Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London by Keith Mansfield Page B

“Before I expel you, will you do me one favor?”
    â€œOf course,” said Johnny. “Whatever I can.”
    â€œI have grown stale, for too long a victim of these vicious krun. I fear I shall die here, forsaken in this dark place, never again seeing the light this galaxy offers.” Johnny made to interrupt, but the hundra silenced him. “There is a quality of the ancients that, when the need is great, we can divide ourselves, cleaving our souls apart. You cannot save me Johnny—Johnny Mackintosh but, should you accept, you may take with you a fragment of my being. Through you a little light may fall on me again, before the darkness closes in.”
    Johnny wasn’t at all sure he liked the sound of this, but hehad practically promised. “OK, I guess,” he said focusing as best he could on the glittering gold lights.
    â€œMy gratitude will go with you always, most noble human,” said the voice inside Johnny’s head and, as he watched, a single speck of light separated itself from the swirling mass and floated toward him, sparkling all the way up his left nostril. Happily, Johnny decided he didn’t feel any different at all.
    â€œIt is a great gift,” boomed the hundra, “unique in all the galaxy. Use it well.”
    Before he could say thank you, though he wasn’t really sure what for, Johnny found his face separating from the wall of the creature and he was thrown out onto a ledge. While he had been inside the hundra the party had crossed the walkway.
    â€œJohnny!” shouted Clara.
    The whip bounced off the hundra’s hide and Johnny rolled out of the way just in time as it crashed onto the floor next to him. He got to his feet and ran over to her.
    â€œIt lives, sire,” clicked the little brown alien to the tall Dauphin. “What thing can touch the hundra and live?”
    â€œSilence!” boomed the Dauphin. “How dare you address me without being spoken to.”
    â€œYour Highness. Please forgive me. I, your humble servant, prostrate myself,” said the creature, collapsing all four legs and falling in front of the Dauphin.
    â€œYou will proceed to the transit tunnel … now,” said Stevens, and he pointed with a long finger to an opening in the wall.
    â€œVery well,” said the Dauphin, striding quickly toward the opening. The little brown servant scuttled behind.
    â€œCome on,” said Johnny to Clara, taking her hand and following the two aliens. “Anywhere’s better than this.” Clara didn’t look very sure about that. Through the opening they found themselves in a small chamber facing a sealed hatch. The doorway closed behind them, leaving Stevens, the other krunand the hundra on the far side. There was a hiss, as though some air was escaping. Then the hatch in front opened, revealing a tunnel with corrugated translucent walls. “It’s an airlock,” said Johnny. “We must be transferring to another ship.”
    The Dauphin looked at him strangely, before ushering the little brown creature in front of it and into the tunnel. As soon as it crossed the opening it started floating, arms and legs flailing everywhere. However the gravity was being generated, it didn’t seem to extend beyond the ship.
    â€œIt doesn’t look very long,” Johnny said.
    Clara took Johnny’s hand and squeezed. “Let’s go together,” she said, and they both pushed off, following the Dauphin into the zero G tunnel.
    The hatch behind them closed automatically as they floated through the corrugated corridor. It looked as though it was made of skin, covered with dark veins and spots, with little flaps of extra tissue hanging off in places. They’d set out rather too quickly and were catching the Dauphin and its servant. A light appeared at the end they were floating toward, suggesting the airlock there must be opening. Johnny squinted to see if he could make out