Jet Warriors
by Shadiat Shoyombo

PROLOGUE

24 March, 2020 AD

The obscure wizard stood at the grotesque fireplace, concocting a new and complicated spell, his great shaggy brows were furrowed as he diligently worked with the volatile gooey green substance. The extremely wise wizard was elaborately garbed in a flowing black robe with fearful inscriptions on its sleeve-endings and hem, and around his head was a burgeoning cape, which was skillfully trimmed with the colors red, yellow and green in such a way that it appeared to be trimmed with fire. This had the desired effect; it was frightening.

The wizard’s home was just as dark and obscure as he was, with craftily made medieval furniture, and the most horrible pictures one could think of adorning the walls. These were pictures of wizards of old; pictures of the victims of these wizards; and pictures of infernal scenes from the deepest recesses of the evil mind. But despite the thoughts that rush into one’s mind at the sight of the wizard and his scary habitat, Wizard Shekoni is no evil being. As a matter of fact, contrary to his terrifying appearance and vast powers, he is a wizard famed for his kindness. He had never once before cast a bad spell on someone who did not well deserve it; being quite particular about paying back good for good and evil for evil.

The green gook the wizard was working on was a new spell, one which he knew would end up being quite successful, and which would make him even more famous than he was already. The spell when brought into contact with a living thing would immediately render it completely immobile and rid it of its senses for a sizeable length of time, putting it in a comatose state. The new spell promised to be better than others of its kind that were currently being used, for it promised to work faster and more efficiently than they did. This was because the wizard had added a great deal of his special kind of catalyst material to it.

Perched on a sideboard close-by, Lamid, the wizard’s midnight-black, green-eyed tomcat, was watching his master with intent concentration. He was an extremely intelligent animal who was forever interested in things that involved great ingenuity and therefore liked to hang around whenever Shekoni had a task at hand. It was this cat, absorbed in his master’s doings though he was that noticed a sudden but sharp change in the atmosphere. It gave a loud mew that caught the busy wizard’s attention and drew it to the crude window-like opening in the room’s easterly wall. There was suddenly something markedly different about the air. The fine hairs on the wizard’s nape rose in apprehension, his highly intelligent and clairvoyant mind acknowledged the fact that something was monumentally wrong—or was about to go wrong.

Shekoni dropped the almost finished spell and went over to the window. He stared out into the dark silent night, but could see nothing out of the ordinary. Still, though, he was sure something was different about the atmosphere, very different. It was as though an aura of menace had suddenly surrounded the place. He immediately had the urge to find out what it was that had caused this change.

Silently, he sailed out of the room through the opening that could have passed as a window, with his cat, Lamid in tow.

The wizard’s home was an intimidating monstrous castle located on the apex of the tallest, steepest hill on the island on which it was situated. It had huge ungainly towers and battlements, and a large crooked chimney was situated at its top, emitting smokes of different hues and densities. There was something decidedly dark and mysterious about the castle, and it frightened the usually curious islanders away from it. Most especially as it was known that no one ever entered Shekoni’s abode uninvited and came out the same.

It was out of this immense castle that the wizard and his cat went, ready to do battle with the intruder (for the wizard was certain that it was the presence of an unfriendly intruder that had caused the sudden change in the air), whatever it was.

***

He had heard of the great wizard at a pub situated at the northern end of the island. It was a small, men-only affair with brawny furniture, good brandy, and the best-looking waitresses in town. But in his opinion, the Loggerheads Pub’s best asset was the fact that it had the best grapevine on the island. The theory that men are greater gossips than women was easily proven at this pub; there was no information on the goings-on on the island that one could not cull from the men who frequented the place. All he had needed to do was disguise his less-than-pleasant features by magical means to something easier to look at and buy the men around him drinks, and he was able to extract the information he needed from them.

He had asked to know who the greatest man on the island was and had been unanimously told that it was a certain wizard called Shekoni. He had promptly decided to pay the wizard a surprise visit. To conquer the island (the first step in his great ambition), he would have to get the wizard out of the way.

Presently, he made his way towards the menacing ambience of Wizard Shekoni’s home, not at all intimidated by the huge, dark castle. The men at the pub had warned him against going there, saying that the wizard was well known as one who did not tolerate people coming over to visit him without being invited or without prior notice. But he had laughed inwardly at them, for he was not at all scared of the famous and well-feared wizard (as far as he was concerned, a mere Earthling was all he was). The wizard should be scared of him instead. He wondered what the men at the pub would have said or done if they had known who he really was. He wondered how surprised they would have been if he had told them how he had caused so much trouble back at his home planet, Planet Zlutonia, that he had been forced into exile by the presiding government over there.

They would have been very shocked indeed. And also terrified of him.

He kept to the shadows as he made his way towards the castle, changing back to his natural form as he went…

***

Shekoni floated in the air just outside the window-like opening in his wall, the intuition he had in his bones of danger being close was stronger than ever. For a while he stood there, wondering whether to go out and meet the evil that he was sure was hovering out there, or let it come all the way to him. As it was, he did not have to make the decision.

A heavy body that seemed to weigh a ton suddenly slammed headlong into him, the force of the impact making him reel back into the room out of which he had come. He crashed onto the floor of the room with the body still on him.

With great physical and mental effort, the wizard managed to throw the thing that hung onto him like a limpet off. It landed on the hearthrug on which Lamid the cat had taken refuge, having scurried back into the room when the strange being had attacked his master. The cat gave off a small frightened sound and ran off to seek a safer hiding place elsewhere. Slowly, the creature got up from where it had landed, giving Shekoni a good view of its countenance.

At first glance in the dim lighting, the wizard would have thought it to be a giant of a man, but on closer inspection, he saw that it was not at all like any normal, ordinary man—even if his very large size was not taken into consideration. His skin, for one, was green and badly wrinkled, and his glinting eyes were ferociously red in color. Also, the creature was completely hairless and had numerous bumps on its green bald scalp.

Shekoni did not need a degree in science to know that the thing before him was an alien; a visitor from one of the faraway planets of the Milky Way that were still in the harsh early stages of civilization, or some planet belonging to one of the neighboring galaxies. It did not really matter what planet he came from. The point was, was he a friendly alien or not?

“Who are you?” the wizard was forced to ask his unexpected guest, who was now standing upright and regarding him in a very predatory manner.

The thing all too happily responded to the wizard’s question. “I am Sabrun Lei Tekoba,” he pronounced, “an indigene of faraway Zlutonia. I am sure that you have heard of that planet, for it is just a galaxy away from here. I am also sure you know that although it is a relatively uncivilized planet, its inhabitants are very powerful… a people blessed with supernatural prowess.” Sabrun, being a consummate braggart like most Zlutonians, went on, “You must also know that wizards like you who are regarded as being well-endowed with super powers down here are mere novices compared with we Zlutonians.”

Shekoni knew that all this was true, the creature was not boasting emptily. He had read a lot about the Zlutonians and knew for a fact that though theirs was a newly developing planet, its people only having spent a few centuries in existence (Earth learnt of Zlutonia’s existence only about a decade ago along with the other inhabited planets of its galaxy), they were a very powerful race. Because of the fact that the inhabitants of Zlutonia were blessed with extraordinary powers and the art of magic (some more so than others), the planet was held in fearful respect by its neighbors. Wizard Shekoni knew also that the present emperor of the planet had become its ruler by virtue of the fact that his supernatural capabilities were unrivalled by any other creature on the planet. He hoped the big guy before him was not remotely as strong as that, he would have a tough fight on his hands if that was the case for it was obvious that the creature  had come in search of trouble.

Shekoni was also not astonished that the alien creature was conversing with him in Earth’s official language, English. He knew that a lot of the elite and top citizens of Zlutonia made it a point of duty to perfect the English language ever since relations between the two planets opened to make communication easier, just as Earth’s top people made it their business to learn Zlutonish, Zlutonia’s only language. He was sure this was the reason the creature before him had such a good command of English. Shekoni himself knew some words in Zlutonish despite the fact that he had never taken the pains to learn it totally.

Anyway, the fact remained that he did not understand why the Zlutonian had decided to pay him a surprise visit. It was very rare for Zlutonians to visit Earth. As a matter of fact, apart from very few visits by the emperor himself and some of his ministers, it never happened. Zlutonians were famed for their undying love of their home planet and for the fact that they never seemed to be able to thrive away from it. So what was this one doing here?

It was all a puzzle and Shekoni needed answers. But first, he needed to find out how powerful the alien really was, for this would enable him know how to defend himself against him when it became necessary. Something told him that the creature’s mission in his home was not a peaceful one—the dramatic manner with which he had invaded his property attested to that, not to mention the premonition of evil the wizard had had before his appearance.

“Do you mean that you are as powerful as your emperor is?”  Shekoni asked, knowing that though Zlutonians are natural braggarts they never told lies, and that if the creature was no where near as endowed as his ruler he would say so.

Sabrun Lei Tekoba chuckled at the question, not that the weird sound he made could really pass as a chuckle. “I believe and I am quite certain that I am stronger than even the emperor of Zlutonia, want me to prove that to you?”

Shekoni found it hard to believe that unsettling piece of information despite the fact that he knew Zlutonians never tell lies. The creature that stood before him could not really be more powerful than the present emperor of his planet. If that was the case, what was he doing here on Earth when he could be vying for the position of emperor over there?

But before the wizard could put his disbelieve into words, the alien’s eyes had darkened and suddenly, twin rays of fire shot out of them, directed straight at him!

Quickly, almost on reflex, Shekoni countered the attack with twin rays of fire of his own from his forefingers. But, alas, he was no match for the Zlutonian. The alien creature simply intensified his attack, slowly pushing him to the floor with its force. Wizard Shekoni wisely saw that the situation was hopeless; he realized that the rays from the eyes of the Zlutonian were far more powerful than any he could ever produce, and knew that he would get badly burnt if he did not back off quickly. Reluctantly, he switched his hands and body out of the line of attack as swiftly as he could.  

This ‘chickening’ out of the great wizard who was normally a fearless being amused Lei Tekoba. He guffawed loudly, and said, “Scared you, did that not? Well, it might interest you to know that that is only one of my lesser performances. I wonder what you’d do if I decided to go… stronger on you.”

Shekoni laid there on the floor of his work room, looking as helpless as a rabbit under the hypnosis of a python. But despite this fear he felt, he was quite curious about the strange being. He could still not understand what he was doing there in his home, he also could not fathom why such an obviously strong being had decided to leave his home planet and come down to Earth. Going by what he had said about being more powerful than the ruler of his home planet, and the wizard believed him now, he could easily dethrone the emperor. So why had he not done that, why was he on Earth instead?

Shekoni could not stop himself from asking, “So if you are as strong as all this, why have you not decided to run for the rulership of your planet? You said yourself that you are stronger than the present ruler back there. If that is true, you should be able to conquer him, and become the new emperor. Why have you decided to come down to Earth instead?”

Lei Tekoba’s eyes darkened with an emotion of some sort at this question. And for a minute Wizard Shekoni thought that he was not going to give a reply to the question but get annoyed all over again. But Sabrun Lei Tekoba, as it was, was not a reticent being. He was a creature who liked to talk about his abilities, and once again, he gave a reply to the question that was asked of him.

“I was forced into exile from my planet. The emperor found out that I am a threat to him, and with the help of some of his ministers he drove me off the planet, and had me banned off the rest of the galaxy in which it is situated.”  His eyes darkened with an almost palpable hatred as he said that, he paused for a while before going on. “I happened on this planet while wondering about in the Milky Way Galaxy and landed my craft here. I have heard a lot about this planet of yours; it is a popular place and known to be one of the most civilized and developed planets of the Milky Way. It is also such a nice little planet with relatively helpless inhabitants. So, I decided to conquer it.” He smiled when he saw the stunned look that came into Shekoni’s eyes at that statement. “Yes I plan to rule this silly little place and give its people a taste of what it is like to be ruled by a real ruler, by a Zlutonian. And I am going to start doing that by first conquering this little island. Big things have to start in a small way, you know. I know I am going to succeed with my plans because you Earthlings have no way of defending yourselves against the fight I will launch on you despite your civilization and sophistication. There is nothing any of you can do to stop me.

“Now enough of talking. Like I said before I intend to start my ambition by taking over this little island. And I am sure you know that means you have to be taken out of the way, I am sorry but I will not be comfortable with someone like you in the offing. Your end has come…”

“Not so fast,” Shekoni said jumping up spryly from the floor, where he had lain all through Sabrun Lei Tekoba’s little speech. And as fast as lighting, he jerked a large crystal ball off a marble stand nearby and slammed it against the power-crazed Zlutonian’s head. It happened so quickly that the alien did not know what hit him. He thrashed about in pain, falling against objects in the process and turning the room into one big spot of chaos.

In his great hurry to get rid of the pain in his head, the Zlutonian tripped into the wizard’s fireplace and fell upon the test-tube of gooey spell he had been working on there. Shekoni gave a shout of alarm as the contents of the test-tube spilled all over the green-skinned creature.

What happened next was a sight to behold. As soon as the contents of the test-tube came in contact with him, Sabrun Lei Tekoba went motionless, with even his glinting eyes slowly going dull.

Shekoni stared at him in astounded pleasure. He could scarce believe that his new, not-quite-finished spell had worked. And at the most unexpected yet timely moment too! It was unbelievable that the alien walked into his own destruction unaided. Indeed, it was quite a lucky thing to have happened.

“It worked,” he whispered to Lamid the cat in quiet ecstasy, but the cat only stared back in boredom, seemingly untouched by all that had gone on before him. A slight meow was all he gave to show that he was just as pleased with the outcome.

Shekoni turned back to the immobile Zlutonian. Then in a sudden flurry of activity he rushed to him and managed to drag him out of the room. He knew of a way of permanently stopping the evil creature from causing Earth any more problems. Such a mad being with crazy plans like his should never be allowed to roam freely on the planet. At the room adjacent to his workroom was a time-warp that was embedded deep into the floor. It was this room that the great wizard dragged Sabrun to, with Lamid following closely behind. With magical techniques known to him alone, Shekoni unearthed the warp, put the big fellow in it, and sunk it back six feet deep into the floor.

There was no way the alien troublemaker could get out of the warp even after the effects of the spell had worn out, except with outside help, but there was no way anyone could find him there. It was impossible for anyone apart from the wizard to know that there was a time-warp sunk deep into the room’s foundation, not to talk of them trying to help whoever was in it out.

He turned to Lamid, and said, “Job well done, that evil has been successfully eliminated.”

***

All that happened in the year 2020 AD. Years later Wizard Shekoni succumbed to death at the age of a hundred and twenty-five; about 5 decades after the incident (Wizard Shekoni’s encounter with the alien being, that is), the great Holocaust War took place; and another 3 decades later, the island became a maximum prisons ground.