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The next day started off normal. Well, as normal as it can be when hurtling through space in an alien vessel. The day's 'normality' was altered when Suzee walked into the classroom late in distress. "Has anyone seen my necklace?" she asked. "The one with the crystal on it? I can't find it anywhere."
Harlan was immediately at her side. He was the one who gave her the crystal, so he was naturally worried about it. "Did you check your room? Your jewelry box? The lounge?" Suzee nodded yes to all of these places. "Well, don't worry about it. I'm sure it will show up soon." He patted her shoulder reassuringly and the class resumed its normal task.
Halfway through class Miss Davenport noticed that Rosie suddenly wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. She was looking towards the corner of the room and motioning to something.
"Rosie, what on earth are you doing?" Miss Davenport said.
"Shhhhhhh..." whispered Rosie. "You'll scare it away."
"Scare what away?" asked Miss Davenport.
"That pretty butterfly. I wonder how it got here?" said Rosie quietly.
"Look, Radu," said Valerie with an edge in her voice. "A butterfly." Remember that up to this point Valerie had no idea that Radu had released the butterfly and sprite from the book, but now she was beginning to understand. She pulled Radu over to a corner in the room and whispered fervently to him, "Radu, did you release anything from the book?"
Radu tried to hedge around the question. She asked again. "Did you?"
Radu nodded. "Did you release anything else but the butterfly? This is important," Valerie whispered.
"Just a little cute thing with wings. It didn't look too dangerous, so I didn't think you would care," Radu tried to explain.
"Blink," Valerie said to herself.
"Um, OK, if you insist," said Radu as he blinked.
"No you idiot," shouted Valerie quietly. "That's the creature's name. Blink. This is important. We have to go find it before it does any damage." Valerie raised her voice to the normal level. "Miss Davenport, Radu and I have to leave right now."
"I'm sorry you two, but unless you have a legitimate excuse you have to stay in this classroom until lessons are over," said Miss Davenport.
"You don't understand, Miss Davenport," commanded Valerie in a hypnotic note, "we have to go now."
"Yes, I understand now," Miss Davenport said in a daze. "You may leave."
Harlan stopped Valerie as Valerie and Radu rushed out of the room. "What was that?"
"An old Jedi mind trick," Valerie explained. "Use the force." With that they rushed out of the room, leaving Harlan behind to puzzle over this information.
*******
Thelma looked up at a little glowing light buzzing around her head. "Hello there, little firefly," she said to the light. The light giggled back at her.
"Not a firefly," laughed the light.
"Oh! Then, hello there, little bug," said Thelma.
"No," tittered the light, "Not a bug either."
"Oh! Then, hello there, whatever you are."
"Blink," said the light.
"OK," replied Thelma as she blinked her eyes.
"No, no, no, silly metal person. That's my name. Blink. I like your crystal. May I have it please? Pretty pretty please with sugar on top?"
"I'm sorry," said Thelma, "My programming says that I should not give my memory crystal away. Even to a Blink."
"I want that crystal. Give it to me! Now!" said the light, its sweet voice suddenly ferocious. It zoomed around Thelma's head faster and faster, until the crystal was lifted out of her forehead. Thelma immediately shut down. The light dissolved the crystal into itself and giggled happily as it flew out to find another crystal snack.
*******
Radu and Valerie were in their practice room when a the light came down the jump tube. "Hi!" said the light cheerfully. "Thank you, sir with the funny ears, for letting me out of that mean person's book. I don't like her anymore," Blink said and stuck out her tongue at Valerie.
"I didn't like that metal person. She wouldn't let me have her crystal. But I took it anyway," she said and laughed gleefully.
"You hurt Thelma? Watch out, Tinkerbell, now you've gotten me mad," said Valerie menacingly and held out her ring to blast Blink with energy.
"Ooh, pretty crystal," squealed Blink, and swirled around Valerie's hand. Much to her dismay her ring was lifted off of her finger and Blink dissolved it. Valerie let out a yell of rage and said a few choice words which I will not repeat before she shrunk down to the very angry Starling that she was.
"You got a crystal too?" asked Blink of Radu. Radu insisted that he didn't, and Blink flew off elsewhere to find another crystal to devour.
*******
Radu spent the rest of the day searching for Blink, but couldn't find her anywhere. Legend spent the entire day sulking on Radu's shoulder except when he was in the room with other people. Then he shielded her from their eyes with a simple spell. At night he made an excuse that Legend was working late on some project. In the last few minutes that he was asleep, Legend awakened early and entered his dream.
*******
"I hate it when this happens!" Valerie growled. "In fact, I hate that cute little monster. Listen carefully and I'll speak quickly. It's close to morning. If Blink has a crystal for more than three days it will be totally absorbed, but there is still the chance to recover it before then. You must trick Blink into squeezing through a very small hole. If she can't fit through she will have to leave the crystals behind. But be careful not to make her angry at you. You saw what she did to me, and she could certainly do the same to you. Or worse to your friends. You must sound the knell of her defeat to make her come."
"But-" interrupted Radu.
"No time! No time!" shouted Valerie. "Radu, I'm worried about you. I had a dream about a child last night. Something bad is coming. Please, help me, but be careful, OK?" was her last whisper before Radu awoke.
*******
Radu walked defeatedly down the hallway. All day he had been searching for Blink, and all day he had been just missing her. He turned a corner, blind with hopelessness, and walked straight into Bova.
"Bova, have you-" began Radu.
"Radu, have you-" said Bova at the same time.
"Go ahead, you first," said Radu.
"Radu, have you seen Thelma anywhere?"
"No, I haven't seen her, but I have a good idea of where she is," said Radu. "Have you noticed anything unusual today? Any strange lights?" Before Bova could answer him he spotted a little glowing orb going around the corner.
Blink giggled, "Hi there, Bug Boy," and then was off. He raced off after it, leaving Bova behind. Several seconds later Bova was revisited by a beaten Radu.
"Missed her again," he said and muttered to himself silently.
"Missed who? Did I miss something here?" asked Bova.
"Nothing, it's just that that little thing is the cause of all our problems. It's got Thelma's memory crystal, Suzee's necklace, and Valerie's-" he was cut off yet again by the rocking of the ship. The lights flickered and went dim, and the Christa stopped moving.
"Oh no," gasped Radu. "The Ditronium Prismatic Orb. She must have gotten to it."
"Who must have gotten to it? Radu, you're not making sense," said Bova.
"Blink."
"Um, OK," said Bova as she blinked.
"No, that's the creature's name. Blink. Listen, we have to get that thing to go through something small," his voice took on a tone that said he was talking to himself. "And there was something else too, something about how to make her come... I've got it!" He returned to talk to Bova. "Get the others and take them into the command post. Stop the Christa and open a small portal to the outside. But don't open it until my mark. Get all of this ready, I'll be in charge of the rest."
"Radu, I wish you would tell me what you're talking about," Bova said. "What's going on, and what was that little, ugh, cute thing that just flew by?"
"Just do what I said and everything will turn out right," Radu said confidently. "I hope," he said, not so confident anymore.
As Radu ran towards the engine room he could hear Bova murmuring to himself, "Cute. Ew."
*******
Radu stood in the engine room which Blink had just escaped from. He pulled out a small bell and rang it.
Instantly Blink flew into the room. "You rang?" she giggled. "Would that be a challenge? OK, Mr. Muscles, where to start?"
"No, it's not a challenge," said Radu calmly. "You won. I'd like to give you a present. Follow me," and walked to the command post.
Blink chuckled happily to herself and followed him, murmuring soft exclamations about what the surprise could be. When she entered the command post her laughter stopped. "Where's the present? I don't see any present. I see people. People, people, people, but no present for Blink."
"Look, Blink," said Radu as he pointed to the window in the portal. "Lots and lots of crystals, all for you."
"Wow," said Blink in amazement as she stared at the stars. "Wow wow wow, all for Blink. Wow."
Radu whispered to Harlan, at the helm, "Open it up just a little, but not big enough for her to get through. Let's hope this works." Harlan did as he said, and the air started to drain out into outer space.
Blink tried to get out, but blocked the entrance. "Oof, uhh, oh no!" said the little voice in despair. "I'm stuck. I want to get the crystals!" she whined.
"Why don't you leave the other crystals behind? Maybe then you could fit," suggested Radu.
"Fine, fine, fine," said Blink and the crystals she had taken appeared in the Christa. With one last straining motion Blink burst through the opening into outer space. She tried to capture one star, then she tried for another, but she realized that they were too far away. No one aboard the Christa could hear her plaintive pleas to be let back in.
*******
A rather tired looking Radu picked up the crystals and handed them out to people. "Suzee, here's your necklace. Commander Goddard, the Ditronium Prismatic Orb. And Bova, go put this back on Thelma. That's about it, as far as I can see," he said as he pocketed Legend's ring. "I'll be right back."
Radu programmed the jump tube to take him to his and Valerie's secret room. When he landed he saw a Starling staring at him expectantly. "I'm sorry, Legend," he said seriously, "but Blink won and I couldn't get your ring back. Too bad."
Legend chirped the equivalent of, "You expect me to believe that?", which anyone could plainly understand.
"Fine, you've caught me. Here's your ring," he said, his joking mood gone. He turned away and therefore was caught unaware of the blast from Legend's transformation back to an Enigma. The blast threw him back onto one of the shelves on the wall. He writhed in agony for a moment before passing unconscious.
Valerie rushed over to his body and placed her hands on his face. "Oh no," she said. "That shelf was covered in gold leaf. But wait," she said as her psychic reading continued. "This started a long time ago. Over a year ago. Ever since then you've been slowly," she gasped, "dying."