<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0008</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0009.txt">Next (Page 9)</A><BR> Knew he'd help those of us who needed it."<P><P>"And out of the 24 left, or 23, I guess, we're the only ones who need help? The 21 others know what they're doing?"<P><P>Tracy shrugged as best one can while flying.<P><P>"Maybe they don't, but also don't want to seem too anxious for help."<P><P>"What were they like, the others?"<P><P>"Oh, a mixed lot. Most were human. Some were--well, some were beyond description. 44 Times is a long time, especially for those prone to mischief and wandering from the Path."<P><P>"Yeah."<P><P>Tracy picked up speed and Daptin matched it easily. They were going so fast that they couldn't hear each other when they tried to speak, so they didn't.<P><P>The Sun was setting as they reached the Palace and flew into the same room Daptin had arrived in. Deskerhilm was waiting for them. <P><P>He looked up from the book he was reading and greeted them. Daptin was a little shaken at Deskerhilm's appearance. He was a very short, stocky creature, with a barely humanoid shape. He was a brown-gray color, and his skin resembled a cross between rock and reptile. His face had an ancient, calm look to it and vaguely resembled a toad. He had an air of might about him, but also an air of patience and benevolence.<P><P>Suddenly, the strange little fellow held up his hands and backed away from the two.<P><P>"No! No! Cannot be!" Deskerhilm said, and like a video camera falling off a table, the world collapsed.<P><P>And it was back to the hospital, where the scandal began. Daptin yowled in pain, thought he was gonna die any minute. But an hour later he was in a peaceful sleep. A day later he was fully cured.<P><P>The memory of Canyon was still there, but blurred. And saying "Here is Canyon" from then on gave him a strange buzzing feeling, but didn't transport him. It felt like a signal blocked.<P><P>A signal blocked... a signal blocked...<P><P>Back in the present and the hotel room, Daptin was shaken out of his musings by the sound of a massive explosion in the distance. From that weird bomb test place? Maybe. But now, he just had to make the call.<P><P>Had to make the call... picking up the phone as confused memories danced in his head... home from the hospital and totally healthy... they all thought it was a hoax, that he did it for symapthy and to go on his "end journeys"... he had to leave his homeland of Arctica... he went south, to Baskonontana... to Thatterine College in Gullia Fair...<P><P>The end journies... a great four months... the grand tour of Arctica, paid for by willing donations from his hometown... folllowed by two years of evil disease. How could they think he had faked it...?<P><P>Dialing... dialing...<P><P>He heard the phone ringing on the other end as he twirled the cord around his arm. Out the window of the suite, he saw morning dawning over Agoopish. This had to be the most way-out phone call ever made, being that it crossed the boundaries of no less than five worlds. <P><P>"Hello?" came the unfamiliar high-pitched female voice on the other end of the line. <P><P>"Uh, yeah. This is, uh, Daptin. Can I talk to Eb?"<P><P>"Mr. Traipse is in a meeting at the moment... tee hee," said the voice, giggling.<P><P>"What? A meeting? What time is it there? Tell him it's Daptin, he'll wanna talk to me."<P><P>"I'm sorry," said the gleeful, sing-song voice.<P><P>"Look, this is a very long-distance call, and I have to talk to him. Page him or something, y'know? It's like really important."<P><P>"Chee hee hee!" <P><P>"Now wait... who is this? Huh? Let me talk to Diorama or Bliss, or anyone!"<P><P>Daptin heard more tittering and the phone being dropped. In the background, he heard some people talking loudly, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.<P><P>"Shoulda known not to call Greatwall at midday," Daptin grumbled to himself as he stood up and walked over to the window.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0009.txt">Next (Page 9)</A>