Childhood Betrothal: First Meeting

"I sense, Dad," thinks Tova, "that you have more than books on your mind as you take me into this store. I dreamed of the enchanted store across the ocean every time you read a new book from it.  When you invited me to fly to the UK with you, I thought we would share a wondrous father-daughter moment at this special store and browse it's magical shelves together. My empathy tells me that is not the case. It tells me that you have not brought me to meet your unusual friends either. 

  

“It's so strange. When I see your and Mom's friends, I sometimes can imagine them not dressed how they are, but as wearing clothing like they are in some magical fairy tale. I don't understand why I do that. I guess it's just my weirdness surfacing.

"The statues on the front of this store are so strange. I am surprised, Dad, you entered a store which has such bizarre decorations displayed. I thought you would be worried about what your colleagues in the financial industry would think. I feel I should know these creatures displayed at the entrance — that they are more trustworthy than human beings."

Inside the bookstore, first-grader Stefan sits in a quite nook downstairs, fidgeting with his fairy doll. He combs the doll's hair in the rhythmic fashion that seems to calm his ever wandering, fragmented mind into a single line of contemplative thought. His thoughts are focused on the section of "The Saeshell Book of Time" his mom read last evening. He quietly whispers to the fairy doll in melodious tones, "Soon you will be here. Soon you will visit me, princess; I can tell. What will I say? Will you know that I am the prince? I am just a little boy. How can you know? Do I dare let you know now? I want you to know, but the book says you can't know yet. The book says I must wait. The book is mean. I want my princess to know me now. But if I don't obey the book, I will break time. That would be too scary." His eyes open wide as he begins to frantically move the fairy doll's wings, making them appear to be flying. "She is here. She is here. What will I do? What will I say?"

He clutches his fairy doll tightly and runs up the stairs to the loft, darting into his private reading cube. He ducks under the table, shivering violently enough to make the table rattle slightly. "The princess and her father are here! What shall I do? I must see her!"

Let's Shoot an Alien Kid

“What are we doing here, Serg?”

“Protecting our planet, even if our country is reluctant to.”

“Yeah, but he’s just a kid. I can’t believe the fate of the planet could be altered by a kid.”

“There’s probably more than one, idiot. Look at the number patch on his arm. We know that there are at least twenty-seven of them.”

“But he’s just a kid. What could he do?”

“Shoot lightning at us, for one thing, like he did just a minute ago.”

“My kid could do that with his science kit. That bolt he shot wasn’t any stronger than that. I think he can’t shoot anything stronger. He just wanted to make us think he is strong so he could scare us away.”

“He scared the Colonel. Switch the damn thing on and aim it before the Colonel uses us for target practice.”

“’Ed’. Ed is an arrogant asshole. He always finds ways to name his toys after himself.”

“It’s not a toy. Someone had to give Ed a lot of gold to get it ready ASAP. How much power does it say your ‘kid’ is generating?”

“I can’t tell. The thing’s not working. The output display is all stars. Typical Ed. He gave us a half working piece of crap. It’s probably his way of asking for more money. Maybe he will tell us where the secret button is that makes it work when we pay him his blood money. He thinks like that, you know?”

“Can your paranoia. The Target Power Output Level does work. I’ve been playing with the ED for the week before you got trained. I aimed it at the power plant near the base repeatedly. It was amazing. I could see how much power everyone in Phoenix was using at different times of the day. Whatever you say about Ed, he is a genius. The regular forces would be foamin just to get the remote power measuring device. You could get a lot of intel with that device alone.”

“Then why does it show all stars when I point it at that kid. Could it be because he is just a kid?”

“Didn’t you listen to what Ed said in his briefing? He said that ‘kid’ of yours is probably a nuclear powered robot. He’s got more power than the city of Phoenix. It’s why Ed had to make such a sophisticated weapon. He wanted something that would switch him off without putting us in the middle of a mushroom cloud. The bastard is on the radio. He says switch it on now. Be sure to aim it carefully before you do. We don’t want to take out the Colonel’s truck.”

“Serg, the kid is screaming. We’re torturing him. What kind of a force are we that we torture kids?”

“The kind that does whatever unpleasant thing is necessary to keep our country on top. Look at your kid now. Wings are appearing on his back. Does he still look like a kid?”

“Yes. Look at his face. He’s a little faker. If he was intending on hurting us, he would take that nuclear power and barbeque us. He looks like a soldier that wants to surrender.”

“So now he’s a soldier, Einstein? Keep your trap shut and listen to the radio. Do your job or you’ll get us all killed. The Colonel is running out to get a closer look at your kid. Be ready to act. You don’t want the Colonel to die, do you? His kids and your kids wouldn’t have a father. Maybe you should pay more attention to the here and now. Listen to the radio and be ready to act!”

This is a story in the world of book #3, “The Saeshell Book of Time Part 3: Paradise Lost”, which will be released Oct. 1^st, 2013. The four books of the serial story are tightly coupled. Get started by reading book #1, “The Saeshell Book of Time Part 1: The Death of Innocents”.