Destination Zero

by Peter Berridge

Jake woke to find himself in an underground jail, held by computer warder CLEO and robot assistant, FIDO. Jake then discovers that he has large pointed elvish ears! He remembers nothing about his past except the belief that he is definitely human. He must have been kidnapped by aliens. He settles into his life as a jailbird and is allowed to watch trains which pass in an area above the prison. He become a keen train spotter along with FIDO. One night, Jake is woken by a pounding on the upper entrance to his prison. It turns out to be an elf! An alien elf with the name Alaric. This alien has arrived to rescue Jake! Alaric addresses Jake as Prince Jake.He is supposed to be the Prince of a far off planet called E Base. This planet is not in this Universe and can only be reached on a "railway" called the Multiverse Express.But their local station fails to open because computer CLEO has taken off large amounts of power in order to create a "railway" for Jakes entertainment! To reach E Base they must locate a new station. Jake, Alaric, CLEO and FIDO leave the prison on a pre programmed "escape route." This terminates in a railway carriage connected to the steam engine Spitfire, an engine which vanished in 1942. The carriage is now occupied by three dwarves who rapidly become angry and threaten Jake and Alaric with large knives. After a fight. they overcome the three dwarves. They offer the dwarves a large reward which is accepted. Then Alaric learns that many E Base "escape articles," which were supposed to be on the train been exchanged by the dwarves for tobaco! The high tech escape gear has been taken by an unknown man in exchange for a few packs of tobacco! While they are talking the UFO division of the Australian Army arrives, alerted by several strange events. The UFO Division are represented by a mobile three man unit in a laser armed light tank. Alaric causes the train to vanish, using an alien device but Jake takes his chance to escape and bolt to the tank, Jake is dressed in very old fashioned gear and has large elvish ears. He claims to have been abducted by aliens.The crew of the tank attempt to arrest Jake by lasering him! While the on board laser is warming up, Jake bashes his sword on the front of the tank in order to make his point, that he is human. But once the sword touches the tank, the vehicle glows red hot and the men inside become "hors de combat." Jake is collected by robot FIDO and is informed that he is now on the run. He must now find a Multiversze Express station and travel to some alien planet where he is supposed to be a royal elf (a role he certainly doubts.)

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First published June 5, 2014