Spark'l ~ Part 2 of 4

Spark'l  ~  Part 2 of 4 

By Len Morgan 

 The very next morning Mum dropped Karen off at school and drove thirty miles to Jodrell Bank Observatory.   She entered the main building and asked to see the Director.

“I’m sorry, but you must have an appointment to see the Director, he is a very busy man. If you wish I could book you an appointment?” the middle-aged secretary suggested.   “But, first I will need to know why you wish to see him.”

“I really wouldn’t be happy if too many people knew why I’m here,” said Mum.

“Your name is?”  The secretary asked in a friendly manner.

“I - I really don’t think that will be necessary…” said Mum, removing the box from her pocket and placing it on the counter.   “Would you just see that he gets this please?” she said.

“What is it?” asked the secretary glancing at it suspiciously.

Something in her tone worried Mum, “don’t bother, I’ll take it elsewhere,” she said and headed for the exit.   An alarm began to sound.   When Mum looked back the secretary was gone.   Suddenly the busy foyer was empty.   Guards wearing helmets with visors and body armour appeared at the far end of the room.   Mum put the little box in her pocket and kept walking.  

“Stand Still!   Stay where you are, and raise your hands above your head,” a man yelled through a megaphone. 

 Mum glanced around to see who he was yelling at.   She was alone.  

“Slide the box across the floor towards me and lay face down on the ground with your hands in plain view!” he commanded.   That was when she noticed their guns.

“But…” she began.

 “Do it!   Now!”   He ordered.   Mum did as he said and a small tracked vehicle, with a robotic arm, picked up the box and trundled off towards a side door where an armoured car was waiting.   As it trundled up the ramp, into the rear of the vehicle, shutters came down covering the exit doors.   Men rushed forward grabbing her roughly by the arms.

“I hope you have a good explanation for this,” she said, with indignation, “if not there will be letters of complaint sent to the appropriate authorities, and to my Member of Parliament!”

“OK!   Search her and take her to the detention suite,” said the man giving the orders; ignoring her protests.

“This will not go well for you,” she warned the young man and woman who were sitting on the opposite side of the desk in the small interview room.  “I have a full schedule of patients to see today at St Bernadine’s Hospital.   I am due to start work in thirty minutes and if you do not release me there will be hell to pay!”   She warned.

 “What group are you working for,” the young man demanded, with an aggressive edge to his voice.

“I work for St Bernadine’s Hospital Trust Group,” as I have already told you.

“And what are your demands,” asked the young woman in a more sympathetic voice.

“Let me go at once or you will definitely regret it,” she warned.

“We know who you are, Mrs Emma Bunting, we know where you live, 184 Spring Grove Witchell…”  The young man did not get a chance to finish.

A voice interrupted him from the desk intercom, “That will do inspector, the box has been analysed it’s a common silver amalgam, completely empty, and my secretary admits that she may have overreacted; because of the bomb threat, we received this morning.   Mr’s Bunting please accepts my personal apology for our shabby hospitality.”

“There!” she said, scolding her young interrogators with a withering stare.

A door opened and a middle-aged, grey-haired man, with a jolly face, came forward offering his hand.   “Archie Hamnar,” he said warmly, “would you like tea, coffee, or a soft drink while we discuss your visit?”

“Medium tea, with two sugars, please,” she replied.    “Can I have my box back,” she asked as they walked the short distance to his office.   He opened a drawer and removed the box, sliding it across the desk towards her.   His secretary entered sheepishly with a tray of tea and biscuits.

“I really wanted to talk to the director,” she explained.

“Well, you’re in luck, that’s me,” he said.

“Tell me Mr Hamnar…” 

“Archie please, everybody call me Archie.”

“Very well, Archie, what is the purpose of this establishment?”

“It was created to investigate and analyse radio sources, from outer space, to locate and make first contact with any extraterrestrial life out there.”

“What form would you expect that life to take; would they be like us?” she asked.

“Not necessarily Emma, do you mind if I use your first name?” he asked.   

“Of course not,” she shook her head.

“Consider the biodiversity of life on earth, from amoeba to man, we are all made of similar materials; air, water, and organic carbon compounds.   Does that give you some idea of the infinite possibilities?”

“Are you saying the possibilities are limitless?”  She asked.

“Just consider, all life on earth is made up of genes.  But, even the genes of lower life forms are very similar to our own.   The stuff of a common virus is 65% compatible with human genes.   It shows that all life on earth is part of the same family.  We are cousins to the common cold.” he said with obvious amusement.

“Is this room secure,” she asked.

“Completely,” he said with confidence.   “It’s swept weekly for anti-surveillance devices.   But, most of our discoveries are routinely published on the internet anyway, for scientists, astronomers, astrophysicists, and other interested parties.   Is there a problem?”

“I think you should judge for yourself,” she said opening the box.

Archie leaned forward catching sight of the pea-sized spark of twinkling white light.

“But, it was empty…”

“My daughter has named her Spark’l,” said Emma, “close your eyes a moment.”

‘You are a respected man in your field, with knowledge of many things, but even you will find my story hard to believe,’ Spark’l then told him about her journey and her life…   Tears started from his eyes.

   “Beautiful,” said Archie as he sat watching Spark’l move around the room, alighting on things like a butterfly; inquisitive, displaying the curiosity of a young child.

‘What is this?’  She asked stopping in front of a 24x18inch full-colour print of an astronomical event.  

“That was taken close to your birth,” said Archie. ‘I can’t see you in the picture,’ he thought.  “How could we have known what we were witnessing?” he said shaking his head and hiding his face.

‘Why are your eyes leaking Archie?’

‘A being of pure energy, an elemental, I’ve always thought it an impossibility, but here you are,’ he dabbed his eyes with a tissue.   “Seeing is believing.”

Emma smiled, “there’s something reassuring about seeing a grown man cry.”

“Karen and Scruffy didn’t come with you?” he asked regaining his composure.

‘Karen is at school and Scruffy is hunting for a lost bone,’ said Spark’l.

“Did you hear that Emma?” said Archie.

“Yes, she keeps in contact with every mind she touches.”

 “Fascinating!” said Archie.   “You will bring her to visit me again won’t you?”

“Well that is the problem,” said Emma, "when people learn about her and get to know where she is staying, our lives will become intolerable; photographers, reporters, and the media…”

“Yes, I do see your point.”

‘I would like to stay with you, for a while, and learn more about your work.   I would learn more about myself also, I still do not know the purpose of my existence.’

‘It will be a mutual journey of exploration!’ Archie thought.

“You’ll not forget to visit us,” said Mum hopefully.

Spark’l moved to a large scale map of the United Kingdom.

‘I will contact you every day,’ she promised.

“That may not be possible,” said Archie,” we will have to devise an extensive test program…”

They looked around but Spark’l was gone.   Then the phone rang.

“Galloping Gremlins!” said Archie.   “That’s the hotline - only the Prime Minister has that number.” - Shakily he raised the phone to his ear.   “It’s for you,” he said in amazement, switching over to the intercom. 

“Hi Mum, it’s Karen.  Spark’l is here and she wants me to say hello, to you and Archie.   I’m late for double French, so I’ll have to go now, love you, bye.”

Spark’l reappeared above the phone just as Karen hung up; ‘Click’.

“That was impossible!   Nobody has that number it’s a dedicated line,” said Archie.  

 ‘I am light and energy, I obey the laws of Einstein ~ relatively,’ she giggled.   A phone rang twice in the adjoining office.

“Most interesting, obviously we will have to cooperate, there is no way we could ever contain you,” Archie smiled.

‘Iris is concerned about the time.   You have a meeting at 09:15hrs.   I told her she could clear the tea things.’

Iris entered and did just that.   “Mr Richards is here, shall I send him in when your guest leaves?”   She smiled sheepishly at Mum.

As the door closed Mum looked quizzically at Spark’l.   “Why didn’t she see you?”

‘Oh, I wasn’t here.  I went for a tour of the establishment,’ She explained ‘Did you know that dish number five is only working at 50% efficiency?   A family of mice is living in the power distribution box, and the little ones have gnawed through the insulators.’

“Interesting, I’ll have them removed, and have the damage repaired,” said Archie.

‘No need, I’ve already found a new home for them, but the repairs are quite urgent.’

“Hello maintenance, would you shut down five please, and check the power distribution box I believe you will find the solution to your power problems there,” said Archie.

“Thanks, Archie, five has been off and online all week.   We have been unable to discover what is causing the problem.   How did you know about it?”

“It came to me in a flash,” he said with a mischievous grin on his face.   He winked at Emma as he replaced the receiver.  “Is there anything else I should know Spark’l,” he asked.

’Is that your vintage Rover in the car park?’

“Yes.” He said.

‘Well, unless I’m mistaken, somebody is trying to steal it!’ she said.

“Security!” He yelled down the phone…

“Well, I guess I’ll be going,” said Emma “I’m already late for work, and Mr Richards is waiting outside, I’m sure we will be talking again very soon.” 

“Goodbye and thank you, Mrs… Emma,” he said gazing out through his window, watching two youngsters who were easily evading the security guards.   

.-…-.

  That evening, Karen was lying on her bed gazing at Orion’s midriff, and the fading Supernova.   ‘I wonder where you are and what you are doing.   I really miss you Spark’l’ she thought.

‘I miss you too but even when we are apart we can still talk,’ Spark’l replied.

“Rruruff”

‘If you need me just call and I will be there,’ she answered.

‘Can you talk like this to everybody?’  Karen asked.

 ‘Only those I have touched,’ said Spark’l.

‘Could you talk to us all at once?’

‘I will have to try it sometime, but not tonight, it’s too late.   How was school?’

‘Oh you know,’ said Karen.

‘Geoffrey Partington?’

Karen nodded, ‘He stole my homework and flushed it down the boy’s loo.’

‘Call me next time’ said Spark’l.

‘What happened at Jodrell Bank today?’

‘Heh, heh, Archie’s car got boosted again.’

‘Boosted?’

‘Stolen by the same two who attempted it on the first day.’

‘Pretty stupid,’ Karen thought.

‘They did it because they were bored, they wanted some excitement, Archie is going to get them into an adventure program.’

‘Boys,’ said Karen, ‘they have all the fun.’

‘No these two were girls,’ said Spark’l.

‘Did Archie call the police?’

‘No, after they returned his car undamaged, I explained why they did it, and he felt sorry for them; their parents were at work.’

‘’So then what happened?’

‘He gave them a guided tour of the establishment.’

“Wasn’t that like rewarding them for doing something wrong?’  Karen asked.

‘Later, when he spoke to their parents, it was decided they should wash and polish his car for an hour every week for a month.’

‘He seems alright Archie.   What about the mice?’ asked Karen.

‘Oh, the mice are making themselves at home in the kennels at the security entrance.’

‘Don't the dogs object to that?’  Karen asked sleepily.

‘No, Lady ‘P’ does the night rounds whilst Nelson works the day shift.  Trouble was Nelson didn’t like being alone because it keeps him awake.   Now, the mice keep him company.   They help by singing him to sleep.   Then, if anybody comes, they wake him up.  He calls them his guard mice, he doesn’t mind sharing his food with them, because they eat so little,’ said Spark’l.

  When she heard gentle breathing, she realised that Karen was fast asleep.   So Spark’l decided to visit Archie at home.  But, both he and his wife were also sleeping.   There was a new moon in the sky so Spark’l settled on the wick of an artificial candle.   To all the world it would seem that Archie had not completely dimmed the bedroom lights.

.-…-.

 Ever since she was a child, Archie’s wife, Estelle, had suffered from a recurring dream - where she was trapped in a sinking ship and the air was running out.   Spark’l observed that she was having difficulty breathing so she went closer to see if there was anything she could do to help.   Archie was snoring, but Spark’l knew exactly how to deal with that.   So, with no nightmares and no snoring Estelle was able to enjoy the first good night’s sleep she’d had in years.  
Spark’l liked to help others.  She was discovering new powers daily and loved using them to improve the lives of those around her.

To be continued/...

Copyright Len Morgan