Committed

COMMITTED by A.R. Kirby Episode 9 In which Tal and Liv make a new friend Tal could make out the silhouette of a lone figure standing in the doorway. “It is my understanding,” the figure said as it moved slowly towards Tal, “that many human societies find it impolite to stare. But I suppose it can be forgiven. You’ve had a difficult day.” Tal nodded robotically, mouth agape, eyes firmly locked on the small blue alien with the giant head coming through the doorway. He tried to speak, but only babble came from his mouth. It wasn’t every day an otherworldly being scolded him for his etiquette. What could only be described as a “huff” shot from the alien’s mouth – or at least what Tal thought was a mouth – and its black, marble-like eyes rolled in their sockets. The alien stood about five feet tall, and half of that was a potatoshaped head. The being’s skin was a blue and translucent; Tal could see the outline of musculature and skull underneath. Raised, rounded protuberances wrapped around the creature’s face, arranged in three rows in the area where its nose should have been. The head was crowned with a silver circlet that framed the top of a golden-blond Prince Valiant haircut. Finishing the look was a floor-length, brilliant white toga, with a crimson sash that ran from the alien’s left shoulder -- or Committed by A.R. Kirby maybe it was the side of its neck, Tal wasn’t certain -- and down across its small chest. Tal still gazed in amazement as the slit-like mouth moved again. “When you get over your shock – and please, do it soon -will you assist me with her?” The being gestured toward Liv with a tiny blue arm and a slender, three-fingered hand. “Time is getting short.” Tal turned and watched as the alien left the doorway and – there was no better way to describe it -- glided toward Liv. The creature stopped and stooped when it reached Liv’s prostrate body, putting a hand on either side of Liv’s head. Tal snapped out of his daze. “Don’t touch her!” he screamed. “Don’t do it! Or I’ll...” Tal stopped, realizing he had absolutely no idea what his reaction would be if the alien did anything to his wife. It didn’t matter. “I mean it,” he said, “just don’t touch her!” “There is no need for yelling, I am quite fluent in English, and I have no intention of harming either of you,” the alien said, looking up at Tal. “I’m here to help you. The manner in which I will first attempt that is by making certain she’s okay.” it said as it massaged her temples. “Just as I suspected,” the alien said after a brief pause. “She fainted. Nothing serious. I’m not surprised, really. The IDTP can do a number on a body, especially when one doesn’t expect it – and you were definitely not expecting it. Give me a moment, and I can do something about this.” The alien’s hands glowed aside Liv’s head. She stirred and slowly opened her eyes. Seeing the being’s giant blue head directly above her, Liv screamed and fainted again. “Wonderful,” said the alien quietly as it removed its hands from Liv’s head. Tal sank to his knees beside Liv, next to the alien. 2 Episode 9 He put his hands on Liv’s shoulders and studied her closed eyelids. She was breathing, at least. He looked at the figure beside him and shouted. “What did you do?!?” “I apparently wasn’t human -- and that scared her,” the alien said in a bored voice. “I hoped you people would be a little less excitable. Live and learn,” it said. “Let’s move her back into the lounge, shall we? We’ll wake her there. And you can do it this time.” The alien arose from Liv and glided back toward the doorway. Tal, not knowing what to do next, looked down at his wife as the alien moved down the hallway, past the satellite pictures, and towards the room where he and Liv first arrived. Tal saw the giant blue head stop about halfway down the hallway and and turn to look back at the humans. “Well, what are you waiting for?” the alien asked. “We have many, many things to do, and time is growing short.” “Look, whoever – or whatever – you are,” Tal growled, “why don’t you give me a hand?” “Haven’t I already?” the alien replied. “I revived the woman from her initial unconscious state. Were she not quite so excitable, she would be walking down the hallway with you, gasping and gawking, instead of lying there like so much meat.” The being moved back toward Tal, speaking slowly and clearly, but still in a high, tinny tone. “In any case, I cannot physically move her,” said the alien. “Not only is it forbidden, but look at these arms.” The creature waved his puny appendages so Tal could see. “I can barely lift a coffee cup, much less a human. Now come on,” it said, and turned to back toward the lounge. Tal sat for a moment, looking at his unconscious wife, wondering what to do. The first thing that came to his mind was to not panic. The second thing that came to his mind was the idea that panicking would be an excellent and quite understandable thing 3 Committed by A.R. Kirby to do under the circumstances. After a few moments, the rational section of his brain convinced the panicky side to take five and go get a cup of coffee; when it returned, if the situation still called for panic, then panic they would. Tal got to his feet, put his hands under Liv’s arms, and began dragging her body down the hallway. “Hey – you – whoever you are,” Tal called across his shoulder as he and Liv progressed slowly down the hallway, “where are we? What happened to us? And who are you?” “All will be explained,” the alien said from the lounge. “For now, let me introduce myself. I am Gnorr of the Empyreans, and I assure you that you and your wife are quite safe. I’ll save the rest for when she wakes up. She will have all the same questions as you, and I don’t particularly want to repeat myself. It gets tedious.” Gnorr walked to one of the pedestals around the periphery of the room, brought up a holographic computer display, and ignored Tal as he dragged Liv in through doorway. Tal laid his wife carefully on one of the chaises in the middle of the room, put his face close to hers, and began speaking calmly and quietly while caressing her hair. “Liv... Liv, baby, wake up,” he whispered. “Come on, hon... I need you here... wake up for me...” Liv’s eyelids fluttered for a moment. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She immediately threw her arms around her husband and clasped him so tightly that Tal thought for a moment his neck might snap. “Oh, Tal,” she said, her voice full of fear as she buried her face into his neck. “Oh, baby, I’ve had such a nightmare,” she said between sniffles. “The cat talked to me, we disappeared from the house, and we...” “We what, baby?” Tal asked. “We... we...,” she began, and stopped. Slowly and deliber4 Episode 9 ately, she released Tal from her stranglehold, cautiously opened her eyes, and looked around the room. “Dear God,” she said, looking Tal in the face, “it’s not a nightmare, is it?” “No,” Tal said quietly, putting his hand under Liv’s chin. “I think this is about as real as it gets. But try to stay calm; it freaks me out every time you faint, and I’ve done enough freaking out for one day.” Liv smiled at her husband; Tal smiled back, brushed a piece of hair from Liv’s forehead, and continued. “This is a way, way weird day. I still don’t know where we are, but we’re not alone. There’s someone – something – named Gnorr here. He says he brought us here, and he says he’s not going to hurt us. We might as well listen to what he has to say. It might get us back home.” Tal helped Liv into a sitting position, and they turned to where Gnorr was standing a few feet away. Liv gasped when she saw the alien, but kept her consciousness -- at least for the moment. “Hello,” Gnorr said, “and welcome to my home. It is a pleasure – and my honor – to have such esteemed guests here today. However, we have much to do, and little time, so I think we should dispense with the pleasantries and get down to brass tacks. Are you ready?” “Ready for what?” Liv asked. “Not that it matters. Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure we’re not.” “Yes, uh -- it’s Gnorr, right? Gnorr? -- just please stop for a second,” Tal said. “Let us know what’s happening. I mean, one minute we’re at home, and the next... the next, we’re here – wherever here is – talking to you, and you’re obviously not one of us, I don’t even know what you are, no offense, but this ... this is just too much!” Gnorr let out a deep sigh and rubbed the protuberances on his face. He glided next to the chaise where Tal and Liv were 5 Committed by A.R. Kirby seated. “If I had even begun to think...,” Gnorr said under his breath, with the protuberances on his face swelling and relaxing as he sighed. “Never mind,” he continued, his voice squeaking. “Allow me to explain so you can understand.” Tal put his arm around Liv. They both stared at the being with the giant blue head with expectant looks on their faces. “I,” the alien said, “am Gnorr, of the Empyreans. To make a very long story very short, I am a friend and I will not harm you. I’ve brought you to my home,” he said as he made a valiant attempt at a grand a sweeping gesture; unfortunately, the length (or lack thereof) of his arms made it impossible for Gnorr produce anything more than a slightly impressive gesture. Nonetheless, Liv and Tal got the gist. “I’ve brought you here so that you can learn and receive,” Gnorr continued. “There are great things afoot, and you two are at the center of all that is. Now, may we get on to the business at hand?” He turned abruptly and headed back to his computer display. Liv stood, unsteadily, from her position on the chaise. She tried to remain calm, but she was visibly shaken, her face ashen and her hands clammy. “Gnorr,” she said quietly, “I need you to answer some questions for me.” The alien turned and looked at the woman. “I will do so,” he told her. “And thank you for not passing out from looking at me again.” “Yes, well, this whole thing is a bit of a shock for me,” she said. “And I can’t guarantee I won’t pass out. But I’ll do my best. Now, please tell me exactly where we are.” 6 Episode 9 “My home, of course,” Gnorr said with another not-quitegrand gesture. “I’ve tried to make it comfortable for you.” “And you have,” Tal interrupted, “but just exactly where is this home of yours?” “Luna,” Gnorr said. “What you humans call the moon. More specifically, we are on the outer rim of the northern edge of the crater Tycho. You saw it for yourselves in the obeservatory.” “We’re on the MOON?” Liv was aghast. “How did we get here? How will we get home?!” “Oh, you shall return home the same way you got here,” the alien said, fiddling with a control on the computer display. “Interdimensional transporter portal.” “Huh?” Tal looked confused. “In - ter - di - men - sion - al trans - port - er por - tal,” Gnorr said, more slowly and clearly than necessary. “For brevity’s sake, it is referred to as IDTP. It is an Empyrean transportation technology. It allows us to travel in subspace almost instantaneously through two different portals anywhere in the universe. Anything that opens on a hinge or that slides open is a potential portal. It’s quite handy and efficient.” “So that’s what happened at our house?” Liv asked. “The light coming in from the deck and all that?” “Yes, yes,” Gnorr said. “I engaged the IDTP to bring you here through the mail slot on the door you use for a table on your deck.” “Why didn’t you just bring us through the back door?” Liv asked. “All that stretching and contorting in the – what did you call it? IDTP? -- was very troubling.” “Too boring,” Gnorr replied quietly as he adjusted the 7 Committed by A.R. Kirby display again. “The mail slot was a nice touch; it added a dash of panache to what was otherwise a quite routine orbital transfer. Life needs a little spice every once in a while, don’t you think?” “OK, Tal, I can’t deal with this any more,” Liv told her husband. “Let’s go home. Now.” “Deal,” he said, as he stood next to his wife. “Gnorr, send us back home, please.” “I can certainly do that,” he said, “but are you not the least bit interested in why I brought you here?” “Not really,” Tal said, taking Liv by the hand. “We just want to go home.” “I think you need to know,” the alien said, turning away from the computer and gliding back to the couple. “It’s important. Very, very important.” home.” “Well, let’s have it,” Liv said flatly, “and then we go “Right, then,” Gnorr said, moving back toward the edge of the room and up the single stair. “You two... hmmm... how can I best say this... you two are here so you can save the earth,” Gnorr spat out as he used both arms to make his closest-to-grand gesture yet. “Excuse me,” Tal said, a puzzled look on his face, “but I think I misunderstood you. Did you just say ‘save the earth’?” “Yes, yes I did,” Gnorr nodded, which was no small feat considering the size of his enormous head. “You two have been chosen to save earth.” “Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on just a second,” Liv said. “I really, really think you have the wrong people. That’s way too much for someone like me to deal with. I can’t even get the glass 8 Episode 9 to the recycling facility more than once a month. What makes you think I – we – can save Earth?” “Wrong people? I don’t think so,” Gnorr replied. He glided back to the computer display and waved a hand over it. “Let’s see,” Gnorr said, studying the display closely. “You two are... hmmm... yes, you two are John McCain and Sarah Palin, yes?” Tal laughed out loud. “No, I’m sorry, we’re not. You really do have the wrong people,” he said. “Can we go home now?” A cheery, bubbly sound came from Gnorr, a sound almost like an Irish pennywhistle. His black eyes twinkled. “That is what you humans call a ‘joke’” he said as he crossed the room back toward them. “Imagine, those two saving the earth,” the alien continued, various toots and whistles permeating his every breath. Tal assumed that was how Gnorr laughed. “Not very likely, I should think.” “No,” Gnorr continued, moving directly in front of the couple, “you are the right people. You are Talmadge Hooper, and you, my good lady, are Livonia, his wife. You live outside of Birmingham, Alabama, with your two daughters, two dogs, and what you think is a cat. Tal, you are a professor of history at the University of Birmingham. Liv, you are an accountant. Tal, you have a tendency toward depression, and Liv, you tend to be manic. I’ve been watching you two for years now; even since before you got together. You are exactly the right people.” He pointed a single blue finger at the couple. “You are exactly the right people to protect your world from unimaginable peril.” “What kind of peril?” Liv asked. “Unimaginable,” Gnorr stated flatly, then turned and went back to the computer. “I just do not get what you’re saying here,” Tal said. “What do you mean ‘save the earth’?” 9 Committed by A.R. Kirby “My, but you are thick at times, aren’t you?” Gnorr asked. “I knew about it, of course, but I am slightly amazed. In any case, I mean exactly what I said. Your planet is in grave danger. You – the two of you, together – are the ones to protect your planet from great evil, if you decide you will.” “Why should we do it?” Tal asked. “You seem to have all the answers here, Gnorr. Why don’t you save the earth?” “I can’t, you see,” Gnorr explained. “I can do nothing but observe. It is what we Empyreans do. We are the historians and anthropologists of the universe. As a race, we Empyreans are charged with observing millions of worlds across the galaxies, recording events important and droll in order to preserve universal history. But we are never to interfere with the progress – or demise – of any particular world. All we do is observe. Observe, observe, observe. As such, I cannot interact directly with your world. Otherwise, I would. Because -- despite all your failings and general nastiness -- I’ve come to love your planet and you humans.” “That is why I cannot sit idly while great danger comes to your planet,” Gnorr said. “I’ve been monitoring your world for ten thousand of your years. Ten thousand! It’s a very, very long time. Some of it was pretty boring. Other parts were quite exciting. I really enjoyed that Napoleon fellow. Lots of ambition there. Too bad he wanted to go to Russia. That’s been a mistake of your people for a long, long time. That winter is brutal, and those people, well, they’re tough. They really exemplify the human spirit. Pride of the motherland and all that. Very inspiring.” “Of course, I’ve seen all the crap you people do to each other as well, and that, well, it’s fairly pathetic,” Gnorr said haughtily. “You should treat each other more kindly as a species. It’s fairly non-evolved, some of what you ‘people’ get up to.” “In any case, I’m getting off point,” he went on. “What’s important now is that you are here. As I said, I’ve watched the earth for thousands of years, and I’ve rarely seen two humans like 10 Episode 9 the two of you. You are a special breed. There is caring, there is determination in you. There is a seed waiting to be awakened, a seed that will grow into higher purpose for the both of you. Tal, you’ve wanted to be special for years. Now is that chance. Liv, you’ve felt nothing you’ve ever done has made a difference. This is the opportunity to change all that. That’s why I’ve chosen you.” “So,” Gnorr said as he brightened and clapped his tiny hands together. “Ready to save a planet?” To be continued... 11