IMAGINATION'S PLACE
FICTION

 

SOME THINGS ARE NOT ALLOWED
By; Speaker Gerald A. Polley


No matter how angry The Ancient One was, no matter how upset Those he served were, there were some things They could not permit, and The Ancient One was now in one of those situations. As he and his travelling companion materialized outside a military base near his nation's capital he took on human form, and the uniform of an Air Force General. His companion appeared in the uniforms of an Air Force General. He looked down at himself nervously. The Ancient One stared for a moment, then grinned.
"You did fine!" he assured. His companion shrugged A moment later a great War Dog joined them, and shrunk down to a Doberman. "Well! All here! The Ancient One muttered. "I suppose we've got to get this over with!"
He walked off briskly towards the gate. The young Corporal there stared at him, bewildered, as he approached.
"Good evening, son!" The Ancient One began after the exchange of salutes. "Would you be so kind as to call your commanding officer, tell him the man who moved the mountain is here, and that he needs the Alpha Interception Team here with forty vehicles in ten minutes."
The young man stared, bewildered.
"PHONE!" The Ancient One snapped.
The young man finally snapped out of it, picked up the phone, and began to speak hurriedly. After a moment he turned back to The Ancient One. "He's wearing an Air Force uniform, sir, one star, more decorations than I've ever seen. His name tag says Starr with two rr's. Yes sir, I'll tell him. They're contacting headquarters, sir, " the young man remarked, "for verification."
"Tell him to roll the team while they're waiting," The Ancient One snapped.
The young man listened for a moment then answered. "They heard, sir. Team is being rolled out." Suddenly two humvees roared to a stop by the gate. Five men poured out of each, surrounded The Ancient One, and his companions, their rifles pointing at them menacingly.
"Lieutenant!" The Ancient One snapped, "Neither my companion nor I appreciate having weapons pointed at us. Have your men back off five paces, and bring their weapons to the carry, not the ready! If I had intended any hostility this base would be a disaster area by now. Show this uniform the respect it is due!"
The young officer stared at The Ancient One for a moment, then nodded, snapped a sharp "YES SIR! You heard the order men!" he continued, "Back off! Weapons at the carry!"
"Sir!" The Coporal snapped, "they have headquarters. Their response is 'Glad the mountain is here. What does he carry?'"
"Thunder and Lightning," The Ancient One answered, "Death and destruction."
"YES SIR!" the Corporal answered, "Yes sir! I understand!" He hung up the phone. "Your identity is confirmed, sir!" he snapped. Turning to the Lieutenant he continued, "Sir, they order you to stand down."
"Stand down!" the Lieutenant snapped. "At ease!"
The weaons were uncorked and swung over the soldiers' backs, and everyone just stood around nervously.
The Ancient One walked over to one young soldier. "Stand steady, son!" he remarked. He put his hand up to the side of the young man's face. The lieutenant came over.
"Problem, sir?" he asked.
"Yes," The Ancient One answered. "As soon as you are dismissed get this young man to the hospital. Tell them to do a full head scan, setting thirty-six. When they get the results tell them I recommended the Mondale Procedure. It would be the most effective. Don't worry, son," The Ancient One concluded, "you'll be a little uncomfortable for a while, but you'll be fine."
"Sir?" the young soldier asked.
"It's all right, Private," the Lieutenant answered.
Dozens of vehicles began to roll towards the gate, the lead one pulled over by The Ancient One, it's driver jumped out, and saluted.
"Commander, Alpha Team," he snapped..
"You're in civilian clothes," The Ancient One snapped back. "You should not salute, mister! Half of the unit with me, the other half with this gentleman. They are to obey him, explicitly."
"Understood, sir!" the man answered. "But shouldn't you be in..."
When he turned back to The Ancient One he was no longer wearing a General's uniform, but was in civilian clothes. The man swallowed, snapped, "Let's roll!" jumped back in his car and The Ancient One joined him.
"What have we got, sir?" he asked, as they rolled towards the main highway.
"Two five megaton devices," The Ancient One answered, "With fusion detection detonators! If one goes off, the other one will also detonate. So both interceptions must take place simultaneously."
"Whoa!" the younger man cried. He tapped the information into a computer board by his right hand as he continued to drive. In a moment a green light lit. "They got it!" he sighed. "Damn! No margin for error, sir?"
"NONE!" The Ancient One answered.
"Damn!" the younger man cried again, "Damn!" As they reached the main road The Ancient One's convoy went left, the other went right. They drove for many minutes, changing from one freeway to another. Finally The Ancient One told his driver to pull over. All along the road behind them the other vehicles followed suit. "What now, sir?" the young man asked. "We wait!" The Ancient One answered. An eternity seemed to pass, then The Ancient One remarked, "Let's roll! Signal capture pattern Delta! The lead cars take up position ahead of us. There's an emergency U turn just ahead. All vehicles take it." The convoy again rolled out. They were headed in the opposite direction they'd been going. "Pattern secure sir! Ten unidentified vehicles in the formation. Any idea where our target is?" The Ancient One smiled. "Gray van," he answered, "right beside us; Capitol Plumbing & Heating." "Oh, shit!" the driver cursed. His hand quickly played over his computer terminal. "Beginning to exclude vehicles from the pattern," he remarked, watching the screen. "Isolating target vehicle." After many anxious minutes he remarked, "Target vehicle isolated, sir! Do you wish us to commence operation?" The Ancient One closed his eyes. In a moment he opened them. "Other unit ready!" he snapped. "Let's DO it, gentlemen!" "Yes, sir!" his driver answered. Suddenly all the cars began to slow as one. Carefully, surely, they worked into position boxing in their target, one big truck given plenty of room behind it. "Ready!" The Ancient One's driver remarked. "DO IT!" The Ancient One snapped. Suddenly men rushed to the front of the big truck. They attached cables to it, the other ends had steel jaws which they attached to the back doors of the van. They slapped the activates and the jaws bit in. The truck roared backwards and the van's doors flew away. Men with rifles at the ready rushed the front, screaming "Freeze! Freeze!" The men in the front did so, but in the back of the van a man was fumbling with the wire of a hand-held detonator that he was trying to feed into a socket. Two men at the back of the van didn't hesitate. They began to fire, but their bullets bounced off a transparent shield outside the van. "Blow it!" The Ancient One's driver screamed. "Blow it up, now!" "NO!" The Ancient One screamed, "Stand by!" A sudden silver flash descended from the sky. A woman in silver armor seemed to appear out of nowhere. She seized the transparent shield and ripped it away. The man inside had finally gotten the plug into the bomb, but before he could bring his thumb down on the detonator the woman's thumb was over it. The man tried to force it down, to no avail. "Sorry, child of Islam," the woman remarked, "this isn't your Day Of Glory! Your God isn't ready to welcome you to Paradise yet. He has quite a bit intended for you, and massacring millions of innocents doesn't fit in those plans. Now sit down, behave! Don't give these nice men any trouble, and they'll treat you very well." The man released the detonator. The side door of the van was pried open and he was grabbed and hauled out. "Gently, gentlemen," the woman snapped, "he's no longer a danger now. Let him remember the kindness of his captors, not their cruelty." "Yes, ma'am!" those handling the prisoner snapped. Experts climbed in the van and quickly had the bomb disabled. "Let's get out of here!" The Ancient One snapped. "There's a news helicoptor coming. We don't want a lot of embarrassing pictures." In a few moments they were speeding back to the base. The silver-haired woman climbed iinto the back of The Ancient One's vehicle. "My God!" the driver sighed, "Is she Aphrodite? I've never sen any woman so beautiful!" The Ancient One and the woman roared with laughter! "No!" The Ancient One managed, "She is Durga Bhagwaati" "Oh!" the driver sighed. "I'm no religous expert," he commented, "who in the heck is that?"
"The Hindu equivalent of Aphrodite," The Ancient One explained. "She was a warrior Goddess, one of Krshna's consorts. Legend says she bore Him 200 sons! It is also said she was so beautiful that men would willingly follow her to certain death."
"WOW!" the driver managed. "I can see why! Very pleased to meet you, ma'am!" "Likewise, I'm sure!" the woman giggled. "Two-hundred sons, ma'am?"
"Actually," the woman answered, "twenty. That was quite sufficient. But you know how these things get carried away. Kill one-hundred men in battle, it becomes ten-thousand, capture one city, it becomes a whole nation!"
The driver nodded and was silent for the rest of the trip. After they entered the base the vehicles hurried off in all directions. The Ancient One's other companion rejoined him.
"What's SHE doing here?" he asked.
"Kept complaining about us having all the fun," The Ancient One answered, "so decided to take a little go at this job. She did pretty damned good!"
The big dog rushed up to the woman and began to receive some serious hugs and patting.
"Well," The Ancient One sighed, "looks like our job's done here! Might's well head for home!"
The Ancient One's driver rushed up holding a cell phone. "Sir," he remarked, "we have the President. He'd like to express his gratitude for what you and your companions have done. Just a moment of your time, sir?"
Another man held out a second cell phone to The Ancient One. The Ancient One spat on it. It immediately began to crackle and spark. The man threw it to the ground. "WOW!" the man cried, as the phone burst into flames and was quickly consumed.
The Ancient One took on his true form, spread his wings, and rose skyward, those around him watching in awe. His companions quickly followed him. The woman took something from her side, which she flipped open. It became a round shield. She spun it with her free hand and it lifted her skyward, as she picked up the dog.
"I'm sorry, Mr. President," The Ancient One's driver remarked into his cell phone, "apparently he does not wish to speak with you, sir. Yes, sir, thank you sir! I will tell my men, sir! good-bye, sir!"
He put away his cell phone and his associate came over. "I don't get it!" he remarked "A little while ago they nearly blew us off the face of the Earth! Today they save our butts! Are they our friends, or are they our enemies?"
The Ancient One's driver stared at his associate for some time. "They have always been, and will always BE," he remarked, "our friends. All they have ever asked is that we not threaten them, that we do not interfere with them."
"Then why in the hell do we DO it?" the other man asked. His associate shrugged. "Come on!" he remarked. "They can go home. We gotta do the paperwork!"
His associate stared into the sky. "Thanks!" he remarked. He, too, then shrugged and headed after his superior, shaking his head in frustration.

 

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