Richard O. Benton
I Wish I May, an adventure set in the fourth millennium, is
written as a classic Science Fiction. Earth's spirit and technology
has bought an empire in the stars. Earth manages the thousands
of livable planets it has settled, creating a golden age for
humankind. But those most responsible for running The
Congress of Planets are worried because its planetary
populations are burgeoning and will soon reach socio-political
critical mass, a point the Regent, Earth's most powerful and
responsible human believes will become the long road down.
Earth needs more planets, and fast! An alien ship of unknown
design arrives then, suggesting to those in power that it has the
answer to Earth's need for an improved hyperdrive. The being in
charge of the ship provides evidence that it has come from a
distance four times further than Earth's capability has taken it,
and far quicker.
The tale begins with Earth's decision to send sixteen of its
number to the alien's planet, Cowgres, to learn the secret of the
super hyperdrive. They discover that nothing is as it seemed, and
learn the alien's hidden agenda only too late.
Richard O. Benton lives in Litchfield, CT. He has written over
one hundred short stories, articles and plays, both fiction and
non-fiction. His work has been published in regional
newspapers, magazines and also on-line. He is currently working
on his second novel.
I wish I may
I wish I might
Have the wish
I wish tonight
I wish the nightmare would end
By all that I believe in
Make it stop
Make it stop
The pain comes in waves. I can bear it. The elite of Earthforce
couldn't. I can't take it forever. Some of the power I possess that
holds Inverness at bay I must make use of for what follows. I
must maintain a balance so that I will not lose my humanity until
my urgent message gets out.
The telling is true. I offer it now because I may only have a few
minutes of life left. I am engaged in a struggle that I will
probably lose. Her power is too great. So far my projection has
escaped detection. I don't understand why she hasn't stopped
this. She is so angry! I have to believe that she doesn't know
what I am doing while I am simply trying to stay alive. Maybe
she doesn't care. Maybe...
I am nearly lost in this almost mystical place. The power that
surrounds me is awesome. The importance of taking seriously
what I am projecting to Earth and all of its colonized planets
cannot be stressed too much.
Please absorb this in whatever form the message comes to you.
What I am sending will impact you and every other human in
existence. It now involves a seemingly small man, a large man,
and a little girl. It is the little girl that I am fighting at this
moment. It is necessary that you understand the whole of it to
realize the danger you are in. She's not a little girl at all!
To all appearances, these two small beings live together in what
you and I would take to be a treed forest. I am the third, the
large man. The forest is dark, and the woods are deep. The trees
here are very tall, uniformly over a thousand feet in height. They
form a canopy over the grassy ground. There is no undergrowth.
Near the ground in this huge forest you might expect to find such
a tangle of vines and barbs as would befit any primeval forest,
but it is not so.
At the base of these monolithic trees a human would walk on
incredibly green grass. This grass has a life beyond what you
and I are accustomed to. In fact, were you to lie down on it to
rest, the plush carpet would gently enfold you, seemingly to
provide a place for restful slumber. It would seem to protect you
from certain dangers of the world. To lie down to rest would be
the worst thing you could possibly do.
Restful slumber—HAH!
There are many dangers in this world. Inverness has seen to
that. Yes, the place is not mystical. It exists, but it is not
anywhere near the primary world of humans or of those planets
we have colonized. That has little to do with the danger we now
face. The essential fact that it is so far away may be the most
ominous thing to consider before getting into the horror of my
message.
Understand also that I may not be able to finish this. I am being
mentally and physically attacked from all sides. From the
standpoint of life as we know it my entire party is dead. They are
gone away. They are no longer human. The elite of Earthforce
have fallen. What exists in their place is beautiful, and...
monstrous!
I can only hope this projection gets out to the Race of Man
before humans are drawn any further in the direction of the
Dark Nebula. If not, it could well mean the end of Humanity. I
fight this thing at a primal level. I can't win. When I am fully
integrated, the last chance to let our species know about the
danger will be gone. This account is an appeal to humanity.
LISTEN, Earth people and allies... you must LISTEN!
So that you will hear of the events that are happening now, so
that you will be moved to protect the Race of Man, so that you
will be aware and do SOMETHING, I project this through a
hyperspace link. The link is directed to Earthforce specifically. It
is my only possible salvation. It is also directed to the
populations of all of Earth's colonized planets. It's too late for
me. Maybe this will save humanity. By all that I believe in, I
hope so.
Everyone must know what the danger is. You must overcome the
natural human tendency to disbelieve, or worse yet, to ignore
what you are hearing or seeing. To ignore this and take no
action could be the death knell of all humanity. The danger is
both savage and insidious. It is greater than I or any Earthforce
member has ever encountered.
I must start the telling this way. First you must hear the
background...
Ahhh, the pain! Wait...
That's better...
People of Earth have been colonizing planets for twelve hundred
years. Our sphere is huge, yet tiny—minuscule—compared to the
vastness of our galaxy and the vastness of space. In that length
of time, Earth society has integrated into an omni-society in
which all of its peoples possess equality never before attained.
There is a mind-set that goes with such a society, and that mind-
set may be our undoing. Listen to learn why.
