For the last month Saturday has been our weekly Allen the Alien day, as we explore relations between earthly rubber ducks and those from another planet. I very much hate to disappoint the vast army of Allen the Alien fans out there, but the writers room did not deliver Chapter 9 in time for today’s post.
While we’re waiting, here’s your chance to get caught up with the story from the beginning. The editors apologize for the delay and encourage you to tune in next Saturday morning as our tale of interplanetary intrigue resumes.
At the end of the day when Allen met Ellie and all of the other happenings, Allen sat down at the side of the bed (Yes, even aliens must rest like all other creatures) and contemplated what had unfolded.
Was Tommy right and Ellie was a sort of villain who wanted to hold power over the flock? Or was Duckula correct in saying her intentions were for a greater good? Or were both half-right and half-wrong? There was still much to be learned about these strange creatures of Earth.
Earth! Allen still found it hard to believe he was halfway across the galaxy. He looked out the window and up to the stars. Fearless Leader or one of the scientists would probably be able to point out their home star up there in the firmament, among the millions of pinpricks of light in the sky, but Allen was only a diplomat and all he could do was stare in wonder at how vast this universe is.
And to find yet another planet capable of supporting life as they knew it! He thought about the first time his people had encountered such a world, all that time ago — how excited everyone was to learn they were not all alone in the universe and there were other planets where billions of beings lived, loved and died.
Allen and his aide TriSight would meet with Fearless Leader in the morning to discuss all that had happened so far. The clever and suspicious young one, Tommy, had cornered Allen into revealing his mission sooner than he had planned, but he could not lie when asked a direct question — it would have gone against all that he and the Federation believed. Still, the question he had journeyed all this way to answer was still not fully answered. Were these Earth beings truly ready to join the interplanetary coalition? In so many ways they were still childlike as a species. Their little game of lining up in a row was so primitive, and they had so much fun at it.
Fearless Leader needed an answer fairly soon, and Allen was not sure he had enough information to make a recommendation.
“Time enough to talk about it in the morning,” Allen said out loud, yawning. “A little rest will help clear my mind.”
And as he drifted off into dreamland, he could not have known that the events of the next day would have such a profound impact on the fate of Earth and perhaps the universe itself.
They walked in silence for most of the way to Tommy’s home. At one point the duckling looked over his shoulder at his two escorts.
“Thank you for coming along, Mr. Three-Eyes,” Tommy said.
“My name,” said the three-eyed alien with his booming voice, “is TriSight.”
“Yeah, sorry. I’m glad you came.”
“Are you frightened of me, young one?” asked Count Duckula.
“I’m not scared of you personally, it’s your boss,” Tommy said.
“Ellie? Ellie is harmless.”
“That’s what she wants us to think,” said the duckling. “We all know she was hoping you would kill me.”
Duckula stopped in the middle of the road, and the others had to pause until he caught up.
“Why do you believe she wanted me to kill you?”
“I’m a little too sassy for my own good. My mom says that all the time.”
“But kill you?” Duckula said. “I’m aghast.”
“I don’t know what a gast is,” Tommy said. “I just know Ellie doesn’t like me.”
“Well, nobody is going to kill you today,” said the count. “At least not I.”
“Yeah, maybe Mom will if I don’t get home soon.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence again, and Cupcake was indeed a little unhappy that her son was home later than she expected.
“I hope he wasn’t too sassy to you,” she said.
“Nonsense,” said Duckula. “Your boy is a sheer delight.”
They said goodbye, and the two assistants headed back together.
“You have been very quiet, Mr. Three-Eyes,” Duckula broke the silence.
TriSight laughed.
“Maybe I should kill you for calling me that,” he boomed.
“Please. Enough with the killing talk.”
“I do think the boy was correct. Allen probably wanted to make sure he came to no harm.”
“I would like to be clear about this,” said Duckula. “Ellie is a selfish, ambitious and mean-spirited meanie underneath that sweet smile. She always wants something a little different from what she says she wants. But she is not a killer, and I am not some minion who would do any killing for her.”
“I am glad to hear that,” said TriSight. “Do you know what it is that she wants the interplanetary federation to do for her?”
“Not exactly. But when she says she wants peace, I think she is mostly telling the truth.”
TriSight wanted to ask why Duckula said “mostly,” but just then they rejoined Allen and Ellie.
