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FULL MOON 2000 (6) - THE FREEFALL OF IT ALL (Colin Camberhey)

THE FREEFALL OF IT ALL

Colin Camberhey

Swimming by." The panel's controls lit up. "Band nine two four," Lala laughed. The console indicated the connection was made.. Lala sang again : "Lalalalalogle,
Smile upon his face
Lord Almighty,
King and Queen of Space." The message was received, the connection was broken. "Let's all sing and dance," Lala laughed at the four purple walls. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Grand Admiral Falloye was used to giving orders and being obeyed. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Apologies were never easy for him, especially to some wet behind the ears tekkie wimp. He cleared his throat. "Very well young man," he said severely, "you were right." He paused. "I apologise." The bespectacled youth nodded earnestly. "I told you, sir. We had enough of the code to gain entry, but brute force wasn't the answer. We needed someone who would, ah, blend in with the ambience of the planet." "And you are certain?" Falloye demanded. "Oh yes, sir. The overt attack capability of the planet has been neutralised, though I have to say there was never any real indication that it would be used except in self defence. However, we did not gain enough code to destabilise its defensive rings." "We can't have rouge planets outside of our jurisdiction," Falloye cursed, thumping the table. "The threat was real enough; two of my fleet's wiped out by their weapons." "Their defence weapons," the young man corrected calmly, "only employed when attacked." Falloye regarded the young man with cold rage. "Do not push your luck, sonny," he said in a quiet, measured tone. "Doctor Mendelson was a brilliant, though somewhat eccentric and unconventional man," the technician tried to explain. "He had created his own world in his own style, his defences were to ensure he was left alone and wasn't persecuted. Again, he coded them in his own style-" "And they continued to operate long after his death when his mini planet drifted into our territories. We cannot tolerate such, er, anomalies; where would it all lead?" "What do you intend to do with Lalalalalogle?" A look of distaste crossed the Colonel's face at the mention of the name. "Leave him where he is. He seems happy enough - in his own environment; well out of our way. Why do you ask? Are you pining for him?" The young man's face reddened as the Colonel sneered at him contemptuously. He tossed the technician a medal. "For your services to the Empire," he stated. A hard smile crossed his face. "You can wear it with your other jewellery," he added with ill concealed venom. Dismissing the young man with a wave of his hand, he swung round to study his screen, which displayed the areas of high security risk to the Empire. He picked up a model of a fighter ship from his desk and admired its array of weapons. "Song and dance," he chortled to himself, "song and dance........" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Lalalalalogle had only ever met Grand Admiral Falloye once; that had been enough; a nasty, ignorant man. He began to dance a slow graceful ballet and bending forward to the console sang softly as a lover would to his partner at twilight time on a romantic evening : "The butterflies and songbirds,
Are wet with morning dew,
Now fire all torpedoes,
At Earth's H.Q."
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FULL MOON 2000 (6) - THE FREEFALL OF IT ALL (Colin Camberhey)

THE FREEFALL OF IT ALL

Colin Camberhey

Lalalalalogle strolled down the busy street, watched by the bemused eyes of the natives of the town. It seemed that nudity was not the norm here. "Halt," a gruff voice demanded. Lala regarded the severe form of the Enforcer who blocked his path. "Malfunction," the machine barked at him, "report to the hospital for repair." Lala gulped, then drawing a deep breath, chanted to the fearsome contraption : "I am a real man,
I'm joyous and I'm free,
And you have no jurisdiction,
Over lil' ole me." Circuits never used before were activated in the machine as it downloaded a scanning program. It slowly and carefully scanned Lalalalalogle's body in minute detail; androidmen were such skilful replicas, the differences were minute. Finally satisfied, it stepped aside. "Pass unhindered real man," it announced. The message was relayed to base - a real man - in this city. Lala walked on until he came to an area of green grass. He stepped over the low wall ignoring the sign to keep off and began to practice his dance steps, spinning and pirouetting high into the air. It was only a couple of minutes later that a vehicle sped onto the scene and a group of soldiers appeared from the lorry, pushing past the small group of onlookers who watched Lala's performance with puzzled expressions on their faces. "Stop!" the leader of the military group ordered Lala. "I am Captain Daniels," he announced. "Dan, Dan the androidman," Lala mocked, his dance steps becoming more exaggerated. "I order you to halt," the Captain repeated. "Who the hell are you?" Lala slowed down and regarded the soldiers. He smiled and began to sing, waving his arms in the air : "Lalalalalogle,
Hands above his head,
Eighteen, nineteen,
You're all dead." The group of soldiers crumpled to the ground and lay there inert. Lala regarded them for a few seconds, then applauded himself, and skipped off the grass back onto the path. The small audience stood back fearfully as he danced through their midst. Lala skipped on through the town, oblivious of the onlookers and the small, but growing band of residents who followed him at a safe distance. As he approached the most impressive building in the town; from all sides, dozens of naked women appeared and began to surround him. There were females of every creed and colour; of every description; short, medium, tall, slim, average, fat; classical beauties and homely, motherly types. They held out their arms imploringly. Lala regarded them impassively, then once more began to dance and sing, repeating the same verse, pointing at each female as he did so : "Jezebel,
Jezebel,
I don't want you -
Go to Hell." The effect was startling, as he pointed, the women began to explode into orange sheets of flame. The crowd of followers turned and ran for cover as Lala covered his face to protect himself from the heat of the explosions. As the flames subsided, he jumped across the circle of smouldering wreckage and with amazing agility leapt like a Gazelle over the high gates of the large building he had reached. Inside the grounds of the building, everything was purple. Lala moved cautiously forward, constantly repeating the lines : "Purple, purple, purple,
Burble, burble, burble." Everything was silent and desolate in the grounds, though when he approached the massive oak door of the house, it swung open silently for him to enter. Inside the decor was also purple and he continued to chant his 'purple rhyme' until he finally reached the inner sanctum. Here he found the skeleton of a human being, who had died many years ago, slumped back in a chair by a desk. Lala stopped singing and stood silently for a minute, then he carefully wheeled the chair with its skeletal corpse away from the desk. He regarded the communications panel on the desk. Then sang softly, like a lullaby : "Spacemen, spacemen,
Flying in the sky,
Can you hear me,
Swimming by." The panel's controls lit up. "Band nine two four," Lala laughed. The console indicated the connection was made.. Lala sang again : "Lalalalalogle,
Smile upon his face
Lord Almighty,
King and Queen of Space." The message was received, the connection was broken. "Let's all sing and dance," Lala laughed at the four purple walls. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Grand Admiral Falloye was used to giving orders and being obeyed. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Apologies were never easy for him, especially to some wet behind the ears tekkie wimp. He cleared his throat. "Very well young man," he said severely, "you were right." He paused. "I apologise." The bespectacled youth nodded earnestly. "I told you, sir. We had enough of the code to gain entry, but brute force wasn't the answer. We needed someone who would, ah, blend in with the ambience of the planet." "And you are certain?" Falloye demanded. "Oh yes, sir. The overt attack capability of the planet has been neutralised, though I have to say there was never any real indication that it would be used except in self defence. However, we did not gain enough code to destabilise its defensive rings." "We can't have rouge planets outside of our jurisdiction," Falloye cursed, thumping the table. "The threat was real enough; two of my fleet's wiped out by their weapons." "Their defence weapons," the young man corrected calmly, "only employed when attacked." Falloye regarded the young man with cold rage. "Do not push your luck, sonny," he said in a quiet, measured tone. "Doctor Mendelson was a brilliant, though somewhat eccentric and unconventional man," the technician tried to explain. "He had created his own world in his own style, his defences were to ensure he was left alone and wasn't persecuted. Again, he coded them in his own style-" "And they continued to operate long after his death when his mini planet drifted into our territories. We cannot tolerate such, er, anomalies; where would it all lead?" "What do you intend to do with Lalalalalogle?" A look of distaste crossed the Colonel's face at the mention of the name. "Leave him where he is. He seems happy enough - in his own environment; well out of our way. Why do you ask? Are you pining for him?" The young man's face reddened as the Colonel sneered at him contemptuously. He tossed the technician a medal. "For your services to the Empire," he stated. A hard smile crossed his face. "You can wear it with your other jewellery," he added with ill concealed venom. Dismissing the young man with a wave of his hand, he swung round to study his screen, which displayed the areas of high security risk to the Empire. He picked up a model of a fighter ship from his desk and admired its array of weapons. "Song and dance," he chortled to himself, "song and dance........" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Lalalalalogle had only ever met Grand Admiral Falloye once; that had been enough; a nasty, ignorant man. He began to dance a slow graceful ballet and bending forward to the console sang softly as a lover would to his partner at twilight time on a romantic evening : "The butterflies and songbirds,
Are wet with morning dew,
Now fire all torpedoes,
At Earth's H.Q."
GO TO THE CONTENTS PAGE