Read March: A Tale of Salmon and Swedes (The Glothic Tales Book 4) for Free Online Page A

his shoulders, as his mouth opened and closed.
    ‘We’re in orbit,’ Clikk said, but March was still trying to get his ears to work, so he didn’t hear this reassuring message. He tried to say, ‘sorry, I can’t hear you,’ but as he couldn’t hear what he had said either, he went back to blinking and shaking his head in the vain hope that it might help.
    ‘You’ll feel better in a minute. The G forces play a few tricks on your body.’
    At least March’s eyes were starting to work again, so even though Clikk’s words were still impossible for him to decipher, his reassuring smile, and the licking of his lips helped soothe a little of the panic. March blinked some more, waited a minute or two, and then managed to focus on Clikk, who was adjusting something on the dashboard.
    ‘The flight on the Glothic Cosmic Cruiser was more comfortable,’ March said, and was quite surprised to hear his own voice again.
    ‘Yes, I’m sure it was. You can take your helmet off now, and unbuckle your harness. It will be smooth flying from here on.’
    March struggled, but finally managed to get his helmet and harness off. ‘Isn’t there an easier way? I’ve been to lots of planets, moons and even asteroids, but never had to take a flight like that.’
    ‘It’s the force field. When it was installed, it was probably state of the art, but it hasn’t been upgraded for thousands of years, so it’s one of the very old fixed versions. It’s still effective in keeping things either in or out though, but they weren’t designed for exit or entry, so the only way in or out is to blast a hole in it, and then squeeze a tiny craft through the temporary opening. Newer force fields have two polar gates that are remotely controlled entry points and can be opened to accommodate a craft the size of ten Hoog battleships.’
    ‘Maybe I should talk to my father about upgrading it then.’
    ‘I’ll leave that to you, sir. For me, it’s a little challenge once in a while to practise my basic flying skills, so I don’t mind.’
    ‘But not too often I would imagine.’
    ‘Ah, yes, not too often though.’
    ‘Can I stand up and stretch my legs?’ March asked, as he was feeling a little bit better.
    ‘Sure. I’ll finish up here getting locked into orbit and then make a cup of coffee in a few minutes, if you like.’
    ‘Thanks, yes,’ March said, but when he stood and looked around the bare cabin of the shuttle, he couldn’t see anything that looked like a kettle.
    *****
    When safely in orbit, Clikk rose from his seat and walked in a crouch towards March, and then reached under the rear seat on the left, pulling out a green plastic pack. ‘Instant, I’m afraid,’ he said, as he opened the pack and handed March a plastic sachet. ‘Pull the white tab, and it will heat. Then tear off the perforated top corner.’ March copied Clikk as he prepared his sachet, and felt it warming in his hand after pulling off the white tab. ‘I hope you like milk and one sugar, as that’s all it comes in.’
    ‘Um, fine,’ March said, as he struggled to tear off the perforated tab, but then succeeded and only split a little in the process. He sucked on the small opening, and winced in surprise when the coffee burned his mouth.
    ‘Have you been teleported before?’ Clikk asked, as he sat down on the rear seat, which was more comfortable than standing stooped over in rear corner of the shuttle.
    ‘Eh, no.’ March replied, and sat in the seat opposite.
    ‘It’s not very sophisticated. When I first joined Glothic High Command as a trainee, I had the notion that being teleported was going to be a technical marvel. You know, being dematerialised, and then re-materialised at some distant point in the galaxy. But my first experience shattered my dreams,’ Clikk said, with a little laugh.
    ‘So, how does it work?’
    ‘It’s primitive really. It’s simply a hollow, dark laser beam, which can only operate up to a range of a little over two hundred