Chapter 71: New Ideas

Early-Mid Oct, 1986

Bob POV:

Not knowing just how abruptly we might stop, we chose the forward facing seats that had foot-braces for the adults and special harness-like seatbelts for the kids. I was fairly sure it wouldn’t be too bad, but chose caution, just in case.

I had CJ sitting next to me then Sissy and Mary. Behind us were Ed, Crystal, Gracie, Tyler and Jamie. Like I warned everyone that wasn’t here the first time, once we got started we wouldn’t be able to hear or even ‘feel’ those right next to us.

That caught the kids by surprise, but they figured out quickly that we could all still communicate telepathically.

CJ was wide eyed, “Where are we Bobo?”

“In a thing called a wormhole. That’s how we get to Greg’s Island! We’ll be there in about 9 more minutes.”

Mary giggled, “I don’t think he understands, Bob. Oh look! Is that another wormhole over there?”

When I looked, I saw it too, slightly below us and to our left. “Wow, yeah. I wonder if that’s the one Greg’s still in? Ibera said we’d be in one parallel to it. I just didn’t think we’d be able to see it?”

“Can we stop and pick Mio up, Bobo?” CJ asked, hopefully.

“I’m afraid not, Little Buddy, these things don’t work that way. Besides, there’s no air out there and even if we could stop, we would freeze to death before we could get to him and get back. It’s very cold out there!”

He had the cutest poop-lip on his face, “Can he maybe hear us if we yell loud enough? You know?” He was pointing at his little head.

I was stunned that he understood that much and I had to wonder myself.

By now, everyone was giggling or chuckling at CJ’s exuberance.

Jamie said, “I wonder if we can see him, too?”

“That’s possible, but, we’ll pass by so fast it’ll most likely just be a blur.”

I looked again after looking at my watch. We’d been in here for a little over three minutes. Since nearly 2 months had passed, I had to think Greg would be nearly halfway home by now.

I told everyone, “We should be passing him in about two or three minutes. Let’s all put a quick mental package together with a short message. When we see the end of Greg’s wormhole, we’ll all shoot our messages as hard as we can right at him, okay?”

Everybody flashed and suddenly there was silence as everyone was putting their own little message together for Greg. I wasn’t holding out much hope that it would work, however, I’d feel like an idiot if we didn’t at least try. I even put my own together.

I kept looking back and forth at my watch and the other wormhole. Right on schedule, I saw the end of Greg’s wormhole come into sight.

“Get ready everyone, on your marks, get set, go!”

The mental force that everyone used was phenomenal. Had they been yelling out loud, it would’ve been deafening!

Nearly 2 minutes went by when I heard a faint voice in my head, “Jamie, are you and Bob out there? This is strange. I think I’m starting to hear things... “

I knew we were so far past him that there would be no chance he would hear us now.

When I turned and looked, Jamie had tears in her eyes, “Did you hear him too, Bob? He sounded so sad.”

I nodded, “Well, he’s been in there so long, by now, he knows a whole bunch of time has passed. It’ll be interesting to see if he got everyone’s packages, or just a couple?”

“Bob, sometimes I get so mad at him. Then, like now, I feel so bad that he’s all alone. At least I have all of you guys and Tyler. Knowing that he’s been all by himself all this time makes me sad.”

“Remember Jamie, to Greg, he’s only going to be in that wormhole for what feels like a couple hours, maybe three at the most. At first Ibera said it would probably feel like just an hour. Then after thinking about it, she said it may feel like as many as two or three. He definitely won’t feel like he’s been in there for four months, I’ll guarantee you that!”

Jamie’s sadness slowly turned to a frown, “Then he’s definitely getting slapped! Here I kept thinking time for him was going to pass just like it has for us. Ohhh, is he going to get it.”

Tyler chirped, “Are you mad at Daddy, Mommy?”

Jamie had a crooked grin while looking back down at Tyler, “Don’t you worry about that, my little man. Your Daddy knows I love him, sometimes I just have a strange way of showing it, okay?”

Tyler’s eyes lit up, “Does that mean, if I love Christie, I should slap her?”

Jamie’s eyes shot wide open, “Don’t you dare! Mommy will paddle your little butt.”

CJ had one eyebrow up, “Boys never hit girls, Tyler! I think Mama Jamie is just talking pooh-pooh, you know? She doesn’t really mean it.”

Okay, now I was laughing so hard my sides hurt and Jamie’s mouth was catching flies!

Ed chortled, “I swear, CJ seems like he’s getting smarter every day. You kids, listen to what CJ says. He’s a very smart little boy.”

Sissy turned around, beaming, “CJ is almost as smart as me! I love my big brother. He never hit me, he only hold my hand and kiss me sometimes!” Giggle.

Little Crystal was giggling, “CJ and Tyler kiss me too! He never hits me, but, sometimes he tickles me too much and I push him away. Tyler and CJ like to help me read and understand things.”

Talk about feeling out of touch. I looked at Mary, “Do you mean to tell me, that these kids are already learning how to read? Really?”

All three of the ladies giggled, “CJ is the best at it, but the grandparents have really been spending so much time with them that they read stories to them constantly. Nancy and Iris said CJ can read more than 10 books, all by himself. Now granted, they’re simple children’s books, but CJ often sits with the rest of the kids and actually works with them.” Mary said with a smirk.

“Holy Pied Piper! I wonder if Charlie knows about that?”

Mary just smiled at me, “You guys have been so busy over the last month or so, he’s probably as clueless as you were. It’ll be interesting to see how our little ones react with your friends on the island. I think we need to come up with a better name for the island, too. Don’t you think?”

I nodded, “Yeah, ‘Greg’s Island’ seems kind of blasé. We need something a little catchier. We’ll give it some thought while we’re here and see what comes to mind. Oh look, we’re almost to the island. Everybody get ready in case we stop suddenly!”

It turned out, that I was worrying for nothing. The next thing everyone knew, the boat was sitting softly on the sand about 20 feet from the waterfront. I looked at the motors and was glad to see that both of them were latched in the upward position. I swung the rail-gate open, dropped the ladder and helped everyone down to the sand. The kids immediately wanted to start running around, since this was the first time any of them had ever been on a beach.

The girls were handling that, letting the kids have some fun, while Ed and I began teleporting the 8 large containers to our campsite. I had a look around and was pleased to see that it didn’t appear that our little island friends had disturbed the area. The waterwheel was still functioning and when we went inside the cabin, I switched the system to begin charging the other batteries. When Ed checked them, we were surprised to find that none of them were very low on a charge, even though we hadn’t been here for nearly 2 months. These deep cycle marine batteries were really something. We opened up all the sliding windows so the place could air out a little.

We decided to pop back down to the boat after stacking the containers just outside the shed.

The little ones had already picked up a few seashells and were proudly showing them to Ed and me. We decided to move the boat further from the water, just so that we wouldn’t accidently lose it at high tide. We also dropped the anchor in the front and stepped it firmly into the sand.

The ladies were all looking at us, smirking, when Mary asked, “Are you guys going to teleport to our campground and have us teleport in behind you? Or...”

I grinned, “I was thinking that I would take CJ and Sissy and Ed could take Crystal and Tyler and we’d all just fly there. That way everyone could get a bird’s eye view of exactly where our campsite is as well as seeing some sights?”

Jamie said, “Well, lead on Columbus, show us to our New World!”

CJ was looking at me strangely, “Can I fly by myself, Bobo? I be careful!”

I gave him ‘the look’, “This is going to be a lot further than you’ve ever flown before, Little Buddy. I’m afraid you might get tired?”

I swear the look he gave me reminded me of a determined Mister Spock. “I’m stronger than you think, Daddy Bobo. I promise I tell you if I get tired, okay?”

Mary smirked at me, “I’m afraid my son is going to be just like you and Charlie, Bob. I’ll fly right behind him, to make sure he doesn’t run into trouble.”

Ed still took both Tyler and Crystal, while I took Sissy, just in case I had to help rescue CJ. We took the circuitous route, even pointing out the mesa that Greg used to take his readings every day.

We also flew over the area where our little friends’ cave was located.

Several of them saw us and began waving as we waved back. Leela’s father, Lou, flashed his version of hello and welcome back. Ed and I returned the greeting, inviting them to meet us at our campsite.

While we were waiting, we quickly began putting our supplies into the cabin and storage shed. The first thing that hit me was that we’d completely forgotten to bring a playpen or cribs for the kids. We did remember to bring a kiddy-potty and put it right next to the porta potty we already had.

Mary giggled, “I didn’t forget Bob, I just didn’t feel they were necessary. I figured we would use a single air mattress and a couple sleeping bags for the kids. It’s not like they’ll be so high up we have to worry about them falling off. As far as the playpen, I’ve been thinking I’d like to try not having to use one all the time. CJ will help us keep an eye on the other three and it’s not like we have to worry about them getting run over by a car or something. The great thing about our telepathy is, they can’t even really get lost.”

“Yeah but, we’ve got that pond right out there and I’m just afraid they might accidentally wander into it and drown.”

Giggle, “I didn’t say we wouldn’t have to keep an eye on them, but just so you know, all of the kids, even Emmy and Bill’s, swim like little fish. When you and Ed were bringing things up here, I told the kids not to go anywhere near the water unless an adult was with them. I know they took it seriously, because every time a wave would come up when they were collecting seashells, they would giggle and run away from it!”

That made me feel better and I couldn’t help but notice the kids were just walking around, exploring the general area.

Ed was just getting a fire started when I heard the rustling of our little friends coming into our campsite.

It didn’t appear to be all of them but I noticed that Lou and his little baby, Leela, were here. CJ’s eyes lit up when Lou set Leela down and she began crawling over towards him.

He ran up to her and got down on his hands and knees, “Are you Leela?”

She just looked at him curiously. CJ looked back at me, “Daddy Bobo, Leela can’t talk yet?”

I shook my head, “Nobody has taught her yet, CJ. I bet she can understand if you just ‘think’ to her though?”

He looked into her eyes and I could tell she was captivated by his stare.

Lou and Rua were watching intently. Several minutes went by and both CJ and Leela were smiling and giggling at each other. CJ flashed, “Can I help her, Daddy Bobo? I promise not to help her too much, okay?”

I looked at Mary who was grinning at me and nodding. “Sure CJ, just don’t do anything to hurt her, okay?”

He looked at me like I was an idiot, “I not hurt her, Daddy Bobo! Leela is my friend. I just want to help.”

CJ put both of his hands on Leela’s cheeks and she suddenly had the most enchanted smile on her face. Leela looked up at Lou, “Daddy, CJ help me talk!”

I thought Lou was going to fall over as he gasped and staggered a bit. He was looking at me, flabbergasted and flashing me mental images indicating he couldn’t believe what happened.

The next thing really blew us all away.

CJ took her little hand and helped her try to stand up. She was very wobbly at first, so Tyler came running over and took her other hand. Then he and CJ slowly began helping her to walk around.

Ed had to run over and catch Lou to keep him from falling down. Lou was rapidly flashing images to us letting us know that was the first time Leela had ever done anything but crawl!

CJ and Tyler helped Leela walk over and introduced her to Sissy and Crystal. Soon the five of them were sitting on the ground in silence, although their minds were going a mile a minute.

Even Mary was stunned, “I have a feeling CJ helped her more than just a little bit? While they’re busy, why don’t we find out what everyone else’s name is?”

Rua was grinning at us and patting Lou on the shoulder. When I asked Rua to introduce us to everyone, he looked at me funny.

I decided to show him what I meant and put my arm around Mary and said, “This is Mary, Rua and Lou, she is CJ’s mommy.”

Then I went over and did the same to Jamie and Gracie. When I got back to Ed, he nodded, saying, “I know Ed. Where is ... Greg and Linda?”

I smiled, “They could not come this time. But these three women all wanted to meet you and your families.”

I was using mental images along with my words. Rua and Lou were getting fairly good at understanding just the words but still had difficulty if we didn’t also send them mental pictures.

Rua went around his entire group, standing behind each one as he introduced them to us.

First was a woman about his age who he said was Foa and also his mate. He also had a son, Filo and daughter, Ria. They appeared to be about 17 and 15, respectively. He looked around, shrugging his shoulders, then explained his other son, Milo, must be off somewhere. He explained that Milo was bigger (older) than Filo.

Next was Lou’s two sons, Lee and Stee, who also appeared to be in their mid-teens.

Next was another couple, Bo and Tia, and their two daughters, Bree and Mia, looking to be in their early-teens. They were also missing their eldest daughter, Sheba, who he suspected might be with Milo.

We had no sooner finished that then CJ chirped, “Mommy, can you read us a story? Maybe an easy one, so Leela can learn?”

Mary, Gracie and Jamie grinned at me, “Aren’t you glad we thought to bring all those books now? Sure CJ, I’ll go and get some.”

When Mary came out with a few Dr. Seuss books, even the older kids were fascinated by all the colors and pictures. The girls decided to split the kids up and each would read to a different group. These were the books that they used to begin teaching all of our kids how to read.

Even Rua, Lou and Bo found it fascinating enough to want to join in.

School was officially in session!

Since each page only had a few words and pictures for most of those words, it made it easy to follow along. Just like they originally did with our kids, they would point to certain words, then point to a picture and encourage everyone to say the word out loud.

Ed and I just sat back and listened to both the mental and verbal communications going on. The eagerness that all of our little friends had to learn was amazing. All three of our ladies were awesome in the way they were captivating their audience and teaching them at the same time.

Just as the first three books made the rounds, our two missing teenagers came running into our area all out of breath, ranting about something. They were using their native tongue, but, the mental pictures they were also conveying got both Ed and I to laughing.

Ed chuckled, “I do believe they found our boat!”

“Ya think!?” I laughed.

Lou and Rua were grabbing their spears and urging Ed and I to follow them. Just for grins we grabbed our machetes, just to humor them. I broke out laughing when Ed came running out of the shed with our belts and I noticed that his had his .475 Automag on it.

I chuckled, “What the hell are you going do with that cannon?”

He shrugged with a grin on his face, “In case we see any more of those Tibor beasts! I want be prepared. We’ve never walked all the way back to the beach, you know?”

As we were hustling to keep up with the group, I tried to explain to Lou that there probably wasn’t anything to be worried about. He had a nervous look on his face, just like he did that first day when Sintar’s spaceship appeared. I couldn’t help but notice that even though we were running at a pretty good clip, it didn’t seem like either Ed or I were getting winded.

While the path that we were running on wasn’t exactly straight, it was pretty obvious this wasn’t the first or second time it’d been used. As we neared the beach, everyone stopped right at the edge of the forest and Milo was pointing directly at our boat.

Ed and I decided to just calmly walk past them, straight to the boat.

Rua and Lou were trying to tell us to be careful when I chuckled, “Guys, this is nothing to be afraid of. Ed and I brought this with us this time. It’s just a boat.”

Since it wasn’t anywhere near the water, and they probably had no idea what a boat was, I guess I can understand why they thought I was crazy. They must’ve trusted us however, because they were right behind us as Ed unlatched the ladder and dropped it, then climbed on board. I then invited everyone to climb on up so they could see there was nothing to be afraid of.

Rua looked at us questioningly, “What does boat do?”

I pointed at the water and said, “It sails on the water, so you don’t have to swim.”

His forehead scrunched up even more, “What is swim?”

I rolled my eyes, “Don’t you ever go into the water?” I was sending him a mental image of swimming and now he looked terrified.

He was shaking his head frantically, “Going in that water is bad! It is too deep to stand up and your mouth fill with water and you die!”

I shook my head, “We will have to teach you how to swim, then. That is also why we have a boat. Would you like to go for a ride?”

He was looking at me curiously as I stepped just off the boat, put the anchor back onboard then used my PK to put it into the water. I didn’t pick it up very high and it wasn’t until I set it down in the water that anyone realized what had happened.

I quickly jumped on board after pushing it out so it would get deep enough for me to drop the engines. All of them were white knuckling the rails as I fired up the twin 175 horsepower Mercury outboard motors.

As I was letting the motors warm up, I calmly explained to our scared-shitless friends that there was nothing to be nervous about.

Lou’s two sons seemed to be taking it the best.

As I engaged the props and the boat began moving forward, their fear slowly began turning to delight.

I decided to keep it slow and began heading North to see how long it would take us to go all the way around the island. I wasn’t sure if they’d ever done any fishing, but they must have done some exploring as they began pointing out landmarks that they recognized.

Rua said, “Boat is good! Now I understand. We could catch big fish out here and not have to worry.”

I told Ed to open up the center hatch so our friends could see a surprise that I had for them.

When I mentally designed this boat, I created a three-foot by four-foot area that was essentially like a glass bottom boat. All I had to do was crank the glass box down until was a few inches under the water and you could see everything that was below us. Since the water was crystal clear, the view was spectacular.