Red Planit

Joel E. Roosa

 

 

            Scattered particles sparked and rippled, resolving into the form of a man.

           A glowing sphere hovered before him cheerfully reciting, “Molecular structure stabilizing, vibratory rate synchronizing, quantum signature locked. Good morning, Red!”

            “Eerr. Morning, Rusty,” mumbled Red. Bleary blue eyes cracked open in his copper-colored face. He raked fingers through his thick, crimson hair and scratched his beard stubble. “In the jumbled mess of infinite planes, what hapless realm is today’s victim of our dread masters?”

            Rusty drifted in close. “You mean the Ra–“

            Red’s blue eyes snapped wide open. “Don’t say their name! Just tell me where we are.”

            “Parallel Earth DMT313929847. A decent, early twenty-first century one, no post-apocalyptic nonsense or absurd steampunk.”

            “That’s a relief. Fire me up a mood-enhancer.”

            “You got it, Red.”

            Scents and haunting sounds from his planet before it was laid waste. Red winced, then scowled. “No! That only enhances my mood for revenge.”

            He began to sit and a soft chair formed beneath him. He gazed at Rusty, hovering before him in a gentle up and down motion. “Let’s just get down to business. We’ve only got seven years. Who’s numero uno?”

            Rusty pulsed. “That Worldview reporter.”

            “Eerr.” Red’s eyes swept the featureless grey about him. “Entertain our guest whilst I set the room to her specs and get into character — which is what again?”

           “Human, Caucasian, male. And shave the stubble.” Rusty’s sphere deconstructed and a glowing mist billowed off through the wall.

 

            Josie Renton, a woman dark of hair and skin, sat in a red chair in the waiting room, inspecting it with a critical eye. One wall held a sign reading ‘The Red Planit Agency’, in red letters on white. Another held a closed red door. On the wall opposite her a screen glowed to life with a billowing mist taking the form of a red-haired man.

            “Tired of having to struggle through the day? If your life’s off track, you don’t have to steer it back by yourself. Let Red plan it for you! Red’s at your beck and call 24-7 with just a word to your mobile device.”

            “And if someone doesn’t have a mobile device?”

            “No problem, ma’am, we’ll provide one as part of the service.”

            Her eyes widened. “Is this a live feed?”

            “No, just a wonderfully brilliant AI.” The image smiled brightly. “Any questions?”

            Josie smiled back. “What is your name? What is your quest? What is your favorite color?”

            “Rusty! To save the worlds. Red.”

           “ ‘To save the worlds‘?”

           “Uuuuumm… “ Rusty glanced away. “Sorry to cut our time short. Mr. Planit can see you now.” With relief he dissolved into a dark screen.

            The red door slid open, revealing a long hallway lined with more doors. A red one slid open.

            Josie raised an eyebrow but walked over to it, finding a spacious, pastel green room filled with a light scent of roses. A clean-shaven, red-haired man looking exactly like the AI screen image sat behind a solid old oak desk. Bookcases lined the walls and silvery drapes filtered sunlight from tall windows.

            “Please come in and have a seat, Ms. Renton.”

           Josie sat in the soft chair before the desk. After a moment she relaxed into it. “You modeled your AI image after yourself.”

            “Rusty is my secretary and receptionist. Saves on overhead.”

             “Well planned, Mr. Planit.”

            “Please, call me Red.”

            “Okay, Red. Your company claims to fix lives. How would you fix mine?”

            “Ms. Renton—”

            “Please, call me Josie.”

            “Josie. I can’t fix what isn’t broken. Your life as a reporter for Worldview is well on track.”

            Josie blinked.

            Red smiled kindly. “This is the information age. How could I not know about you?”

            “Okay. Sorry for the deception, but your company has been attracting a lot of attention, and I thought it was time to find out more about you, from a client’s perspective. So how do you manage to fix lives?”

            “I coax them along directions that suit them best. I help you do the fixing.”

            “Alright, so for example, if I wanted to own Worldview how would I go about it?”

            “But you don’t want to own it.”

            “Well, no. Wait, how do you know that?”

            “I read people. You strike me as someone who’d rather be getting the stories than doing the corporate thing.”

            “True that. Okay, you’re a mentalist? Is that why people find your services so magical?”

            “There is no magic! It’s all energy and properly directed human will. My mission is training people to eliminate unstable wavelengths of energy and focus on those that enhance positive life goals.” Red handed her a folder. “The method is all in there. Feel free to share it. And here’s a list of people you might want to interview, with suggested topics, including introducing this method to them.”

            Josie looked through the folder. “Why these people?”        

            “I think they’ll be influential in the coming years, and your interviews would help them on their way. Choosing them will show you have a sense for what’s going to be important… ” Red smiled, “like deciding to interview me. It’ll all help in your bid to run Worldview.”

            “Haven’t we established I don’t want to own Worldview?”

            “‘Run’, as in influence policy and focus. You’ll eventually want to set your own hours. Perhaps raise a family. A lot can change in seven years.”

            “Seven years?”

            “That’s the timeline I’m working with.”

 

             After Josie left Rusty floated in to face a stern-faced Red.

           “ “To save the worlds”? Were you going to tell her how you slip me through the dimensions? Keep safe the memories of my entire planet?”   

            “I might have let it slip. She was nice! Unlike some of the others. Unlike the Ra-“

           “Don’t say the name! For now just remember we need to contain the raw energies that could rip these worlds apart.”

           “Sure, mind-twist worlds and cultures then gift the energy to the things that wiped out your planet. Mr. Planit”

          Red’s eyes blazed.

            Rusty moved back and faded.

            Red breathed deep. “You’re right. And if I hadn’t had you to take my people’s memories when they passed to me, their sheer immensity would have split me apart. I can scarce hold myself together even now.” His eyes wavered. “My people could predict and organize anything with the right information. We couldn’t predict them though. At least this way neither they nor their enemies will destroy these worlds taking the energy by force.”

 

            They’d jumped to an In-Between space. Red steadied himself and turned to Rusty, shimmering beside him. “Where the flaming hells are we going now?”

            “No flaming hells this time. But a collapsing side-dimension’s destabilizing organic matter transmission. I sent in a silver Redbot to switch out and stabilize your transfer.”

             “Good job Rusty. And where did you send it?”

           “Kingdom of Olastia, Eratt, parallel Earth MMM314974853. Magical medieval-modern.”

          “That’s right. King Shanwin.   Remember, the Great Red Seer is frightening, yet basically beneficent.”

            “No screaming terrors?”

            “Sorry, no. Now, I’d like a calm, old scene from home as I get into character. This never gets easier.”

         A field ripe with purple, crystalline stalks filled the space around them.

         Swaying, Red adjusted a crimson cloak over a black suit, adjusted a black tie, and with shaky hands fitted a gold headband over long thick hair.

            A breeze rippled across the stalks and sent small spheres of light spinning off while copper-skinned beings harvested the heaviest stalks into silver carts.

     Red smiled and closed his eyes. When he opened them the field had vanished, along with his shakes.

 

            King Shanwin stood tall and powerful, green-eyed, wearing a business suit and cape as though they were armor, yet he shivered in the damp chill of the drafty entrance hall. Ghosts of forgotten times permeated the ancient castle’s stones. Shadows flitted amongst the dark, heavy rafters and flickering cob-webbed chandeliers. A sharp chill touched his bones, but he squared his shoulders and walked toward great, greening, bronze doors.

            Something touched his back and he spun about. His soul nearly left him, but his iron self-control kept him steady as he stared, nose-to-nose with an unblinking being in a hooded red robe. It had red hair, smooth silver skin, and glowed with a pale light.

            It said, “The Great Red Seer will meet with you in the throne room.”

           It gestured and the bronze doors swung open, smooth and silent, onto a room echoing in pitch-blackness. The silver being strode forward, its shimmer lighting the way.

            They stopped at the foot of a seven-step marble dais holding a throne carved from a huge red boulder. The silver being climbed the steps and waved a hand over braziers bracketing the throne. Red flames leapt high, spreading the scent of rare woods. With a resounding thunderclap, the silver being vanished and the Great Red Seer appeared on the throne.

            Shanwin bowed.

            “Speak!” Red’s deep voice boomed out through the darkness.

            “Great Red Seer! Olastia will soon be under seige by Yarkan invaders. How can I stop them?”

            “You cannot.”

            The king’s shoulders slumped.

            “However, I can, with this.” The Seer tossed him a small, red wood box.

            Shanwin caught it. It had a gilded lid sealed by a small gold padlock and key.

            “Follow the guidance within absolutely. Soon, the Yarkans will have an invader of their own. They won’t trouble you for years. By then you will have made your defenses unassailable.”

            The king bowed deeply. “Olastia is grateful, as ever, Great Red Seer. How can we repay you?”

            “Repayment is explained in the box — a pathway and pillars you are to build exactly as detailed. But you are never to walk the pathway!! Fare thee well, and may your reign ever be just.”

            Shanwin bowed low and left.

            Rusty appeared before Red. “Will the pathway really lead to –“

            “Shhh! The time’s not yet right to speak of such things. Worlds depend on it. And my life as well. Now, on to the next set of cabbages and kings. On to the Yarkans.”

 

            The Yarkan Hierarch-Maximus strode the semi-hardened lava-field, smoke curling from his black salamander-hide boots. Sweat poured down his pale, yellow face, disappearing into his glistening black robes. He inhaled the coiling sulfur fumes appreciatively. Achieving the great basalt doors set in basalt pillars, he struck the ruby-inlaid brass gong with his iron staff.

            The doors groaned open and the Heirarch-Maximus strode into a white mist blanketing a vast, gilded hallway. He pulled himself to his full height and strode forward, striking his staff on the floor with each step so that the hall rang like a bell. When he reached the round, golden door at the far end it soundlessly rolled aside. He stepped through into a cool room of plain volcanic rock, in its center a basalt monolith rearing a hundred feet high, tapering to a point near the distant ceiling. He knelt, held his staff upright with both hands, and began chanting. Soon the room shook and with a great rasping a huge red-scaled serpent slithered from behind the monolith, encircling it.

            It spoke, with the sound of iron bells. “I know why you have come. Nonetheless, speak.”

            “Oh, great Vermilion Serpent, creator of all that is, maker of our hearts, breather of life—”

            “Get on with it! I have other realms and other souls in need of my care. The worlds do not revolve about you or the hours-long Litany of the Sun-Serpent.”

            “Y-yes, oh magnificent one. I only wish to ask —”

            “Yes, for my blessing in the attack on Olastia. Know that you would have my blessing already, as always, had you simply proceeded with the invasion. But no, you came and asked, as if I would not know your deepest desires before they formed in your heart. I say unto you: if you continue with the attack, only your mortal prowess will be with you. My blessings will not.”

            The Heirarch-Maximus sagged upon his staff. “How may we regain your favor?”

            “Put aside the attack. You will need all your forces for another enemy soon to come. Step up the carving of sacred aetheric pylons. When you have produced enough all will be forgiven.”

            “Yes, Magnificence of the Cosmos. All shall be as you say.”

            “Thus be it ever,” said the Serpent. “Depart!”

            The Heirarch hefted his staff and sprinted for the door, no floor-striking on his way out.

            The door rolled shut, the Serpent vanished, and Red stood shaking his head.

            Rusty floated out from behind the monolith. “So Olastia is safe.”

            “And the aetheric pylons will gather the raw energies sent out from Earth. Another down, more worlds to go before I sleep. Dial us in to the bubble world of the Halakith.”

 

            Zarmenthes, King of the Halakith, leaned upon his battered iron greatsword. His massive form and black-striped orange skin stood in stark contrast to the auroral lights flaming in the sky behind him. He wore a simple breechcloth and a golden crown set with a red jewel. He turned yellow, catlike eyes to the darkened cave before him but could discern nothing within. He shouted, “Hey, Red Counselor, is your carcass in there?”

            “No, Your Greatness,” said a voice behind him. Zarmenthes spun around to face a figure the spitting image of himself, but deep red in color.

            Zarmenthes said, “Don’t play games with me, oh Red Counselor. I’m a busy King. Enemies to kill. Hearts to eat.”

            “I understand, oh king. But it’s tradition to enter my cave if you want an audience with me.”

            “Which I don’t. You called me. It’s also tradition for me to eat those who incur my wrath.”

            “As is your right because you’re strong enough to do so.”

            “Damn right! I trounced Garkelmor and ate his heart. That makes me King. Getting hungry here, so cut to the point or…” He waved his sword at his Counselor’s heart.

            “Oh King, we Halakith are feeling the pressures of overpopulation again, and the alignment of planes has kept the dimensional pathways closed the past three Passions,”

            “Tell me something I’m not already keenly aware of, Red One.”

            “Beer is good.”

            “What’s beer?”

            “Something you weren’t aware of.” Sensing he was treading close to the edge here, he hurried on, “But good news — the portal to Yarkan–.”

            “Just a minute… ” Zarmenthes picked at his teeth with a jagged claw. “Little bit of Garkelmor’s cousin there.”

            “Such an inconvenience. Anyway, the portal is complete. You’ll be able to invade Yarkan.”

            “Soon enough we don’t start killing each other?”

            “Yes, my King.”

            “About time, you old slacker. It won’t be like assaulting the Towers on Caleros, but will thousands of us die, at least?”

            The Red One put his hand to his temple in deep thought. “Tens of thousands, my King! And you stand a good chance of killing many foes. We will not only greatly reduce our population, but the Yarkan’s as well.”

            “It is good. When?”

            “Now, oh Great One!”

            Zarmenthes ran down the hill, roaring in triumph and brandishing his sword.

           Red sighed. “To each his own.”

            Rusty floated out of the cave. “Well done?”

            Red sighed. “Better than having them all laid completely to waste. It took some doing to block the dimensional pathways, but it cut Olastia a break. Now the Halakith Passion will give the Yarkans other things than Olastia to think about. Take us home, Rusty!”

            “Home?”

            “Well, Josie’s Earth.”

 

            Red sat at the desk in the room where he had met Josie. An oppressive aura and sour scent began to permeate the room.

            “RaSaTha!!” cried Rusty.

            “Already!? I hadn’t thought they’d be here so soon.”

            We go where and when we please, slave, said voices in a hissing chorus through Red’s mind.

            “”Slave?” You talkin’ to me?” demanded Red.

            A blast lacerated Red’s skin and clothes. Rusty went dark and dropped behind the desk.

            You have forgotten your place. Let that serve as a reminder. Why have you not given us what we demanded?

            Red groaned and steadied himself. “It takes time. Earth’s natural power is gathering in the Yarkan aetheric capacitor pylons and the Pathway to your enemies is being built on Eratt. Only seven years until completion, as I promised.”  

            The hissing grew louder. We could take what we need, tear our way through, and destroy the Xareth now!!         

            “But my way gives you more power, far more than the Xareth. All just for waiting seven inconsequential years.”

            We choose to wait… Remember, if you run and hide in some other dimension, these worlds die.

            A sudden absence hung in the air.

            “Red, are you alright?” asked Rusty, floating once again.

            “Not really, but it’s not this that really hurts.” He gestured to his lacerated skin and clothes.

            “I know. It’s working for Them.”     

            “The RaThaSa,!!” Red shouted, as he pulled off shredded, bloody clothes. “Yes for them I mind-twist worlds and cultures. No, we couldn’t predict them.” He began rinsing off blood.

             “They demanded we do their bidding. We said no. We found we could not expect civilized behavior from them. An entire advanced civilization. Gone. Except for me.” He hunted for bandages. “I alone lived to tell the tale. Because I was the envoy who told them No.  If I had just said yes maybe we would have had time to… think of something. I’m still standing, but they’re all gone.”  Red sat down heavily in his chair. He began bandaging himself.   “Please play something peaceful from home.”

           “And I’ll tune up your vibratory rate and quantum signature while you finish wrapping yourself like a mummy.”

            “Good. We’ll be going flat out all over again for a different batch of worlds.” Red trembled. “And I have other promises to keep.”

 

            In a blurred round of inter-dimensional stops, Red alit on a world at the dawn of its time, one ruled by intelligent pseudo-saurians, a world of barbarian hedgehogs, a realm of crystal dominated by floating eyes, a bubble realm of heliotrope demons, and finally beings all of wings and emerald light. Tying more knots, connecting more worlds. Then he rested.

 

            On a fine summer day, seven years later, Rusty said, “Red, Josie is here.”

            “Ah, a bright point in the dimensions. Send her in.”

            “Do you need anything to calm you?

            “I’m fine. Get thee gone.”

            Josie entered with a smile and a bounce to her step.

            Red said, “Ms. Renton-Hauser, congratulations on your marriage.”

            “Oh, ‘Mrs.’, please, and thanks. It’s good to see you again. I wish you could have come to the wedding. Any other budding geniuses you’d like me to interview?”

            Red tossed her a notepad. “You’ve been finding them quite easily yourself, but here are two more. So how are things?”

            “Like you wouldn’t know. My life is fantastic, thank you muchly. I’ve taken down another of those charlatans claiming supernatural powers.”

            “Oh?”

            “He had hundreds of followers about to follow him out into the Atlantic to wait for the re-rising of Atlantis.”

            “Oookay. The world seems a more enlightened place these days, thanks to you and Worldview.”

            “We wouldn’t be there without your planning. Speaking of planning . . .” She patted her rounded tummy. “How are you on parenting advice?”

            Red handed her a flash drive. “I have some experience. You’ll be fine, but this should be helpful. It includes suggestions for determining what career paths might best suit the youngster.”

            “Thanks, Red. See you soon?”

            “Whenever you like, Josie.”

 

            King Shanwin entered the throne room.

            “Great Red Seer, Olastia soundly defeated the Yarkan invaders, who are even now being bound to terms of peace.”

            “Excellent news. And the monuments?”

            “The Pathway and the Pillars of Eternity are completed, even with the strange metals and devices you bade us incorporate. All are now forbidden to approach them.”

            “Splendid. Reign well, your Majesty.”  

             Shanwin bowed deeply and left.

            Rusty pulsed. “We done well here, Red?”

            “Yes. Take us to Yarkan — next on our hit parade.”

 

            The new Hierarch-Maximus cowered before the Vermilion Serpent. “Oh, Creator of All That Is, how may we redeem ourselves in your all-seeing eyes?”

            “My eyes find you redeemed. You took quite a severe beating from the Olastians and Halakith, plus you finished the penance of the aetheric pylons. Know that the Great Serpent is always with you, but never return here because this manifestation will burn to nothing once you clear the lava fields. Leave in haste.”

            The Heirarch-Maximus scrambled to his feet. “At once, Lord of All.” He ran down the hallway, not tapping his iron staff on the floor with each step. The golden door rolled closed behind him.

            Rusty floated out from behind the monolith. “Only one more?”

            The Serpent vanished, leaving only Red. “One to go before we sleep. Sync me up with the Halakith!”

 

            Zarmenthes posed impressively before the cave, greatsword pointed to the roiling sky, foot planted on a low boulder, guzzling from a bucket-sized tankard. He paused and ran his eyes over a multitude of poorly-healed lacerations. “Did you notice my new scars, oh Red One?”

            “Certainly, Your Magnificence! What would be the point in surviving battle otherwise?”

            “Not much.”

            “How’s the brew?”

            “I bestow it my approval. You will bring bags and bags of seeds to grow more of this plant!”

            “As you wish, Oh Great One.”

            “Everything is as I wish. Now, food and women time! We make more babies. Then hope the ways to Caleros open in time for the next Passion.”

            “May the ways do what they should. And meanwhile may you keep growing and brewing that new plant.”

            “Yes!” Zarmenthes ran roaring down the hill at the top of his lungs. “I’m off!”

            “You are, Zarmenthes, you are.” Red entered the cave.

           Rusty waited, spinning idly. “Are they really going to keep on overpopulating and invading forever?”

            “Not if they drink that brew. Take us back to Josie’s Earth.”

 

            Garbed in glimmering purple haze, Red sat in Lotus position, in the middle of a circular room. His eyes were closed and a light shone from his forehead.

            Rusty shot in and hovered before him. “This is a new look.”

            “I’m sending the last of Earth’s disruptive power, discharged by humans using my techniques to release disturbing wavelengths, to the Yarkan aetheric capacitors.”

            “Okay, but they’re here!”

            “They who?”

            “THEY, they.”

            Red grimaced. “Show them in.”

            Amorphous, grey RaThaSa wafted through the doorway, bringing with them a sharp, burning scent and a great hissing roar, like an orchestra using snakes as bagpipes.

            We show ourselves in.

            “What is it you wish?”

            We want everything we demanded –, the pathway to our enemies, the powerful energies to annihilate them with. The hissing grew louder.

            “Of course. I sent all the power you could want to the Yarkan aetheric capacitors.” The glow from Red’s forehead brightened, and then vanished. “You now have access to those capacitors. The Pathway through the Pillars of Eternity on Eratt will take you directly to your enemies, bypassing any defenses. And as I asked, will you spare these worlds?”

            You have asked, but we do as we will, and you do as we will. We have what we require. Now we go. And so do you.

.           With a screeching roar the RaThaSa vanished, and Red with them.

 

            Rejoice, slave. The fruits of your labors are nigh.

            Red found himself at the tail end of a RaThaSa war column. They floated along Eratt’s grand pathway of gold-flecked stone, lined with statues of angels and heroes looking toward great, silver pillars on the horizon. The bagpipes hissed and roared.

            They vanished as they passed between the Pillars of Eternity and found themselves in a void with only an energy pathway beneath them. It continued to a distant point where an army of winged, emerald-lit beings rushed toward them.

            The Xareth! How did they know! Still, they will behold our rightful power.

            In the middle of the void, great skirling pipes clashed with a banshee wail as the armies met. But neither side gained and scintillating cascades of roaring cosmic power were sucked off into the endless darkness around them

            What is this, slave? You vowed to give us power greater than our foes and we knew you spoke true.

            “True when I said it. But then I said it to the Xareth too.”

            Silent rage tore towards Red but peeled off into the void.

           The pathway beneath them started dissolving.

            “The Pathway led you and the Xareth into a dying universe. It’s pulling power from both sides in an attempt to survive.”

            We leave then.

            “There is No Exit! The Pathway’s a one-way deal. You and the Xareth can enjoy hell together!”

            You go with us then! They hissed.

            “I’ve got a prior engagement. Ready, Rusty!”

            They rushed in at Red, rippling, grasping for him.

            “I’m really ready!”

            Pipes raged. RaSaTha clamped down on his throat as they were all pulled toward the void. Those reaching it were ripped apart and disappeared.

            Red choked out, “Any time now!”

            Their chokehold strengthened. His eyes dimmed. They neared the vanishing point.

            RaSaTha closed in for killing blows.

           There was a twist in space centered on Red.

           The last RaSaTha found themselves holding a red-robed silver form and hearing laughter from a planet they had destroyed as the void collapsed in on them.

 

            Red landed in a heap in his Earth office. “Bloody hell!” he rasped. “That shaved my whiskers!”

            Rusty’s glowing misty sphere swirled rapidly. “Sorry. I did it instantly, but you know how time fluctuations between stable and collapsing universes go.”

            “No, I don’t.” Red moved over to the battered couch and collapsed onto it.

            Rusty followed. “So?”

            “We live, Earth lives, and the RaThaSa don’t.   Double bonus, the twice-damned Xareth also don’t. Triple bonus, Earth avoids the rise of chaotic energies – their so-called magic.”

            “A bit of wild energy’s good for you.”

            “The new brainiacs Josie’s talking up will pave the way for magic’s return, but tempered so Earth will be spared raw chaos.”    

            “We did it! We saved the worlds!”

             “Yep.” Red sunk drowsily into the comfort of the couch.  Hugging a pillow, he began to drift.  “The RaThaSa wanted Everything. But you can’t… always get… what you…”        

            “Wait! What do we do now that we’ve won?”

            Red snorted. “S’funny. The planning guy never planned for that.”

            “But we need to do something!”

            “Tell you what…  let’s plan to just see what happens.”      

 

END