Jack James and the Call of the Tanakee

by J. Joseph Wright

  “Did it work?” Takota asked.

  “Well?” said Pud. “Did it?”

  “Wait,” Ayita shuddered. Her eyelids flickered. She almost fell backwards. Then Takota took a gigantic breath as if he were hit by a sudden gust of cold wind. Pud and Cheyton reacted the same way. Even Enola, as she lay on the floor writhing in pain. They all stared into space with the biggest, most delirious smiles.

  “What is it?” Jack demanded. Then he felt something too.

  “Can we pick up TV on this?” Amelia pointed to the computer controls.

  “I think so,” Pud hit a series of keys on the command panel and the gigantic holographic screen split into many smaller displays, at least fifty of them, with shots of different television channels from all over the world. On most of them were live news feeds, reporters in the streets, pointing up to swarms of flying black serpents, which now had nearly the entire planet inundated. Jack went from screen to screen, watching and listening to the announcers as they detailed their distressed accounts. Mass exoduses at every turn. Refugees streaming from cities. Frantic people on the move. Chaos breaking out all over.

  Jack felt a great emptiness in the pit of his stomach. The Nagas threatened the entire planet, and morale in the Black Pyramid hit rock bottom. But one television network had a different story to tell. Pud hooted and gestured wildly, making sure all eyes were on that particular video feed.

  The reporter broke the news.

  “Details are sketchy, but from what we’re being told, while the city seems to be under siege from these strange and menacing beings, reports are coming in about other sightings. These sightings happen to be…” the reporter touched his ear and nodded. “Yes, we just received confirmation, in shopping centers and grocery stores, and even in playrooms, we’re hearing stories of teddy bears coming to life,” the reporter pressed his ear again and asked someone off camera. “Is this right? Teddy bears?” he shrugged and raised his brow. “That’s correct, folks. As strange as it may seem, we’ve got a teddy bear epidemic, with stuffed animals coming alive and jumping off the shelves.”

  “Look at this one!” Pud directed everyone’s attention to another newsfeed. Ben isolated the volume for that one.

  “The teddy bears are everywhere, coming alive like real animals, and, believe it or not, they’re doing battle against these strange bat-like beings that have suddenly shown up in the skies above the city. Let’s go right now to some video we just got in of one of the skirmishes taking place.”

  The shot cut to a dark, dusty scene in a suburban setting. Houses along a street lined with parked cars. A gray minivan honked and screeched to a halt when a Tanakee, one Jack had never seen before, landed in front of it, splitting the pavement into jagged chunks where it touched down. A swarm of shadowy serpents surrounded the minivan. In a split second, they had the vehicle’s large sliding door open and began dragging a little girl, kicking and screaming, outside to the street.

  The Tanakee rose up and pounced on the attacking horde. As it flew through the air, it divided many times over, each duplicate finding a solitary snake to catch and bring to the ground. During the melee, amid terrible confusion and danger, a single Tanakee duplicate corralled the little girl and scuttled her off to safety.

  “It’s working!” Amelia hugged Ayita while patting Pud’s head at the same time. Pud frowned and threw open his arms. He would accept nothing less than a hug as well. Amelia obliged willingly.

  “Thank Eteea for the Tanakee!”

  Jack felt his anxiety stripping away with each new scene of triumph. The news feeds from around the world all told the same story—miraculously, mysteriously, hundreds upon hundreds of teddy bears springing to life, frightening shoppers and store clerks and streaming into the streets to fight off the winged devils. From every corner of the Earth came the news. Remote, tiny republics. Sprawling suburbs. Quiet country hamlets. Densely populated cities. Everywhere Jack looked, he saw the same thing, Tanakee fending off Nagas and sending them into full aerial retreat.

  Ben placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder, and his mother put her arm around him. He felt Amelia grab his hand and squeeze tight. He wanted to cry, then felt a tear fall down his cheek and realized he’d already started. Same with his mom. And his dad. All the humans cried. Not the Tanakee, though. Especially Cheyton. He watched proudly, nodding with his chest out and chin up.

  “The Lost Tribes,” Ayita said. “They’ve finally found their homes. With the Children.”

  “Thanks to Eteea,” Teresa sighed.

  “Now what?” asked Ayita.

  Jack knew the question was addressed to him, but had no real answer.

  “I-I don’t know.”

  “Now we have to take care of Enola,” Cheyton held his mate in his arms, cradling her like an infant. Upon Ben’s insistence, they rushed her to the infirmary. There, they found two people already. On one of the hospital beds lay the lab tech, Rory. She was unconscious but breathing, and Jack just knew she’d be okay. In another bed was Commander Klein, moaning and clutching his chest.

  “Daddy!” Amelia rushed to his bedside. “You’re awake!”

  “What-what happened?” he tried to get up. Ben forced him to lie back down.

  “Take it easy, Commander. You got a pretty good shock to your system, there. It’s going to take some time to recover.”

  “But-but Argus! He’s got to be stopped!”

  “We did it,” Jack said. Takota gave the commander a nod. “We took care of it.”

  “I have to make sure! I have to get this base secured!” the commander struggled with both Ben and his own daughter.

  “DAD!” she made him listen. “Jack’s right. We took care of it.”

  “Jack took care of it,” Takota confirmed. “He is the True Soul.”

  The commander sighed.

  “Look, Jack. I’m sorry for doubting you. It’s just that-that Argus had me convinced. I now know I was wrong,” his remorseful gaze traveled to Amelia. “And I’m sorry to you too. I guess I let my job take precedence over being your father,” his eyes dampened. Amelia sat on the bed and touched his arm lovingly.

  The O/A followed Jack everywhere he went, suspended over his shoulder, buzzing in his ear. He figured it was time to power it down, and didn’t know exactly how to do it without pressing the button. As soon as he thought it, the O/A’s power source, the Gravitomiton, grew more and more quiet, and then, one by one, Jack’s dimensional duplicates returned to their prospective realms. With the omnidimensional field gone, Jack’s legs turned to rubber suddenly, and his arms became concrete. He would never get used to that. The total letdown of normalcy.

  As the dimensional field dissipated, a strange and curious thing happened. To his, and everyone else’s amazement, the O/A faded and fizzled and shrank to a tiny point in the air, then popped into nonexistence.

  “What the..?” Ben swished his arms through the empty space where the machine once had been. Pud jumped and did the same thing, his eyes wide.

  “Jack! Your machine!” he cried. “It’s gone!”

  “What happened?” Takota asked. “Did Argus steal it again somehow?”

  “Uh, no,” Jack said. He concentrated, asking the O/A to return, and, with a crack and a sizzle, it did as he requested, floating above his shoulder. “See?”

  “How are you doing that?” the commander had the biggest eyes of all.

  “He’s the True Soul,” Amelia said. “That’s how.”

  “In that case, I’m glad I was wrong,” he smiled. Then he scanned the security monitor on the sickbay wall, surveying the scenes as the last of the Nagas were being pushed back into their dark clouds, their thunderheads, their storm fronts high in the atmosphere. Then all was quiet, as stunned reporters and witnesses watched collectively for the tiny teddy bear-like creatures which, seconds earlier, were seemingly all over the place. Now they were gone, and with them every sign of the Nagas.

  “The Children of the Blue Crystal,” the commander sounded stronger an
d stronger with each new breath. “We have to bring them here, so all the Eteeans can be together.”

  “He’s right,” Jack said. “The Eteeans…we need to be together, all in one place. There’s a lot of work still left for us to do.”

  “Whatever we do, we have to do it fast,” Cheyton said. “You’d better believe those Nagas will regroup and try something else, and probably soon.”

  “That Nagas queen isn’t so tough,” Pud smacked his hand with his fist. “We can take care of her.”

  “First thing’s first,” Ayita said. “First we have to take care of our injured. There are a lot of—” she turned to check on Enola. “Enola!”

  The bed where Cheyton had put her was now unoccupied. Only a ruffled blanket remained where she once had been.

  “Where is she!” Cheyton blinked out of sight and then back again, standing on the bed and sifting through the empty sheets. “Where did she go!” he blinked away again, this time resurfacing next to Amelia. “Do you see anything? Any visions? Anything?”

  Amelia reached for her neck instinctively, where her eagle feather once hung. She had nothing to help her, and, as a result, had nothing to tell Cheyton.

  “I-I don’t see her.”

  “What about you?” he grabbed Ayita by her elbows. “Do you see where Enola went?”

  Ayita looked panicked.

  “No. I’m not getting anything.”

  “Enola!” Cheyton raised his head and screamed to the ceiling. Then he did it again, even louder. “ENOLA!”

  Jack became stricken with the same panic. The only one who seemed calm was Takota.

  “Jack, find her with the O/A,” he suggested.

  “Of course,” Jack extended his fingers and the O/A erupted into being. He felt the rush of dimensional duplicates merging with him, giving him so much power, so much strength. He let it wash over him like a tidal wave and, with the multiverse at his disposal, closed his eyes and requested to see Enola’s location.

  The world seemed to lose all color, becoming a drab and pitiful facsimile of what it once was. Vivid brightness dimmed to muted shades. Sharp contrasts between dark and light were subdued. All save for a set of double doors in the corner—a small closet used for storage.

  “What?” Amelia noticed him smiling.

  Jack grinned wider, and let the O/A drift toward the cabinet doors. The cabinet filled with color as the machine got closer, and the hue turned a deep, rich green. Enola’s green. Amelia and Ayita rushed to the doors and pulled them open. Inside they found a mess of linens and blankets and pillows. Cheyton used his dimensional power to reach the closet in one quick step, then got to work digging through the pile of bedding, yelling the whole time.

  “Enola!” he tossed aside handful after handful. Furiously, Ayita and Amelia helped him, while Pud and Takota paced nervously.

  Jack only smiled. He couldn’t help himself.

  “What’s so funny?” his mother nudged him. “Can’t you see this is serious?”

  Jack said nothing as the O/A collapsed into a solitary point of light, then popped into invisibility. He shook his head and watched the search crew reach the back of the closet. That’s when Ayita let out the loudest, longest gasp ever made by a living creature, followed by an equally impressive squeal for joy. Everyone else stopped what they were doing and exchanged confused looks.

  Ayita laughed out loud and hugged Takota as he came near. Then Takota looked into that dark, snug corner and a smile grew from ear to ear. Pud embraced Jack’s leg, then Liz’s, Ben’s, and Lily’s. He seized and squeezed anyone he could get his little, furry hands on.

  All the hatred, the desolation and terror brought on by Argus Cole and his dreadful family. All the savagery and treachery and ill-will, the worry and fighting and stale stench of malice lifted from that room at that very moment, and, as far as Jack was concerned, from the whole world. The universe, maybe. Jack’s eyes filled with tears. He scarcely saw his own mother and father, but recognized they were crying too. Everyone was crying. Not an eye among them could remain dry at the miraculous vision. On the floor, wrapped in a bed sheet, was Enola, batting her long, lush lashes. She cradled a silvery bundle so plump, so soft and furry, it melted Jack into a pile of warm butter.

  “Meet Cheyton Junior…C.J.,” she said with a smile, and her green, ethereal glow burst forth, enveloping them all in a bath of affection.

  THIRTY-FIVE

  “THEY’RE SLEEPING…FINALLY,” Amelia put a finger to her lips and tiptoed from the makeshift nursery to join Jack, Takota, and Ayita in the hall. She urged them to peek through the glass at the slumbering mother, father, and newborn.

  “Are they okay?” Takota asked. “I mean, the baby?”

  “He’s as healthy as can be,” Ayita snuggled up to him. “A beautiful baby Tanakee. Maybe someday I’ll have one.”

  Takota’s eyes widened. Ayita giggled at him.

  “Come on,” Jack said. “I’ll buy everyone lunch.”

  They gathered in the giant, multi-tiered complex of different food stations, all manned and ready to serve culinary delights from all over the world at a moment’s notice. The chefs cooked meals on demand, and Pud needed three trips to retrieve everything he deemed necessary for his burgeoning appetite. Three trays teeming with edibles like crab curry, five kinds of sushi, and, surprisingly, even a garden salad.

  “Pud!” Ayita complained. “Do you really need to eat everything in sight?”

  “Don’t worry about me,” he tapped his chest. “I can handle it.”

  “It’s not you I’m worried about,” she waved her hand in front of her nose. “We’re the ones who have to live with you.”

  “What?” a flatulent burst had everyone laughing at Pud. Everyone except Ayita. She wasn’t so happy. Jack also noticed the smile had been erased from Amelia’s lips, replaced by a frown of foreboding.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Don’t you think we should leave this place?” she regarded their surroundings suspiciously. “I mean, the Nagas know we’re here. We’re just sitting ducks.”

  “Teresa’s moving the Black Pyramid, remember?” Jack said. “She’s reading the magical spell right now.”

  “Yes, but…” Amelia stopped herself and stared at her own tray. “I mean…” she shook her head. “I just don’t know anymore,” she clutched at the area where her necklace once dangled. “Without my eagle feather, I can’t seem to get any of my visions straight.”

  “What could the queen want with your feather, anyway?”

  “I have no idea,” she shrugged. “But it scares me.”

  “We should get it back, don’t you think?” Jack said, and just when he said it, he glanced to his left, at an empty chair, and saw a small object, bundled up and inconspicuous. He discarded the notion of investigating immediately, but a suspicious twitch tickled him, and he decided to check it out.

  “What the heck?” he went to pick it up. Amelia must have seen it too. She was quicker, and snatched it first.

  “My feather!” she let the beaded necklace hang down, holding the quill with both hands. Her face came alight. “Where did this come from?” she eyed Jack.

  “I don’t know,” he confessed. “It was just sitting there.”

  Takota jumped from his seat, sniffing and scrutinizing the area keenly.

  “Some kind of mischief has been going on here,” he squinted. “I don’t like it.”

  “Oh, Takota,” Jack sighed. “You don’t have to be in protection mode twenty-four seven, do you?”

  Takota relaxed his stance a bit, yet kept looking.

  “Amelia’s right. I don’t trust this place anymore. That feather just showing up like that makes me nervous.”

  “The queen must have left it here on accident,” Pud chimed in. “She was in quite a hurry to leave. It’s as simple as that.”

  “Pud, you should know by now there’s no such thing as simple when it comes to the Nagas. They’ll stop at nothing to get their hands on these child
ren.”

  “I know that,” Pud burped. “But I also know when to be thankful, and we should be happy Amelia finally found her magic feather, shouldn’t we?”

  “Yeah, well, I guess,” Takota conceded.

  “I’m with Pud,” Amelia slipped on her necklace. Right away, Jack noticed the change. Takota must have noticed something too. He hopped on the table and rushed to get in front of Jack. At first it was only a subtle quiver, a slight disturbance in the air. Then Amelia’s cheeks tensed up. Her jaw seemed about to explode. She trembled and huffed heavily and her already light brown eyes went white.

  “Amelia!” Ayita hastened from her seat. “Amelia? Are you all right?”

  Amelia answered with a tremendous gulp of air, her wide stare blank and colorless. Then the most terrifying thing. Her hair. Jack noticed something in her hair, and it sent him into an immediate state of shock. No way was he seeing what he thought he was seeing. Amelia always had the longest, glossiest black locks. It was her signature. That and her hopelessly light brown eyes. She radiated beauty, and Jack always went weak in the knees whenever she gazed at him, or whenever that silky, dark hair glistened as she turned her head. So intoxicating.

  Not now. Now something took all that away. Jack, at the same time, felt confused, terrified, hurt, and angry. The emotions came rushing, and he knew his eyes weren’t deceiving him. He froze, not knowing whether to run to Amelia’s assistance or just run. And he had good reason for the confusion. In front of his face, only a few steps away, Amelia’s hair began to move.

  It didn’t move like normal hair moves, tossing over a shoulder or blown by the wind. It moved like it was alive. Hundreds of slender, sleek snakelike things, undulating and standing, slowly at first, then one popped straight and opened at the end like a mouth with teeth. Sharp teeth. It shot out a slinky, forked tongue and hissed loud enough to scratch at Jack’s eardrums.

  “Jack!” Amelia reached for her own head, into the suddenly lively tangle of black serpents. “Jack! What’s happening to me!”