by Teya Tapler
“Hey, gorgeous!” Kevin got out to open the passenger side door of his Mercedes convertible for Evan. The top of the car was down and the sun reflected off the white leather seats and the red exterior of the car.
Evan popped a bubble and responded between chews, “Hi, silly!” She threw the backpack on the back seat and noticed a fairy tale collection book lying next to Kevin’s baseball cap. “Who are you reading bedtime stories to?” she asked.
“Oh,” Kevin was suddenly confused. “No one.” After a long pause, he summoned the courage to admit, “I was reading them myself, recently.”
“I love them, too,” Evan smiled. “Everything is so nice and easy. You just have to call the right fairy.”
“Or find your Prince Charming,” Kevin interrupted her with a grin. He quickly moved his eyes from Evan and looked ahead, ready to start the car.
Evan jumped in, buckled up and said, “Let’s go before the neighbors leave for work. They’ve started to talk to my folks again.”
Kevin shifted into gear and drove away.
The day was still young and the sun was low. Evan was wearing a deep-magenta colored T-shirt and skinny jeans. Subtle sparkles spread across her chest and matched the sparkles on her left knee. She put on her rose sunglasses and said, “I think we are far enough, now.”
“Oh, of course, my Princess, I haven’t forgotten,” he pulled over stopping the car on the side of the road and got off.
Evan, too excited to wait for him to open her door, quickly slid into the driver’s seat. Kevin laughed as she buckled up hastily, then took the co-pilot seat.
“Where to, Princess?” He put on his seat belt.
“To the palace, of course!” She smiled back then added more seriously, “I have a physics test first period and if my grades worsen-” She started the car. “Whatever! Let’s go.”
The wind grabbed her hair. The sun reflected off the sparkles on her T-shirt. Evan looked happy. Her thoughts started racing with the wind and the passing trees. Her family had had only one car for years. Her parents had always worked and commuted to work together. When Evan was in elementary school, she’d thought that was romantic. Not anymore. She got her driver’s license five months ago and hadn’t had a chance to drive until Kevin came into her life. Lucky for her, he had that fabulous car. It was his, all his and he offered to let her drive it. Now she was driving the gorgeous Mercedes convertible. Her life was perfect.
Chapter 3
“Zull, come here. They’re showing that idiot Albert Shtuttgart on TV again.” Kevin had lazily spread himself on the huge, soft, white leather sofa among pieces of food and fruit, balancing the remote on his stomach. His feet were propped on the gold-trimmed coffee table that was covered with old newspapers, dirty cups and glasses. The lavishly furnished and exquisitely decorated living room, with its white marble floor and huge, thick burgundy oriental rugs was buried under various papers, clothes, shoes, empty boxes and other things that people usually wash and put away or throw out. Kevin was not into that. He was all about convenience: those things strewn about in the living room he considered stored for future use.
“Albert Shtuttgart looks so proud of his discovery,” Kevin continued, “and has no idea what it is, actually. Yeah, blah, blah, blah…. Every groundbreaking idea throughout human history.… He has no idea at all.” Kevin imitated professor Shtuttgart giving the interview.
“He’s my responsibility!” Zull responded angrily, coming down the stairs from the second floor. He was in his cozy, deep-red bathrobe and his bare feet were leaving big wet footsteps on the thick carpet over the marble threads. His wet, ginger hair was combed back. He stopped on the fifth step from the top, adjusted the bathrobe, tied it again and looked down at Kevin. The mess in that room bothered him more every day. He suddenly changed the topic. “You’d better clean this place. Look around you! What’s that?”
“Yes, father. I will give the cleaning lady a call in a few minutes,” Kevin made himself more comfortable. He was trying to look at Mort, but the crystal chandelier casted its light right into Kevin’s eyes.
“I told you that cleaning ladies just snoop around. You can do it in your spare time.” Zull had descended and was now walking around the room kicking various items, lifting others like dead mice and looking at them with disgust. “After all, you already graduated from high school once, didn’t you? You shouldn’t need that much time to study or do homework,” Zull ended.
“We are confident that the last of the artifacts will be at the location we have selected for the excavation with the help of Mort Enterprises,” Albert’s voice came from the TV.
“Your task was to reach out to Shtuttgarts’ daughter!” Zull slapped Kevin on the back of his head. He threw some empty pretzel packages on the table to make space on the recliner, and sat down. “Learn what really is going on in this family and how the professor really makes his discoveries. I’ll take care of Mr. Albert Shtuttgart and find out where he is storing the rest of the pearls.”
Zull extended his recliner and continued in a calmer tone, “That’s why I am sponsoring all his expeditions. It wasn’t easy to become the only sponsor.”
Kevin’s attentiveness to Zull’s words gradually declined. He had heard them all before.
“Every damn corporation wanted to be part of it. It was a bidding frenzy, but in the end I made an irresistible offer and beat out the other guys.” Zull smiled, looking at a dark circle on the palm of his left hand. “I Iove this weapon: it’s small, undetectable by 21st century technology and is powered by my anger. And anger I have, don’t I?” He smiled devilishly. “Experimental or not, it allows me to express myself, as people say.” Zull smiled again and looked back at Kevin. “Anything new to report?”
“She agreed to go to the prom with me.”
“Good! Spending all that money on the fancy cars was a nice move, after all.” Zull seemed content.
“The intelligence also suggests,” Kevin began, trying to look and sound smarter at the same time. The tone of his voice was flat and he made some awkward pauses; he thought would show off his intellect and hard work. “ that I have to dance … with her all night … at the prom … and then … kiss her at the … end of the night to solidify … our relationship.… It is expected to guarantee her … treating me as something more than her … close friend.” He clumsily hid the fairy tale book that was sliding behind his back and looked up at Zull.
“Good!” Kevin’s father was pleased more by the content than the delivery of the news. He wasn’t bothered by the long pauses; at least Kevin wasn’t stuttering, which would have been more annoying for him. “Anything else?”
“I’m going to college to study journalism,” Kevin grinned but his silly smile quickly faded as Zull looked at him sideways. Kevin swallowed heavily and clarified. “Evan wants to become a journalist and, as her boyfriend, I decided to go with her. We’re going to meet and sync our college applications next week.”
“When does this college thing start?” Zull asked.
“After our senior year, But…b-b-b-ut … the appp … the appliCAtions….,” Kevin started.
“Focus on the present!” Mort suddenly yelled. “Is there anything else to report on the present?” he asked, stressing the last word. “Remember that we are leaving once we have all the pearls, and that shouldn’t take long. We should be back home pretty so-o-on.”
“A-a-anything e-else … a-a-anything e-else?” Kevin said, not realizing that he was thinking out loud. “… when we came here … we left in a-a hurry and … h-hHAd no time to pPAck … the hhisTOrical files,” continued Kevin, both stuttering and making awkward pauses again, when Zull’s voice startled him.
“Bad. Very bad, Kevin.” Zull was right about his anger. It was so easy to bring to the surface that he was fairly bursting with rage. “You are like a de-carbonated, sugar-free soft drink!“ Zull raised his voice, making agitated gestures as he spoke. “You are a bigger disappointment than soggy cereal!” Zull’s volume
level climbed even higher and his gestures became more intense. “You are as useless as a key to a door in a field!” Zull got up, walked angrily from one side of the living room to the other, and abruptly stopped in front of Kevin. He looked lovingly at his personal experimental anger-powered weapon and contemplated his next step.
“All this could be easily rectified, Zull!” Kevin said quickly. He was trembling, his stutter replaced by a fear for his life. “I’ll do my research in real time: watching movies, reading books and going to some dances before the big day.” He tried to keep his eyes on Zull’s face while hiding the fairy tale book, which had slipped behind his back again, at the same time.
“Good! You might be useful after all. Take care of the girl! This is your mission,” Zull said. “Become her ‘bff,’ as they say here. This is your only mission. Make her tell you everything she knows about her father’s discoveries and ideas. Again, this is your ONLY MISSION.” Zull almost shouted the last two words, and then continued in the same shouting tone, “You’ve been driving around that spoiled brat and feeding her milkshakes for too long. You might be getting soft.” Zull shook his head and went back upstairs.
Kevin waited for a while and pulled the fairy tale book from behind his back. It was his research. That was his only reliable material. Yes, there were other books out there. There were many movies as well, but it was too time-consuming for him to read and watch all of them.
Luckily for him, back before they had left for that place, he had heard that 21st century girls often dreamed of a fairy tale life and for fairy tale events to happen to them. It was his buddy, Howard, from the Drunken Fish Pub who told him that, and Howard was way smarter than Kevin. Howard had worked at the Drunken Fish all his life and had met a lot of people. He had listened to their problems, slowly pouring the next pint, and had celebrated the problems’ solutions, quickly pouring many pints. When it came to problems and solutions, Howard was like that book with the difficult name ... like the encyclopedia. Kevin thought that sometimes Howard was way smarter than Zull, too. That’s why Kevin had brought the fairy tale book with him. It was the best collection, and it was smaller than the boxes of the digitalized archive. And it was definitely prettier. It was impossible to compare the data crystals of the archive to that fairy tale book. The data crystals were just cylindrical-shaped, semi-transparent rocks about an inch thick; while the fairy tale book was colorful and pretty. The crystals were indifferent objects, while the fairy tale book made Kevin happy every time he thought about it. He needed that happiness. The spoiled brat was already getting on his nerves. Evangeline had even dared to ask him to buy her a necklace before she’s even agreed to go to the prom with him.
The fairy tale book’s pictures of beautiful girls were like a medicine for Kevin’s soul. Kevin lovingly browsed the pages. He looked at Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. He sighed. Those beautiful girls were not like Evan. It was going to be very, very hard for Kevin to become Prince Charming. At least he had the looks and the money for the presents and milkshakes. It was a start.
His thoughts continued to jump from his memories to the assignment to the fairy tale book. The TV was still on. The late-night special about the anticipated profound archeological discovery had changed places with a sugary, love-story movie. Kevin pulled the soft fleece throw over himself and began watching intensely. Every word of the womanizing protagonist sunk into his mind. He had every intention to remember and use them.… Then he fell asleep.
Chapter 4
It was Tuesday, December 2, 2424, the day the whole galaxy had been waiting for, the day when the final decision of the Galactic Committee would be executed, freeing mankind from the heavy burden of guilt. The Galactic Committee Building, located in the Earth’s Eastern City, was buzzing with excitement.
“The Galactic Committee has unanimously decided that the pearls of destruction should be cast thought time and space to an unidentified and unknown locations to ensure that they are never brought together again.” The voice of the Executor echoed in the hall. The members of the Galactic Committee were all present and feverish with anxiety. They were dressed up for the occasion in the long, ultramarine robes customary for their position. The highest representative from each nation was sitting on the front row of the balcony loggia. Each one had on a long, white wig, similar to those worn by the Earth’s European royal families in the 17th century. All representatives had white powder all over their faces, and their lips, if they had any, were covered with glossy white lipstick. The rest of the escorts occupied the rear area.
Sitting in their own balcony loggias, everyone was listening to the simultaneous translation. The Galactic Committee consisted of several representatives from each of the thirty nations living in the Milky Way Galaxy. The people of Earth had finally met other intellectual beings and were now working with them to create a peaceful atmosphere in which all species and nations could thrive.
“Here you all are, witnessing the execution of the Committee’s decision. This decision is final, immutable, irrevocable, undisputable and irreplaceable.”
The pearls of destruction had brought too much pain and suffering to all the worlds, and because they could not be destroyed, time had come to cast them away.
Casting something through time and space meant that the time and space traveler teleporting device, or transcaster for short, was to be set to a random cycle. As a result, everything sent through it was going to land at a different point in time—which could be the present, past or future—and at different locations that might be any planet or asteroid in the galaxy or anywhere in the vast spaces between them. Whenever the random mode was used, there were no entries in the travel log or information stored in the system memory that could be retrieved. Those were the strict requirements and standards that had been followed for generations. Being cast through time and space was the highest existing punishment, as there was almost no chance one would land on a hard surface, and the odds were even smaller for survival after that, due to the extremely small number of planets with non-hostile environments.
“Bring in the pearls,” said the High Committee Chairman, who was presiding over the ceremony. As his words echoed into the silent assembly hall, the lights surrounding the white, round platform next to him lit up. That was the transcaster device brought onto the stage earlier that day. It looked like a huge, one layer, round cake covered with white frosting. Only the control lights encircling the base and the matching group of lights suspended from the ceiling indicated what the device was.
A procession of the members of the High Committee came forth. They were divided into five groups, moving slowly from the lighted entrance to the middle stage, which was surrounded by the balcony loggias. Each group consisted of five committee members, all wearing their ultramarine robes, every one holding a corner of a big, star-shaped scarf. The five groups walked slowly, and the huge, gray pearls swayed in the middle of the scarves with the rhythm of the bearers’ steps. When the procession reached the opposite side of the stage, they turned, faced the Chairman and stopped. The pearls slowly settled and were still.
“Place the first pearl on the transcaster,” the Chairman said, and the first group of five High Committee members placed their pearl on the round base of the transcaster without touching it. They covered the pearl with each of the scarf corners and stepped back to a safe distance. The lights around the transcaster base shone brighter and started gradually changing their color. From afar, it looked as though different colored fireflies were chasing around the machine.
“On the count of three, we now cast this pearl through time and space,” continued the Chairman. “One! Two! Three!” he said slowly, and louder than before. A light blue flash surrounded the pearl and it disappeared, together with its exotic wrap. The lights at the base of the transcaster changed their color to white and slowly faded out. The gathering applauded. Spirits were rising. Considering it was just the first pearl, such an explosion of emotions should only have been expected
after they cast the last one.
It took a while for the noise to subside then the Chairman continued, “Place the second pearl on the transcaster.”
“D’you think it’ll work?” Zander whispered to Emil. The two young men were standing far behind the Earth’s representatives, leaning on the wall at the back of the balcony. Their black-colored, casual-looking clothes were making them incongruous and out of place among the vibrantly dressed representatives.
“This is our only chance. The pearls should never be found again. It was us, the humans, who brought this nemesis to the Galactic Community, and we’re the ones who are to end it,” Emil said.
Zander combed his dark, unruly hair with ten fingers and whispered back, “Yeah, yeah, there’ll be no records … but the pearls have high subconscious readings. Can you track them? Could you monitor for them and then locate the pearls that way?”
“Remember what Peter told us this morning?” Emil asked. Then he changed his voice and facial expression to mimic Peter before continuing. “If these things land on a hard surface, like a planet or asteroid, their presence has the potential to bring some changes to the subconscious readings of its new environment.” Emil’s green eyes lit up as he tried to retain his composure and subdue his laughter. “However, the chances of this happening are far too small to consider, simply because of the tiny percentage of our galaxy neighborhood that is occupied by such hard-surfaced objects. The scientists had run the formulas many, many times before even suggesting going forward with that plan.”
To Emil’s disappointment, Zander didn’t laugh.
“I don’t like the chance of them being discovered. That’s all. As miniscule as the chance is, I don’t like it,” Zander said, as though to himself.