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Carnival Word Chapter 61

Everyone had been too busy talking and drinking hot beverages. They had not seen the four Cyno sheriffs come sprinting from the northeast. Nor had they seen them operate a secret door at the base of the cliff and ride the elevator to the top of the ancient temple.

As the elevator emerged from the floor of the temple, the four Cynocephs exited from within the small elevated chamber. There were four of them. Two had very short chocolate brown fur and looked like more human versions of the wolfmen. They also wore feathered caps similar, but colored differently, than the one worn by Orlando Bard. The Cyno Sheriff caps were like Bard’s, but green with one sky blue plume tucked under a black headband. Each Cynoceph was dressed in brown and green leather combat jerkins, very similar to those worn by Orlando Bard. However, each one had an emblem patch on their right shoulders with sky blue lightning and crossbow symbols. Bo had three black triangles above his patch. Rufus had one triangle. The other two Cyno’s had two black triangles above their patches. The number of triangles designated their ranks.

“Greetings Orlando Bard, my friend. And a fine hello to the rest of you.” Bo, the Cyno Sheriff, quickly surveyed the group and the temple, his Sherlock Holmes mind quickly cataloging a myriad of details.

Bard threw off his blanket and struggled to his feet and held out his hand to welcome Sheriff Bo. His son Rufus barked excitedly, then exclaimed, “Great to see you, Orlando Bard!”

Rangers Kai and Schmitt tried to rise, after setting down their cups, but plead weakness and dizziness, and stayed seated.

Bo offered, “The smaller version of me, is my son, Rufus. The other two gents are my deputies. Bosk has the ebony hair. The other is Clotchkee. We call him Clotch. He is the brown and black mottled deputy.” Neither barked, but both waved hands at the gathered group.

Rufus barked again, then exclaimed, “We heard the noise from our village, and came running to help! Sorry, that we are late, Orlando.”

Bard waved his hand in a dismissive manner, “You heard the battle then. Thanks for coming early. You weren’t scheduled to come until breakfast, but now that you are here, please join us. Some of us, as you see, are a little too worn for wear, even to stand. Why don’t you have coffee or tea and join us. Big J here, leader of the Earth Camera Crew, has been eager to meet you.”

Big J walked up and shook hands with the four Cyno Sheriffs. “Hola, amigos!”

As the four Cyno Sheriff’s stepped out of the elevator, Mystica spilled hot chocolate on herself. “I uhhm, one! I see two secret doors on either side of that elevator. One is small, but the other uhhm basically, is large.”

Bo spun in place, “Amazing, little Elf girl!” he remarked in perfect High Elf. “I can’t believe I have missed that all these years. I should demote my triangle by one point!”

Mystica put her cup down and threw off her purple woolen blanket. She jumped up, almost fell, and yelped, “Uhhm. Why is the world spinning?” She faltered but ran around the Cyno Sheriffs.

They all watched eagerly as Mystica examined the little door. After a few finger rubs, pushes and pokes, the little door opened with a click and swung outward.

Seven little glowing fae type creatures, gossamer wings flitting, flew out of the cubicle. “We are the Good Puks of Chumber-lee!” She added, “I am Queen Milly-Tilly. She curtsied to the group. We serve Jesu! Thank you for freeing us from the Suspended Animation Cube.”

The Puk, wearing a wispy navy blue cloak, speckled with scattered white stars, flitted over to Mystica, not too far from her nose. “You, Elf girl! Did you free me?” she asked.

“Uhhm. One. Basically, yes.” After a pause she added, “My name is Mystica. Mystica Knorn.”

Queen Milly-Tilly wrinkled her pointy nose before smiling, “Hmm. Royalty. How quaint. I am sorry, pretty little wedge chin. I have no trinket treasure reward for you. Please accept my free verse prophecy instead:

In the depths of a dragon temple,
many, many, many moons ahead in time,
you shall be weighed and tested.

Do not be afeered, Mystica of Q,
the dragon mother you will quest
serves the same Master as this queen.

After you pass the test
Mother dragon will bequeath the singular one plus plural two.
Legendary sword parts – together-not
and the one and only ginger kitten: adorable tangerine Tabby!

Rolly Furry Fingers is his true-name!
adopted daughter of Q!
He purrs and meows in fluent kitty talk
but speaks English, Dwarf and Quetzal.

Small and wee, a Tea Cup Kitty, he will always be,
And a Forever Kitten, riding free,
always on your shoulder or on your knee.

Rolly Furry Fingers, forever young, you see.
He may fade with a Cheshire cat smile but cannot cease to be.
From time to time he sleeps seven winks, in the Beautiful land, by Faerune’s Sea.
Forever young, until the ripe old age of nine hundred and ninety three!

Queen Milly-Tilly and her three sisters curtsied to Mystica once more and thanked her. “Enjoy your gift, Mystica Knorn, when it is time!” added the Queen. “And, when you return to your home, your green plush T-Rex will have the poem in its mouth!”

Then the four Puks, and their miniature Quetzels, flew away in a burst of rainbow light. Hearing a crash to the west, the group turned, surprised. To their amazement, the sparkling fountain had crumbled into dust.

Mystica’s eyes flared wide, but then she rushed to the other door. She knocked four slight smudges located in a circular span in the eight cardinal directions and the large door opened. Inside were empty weapon racks and armor mannequins.

There were also several chests. Eight chests made of blond oak and decorated with Puk and Quetzalcoatl carvings sat neatly along edges of the walls of the room. The largest chest, located in the center of the secret room, was three feet wide, four feet long and five feet high. Crafted from dense white metal, warm to the touch, and decorated with golden designs, the giant chest looked like a priceless storage locker fit for a great king.

Two colorful Quetzal birds sat atop the lid. One watched east and the other looked west. Eight stylized sunburst squares were equidistantly spaced upon the lid around the two rainbow birds. At each corner of the white and gold chest were four Maliks carved from gold, that leaned outward, as if guarding the great chest.

Each wielded a flaming trident whose red and yellow colors flickered, making the golden Maliks appear to be alive and moving. The Maliks had rams horns on their heads and horrific scowling clown faces. Each dark angelic statue, that leaned out from the corners of the chest, had scaled muscular humanoid bodies. On the long side of both the front and back was a mounted shield with a concave carved sneering face of Ameruca.

When opened, the box was completely empty, except for a pinch of dust, a rainbow feather, and a sparkling pastel green seashell.

The other smaller chests were also unlocked. Each was filled with hundreds of colorful seashells and thousands of rainbow Quetzal feathers. However, when touched, most of the feathers and seashells burst into mounds of glittery dust.

Kai, who had finally succeeded in rising from the temple floor, walked over on weak legs, and peeked into the room. He asked “What did you find in the larger secret chamber?”

Mystica replied, “Uhm. One. Basically. Chests filled with colorful sea shells and rainbow Quetzal feathers!”

Ranger Kai laughed, and was about to slap his knee, but stopped himself. He sighed, leaned against the elevator building and said, “Like I said earlier. So much for treasure! Boxes of cowrie shells and tropical bird feathers!”

Padrehad wandered passed Kai. Curiously, fingering his red-gold beard braid, he peered inside the treasure room. “Nickie-Bens! Creator protect us!” shouted Padre the White Dwarf Cleric. He added, “Mayhap not the treasure you expected, Earth Ranger Kai, in that extra-dimensional treasure chamber. But for all o’ that, valuable, none-the-less. They are nae a book, scroll or religious figurine, so the chests will be shared group treasure. Those are finer chests than even we dwarves make. Aye laddie, that large one is worth a king’s ransom, me boy! But aye wouldn’t touch it meself, mind ya! Ewil it is! He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Spoken-of and Maliks with an aye! Nay, I doon’t ken this venture to be a total loss, once the chests are sold.”

Bard laughed, “Wampum and thunderbird plumes, fine folks! Creator knows! But yes, Padre, some of the royalty on Carnival World might trade half their kingdom for that giant war chest or some wealthy visitor from Earth may sell his entire bank or five star hotel for the privilege of taking it back to Earth.” He added, “I need to whizz! Since Jose is still cowering in the porta-potty, I am just going to take a leak, off the cliff, but from the privacy of one of those broken off temple columns. Anybody else need to find their own broken temple column and go talk to a man about a horse?”

Padre, Big J and Gomez each found their own private broken temple column. Those who were afraid of heights, like Padre, did not step too close to the edge.

Daphne wiped her tears and exclaimed, “What about us girls!”

Maria laughed, then said, “If I need to go, Daphne, blankety-blank, I am just going to do the same thing the men are doing. Right out in front of the capital G God, all the blankety-blank small g gods, and everybody else. I am not a blankety-blank prim and proper kind of girl, Dr. Kimble. Too bad Ghordo is in a blankety-blank coma, he so enjoys my impromptu burlesque shows.”

Daphne scowled but remained silent.

Once the potty break was finished, and the men came ambling back to the camp, the adventure team was greeted by the hiss of air and mechanical rumbles from the bright and empty cerulean sky.

 

Carnival World Chapter 62

Most of those present recognized that sound pattern, but for those who did not, it took only a few moments, for the Skip Jack to uncloak and settle onto the circular icon of Ameruca.

Padre elbowed Anselm and shouted, “Right as rain, lads and lassies!” He added, “Aboot bloody time someone covered up that Nickie-Bens picture!”

Zales jumped out of the Skip Jack before the landing ramp was fully open. “At ease everyone! Kai, you better have a good reason for skipping my Sit Rep, or I am going to chew you a new padooka hole! And I can see you just had a major battle, and obviously you won the day, but that is no excuse for not reporting to me, Kai! I’ll expect a full Sit Rep and debriefing when we get back!”

Ranger Maria stood up wobbling like a drunk and saluted Zales. “At ease soldier! Sit down before you fall down! Kai, you look pale as an Hawaiian Akualapu ghost. Sit down by Maria and wait for the medics!”

Zales waved at the four Cyno Sheriffs and the camera crew. Then he yelled behind him, “Medics! Double-time it now. Med team one! Get Ghordo on a Gurney and into the Skip Jack. Now.

“Med Team Two. Check on Rangers Kai and Schmitty. Today Medics! Not tomorrow! Dr. Kimble! Get over by my rangers. Take your time, Daphne, but get started now!”

Walking up to the rest of the group, Zales saw that Ghordo was laying on the ground, covered in a blanket, and unmoving.” He barked, “Is the Half-Orc a casualty? I hope not. And not just because of the paperwork. Ghordo has the brains of a billy goat and the mouth of a mockingbird, but he is quite useful, when he is not being ruled by his gonads and his appetites!”

Bard replied, “Injury, yes. Death, no. He’s just comatose, Commander Zales. As for Ranger Kai’s failure to report…remember the green glowing stones from Dragon’s Roost?”

Zales scowled, then hawked a goober onto the temple floor, “Radioactive Malachite! Again!” He shook his head and scowled, “O.K., Ranger Kai, your off my crap list. For now.” Anselm asked Zales if he wanted a coffee or a tea. The Commander glared at Anselm momentarily, then smiled and said, “Yeah, Padre Cruze. Fix me up a coffee black.

“Sorry, everyone, I figured there was an emergency when Kai missed the Sit Rep. The Skip Jack doesn’t have the promised mess crew. I brought the medics instead. The Good Carnival City Blimp is on its way.

Give it a good thirty minutes. After we board it, the wait staff will be serving a supper buffet.

Everyone here is welcome to supper!”

He walked over to the center of the camp area and asked, “Big J, I see you have met the Cyno Sheriffs. Did you get any good pictures of the Cryptids?”

Big J replied, “Yes, Commander Zales, amigo. I know we got some good still shots and I am going to check the main vid cam now.”

Zales nodded his head and started to say, “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news…” Suddenly he hunched forward and his gun turret eyes swept the group. “Whose missing! Don’t let me prattle on until the Sit Rep is over! Spit it out cadets!”

The four sheriffs growled. Zales paused, then exclaimed, “Heavens to Merky-Troids! Not you, Sheriff Bo. I am yelling at my rangers and Orlando Bard!”

Zales started sprinting over to his rangers, who were being poked and prodded by two of team two’s med techs. Then he came to a full stop and snapped, “Peter, Paul and Moses!” He spun on a dime and barked, “Bard! Who is missing? And why? And spit it out, Orlando, before I get really mad! One of these days, Bard!” He wound up his fist like Jackie Gleason in the Honeymooners. Zales barked, “One of these days, Bard, right to the moon!”

Bard sighed and replied, “Jose, one of the archeology and film crew gophers locked himself in the porta-potty when the battle started.”

Zales dramatically lifted his arms to the skies. “Everyone’s standing around with their hands up their prison pockets and not one of you miserable excuses, from Bard Academy and Ranger School, got his skinny little Latino padooka out of there! I suppose, rather, than roust him out of there, you all just ripped ‘em out and watered the flowers off the edge of the cliff!”

Zales speed-walked over and rattled the porta-potty entrance hatch. He slammed his clenched fist on the plastic door. “Jose! Outta the head! Now! Unlock the door. Now! I am not going to be a happy camper, if I have to drag you out, Jose! Move it! Move it! Move it!” Zales started to yell for Big J and then turned his icy stare on Gomez.” Shutting his mouth, then reopening it, Zales screamed, “Foreign Unlawful Carnal Knowledge!” Zales looked as if he had been about to kick the door, but caught himself first.

“No response at all, Commander?” asked Bard. He added, “I’m not hearing any sounds from in there.” He shouted, “Mystica, your ears are better than mine. Are you hearing any sounds from inside the porta-potty.”

“Uhhm. Basically. No!” replied Mystica.

Bard asked, “Do you want me to go get my axe and bust the door?”

Zales scowled, “No. Too much paperwork. I’ve got enough paperwork without making more, Orlando.” The Commander yelled, “Team Two! Are you listening?”

“Yes, sir!” yelled a gal on team two. “Johnson, grab the rubber mallet from the tool box.” When Zales saw that she was walking, rubber mallet in hand, he snapped, “Get your Johnson over here now, Medic Johnson! Run.” Johnson raced to the Commander. He scowled at her and snapped, “Give me the mallet, then go help Medic Second Class, Avery Vickers, with Kai, Schmitty and Dr. Kimble!”

Bard followed Zales as he fast-walked to the porta-potty. He blew through his lips, then said, as Bard and the Cynocephs joined him, “Did you know that porta-potties are well known for capturing scared toddlers and holding drunks that pass out and lock themselves inside? High Stupidness!” He paused, “Not on my watch! I had a modification added to each unit.”

Zales stepped around the right side of the porta-potty door. “See that out of place company name, Jolly Green Porta-Potties, LTD? Just to the right of the vacancy/no vacancy sign, and on the edge of the side panel?” Zales hit the painted symbol with a mighty thump from the rubber mallet. The door groaned and popped open.

Instantly Zales snapped, “Team One! Leave Ghordo for the moment. Bring the other Gurney. And now! Not the Twelfth of Never!”

Zales scowled at the Cyno Sheriffs, “It just has to be one of those days! More paperwork!”

“Same here, Commander Zales,” offered Bo. He added,“Yeah, Zales, we have forms in triplicate, for a variety of such unexpected events. Wrist slashes. Hmm. I take it those metallic flat silver rectangles on the floor are tiny blades. CS Form 2793H for us.”

Zales shook his head, “DA Form 7747, for me. I think. My executive secretary back at the base will know the proper paperwork. Jose is not one of my rangers or civilian contractors. That may make a difference.” He added, “Let’s move aside for the Medical Team. We’ll head closer to the camp area. I see Padre Cruze has my coffee ready. Just in time, too. He’s late, but he’s not my soldier, and I was too busy anyway.” Zales dropped the rubber mallet by the porta-potty. “Thanks, Padre Cruz,” said the commander as he clasped his hand around the heat-resistant koozie sleeve that held the red plastic cup of hot coffee. “And thanks for zarfing it, Anselm. I hate scalding my hands on coffee cups that come without handles. Koozies are always welcome.”

As they were walking, the Commander snapped, “Bard! As soon as my med techs get Jose out of the head, send your she Elf in and have her clean it up. Just a quick job and sanitize it. We don’t need an official investigation. We have witnesses. And it is patently obvious what happened. Now as far as how long it took to find him, that may come back to bite us in the tuchus later. As far as cleaning, the Sewer Department crew, back at the city, will do a more thorough job later.”

“Will do, Commander Zales,” replied Bard.

Zales sighed, opened his mouth, then closed it again as the leader of the Earth film team came bouncing up to the group.

Big J sprinted up, out of breath, “The video is good, Commander Zales, amigo. My patrone, Big Bird will be happy.” He waved the U.S.B. card, then repocketed it. “I put a new one in, just in case another Cryptid walks by. I walk my USB over to Dr. Kimble in a few moment, amigo. Although, amigo, in this film, the Cryptids are all clear, but the two angels,  mostly they are just flashes of wavy colored lights, unless they are very close to the camera.”

“Angels!” snapped Zales, “Why didn’t anyone tell me during the Sit Rep! Good angels or bad angels? Were they enemy combatants or civilian support?” Zales growled, “Don’t answer that! Wait until the briefing. We will move up our briefing until after we have eaten on the blimp. We won’t wait for my briefing room!” He paused, “By the way, it is good that the film team has met the Cyno Sheriffs and you have good quality footage, Big J. If you haven’t guessed, the mission is over! That is why I sent the blimp, rather than the spare Skip Jack.”

“The mission is over, amigo?”asked Big J, sadly.

“Affirmative, Big J. You and Jorge and Gomez may as well start packing up. Successful or not, the mission has ended,” ordered Zales.

“Now for the bad news, Orlando Bard. Lady Q has been kidnapped.”

“What?” exclaimed Bard. Bard noticed that Mystica, out of ear shot for a human, but not for an Elf, now carried a grim, puzzled expression on her face.

Zales added, “Yes. This morning assassins came through the old White Naga Castle tunnel system. I thought that entry was destroyed!

“Professor Q’s students and her two giant Naga Warriors, Sumo and Amazonia, were at the Carnival. Lady Q had rented the Carnival grounds and her students and faculty were playing the Carnival Game. Sort of a field trip. She was finishing up some accounting or record keeping of some type, and was going to join them.”

“Who kidnaped her? Or don’t you know?” asked Bard.

“Well,” answered Zales, “Sumo, her male Naga Master Trainer, said that he could smell that Dark Atlanticean Human and Naga assassins had been present. He found a few hand, shoe, tail prints or snake oil smudges, too.”

“Any idea where they took her?” asked Bard.

“No,” replied Zales. “I was hoping you could do your magic, like back when you helped me on the Dragon’s Roost Rescue Mission.”

“Of course, I will help, Zales. Anyway I can. But I have no idea where the Dark Assassin’s Guild is these days. Any more clues or info?” asked Bard.

“This is not a clue, but they also took Lady Q’s suspended animation machine. Her eggs were all hatched, but the unit is gone. They never found her father’s old warehouse and science lab. The assassins never touched the computer that runs the Holographic Arena or Nursery Training Program. No high tech toys disappeared. The only things missing were Lady Q and her Suspended Animation Chamber.”

“So,” complained Bard, “You don’t have any concrete clues about where they took her.”

“I didn’t say that, Bard. There are clues. They just don’t make any damn sense!” snapped Zales.

“What other clues?” asked Bard.

Mystica walked by with cleaning supplies, some in their miscellaneous equipment and a few items borrowed from the medics. Her ears were angled behind her as she entered the porta-potty.

Zales replied, “First, we did a quick recon of the White Naga Castle ruins. They had parked a ship, just like a Skip Jack, but bigger, in a grass commons near the old castle courtyard.”

“I have heard Ambassador Wong and Riva discuss that ship. It is the upgraded model, called a Skip Jack Cruiser. Bigger passenger capacity, they are better designed for long space travel, can travel through solid objects, and it has laser weapons, teleporters, and tractor beams. Beam-me-up-Scotty modifications, if you are a Trekkie.” offered Bard. He paused, “And your next clue, Zales?”

“Where is Mool, Bard? I have not heard of that village or district. I checked our maps and there is no place called Mool,” replied Zales.

“How do you know?” asked Bard, “that Lady Q has been kidnapped and taken to a place called Mool?”

Zales fished in his shirt pocket and pulled out his cell phone.  “Even with the radiation shutting off the phone signal, I can still access my photos. Ahh, let’s go into the Skip Jack and close the ramp. All the features will work on the phone then, for sure.” He added, “You want to join us inside, Sheriff Bo. Sorry, but there isn’t room right now for everyone of your Sheriffs. Especially now that we have two bodies in there. At least one is in stable condition.”

“Thank you for your offer, Zales,” replied Bo. “We’ll have to take a rain check on that and the free meal, too. We will go back to our village. I have never heard, Commander, of a place called Mool. However, our computer data base may have data that I have never accessed. We will send our Courier to you if we find any information. Good luck Bard and Zales.

Sheriff Boregard whistled and his deputies followed him into the elevator. With a soft rasping rattle and grating of stone, they were whisked away, as the cubical descended into the depths of the butte. The floor tiled cover of the elevator dropped even with the temple. Neither Bard nor Mystica could see the outline of where the secret elevator door should have been visible to their keen eyesight.

 

Carnival World Chapter 63

When they entered the Skip Jack, and closed the door, Zales tapped the photo icon of his phone’s screen. He fingered the face of his phone until the picture appeared. “I snapped a photo during the forensics investigation. Here it is. I’ll zoom in.” Zales held out the phone so that Bard could examine the picture.

“I see the message. I take it lady Q was tied up, near the wall, while they disconnected the machine, then boxed up the extra parts and supplies. The assassins toggled on the antigravity function to easily remove the unit.” Bard sighed and fingered his cheek as he examined the message scrawled in the dust that coated the chamber’s wall.

He added, “I can tell why it isn’t her usual impeccable handwriting. Writing a message behind her, in the dust, in the dim light -not the easiest task. Pretty amazing, Zales, that the message is legible.”

Zales nodded his head.“No, I couldn’t do it. I don’t know how my executive assistant can read my chicken scratches.”

Bard cocked his head and sighed, “I don’t think she’s writing the word Mool. The last stroke of her finger is not a complete stroke. I can tell by the angled downward direction. If you look, where the slash that looks like a letter l, is more like the number one. It is barely visible. Look closer at the top right of that letter l. Observe the hint of a slight downward slant. Lady Q was only one third of the way through the letter and they must have pulled her away and took off with the unit.”

“You’ve been smoking your oatmeal, Bard! How can you tell that? Do you think you’re the legendary Sherlock Holmes?” crowed Zales sarcastically.

“No,” answered Bard, “And I do know who that character is, Zales. I have several Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Books and about two dozen Sherlock Holmes movies at the library. Sheriff Bo is just as good as Sherlock Holmes. If he were still here, I think he’d back me up.”

Zales rumbled ominously. “If you are barking up the wrong tree, Orlando Bard, I am not going to be a happy camper!” He added, “If the last word is not Mool, o’ sagacious one, what in the H-E-double hockey sticks is it?” demanded Zales, with a petulant scowl.

“The Dark Assassins now work for Maria Orsic, the German Channeler. Not your ranger lady, Maria Orsic Schmitt. I am talking about Hitler’s Nazi Poster Child. According to Earth Fringe Science history, where, besides Antarctica, and Argentina, did Hitler, or Hitler’s clone, and his henchmen make a secret base, following World War Two?”

Zales forcefully slammed his red metallic phone into his dress shirt pocket. “Fringe Science is not my area of expertise, Bard. Just tell me, and no more Trivial Pursuit, Orlando Bard. Just spit it out or you’ll really burn my onions!”

“They’re on the Moon, Zales. Just like the Nazi’s have a secret base on Earth’s moon, Hitler’s Maria Orsic, has one here, on Carnival World’s Moon.”

“That is absolutely absurd, Bard! Complete poppycock and malarkey! I have heard that theory before. It is a total hoax! No one but a complete idiot spouts that fringe garbage, Bard.”

Bard asked, “Do you think Bishop Patrick is a fool?”

Zales scowled, “As a matter of fact, sometimes I do! I think he is not running on all eight cylinders. Not all the time. I’ll grant you that.

“Does he believe that malarkey, about a moon base off from Earth? Antarctica, yes, I think that is possible. Maybe. Why does Bishop believe in Moon Base Nazi’s?”

“Steven Quayle. In his book Empire Under the Ice, https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Beneath-Ice-Stephen-Qualye/dp/149513797X he writes about it. That book really focuses on the Antarctic base. The moon base theory is just a side issue. And I don’t think that is the only time Quayle wrote or discussed the Nazi Moon Base theory. Bishop Patrick was the one who talked me into getting a copy of Quayle’s books for my lending library,” replied Bard.

“Fine. I won’t think of seven ways to Sunday, Orlando, to shout from the roof tops of Carnival City that you are a complete idiot. I still don’t buy it, and just based on you, Patrick and the author/pod caster Steven Quayle, I am not going to agree to sending a Skip Jack on a rescue mission, to the Carnival World Moon!”

“What if I can provide you with another source. A good one, on Carnival World?”

“Well, don’t keep me in suspense, Bard! Spit it out!” exclaimed Zales, scowling.

“Call Ambassador Sully on your cell phone, Commander. If anyone has a clue, about where the Dark Assassin’s Guild, has a hideout, maybe his wife Queen Riva Zzzillzzzaga or Scholar Orotzzz knows.”

Zales scowled again and breathed out a sarcastic groan, “Fine. I’ll call Ambassador Sully.”

Zales pulled his phone back out and tapped the phone icon, then clicked on Wong’s, military use only, cell phone number. Following a few rings, Ambassador Sully picked up.

“Commander Zales, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?” asked Sully.

Zales replied, “I wish it were a pleasure call. Lady Q has been kidnapped by the Atlanticean Assassin’s guild. Bright Boy Bard, here, has the fantastical notion that she is now on, or on her way, to the Dark Side of the Moon. Carnival World’s Moon!”

Queen Riva’s melodic voice chimed in, “Sum Ting Wong?”

Bard, momentarily forgetting the tense situation, chuckled.

Zales replied crisply, “As a matter of fact Riva. Queen Riva. There is something ‘wong.’ Lady Q has been kidnapped!”

“No!” screamed Riva.

Zales asked, “Any idea where the Dark Naga Assassins have their secret guilds?”

Riva exclaimed, “They have only one base! Rumor has it that Maria Orsic, that Queen of Evil, is their supreme commander. Not your lady ranger, Zales. But the —what is that word? Channeler. The Vril Society Channeler who worked for Earth’s Adolph Hitler. She has, according to rumor, a moon base. When she absconded with my mother’s Dark Naga and Atlanticean Assassin’s Guild, she took them with her. Find Maria Orsic and you’ll find Lady Q. And by the way, if you find my Cruiser, I want it back! That ship is Dark Naga Kingdom property, Zales. Not to put too fine a point on it, if you find my ship, your scientists may poke, prod and examine it for thirty days, but then I want it parked, outside my castle, promptly.

“Good luck on your mission! And don’t ask Sully to come, Zales!”

“Of course not. And if I can,” replied Zales, “I’ll get your ship back. I agree with your terms, Queen Ziva. I will send the contract to you, via Courier. Talk to you, later, Sullivan Old Boy.”

Zales turned to Bard, “You’ve got a mission go, Orlando Bard! One of these days, Bard. Right to the moon, but via Skip Jack. No pop in the kisser!”

“Reminds me of a song you might know, Zales.”

“Now why doesn’t that surprise me?” replied Zales as he rolled his eyes.

“I have a copy in my library,” offered Bard, “Old Blue Eyes. Frank Sinatra, ‘Fly me to the Moon.’ Not the whole song, Zales, Just the first line.”

“Thank God for that, Bard. Our association is challenging enough without interjecting the primary meaning of the song. Old Man Conner probably has the hat the old crooner wore when he recorded it. But enough on that subject, Bard. Let’s not beat a dead horse!

“As soon as we get back to Carnival City, we are going to gather all of Alpha Team and a Beta Team pilot. Not just Kai and Schmitty this time. That was my fault. I do apologize.

“We’ll plan the mission. Officially, when we get back to the briefing room. Ghordo is on the injured reserve list, but Mystica Knorn and Padre, if they’ll take the mission, are welcome. I will compensate them, as usual, per our customary terms, through your Bounty Hunter’s Guild, Orlando Bard.”

“Sounds great, Commander Zales,” replied Orlando Bard of Carnival World.

Zales offered, “I am going to confer with my medics, then I will exit the Skip Jack before the Beta Ranger, takes Ghordo, Jose and the medics back to St. Patricks Hospital.  See you on the blimp, Bard, if not before.”

Orlando Bard, formerly known on Earth as Agent “Big Mac,” Rafe McKenzie, First Nations Ojibwe and Scots Irish American, exited the Skip Jack to supervise exit preparations and await the Carnival City Blimp. So ends another adventure with the AWOL, U.S. Special OPS Earth Ranger of Cryptid Team Four. 

________________ Thank you for reading my book!

For the exciting conclusion of the Carnival World Moon Mission Rescue,

see Carnival World, Book Two.

I’m guessing it will be available in about a year, (wishful thinking) but previews will appear on my website much sooner!