-SALOON AT THE EDGE OF EVERYWHERE-

Chapter Eleven

Recon 2, not that they were calling themselves that, entered the saloon and found nothing but a mess.

“What the heck is that?” asked Jimmy, pointing with his knife at the large window to the left of the swinging doors.

None of the rest of them saw anything unusual in the corner except knocked over tables and scattered cocktail napkins and glasses.

“Outside the window,” Jimmy emphasized when he realized where they were looking.

“Oh.” said VarnTa.

There was a very large and very gooey-looking pink blob pressed up against the outside of the lower half of the window.

“Take a look, VarnTa.” said Mof.

VarnTa looked unconvinced as he looked at the head cook first. Then he walked to the swinging doors and peered out in to the hallway.

“It’s a tongue. A really big tongue,” he said over his shoulder.

Ned had just finished stashing refugees in separate storage and machinery rooms and behind piles of stuff. He settled down behind a stack of extra wall sections with a good view of the door. He swung the barrel of old Betsy and his steely gaze in that direction, and made himself as comfortable as possible.

“Should I pull his head off, Commander?” asked Ox.

Rufus had absolutely no doubt that he meant every word of it. “Not just yet, Ox,” Rufus hastened to tell him. He paused, not sure what to do next. Then he spun to the Qualm.

“Can you tell me what’s going on in his head?” Rufus asked.

“We do not read minds, Rufus, we only feel the emotions. This one is unconscious now, there is nothing to feel at all.” The Qualm seemed mildly depressed.

Rufus wanted to ask the Professor to use the memory stone, but he still wanted to keep it a secret. “Professor,” he said, “get a good look at this thing. Do you know anything about this species?”

Candybar was standing by the counter with the Prince and Asa. She looked at Rufus with a quizzical and penetrating glance. The Professor stepped close to the alien and peered intently at it.

“I have never seen the like before,” stated the Professor.

Gollum! The thought popped into Rufus’s mind a split second before he heard the anguished cry from behind him. He turned, and his breath caught. The little girl was cradling the small, still, pale form. Pale as death, thought Rufus.

“Oh Gollum,” she cried, tears streaming down her face. Then Rufus saw the thin arm rise up, and a thin-fingered hand caressed the human child’s face.

Oh, yeah, Rufus remembered as he rushed over to them, he’s always pale. “Are you all right, little buddy?” he asked as he crouched down and reached out a hand to gently lay it on the Scout-Friend’s chest. “Geeze,” he said, feeling the heat under his palm, “you are burning up. Are you sick?”

Gollum gave him a bright smile. “Please don’t be alarmed, Rufus. That is the normal body temperature for my kind.” Rufus felt a vast relief. It came to him suddenly that he was very fond of this little fellow. Something else came to him as well.

“She called you Gollum,” he said, indicating the child who still held the brave little Helper-Friend in her arms.

“Yes, Rufus, but you called me Gollum first. I became curious, and so I read the books of the human, J. R. R. Tolkien. I found the Gollum character strangely compelling. He also led a life dominated by stronger outside forces. Perhaps not the noblest character of Earth literature, not as noble as the semi mythical King whose name you bear. But still, I like it. If you do not mind, and Ssseeeet will allow it, I will adopt the name as my own. It would be good to have my own name.”

Rufus was touched and just a little mystified.

Gollum went on, his smile growing even wider. “Besides, I do bear a striking resemblance to Tolkien’s description of the fallen Hobbit.”

“I meant no disrespect,” said Rufus quickly.

“I know that, Rufus. I appreciated the fact that you thought of me as an individual, not just a Helper-Friend. And just so you know, Frodo is now reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Don’t be surprised if he decides to adopt his name as well. Mr. Toad, on the other hand, is still undecided.” As he said this, Gollum was moving his limbs to check for injuries.

Rufus stuck out his hand to help Gollum to his feet as he said, “I should have named you a hero’s name, because you are a hero, you know? Maybe it’s not too late to pick a different name.”

“No. My name is my name,” said Gollum, clasping Rufus’s hand, “and I will never give it up. I…owwww.” The sentence trailed off in a moan of pain. “I think my arm is broken,” he said, as if reluctant to admit it.

“Just lay still, Gollum,” Rufus ordered. “We’ll get you fixed up.” He raised his eyes to meet the blue eyes of the girl. He stuck out his right hand, and the girl put her right hand in his for a human handshake. Rufus pumped her hand up and down vigorously while he said, “Rufus Blacke, darn glad to meet you.” It was just something that Rufus, who loved kids, did when he met them, because they usually thought it was funny

“I’m Molly,” she said, almost shyly. Then more shyly still, she said, “I’m sorry I kicked you. I didn’t know you were a friend of Gollum’s.” Rufus had almost forgotten, but the dull pain was still there as a reminder.

He waved a hand and said, “Forget it. It was a heck of a good kick. I bet you are a soccer player, right?” He gave her his best smile.

She giggled as she admitted that she did indeed play soccer.

He tousled her hair as he stood, and told her, “Take care of Gollum till we can wrap his arm up, okay?” Then he turned to check on the rest of his unit. Before he could accomplish this, he had a last thought, and turned back to Molly. “How did you know about kicking the thing in the nuts?”

She replied, “That’s how I got off the cruise ship. I kicked the guard when he crouched to pick something up and he went down. Then me and some of the other passengers ran away, but we got separated. I was so scared, till Gollum found me.” She smiled at the Scout-Friend.

“You are one brave kid, Molly,” Rufus began, but then he realized what she had said. “You were on the ship?” he blurted. “Now we can figure out what the heck is going on.”

Ox bellowed, “This miserable wretch is waking up, Rufus.” Rufus glanced back to see the creature, still held firmly top and bottom in Ox’s tentacles, as he began to squirm and writhe.

“Yeah,” he heard Molly say, “He didn’t stay down very long when I kicked him either. And boy was he mad at me. That’s why he was chasing after us.”

Rufus had so many questions to ask, he didn’t know where to start. So he figured he would go the most direct route. He walked up to face the intruder, staying well back from the feet. “Do you speak English?” he asked.

Its dark eyes met his, and the being made a long, drawn-out R sound.

I guess that means no, Rufus began to think, until the alien ended the long R sound with a clear “Matey.”

Rrrrrrrrrrrrr, Matey? Why did that sound so familiar? Rufus couldn’t quite put it together.

“Oh, yeah,” he heard Molly say. “They think they are pirates.”

“Shiver me timbers.” said the being from another world.