by Max Jager
"Are you asking me if earth girls are "easy"? Seems to me they made a movie by that name.
"Uh no that's not what I was referring to," replied Slavek. "Maybe I'm not making myself clear. Both my sister and I view you and Kaitlyn as a golden opportunity to behave in a manner that if done on any known worlds in our galaxy would quickly get back to our parents and cause them shame and loss of prestige, whereas "cutting loose" on your world would have no foreseeable repercussions." Suddenly Matt realized what Slavek wanted to do.
"If I understand you correctly, Slavek, you and Tiag want to come to earth so you can get drunk, get laid, and generally raise hell without your folks getting wind of your behavior?" Slavek looked at him, a smile slowly forming on his face.
"Yes, but not only that, I just want to cut loose my chains even just for a little while." Matt grinned,
"Let me guess, a little "hot rodding" and tear-assing around earth might be on the agenda as well?"
Slavek smiled,
"Now you're getting the picture."
"Well," replied Matt, there are a number of places on earth I would not recommend trying this over, we just might get our asses shot down. I don't know about your galaxy, but on earth there are a number of nasty thuggish countries that would make our lives very unpleasant were we to get shot down, or crash in those places."
"Well you will have to alert us to them; However I'm willing to bet the weaponry we carry would go a long way to discourage anyone trying to attack us."
"Well we certainly don't want to start a war with anyone and I couldn't think of any better way than that," he replied, "Honestly though I would suggest you confine your "hell raising" to the United States and Canada. Things are pretty edgy back on earth right now, but if you want to start up another wave of UFO sightings I'm OK with that. Don't worry Slavek," he added, "I can think of a lot of ways we can have some fun."
At that point Tansy approached them speaking to Matt.
"I hope you don't think I'm being rude," she said, "We haven't really been introduced, I'm Tansy Moonchaser, and I don't know what you have heard about we fairies but I would like to be your friend." While she was speaking, Fergus had been glaring at her, an action she immediately caught. Snapping her head in his direction, she said.
"I don't care if you are the court wizard Fergus, we have a task ahead of us and I want to perform it well and right the first time."
"It's not my fault the queen wouldn't let you bring along a keg of your favorite beer, don't take it out on me." Matt then spoke up,
"Uh, I think Fergus here is just nervous about space flight." Tansy looked at him replying,
"Well I am too, I had never given it any thought, but while we are traveling in this void, I have no magical power whatsoever, which I suspect is also Fergus's problem." The Leprechaun sighed,
"I'm afraid you have revealed my secret lass. It's something I've never experienced before and it bothers me greatly."
"It does me as well,' she replied, "But we must be remain strong for our queen." Then Matt said,
"By the way you aren't buying any of that crap Kaitlyn and Bria are feeding you about me?" Tansy glared at him,
"Whatever do you mean? They have made no derogatory remarks concerning you. As a matter of fact, our discussions have been concentrated on the ceremony, and where Kaitlyn thinks it will be most effective. Since she has been blessed by we fairy folk, I have asked her to assist in the capacity of a citizen from the world of the Aos si´. Your friend is truly a godsend, the fact that Kaitlyn has been so helpful, and Slavek and Tiag have consented to take us to this strange land we now believe the Aos si´ landed on is something we of the Tuath De´ take very seriously. It may be our only opportunity to join our three tribes. Kaitlyn may seem aloof towards you right now only because she takes her duties very seriously, and is concentrating all her efforts towards this effort."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know," he replied, "She's been pretty moody lately, and quite honestly, I don't need the drama right now."
"Understood," replied Tansy. She then studied Fergus,
"Cheer up sir, Kaitlyn assures me we are heading for a land that highly reveres the lepreehun, perhaps you will be able to draw out the old spirits. By the way, speaking of another kind, that metallic container contains a goodly portion of your favorite brew; never say that I don't look out for my teammates." Fergus suddenly perked up staring at the medium sized container.
"Don't drink it all at once, ration yourself and it should last the journey," she added. Tansy then stepped over to Slavek,
"For what you and your sister have consented to assist us with, I name you
"Ælfwine" may Danu smile on you all your days." With that, the gently touched his forehead, bowing, as she did so.
Once she had left, the three of them set up their beds Fergus needing the least space. Using crates and a few buffering pads, Matt and Slavek managed to set themselves up with a decent amount of privacy as well as comfort. Fergus broke into the supply of beer Tansy had snuck aboard, offering some to Matt and Slavek. Matt wasn't sure he was going to like warm beer, but it turned out to not be half bad.
Slavek even liked the brew, so as they sat in a group Matt said to the Ruddorian.
"You said something earlier about tear-assing around earth, interested in doing a little canyon flying?"
"Are there chasms on your planet deep enough to drop down into?" replied Slavek.
Matt snickered,
"Oh definitely, as a matter of fact I have a very famous one in mind right now."
"Most excellent," he replied, "There are places on Ruddor and Amm Krye that extend for hundreds of kults the navy uses them for training. Ahh, but will we stir things up?" Matt gave him a puzzled look.
""Yeah, I'm pretty sure we'll do that, in fact I can guarantee it."
"Excellent," came the reply.
Gradually a routine developed aboard the ship. Tiag and Kaitlyn took the first shift while Slavek and Matt took the other. Since the ship was in hyper drive and on auto pilot, it was more a matter of monitoring their course and the engine indicators. Oftentimes Tiag and her brother would run "problems" in which Matt and Kaitlyn had to quickly recognize and correct. Kaitlyn was always worrying that the engines would either overheat, or break down due to the constant running. Tiag kept telling her not to worry.
"Those engines were built to stay running; it's actually the short stops and starts that are hard on them. As you can see from the indicator they are currently operating in the normal range they are also designed to self-cool." Fergus had also mellowed out and had finally adjusted to space travel, but mostly he was just bored. Used to an ever changing schedule of activities around the palace, he, and apparently Tansy weren't used to the same thing every "day" with the same people. Even though the trip took a little over a week and a half it seemed like forever.
With nothing better to do, Fergus and Bria spent a lot of time talking about their respective homeland, each telling the other how they used to sit and look up at the others home and wonder what people were doing there. Kaitlyn and to a lesser extent, Matt also spent a lot of time talking to the two fairy folk about what they could expect once they got to earth. Kaitlyn seemed to know quite a bit about Elvin folklore as it pertained to Irish and English mythology, a fact that greatly surprised him. Once when he and Slavek were alone, he confessed his surprise at Kaitlyn's knowledge.
"Honestly Slavek, I always had her as being pretty dumb, after all she was into that whole Goth thing, you know with the overdone eye shadow, the streaky hair combat boots, that sort of thing. She did seem to know a lot about extra terrestrials which is you guys so I asked her along. For the most part she's held up pretty well getting tight with the fairy folk and all." He then chuckled,
"Christ! If I had brought my original girlfriend she would have totally freaked out by now or would be dead. I don't know, maybe I've been reading Kaitlyn all wrong."
"I wish I could help you," replied Slavek, "But I really don't
know enough about you earth people to make an honest judgment. Hopefully by the time we leave I'll be able to make a better assessment."
"Well either that or you'll be ready to declare war on planet earth." Slavek gave him a curious look but said no more.
Once they entered earth's galaxy Matt suggested they start monitoring earth radio frequencies which was easier said than done. Everybody out Ruddorian way operated off a totally different band width. They began to orbit Jupiter while Tiag cobbled up a transmitter/receiver that could pick up earth frequencies.
"These are rather primitive communication frequencies your planet uses," commented Tiag, "I hope your planet isn't trying to contact us using them."
Matt shrugged,
"Naw I don't think they are, seems like I read something one time about using light spectrums or something but who knows." Once Tiag was sure her communicator would transmit and receive, it was off to the moon where they went into orbit while a plan was put together.
"I truly have to admit your home world is very beautiful," commented Slavek. Fergus, Tansy and even Bria all agreed it's outward beauty was no doubt what drew the Aos si´ to earth.
"I think our first order of business is to take up an orbit above Ireland and England," announced Kaitlyn, "It might give us a better idea of where we need to go. What I wouldn't give for the internet right now, we could pull up everything we need concerning Elvin mythology and maps to pinpoint where our best chances are of either finding someone or at least ruins where we could perform the ceremony."
"What about Stonehenge?" Asked Matt.
"I thought about that," She replied, "I think it dates back to Druid times, but I'm not sure the Aos si´ had anything to do with it."
Then Matt had an idea,
"Tiag, there are a number of communication satellites orbiting earth, maybe if we could hack into one we could pick up the internet, if nothing else I might be able to contact my folks."
"Well I would have to scan one first," she replied. "Study its schematic, obtain the proper codes, if your communications through them is as primitive as your radio transmissions it might not be so easy."
"Well we can certainly give it a try," he replied, "If it proves to be so primitive, I really don't see what the problem would be."
"It's because it is so primitive," replied Tiag. "I would have nothing to compare the raw data to."
"Well I still have my iPhone," said Kaitlyn, "All we need to do is hack the system and we're in." Tiag frowned at her comments but thought it was their best chance.
Chapter 47
Titan Stand Chapter 47
The travelers soon discovered there was so much space junk and satellites, not to mention the International space station which they judiciously avoided it wasn't funny. The first two satellites they located were not what they wanted, however they hit pay dirt on the third try. Both Matt and Kaitlyn watched as Tarsig started to bring up the raw data to analyze. Once she knew what she was looking at, along with a little help from Matt and Kaitlyn the actual hack into the communications stream was a piece of cake. Hooking Kaitlyn's iPhone into that stream took a little longer, but with a little trial and error and the fact that she already had a valid phone number they were able to slip into the system.
The first order of business was tapping into the internet. At first they kept getting "kicked out," but Tiag managed to set up a "dummy" client allowing them full access.
"All right, here we go," announced Kaitlyn, "Let's just see where this takes us."
Using her iPhone she tried calling home but was told the phone was no longer in operation.
"That's strange," she mused.
"Think your mom moved or something?" Asked Matt,
"Possible," replied Kaitlyn, but that would mean she moved to another city. If she got a new place in Durango they would let her keep the old number."
"Maybe she dropped the landline and is just using her cell," he added, "Lots of people are doing that."
"Yeah, maybe that's what she did," said Kaitlyn, but its funny my account is still open."
Kaitlyn finally got through to her Yahoo account and was tempted to browse all the e-mails that had come in while she was gone, but Matt told her to go straight to Wikipedia and start looking for someplace they could go to perform the ceremony. Since neither Tansy nor Fergus could read English, she read aloud every entry they went to dealing with elves. The matter wasn't helped when Kaitlyn explained that elves and various forms of fairy folk appeared in not only Gaelic and pre-Celtic mythology, but Scottish, Germanic, along with Scandinavian folklore. Then she brought up a map of Europe, along with Great Britain and Ireland making the task ahead seem very formidable.
"We can only begin to imagine how the influence of the Aos si´ spread or even where they initially landed," said Tansy, "Your world is so incredibly large and these countries?"
"Let's do this," suggested Matt.
"Let's comb through all this wiki stuff again I think there's a clue or two we're overlooking. Something tells me Ireland or England are where we want to be concentrating our efforts." So once again Kaitlyn began browsing the Wikipedia for different listings as well as anything they might have missed. Their first clue came when Kaitlyn brought up a reference to a Hawthorne tree, and a picture. Both Tansy and Fergus gasped.
"Huathe Crataegus, the sacred tree," exclaimed Fergus, "There is no doubt in my mind the Aos si´ once existed here."
Then Kaitlyn brought on the real excitement when she read a passage,
"Tuatha De´ Danann, those who went into the north of the world are the supernaturally gifted Tuath De´ who represent man. Pagan gods of Ireland they come to Ireland in dark clouds and land on a mountain in the west. They fought the Fir Bolg for ownership of Ireland." No one said a word for a moment as Kaitlyn's words sunk in, then Tansy slowly replied.
"The pronunciations are somewhat off, and I've no doubt the spellings are too, however they are close enough to the writings in the ancient texts not to be a coincidence. This mountain, what is its name and where is it?" Kaitlyn began her research anew, uncovering, (at least for Fergus and Tansy) an incredible amount of information. The mountain was Croagh Patrick; however its old name was Croghan Aigle which caused Tansy to gasp.
"Crowgent Agarle is the ancient term for sanctuary; we must go to this mountain."
"Well we'll have to do it at night," stated Kaitlyn, "Apparently it's quite a popular destination with pilgrims, there may even be some there even at night." Then Kaitlyn brought up information on the Hawthorne tree.
"Most associated with the fairy folk. Usually stands alone in a field or near a stone circle." The mention of stone circles also drew Tansy's attention, requiring Kaitlyn to locate data on them as well. She came up with information on Bru'na Bo'ine a national monument that dated back thousands of years, containing undetermined designs and symbols. Then there was "The hill of imaginary men" located in county Tyrone containing a stone circle with a couple "fairy" trees guarding it, the story even gave the map coordinates.
"Well our destinations are clear," exclaimed Tansy, with Fergus in support.
"I would like to begin with this Croghan Aigle, then move on to the hill of imaginary men, only because as Kaitlyn says, they're isn't likely to be anyone around at night. Then, depending on what transpires, we could possibly investigate this Bru'naBo'inne."
"Sounds like a plan," said Matt, "I guess we need to coordinate the coordinates." Their next move was to take up an orbit over Ireland proper adjusting the GPS coordinates of Dublin, Galway, Limerick and finally Belfast. Tiag then wrote a program adjusting the ships navigation system to "sample" the GPS coordinates thus creating its own data base.
When Tiag was sure everything matched, they headed for Croghan Aigle or as it was called nowadays, Croagh Patrick. Upon arriving, they discovered they were close to a mile and a half off, so Tiag tinkered some more, eventually getting everything to match up. It was around four in the afternoon local time, so everyone all tried to ge
t some sleep in light of the long night ahead. Matt went down to his "man cave" while the rest went over their roles in the ceremony. Right now he was thinking about calling home, but more than that, what would he say? Would his dad be mad? He wasn't so worried about his mother, she hardly ever got mad preferring instead to give him that "You let me down Matt, you really let me down."
Before long Fergus came down along with Slavek.
"Everything ready to go?" He asked the leprechaun,
'I certainly hope so," replied Fergus, "Both Tansy and I agreed that if there is little or no presence of any magical force we move on. If this mount is their original landing site as well as their sanctuary we should feel the presence of…Something." Matt noticed that Slavek seemed to be a little "wired" but figured that he just wanted to get all of this over so he and his sister could go roaring all over earth.