Chapter 37

            Although they had won the battle and by all appearances the war with the Black Ships, the Bloc fleet was stranded for a week around the icy planet known only as Snowball.  Of the remaining ten ships of the fleet, half would spend months abandoned in a high orbit until a salvage crew could arrive to tow them back to Bloc space.  First those ships would be cannibalized for any useful parts or supplies to allow the rest of the fleet to leave.

            For that week, Will, Tom, and Jessie stayed in the Black Ship base.  Their first order of business was to restore all of the stuffed animals in the trophy room to their flesh-and-blood forms.  This was an arduous process at first, as the Creators still didn't fully understand the power they had released to destroy the Black Ships.

            Whiskers volunteered to be the first test subject.  Jessie, who had originally created Whiskers and seemed to have a better understanding of the beta energy than any of them, tried first without success.  "It's no good," she said after staring at Whiskers for three full minutes.

            "Maybe we should try what we did before," Tom said with a grin Will didn't understand.

            "I don't think so.  But that does give me an idea."  She took one of Tom's hands and one of Will's.  "Don't think about transforming Whiskers.  Think about someone you love and focus on that."

            Will had the sinking feeling he and Tom were both thinking of the same person.  He squeezed Jessie's hand, focusing on the softness of her skin.  He kept his eyes closed until he heard a yowl.  He opened his eyes to see a yellow glow like the one that had enveloped him the waste processing room surrounding the three Creators.  Before them, Whiskers grew back to her full height, her seams tearing open to reveal real fur and muscles.  Lastly, the plastic eyes fell away to reveal her green cat's eyes. 

            Whiskers held up a hand to her face, flexing the fingers.  "I'm me again," she said.  "Thank you."  Then she ran towards where her husband stood.  Will had never imagined the day when he would see Buster cry as he did when he embraced his wife.

            They didn't see much of Whiskers or Buster for the rest of the day, not that Will could blame them.  After such an ordeal, they needed a little time alone.  For that matter, Tom and Jessie often disappeared in the week following the disappearance of the Black Ships.  Will knew better than to ask what they were doing.

            He had a far more bittersweet meeting with Spot II.  As the one who had killed Spot I, Will felt it was his duty to deliver the news personally.  They sat in an empty equipment room, where they could talk privately.  Will described the last battle and repeated what Spot I had said to him.

            As he listened to this, Spot II nodded periodically but didn't say anything.  Once Will finished the story, Spot II stared ahead thoughtfully a moment before saying, "I never really knew him.  I knew of him, but my memories of him always seemed false."  He shook his head.  "I wish we had had a chance to get to know each other."

            Will had expected a different reaction:  anger at Will or crying as Buster had Will could have understood.  He couldn't understand this nearly apathetic reaction.  Didn't Spot II care that his brother had died?  "I'm sure you would have liked him—back then.  Not what he became."

            "I think under the same circumstances I would have reacted the same way."

            "You think so?"

            "To lose everything and then to see someone else with everything you ever wanted—I could see why he did it.  All those years of jealousy and hatred building up."  Spot II shook his head sadly.  "I wish I could have helped him."

            "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to kill him."

            "I know you didn't."  Before he left, Spot II said, "I'd appreciate if you don't mention this to anyone else—especially my sons.  I wouldn't want them to think of their uncle like that."

            "I understand."

            Will stayed in the equipment room for hours after Spot II left, replaying that final battle in his head over and over again.  Had he been able to do something to save Spot I?  He didn't know, nor would he ever get the chance to find out.  There were some miracles not even a Creator could perform.

#

            A hero's welcome was planned for the victors.  The remains of the fleet would proceed from Cattatonia to Muttlandia and then to Bulldogovia for parades, speeches, and medals.  The Creators were to be a centerpiece of these ceremonies, so that the grateful citizens of the Bloc could thank their deities.  But after a brief consultation, Will, Tom, and Jessie all declined.

            Instead, they took an unremarkable freighter to Muttlandia and Ricky Raccoon's village.  Ricky himself accompanied them, the patch finally removed from his eye so that he looked in the peak of health again, along with his mother Laura and brother Vern, both of whom had been restored to normal.  The villagers had already been notified that under no circumstances were they to make a big deal over the Creators.  "We just want some time to relax," Tom said.

            They would stay there for another two weeks while Nina Barker attempted to recreate the equipment Dr. Ruff had used to extract them from Earth.  The originals had all been destroyed along with the Beagle, but Nina assured them the doctor had made backup copies of his work.  "I hope so," Jessie said.  "Otherwise we're stuck here."

            Will didn't think that would be so bad.  He would miss his parents, but there was little else for him back on Earth.  In his short time in the Bloc, Ricky, Spot II, Buster, and even Heather had become better friends to him than anyone back home.  Fighting alongside them, nearly dying alongside them, they had formed a special bond.  In many ways they had become like family to him.

            He considered this as he sat on the patio to Ricky's house.  There was so much to do here, so much damage to repair after the war with the Black Ships.  There was a fleet to rebuild and planets to recolonize, not to mention a whole universe to explore.  He could live out his childhood fantasies here, becoming a great swashbuckling hero like Tadd Iceslinger.  At the very least, he would be able to see and experience things possible only on movie screens back home.

            Ricky emerged from inside the house to sit down next to him.  "Are you comfortable?" Ricky asked.  "My mother's food didn't disagree with you?"

            "No, it was great," Will said.  Laura had made a sort of stir fry from local vegetables and herbs as delicious as anything his mother had ever cooked.

            "Good."

            "Any word from Nina?"

            "She says her work is progressing."

            "In other words we might be here a while longer."

            "Perhaps."

            Will looked out at the sun setting through the branches of the raccoon village.  The sun wasn't quite the same here, a little redder than on Earth, but it was still beautiful.  He could easily get used to seeing it everyday.  "I was thinking of asking Spot II and Buster if I could stay here.  Do you think they'd go for that?"

            "You are a Creator; I don't think they'd object to having you here."

            "It might be weird though with no other humans around."

            "It can be difficult being the only one of your kind.  My father told us about the adversity he faced as the only raccoon on his ship."  Ricky drummed his clawed fingers against the armrest of his chair.  "It can be a lonely thing.  Have you considered that?"

            "To be honest, I'm pretty lonely back there too."  He told Ricky about his parents divorcing and of course Ricky already knew about Tom's incarceration at Stratford.  "There's really no one for me back there.  Not like you guys."

            "Don't your parents love you?"

            "Yes," Will said, though his voice sounded uncertain.  "I think so."  He shook his head.  "I don't know.  It seems like anymore I'm just a pawn between them, a way for them to compete with each other.  I think they sort of blame me for what happened.  Maybe it is some of my fault.  If I hadn't been born, they might have had more time for each other."

            "Maybe you should find out what they really feel," Ricky said.  He looked back towards the house.  "There are many things I never said to my mother or my brothers.  I never told them how much they meant to me.  Then came the Black Ships and it was almost too late to ever say those things."

            Will nodded slowly.  "I see what you mean.  I should get everything out into the open, right?"

            "I think that would be wise."

            "If I can ever get back."

            Ricky said nothing to this as there was little he could say.  Either Nina and her team would be able to rebuild the equipment or not.  The sun set, darkness falling on the raccoon village.  More of the raccoons appeared on the wooden sidewalks, going about their normal business, blatantly trying to pay no attention to Will.

            Tom and Jessie had gone to a more secluded part of the village.  When they came back, Will saw tears in Jessie's eyes.  He wanted to ask what was wrong, wanted to comfort her with a hug, but knew he couldn't.  They were only friends and that's all they would ever be.

#

            Ten days went by before a frigate arrived in orbit over Muttlandia.  On board were Nina, Carly, and Zeke, along with the rebuilt equipment that in theory would deliver the humans back to Earth.  As with their entry, they would try it in the Dog's Head Nebula.

            Zeke ushered them from the hangar to the bridge.  In the command chair Will saw not Nina, but another familiar face.  Or at least something like his face.  "I downloaded my backup memory module into the Mark 5 prototype," Dr. Ruff said.

            "How much do you remember?" Will asked.

            "Everything until the rescue mission to Cattatonia," Dr. Ruff said.  "Commander Barker has helped me fill in the gaps."

            "I would like to hear your recollection of events to gain more perspective on the beta and theta energies to confirm my theories."

            "Of course."  During the short trip to the nebula, Will told Dr. Ruff what he remembered of the Black Ship base and the battle with Spot I.  Tom and Jessie described what had happened in the trophy room, in particular Jessie described Spot I's device that had made her into a doll.

            "Interesting," Dr. Ruff said.  "With an isolated bombardment of theta energy he was able to negate your beta energy."

            "Temporarily," Jessie said bitterly.

            "Yes.  Your concern for Thomas' safety allowed you to overcome the effects."

            Jessie squeezed Tom's head.  "Not concern.  Love."

            Dr. Ruff nodded.  "I remember what you call love.  A very powerful emotion."

            Nina interrupted their meeting to indicate they had reached the Dog's Head nebula.  The resurrected Dr. Ruff and his team had assembled their equipment in an isolated cargo hold so that if anything went wrong, most of the ship might be spared or at least the crew might have time to get to their escape pods.

            A circular pad had been assembled on the floor, its blue center reminding Will of the Black Ship base and the penguins.  He had not mentioned his theory on the creation of the penguins to Dr. Ruff, nor did Tom or Jessie.  There had already been enough problems with a fourth Creator that they didn't want to unduly worry anyone.

            Dr. Ruff touched a few buttons on a console.  Lights came on around the center of the platform, surrounding it in white light.  The platform began turning, forming a column of light that extended up to the ceiling of the cargo hold.  The column stabilized, maintaining its brightness.  "Everything appears operational," Dr. Ruff said.

            Will looked to Tom and Jessie.  "I'll go first," he said.  He took a step towards the light, but then Tom grabbed his shoulder to turn him around.

            "I'm not going," Tom said.

            "What?  You have to."

            "What's waiting for me back there?  Another year in Stratford.  Or probably somewhere worse since I'm a fugitive."

            "But—"

            "And there's a lot to be done here.  What if some of the Black Ships survived?  Or what if something worse comes along?  They need one of us Creators here."

            Will thought of his conversation with Ricky in the village.  "What about Mom and Dad?"

            "I'll come back someday, when the heat's died down a little.  In the meantime you just tell them I've gone somewhere safe."

            "I don't know—"

            "Will, please, you know it's for the best.  At least for now."

            Will brushed tears away from his eyes.  He thought again of that night in the raccoon village when Jessie had come back crying.  He had already told her.  "Why didn't you tell me?  Did you think I'd try to stop you?"

            "I didn't want you to worry about it."

            Will turned to Jessie.  "What about you?  Are you staying too?"

            She shook her head.  "No.  I've got to go back.  Someone has to keep an eye on Megan," she said.  "And it's not like we'll be gone forever.  We can always come back."

            "I suppose," Will said.  He turned back to his brother.  "I guess this is goodbye then."

            "For now."

            "For now," Will echoed.  He thought again of what Ricky had said.  "I—I love you."

            "Come on, kid, don't get all mushy on me."  Despite this, Tom wrapped Will in a hug, the first they had shared in over ten years.  Before they parted, Tom whispered, "You look after her or I'll come back to kick your butt."

            "I will."  Then Will stepped away from his brother, towards the light.  He paused to wave one last time to Tom.  Then he stepped into the column of light—

            —And found himself in Jessie's closet.  He found the door handle to let himself out.  He put a hand to his mouth to stifle a scream when he found Megan on the bed, staring at him.

            "Where'd you go?" she asked.

            "Nowhere," Will said.  "I was just in the closet."

            "Nuh uh.  I looked.  Where's Jessie?"

            "She's in the closet too."

            "She is not."  A second later there was a flash of light and Jessie came tumbling out of the closet.  Megan threw aside Percy Penguin to scramble onto her sister.

            Ordinarily Jessie would have pushed her sister away or insisted Megan leave her alone, but this time, she wrapped the little girl in a hug.  "I missed you," Jessie said.

            Will left them to their reunion, climbing out the bedroom window to slip back over to his house.  He wasn't surprised to find his mother waiting for him at the door.  "Where—"  She didn't get any farther than that before Will smothered her in a hug.  She patted his head and asked more softly, "Are you all right?"

            "I am now."