Jump Starting the Universe

by John David Buchanan

  “I’ve never heard of them,” said Mark.

  “I’m shocked,” replied Blackie dryly, “I didn’t know about them either until I studied the Shumbrans.”

  “What do they have to do with ducks?”

  “Ducks?”

  “Don’t tell me they’re like Shumbrans,” said Wayne.

  “I won’t, because they’re not,” replied Blackie, “and they have nothing to do with ducks Mark, they are a P-A-R-A-D-O-X.”

  “Okay, okay I got it; keep you panties on,” said Mark, “what are they like.”

  “Not a lot is known about the Desredeedese Shades,” started Blackie. “They inhabit planet Sombor in the Ashenian System. The few visitors who have been there describe it as a dark world with leaden skies. The entire planet is often shrouded in thick gray mists and it looks uninhabited because the Shades live deep beneath the surface in nests they make by hollowing out pockets of soft rock.”

  “What do they look like?” asked Amelia who got goose bumps on her arms when Blackie described how where lived.

  “The Shades look like their planet, they are dark and amorphous, not having a fixed shape but transmogrify constantly for reasons unknown. Try to picture long pieces of very fine, loosely associated black or dark gray fabric that have been hung from a line outside and are blowing in the night breeze; their shapes change even when they’re not moving. Shades don’t have eyes but they sense things around them; and when they need hands they simply form them. They rarely form feet because they don’t walk; they hover in the air or glide on any hint of a breeze. When they want to they can move so quickly that your eyes only register a fleeting shadow passing by; the optical signals sent to our brains don’t contain enough information to register a proper image.”

  “They sound creepy,” offered Amelia.

  “They do don’t they?” said Blackie, “but get this, they commonly make pilgrimages to other planets - most often ones with dry climates and ample sunshine. They love being near water like streams and lakes. They have never been known to cause problems in places they visit.”

  “That makes them sound a little better,” offered Amelia.

  “Well let me tell you something that will really surprise you,” said Blackie. “Shades despise the Shumbrans.”

  It took a moment for everyone to process Blackie’s statement. “But they sound so much alike,” said Wayne.

  “That’s the point isn’t it?” replied Blackie, “looks are deceiving; they look similar in a way, but they are nothing alike. Desredeedese Shades are not vicious, they are not meddling contemptable beings; most descriptions of encounters with them describe them as helpful or concerned.”

  “I’d have to see it to believe it,” said Wayne.

  “Me too,” added Mark.

  “Where did they come from?” asked Nita.

  “The same place we came from,” replied Blackie who didn’t exactly understand her intent.

  “I mean are there any stories about them, about their origins?”

  “There are legends,” said Blackie.

  “Let’s hear it,” said Mark. So Blackie recounted one of the stories he had read, the legend of The Great Hall of Halls. “... So, when the phials in The Place of All Consuming Fire were destroyed the spirits of malicious beings were released. They drifted from their broken prisons and began to mix together. Most of them became what was described as a dark amalgamation that was bound and cast down to the surface of a dark planet nearby. But some of the dark spirits escaped from The Place of All Consuming Fire, before the others were bound, intending to return to their former homes. While they were trying to escape they made their way to The Hall of Returning, but unfettered spirits sensing their intention to breakout, rushed from The Hall of Virtues and overpowered them, mixing with them and binding them so they couldn’t leave. The unfettered spirits paid a dear price for their selfless act, they were no longer pure spirit, no longer bright and dazzling; they had become darker, dark as the evening sky on an overcast night.

  “Strength derived from the pure virtue of those unfettered spirits gave them the advantage to overpower the others, but in so doing they became tainted and no longer suitable for a host. Legend says they were allowed to leave The Great Hall of Halls and make their way to the planet Sombor. Although the light and dark spirits could no longer be completely separated, with help from the Keepers of The Hall of Halls the amalgamated spirits were successfully partitioned into distinct beings; each one with spirit from the Hall of Virtues and a small amount of dark spirit from The Place of All Consuming Fire. The Keepers were careful to make sure what was once pure spirit was dominant in each of the new beings and that it was sufficient to repress the darkness they had subdued. What was borne out of the unfettered spirits’ concern for others and their great personal sacrifice was the dark shapeless beings that became known as the Desredeedese Shades.”

  Everyone was oddly quiet for a moment. “Man what a great story,” said Mark, “you think it’s true?”

  “No one knows Mark, that’s why they call them legends,” replied Wayne.

  “I’m tired, I’m going to bed,” said Blackie and the entire group traipsed off to their hotel room.

  Early the next morning they left the hotel headed toward the mountain lake. The sun was out and the sky was cloudless and perfectly blue. After driving for about 45 minutes Wayne asked, “Where is the park exactly?”

  “About there,” said Joules pointing to a spot just below the top of the mountain. As they started to climb the tight lanes and switchbacks Wayne noticed a car behind them. Each time there was a passing lane Wayne pulled into the slow traffic lane but the car wouldn’t go around. After 30 minutes of climbing they arrived at the entrance park. The car that had doggedly followed them went straight and continued up the mountain pass. Wayne pulled the Nomad into a parking lot built on a high ridge overlooking the lake.

  “Man, that is awesome,” exclaimed Mark looking out at the water and mountains.

  “Joules, what a great idea, the lake is beautiful,” added Nita. Everyone grabbed a bag and made their way to a table in the picnic area. Joules, Nita and Amelia dashed to the ladies room to don their swim suits; the guys had all worn theirs under their jeans.

  “This is spectacular really,” said Mark as they found a perfect spot on the beach not far from the picnic area. Joules who was sure everyone would love the lake beamed. Everyone swam and then played two-a-side volleyball (just like on Terra Bulga – go figure). After another swim everyone was hungry and they laid out food for the meal on a shaded table in the picnic area. There was bread, meats, cheeses, soup, those little round crackers Mark liked (the ones that tasted suspiciously like Italian seasonings), and there was fruit salad, tossed salad, egg salad and two kinds of dessert. As you might expect, after the meal, everyone lathered up with what Joules called Radiation Blocker and laid in the bright sunshine admiring the lake and mountains.

  “Did you see that?” asked Mark.

  “What?” said Wayne, looking in the direction Mark was looking.

  “What is that?”

  By the time Nita looked down the beach whatever Mark had seen was gone.

  Mark and Wayne busted out their guitars around 13:00 IPT and started playing songs from the set list they had used at what they now affectionately called The Getaway Bar and Grill Concert. To Mark’s delight people started to gather near their picnic table and when they finished at 14:30 IPT there were several hundred people sitting at tables or on blankets they had spread on the ground. The thirty minute jam session had turned into a one and a half hour concert. Onlookers near their table broke into spontaneous applause and almost everyone joined in.

  “Man that was awesome,” said Mark.

  “Yeah that was really cool,” said Wayne.

  “They didn’t even seem to mind Blackie’s singing,” said Mark who didn’t see the grotesque face Blackie pulled behind his back. They filled glasses with cold water for the trip home and loaded the Nomad in a
matter of minutes. “Look, right there,” Mark said pointing to a place near the lakes’ edge, “what is that?”

  “What is that Blackie?” said Amelia.

  Blackie was deep in conversation with a man who had joined the crowd around their table to hear them play. “Thanks,” said Blackie,” we’ll be in touch.”

  “Blackie did you see that?” said Amelia.

  “See what?” responded Blackie.

  “Never mind,” said Mark, “what did that guy want?”

  “He owns a little club in town and said he wants to book us,” said Blackie.

  “No he didn’t?” said Wayne hopefully.

  “Yeah, he did,” said Blackie.

  When they got to the parking lot Blackie noticed the car that wouldn’t pass them on their way up the mountain was parked on the far side of the lot. “When they finally passed us they missed the entrance to the park” he thought.

  “It looks like it’s going to storm,” remarked Nita who was looking up at the sky.

  “Yes, it does,” agreed Amelia, “Wayne we should hit the road.” They pulled out immediately and although it was late afternoon there was plenty of time to make the return trip. There was plenty of daylight; the sun was a stunning yellow color and the sky was brilliant blue. Wayne pulled off the park road onto the small lane that led back to town, made the first curve to a descending stretch of road and realized something was wrong. He narrowly made the next curve as he was going a little too fast and had to shave the inside of the lane as much as he dared. “You’re going a little fast Wayne.”

  “I know.”

  “Could you back off a bit? The girls look a little nervous.”

  “I can’t,” he said quietly, “the brakes aren’t working.”

  The runaway car swerved around a sharp turn in the road and fishtailed before Wayne could coax the Nomad back into his own lane. Ahead of them in the distance there was a greenish mist, as if someone were pointing a green light through spray from the waterfall.

  “Nita, look, right up there,” said Amelia who was looking at the waterfall pouring from the mountain side.

  “What is that?” responded Nita. “Blackie, do you…..

  “I know what that is,” said Blackie.

  Wayne started into another turn and suddenly there was something pressing against the driver’s side door. “What the blazes is that,” yelled Wayne.

  “That’s a Shade,” said Blackie softly. A Desredeedese Shade was pressed against the cliff side of the Nomad that was kicking up rocks from the edge of the pavement.

  “Look at the sky, look at the sky Blackie,” yelled Mark. The bright sun was brighter, more yellow than normal. The blue sky seemed to be more blue, almost unnaturally blue.

  “It looked like this earlier when I thought it was going to storm” said Nita. No sooner had the words left her mouth then everything around them was bathed in the same greenish tint they saw near the waterfall. Wayne took another turn in the road and again the Shade was pressed against the cliff side of the car as if it were helping to keep it on the road.

  “Help me find the Jump Starter,” yelled Amelia, “it’s in my brown bag in the back by the tailgate. That’s it quick give me the bag.”

  “Hit the button now,” yelled Wayne as the Nomad scraped along the cliff-side railing.

  “It’s not working,” yelled Amelia, “it doesn’t work.” Wayne steered the Nomad into another curve going way too fast and again a Shade was there pressing on the side of the car, seemingly to help keep it from plunging off the road.

  “It won’t work,” yelled Blackie over the screeching tires, “it can’t make a safe jump because it can’t select an origin; we’re in a mixing zone; the Jump Starter doesn’t know which universe we’ll end up in so it can’t establish a point of origin and program a jump.”

  Blackie was seated behind Wayne. He leaned forward so he could talk to him, trying to speak to his left side so the others couldn’t hear. “Wayne you can’t keep this wagon on the road much longer even with the help of that Shade. We are going way too fast and the Shades simply aren’t going to be able to help us much longer. We’re in a mixing zone Wayne, just like behind the bar when we first left Earth. Keep this car on the road until the parallel planes diverge and we’ll be out of this mess.” Wayne steered the car through another sharp turn and looked ahead at the descending road that ended in a hair-pin curve around the far side of the mountain.

  “We’re not going to make that turn,” said Wayne.

  “You see that green area just before the turn?” said Blackie.

  “Yeah,” said Wayne, trying to focus on the road and not look at the Desredeedese Shade flying next to the Nomad.

  “Aim for that green spot,” said Blackie, “trust me Wayne that’s our only chance. If you miss that green spot we’re guaranteed goners.”

  “Are you sure?” yelled Wayne. “That’s over a cliff.”

  “Yes, I’m sure. Amelia we are going airborne on the next curve. If the green disappears before we get there, punch the Jump Starter button.”

  Mark overheard Blackie’s comment. “Wait a minute I don’t think airborne is a good idea,” yelled Mark.

  “We don’t have any other option,” yelled Blackie, “Wayne, put us in that mixing zone right now!” The Shade who had been flying alongside the car veered away from the Nomad just as Wayne launched it over the side of the cliff. As they cleared the ground Wayne noticed the speedometer – ninety five miles per hour, and then noticed it wasn’t green anymore.

  The air around them was so filled with ash and smoke it was hard to make out their surroundings. In the distance a volcano was spewing fire, and ash, and gas and chunks of lava everywhere. The Nomad was falling into a deep, deep abyss, but the bottom would arrive all too soon.

  “Punch the button,” yelled Wayne. Amelia pushed the red button on the Jump Starter. The Nomad was falling through so much ash they could barely make out the sides of the gorge, but they knew the bottom was dangerously close. The Nomad was suddenly enveloped in a bright white haze. At the front of the car a glittering golden ring formed, encircled the bumper and moved slowly toward the rear of the car. They heard a wooshing sound as it passed.

  “Come on hurry up,” yelled Mark. Another ring formed around the front of the vehicle and glided toward its rear end as the Nomad fell further into the crevasse. Woosh, and a ring glided by, another woosh and another ring. The rings began to form faster woosh, woosh. Joules notice the sides of the gorge were getting closer. The rings formed faster and faster until they were just a blur flying around the car. Woosh, woosh, woosh.

  Nita watched as a steady stream of rings rifled by the passenger side rear window. “It’s quite beautiful” she thought. The white haze began to pulse with silver flashes and everything became slightly transparent. With each pulsation the silver flashes increased in intensity and the haze became more and more transparent, as did the car and everyone in it. Wayne could see the sides of the gorge closing in as the Nomad dropped into the bottom of the gorge, and sensing what was imminent loosened his grip on the steering wheel and shut his eyes. And in that instant, the car, six passengers, and a substantial amount of music equipment and the left-overs from a picnic lunch vanished.

  The Nomad dropped a distance of what felt like six inches onto a plain of deep silica sand and slowed to a halt while kicking up a tremendous cloud of dust. “Is everyone okay?” yelled Wayne, whose hands had found the steering wheel again and were gripping it so hard his knuckles were white.

  “I’m fine,” said Amelia.

  “Me too,” added Nita. “Mark, are you okay?” asked Nita.

  “What just happened?” asked Joules.

  “I think you just survived another assassination attempt,” said Blackie in a surprisingly calm voice considering he had just been within seconds of being crushed at the bottom of a gorge on some completely barren and forsaken planet.

  “What do you mean?” asked Wayne, whose hands had relaxed somewhat a
nd some color was starting to return to his knuckles.

  “Remember the car that wouldn’t pass us coming up the mountain?” said Blackie.

  “Yeah, the idiot missed the turn-off,” responded Wayne.

  “That’s what I thought,” said Blackie, especially when I saw that same car in the parking lot when we left.

  “Go on,” said Wayne.

  “They tampered with our brakes Wayne,” replied Blackie. “While we were out at the lake they were jimmying the brakes so we would be killed on the way down the mountain. All of us, including Joules.

  “How did we stay on that road?” asked Wayne,” I don’t believe we made it through that alive.”

  “I don’t know,” replied Blackie. “Legends say the Desredeedese Shades can bend space and time. Maybe that explains why they were pressed against the side of the Nomad. They don’t have mass as we know it, so they couldn’t really push on the car to keep it on the road. But if they were shifting space,” continued Blackie, “slightly shifting the edge of the cliff when we were in danger of sliding off, it gave us just the margin of error we needed to reach that mixing zone.”

  “How is it we just happened on a mixing zone?” asked Mark.

  “Prenetian said we’re imprinted,” said Amelia joining the conversation. “He said once you’re imprinted you’re more likely to encounter another mixing zone. Prenetian didn’t explain why,” she finished, knowing that would be the next question. Mark was staring out the front windshield. The dust kicked up by the Nomad’s landing was settling and he could just begin to make out the landscape. He opened the door and stepped out into the sand. Everyone piled out of the Nomad and joined Mark at the front of the car.

  “If those Shades hadn’t helped us stay on the road….,” Wayne trailed off.

  “We wouldn’t be here,” said Joules, finishing his thought. For quite some time no one said a word. A sun was just coming up behind them, and in front, just above the horizon were two purple colored moons so large it seemed like you could reach out and touch them.