Where did I store that Englebert Humperdink music…ah yes, here we are. This should do it,’ she added, selecting an appropriate track. ‘So, golden slumbers everyone!’
Help!
Bb awoke with a start. Shylock and Permission were asleep to either side of him. Lizzie was screaming at the top of her not inconsiderable voice. ‘Help! Help!’
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Bb, fully awake immediately.
‘There’s a hole in my roof, and there’s light leaking through!’ she cried in explanation. ‘And I’ve no thumb I can stick in it.’
‘Well, I’d love to help out, but your friendly harness here has me well and truly strapped down,’ shrugged Bb.
‘Oh, I can fix that!’ shouted Lizzy. ‘There!’
Bb was astonished. His buckles unclasped and fell, dangling from their straps, to the floor. No complaints. Not even a hint of perturbation. They simply fell away. ‘Wow! How did you do that?’
‘Never mind!’ cried Lizzy. ‘I am the harness, or to be more correct, the harness is a part of me. I was only fooling with you earlier.’
‘Great! The one who needs my help, right?’ asked Bb, annoyed at having been made to look so foolish.
‘Yes, yes! Look, if you don’t help me soon, the inner light of the cabin will escape through this hole, and we’ll have to complete the journey in the dark!’ Lizzy explained.
‘Hey, what’s that to us. We’re asleep, remember!’ smiled Bb.
‘No! You don’t understand. I travel such long distances and times, that I travel faster than light,’ said Lizzy. ‘But in order to travel so fast, I need a base reference against which I can constantly check myself.’
‘So you bring some light with you?’ asked Bb.
‘Precisely,’ agreed Lizzy. ‘And if we lose it…’
‘You’ll have no idea where or when we will arrive at our destination?’ finished Bb.
‘Correct!’ said Lizzy. ‘So now can you help me by fixing the hole? Please, please me. Don’t make me ask again. Not a second time. I need you, I really do.’
No reply from Bb.
‘Look, you’ve really got a hold on me here. I’ll make it worth your while,’ promised Lizzy.
‘Oh, very well,’ Bb replied, removing a wrapper and popping a stick of chewing gum in his mouth.
‘Ah ha!’ said Lizzie, a moment later, watching Bb rise, remove the chewing gum from his mouth and plug it firmly into the hole in the subetheral vessel’s roof. ‘I see what you’re doing. Brilliant!’
‘Well, I don’t know about that,’ replied Bb. ‘But, it should hold us for a while.’
‘Thank you, Bb,’ said Lizzy. ‘If there’s anything I can do for you, anything at all, just call on me.
‘Well,’ mused Bb. ‘There is one little thing….’
She’s a woman
Shylock woke up and looked around. Bb and Permission were sound asleep. Strangely familiar music was playing quietly in the background, and the ambient light level seemed lower than before. Sitting up, he released his seat-belt, stood and stretched.
‘You’re awake a little early,’ said Lizzy. ‘We still have a Giza-Glop to travel.’
‘Just fancied a stretch,’ explained Shylock, not sure why he’d wakened up either. Whatever the reason was, it obviously didn’t affect his travelling companions. Bb, whistling on each exhalation, a totally transformed person from the original hovering obaloid he’d first met in Get-Lucky. And Permission, a sleeping beauty. A picture of sheer loveliness. The answer to his dreams. - suddenly, he remembered how she had began to pay attention to Bb. He could feel the unfamiliar roots of jealousy taking hold deep inside.
‘No need for you to carry that weight, you know,’ said Lizzy.
‘What do you mean,’ answered Shylock, flustered.
‘All I’ve got to do is read your thoughts. It’s easy in here for I am you and you are me…’
‘And we are all together?’ finished Shylock.
‘Very good!’ congratulated Lizzy.
‘So, you understand my thoughts, do you?’ asked Shylock.
‘Every nuance and twist,’ replied Lizzy. ‘And a very interesting mind it is too. Tell me, do you want to know a secret? A little gem shared, from me to you.’
‘Yours, or one of mine?’ asked shylock, feeling very exposed.
‘Why, one of yours of course,’ said Lizzy, with the hint of laughter in her voice. ‘If you’re not careful, you’re going to lose that girl.’
‘I know,’ agreed Shylock, readily, knowing exactly what Lizzie was talking about. ‘But I don’t know what to do about it.’
‘Well, I’ll tell you what I recommend. You can do with it as you wish,’ said Lizzy. ‘Firstly, when I arrived at the transportstation and I saw her standing there, I realised that not only that she’s a woman, but a beautiful woman at that. Most women aren’t as beautiful on their own. There’s something else that makes them so. Something intangible. Something that someone else gives to them. An inner confidence, which grows and grows until they simply bloom. And when I first saw her, she displayed that flush of being in love.’
‘I know, what you mean,’ said Shylock, suddenly not sure who was causing Permission's flush.
‘But now,’ continued Lizzy. ‘As I look within, you’re a loser. At least a potential loser, if you don’t do something quickly. If you can’t do that, and instead let it be, you’ll never come together again, and you’ll end up in misery.’
‘Gee, you don’t beat around the bush, do you?’ asked Shylock.
‘Would you care to ask me why?’ suggested Lizzy.
Shylock nodded his head.
‘Because!’ said Lizzy. ‘You should have known better. And that’s what you need to do now. Think for yourself. If there’s a place for Permission in your life, you need to let her know, and let her know now. Or else…’
‘Bb,’ said Shylock.
‘Bb,’ confirmed Lizzy. ‘Throw off your chains and inhibitions. Get on with making tomorrow what you want it to be, and forget yesterday. Think of the things we’ve said today, and show her how you feel.’
There, but when?
Awakened by a gentle buzzing sound, the travelling threesome rubbed their eyes and looked around recalling their journey back to Earth. The cabin was filled with the tantalising aroma of freshly brewed coffee-substitute and baked bread straight from the oven. Suddenly hungry, all three trouped through to the subetheral galley where they found that Lizzy had thoughtfully prepared breakfast for them.
‘Good-day, my passengers,’ said the familiar voice. ‘Just time for a meal before we arrive at your destination.’
‘Cloud Nine?’ asked Shylock.
‘Precisely, as you requested,’ assured Lizzy.
‘Excellent,’ commented Shylock, attacking the toast pile with the gusto of someone who hadn’t eaten for…he had no idea how long, but a long time.
‘No more…technical problems?’ muttered Bb through a mouthful of honeyed toast, aware of the querulous looks from his companions.
‘No, thank you for asking,’ replied Lizzie.
‘So, tell me. How precisely do you go about finding Earth?’ asked Shylock.
‘Oh, that’s easy,’ said Lizzie. ‘Your limited three dimensional Universe is well known to us regular travellers although no-one ever seems to go there – quite primitive I'm told. So when I find it all I do is head for the Sun, that’s how.’
‘Well….,’ replied Permission, looking through the portal at the rear of the galley. ‘I may be wrong, but I think here it comes, here comes the Sun!’
Shylock and Bb both turned to share the portal with Permission. ‘Is that really our Sun? asked Shylock, lost in wonder.
‘It certainly is,’ confirmed Lizzie. ‘And in order to find Earth, I’ll follow the Sun,’ said Lizzie.
‘What are those shiny points of light in the far distance?’ asked Permission.
‘Those belong to Lucy,’ answered Lizzie.
‘Who’s Lucy?’ asked Shyl
ock.
‘Mother Nature’s daughter. She collects stars and assembles them into clusters, then gives them names so that we can all navigate.’
‘What does she call these particular stars?’ asked Permission.
‘’Diamonds,’ replied Lizzie.
‘Sounds familiar,’ muttered Shylock, but before he could elucidate, Lizzie interrupted.
‘I don’t want to spoil your party, but you’d better start getting ready. We’ll be at cloud nine in next to no time,’ Lizzie informed them.
‘You’re right. Here’s Mr. Moonlight coming up,’ said Shylock, the last to leave the portal.
‘Come on, all together now,’ encouraged Lizzie. ‘If you’re not ready to disembark when we arrive, the air-controllers simply don’t let me down.’
‘How long till we’re there?’ asked Permission.
‘It won’t be long,’ replied Lizzie, shortly. ‘Hurry now.’
Cloud Nine
Shylock was the first to climb down from the subetheral craft, and after a moments hesitation, lowered one foot tentatively into the cloud they had landed upon, meeting no resistance until the cloud had reached almost to knee level. Lowering his other foot, Shylock offered up a hand to Permission who was following him and helped her down. Bb was the last to join them, still arguing with Lizzie all the while. It seemed that they had fallen out about something, but Shylock didn’t know what.
‘Okay,’ said Permission. ‘Where do we go from here?’
‘Well, we need to start by finding the World council,’ replied Shylock.
‘And where might they be?’ asked Bb, cutting off and ignoring one final sarcasm from Lizzie as he did so.
‘To be honest, I’ve really no idea other than they are here on cloud nine somewhere’ replied