said Hester.
"Right," said Zubov. "Hey, Timo. Aren't you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?"
"I'm not his girlfriend," said Hester, "and I can introduce myself."
I went over by the cages. "Wolfgang?" The cages were so small that the foxes couldn't whirl around. If one of them was Wolfgang, he couldn't change into his wisedome form. And with the vocal chords of a fox he could never speak English.
But when I saw the cage in the corner, I was sure that Wolfgang was one of the foxes. "Meeko!" I said.
Meeko tried to frisk around the cage, but it was too small. He started whining. All the cages had strong padlocks. I wanted to let Meeko out.
"Who has the keys to these locks?" I asked.
"Who do you think?" said Zubov. He and Hester were talking. Zubov was sitting in the rocking chair. Hester was on the studio couch.
"Hester," I said. "You brought your ironwood wand, didn't you?"
"You know I did."
"I mean, do you still have it? Or did the bugbears take it away?"
"They took away my hazelfork."
"I know." She never answers the question you ask. "But do you still have your ironwood wand?"
"Of course. If they only took the hazelfork, I still have the wand."
"Well come here then."
"Timothy O'Brien, you are not my boss."
"Listen, this is serious. They've got Meeko in a cage."
"What?" She came over to look.
Zubov turned on the television--too loud. "I get to stay up as late as I want here," he said.
"Big deal," I said. The bugs really had him brainwashed. It goes to show the power of suggestion.
"O.K.," I said to Hester. "Break the lock."
"Don't tell me what to do."
"I wasn't telling you. I was asking you."
"Then say please."
"All right! Please!"
"How do you expect me to break a padlock?"
"Use the wand."
"It'll break."
"No. Use your psychokinesis. I you can lift a boulder, you can break a lock."
I had to rely on Hester, because I myself never managed to lift anything. I didn't believe I could, so it wouldn't work for me.
"How do I do it?"
"Just intend to pop the lock."
"I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for Meeko."
"All right, all right. Just as long as you do it."
She pointed the wand at the padlock and popped the lock. I let Meeko out.
"My!" said Zubov, "What's the idea?"
Meeko growled.
"Get that dog back in there."
Meeko snarled.
"I'm responsible for you two," said Zubov. "You're my slaves."
"Oh yeah?" said Hester.
"Yeah. I told the boss I needed a couple of slaves to clean out the cages and so on. And that's where you come in."
"You're dreaming, Zubov."
"Watch it, Timo," he said. "I've got twenty pounds on you." He meant he weighed 20 pounds more than I do.
He came at me. Meeko bit him. Hester pointed her ironwood wand and lifted him off the floor with Meeko still holding on to his leg.
"Why didn't you think of that when the bugbears came for us?"
"You're never satisfied," said Hester.
We felt a bump. Hester let Meeko and Zubov fall to the floor.
"You think we took off?" I asked.
"We took off as soon as you got here, stupid." Zubov stood up. "That was a landing you felt. Any minute now you two are going to discover who's the master around here."
"Open the other cages," I said. "Quick."
For once Hester didn't argue with me. One after another, the padlocks popped. I let the foxes out as fast as I could.
"Break the glass," I said.
"No!" said Zubov.
Hester broke the glass boxes in an instant by waving her wand around the room. Snakes and pieces of glass covered the floor.
Some of the foxes whirled and disappeared. The door opened and the rest of the foxes ran out. Half a dozen bugbears came tramping in. Hester cut their feet out from under them by sweeping the tip of the wand along the floor.
But they got up as quickly as she mowed them down. She took to tossing them into the air as they stood up, waving her wand like an orchestra conductor waving a baton. She was juggling giant apes by remote control.
Zubov gave her a push and tried to get the wand away from her. Meeko bit him on the seat of the pants. When Zubov spun around to get rid of Meeko, I was ready. I blended my motion and his, took his wrist as if we were both dancers, ducked under his arm, and flipped him head over heels with a ju-jitsu throw.
"I can't keep this up much longer," said Hester. "I'm losing control."
Meeko was barking.
"O.K.," I said. "Let's get out of here."
Hester let the bugbears drop and ran out the door. Meeko and I followed her. We found ourselves in the woods somewhere. We ran without thinking. It didn't occur to us that we were lost.
Next Section of Brian's Story.