Chapter Two Planet Til
We all looked out the front window. Our ship by this point was about half the distance from the planet as it had been. We started moving toward the lighted side of the planet at a frightening speed. The ship slowed down when we reached the atmosphere. Then the nose of the ship slightly pointed down toward the surface as we started going in at an angle. We traveled at this angle at a fairly fast speed. I don’t know how fast we were going. But it must have been many thousands of miles per hour. We stayed on this course until we got to about twenty miles above the ground. Then we started moving parallel to the surface. There was ocean below us and some land off in the distance. As we got closer to the land, there were a couple of plateaus divided by a delta and a snow capped mountain range beyond. There were only a few clouds in the sky and a few smaller ones near the mountains. The land was a mixture of forest and open grassy areas. The grassy areas were of various sizes and shapes. I could make out a few rivers and a few lakes. Getting closer, we descended at an angle to about five miles above the surface and the ship began to fly level.
The ship started heading toward the largest lake. It was near some foothills to the mountains. The lake itself was surrounded by a wide grassy area. Though the grassy area was mostly on our side of the lake with the narrower grassy area ending where a forested foothill began. The wide area of grass was about ten miles across and seven miles deep. Most of the lake had sandy beaches around its shore. The lake was larger than the grassy area with a bit of an irregular shape. On the left end, it was much narrower. As we got to about five miles from the edge of this grassy area, the ship began to descend at an angle to the near edge of grassy area. I could make out small herds of animals here and there in the grassy area. The ship came to a stop at the edge of the forest about a hundred feet above the ground. The ship nosed down a little as Sue said, “Oh wow!” I said, “Amazing!” Panny and Lika also again put their front paws on the instrument panel and back paws on Bev and Sue to look out. Zem and Bev were smiling at us. Zem said, “See anything that looks familiar?”
Below us there was a couple widely spaced groups of Brontosaurus types of creatures. There were about fifteen in the group near us. They were slightly differing sizes and feeding at the tree line. There were also a few baby ones amongst them. These animals were pretty much as scientists imagined them to be. They were mostly a grayish color. Though around the nostrils, inner area near the eyes and tops of their heads were a slightly reddish color. Their eyes were large and bird like. Around their eyes there was a band of yellow. A slight reddish band went down the sides of their necks. These widened out along their backs and then ran along the backs of their tails. Besides the brontosaurus, there were a few large Mammoths with straighter tusks than I had seen fossil pictures of. They were picking up fruit that had been shaken from the tree branches by the dinosaurs. Sue looked at Zem and Bev with an amazed look on her face and said, “Brontosaurus and Mammoths! How wonderful!” I looked over at Zem and Bev with an amazed look on my face also. Zem and Bev looked over at us with smiles on their faces.
Bev said, “Mav likes the larger creatures. What you call Mammoths are actually Mastodons. We call them Kafkins. Which is a name one of the groups of ancient humans called them. It meant “heavy tooth.” And the brontosaurus are actually called Argentinosaurus. But we call them Ruka. Zem added, “Check out these other ones.” The ship again became level and rapidly headed toward another group of about nine large creatures about a mile away. As we got closer, I could see that these creatures had to be twice the length of the largest ruka. I would guess somewhere near a couple hundred feet long. Their height was about sixty or feet high. These creatures had large, slightly flattened oval shaped bodies and somewhat small heads compared to the bodies. Getting closer, I could see that a very short neck connected their heads to their bodies. They had four legs with knee joints about in the middle of them. Their legs looked slightly too frail for their bodies. These creatures also had two fairly long, thin elephant like trunks that came out from the sides of their heads. From the back ends came a single tail that was a little longer and heftier than their trunks.
The way their tails moved gave the impression that they were at least somewhat prehensile near the ends. Overall, the creatures were a light grayish blue color. They were using their trunks to grasp tufts of grass much like an elephant would and pass them to their mouth, which sat between the base of the trunks. We came up to them and the nose of the ship again tilted downward a little to get a better look at them. One of them nearest to us hopped over a little almost like in slow motion. The quick arrival of our ship must have startled it a little. Sue and I looked at Zem and Bev again with an amazed look on our faces as I said, “They’re incredible!” Sue said, “I take it that these creatures, like the tasers, use hydrogen to support themselves.” Zem and Bev glanced over with slight smiles on their faces and Zem said, “That’s right.” Bev said, “These creatures are called Forlix.” Sue and I again returned our attention out the front window. Which Zem and Bev did also. The forlix that had hopped over was looking at us with fairly large eyes that sat above where the trunks came out of its head. Being satisfied that we weren’t a threat, it went back to feeding.
I noticed that its feet were rather large for the size of its legs. Though its feet were a little obscured by the grass, I could still make out four somewhat long, thin toes on each. Three splayed out forward while the rear, stubbier one faced backward. There were fairly long claws on the ends of the toes and the whole foot seemed to be made for grasping things. Which along with their trunks and tails, I could see coming in handy in a strong wind. Looking at the forlix, I said, “Moving creatures like this couldn’t have been easy.” Zem and Bev briefly glanced over at us before returning her gaze to the forlix. Bev said, “Most weren’t transported. They were made.” Sue and I looked at each other with surprised looks. These we then turned to Zem and Bev. Zem and Bev looked at us with slight smiles on their faces. Then Zem said, “Mav and Til could have transported them. But they chose to make them. Though they just as easily could have stored them in a trans-dimensional bubble. If we wanted to, we could make those bubbles as small as a sub atomic particle.”
Sue and I both took on surprised looks as Zem added, “As Bev pointed out to you both, for the Reall, there are many different ways of doing things.” Then Bev said, “There was a time in our past when we Reall used to build very large spaceships which could have very easily transported them as is. But as our ability to build large ships increased, our desire to do so decreased. In fact, when it comes to getting from point A to point B, we don’t really need spaceships like this at all.” Despite the wonders Sue and I had already experienced, this caused surprised expressions to come over Sue and I’s faces again. What Zem and Bev said brought home to me again just how small humans were compared to the Reall. Sue and I’s surprised expressions made Zem and Bev’s smiles widen a bit. Sue and I grinned as Bev said, “That shouldn’t really surprise you. After all, we have millions of years of scientific advancement behind us.” Zem added, “Add to that billions of highly advanced minds engaged in scientific inquiry. And the more we learn, the more the Mind is willing to tell us. Or let the Nal help us with.”
Then Sue said, “The realizations of how much like worms we must be to you is a little off putting.” Bev said with a smile, “Try not to let it bother you. As the human saying goes, we put our pants on one leg at a time too.” Bev’s soothing words made Sue and I both smile appreciatively at her and Zem. I said, “With the speed at which the Nal can do things and their communications with the Mind, it’s no surprise that they are as advanced as they are. But it is kind of surprising that you aren’t serving them.” Zem and Bev laughed. I could also feel telepathic amusement from Pim and Mim. Pim did that thing that Zem and Bev had done to Sue and I back on the Pol-Wim. Time seemed to stop as Pim said, “It’s cute how little you understand.” Mim said, “The suggestion you made is unthinkable. Though the Reall are remarkably advanced, even if we wanted to be served, we would simply create our own Nal. Though by us being able serve them, the Reall are in a way a service to us.”
Pim then added, “Besides, even we aren’t all that much more advanced than the Reall. We have no wish to try to be. And as for our communion with the Mind goes, there are things that it won’t tell even us. Though we can perceive its intellect to a certain degree. The Mind is the embodiment of infinity. The depth of it is something that humbles even us Nal.” Mim then said, “We hope that you don’t mind us initiating a little speed thinking. But you will find exploring this planet to be a little more fun than wasting time on largely unimportant explanations.” Bev said, “There you go being all considerate again.” Zem, Bev, Sue and I expressed telepathic humor. We were all of course still smiling at each other. But because our thoughts were speeded up, as I said, time seemed to be slowed down. So none of us appeared to be moving. Sue said, “Besides, with time seemingly slowed down like this, it gives Erik and I more time to look at our loved ones.” I said, “Though it would be nice if you two were in the picture too.”
Even though time seemed to be slowed way down, Pim and Mim very quickly came out of their shallow depressions in the instrument panel. They moved to in front of Zem and Bev at about chest level. Mim said, “How’s this.” Before either Sue and I had a chance to answer, time again became normal. Zem and Bev took on sentimental expressions. As did Sue and I. Bev said to Sue and I, “You’re both such dears!” Then Bev sat Panny on the floor. Lika jumped off Sue’s lap and joined Panny. They then ran back to one of the couches in the back. Bev then took hold of Pim and Mim as she got up. Then Bev came over to Sue and I and gave us a hug with Pim and Mim in her hands. Bev, Sue and I lightly closed our eyes with happy, sentimental looks on our faces as we hugged Bev back. Sue said, “You only say that because you know our sincerity.” Bev released us and stood erect as she took a step back. Bev released Pim and Mim. Then Bev took hold of them with her other hands. After uncrossing her arms, Bev held them up and smiled at them. Bev then said to Pim and Mim, “Time to be of service again.”
Then Bev seemed to think something to them. Bev then turned what appeared on Pim and Mim toward Sue and I. Sue and I chuckled a bit as Bev and Zem grinned. Then Sue and I grinned too. Pim and Mim again made grins appear on them. But then their lips puckered to smooch. Bev released them. A sentimental look accompanied Sue and I’s grins as Mim came over to my cheek and Pim went over to Sue’s. Bev held her hands clasped over her chest with a sentimental smile on her face. Zem was looking on of course with a sentimental look still. Pim gave Sue a kiss on her cheek and Mim gave me a kiss on mine. Making smooching sounds as they did so. Then they backed away a little and grinned again. Sue said, “Thank you. But you’re not getting off that easy.” We all chuckled a bit. Pim and Mim gave off telepathic humor as Sue took hold of Pim. Knowing what Sue had in mind, I took hold of Mim and said, “You either.” They puckered their lips again as Sue gave Pim a brief smooch on his puckered lips and I gave Mim a brief smooch on hers. After moving them away a little, Zem, Bev, Sue and I we were all wearing sentimental smiles.
Both Pim and Mim’s lips turned to smiles too. Then Sue released Pim and I released Mim. They started to float up as Pim spoke to Sue verbally. Though it wasn’t really necessary, his lips moved as he did so. He said to Sue in an affectionate voice, “No worm could ever smooch like you.” We all laughed. Pim and Mim emitted telepathic humor. Afterwards, Mim spoke the same way and said in an affectionate voice, “You’re both such dears.” Pim and Mim made their lips disappear and they started circling around each other at differing angles as they floated up a little further. Zem then said with a smile, “We should be getting to our destination. Mav and Til should be here soon.” Bev went back to set across Zem’s lap. With smiles on their faces of course, they both turned back to look out the front window. Which Sue and I did with smiles on our faces also. Pim and Mim didn’t go back to the instrument panel. They just stayed up near the ceiling, slowly circling around each other. The ship became level again and we started toward the direction of the large lake we had seen at a higher altitude.
Here and there below us, we saw various groups of large animals. Though none as large as the forlix. Some I recognized from drawings, toys or sculptures of prehistoric animals. Others were unfamiliar ones that didn’t come from earth. Our ship quickly approached the narrower left end of the lake. As we got closer, I could make out a two storied structure on the shore of the lake. There was an area of what appeared to be well manicured lawn around it. Which probably kept these creatures from feeding around it. The second story was smaller than the lower one. Some of the roof of the lower story made a fairly wide, grass covered balcony around the upper story. This extended out over the lower structure a little. The roof of the second story was pretty much all grass. There were some small decorative plants in an area around the corners. In the center, there was a patio area with a decorative table and chairs. A set of stairs went from the ground to a square extension of the balcony. Another set that went from the balcony to the top patio. With a small extension at the top of those stairs.
All these upper areas had guard rails around them a few feet high. The lower floor appeared to be a little larger than Zem and Bev’s place on the island. Most of the walls again were mostly glass. As we approached, I could make out some patio furniture behind the house. Most of this patio was covered by a stepped, slightly slanted roof that was an extension of the balcony. Making an attractive roof over the back patio. About fifteen feet from the patio, where the sand began, a dock went out into the water about fifty feet. This led to a square platform that had another grassy roof above it. I could see that there was a table and chairs under the roof. Around the outside of it there was a railing about four foot high. This had a flat wooden top about a foot wide. I smiled at Zem and Bev and said, “This place looks a little nicer than your place on the island.” Then I grinned and said, “This isn’t from Mav and Til being showy is it?” Zem and Bev chuckled a little as our ship headed to a spot on the right of the house and near the beach. Our ship was apparently able to land itself as Zem and Bev both grinned at Sue and I.
Sue and I were grinning too as Zem said, “No. Our island place is just a cozy little retreat for when the wether is agreeable there. We have places on planet Bev that are equally as nice as this. Though there is no need for “Keeping up with the Jones’s” among our kind.” Sue said, “I don’t imagine there would be.” Our ship came to a rest on the ground and the back ramp began to open. The front end faced the lake and the back end faced the field. The sun was just above the mountains. But the front window automatically took away much of the glare. Panny and Lika jumped from the couch they were on and scampered toward the back. Bev got up and held out her hand for Sue with a grin and said, “Shall we go?” Sue grinned too and took Bev’s hand. As Sue stood up, Sue said a little excitedly, “I’m ready!” Bev and Sue started walking arm in arm toward the back. Zem and I smiled at each other and started to stand up as I heard Sue ask Bev, “Are we going to be riding any dinosaurs?” Zem and I started heading toward the back. Paying attention to our girls’ conversation. Bev answered Sue and said, “Maybe. But Til and Mav have even more fun creatures here to ride.”
Pim and Mim followed a little above and behind Zem and I. As the ramp lowered, I could smell pleasant, grassy air coming in from outside. When the ramp almost reached a horizontal position, Panny and Lika took off outside. They paused briefly to look around as Bev and Sue made their way onto the ramp. Then Panny and Lika excitedly started running in the general direction of the back patio. Zem and I stepped out onto the ramp too. We all looked around a little as we came off the ramp. There were groups of animals here and there in the field that went off into the distance. As I said, some of the animals I could recognize. Others must have come from some other planet. Bev and Sue started walking in the direction of the patio. There was a group of five creatures that were fairly nearby. Overall, their bodies reminded me a little of a buffalo.
They were nearly twice the size of an elephant and were covered in a short, slick looking black fur. They had legs that seemed to be a little larger diameter than you might expect for a creature of those dimensions.
The knee joints of their legs sat up a little higher than you might expect. Above which, their legs got a little wider. Their feet were proportionally large with four short, thick toes that splayed out from the front. Their heads reminded me of a cow’s with ears that reminded me of a deer’s. From the sides of their heads, there extended horns that were set up like a long horn steers. Except not quite as long. Also, they were more vertically flat than round. Coming from the bottom edge were a number of spikes that came down slightly and curved forward. The spikes reminded me of what you might see on a moose’s antlers. Their tails were somewhat skinny and reached nearly to the ground. On the ends of them was a tuft of longer hair. By the overall look of these creatures, they were nothing to mess with. A little farther away and off to the right, there was a group of six dinosaurs of varying sizes. Two of which were babies. I had seen artists renderings of them before. But I didn’t remember what they were called. They were about thirty feet long with somewhat triangular plates along their backs.
Near the ends of their tails were two fairly long spikes on each side. Their heads were fairly small for their size. Overall, their color was a dark tan color. Though there were darker bands of greenish brown color that went from the plates on their backs and ran down their sides. Speaking of the dinosaurs, I said to Zem as we caught up to the girls, “It’s interesting that you and Bev as well as Mav and Til seem to have an interest in earth creatures.” Bev and Sue smiled at us. Zem said, “Mav found your planet by chance long ago. It was only after humans began to congregate in societies of a sort that I took an interest in the place.” Sue said to Bev, “I suppose it is because of your policy of noninterference that kept your people from preventing the event that eventually drove the dinosaurs to extinction.” We were heading toward the back patio. Panny and Lika had already made it to the dock. Zem and I smiled at Bev and Sue as Bev said, “Pretty much. Though you would find it difficult to imagine all of the destruction that goes on in the universe. Our kind could hardly make a dent in it even if we wanted to.”
Then Zem said, “And as for humans, it’s a good thing that neither we or any other beings did so. Another part of the reason nothing was done to prevent the destruction is because nobody would want to take a chance in incurring the wrath of the Mind for so drastically altering the destiny of some basically unimportant planet.” We had reached the patio at this point. There was a low cabinet along the other side of the patio just under the roof. Just below the counter top, there was a larger than normal maketake alcove. This one was a little larger than the one on the ship and sat horizontally. The back of the house here was of course mostly glass too. There was a living area behind the glass in this part of the house and a kitchen on the grassy area side of the house. The interior wall of this living area was light blue. In the center of the house was opaque area. On either side of this room was a hallway. On our side, it ran about thirty five feet to the kitchen on the grassy side of the house. On our side, in the hallway, there was a door near either end of the inner wall.
I took it one led to a bathroom and one to a bedroom. No doubt there was a similar setup on the other side of the opaque area. Sue said to Bev, “I would ask if any animals tried to crash your dinners. But I don’t think they would fit.” Zem and I stopped over by the table. Bev and Sue continued on to the maketake machine as Bev said, “The maketake would just create a Nal to chase away anything that we didn’t want hanging around anyway.” They both turned to Zem and I with smiles on their faces when they reached the maketake. Pim and Mim floated just under the patio roof. Bev said to Zem, “What will you have sweetie.” Zem said, “A nice cold glass of Teka would be nice dear. You know how I like it.” Sue said to me, “What would you like honey.” I said, “Why don’t you pick out something for me sweetheart. Just make sure you put some extra love in it.” Zem and Bev grinned at this remark. Sue and I smiled lovingly at each other. Then Sue said, “You know I will darling.” Sue and Bev looked at each other with sentimental smiles on their faces before turning to the maketake machine.
Then I looked over at Zem and said, “I hope Mav and Til don’t take too long. I could go for a little something to snack on. Hopefully they haven’t eaten yet.” Zem said, “Even if they were full, to be polite, they would probably just make themselves un-full.” Bev and Sue came over with our drinks and set them on the table. I stepped over to Sue and said, “Thank you dearest.” Sue and I then gave each other a brief but loving kiss. Zem said to Bev, “Thank you darling.” I started to pull out a seat for Sue as Bev said to Zem, “You’re welcome dearest.” Sue sat down and said to me, “Thank you sweetie.” At the same time, Zem and Bev gave each other a brief but loving kiss. I leaned down and gave Sue another brief but loving kiss as Zem pulled out a chair for Bev. Then I went to take a seat as Bev sat down. As I went to set down too, Zem also leaned over to give Bev another brief but loving kiss. At the same time, Sue slid her drink over to her and slid my drink over to me. We both smiled at each other. After Zem sat down, I smiled at him and said, “As far as making yourself un-full goes, the maketakes would be a glutton’s dream.”
Bev and Sue took a sip from their drinks as Zem said with a smile, “Luckily, the Reall aren’t prone to such behavior.” Bev and Sue sat their drinks down as Zem and I took a drink. Sue said, “I heard that in ancient Rome, the Romans used to have rooms called vomitoriums where they would disgorge to make room for more food.” Zem and I had set our drinks down as Bev said, “With the amount of lead they consumed, it’s a wonder any of them were able to think straight.” I said with a bit of disgust on my face, “Those filthy, murderous, thieving, violent, wop homos.” This caused everybody to take on a more somber expression as I added, “And as far as being homo goes, according to a program I once saw, most Muslims are apparently the same way. Just like the ancient Romans and Greeks, they have an extra passionate desire for young boys. And now, they’re making it ok for Boy Scout leaders to be gay. But what father would want somebody to mentor their son who at least on the inside is probably looking at the boys and doing this.”
Then I took on an expression of somebody who was looking at something with excited anticipation. At the same time, I ran my tongue around my lips. Also, sticking it in and out a little as if tasting something good and making “Mmm! Mmm!” sounds. This made Zem, Bev and Sue chuckle a bit. I just smiled a bit at their amusement. Zem said, “You make a good point.” I said, “Hopefully humanity will be destroyed before it’s ok for Boy Scout leaders to be card carrying members of the North American Man - Boy Love Association.” Then Zem and Bev looked at each other with a little happier expressions. Which I thought was a little out of place as I said, “Despite all of the shortcomings of humanity, I hope that Mav and Til will still be glad to meet us.” It was at this point we all heard what I took to be Mav’s voice come into our minds. He said, “Sorry to break into your conversation.” What I took to be Til’s voice said, “From what Bev and Zem said, we will indeed be glad to meet you.” This must have been what made Zem and Bev look at each other with a little happier expression as I spoke of unfortunate things.
They must have sensed Mav and Til making a telepathic connection. What Til said caused grins to appear on everybody’s faces. Though Sue and I’s were bigger. Mav said, “We’ll be there soon. Would you go stand out on the lawn on the side where your craft is parked?” Zem said, “Are you up to something?” Mav said, “A showoff like me? What would make you think that.” Zem, Bev, Sue and I laughed. We could feel telepathic humor from Mav and Til too. Then Til said, “We’ll see you in a minute. By.” Zem started to get up as he said, “This should be interesting.” The rest of us got up too as Sue said to Bev with a grin, “What are they going to do.” Bev said, “Knowing Mav. It could be anything.” Bev walked over to Zem as they grinned at each other and took each other’s arm. Sue and I took each other’s arm and we followed Zem and Bev out onto the lawn. We went a little toward the field side. As we walked, Zem and Bev started looking around with grins on their faces. Sue and I looked around too with a little excited anticipation written on our faces. I and no doubt Sue were curious to see what a Reall would do to showoff.
After a few extended moments, Zem and Bev stopped. They looked at each other and laughed a little. Afterward, Bev said with a mirth filled voice, “They brought the Tenat!” Zem and Bev laughed some more as Sue and I looked at them with slightly puzzled looks. Apparently, they were sensing something that Sue and I couldn’t. Zem pointed off in front of us as he grinned at Sue and I. Bev grinned at us too as Zem said, “Look that way.” We all looked in the direction Zem indicated. I watched the sky. Looking for some large spaceship to appear or swoop in from space. What I saw was something quite different. I saw a swirling pale colors appear in an ever widening arc above the horizon. Here and there, we could see bright points of light rise above the horizon. These directed their light toward a blue arc that began to rise above the horizon. Sue and I’s mouths dropped open with an amazed look on our faces. We released one of each other’s arms and put them around each other’s backs. Not far behind the blue arc, the surface of what appeared to be a large moon began to spread out along the horizon.
On the surface were areas of vegetation and large lakes. The more it spread out, the more astonished Sue and I’s expressions became. It must have been at least a four or five thousand miles across. Because it took up nearly all of the horizon in that direction. The pale colors that swirled in slow motion above the atmosphere were all the colors of the rainbow. But predominately green and yellow. As it rose above the horizon, it moved closer to the area of planet around us. Sue said with astonishment, “Is that a planet or a ship!” Zem said, “It’s a ship. That is where Bev, Mav, Til and I are from. It’s home.” Sue and I watched in amazement at the ship flew to a position overhead and stopped abruptly. It took up most of the sky. Probably to keep things interesting, the areas of forest and lakes on the surface were irregularly shaped. The surface appeared to be fairly roughly textured. The buildings on the planet ship probably had vegetation on their roofs too. Sue said, “It’s incredible!” Zem said, “Yes. It’s pretty impressive. As Bev told you, at one time our kind built pretty large ships.” I said, “If Mav meant to be a showoff, he succeeded!” Zem and Bev chuckled a bit. Sue and I briefly looked at each other with astonishment.
As we watched, the planet ship quickly moved away from our planet, then blinked out of existence. Almost faster than we could see, a small dot in the sky quickly flew down. Getting ever larger the closer it got. It stopped about a hundred and fifty feet above us. Zem and Bev didn’t react. But Sue and I were awestruck. It was a shiny black color, circular and must have been a mile across. I wondered how they could do such a thing without punching a blast of air toward the ground that would have doubtlessly blasted a crater into the ground. Though its appearance did cause a bit of a commotion to the animals nearby. Causing them to call out with varying bellows. This ship of course was much larger than the Pol-Wim. From the bottom on the side of the ship nearest us, a circular portion of it that was about a hundred feet across started to descend. Panny and Lika came up near to us as this was going on. As what was on it came into view, Zem and Bev laughed. Through his laughter, Zem managed to say, “Now they’re really laying it on thick!”
On the platform there were who I took to be Mav and Til sitting on a wide golden ornate throne. Two golden brackets came out of the sides and bottom of the throne about three feet. These attached to a long pole on each side that went about eight feet in front of and to the rear of the throne. These poles were supported by human bearers. From each corner, three were holding a length of pole on their shoulders. Making twelve bearers in all. All of these bearers were wearing different kinds of clothing. Near each three was one of the android-robot things that Sue and I had seen back on the Pol-Wim. The robot that Bev said was basically an extension of the ship. As you may remember, they had no facial features. Only a narrow cone near where a nose would be and two more where ears would be. It also had hands that were more like mittens than hands. Though on these, the mittens were fingers. Four in all. The one we had seen on the ship was covered in a short gray fur. Though these were covered in shimmering, short silvery hair.
In the hand of each, they carried what whip that I think they called a cat of nine tails. Who I took to be Mav and Til were both grinning. They were wearing shining, silver toga like garments that covered most of their bodies. These garments had multicolored small flashes of light like glitter that flashed all over them. On their heads, each wore an ornate, glasslike, deep purple crown. These had small multicolored points of light in them that glittered as they moved around in an irregular pattern. From the top rim of the crowns rose deep purple, slightly fluorescent, ornate spikes about a foot long. These shone a bit brighter an