The Space Dreamers by Gary Whitmore - HTML preview

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Chapter 2

 

 

Far, far away in another universe were five planets that orbited around a different Sun. Most of these planets had numerous Moons of various sizes. 

The planet Ronrevog housed the Governing Council for all the planets in this beautiful universe.

Amongst those planets existed Neila. It had seasons similar to earth, and in fact, it was a smaller scaled version of earth but with two continents and two vast oceans.

The aliens that inhabited this planet were called Neilas, and they had human-like bodies. But they all had green skin, with blue, purple, orange or other colored hair. They all had large black eyes that were twice the size of human eyes.

They were intelligent and peaceful being.  These aliens were shorter than earthlings where being five feet was considered tall.

The one half of the Neila space probe that visited earth raced toward Neila and descended to it.

Then later down on Neila, the space probe raced over mountains, lakes and beautiful exotic plants.

It flew over a vast stone Palace. 

The Palace belonged to King Tona, who was the ruler of Neila. It was nestled in the middle of some woods and was surrounded by grounds full of exotic plants, shrubs, and flowers.

The probe flew off toward the city of Neilaville, the capital of the planet. The city had businesses, stores, apartment complexes and a green river that ran through it. The rest of the planet had smaller villages scattered around the two continents. 

The probe flew over and landed in the Neila Science Complex located on the outskirt of the town Neilaville.

From the sky above the Palace was Prince Luna. He was a young adult with short spiky blue hair, very cute and adorable. He wore blue jeans, a white tee-shirt, and a black leather jacket. He sat on a futuristic-looking "Sky Doo" jet ski that he flew fifty feet in the air. 

Sona, his girlfriend, was a beautiful young adult with long flowing purple hair. She wore blue jeans and a shirt with something stuffed in the right pocket. 

She grasped a handle at the end of a rope.

The rope led to the backend of the Sky Doo while it flew in the air. 

Sona made a loop, flew upside down and made steeply banked turns. "Yahoooo!" she screamed and filled the air with joyful sounds of her fun-filled ride in the sky.

Luna continued to fly the Sky Doo around the sky.

Inside the Palace was King Tona. He was an old overweight Neila with long white flowing beard and always wore his crown.

He sat at his desk while he read some paperwork. Then his Holophone bee booped, and he pressed a button on it.

A hologram of a nerdy Neila scientist appeared.

"King Tona. Our probe just returned from its visit of earth," the scientist hologram said.

"What did you learn?" King Tona asked.

"It appears the earthlings are planning to send a probe to our planet in search of other forms of life," the Scientist hologram stated.

"Well, that's very interesting," King Tona said. "Thank you for your report," he added then turned off his Holophone.

King Tona kicked back and thought about the scientist's report.

On the Palace grounds, Luna landed the Sky Doo down to the ground with Sona trailing behind on the skis. 

She landed seconds after his Sky Doo landed. Luna shut down the Sky Doo and remained seated in his seat.

"You did great a great job of flying this Sky Doo Luna," Sona complimented while she ran over to him. 

He got a proud smile while she gave him a hug and kiss on his cheek. 

She removed a small wrapped package from her right shirt pocket. "Happy Birthday Luna!" she said, then handed him the gift-wrapped box with a huge smile.

Luna quickly ripped off the wrapping and saw two small "Space Pad – Private Video Holophone" devices that had a small screen. Luna didn't know what to make of it. "Ah, thanks Sona," he responded.

She snatched one of the Space Pads. "We can always stay in close touch," she said while she looked at Luna with love in her eyes. She looked like she had something she was inching to say. "Luna, I can't wait until you become King so that I can be your Queen," she said with love in her eyes. 

Luna got nervous and shook a little as marriage also scared him to death. 

She waited for his response that he wanted her to be his Queen. But a monitor on the Sky Doo console turned on and saved him.

King Tona appeared on the monitor. "Luna, playtime is over. You have thirty minutes to get ready for tonight," King Tona ordered from the monitor. 

Sona looked at the monitor. "Hello, King Tona," she said with a little wave.

He smiled and waved back; then the monitor went blank. 

Luna didn't look thrilled then screams of joy come from up above and diverted his attention away from the monitor. 

"Sky-a-Bunga Luna!" yelled Lon up about twenty feet above them.

Luna and Sona looked up at the sky and saw four young adult Neilas. They surfed the heavens on "Sky Boards," which resembled earth surfboards but were so advanced and would soar through the air.

Lon had blue hair, Saul with orange hair, Lorge with pink hair and Bingo had neon green hair.  

They were called "The Surfers" and always wore baggy shirts, sneakers, and oversized tee shirts. 

They just purchased the "Surf the Sky" shop in Neilaville three months ago. They sold and rented sky boards and other accessories, including Sky Doo's.

They surfed down and landed near Luna and Sona.

Their boards hovered inches above the ground near him. 

"Come on, Luna, the clouds are producing some awesome currents," Bingo told Luna. 

Luna looked up at the sky then back at the Surfers. "Sorry I can't. I have a meeting to attend," Luna answered with a depressed look. 

"That's what you get for being a Prince. Let's go dudes!" replied Lorge. 

The Surfers got back on their sky boards and pushed off with their right foot. Their boards ascended and they surfed up and away.

The monitor on the Sky Doo console came back on, and King Tona reappeared. "Hurry up, boy!" he ordered, then the monitor went blank.

Luna looked up at the sky and got depressed, as he watched while the Surfers surf through the clouds. He turned back to Sona, who eyed him with tender expectation. Luna gave her a nervous smile as he knew what was on her mind.

"I'll call you later," Luna said then gave her a quick kiss on her cheek.

Sona looked disappointed, but she knew down deep he would ask her to be his Queen. 

Luna watched while Sona ran over to the edge of the woods where her sky board hovered inches above the ground. She jumped on her sky board and pushed off with her left foot. She ascended into the sky and was soon soaring away between the clouds.

Luna turned his Sky Doo back on and flew it over to the detached garage at the rear of the Palace.

Luna was in his bedroom a little while later. 

He got out of his jeans and a white tee shirt.

Luna walked over to his closet and removed a fancy one-piece silver suit. 

He walked back over to his bed and sat down. He looked so depressed.

I don't want to go tonight! He said to himself while he looked at his sky board that leaned up against the wall.

Later that night at the Neilaville grand auditorium, King Tona stood at a podium on the stage in front of hundreds of Neilas who waited anxiously. 

This same event happened forty years ago when King Tona was a young adult. And now it was Luna's turn. But Luna looked so depressed about this tradition while he sat by King Tona's right side. To King Tona's left side, sat Meena, cousin to Luna.  

Meena was short and stout as compared to all the other Neilas. He also had stubby legs. He wore the standard Neila green Army uniform that came with four big stars on each shoulder. He was the General of the Army for Neila.  His father was the General, as was his father. But Meena wanted something else, as being the General was too dull.  And if the truth is known, the Neila Army would not fare too well during a battle. So Meena wanted more power to use his Army to get them trained to be natural killers.

The audience was on the edge of their seats while they waited for the start of this vital tradition. Sona was in the front row and was also on the edge of her seat.

"Welcome fellow Neilas and I would like to thank you for attending this special meeting," he addressed the audience.

They all clapped and followed with a strange seal sound that was standard for these beings. 

King Tona waited until the clapping and sounds subsided.

"It has now come time to press on with Neila tradition. So like my Father, I will retire, and Prince Luna will become King after the initial and final ceremonies have been performed with the Governing Council," King Tona told the audience who all gave mediocre claps with seal sounds. 

Sona was the only Neila who was loud with her clapping and seal sounds.

In the audience, an old Neila man leaned over to his mature wife, "How can he rule a planet while sky surfing?"

"I know. Luna still acts like a playful teenager," his wife responded.

Most of the surrounding Neilas heard their comments, and they nodded in agreement, as they also did not have faith in Luna's ability to lead their planet.

On the stage, Luna sat and looked like he lacked the confidence to become King.  Plus he sensed his people did not have faith; he could lead them.

Meena sat and looked pissed as he hated this tradition.

"Now, keeping up with tradition, I will perform one last assignment of which Prince Luna will be required to complete," he told the audience.

They all looked curious.

Luna looked nervous.

"My last assignment will be establishing contact with a planet in another universe. Luna's assignment will be to establish trade relations with such planet," King Tona said.

The audience looked curious.

"And the planet I choose will be earth," King Tona told everybody.

"Earth?" numerous Neilas said to each other in the audience, as they were a little leery of that planet.

"Yes, earth. Our probe just relayed data that the planet earth will be sending a probe into space in search of other life. We will contact their probe and let them know that Neila contains other life forms. Friendly life forms," he told the curious audience.

In the audience, all the Neilas stood up and clapped with their seal sound.  

"The initial ceremony has to start in a couple of days here in this auditorium then the final one will follow with Prince Luna in attendance of both," King Tona addressed the audience.

They all clapped and cheered in their seal sounds.

On the stage, Meena noticed Luna looked nervous, so he started to scheme. 

Later that night in Luna's bedroom, he stood by a bookcase where his sky board hovered close-by inches above the floor. 

He had his new Space Pad birthday device in his hand, while he looked over at his dresser.

He saw a hologram picture of himself, years younger sitting on King Tona's knee with Luna wearing the King's crown with a grand proud smile. 

On the small Space Pad screen, a small hologram of Sona appeared.

"Luna, I can't wait until you become King," Sona's hologram said.

"I can't be King!" he told Sona's hologram.

"Just think, we can visit other planets as King and Queen and spread Neila goodwill all over different universes," Sona's replied from his Space Pad. 

"What am I going to do?" he replied, then started pacing around his room, upset. 

"I'll be a loving and caring queen!" Sona replied, and it did not dawn on her that Luna was upset. 

"Establish trade with earth? That's a huge responsibility!" Luna told Sona. 

"I wonder what the earthlings will need help with?" she said.

But Luna did not hear a word Sona said while he paced around the room.

He paced by a wall that had a hologram of a blueprint drawing for a new water board, which was half the size of a sky board but it skimmed the tops of waves. It was Luna's creation and hoped the Surfers would sell it at their shop.

"I need to sky surf and clear my head, Sona!"

"Are you listening to me, Luna?" she replied.

Luna did not notice Meena while he stood in the doorway of his bedroom.

Meena had a cunning look on his face as he heard everything. Meena walked away with a smirk.

Luna turned off his Space Pad and threw it across the room where it landed on his bed next to his black jacket. He grabbed his sky board and rushed out of his room.

Ten minutes later, Luna surfed the sky with his sky board while he tried to figure out how he could get out of this Neila tradition of him becoming King. 

Later that evening, Meena sat behind his desk inside in his office at the Neila Army base. He was in deep thought about what he heard Luna tell Sona. He schemed some more with an evil smirk. And the more he plotted his evil smirk grew more substantial.

Then Boe, a small and mean-looking Neila soldier, entered Meena's office with a huge "Neila Law" book under his arm.

Then Burpy, a chubby soldier who always burps out his words and Dopey, a skinny soldier with a constant droopy stupid look and accent rushed into the office after Boe. 

 The three goofs all wore the standard green Army uniforms with no stripes. They walked up to Meena's desk and immediately snapped to attention. 

"Here's the book you order, General Meena," Boe barked out.

Boe handed Meena the book, and he quickly grabbed it. "Get out of my office," he ordered and shooed them away with a hand.

Boe, Burpy, and Dopey turned around, and they all got tangled up with each other and plopped to the floor. 

Meena rolled his eyes in displeasure over these goofs while they untangled themselves and quickly left.

He couldn't stand these goofs, but they were loyal and always obeyed his commands without any questions. And they knew how to keep their mouths shut.

Meena opened the law book and scanned through a page. He turned a couple of pages then scanned through another page. Then his eyes lit up and got an evil smirk.

"That's it!" he cried out in joy.

Meena jumped up from his desk with the book.

He danced away from his desk and did a victory dance over to a bizarre-looking copier machine. Meena placed the open book on the device.

"One copy," Meena ordered the machine.

The copier hissed and made a few jingling sounds then a piece of paper shot out of a slot onto a tray. He snatched up the paper and kissed it.

He did a victory dance with the paper as his dancing partner back to his desk.  

He looked at his watch. "Oh, I better head to the Palace," he said then rushed to his door.

It was dinnertime at the King's Palace where King Tona, Luna and Meena sat at the dining room table.  They looked hungry while they waited.

Albie, an old Butler with white hair who wore a tuxedo looking jumpsuit, entered the room. He carried a tray with three plates that contained strange shaped and colored vegetables. He had been the butler at the Palace ever since King Tona was a young boy. 

He walked over to the table.

"Think of the endless possibilities with earth! You could become more popular as a King than me," King Tona said to Luna. Then King Tona looked up at the ceiling, "Your mother's gonna be so proud of you up in heaven."

Luna looked nervous over King Tona's comment while Albie set the tray down where it hovered at table height. 

Albie grabbed a plate of vegetables and placed it in front of King Tona. 

"King Tona, trading with earth is a fantastic idea!" Meena said with a fake smile while he sucked up.

"Thank you, General Meena," King Tona said then noticed Luna's sad drawn face while Albie placed a plate of vegetables in front of him. "Is there a problem, Luna?" King Tona said with a concerned look. 

"No, father," Luna lied.

Meena looked over at Luna and knew his sad look meant an opportunity for him.

Albie placed a plate of vegetables in front of Meena then he left with the tray.

"Okay then, let's eat," King Tona said.

Meena ate with an evil smirk on his face while he watched Luna pick at his food. 

King Tona ate and still looked concerned about Luna, as he knew something was bugging him and couldn't figure it out. Young adults are too moody! King Tona thought to himself while he ate.

Luna was quiet during the rest of the dinner.

Later that night in Luna's bedroom, he nervously paced around his room with his Space Pad in hand. He stared at the Space Pad, and the small hologram of Sona was visible. 

"That's easy for father to say since he's a great King. I don't want to be friends with earth. They're horrible creatures. They blow things up, and they might eat us! I can't be King. I can't attend the initial ceremony!" he told on the Space Pad.

"What's wrong Luna? You've talked about being King since you were a lad," Sona answered with a concerned look. 

"That was then. But now I need to delay this for a couple of years!" Luna replied while he looked at his water board design. "Yeah, I need time to get my waterboard produced and sold," Luna said, and that suggestion made him feel better.

At the doorway of Luna's room, Meena stood and watched with an evil smirk. "Hey cuz, I overheard your dilemma. I can help you!"

Luna saw Meena in his doorway and looked curious.

"Luna, are you listening to me?" Sona questioned from the Space Pad. 

Luna turned off his Space Pad and tossed it onto his bed. 

Meena walked up to Luna, who looked curious. 

Meena looked around to make sure nobody was nearby. "Here's what needs to be done. I know for sure that the Governing Council on the planet Ronrevog doesn't want any dealing with earth. All of the Council members hate the earthlings as they feel they're warriors that want to destroy our universe," Meena told Luna.

"I didn't know that," Luna said and was interested in what his cousin had to say.

"Now, if you were to you know, by chance, to fly over to earth and blow up their so-called Delta rocket after it's launched into space," Meena said.

"Why blow up their rocket?" Luna questioned, as that did not make sense.

"Because that will destroy their space probe that they're sending to our planet," Meena said.

"Space probe?" Luna questioned as he forgot what his father said in the meeting.

"Yeah. Our space probe came back with data from earth. Data that told us the earthling's probe will venture to our planet for data for a future attack," Meena lied through his teeth.

"Didn't father know that?" Luna said a little shocked.

"I tried to tell him, but he's hung up with believing the earthlings are a friendly species. But I know they are warriors. Very dangerous warriors," Meena said and looked dead serious.

Luna thought about Meena comment and knew his father could be a little stubborn. "That sounds like father."

Meena looked at the door to make sure nobody was around. He looked back at Luna. "Now, I know for a fact that the Governing Council will grant you a delay on becoming King, as your reward for saving our planet. Because they're also concerned earth will attack Ronrevog afterward," Meena added.

Luna's eyes lit up, overhearing his proposal, but then something seemed wrong. "Won't the earthlings send up another probe?" he questioned. 

"Oh, no. earthlings take a very long time to get a new rocket going," Meena answered. 

"I thought you liked father's idea?" Luna asked. 

"I had to agree. It's my job as General," Meena answered with his best poker face. 

"Won't the earthlings get mad if I blow up their rocket? And come after me?" Luna asked worriedly. 

"Naw! They're always blowing up things. They'll think it's their fault," Meena replied and looked confident. 

Luna thought about Meena's proposal then smiled as he loved it. Then he looked a little confused. "Why are you helping me? And why don't you send out one of your fighter ships?" Luna wondered. 

"Because you're going to be my future boss one day and I want you to know that I'll always support and protect you," Meena answered while he extended out his hand. "Plus many Neilas don't feel you're fit to be King, so when you feel the time is right, they'll be accepting you with open arms after they learn you saved our planet," he added.

Luna thought about what he said then nodded in agreement. He held out his hand, and they made a seal sound while they slapped their hands together for the traditional Neila handshake. 

They stopped. 

"Come to the hangar at the base first thing in the morning. I'll have our fastest ship ready. But for security reasons, this has to be tippy-top secret," commented Meena then he winked at Luna, who nodded in agreement.

Later that night in Meena's office, he sat at his desk and read his "Galactic Idiots Guide to Ruling a Universe" book.

Boe, Burpy, and Dopey stumbled inside almost tripping over each other while they rushed over to Meena's desk.

They snapped to attention and saluted while they got to his desk. "Boe, Burpy and Dopey reporting as ordered sir," Burpy burped out.

"I have a big promotion opportunity for you three. But it's a tippy-top secret!" Boe, Burpy, and Dopey's eyes lit up with excitement about being promoted.