Sliding Into Antar
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My Home Is In The Stars
Chapter 22
XXII>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Oh give me a home where the wild pawgors roam
Where the yeggs and long-hair shebbles play
Where seldom is heard an English word
And the ocean is golden all day
Home, home on Antar
Where the jah-ee and jaras-dru play
Where cars float on air
And the skies are all clear
And the ocean is golden to stay…
Alex ran through a bright and musically complex, if somewhat un-western-sounding rift to end the song then looked at his guitar again lovingly and set it down at his side, as Mali and Gidi clapped appreciatively.
"This is so awesome, Mom! I can't believe you thought to bring me my guitar!"
Gloria smiled, returning another hug from Mali, who was sitting in her lap. "Well, I've missed hearing you play it in your room every night before you go to bed, Alex. I… we, that is… have a lot of missed time to catch up on."
Alex smiled… "We do, don't we!"
"Interesting version of Home On The Range, son," Chuck said with a chuckle, as he balanced Gidi on his shoulders.
Alex grinned… "One of my first kingly requests was to have them make me a new guitar on Antar, and I made that version of the song up… kind of as a lark. Back then all I had was Frankenstein."
"Frankenstein?" Gloria asked, with a puzzled expression on her face.
Isabel nodded… "They made him four guitars before they got it right. Alex kept all four… and gave each one a name. 'Frankenstein' was the first one."
Alex chuckled… "They got it all wrong… It looked like it was made with parts from all over the galaxy… including some things nobody ever heard of before… all glued together. They had this big bolt coming out of the neck of the guitar to adjust the strings with. It reminded me of Frankenstein. I had to throw several people in the dungeon for that one."
Gloria gasped.
Chuck looked Alex in the eye, and a smile worked its way across Alex's face then he snorted and began to laugh, his eyes sparkling with a playful mischievousness. Chuck nodded understandingly.
"I'm kidding, Mom," Alex said, shaking his head, "No one went to the dungeons. I paid the artisans for each guitar… whether it was made right or not. We're pretty civilized on Antar… a lot more so now that Kivar is gone, I might add."
"What did you name the other three guitars they made for you," Gloria asked.
Alex shrugged… "'Frankenstein' was flat-bodied and short-necked, so when they made the second guitar they over-corrected and made the body really round and the neck super long… It almost looks like a sitar. The strings are so long that they tend to vibrate and make a weird droning sound. So I call it the 'Antarsitar…' or the 'RaviStarsitar.'"
"'Ravi' is Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitar player," Isabel said.
Alex nodded. "The third one they made for me is 'Flipper.' It looks really good… it's great for show… but it has a squeaky sound when it's played."
"He was going to call it 'Britney,'" Isabel said with a wink, "But he changed his mind."
Michael and Max looked at each other and groaned then laughed and slapped each other's hands…
"Isabel didn't like your fingers all over 'Britney,' huh?" Michael asked with a grin.
"The fourth guitar…" Alex started to say, ignoring Michael's comment… but then he hesitated and swallowed, and Isabel smiled.
"Go on," Maria coaxed.
"The fourth guitar… I named, 'Isabel,'" Alex said, appearing to blush slightly.
"ISABEL," Liz and Maria both repeated, looking at each other and winking.
"I don't know if that's a good thing… if it sounds like my sister," Max said teasingly.
Alex sighed. "No, you see… they finally got it right. It was perfect… It was everything I ever wanted and ten times more than I ever thought I'd get."
Liz looked at Maria, and both of them went, "Awwwwww" together, then Maria whacked Michael lightly on the back of the head.
"What? I didn't say anything this time," Michael exclaimed, "That was Max!"
"You were both thinking it… and the only reason you didn't say anything is because what you were thinking couldn't be said."
"Sometimes she's really scary," Michael said with a guilty grin on his face.
"What I want to know," Chuck Whitman said, "Is what the heck is a pawgor or a yegg… or a jah-ee… or a jaras-dru… or a shebble…"
"I was wondering that myself," Gloria laughed, "I'm glad you asked it for me! I couldn't remember them all!"
"Yeah, well…" Alex said, scratching his head and smiling, "Yeggs are kind of similar to buffalos, I guess. Shebbles are… kind of what deer might look like if they had long thick hair that reached all the way to the ground… or sheep if they had long legs like a deer and hair all the way to the ground. Jaras-dru are flash bugs… they're sort of giant fireflies or lightning bugs or whatever you want to call them, only bigger… about the size of a really big beetle or a small hummingbird. Their whole belly lights up and their rear end flashes. I actually never saw a pawgor before getting on this ship. I don't think I ever even met anyone who had seen one. I had heard of them, but… well, I'll let you decide what they look like. And the jah-ee is a mythological giant Antarian bird… It's a fairy tale."
Max shook his head.
"It's not a bird?" Alex asked.
"It is," Max replied.
"Not Antarian?"
"It's Antarian."
"Not… mythological?"
"Bingo," Max said with a grin.
"Ooo-kay," Alex said. "Every Antarian I know says they're a myth. I think I liked it better believing that."
Max laughed. "Don't worry. You'll probably never see one."
"I'm not even going to ask how you know they're real, Max."
"Good. It's a long story."
Michael snickered and nodded.
"Did you know that you have an accent when you speak Antarian," Max asked.
Alex groaned and nodded. "Mali and Gidi never stop reminding me."
"Jaras droosh," Max said, "Not jaras-dru."
"Jaras droosh," Alex said, pronouncing it perfectly.
"That was excellent," Michael exclaimed.
"I know," Alex nodded, "But jaras-dru is easier. That ending sound was not made for earth lips… or tongues. It's not exactly a 'shhh,' it's not exactly a 'ssss.' It's more like the sound a pressure cooker makes… or the wind blowing through a crack… very sibilant."
"But you did it perfectly," Liz said.
"He can speak with no accent at all when he tries," Isabel said. "When he talks to officials and important people, he enunciates perfectly."
Alex nodded… "Then I come home and suck ice chips to reduce the swelling in my tongue."
The others laughed.
"It's not that bad," Liz said, "You get used to it."
"I guess," Alex agreed. "Mali and Gidi have no problem with it… neither does Isabel."
"And neither do you when it's important," Isabel said, giving him a quick peck on the lips."
"You really like it there, don't you," Gloria said, reading the truth in Alex's eyes.
Alex nodded and smiled. "You should stand on our balcony on a warm summer night, Mom… with the one you love… with Dad… and watch the jaras droosh light up the sky and the two moons rise over the Golden Sea. (Alex took care to pronounce 'jaras droosh' perfectly.) It's like… living in Disneyland and watching the fireworks from your own balcony every night… only better! I miss a lot of things about earth, but you know…" Alex paused and sighed… "My home is in the stars. It's where I belong… It's where WE belong." He reached his arms around Isabel and the girls and pulled them all three into his embrace. "It's home."
Gloria closed her eyes and smiled, and Diane sniffed and pulled out a handkerchief to dab her eyes with.
Isabel whispered something to Mali and Gidi, and the two girls' eyes lit up then they ran from the room. Noticing that everyone had turned to look at her, Isabel smiled. A few moments later, the door opened and the two girls came back in, both of them with their arms around something that could only be described as a very compliant saber-tooth tiger.
The first reaction was gasps, then absolute stunned silence. At some point, without realizing she had done it, Diane found that she had relocated onto Phillip's lap. Jim Valenti swallowed and fought an initial urge to place his hand on his gun… just as a precaution… but for some reason that even he couldn't explain, he never did. Gloria put both arms around Chuck and stared, speechless, at the impossible big-toothed cat. It was clearly tame. It even allowed its head to be tugged downward enough for the girls to get their arms around its neck… until it was in the room. Then it raised its head to look around… and lifted both girls, giggling, off the floor.
Jim looked at Max and Michael, and Max and Michael both grinned. The question was written all over Jim's face, but the words seemed to be hiding somewhere and wouldn't come out… which is what Jim had a strange feeling he should be doing… though somehow he knew instinctively that it would be useless.
"It's a pawgor," Max said, anticipating the unasked question.
"Do you… have a lot of these… on your planet," Phillip asked. "Doesn't it make it dangerous to live there? I mean… they can't all be as tame as this one appears to be."
"It would be dangerous if we had to live where they live… in the Nan-Torel forest," Max said, "But Antarians never go into the Nan-Torel, and pawgors never come out of the Nan-Torel… except Jung-Jo here, and you can thank our Jim for that."
"My double?" Jim asked, somewhat incredulous.
Max nodded. "Unlike Antarians, who are very intelligent, Jim likes to trek around in the Nan-Torel, hunting and learning about the wildlife there, and one day he found Jung-Jo trapped under a fallen tree. Jung-Jo was just a little guy then, and his mother had been killed by the falling tree. So Jim brought Jung-Jo home and took care of him. As it turned out, Jim's youngest son, Danyy, who was born on Antar, is able to talk to animals, and he befriended Jung-Jo. Nobody knew he had that ability until then.
"I'm shocked," Jim said.
"That you brought a pawgor home or that Danyy can talk to them?" Max asked.
"No… that you got me off of earth. What did you guys do… abduct me in your dimension?"
Michael laughed. "No, you came willingly."
"My feet have roots in that soil down there," Jim said, incredulous, "I can't imagine willingly going to another planet."
Jim reached out cautiously and touched Jung-Jo, who smiled contentedly and increased his purring.
"I can see myself bringing this guy home, though… I like him," Jim said.
Max nodded. "He likes you, too."
"You didn't have much choice about going to Antar with us in our dimension," Michael said, "Some elements in the FBI decided that since we were gone, all of you… our parents, and anyone else who had ever been touched by us… were the next best choice for lab rats. The FBI figured you might not be the aliens, but you could have been affected by them, so they rounded you all up, in cooperation with a secretive group from area 51, and had you quarantined on the army base. We just happened to come along in time to rescue you… I mean your doubles."
"Well, I guess things are different in this dimension," Jim retorted, "I don't think I'm going to be playing Buck Rogers. I'll stay on earth and take my chances." Jim smiled and rubbed Jung-Jo on the head. "I sure wish I had this guy, though. He'd be a great deputy!"
Max nodded and laughed. "Yeah, you're right, and things ARE different in this dimension. For one thing, Alex is the king and Isabel is the queen."
"In our dimension," Michael said, "Max and Liz are the king and queen."
"You know," Diane said, "Before you leave and go back to Antar, Isabel, I want you to talk to your brother. Max is living in Washington… the west coast state, not DC… with Liz. She's a physics professor at the University, and he's a private pilot for some bigwig there. You have to let Max know that you're okay… that you're still alive… and about Alex. It's only right that you should be the one to tell him. He'll want to talk to you."
Isabel looked at Max, and Max shrugged. "I guess we could make a stop in Washington to see my double. He is your brother. We're invisible in the New Granolith. It would only be another day or so out of our way."
Isabel smiled and nodded to her mother.
"If Max tries to get you to stay here," Diane said, "Tell him about all those things Alex was talking about… the yugs and sheepels and… and the Jar Jar Binks things that light up in the night. Don't tell him about the tigers, though."
Isabel giggled and started to laugh.
"I'm serious," Diane said, "If you tell him there's saber-tooth tigers and stuff running around up there, he'll do everything he can to keep you from going back."
"Thanks, Mom," Isabel said, kissing her mother, "That means a lot to me… especially since I know how much you want me to stay here yourself."
Diane nodded, and Isabel dissolved into laughter again. Everyone, by now, was looking at her.
"It's alright! I'm okay!" Isabel said, swallowing hard. Then she dissolved into hysterical laughter again.
"Isabel, what's got into you," Michael asked.
Isabel shook her head and put her hand over her face then began laughing again.
"Are you okay," Alex asked with growing concern, putting his arm around Isabel and lifting her face up to look at him. Isabel looked into Alex's eyes and dissolved into more hysterical laughter.
"I'm… I'm sorry… I'm sorry everyone. I just got an image in my mind that seemed so ludicrously funny that I couldn't help myself." Isabel started giggling again but managed to stifle it before dissolving into hysterics this time…
"When you referred to the jaras droosh as those Jar Jar Binks things that light up in the night, Mom, I got this picture in my mind of a whole bunch of Jar Jar Binkses flying around in the sky with their bellies glowing and their butts flashing."
Isabel started to laugh again and had to find a napkin to wipe the tears out of her eyes.
"That's not funny," Michael said soberly, "That's sick! Nobody would live on a planet like that."
"At this, Isabel lost it completely.
Watching Isabel laugh herself silly, it was hard for the others not to laugh, too, and within moments, the whole room was laughing, even Mali and Gidi, who had no idea what they were laughing about.
"I think Jar Jar has scared a few people off of THIS planet, too," Jim said, wiping his own eyes, after the laughter had died down somewhat.
"I like Jar Jar!" Liz said resolutely. "Everybody picks on poor Jar Jar. I think he's cute."
"Yeah, I like him, too," Maria said, backing up her best friend and putting her arm around her.
"How do you know about Jar Jar, in your dimension," Jim asked. "You've been away on another planet for a lot longer than our Isabel and Alex have."
Liz nodded. "Thanks to Varec, we get earth cable TV… well, it's more like satellite TV… bounced off of several stars and compressed into a microns-thin beam. We see everything that cable viewers see on earth… plus Antarian TV."
"You're stealing cable?" Jim asked.
Michael grinned. "It's a different dimension… not your territory, Sheriff. Besides, the Special Unit is getting billed for it."
"Oh, well, then…" Jim nodded, with an amused grin, "As long as someone is paying for it."
"I wish we had it on our Antar," Isabel said, "Do you think Varec could show us how to get it, too?"
"I didn't hear that," Jim said.
Max chuckled. "When earth and Antar forge a communications agreement, we'll honor it. In the meantime, I don't think anyone cares if we pick up earth cable TV… except maybe the Special Unit."
"You're probably right," Jim said… "Since they're paying for it."
Everyone laughed.
"Are you sure you have to go back to Antar, Isabel," Diane asked, as Mali took Diane's hand and placed it on Jung-Jo's back then smiled at her grandmother. "This is the happiest I've been for… well, since before you disappeared."
Isabel nodded… "It's our home now. Like Alex said, we belong there… on Antar. But in about eighteen months, we'll have a ship capable of returning to earth for visits. It'll be able to make the trip in ten days… not as fast as the New Granolith, but it will get us here."
"And I'll be looking for it," Diane said, as Phillip nodded in agreement.
Alex put his arm around his mother… "I'm going to miss you and Dad when we're gone, Mom! The girls are going to miss you, too. But I'm glad they finally got to meet you… and their other grandparents, too." He smiled at the Evanses, and Diane picked Mali and Gidi up and set them both on her lap together, then Phillip put his arm around them all.
Chuck Whitman glanced at his wife, and she smiled. "Your mom and I have been talking about it, Alex, and… well, Phillip has his law practice here, and he and Diane have Max in Washington. And Jim, well, he's the sheriff, and he has Kyle. But your mom and I, since I retired, have been doing a lot of not much… more like nothing. Retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be when you've got an empty nest and the little bird is light years away… with his own little birds."
"What are you saying, Dad," Alex asked, praying silently that what he was thinking was right.
Chuck smiled… "That I'd kind of like to see those romantic Antarian nights with your mom… if the Antarians… and you… will have us."
Alex broke into a huge grin… "We would LOVE to have you and Mom nearby, Dad! And the Antarians will welcome you with open arms. We don't have a Special Unit. Heck, we don't even have an FBI. We just had Kivar, and now that he's gone, everybody's happy again."
Jim held out his hand to Chuck. "You're a brave man, Charles! Are you sure about this?"
Chuck nodded and took Jim's hand, shaking it.
"Then good luck," Jim said, "We'll miss you and Gloria. Maybe you can come back and see us sometime when that ship gets finished."
Chuck nodded again. "Thanks, Jim."
"What are you going to do with your house?"
"Would you lock it up for us, Jim? We'll try to get back by to pick up a few things if we make it back to visit. After that, I don't know. Maybe we'll give it to charity."
Jim nodded. "I'll lock it up for you." He looked around and sighed… "Well… as much as I've enjoyed this, I need to be getting back to the office. Hansen will have the bloodhounds out looking for me. Besides, I promised him I'd let him off early enough to get a full night's sleep tonight."
Gloria laughed. "You work that poor boy too hard, Sheriff."
Jim smiled and nodded. "I'll let him keep thinking that… for now."
"I've got a suggestion," Michael said, looking at the Evanses, "Since we're going to Washington to see Max and Liz, why don't you guys come with us. We'll bring you back here before we head off back to Antar."
"Michael, that's a wonderful idea," Maria exclaimed, hugging Michael.
Diane looked at Phillip, and he smiled and nodded. "It IS a great idea. Okay… We would love to!"
Michael looked at Max, and he nodded and smiled.
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A single figure reappeared in Jim Valenti's office at the Roswell Sheriff's Station, seemingly out of thin air. Jim looked around, taking stock of where he was, then walked to his door and opened it. Hansen was sitting at his desk in the outer office, and he sat up straight and stared at Jim, with a puzzled look…
"Where did you… What did you… How did you get in there, Sheriff?"
"I have the key," Jim said, "It's my office, remember?"
"Yeah, but…"
Jim smiled. "I'm letting you go home early tonight, Hansen… so you can get that sleep you've been missing."
"Thank you, sir… I think I need it."
Jim walked out of the sheriff's station, and Hansen stood up and walked over to Jim's office door, then he opened it and looked around inside, scratching his head… "How did he get in there without me seeing him go past me? If I keep going to sleep on the job like this, Jim's going to fire me!"
tbc