by Tom Hoffman
Orville gave a squeak. “No, wait! What? She’ll fly backwards? Could you say all that again but not so fast?”
Mirus gave Orville a slap on his back and hopped out of The Dragonfly. “I’ll open the doors and you fly her out. No time like the present to learn how to fly this bug!” He dashed across the room and swung open the two enormous barn doors.
“Sophia, what do we do? Does he really want us to fly it?”
“It looks easy. I’ll do it.” Sophia slipped on a pair of flying goggles, handing a second pair to Orville. “Put these on. If you turn the little dial on the left they’ll magnify your vision, and if you push the silver tab on the right side you can see in the dark. Mirus invented them.”
“You can see in the dark? That’s amazing. Wait, we don’t even know where Ollo the Rock Mouse lives.”
“There’s a map in that little compartment. Mirus marked the location. We just follow the compass heading south southwest for four hundred and seventy-two miles.”
“You’re sure you can fly this?”
“How hard can it be? We flew The Glowbird just fine.”
“Well, it’s not quite the same, but if you think you can do it...”
Sophia gave Orville a smug look and pushed the left stick forward. The Dragonfly blasted straight up toward the ceiling. Orville screamed, “Look out! We’re going to hit the roof!”
Sophia pulled back on the stick and the ship dropped like a stone. Orville screeched again. “Too much! Too much! We’re falling!”
“Quit being a nervous ninny! I’m just testing the controls. Okay, here we go!” The Dragonfly was hovering ten feet above the floor when Sophia pushed the right stick forward. The ship responded smoothly, zipping out through the open barn doors.
Mirus hollered, “What are you waiting for? Get flying, you two!”
Sophia jammed the right stick forward. The craft shot across the grassy field, pressing Orville back against his seat. “I think we’re going way too–”
“Hold on to your hat! Here we go!” The Dragonfly was ripping across the open field ten feet above the grass at over seventy miles an hour when Sophia pushed the left and right sticks forward as far as they would go. They shot up into the air, screaming through the brilliant blue sky at over a hundred and sixty miles an hour.
Sophia shrieked, “Woo hoo! This is amazing!” She glanced over at Orville and grinned. He was hunched over, both paws covering his eyes.
Chapter 7
The Iron Door
“I wasn’t scared, I had something in my eye because we were flying so fast.”
Sophia snorted. “You had goggles on.”
“Well, there must have been dust in the goggles that got into my eyes. I’m fine now, so maybe we should just stop talking about it. I’m starting to get a good feel for how the ship flies. How fast am I going?”
“Twenty-five miles an hour. We should get there in time for your mum’s next birthday.”
Orville rolled his eyes. “I’m going to try something.” He gingerly pulled the right stick back until The Dragonfly came to a halt, hovering almost a thousand feet above the ground. “This is amazing! Look at the view from here. I’m going to see if she really flies backwards.”
Orville pulled back on the right stick and sure enough, the craft darted backwards. “Whoa! This is incredible! Here we go! It’s the dread Captain Orville at the controls, so hold onto your adventuring hat!”
Sophia looked at Orville and grinned. There was no one else in the world she would rather go adventuring with, even if he did fly like her grandmum.
Orville pushed the right stick forward and the ship zipped ahead, the wind whistling through the cockpit. “How fast are we going now?”
“Thirty-five miles an hour, dread Captain Orville.”
Orville frowned, then jammed the right stick forward. Soon they were flashing through the clouds at one hundred and ten miles an hour. Orville shrieked, “Captain Orville to the rescue!”
Sophia burst out laughing and slapped Orville on the shoulder. “Now that’s what I call flying!”
Two hours later Orville had grown accustomed to the nimble Dragonfly and was finally relaxing. The two adventurers were cruising along at one hundred and thirty miles an hour.
Orville glanced at the compass and adjusted their course. “This is incredible. We’re probably the fastest two mice in history.”
“The Elders had interstellar ships that traveled many thousands of miles a second. Blinker ships like the one we found on the mesa in Periculum could fly over fifteen hundred miles an hour in the Earth’s atmosphere.”
“The Elders were rabbits, not mice. Even if we’re not the fastest two mice in history, today we’re the fastest two mice in the world.”
Sophia snorted.
“How far have we come?”
“I’ve been monitoring our speed and time and I’d say roughly three hundred and sixty miles, so we should reach Ollo the Rock Mouse’s home in under an hour.”
“Does the map show exactly where he lives? Master Marloh said we might have trouble finding his house. He seemed to think it was kind of amusing.”
“It looks as though he lives in a canyon about the same size as Pavorak Gorge. It shouldn’t be too hard to spot a house in a big gorge like that. Besides, with The Dragonfly we can hover and look around till we see it.”
“I didn’t think of that. Mirus said the only way to reach Ollo’s house was with The Dragonfly. Maybe that’s what he meant.”
“Look at the fields of wildflowers down there! Drop down and let’s fly right over them. They’re glorious, so many different colors – blues and yellows and violets and pinks. So pretty!”
“As per your command, Master Captain Sophia!” Orville pulled back on the left stick and the ship descended smoothly. Soon they were racing along twenty feet above vibrant swaths of brilliant wildflowers.
“Look at them all! Magnificent!”
“I’ll slow down and maybe we can smell them.”
“Watch where you’re flying, I don’t want to crash into a tree or something.”
“Are you questioning the piloting skills of Captain Orville Mouse, the greatest–“
Orville never finished that particular sentence. He never finished it because he was blinded by the sun reflecting off a gleaming object five hundred feet ahead of them. When Orville finally realized what the object was, they were only two hundred feet away from it.
“SPIDER! GIANT ANARKKIAN ATTACK SPIDER!” Orville pushed both sticks forward as hard as he could and just as Mirus Mouse had promised, the ship shot up into the sky like a red rocket on Symoca Day.
Sophia cried out, “Faster! The spider has force beams! Get us out of here!”
The ship was screaming upward at over one hundred and seventy miles an hour, but unfortunately for Orville and Sophia, the brilliant red force beam which blasted out of the spider’s crimson glowing eyes was traveling at one hundred and eighty-six thousand miles per second, the speed of light. It was no contest, the powerful beam instantly obliterating the left front wing of The Dragonfly. The ship veered wildly, plunging toward the ground. The good news was this unexpected detour proved to be quite fortuitous, their sudden erratic flight path causing the spider’s second force beam to flash harmlessly past them. The bad news was they were plunging toward the ground, the ship spiraling wildly out of control.
Sophia instinctively popped up a sphere of defense around them while Orville jammed the left stick forward and used the right stick to counteract the missing left wing. The ship shuddered wildly, but the spinning stopped. “Push your left stick forward!”
Sophia slammed her silver control stick forward and The Dragonfly groaned as it fought against the tremendous forces being thrust upon the three remaining wings and the ship’s fragile fuselage. Orville felt himself losing consciousness as the ship began pulling out of its dive less than a hundred feet above the ground. He managed a glance at the speed indicator, trying to focus on the wavering dial.
They were traveling over two hundred miles an hour.
“Hold on!” Time seemed to slow down. Sophia slumped over in her seat. Orville’s vision was blurring badly as he watched the field of beautiful flowers rushing up toward him. The last thing he noticed was how pretty the flowers looked in the afternoon sunlight.
When he opened his eyes the first thing Orville saw was Sophia’s face. “Orville, wake up! Wake up! Are you all right?”
The second thing he saw was their shattered canopy covered with wildflowers. “Where are we? Those flowers are pretty. Is this a dream?”
“Orville, we crashed, but you pulled the ship out of its dive just in time. It looks like we bounced across the meadow but the ship held together. My sphere of defense must have helped.”
Orville was trying to focus. “I remember now. The spider! Where is it?”
“I don’t see it. It could be miles behind us. I don’t know how far we flew before we hit the ground.”
Orville sat up. “It’s a miracle we’re alive.”
“We should check the ship. Maybe it’s not too badly damaged and still flies.”
Orville clambered out of the craft, jumping into a swath of spectacular yellow wildflowers. He walked around The Dragonfly, examining it closely. “It doesn’t look too bad. The landing struts are all twisted, and the bottom of the ship is scraped badly, but structurally it looks okay. The canopy is shattered but we have our goggles.”
“Do you think it will fly with only three wings?”
“Let’s find out.” Orville hopped back into the ship and started the duplonium motors.
“Motors sound all right. I’ll try the wings.”
Orville pushed the left stick gently forward and the ship jerked violently, but seconds later the wings were humming smoothly. “The wings must have gotten jammed in the crash and that’s why the duplonium motors stopped. Lucky for us. It’s running fine now. I’m going to try to take us up.”
“You might want to hurry.”
“Why?”
Sophia pointed into the distance at a great silver spider meandering in their direction.
“Not again!” Orville held the right stick all the way over and pushed the left stick forward. The Dragonfly shot up into the air. “It works! Push your right stick all the way to the right and hold it there while we’re flying.”
“Better get moving, I think the spider just spotted us.”
“I’m going up!” Orville slammed the left stick forward and the ship blasted straight up into the clear blue sky at one hundred and twenty miles an hour, pushing the two adventures down into their seats.
“That should do it! We’re at five thousand feet, the spider’s force beams can’t hit us up here.” Orville finally managed a grin. “Just another day in the life of a daring Metaphysical Adventurer!”
Sophia plucked a few wildflowers from the shattered canopy. “Mmmm, these smell wonderful. We’ll have to come back when there’s not quite so many attack spiders in bloom.”
Orville laughed, looking back at the gargantuan eight legged sparkling silver predator far behind them. “Better luck next time, spider!”
Sophia and Orville flew on toward Ollo the Rock Mouse’s secret hideout. “It’s not too hard flying with three wings, as long as you’re holding the right stick over.”
Sophia nodded, her eyes on Orville. “That was scary. We could have been killed. It really was Captain Orville to the rescue.” Sophia leaned over and kissed Orville on the cheek. “That’s for saving the day.”
Orville had a very silly grin plastered across his face for the next twenty miles and kept glancing over at Sophia.
“Quit grinning like a ninny, all I did was kiss your cheek.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just thinking of a joke Proto told me yesterday. That’s why I was smiling.”
“There’s the canyon! Eyes open, we don’t want to run into another spider.”
“How much farther to Ollo the Rock Mouse?”
“Fly into the canyon and head north for about five miles. We should see a rocky spire that Mirus circled on the map.”
Orville pushed the left stick forward and the ship’s altitude increased by five hundred feet. “I’m going to try out these goggles.” Orville twisted the small dial on the side of the brass goggles and gazed down the length of the great canyon. “Whoa! This is amazing, it’s way better than my sea captain telescope at home. More powerful. I see the spire. We just follow the gorge and we’ll be there.”
Orville pulled back on the left stick and pushed the right stick forward, their ship descending into the great canyon. He slowed down to get a better view of their surroundings.
Sophia pointed to the walls of the gorge. “It’s a lot like Pavorak Gorge but the layers of rock that run along the canyon walls are much brighter, especially the red layers.”
The Dragonfly shot forward, the towering sides of the canyon flashing past them in a colorful display. Ten minutes later Sophia called out, “There’s the rocky spire. It looks almost like a cloudscraper on Quintari.”
“Where is Ollo the Rock Mouse’s house?”
“One mile past the spire. Slow us down to thirty miles an hour.”
“Okay, we’re at thirty. Keep your eyes open. Master Marloh said it would be hard to find.”
Two minutes later Orville brought the ship to a standstill, hovering at five hundred feet. The two adventurers peered over the side of the ship, studying the canyon floor for any sign of a dwelling.
“I don’t see anything. It looks like the rest of the gorge, barren rocky terrain.”
“Mirus’s map definitely says this is the location, one mile past the spire. We must be missing something.”
Orville dropped down a hundred feet and slowly rotated the ship while they scanned the canyon. “Do you think he might live in a cave or something? Mirus called it Ollo’s secret hideout. Look for anything that seems out of place.”
Sophia pointed to a section of canyon wall. “Look at that ledge, there’s a dark shape in the shadows behind it. It might be something.”
Orville eased The Dragonfly over to the other side of the canyon and dropped down fifty feet until they were hovering only twenty feet from the ledge.
“That’s it! Back behind that big boulder, there’s a door built into the rock face. It has to be Ollo’s house, what else could it be?”
“Now I know why Mirus had us take The Dragonfly. We have to land on that ledge. There’s room, but it’s going to be tricky.”
Sophia laughed. “Nothing Captain Orville Mouse can’t handle!”
“I hope you’re right.”
Orville barely touched the sticks, easing the ship six feet higher and nudging it forward. The only sounds were the north wind whistling through the gorge and the steady hum of The Dragonfly’s three wings.
Sophia called out, “That’s it! Set her down!”
Orville pulled the left stick gently back and brought The Dragonfly down onto the narrow ledge. He shut off both duplonium motors and leaned back in his seat. “Whew! We never could have done that with The Glowbird.”
Sophia hopped out of the cockpit onto the ledge. “Smooth landing, Captain. The ledge is only twenty feet across at the widest point.”
Orville climbed out, keeping a safe distance from the edge of the cliff and its four hundred foot drop to the canyon floor. He stepped behind a large jagged boulder, eyeing the door to Ollo the Rock Mouse’s home. “Creekers, that door is ten feet tall, six feet wide, and made of solid iron reinforced with strips of Morsennium.”
Sophia studied the immense door. “I don’t see a bell. I’m getting a feeling Ollo is not fond of visitors.”
Orville grinned. “Remember how we got into Norrich Bunker on Periculum?”
“I don’t think that’s likely to work twice.”
“No harm in trying. “Orville stepped up to the door and knocked. “Ouch! That hurts my knuckles.” He picked up a rock and hit the door three times. “Tha
t should get his attention.”
They waited patiently for several minutes but there was no response. Orville sat down and leaned back against the door. “You know, I’m thinking Ollo the Rock Mouse might be even more eccentric than Mirus.”
“Why would a mouse who lives in a cave five hundred miles from the middle of nowhere be eccentric?”
“Ha! I can’t imagine.”
“Try knocking again.”
Orville grabbed the rock and hit the heavy door three times. “Maybe he has a hearing problem.”
Sophia was about to reply when she heard the sound of metal squeaking. She looked up in time to see a hinged slot at the top of the door closing, a folded piece of paper falling toward Orville. The paper fluttered down to the ground next to him. He unfolded the note and read it aloud to Sophia.
KNOCK TWICE IF YOU ARE SELLING SHOES.
KNOCK ONCE IF YOU ARE NOT.
“What does that mean?”
Sophia was as baffled by the note as Orville. Orville shrugged, then hit the door once with the rock. There was no response.
Three minutes later a second note emerged from the slot. Orville picked it up and read it.
KNOCK TWICE IF YOU ARE SELLING
EXCELSIOR ELECTRO-VACUUMATORS.
KNOCK ONCE IF YOU ARE NOT.
Orville hit the door once with the big rock. “What is wrong with this mouse? Do you think he can really help us? He seems pretty far off the road, if you know what I mean.”
“I don’t think Master Marloh would have sent us here if he couldn’t help us.”