The Chronicles of Widget (Phoenix Rising) Read online

  The Chronicles of Widget

  Stellastar Widget

  & Angela Timms Phoenix Rising Infinitology

  With thanks to Sarah Langwith for the cover photograph of Widget at the Dr Who Exhibition, Cardiff

  Copyright © 2015 Angela Timms No part of this publication may be reproduced anywhere without the permission of Angela Timms. All rights reserved. ISBN: 1519708009 ISBN-13: 978-1519708007

  DEDICATION

  For Mum & Dad

  They have passed over but they will never be forgotten.

  OTHER BOOKS IN

  THE PHOENIX RISING INFINITOLOGY

  Phoenix Rising: The Covenant by Angela Timms Thunder in the Mountains by Angela Timms

  PROLOGUE The warm breeze barely moved the crunchy purple leaves. Somewhere in the distance there could be heard the baying of the Eloxivus, a rare beast hardly ever seen near to the town of Derox on the Planet Eldanista. She was a visitor here, escaped from a travelling band of entertainers who had been careless enough to leave the gate of her cage unlatched. Now she is free to roam and she had spent nearly a week making the most of it.

  To the north a band of hunters flew their hover boards above the ancient Deraxian Forest. The purple trees pointed accusingly at the turquoise sky where the twin orange suns of Edris and Nedris moved thoughtfully along their usual path. Their scent carried on the mighty Shelocko wind, bringing a warning to the peaceful creature and ending her peaceful contemplation of rich pasture and clear air without the bounds of the all too small cage they had kept her in. In her frustration she cried out. Not necessarily for help but because she knew her freedom would soon end. Nobody evaded those hunters for long. They had caught her long ago and taken her from her family and friends. They would catch her again and the memory of the vicious sinewic whips that snaked around limbs, shocking and debilitating, were still raw in her mind despite the years she had spent in captivity.

  Del, the Frixian, sat on a log, mind wandering, body tired with nothing to do, nowhere to go and enjoying a day off from work. Her time was her own and she wanted to use it doing nothing. Her long curly blonde hair blew around her face, catching momentarily around her long pointed ears which keenly turned from left to right, casually enjoying the sounds of the wild. That was until she heard the cry of the Eloxivus. Not that she knew what it was. It was a plaintive cry, a sound that seemed to demand action and action was the one thing she did not want on her day off. But it did sound rather important.

  She got up, she walked a few paces and then she saw the beast. Its long sinuous neck swayed from side to side. A tiny head with long pointed nose and long velvety ears looked at her. The creature’s eyes were beady bright, it’s teeth pointily long in a very unthreatening way despite their length. It’s body was elegant, long and thin with a prehensile tail almost as long as its neck. Long legs raised this body high above the tiny Frixian who suddenly felt very, very small in the shadow of the colossal creature.

  Del stopped moving and looked up at the huge beast as the creature lowered her neck down to look at the tiny Frixian. Her bright eyes reflected

  her confusion at seeing the tiny creature and she hesitated as she tried to decide whether to run away or not. Del smiled and projected a telepathic message as she had no idea if the creature understood Frixian and she didn’t want to scare the beast away. “Who are you and why are you here as I haven’t seen a creature like you before”.

  The words appeared in the creature’s mind and that made her jump. “I’m Eethia. I’m lost. I escaped. I’m free. There are hunters out there, they want to catch me. I don’t want to be caught. They will hurt me and put me in a painful, lonely and dark place.”

  Del thought for a moment. “If that is the case then I won’t let that go on and I won’t let you be captured by them. I have an idea. If you agree, I could take you to a place where there are no hunters to hurt you and I could go and find others like you and bring them there too. Would you like that?”

  Eethia thought. “I would like that very much.”

  Del smiled. “I shall borrow the ship I work on and I will take you there.” Del walked into the open door of the lone stone building. Set aside from the mushroom shaped buildings of the rest of the village it should have stood out. But, the inhabitants were used to it. None could remember when it arrived and it seemed that nobody was particularly interested in it. It was a very unnoticeable building on many planets, less so here because of the creative shapes of the rest of the building and other than it was grey in a world of purple and orange. It looked out of place but everyone seemed to ignore it because they knew what it was. It was there because the rulers said it should be. It was there to keep them safe and it was there to help in the war against the Followers. Many just thought that it was none of their business. So nobody took any notice when Del the Frixian walked on board the Frixian ship and shut the door.

  It wasn’t her ship, it never had been her ship but she knew how to work it and she knew she would bring it back at the very moment on which she had taken it. Of course that was technically theft but only if they knew about it. This was something she hoped they would not.

  As a fairly senior member of Mission Command she was permitted to operate the ship. As a humanitarian she felt she had to help this creature.

  v It was running through her mind and it also ran through her mind how much she used the language of a closed planet so many dimensions away. A closed planet which was not only the failsafe for the machine she was about to borrow but a world where many of her people had made home.

  It was because of them that she had to help this creature. So many of her people were on Earth trying to fight the anger and depression caused by the Goblians. Perhaps she should have been one of them but the glory of being part of Mission Command had been far too alluring. The thrill of visiting new worlds had always attracted her and now that she had worked her way up the ranks she felt she had got somewhere.

  She also knew that the rest of the crew who were also having a day off would agree with her that saving these creatures was essential. To put that through the right channels would cause far too much red tape and probably a political incident when the “owners” tried to claim their property back. No, it was better this way that she took the ship, relocated them, arrived back just as she’d taken the machine and then she could get on with her day off without anyone knowing what had happened.

  She walked inside and began to have doubts as she flipped switches, moved dials and moved the screen dial to highlight the waiting animal. She pressed a button and the animal disappeared and reappeared in a room on the ship. She then pressed more buttons and the grey stone building was empty, the ship was gone from inside it.

  The moment was barely a breath and the next and the next spanned out into more moments as the ship zipped about the dimensions. More of the creatures were taken from places they would not be noticed, or more likely were not needed or were unhappy and the ship moved on without moving. It skipped between the dimensions and with a press of the button the creatures stood together on an open plain, completely confused, completely alone, completely safe and completely suited to their environment.

  Del pressed the buttons for home and back to the moment she had left. She did the checks, the did the calculations and she was about to press the button to go home, just as she was hit from behind with a big stick. The world went dark as her tiny body slumped to the ground. She was swiftly picked up by the assailant and carried to the cryogenic unit where they put her inside and froze her before she could wake up and escape.

  The man who had knocked Del out smiled as he turned the dial and r
eset the location. He also changed the command protocols while he still had the

  vi login from Del and made himself commander of the ship. So, from that point it was his ship and he could take it where he wished. He pressed the button and the ship began to move through the dimensions.

  Del didn’t wake up in the cryogenic unit as the cryogenic unit kept her asleep. She dreamed her way through time as the ship she had unwittingly stolen for the thieves was used for many different things that she knew nothing about. The spirits of her children were born while she was in the unit, unattached to her spirit which was bound to the sleeping body they were able to leave the unit. There was nothing of them to freeze as they had no body, so they were free.

  The two children spirits were absorbed into the Shinuvrian Eggs that were always kept on board the ships. They developed along with the spirit body that was in there unknown to the thieves and when the time was right they hatched.

  They were babies and didn’t know much about anything as they had not been able to have the telepathic link with their mother which would have been normal. So when they met with the Kilurian who had stolen the ship they didn’t know to run away. So they were caught and they too ended up in the cryogenic unit, bound with their new bodies.

  The years passed by and the ship moved on. Many of the cryogenic units were emptied, including the one containing their mother and they were eventually awakened by their captors when there was a serious problem with the ship which could only be repaired by a Frixian.

  They didn’t know that they were prisoners or their story so when they were asked to help they happily set about looking after the ship. They fixed it, they maintained it and they lived for nearly a thousand years as the unpaid mechanics in harmony with the machine.

  The years passed by and one day their new masters put them into the cryogenic unit as well. That was where they remained until the ship ran out of power and the cryogenic unit released them.

  The two spirits were Widget and Gadget… They never met their mother or their father and they never knew their homeland.

  vii 1

  Part 1: A Weaver of Dreams

  A Weaver of Dreams by Nat King Cole

  I looked beyond the mountain And what did I see

  A whole world of mystery Just waiting for me.

  So I picked up a computer With words so much was meant I wrote them on the keyboard Until my time was spent

  I had to do it quickly

  So I was not found out

  So I tapped and tapped on the keyboard That is how the words came about…

  I’m not a greatsy author, like all you bigsy ones I’m just a little creature who found a way to write So please forgive the typos and anything misspelt

  For this is not my language and I write it as it is felt… So I thought I’d put my words here, just because I might

  So I put my words here, and perhaps they’ll be just right

  I tap on the computer, just because I can I check out all the emails, but there is too much spam

  I’m not a greatsy poet, or a writer strong and true I’m just a little elfy thing, who found a laptop blue So I tapped out many, many words, Well perhaps only just a few

  But you will know their meaning And that they were meant for you…

  1 The sounds of night woke me from sleeping. Wind howled like a ravening beast, clawing at the metal roof and stone walls and making the windows rattle. I went to the window and looked out over the valley. The light in the distance shone brightly, just a single light but a lighthouse in the dark. I’ve never met the neighbours who live there but just seeing the light means that they are out there in the inky blackness.

  In the valley I can imagine animals seeking shelter under trees. Up in the field, way up above the house and my little home, the goats have probably been woken by the sound of the wind. In quiet contemplation I can imagine them chewing the cud and snuggling up together, calling occasionally to those they cannot see as they are in the other building. Talking to each other and reassuring each other that all is well.

  I can imagine, Symbel, the oldest, looking around the shed. Her white head illuminated by the moonlight filtering through the roof light, showing off the white of her coat and highlighting the grey shady stripe down her back testament to her British Alpine father. That is it you see, they aren’t just goats, they are different breeds of goats. Symbel looks like what they call a British Saanan. An odd name but it sounds a bit like a bleat. Her half brother looks like a British Alpine. He is black with a badger striped head, just like his dad. I can imagine Symbel up there, her eyes bright and sharp checking that everyone is asleep and safe in their little groups. Calling to the others in the other goat house, just to know they are still there.

  As the year comes to a close it is time to reflect I suppose, to look back on the events of the year. It has been a long year and it could be a very dramatic prelude to what is to come.

  The goats have enjoyed going out all summer and investigating the pasture that we own. Now that the year was coming to an end the excitement of going out every day is over until the spring. They must be glad as they hear the howling wind signifying the time when they do not go out but can spend their days playing in the shed safe from wind, rain, snow and hail which is just a sound on the roof and walls.

  I can imagine the wind as it whips around the goat shed, the barn and down the path past the dog kennels to the little barn which is nestled at the bottom of the hill next to the house. An invisible force that is only really visible by what it does and what it moves. It really moves things around as well. Unforgiving is a good way of putting it. As I am so small if I was out there I would blow away and be found wet and muddy somewhere unpleasant.

  All around the valley everything is dark, the lights in the house here and the few neighbours’ houses have long been put out as the inhabitants went to bed. Slowly the valley had slipped into darkness until only the security lights on the buildings that needed them either on as a quiet reassurance or coming on and off when animals and people moved about. Of course on a night like this where the wind was moving everything around the lights were going on and off. It was a full moon so the moonlight streamed between the rolling thunderclouds, occasionally illuminating the sleeping world.

  This is the time of the night creatures. They are all out there. The good and the bad. The stealthy cats stalked their prey, finding it all the easier as the wind covered any sound. Somewhere a dog fox barked. A sound of horror to those who kept chickens in the area. But, if their keepers were doing their jobs right all these feathered friends would be safely locked up in coops and cages by now. The dog fox would go hungry or perhaps he’d catch an unwitting rabbit. He was a night fox, there were day foxes too but they would not be on his territory by now. They were town foxes, unable to fight nor forage. They were the ones that would hang around the farms and pick off an unwitting chicken or goose. In truth it is a war out there.

  Of course there are also Goblians out there. They won’t come near here as they know I’m here but they are slithering about in the darkness. Their stench is on the wind, feint but it is out there. Their subterranean homes out there in the wilds far beyond Llyn Eiddwen Lake in the Common Land where only the wild things go.

  I don’t usually wake up when the infra red light is set off and when the glow illuminates the darkness outside. Something had awoken me, which is unusual, and I’d looked out into the inky blackness as fast as I could, just as the light went off. No doubt just Siouxsie Sioux, the black cat, out on her nocturnal mouse hunting missions. She will keep us safe, us and the animal feed. Not important to you of course but when you are inhabiting a cloth puppet body like me, things like mice, damp, dirt and other things are immensely important.

  I had better explain. I hope you don’t mind me writing to you like this but this is how I write, as if I’m talking to you. I am not an animated inanimate object. I think there are books about things like that. I am Widget and the body I use is a puppet. It
is inert most of the time but when I’m inhabiting it the body is awake. That is when I can physically touch this world, through the puppet. When I am a spirit, I move around like smokeless smoke with no form or ability to touch anything physical. Which is amusing but frustrating. When I am in the body I can move around and do things but even that has its limitations. Mostly that if someone doesn’t know I’m a spirit and doesn’t believe in me, I can’t move at all. So to those people I’m just a puppet, all floppy and pointless.

  I can’t inhabit any other body or doll. I had to be bound to this body by the power of the ship that I arrived on. Even then that was an anomaly when the ship powered down and my Frixian body was destroyed. Rather than my spirit be lost the ship bound me and my sister into the first available suitable object. Which happened to be a puppet.

  Quite a happy happenstance as we were lucky enough that the new owner of the little barn which is the hiding place for the travelling machine is owned by someone who likes puppets. Not just likes them but is planning to do things with them professionally. I, Widget, will be able to go to shows and places and meet people as the puppet and that is marvelous.

  These will be the times when the body’s owner brings the puppet to life by moving it around as a puppet. She knows we are Frixians and all about us. She also knows that when we are in a crowd of people who do not believe we are Frixians that I am just a floppy puppet. But I can talk with her telepathically and that means I can ask what I want to ask and talk to her at least. That is when we work together. She moves the body that can’t move when people are looking and I can ask for her to move me and to ask certain questions. So I am luckier than some and at the moment luckier than most as most have left this world.

  Don’t worry, they aren’t dead. They just aren’t believed in anymore so they left as they didn’t want to be stuck in an inanimate object for a years unwanted in a loft or garage. Could you imagine that? It would be horrible. Imagine seeing things but not being able to do anything, move anywhere or touch anything. I don’t blame them going.