Carnival To The Aquadome: The Rainchild Trilogy, #2

By Steve Flashman

It's party time in the strange and wonderful world of Crystalan. But the carnival is not all it pretends to be. It has a sinister and deeper purpose designed to capture the minds of the Clawhammers and their friends. Tom battles for the truth and will use any means he can, including a Magobil and the hijacking of Megagrit's Starcruiser…

 

"Diving into a world of strange creatures, unlikely heroes and an evil villain! What more could you ask for? The quick, swirling plot is great to enjoy alone, or listen to it read aloud. Loved the story within a story! A very enjoyable read." Nick Jackson, Powerpack Children's Ministry

"In the great tradition of C.S.Lewis, Steve has created a magical, allegorical world to draw the reader in. All the struggles of human life are here, but with adventure, excitement and a spiritual edge. Do enjoy the ride!" Rt. Revd. Richard Jackson, Bishop Of Lewes

"Are Steve's books just great fantasy fiction novels or are they parables with a deeper meaning? Read them, enjoy them, then catch hold of something amazing." Ishmael

"Thrilling, gripping and totally unputdownable!" Steve Legg, Editor, Sorted Magazine

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Flashman
• Release date: Jul 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9781910719190

Steve Flashman

Steve Flashman has had a vast amount of experience in children’s and youth work worldwide. As a professional musician he played the Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Arena, The Marquee Club in Soho and countless venues all over the world. He has appeared on radio and television many times and has released 10 Albums. He has written several books, is an Anglican Vicar and is also Founder and Director of Community Choirs UK.

Book preview

Chapter One:

Return to Crystalan

One Junior Swimmer Ticket please, said Tom, peering through the glass petition at the poker faced cashier. He wondered how the girl ever survived the onslaught of hundreds of excited swimming fans.

Every Saturday morning, there they were, clamouring to be the first down the new fifty five metre waterslide with that amazing Aqua Catch at the bottom – great fun! He pressed his nose up against the glass of the ticket booth and made a funny face, trying to cheer the poor girl up, but she was definitely not amused! His mind drifted back in time and he found himself thinking about his amazing adventures in Crystalan. He started chuckling to himself as he remembered the contorted faces of the strange creatures who had peered at him through a transparent bubble under the waters of the Crystal Sea.

That was so long ago now and nobody had believed his story anyway. When you tell people about adventures in a strange land full of Cosywags, Slickwingers and Clawhammers, a monster called Megagrit, a loveable Jellybot and of course the magnificent Rainchild, it’s not surprising that even your best friend would think you had gone absolutely crazy!

Even Tom himself wondered if it had all been a figment of his famously wild imagination. Mind you, five little Cosywags in a secret hiding place at the bottom of the garden were certainly no figment of the imagination! They were living in the old disused shed which was almost completely obliterated by overgrown weeds and grass and the perfect spot to hide strange alien creatures!  There were occasions when Tom thought they had blown their cover completely because of their highly dangerous antics! It wasn’t uncommon for them to cause havoc in the middle of the night, whizzing around in circles on the nicely cut lawn, knocking over rubbish bins, chasing the neighbours petrified cat, squirting each other with the garden hose and playing catch with his dad’s prize tomatoes! It was a miracle they’d never been discovered!

Tom’s heart began to beat faster and it felt like there was a great lump in his throat as he thought about Princess Amathena. Whatever had become of her at the hands of that evil Megagrit? She was a very special friend to him.

Excuse me! Hello! Anyone in there?!

He was jolted back into reality by the impatient voice of the cashier and a line of disgruntled people all waiting to get in. He took the ticket, pushed through the turnstile and walked casually towards the changing rooms. People of all shapes and sizes were pushing and shoving and bustling about in excited anticipation of a fun packed morning.

For Tom, this particular morning would be unlike any he had ever experienced before at the swimming pool.

It’s true that his regular Saturday morning swim had never been quite the same since his return from Crystalan, but he kept going, mainly for the exercise. 

He was unaware of the crowds around him as he took his first dive into the pool and moved quickly through the water to the deep end. With his back against the side of the pool, he hung on to the rail with his arms stretched out both ways surveying the scene.

Swimming pools were noisy places. The echo created by the high ceiling and bouncy acoustics seemed to amplify the noise even more. Excited squeals and hilarious laughter bounced around the walls as people threw themselves and others into the water. Little tidal waves cavorted all around as people jumped in right next to him and he closed his eyes to avoid the violent splashes.

Growing tired of the noise he decided to see how long he could stay underwater. He dived down to the floor of the pool keeping his eyes open. Here was a silent world with the occasional muffled sounds from the antics going on above. He remembered the amazement of the Cosywags when they first discovered their ability to live underwater.  About a minute had passed when he decided now was the time to go up for air, so he closed his eyes and made for the surface.

The water was moving very fast all around him and he noticed that it was gushing through the outlet pipe at an alarming rate. He wondered if this was supposed to be happening and resolved to report this to the swimming pool attendant immediately. His mind didn’t register the very strange way that the water was moving. It was escaping through the hole in an anti-clockwise direction. His mind flashed back to the bathroom scene where he had first discovered this unusual phenomenon. Water in the northern hemisphere always disappears down the plughole in a clockwise direction because of the way the earth spins on its axis.

Tom was making for the surface, when suddenly everything went dark and he felt his body being dragged backwards towards the hole. In normal circumstances he would have been extremely frightened, but his heart skipped a beat with excitement as the adrenaline started to flow. A very similar thing had happened the first time he entered the world of Crystalan.

Could this be another point of entry into this parallel dimension?

He closed his eyes in anticipation. The muffled sounds died away and he felt the sensation of water rushing past him at an enormous rate. Everything was murky and dark and there was a dramatic change in the water temperature, taking his breath away with the sudden cold sensation. He gasped for air, but found none. Instead he was gulping in water like a thirsty fish! He pushed his body upwards with a rapid kicking motion and soon found himself, to his great relief, bobbing up and down on the surface.

But this was definitely not the swimming pool!

He opened his mouth and breathed in the cool refreshing air. It was an exhilarating feeling and the excitement that he felt at that moment was electrifying. Surely this was it! He was back in Crystalan!

He trod water furiously and he stretched his neck out of the water as far as he could, to see where he was.  The waves were quite choppy so he could only catch a glimpse of what appeared to be land every now and then. Seeing something floating in the water a few metres away, he broke into a fast crawl towards the object, gaining speed with every stroke. The nearer he got, the longer the floating object appeared to be. On close inspection, it was like a long flat barge stretching out over the water in both directions, moving slowly up and down with the motion of the waves. It stuck out about half a metre from the water level and there were metal handles fixed to the side at regular intervals. He grabbed hold of one of them with his left hand and gave it a hard tug. It seemed quite strong so he reached for a second handle and steadied himself in the water.

He remembered seeing pictures of pontoons that were made up of a series of floating platforms. They were used as emergency bridges for the armed forces and could be built and dismantled very quickly. The structure he was holding on to seemed remarkably similar to one of these, but it was so incredibly big. It was as wide as a three-lane motorway and it stretched into the distance to the left and to the right as far as the eye could see.

He noticed on the side of each section of the bridge there was an official looking mark stamped into the metal. Foreign languages were never his best subject at school and Tom concluded that this was definitely a foreign language. He called each letter out one by one to see if he could get his mind to latch on to its meaning. T.i.r.g.a.g.e.m. Tirgagem. Was it the name of a construction company? Perhaps the makers trade mark? It sounded like some sort of precious stone. For all he knew it could have been a secret code to unravel the secrets of the universe.

His mind was racing to find clues to the puzzle.

He pulled himself right on to the floating platform and sat with his legs dangling over the edge. The waves skidded along the metal sides in a frenzy of bubbles and foam, giving him a pleasant sensation on his feet. The surface of the platform seemed unusually warm where he was sitting. It felt rather nice after the cold temperature of the sea.

Suddenly the platform started to vibrate violently and there were loud, shouting voices in the distance and the sound of marching feet approaching rapidly. Tom felt as though his heart had leapt into his mouth and panic gripped him. He threw himself back into the water, being careful to hang on tightly to a couple of the metal handles. He pulled himself up slightly so that he could see over the level surface of the pontoon. A swirling mist obscured the view but the noise kept coming closer and closer, louder and louder and the throbbing vibration, caused by the marching of feet, sent a cold shiver through his tired body.

Then a strange looking creature suddenly appeared through the mist to the left followed close behind by ten more. They were the height of an average human being, but three times wider with large suckers where their arms and legs should be. Their bodies were inflated like hot air balloons and yet seemed heavy and cumbersome. Black eyes peered out of slits in the smooth dark skin and two large round holes in the centre of their face snorted out blasts of air vapour with every step. Their sucker like feet made a rhythmic popping noise on the smooth surface of the platform with every step they made.

Tom managed, very wisely, to stay out of sight and he watched as the procession emerged out of the mist, marching in time to a haunting chant led by the grotesque creatures at the front. There was a strange sensation of movement on the bridge, for when the creatures were marching in time with each other, which was probably unintentional, the whole platform swayed gently from side to side.

The regular beat created by marching feet was matched by the rhythm of their chanting:

"We are come from Tirgagem, bearing gifts for Crystalan.

Freely of this life partake, but you shall never the vessel break!"

From this angle of vision, it was hard to make out the number of creatures marching briskly past him. He could see that they were not all like the ones who were leading. In fact, in the middle of the procession he was sure he could make out the familiar build and outline of his Clawhammer friends. He would never forget their comradeship and strength even though, when he had first met them, the evil Megagrit had deceived them. If any of the creatures had proved beyond doubt that it’s not what you look like that matters but the sort of person you are on the inside that counts, it was the Clawhammers. However, there was something very different and very sinister about them now.

Towering majestically over the other creatures, these impressive beasts proudly held their large hammer shaped heads high, but their large protruding eyes stared vacantly into space, betraying a look of defeat and resignation. Six of them were carrying a large and intricate framework of scaffolding poles, which were tightly secured together at each corner by massive nuts and bolts, forming the shape of a huge oblong box. The metal parts glistened in the hazy sunlight and rose high above the heads of the bearers. Tom strained his eyes, but he couldn’t see anything inside the framework, just empty space.

Following the Clawhammers with their unusual load were a whole stream of big ostrich like birds with funny faces and big fat lips instead of beaks. Their long necks wiggled and gyrated to the chanting sound and they were shouting and screaming the praise of Tirgagem, like revellers on carnival night. Their round bodies were perched on top of two long spindly legs and they had arms where their wings should have been. They were swinging flags and banners wildly through the air causing the mist to swirl in every direction.

Tom’s arms felt as though they might drop off. He was clinging tightly to the sides of the pontoon but struggling to keep from being swept along by the force of the waves pushing past his dangling body. After what seemed like an eternity, the last creature marched past and disappeared into the mist enabling Tom to pull himself up onto the flat surface of the pontoon. As the sounds of the procession died away, he laid there quite still, gathering his thoughts and getting his breath back.

There was an uncomfortable silence broken only by the rhythmic crash of the waves and Tom was scared.

He jumped to his feet and started moving along the platform roadway in the direction the procession had taken. The heat of the sun was beating down through the mist, causing the surface of the bridge to become uncomfortably hot under Tom’s feet. He walked for about half an hour and every now and then he heard the shouts of the revellers just in front of him.

Then, his chances of survival deteriorated rapidly as everything went dark, as if someone had turned off the lights. At exactly the same time, the sounds which he was following ahead of him, became louder, as if someone were shouting through a megaphone. He instinctively stretched his arms forward because visibility was so poor he couldn’t see more than a metre in front of him. After walking a few steps he stood absolutely still for fear of falling into an unknown trap and his body began trembling with the cold. The surface of the platform had become like blocks of ice under his feet.

It was now very quiet.

He listened carefully for any clues as to his whereabouts, but only the systematic dripping of water broke the silence. He concluded that he must be inside some sort of tunnel.