In Deep – 17: The One Who Came

The creature which now dominated the front yard was about twenty feet tall. It was roughly conical with skin like a jaundiced albino elephant. From the cone’s apex four tentacles sprouted: two of them terminated in orange nippers, like crab claws; another ended in a kind of four-barrelled reddish trumpet; the last supported a sphere with three large eyes spaced equally around it, topped by some antennae-looking sprouts and encircled by a myriad finger-like tentacles at its base. This last feature loomed down over me, regarding me closely.

‘I am the One Who Has Come.’ Its voice didn’t so much disturb the atmosphere as it just appeared in my head, bypassing my ears altogether. I winced: I’d had enough of telepaths to last me a lifetime. I tapped a cigarette out of its packet and lit it up.

‘You certainly have done that,’ I said, ‘I guess a welcome is in order.’

The eyestalk swayed back and forth, the eyes dodged around frenetically, taking in the surroundings. It swung back over me once more.

‘The atmosphere here is Vewwy Disagweeable,’ it intoned, with audible capitals.

I coughed, surprised. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, catching my breath, ‘but since when does a telepath talk like Tweety?’

The eyestalk reared back, looking at me askance. ‘The Question is meaningwess,’ the voice came, ‘pwease wephwase the quewy.’

I drew deeply on my smoke and squinted up through the rain. ‘Forget it,’ I said, ‘doesn’t matter. What does matter is what you’re doing here?’

The two nipper-tentacles writhed momentarily, and I noticed that each was adorned with about fifteen large metal rings, like golden bangles.

‘I have come to Enact the Twansaction,’ said the One, ‘as outwined in the Pwevious Agweement.’

I blew smoke sideways into the rain. ‘That’s all very well,’ I answered, ‘but since I wasn’t present for the Previous Agreement, what say you tell me what it was?’

The huge eyes loomed close again. ‘You don’t Know?’ came the voice in my head.

‘Sadly, no’ I said, ‘they don’t always tell me everything.’

‘That is Most Vexing. The Agweement was made excwusivewy to your kind; surewy you all share such information amongst yoursewves?’

‘Perhaps I just missed the memo,’ I said, ‘in the meantime, why don’t you bring me up to speed?’

‘How do I know this is not Some Kind of Wuse?’ The central eye stared hard, its iris quivering intently.

I rubbed my chin, thinking. ‘I promise it isn’t...?’ I offered, lamely I thought.

The bracelets on the clawed tentacles jingled as they rose upwards and crossed over the front of the conical body. The eye-adorned sphere tipped sideways while its tentacle-fingers wriggled.

‘Well,’ the One finally said, ‘since A Pwomise is made, I must surewy be able to pwace Twust in you.’

What a chump, I thought... and then remembered I was dealing with a telepath. ‘So what was this deal?’ I went on hurriedly.

‘In Exchange for these Wings of Specified Metal,’ the One intoned, ‘The Wepwesentative was to dewiver to me a Certain Stone.’

‘Why am I not surprised?’ I muttered. I flicked away my cigarette butt. ‘What’s the deal with this stone?’ I asked, ‘I mean: why is it so important?’

The huge eyes drifted down over me, regarding me sternly. ‘It holds Gweat Power,’ the voice boomed across my cortex, ‘such Power the Keeping of which is Inappwopwiate for Your Kind.’

‘Don’t think we’re up to it, huh?’ My dander was rising.

‘Demonstwabwy not,’ the One continued, oblivious to his diplomatic slip, ‘It Behoves Us to Wewieve you of It for your Own Good.’

I narrowed my gaze. ‘What makes it so dangerous?’ I asked. ‘Is there something written on it, carved into it? Is it radioactive?’

The giant eyes blinked and one of the tentacle claws made a dismissive gesture. ‘No,’ came the voice, ‘it is That Which Is Within that is Deadwy. If it is not Secured at This Time, it will be Activated and that will cause Vawious Disturbances in the Timewines, which will be Anathema to Our Schemes. Ours and...Others.’

I helped myself to another cigarette while taking this onboard. ‘The bottom line, One,’ I said, breathing smoke, ‘Is that I don’t have the stone. Someone else does, and they are the One Who Made This Deal With You.’ (Ye gods and little fishes! I thought: it’s got me doing it now!) ‘Can you recall who it was you talked with before? Their name? What they looked like?’

The One made a gesture which I interpreted as its version of a shrug. ‘I’m not sure,’ it said, ‘your Names are incompwehensible to me and you all Wook the Same. Hetewogeneity of Appeawance is something Your Kind has obviouswy not identified as an Ideal...’

‘Alright, alright,’ I cut it off. ‘Look: I’ll find this stone and I’ll destroy it for you, if that’s of any help. I’ve been on the trail of it for a day or so now, and I’m sure to turn it up somewhere. Will that be acceptable to you? Me, getting rid of the damned thing?’

It pondered momentarily, wriggling its short tentacle fingers. ‘If it is Destwoyed within a wewativewy short Time Fwame, its Impact upon the Timewines will be Negwigible, especiawwy in This Wocale. However, you must twy to see The Stone Destwoyed without actuawwy doing so Yoursewf: it is Certain Doom otherwise.’

‘Make sure the deed is done, without doing it myself?’

‘Cowwect.’ The One raised its tentacles into the air, except for one of the pincer arms. This was lowered claw-first to the mown grass where it shook itself gently. The metallic rings tumbled off the arm onto the lawn in a ringing pile.

‘This is half the Fee Discussed,’ said the One, ‘The Wemainder will be Given To You when the Deed Is Accompwished.’

I pushed my hat back off my forehead. ‘I’m mighty obliged,’ I said.

Then the One gathered all of its limbs together like some kind of sea creature closing up for the day. ‘I now Take My Weave,’ it said.

Suddenly, the air pulsed again, like a wave passing by when you’re standing in the water offshore; only not as pleasant. Where the One had been there was now only an annoying afterimage that slowly faded from view. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. When I looked up again, the Opener was busy disassembling the gizmo he had built and was placing the parts swiftly and dextrously back into the black plastic trunk. When he had finished, he snapped the lid shut and picked it up by the handle on one end, bringing the wheels on the other end into play.

I finished smoking and flicked the butt away.

‘So, this is what you do, huh? Stage appearances for time-travelling aliens?’ I asked as he began trundling away.

‘It’s a Living,’ he beamed.

To Be Continued...