As you know, Jeri and I are participating in a round-robin story game. I am now up again in the final round, one slot early. So here goes. Part 28 is here, by the way.

_____________________

As Blink, Sophie, and Not-Sophie communed, the room lit with an odd, flashing light. “What’s that?” said Sophie, frightened by yet another sudden, odd change in surroundings.

“It is I.” a voice rumbled.

“I?” said Blink, peeved rather than frightened.

“I am that which is. I am the power over all telling. And I have a need to communicate with you three.”

“Well, we can hardly simply call you ‘I’,” growled Not-Sophie, as she began scanning through the dreadnought sensors Blink had returned to her bidding, “that’s going to get confusing, isn’t it? Don’t you have a proper name of some sort?” Not-Sophie looked around for the source of the light. “And just where the hell are you, anyway?”

“I am here, and there, and all about,” intoned the voice, “and no where, at the same time. It is true that some have called me…”

“God?” interrupted Blink, skeptically.

A rumble filled the room that felt like thunder, but somehow non-threatening. A chuckle, the three realized.

“Hardly,” said the voice with some irony, and with considerably less pomposity. “Who would want to be that? All that worshipful crap, everyone so bloody convinced they have it exactly right, and no one coming close. No thank you. Some have called me ‘The Narrator’. Now shut up and let me finish.” A soft throat clearing sound echoed through the room, and the voice continued, returning to its more senatorial tone. “You three obviously need direction. You’ve been mucking about, and never quite seem to get to the point of dissipating the threat to your planet. I’m here to put you on the right track.”

“Well that’s good news,” said Blink with hard-edged sarcasm, “we’ve got yet another source of truth here to help us. Lovely, that.”

“BE SILENT!” the Narrator’s rumble took on a tone of menace. “Or I’ll turn you into something more unpleasant that a multi-limbed intelligent furball that likes to lick people and eat out of dumpsters.” After a brief pause, the voice said thoughtfully, nearly in a whisper, “though off-hand, I can’t imagine what that would be.”

“Now then,” the Narrator continued, “where was I? Oh yes. You three need to start cooperating more. No more bloody fighting, splitting off into different tangents, nearly blowing one another up, infecting each other with bugs and viruses and whatnot. Don’t you see the power you have?”

“You mean the power of my ship?” Not-Sophie asked, somewhat mollified.

“You mean the power of my mind?” Blink thought, he thought to himself.

“You mean whatever it was that made everybody think I’d be a good killing machine brain even though I’m a cute skin-kneed little preteen girl?” said Sophie meekly.

“No, no, and no.” The Narrator responded, enjoying Blink’s dismay at his thoughts being overheard. “I mean you have the power of three. Three is a magic number. Yes it is. It has been so throughout history. You speak of the divine…the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Id, Ego, and Superego. Kirk, Spock and McCoy, for crying out loud. Even Luke, Leia and Han. The three of you together are unbeatable. You have the power of mind, body, and soul. Use it. Look at that weak character over there.” The light seemed to shift, and a Tregethan appeared in the room, seemingly spotlighted by The Narrator’s light.

“Faaaaaarthuuuum,” the Tregethan screamed heavenward, with exasperation, then looked wildly about, “what the hell are you doing to my quarters!? Where’s my skull rubber!?”

“He’s pathetic.” The Narrator continued. “You probably wouldn’t even have to join forces to defeat him. Yet, if you simply mold your minds together, as you have started to do in the past, you will have absolute power over him. Try it!”

Blink, Sophie and Not-Sophie exchanged glances. “Worth a shot,” said Blink, giving his closest equivalent of a shrug, for a multi-limbed furball, “let’s try it.”

The three closed their eyes, and made mental contact. “Now what?” they asked.

“Focus on the Tregethan.” The Narrator instructed. “Then decide quickly on what you’d like to happen to it.”

In a trice, with a loud splat, the Tregethan blowed up. Real Good.

The three broke contact, and looked about at the pieces of Tregethan, which, while all about, hadn’t mussed them in the least. “That,” said Not Sophie, voice rising, “was - freaking - AWESOME!”

“Indeed,” said The Narrator, “you are powerful. And fast too. Well done. I will leave it to you, then. Go on, figure out what else you want to do. I can’t be bothered to hold your hand for the entire rest of it.”

The light went out. The Narrator was gone. Blink, Sophie and Not Sophie looked at one another, and considered their next move.