by Dave Hazel
Mykal moved to the chair and wondered how he should wake Fisher. He didn’t know if the colonel had a weapon beside him and didn’t want the startled man to wake up and start shooting. As he prepared to sit in the chair to decide what to do, he saw that Fisher wore a sleeping mask to keep the light from his eyes. On the bed, at the foot of the bed was a long burgundy satin robe. ‘Well at least it matches his sheets,’ Mykal chuckled in thought. On the far side of the bed Mykal noticed there was an opening to another small room. With all the towels and wash cloths on a dresser he assumed he had a private restroom with a shower. ‘It’s cool. He’s earned it. He just better not screw with me or he’s gonna lose all this fancy, comfy, stuff,’ he snarled in thought.
Mykal sat in Fisher’s reading chair just a few feet away from the man’s bed. He looked at the many books on the night stand and clearly saw the man was an avid reader. There looked to be a couple of novels, some organized crime books, a couple of books on military tactics and more. On the table beside a half filled glass of water was a large bowl of cashews. Mykal remained invisible and chuckled when he picked up the man’s bowl of nuts. One at a time he tossed the cashews at the sleeping man to wake him. He wanted to laugh when he hit Fisher a couple of times.
Fisher suddenly rolled over and sat up. He lifted the sleeping mask from his eyes and looked around his room. Mykal couldn’t resist and threw another cashew and hit the sleepy man in the forehead.
Colonel Fisher immediately looked up to his roof. “What the hell?” He asked and looked at the several cashews on his bed. Frustrated, he turned to the side of the bed to get into his slippers.
Mykal clearly saw the man wasn’t armed. “What’s going on?” Mykal asked and thought himself visible which showed the bowl of cashews in Mykal’s lap.
Somewhat half asleep Fisher was so startled that he comically raised his hands in fear. “Ahhhh,” he cried out and looked more frightened than he sounded.
Mykal burst out with laughter. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Bu-bu, but I, what, how what how did you get in here?” Fisher mumbled and gasped.
“I walked in,” Mykal snickered at the frightened mumbling of the senior man. “I’m dead. Your men can’t see a ghost so they couldn’t stop me.”
Colonel Fisher blinked a couple of times. He quickly rubbed his eyes and shook his head. “Am I dreaming? Are you really dead?” He asked and looked at his watch.
“Yeah, I’m friggin dead and I see you got a nice cushy position here. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t fault you for taking advantage of the luxury afforded you since you’re the senior guy and all that, but damn you got a nice set up here.”
“I, I, I don’t know what to say.” Fisher rubbed his eyes again. “Am I dreaming? You are dead, right? I was told you were dead, but you don’t look--,” he sighed and stopped suddenly.
“No, I’m not dead,” Mykal snapped harshly. “But I’m getting very friggin pissed off, cuz I heard you changed everything just cuz you think that I’m dead,” Mykal said and pulled his magic dagger from his web belt. He pretended to clean his nails with the gleaming blade. “I’m about to blow my friggin top if that helps you to understand if I’m dead or not.”
“Wait, wait,” Fisher said and rubbed both hands over his face. “You are really sitting here before me, right?”
“Yes I am, and I’m not in the mood for any of your friggin bullshit.”
“Okay, I cancelled the future trips to the other side of the world only because I thought you had really died. The information given to me confirmed your death. There was no one else to lead them to find the Princess Doninka,” he explained and sounded terrified.
Mykal saw that Fisher was scared and wanted to play with him. He turned himself invisible.
“What the hell?” Fisher gasped and blinked a couple of times. He looked as if he was questioning the fact of his sleep state. He glanced down at the cashews on his bed to confirm they were really there.
Suddenly Mykal appeared in the flesh which caused Fisher to nearly gasp. “Sorry about that. I had to sneeze,” Mykal said to be funny. “Alright, so then the mission is still on to rescue the Princess Doninka?”
“Yes, yes. Whatever needs to be done,” Fisher replied quickly and looked like he was willing to give Mykal whatever he wanted. “I honestly thought you were gone and so to protect the men, I declared that there would be no more trips to the other side of the world,” he explained but it sounded less than truthful.
“Good. All the men seemed to freak out when I said I was getting the group together to leave in the next hour. So you don’t have a problem with us leaving in the next hour, do you?”
“No,” he answered and made a face. “We will do whatever needs to be done to save the princess and her father,” he added and sounded somewhat defeated.
Mykal looked at the face Fisher made and guessed he wasn’t willingly giving in to Mykal’s request. But Mykal made it clear to Fisher previously that Fisher wasn’t going to win if they fought each other. “Believe me, if we can rescue Doninka and prevent the father, King Loankore III, from being put at risk it will make things that much easier to do what you have to do,” Mykal explained while Fisher got up and put his bathrobe on over his pajamas.
“Would you like something to drink?” Fisher asked.
“No, cuz I wanna get going and I’m gonna need you to go out there to tell everyone that you’re on board. It turns out that everyone told me that you shut everything down all because someone thought I was dead,” he answered and sounded somewhat angry in his response. “But no one bothered to check with me,” he added sarcastically and ate a handful of cashews out of spite.
“Why did everyone say you died?” Fisher asked as he walked over to his liquor cabinet and poured himself a strong drink.
“I was covered in a lot of blood so I think they thought I was hurt much worse than I was. But the truth is, I’m not really hurt,” he lied and stuck the magic dagger back into his web belt while he sloppily chomped on the cashews. “I was covered in enemy blood so they must have thought I was a goner,” he added with a shrug.
After Fisher downed the double shot of whiskey he made a face that caused Mykal to shiver with him. He poured another drink and held it before him. “Do you really need me to announce that you have my approval to travel to the other side of Towbar’s world?”
“Yes,” Mykal snapped. “All the men are fearful of doing anything that would go against what you laid down as law. So you have to undo what you did. And it’s gonna be done quickly cuz I’m running out of time,” Mykal said in a tone that clearly meant he wasn’t asking. He saw the look on Fisher’s face that suddenly edged toward defiance.
“I don’t know if that would be such a wise thing for me to do,” Fisher said and looked inside the glass that suddenly gave him a little boost of courage. “It would look like I’m buckling or wavering and I--”
“Bull-friggin-shit,” Mykal barked with hostility and slammed down the little bowl of cashews. “You laid down the damn law when you shouldn’t have, when you didn’t have all the damn facts and now everyone is afraid to do anything. I’m not playing games. You’re gonna go out there and at least let Chick, Innes and Taylor know so they can pass it on to the rest of the men.”
“I don’t think I like you talking to me in such a tone,” Fisher said and took another drink which seemed to bolster his courage.
“You better hold off on the shit you’re drinking, cuz you’re allowing it to cloud your damn thinking and that’s not a good thing. I’m not talking to you in any damn tone,” Mykal barked. “I’m sitting here wasting time that could be used to get that much closer to rescuing the princess.
Fisher paused to think of what he wanted to say next and sniffed the drink in his hand.
“Why do you wanna be here? I’m talking about being here in Towbar’s world?” Mykal asked in a calm tone.
“Why? Oh my goodness Mykal, this is the new frontier,” Fisher gasped w
ith excitement after he swallowed hard and shook as the warming blast rushed through his insides. “Do you know how expensive it would be, and how much time it would take for our country to try to put together an exploration to Mars? I personally don’t believe we’ll see any advances on a Mars exploration in my life time. But this,” he gasped with excitement as he fanned his hand before him in reference to Towbar’s world. “This is a much better opportunity with foreseeable gains, benefits and riches that could be had for our country immediately,” he nearly laughed as he poured another drink.
“The cost to us is nearly non-existent, compared to what space exploration will be for us,” Fisher exclaimed excitedly. “And one of the most amazing aspects of this is, we can do this now, as we have already started, whereas trying to set up a base on Mars is just a dream that many are trying to put down on paper. But we are here right now,” he said and it sounded like he had to subdue the laugh that tried to escape. “This is such a perfect fit and I am the lead commander of it all. Me, Colonel Marc Fisher, I am the new Lewis and Clark. And think about it Mykal, do you know how many investors and entrepreneurs will get filthy rich and create countless jobs and benefits for our world alone? That doesn’t even cover all the great gains and benefits for the people of Towbar’s land. I will be called Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo, Lewis and Clark all rolled into one,” he bragged spiritedly and down his strong drink again.
“So, in the future, you’ll be in all the school books. And all the little school kids will learn what a great pioneer and explorer you are, right?”
“Yes, yes that is correct, but it is far more than that,” he snickered and gulped down more of his encouraging booze.
“Not if we don’t rescue the Princess Doninka,” Mykal argued just as resolutely.
“What?” Fisher asked after he pulled his glass from his lips. “What do you mean?”
“You just explained to me why you wanna be here, so at the same time you just explained to me why you’re gonna go out there and tell everyone you made a mistake and jumped the gun by saying we aren’t going to the other side of Towbar’s world.”
“I don’t understand,” Fisher said and lightly sipped from his glass.
“Sir, I don’t care what you’re doing here. I don’t care if you live like a king here to do all the shit you’re planning to do, but if you screw up my plans to rescue the princess I will end what you’re doing right now,” Mykal snarled and pulled his Glock 17 from his web belt. The silencer had already been attached and he kept the weapon pointed down but it clearly gave off the atmosphere of threats and intimidation.
“What are you doing?” Fisher gasped. “Are you threatening me?”
“Oh I’m not gonna shoot your ass despite how angry I am. But I will take you captive and I will take you back to the real world and drop your ass off there for good. You will never come back here. We’ll let someone else take control, and they will become known as the modern day Lewis and Clark slash Christopher Columbus and whoever else you just said. And to top it off, we’ll leave your little setup just as it is so the next person can enjoy your little king like palace that you set up here,” Mykal said and deliberately looked around.
“No you can’t do that,” Fisher moaned.
“You do have a nice little setup going,” Mykal said and nodded while he looked around the room. “So how bad to you wanna be the leader of what is gonna happen here? Cuz you know some serious good stuff is gonna come about from all that is gonna happen here in Towbar’s world. We’ll be able to take tons of surprises back to our world with all the discoveries that will be made in these lands.”
Colonel Fisher just stood there and wouldn’t say anything. He looked into the swirling liquid of his glass and took another drink. He seemed to be weighing his options.
“You’re not allowing that stuff to muddle your thinking are you?”
Fisher ignored Mykal’s question and downed the rest of the glass.
“I need to know what you’re gonna do. I need to know right now,” Mykal said and his voice carried a threat. “All I want is for you to put your uniform on and go out there and tell everyone you jumped the gun and thought I was dead. You were wrong and we’re cleared to go back today and then I’ll be outta your hair. Hell, I don’t care of you go out there dressed like this,” he said with a smirk and nodded to his sleeping clothes. “But I need something done right now.”
“Fine,” Fisher said and poured himself another drink. “I’ll get dressed and do as you say,” he said and sounded like there was a slight slur to his words. “I will do what you’re forcing me to do,” he added as if he was a victim.
“Don’t start this shit,” Mykal snapped and wanted to slap Fisher up the side of his head. “I wanna get going to rescue the princess and I don’t care what you do here. What’s so friggin hard about making this right?”
“Well, it will be embarrassing for someone in my position of leadership to back down from a position that I took such a hard stance on,” he added which sounded like he said more than what was relayed to Mykal.
“So because of your damn selfish pride you’d let everything stand and that poor girl will die. Screw that. You just go out there, say you didn’t have all the facts and you’re changing your position to what it was before,” Mykal said and brushed his hands together to show how easy it would be.
“You just don’t understand,” Fisher said and stared into his glass and pouted as if he was the victim.
“Do you remember when we first met and we kinda started off on the wrong foot? Do you remember what you told me in the vehicle when we were driving to the location to use the green fog to come here? You’re exact words to me were, and I quote; ‘You need to pull up your big boy pants and tough it out.’ So I’m telling you Sir,” he added with a cocky tone of revenge. “You need to pull up your big boy pants and tough it out,” he snarled and it felt so good to throw those words back into Fisher’s face nineteen days after Fisher bullied him with the very same words.
“So if you really wanna keep this position as commander over Towbar One, commander of Towbar’s world, the new ‘Louie and Clark slash Chrissie Columbus’ that will be wrote about in all the school books et cetera et cetera, then you need to swallow your pride instead of that friggin booze and get out there and correct this situation or I promise you, you will be gone before the day is done,” Mykal threaten as if it had been a prepared speech but it flowed from his heart. “And then someone else will gladly step into your shoes and get all the glory after we go back and rescue Princess Doninka.”
Fisher huffed. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He quickly shot back the drink and downed the booze. “Okay. Okay. I will do it. Please let me get dressed,” he added and shifted his gaze from side to side as if he was looking for something.
“Colonel Fisher, I’m gonna be waiting in the other room. I need you to hurry,” Mykal said and suddenly he disappeared and walked to the far side of the bed to get behind Fisher. He then re-appeared and tapped the barrel with the silencer on his open palm. “And I don’t want you to think about trying to pull a fast one on me and changing your mind, cuz I will get you outta Towbar’s world before the day is over and you’ll never come back here.”
“Oh shit,” he slurred. “How did you do that?”
“Do what? Are you drinking too much?” He asked and started to walk back to the other side of the room. “I would like us to get along and work together. We could be partners or we could be adversaries. The ball is in your court.”
“I will not back out of my responsibility,” Fisher said slowly. “I would like to get this behind us and move forward.”
“Good,” Mykal added and moved toward the other room. “My deadline for this whole rescue thing is the 7th of February.”
Mykal went into the next room and sat in a chair to face the entrance. He toyed with the idea of sitting there in his invisible state just in case Colonel Fisher sent an alarm to his Marines guarding the outside of his qu
arters. If they rushed in he knew he could disappear before they got to him but then there would be others to corroborate Fisher’s story that Mykal has the ability to disappear. Mykal knew he could sit there and remain invisible but the danger of increased usage of the magic ring was a bigger concern for him. His emotions have been something he hadn’t been able to control. The sappy melancholy sad emotions were one thing, but the murderous hate filled rage that took over was getting much harder to deal with and overcome. He waited in the flesh and hoped Colonel Fisher wouldn’t try to test him.
6.
“Hey Mykal and Towbar,” Major Chick greeted Mykal and the giant with a happy smile. “Just the two I wanted to see,” he added with a laugh and clap of his hands. “Oh good, you cleaned up well,” Chick said in reference to the new uniform Mykal was wearing.”
“Yeah, I had to get outta that nasty blood covered uniform,” he chuckled. His main reason to change was not only to put on a clean uniform, but his blood covered uniform also bore the marks, large holes, proving the severity of his injuries.
“Colonel Fisher just did his mea culpa and,” Major Chick stopped when Towbar looked confused.
“I do not understand,” the giant said and looked to Mykal.
“He apologized,” Chick laughed. “It’s a Latin term that means it was his fault. Colonel Fisher just apologized and said he jumped the gun. He changed the plans by implementing rules based on faulty information that had been given to him. That faulty information being that you had been killed. Obviously you have not been killed,” Chick added with a laugh. “He had explained he was being protective of the men in keeping them from going to the other side of the world, but he realized he made that hasty decision based solely on emotion with a desire to protect the men from going to that dangerous place, the other side of the world. He retracted his prohibition on travel to that side of the world and right now Major Innes and Captain Taylor as well as several of the company commanders are on their way to inform all the men of what had just transpired.”