You
will recall, good readers all, from the last episode…
The good ship Sheep Shuttle was a disgusting sight.
All the debris from weeks of sheep feasting by the crazy
crew had attached itself to the outside of the shuttle
in the micro gravity effect of the craft itself. Just
think about that scenario for a moment if you can and
indeed if want: coasting along in a halo of discarded
trash which on closer inspection is a nasty looking
collection of sheep dung, fleece, skin, skulls, bones,
eyeballs and stuff like that – not nice.
As was mentioned in the previous
episode, things inside the shuttle weren’t all
that pretty either. The supply of sheep had run out
and the shuttle crew had been busy sharpening their
knives and muttering distractedly about kelpie casserole.
It looked like there was nothing else the two dogs could
do about it now except go down fighting. The shuttle
crew had gathered in a menacing circle. The kelpies
were cornered… It was time for a miracle…
… and then the shuttle began
to quietly hum… a very deep and resonant thrumming
sound. Can you imagine that freaky surreal situation?
Thrum, thrumm, thrummm, thrummmm… and little fizzy,
popping, flashes were starting to happen in all the
instrument panels. The crew backed off as the craft
began to also rotate along its longitudinal axis. They
dropped their knives in panic.
In fact the Shuttle had been caught
by the extreme tail of an enormously powerful cosmic
storm. This was a storm vortex that had its origin in
another solar system altogether – and five thousand
years ago at that! Many readers perhaps don’t
realize that astrophysics has long been a subject of
special interest for all Kelpiekind. While they don’t
go on about it in a boring sort of way, after fires
die down in the stock camps of the outback, the nature
of solar energy systems is often a subject of discussion
between working dogs.
Our shuttlepups (as they had now
taken to calling themselves) knew pretty well right
away what was happening as things were going all crazy
in the shuttle. They knew all about cosmic energy storms
and they knew there was absolutely nothing to do but
sit it out and hope for the best. They hunkered down
for what they knew would be a very hairy ride. The crazy
shuttle crew on the other hand, had absolutely no idea
what was happening and were mad with panic.
Outside the shuttle, there was nothing
to be seen or even heard because, as all my readers
will be aware, that’s how it is in deep space
– the energy is all about in cosmic quantities
but it is for most part invisible.
Inside the shuttle was a very different
story. As it was drawn further and further into the
storm vortex, the craft spun faster and faster until
everything inside and not welded down was pinned hard
up against the walls by centrifugal force.
First, there was just those freaky
fizzing sparks and crackling flashes of energy discharge.
Then these little sparklers quickly escalated into continuous
series of booming bolts of white electric incandescence
– jarring shocks that streaked through and through
the shuttle.
What had started as that soft thrumming
sound was working up – getting louder and louder
- going from roar to scream and from scream to bellow
- finally to become a fully blown super sonic shriek
of such energy that everything in the shuttle began
to dissolve.
No one on board was thinking about
their next meal now… It started to look like “good
night owl” for all on board… for ever, amen!
Good readers all, you must be worried
for our beautiful, learned, brave kelpie companions
on the ill fated Sheep Ship Space Shuttle.
I’m worried sick myself and
I’m the one narrating the story! But, to use a
Peter Cundallism: I’m sorry to say, that’s
your lot for now.
… So, you know what to do…
Yes indeed!… Don’t miss the next exciting
episode of “Planet of the Kelpies”…
Be sure to drop out, switch
on and tune in when next the Kelpies in space adventure
goes to air.