Polly Pippin and The Tunnel of Death (2 page)

A giggling Alison stood up. 'Hi Barbara. I'm
glad you could come. Polly's not here at the moment.'

'I can see that, and what happened the other
day? I went out in the garden for a fag, and when I tried to get
back in, the house was in darkness and locked up. If you did not
want me here, you only had to say. I thought you were my
friends.'

'Of course we are,' Alison said. She tried
to think of an excuse. 'Umm, I thought the house was struck by
lightning, and we all hid in a cupboard.'

Barbara, who never thought about anything
but herself and food, was already looking in the fridge, asking who
would like a cup of coffee.

Ape and Hamish stood up and pretended they
had just come in through the back door.

'Hi Alison, Barbara,' said Hamish. 'Did I
hear someone offering a cup of coffee?'

'Hamster, I hear you were frightened by a
bit of lightning. You should have called for me. I would have held
your hand in the cupboard.'

'I was not frightened Barbara, and my name
is Hamish, not Hamster.' He was about to add that he was not hiding
in a cupboard but out the back hiding from her.

'Well, you look like a Hamster to me,'
Barbara said as she put on the kettle.

Hamish drew his finger across his throat and
threw her a filthy look.

~

The front door rattled. 'Polly, Alison, open
the door, I've lost my keys?'

It was a voice Alison knew well. 'Oh my God.
It's our housekeeper - Mrs Hart.'

Mrs Hart was standing on the doorstep,
banging on the door. 'Well, are you going to let me in?' she called
in her broad cockney accent. She sounded quite put out.

Ape put his finger across his lips and
whispered. 'Open the door and don't say a word,' he warned.

Alison ran to the door and opened it wide.
'Sorry, Mrs Hart, I'm just surprised to see you.'

'I don't see why,' the old housekeeper
snapped back. 'I do live here, you know.'

'Yes, it's just been such a long time since
you were here.' Alison stumbled out an answer. 'And how is your
sister? I hope she's better.' She tried not to show her
disappointment Mrs Hart had arrived home today of all days.

'What is wrong with you, Alison? I've only
been gone two weeks. And, my sister is still not well. I've just
come back for clean clothes, so I won't be staying for long.'

This left Alison a bit confused. Only two
weeks? Surely not! she thought. It seemed more like a year.

Mrs Hart turned to Hamish. 'What are you
doing here Hamish? Hungry or broke I suppose?'

'That's not fair, Mrs Hart.' He rushed up to
her and kissed her on both cheeks.

'Not fair it might be, but true it is.' She
grabbed Hamish and threw her arms around him. 'And, Algernon, it's
good to see you again lad, and you Barbara.' Mrs Hart looked round.
'Now where is that naughty Polly?'

Alison, Hamish and Algernon all answered,
and all the answers were different.

'Really,' Mrs Hart said, doubting them all.
'Well, she's obviously shopping. And before I hear any more
porky-pies, I'm going to bed to have a little rest. I'm exhausted
after me long trip.'

~

Everyone in the kitchen sighed with relief.
Ape sat at the table and motioned to Hamish to join him. Soon they
were heads together in deep conversation.

'If I told you she was taken by Rebel
warriors from another universe, posing as the police, would you
believe me?' Ape whispered. 'The Rebels made a mistake not waiting
for Alison to leave the house so they could grab her as well. So
when they got Polly, they put Alison in a temporary
inter-dimensional petrifaction.'

Hamish frowned. 'A what?'

'Inter-dimensional petrifaction. Usually
everyone loses his or her immediate memory for a few minutes. But
the fact Alison is a Freeflyer…' He stopped.

Hamish laughed, which saved Ape from having
to explain what a Freeflyer was. 'This is no time to make jokes,
Ape.'

'I am not making a joke, Hamish. Listen
carefully to what I am about to tell you, and don't repeat it to
anyone.'

Miss Big Ears Barbara looked round. 'And
what's that, Algernon? What can't Hamish tell anyone,' she
questioned.

'Men’s talk, Barbara. I'll tell you what,
why don't you and Alison make us morning tea?' He looked at Alison
and winked.

Alison smiled back. 'Good idea. Come on,
Barb, let's make some scones, and I wanted you to make a cake for
this afternoon, if you don't mind.'

'A cake as well?' Barbara answered, 'goody,'
and she headed for the larder.

Leaving Alison and Barbara discussing what
they would make for morning tea, Hamish followed Ape in
silence.

Ape tells it all

When they got to the dining room, Ape looked
round then sat.

'Okay Ape, this isn't like you. What's going
on?'

'Sit down Ham. This is going to take some
time and will be totally unbelievable, so don't interrupt.' And Ape
started his story. 'As you know, I am extremely wealthy, and that's
because, as a baby, I was taken over by Rebel warriors from the
Dark Universe. They infused me with special powers so that when I
was a man I would work for them to destabilise Earth. But as I grew
up, I became cocky and too independent, I just did everything for
myself, the infusion apparently hadn't worked properly. And that's
when Harry the Hand captured me, and Rebel Warrior Zack told him to
de-pneuma me.'

'De-pneuma you? What are you talking about?'
Hamish asked, his tone incredulous.

'It means they take your soul. But what they
didn't realise was, when they de-pneumaed me, it totally released
me from the infusion. I was finally free. It took a while for it to
disperse, but becoming friends with the two pommy blokes, Piers and
Miles, who was captured with me, totally brought me out of it.'

'Good story Ape. But what's all this got to
do with what's just happened to Polly?' Hamish interrupted,
sounding decidedly sarcastic.

'Shut up Hamish and listen. We haven't got
much time.'

Ape knew the Freeflyers had transmitted a
codicil-memory - a memory of something that did not happen - into
Hamish's brain. Now was the time to activate it.

'Do you remember when we were in the Special
Air Forces together?' Ape crossed his fingers.

'Of course I do, idiot.' Hamish got up to
leave. 'Look Ape, that's history. I'm worried about my sister.'

The Freeflyer memory programming had worked.
'Sit down Ham. You need to hear this.'

'Okay Ape, but get to the point.'

'Right. When we were in the Air force, what
is happening now had already started. One of the reasons I remember
everything is, firstly because of the bomb that exploded and nearly
killed us both. When I came to, we were both in hospital with
severe head injuries. You were still unconscious, and I lapsed into
a kind of a coma that activated my anti-mind. It was like a sort of
dreamtime. My memory was alive with images, and I could not
rationalise what I was seeing and thinking. Then the Freeflyers
arrived, healed you and took me to another universe. Polly, Alison,
Lily, Lucy, Piers and Miles were all involved.'

'What the hell are Freeflyers? And why
wasn't I involved?' Hamish demanded to know and was secretly a
little hurt that he had not been involved.

'To answer your last question first. You
were not affected because you were living in Australia at the time
and were protected by the vibes from the Sacred Cave. And second,
Freeflyers live in the First Universe and have come to Earth to
save you and Byzantine Crescent from the Rebels.'

'Oh, that really helps. Look Ape, normally I
know you better than to disbelieve you. However, on this occasion
have you bumped your head or emptied the brandy bottle?'

'That's not funny, Hamish. Please try and
understand,' Ape said. 'And before you say another word, remember
what I'm saying to you. We are all UFOs.'

Ape had finally lost it. It must have been
the bomb blast, Hamish thought. 'We are UFOs, Ape? Please.'

'Yes Hamish. Uninitiated Flying Omniscients,
and until you believe me, you are going to be as vulnerable as your
sister. I need you by my side when the going gets tough.'

~

'Hello.' The front door opened, Polly's
voice rang clearly through the house, and everyone rushed into the
hall. Barbara called morning tea was ready, and they all walked
into the kitchen to the delightful smell of scones baking. Barbara
was a good cook, so when they sat round the table to hear Polly's
news, it was with watering mouths.

'Polly, thank goodness! We were so worried
about you. What happened? Are you okay? Why did they let you go?'
Hamish questioned, his arms round her.

'Well, of course, they let me go. They were
most apologetic. They said they were only doing their duty, they
even gave me a lift back. I invited them in for a coffee, they are
just parking the car.'

Ape leapt up as the two policemen walked in,
and he knew exactly what they were - Rebels. He threw an invisible
protective web over the girls, which unfortunately missed Barbara.
Thinking she could be Polly, one of the Rebels grabbed her and
tried to pull her out into the street. Before the boys could rush
to her defence, she caught the Rebel by the hair, swung him round,
punched him in the face and threw him out of the kitchen. The other
Rebel ran out in fear of his life.

Hamish was amazed. 'Barbara, how did you do
that?' he asked.

'Oh, it was nothing. I have a black belt in
judo, karate and Tibetan wrestling.'

'I'm impressed,' Hamish said, his admiration
growing.

'Of course not idiot. I'm just a big girl -
I frighten everybody.'

Ape turned to Hamish. 'Time to leave!' he
yelled, and the world went black.

Unexpected Invasion

Commander Rhettnor sat in his garden in the
First Universe deep in thought. The Dark Universe had started the
invasion of Earth earlier than anyone in Zenithal in the First
Universe had thought possible. And the great warriors, Rebels Zack
and Knox, had led the invasion. His mind went back to the births on
Earth of the sons of Freeflyers Sreip and Selim and Earthbeings
Celeste and Serena. What a battle. I knew the Rebels had got to the
girls before I did, taken the babies, and they would already be on
the way to the Dark Universe - such a prize.

~

I managed to save the girls from the Rebels
but knew I was too late to save the babies. The Spider Squadron
gently put the half-drugged girls into a silver web, as my
Freeflyer troopers secured the area. It was time to tell the girls
their newborn babies had been kidnapped by the Rebels. I heard a
baby coo and thought I must be imagining it, it must have been what
I so wanted to hear. I finally plucked up the courage to tell the
mothers the Rebels had the babies. I looked in the web and could
not believe my eyes. The two young mothers, still woozy, each had a
baby lying in their arms, and four orbs were fluttering overhead.
The girls had a set of identical twins - four boys. It seemed
unbelievable. I knew then I must keep this a secret. No one must
know about these second babies. The first born of each set of twins
was kidnapped, we named the second twins Piers and Miles, as was
our custom, and I had to keep them safe.

~

I didn't tell the girls about the stolen
babies and instructed the Spider Squadron to transport the two
babies I had saved to the Guardian of the First Universe living on
Earth. I told everyone, including the fathers Sreip and Selim, that
Celeste and Serena had died in childbirth. I chose to keep them
safe on Zenithal, and for very good reason. Commander Rhettnor
wiped away a tear and looked up to see his brother Commander Xavier
walking towards him.

'Rhett, something's wrong.'

'Yes, very wrong Xavier. Somehow Commander
Pope has found out that Celeste and Serena had twin boys. That
Piers and Miles are the identical twin brothers of Zack and Knox.
At the time, the Rebels did not know that. They only got the first
twin - one from each girl.

'How did that happen?' Xavier asked. 'So few
of us knew! Who would betray us?'

'I don't know, but what I do know is, we
have to guard our boys against the Rebels. So it has been decided
to protect them, we are going to plant a codicil-memory in their
minds. A memory of life with their twins living and growing
together since birth. They must never find out Zack and Knox were
stolen away by the Rebels at birth. And that they are Rebel
warriors, hell bent on destroying Earth and Capturing the First
Universe.'

'Is that a good idea, Rhett? What if they
meet? Now Commander Pope knows he will tell Zack and Knox to do all
they can to capture Piers and Miles.'

'I don't think he will. He won't inform Zack
and Knox they are twins in case the bond of identical twins is
strong,' Rhettnor said. 'In any case, the memory we'll implant is
only temporary and can be removed when we think it's safe. Right
now, they will think the twins, called Zack and Knox have been
working in the Australian outback for at least five years so will
never meet.

'But to what end Rhett?'

Just in case the worse happens, and they do
meet. They will see they are identical twins. It might upset them
enough for Zack and Knox to capture them, and that we can't
afford.

'True, Rebels have no heart.'

'Yes… Anyway, I personally think the Rebels
are too busy trying to destroy the Earth to bother about that. And
a Spider Warrior - invisible, of course - will be by Piers and
Miles side at all times to report back to us in case they are ever
in danger,' added Rhettnor. Your first priority is, keeping The
Invisible Secret of Byzantine Crescent, the girls and Earth
safe.'

Happy times

Polly woke in her bed, stretched, yawned,
heard noises coming from the kitchen and got up. She searched for
her slippers, yawned again and yelled, 'Ali, let's go out for
coffee.' She ran down the stairs to see two kitten-like creatures
drinking milk out of a saucer.