Craggy, A Flight Too Far: Craggy Books, #4

By Gary Weston

#4. in the series
Ambassador Dixon "Craggy" Cragg has been "invited" for a visit to Varlindra. Which means adventure is on the cards. The truth about the Blackness is revealed. So far, just another day in the office. Then Craggy and the others have to embark on a dangerous mission to save not just Mars, but the entire galaxy. But only if his wife Misty says he can go. Misty knows, at Craggy's age, this could be One Flight Too Far.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gary Weston
• Release date: Oct 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781507029237

Gary Weston

Hello again.I've added Drifta's Quest 2 on this site. Unlikely to be a Drifta's Quest 3 but never say never. I am already working on a new book to fit in between other creative projects. As a mere lad of 68 I have a good few years to tell my stories so I hope people will keep enjoying them.

Book preview

Chapter 1

'I mean, as far as I'm concerned, why should I go out there? I've nothing to prove.'

Dingo's ears twitched as she listened to Dixon Cragg. She licked the chicken grease off his fingers and watched her cubs frolic in the moonlight.

'No. Let the youngsters go dashing all over the place. Space isn't a place for an old fart like me. I mean here we are, in the twenty second century, just about. Things change. I accept that. I have enough here to keep me occupied. Fishing. I'm quite good at that, these days. I caught one this big...ok. Maybe a slight exaggeration. But we had a good feed off it. And you didn't go without, as I recall.'

Cragg ran his fingers through Dingo's fur, and she seemed to like that. In a small copse of trees in the valley below, he could hear the GenMop's moving about. It wasn't fair to call them GenMop's, these days. None of the young ones had the power of speech. Most were still friendly towards Humans, even going into Base Three now and then, to visit with David Foreman. He would fuss them, let them have their fill of bananas, check they were healthy, then let them be.

Foreman's passion was the birds. They were important to spread seeds around, improving the health of the planet.

Mars was sixty percent green now, spreading beyond the equator south, filling the air with oxygen, the flowers with their heady scents adding a hint of perfume. The rivers and lakes were healthy and provided good clean drinking water, with fish to eat and for sport. The goats were a bit of a nuisance sometimes, raiding people's gardens, even though they had a land of plenty to choose from.

As always, the Human population was growing, and he was in demand for his storytelling classes. It was common for him to be taking a casual walk in one of the parks and some child would call out, Hi, Uncle Craggy. And he'd say hi to them. Only the day before, a young woman with a baby in her arms had come up to him. Hi, Uncle Craggy, she'd said, and asked how he was keeping. The young woman was one of the youngsters who had filled his class years before, enthralled at his many stories. Soon, he would be telling those same old stories to her child. It was the way of things.

'Well, Dingo. I should get going. Maybe I'll bring Misty up here to meet you and your cubs one of these evenings.' He got awkwardly to his feet, the damp grass making his damaged leg ache. Below him he could see the bright lights of the city. On the fringes, he could see the Communications Centre with the ever vigilant Bob and Anna Graham looking after the radar and the radio.

'I wouldn't be surprised if those two were still on duty. I might just call in and say hi on my way home. Just a quick visit. I wouldn't want to be in their way. Right, Dingo. I'll see you again sometime. Maybe bring you more fish, hey?'

Dingo watched him as he limped down the hill towards the lights of the city, then she took her cubs back into the safety of her den.

Chapter 2

'No.'

Dixon Cragg heard the word. He'd expected the word. Before he had even told his wife, he knew the response, but told her anyway. The problem was, Cragg's brain wasn't wired like most peoples brains. When Misty Cragg said no, it meant getting from no to yes, was merely work in progress.

Craggy shrugged. 'Like I just said. I already told them I wasn't going.'

Misty glared at him. 'Don't you dare try that trick on me, Dixon Cragg.'

'What trick?' Craggy asked, innocently.

Misty was searching the room for something unbreakable to throw at him. 'That trick of yours when you make out you don't want to do something, when you really do, then getting me to talk you into doing something I don't want you to do.'

Cragg sipped his beer, and scratched his whiskery chin and said nothing.

'Besides,' said Misty. 'Your leg is still playing up. You said those painkillers weren't doing any good.'

It was true that after being almost crushed to death by the upturned buggy when chasing the Varlindran device that would have killed Mars, parts of him were not in good working order. Cragg helped himself to another beer, and still said nothing.

Misty said, 'It's ok for the young ones to go gallivanting around deep space, going heaven knows where. They bounce back quicker than us oldies. You've earned your retirement.'

Cragg picked up the half-eaten sandwich, savouring the bread made from Mars grown wheat. His taste buds and memory were having a ding-dong battle comparing it to Earth bread. It was battle that was always going to end in a draw. He still said nothing.

'I know it was a great honour to be asked,' said Misty, 'You being the Graggons' ambassador and all that, but you can't keep putting yourself in dangerous situations at your age.'

Cragg decided on balance, a sandwich in the hand was slightly up on a boyhood memory of his mother's crusty home baked loaves. He stayed silent.

Misty said, 'I mean, I can see the attraction, the chance to see another planet, and to be the guest of honour. But you have to be sensible.'

Cragg took the plate to the cleaner, pressed the button, then put the clean plate away. Then he scratched his head and backside at the same time. He still said nothing.

'And then there's your class. You know how much the kids look forward to their Uncle Craggy telling them stories. They'd miss you. And you'd miss them.'

Cragg started putting away the fishing tackle he'd spread out over half the kitchen table. Considering the tackle was home-made, and the fish in the Martian rivers and lakes were still in low numbers, it took skill to catch anything at all.

'Not to mention me,' said Misty.

'I didn't.'

'I meant I'd miss you, too. I'd be worrying every minute you were away.'

Craggy shrugged. 'Which is why I said I wasn't going, thank you very much.'

'Only because you knew I'd put my foot down with a firm hand.'

Craggy sighed, and picked something out of his teeth with a fingernail.

Misty said, 'Oh. I see what you're up to. You think me saying no, gives you the moral high-ground. Well. Let me tell you, I won't have you going round saying your wife wouldn't let you go, making you look like some poor henpecked, downtrodden husband.'

Even Cragg didn't know what to say to that.

'I'll not have you saying I've got you on a short leash, though heaven knows you need one.'

'Woof, woof.'

'What was that?'

'I just coughed. No. I'm not interested in going. I thanked Jonah and said I wasn't interested. Like you said. A busted up old fart like me would only be in the way. Besides. I doubt if my spacesuit would still fit me.'

'They'd give you a new one, surely.'

Cragg shrugged, 'It doesn't matter if I'm not going. We aren't much use at our age.'

'Don't you look at me when you say that. I can still put in a full day's work. I have to, looking after you. That's a full-time job in itself.'

'Yeah. I suppose it would be a break for you if I went. Too late now, though. Now I've already said I'm not going. As long as us and the Graggons don't fall out, me not going when they've gone to so much bother to honour me.' Cragg yawned. 'I'm off to bed. The early bird catches the fish.'

'But you'd go if I said so, wouldn't you?'

Craggy said, 'No. I don't want to go.'

'You really don't want to go?'

He shook his head. 'Not particularly. I like the quiet life, now. Just us oldies pottering around. I suppose I might see them off when they go.'

'You don't miss flying?'

'Well. Maybe a little. I sometimes think it might be nice to take one very last flight. No big deal.'

Misty stared at him, thinking he'd actually shrunk since his ninetieth birthday. He wasn't the same man after being squashed by the buggy. 'Maybe you should go.'

Cragg said, 'I should?'

'You'd probably never get another chance like this. And you would be the guest of honour.'

'Naw. I can live without it.'

Misty said, 'And you'd live happier with it. You should go.'

'Yeah? You really think so?'

Misty nodded. 'Only as long as it's your very last flight.'

'Ok. If you think I should go, I'll go.'

Chapter 3

Mars Commander Jonah Garrison looked over at the giant, Space Security Commander Lance Armour Dillow, then back at Cragg.

'Misty said yes?' said Garrison, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

'Practically insisted I went,' said Cragg. 'I told her I had doubts about it. A man of my age. But she said, the Graggons have made it clear they want me as their guest of honour, and we didn't want to offend them.'

Not for the first time Garrison wondered if Cragg lived in a different reality to the rest of them. Cragg had happened to be paying a visit to the Mars Communication Centre, to see Anna and Bob Graham, when the call had come through from the Graggons. Through a series of satellites, a combination of Graggon, Varlindran and Human hardware, radio communication was greatly improved. Garrison had been called to the Com Centre to take the call from Zixpahk, now officially the Interplanetary Liaison Coordinator, a title he had come up with himself because it sounded better than the Graggon on the radio.

Ignoring the time delay and most other laws of physics, the conversation went like this.

'Commander Garrison. How are you?'

'Pretty good, Zixpahk. And you?'

'Just become a great grandfather again. That makes one hundred and...ninety four. I think. Anyway. I called to let you know, the Varlindrans have finally agreed to make the pathways open to all three races, in the name of peaceful cooperation and galactic exploration. Graggons and Humans have been cordially invited to meet on Varlindra to show all races our commitment to peace and to work out the practical issues. Are you up for it?'

'Of course, we are, Sixpack,' said Dixon Cragg, butting in before Garrison could reply. 'As your official ambassador, I'd be delighted to attend.'

There was an even longer delay. 'Hrmm. Right,' said Zixpahk. 'Err, Craggy, well, we hadn't actually...Oh. What the hell. I'll pull a few strings, as you Humans say. Sure. Why the hell not.'

Garrison gently eased Cragg out of the way with a warning look to keep his mouth shut, if at all possible.

'Thank you, Zixpahk,' said the commander. 'And how would we reach Varlindra from here, exactly?'

Zixpahk said, 'We have already considered this. The Varlindrans will, at a mutually convenient time, send a ship with the pathways to Mars, and you will enter that and be escorted to their planet. They will do the same for us. It will be as much of a symbolic occasion as it will be a practical one.'

Cragg said, 'Should we bring gifts?'

'Hmm,' said Zixpahk, thoughtfully. 'A few ton of marsillium would be a nice gesture? Their supplies are limited.'

Put on the spot, Garrison said, 'I'll arrange that. We'll work out the details later. Thank you, Zixpahk.'

'Yeah, thanks, old friend,' said Cragg. 'I'll bring beer.'

Which was how Garrison had recalled Craggy being invited on the junket.

'What about your leg?' asked Dillow, looking for a get out clause.

Cragg shrugged. 'It hasn't dropped off yet. I'll grin and bear the pain and be ambassador personified in the promotion of entente cordiale.'

Dillow growled, 'More like say something offensive to piss them all off and start another damn war.'

Cragg looked genuinely shocked at that remark. 'When have I ever pissed anyone off?'

Dillow was about to say Cragg was doing that right then, when Garrison stepped in. 'Now then. Craggy's going, Lance.'

Dillow leaned over and whispered into Garrison's ear.

Garrison said, 'Really?' He looked at Cragg. 'Hmm. Craggy. Your old suit. Been around the block a few times. We'll see if we can come up with something more appropriate for your position.'

'Well,' beamed, Cragg. 'We can't have the official ambassador not looking distinguished, now can we.'

'Let me have your measurements later, and we'll see what we can do. Right, Craggy. Commander Dillow and I do have business to attend to, so if...'

Cragg said, 'I'm a busy man as well, Commanders. And of course, if you want my input...'

'I'll be in touch,' said Garrison, nodding towards the door.

Chapter 4

'Breathe out,' said Misty, holding the old fashioned tape measure around her husband's waist.

'I am breathing out.'

She jabbed him with a pin and he let it all hang out. 'Waist, thirty nine inches. That's more like it. Now height.'

'Five nine.'

'Five seven. Inside leg...'

'Oi! Careful with those pins.'

'Twenty eight inches.'

'Yes. But what about my legs?'

'Don't get me started. There. I'll see Jonah has those later. I'll have a word with Mrs Cotton. See if she can make you some new underwear. It's impossible to get those stains out of your old ones. I hate to think what the inside of your old spacesuit smells like.'

Cragg puffed his pigeon chest out. 'It contains essence of man. We should bottle it. Make a bloody fortune. Who will see me in my underwear anyway?'

'True. Nobody should be that unlucky.' Misty looked at her husband, and knew whatever they had for each other certainly wasn't physical. But love him, she did. 'Are you sure you're up to going?'

Cragg shrugged. 'A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. I promised Jonah, I'll be going, come hell or high water.'

'I bet that cheered him up.'

'I try to please,' said Cragg, missing her pun. 'You will be ok here without me, won't you?'

Misty said, 'I'll struggle on without you somehow. Now. Put some clothes on. You have your class to go to.'

'I have half an hour to spare. I thought, you know, while I'm undressed...'

'And what would we do with the other twenty five minutes? Go. Dress.'

* * *

'So,' said Uncle Craggy, enthralling the nine year old children. 'I said, Commander Garrison. I'm going to miss the children. I know how much my little stories mean to them. But. Official duty, is official duty. Good man, said Commander Garrison. We can't have a mission of such importance without Ambassador Cragg. So I said, I'm sure the children will understand.'

The children fidgeted in their seats, as they waited for their parents to pick them up to take them home. It was almost home time, and a few were becoming restless. The door opened and the first of the parents arrived. They hardly gave Cragg a second look as they took their children away.

'You're welcome,' said Cragg.

Once the class had gone home, he sat alone and reflected on the new adventures coming up. A week had gone by, and it was the day before they were due to go into space to meet up with the pathway and the Varlindran ship to go halfway across the galaxy in the blink of an eye. When he got home, he found Misty and Commander Garrison waiting for him.

'Oh,' said Cragg. 'Everything ok?'

'Craggy. I thought I'd bring your new suit over personally. Here it is.'

Cragg stared at the suit, then the commander, then back at the suit. 'Pink!'

Garrison held back a laugh. 'Shortage of material. Mrs Cotton did the best with what she had.'

'But pink,' repeated Cragg. He could see Misty about to explode with laughter, having to hold her belly and cover her mouth. 'Still. It will show everyone I'm not afraid to show my feminine side. On me, it'll look quite...distinguished.'

Garrison