Elmo’s Sojourn

by Walt Trizna

Chapter 4
Chapter 5
appear in this issue.

Chapter 6: Elmo’s Breakthrough

Elmo and Valmid sat in the living room as Elmo explained his theory about what could be destroying the demons from Gylex.

“You see Valmid, I racked my brain trying to discover what property of Earth’s atmosphere has changed in the manner you described and yet has gone unnoticed by the population and scientists — something that increased then decreased, yet had no effect on life on my planet.

“I first considered elements of the atmosphere that have changed over the time period you indicated. My planet has seen increases in greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, but these gases have increased steadily with our increase in population and industry.

“I next considered another source of gases that periodically enter our atmosphere — volcanoes. Massive amounts of gases composed of sulfur and other elements ring the earth when large eruptions occur. However, volcanic events would cause a random spike rather than a steady increase, and major eruptions have occurred since the earth was an infant.

“Valmid, you describe something, that until eighty years ago did not exist. Then the monsters from Gylex began to die when venturing to Earth. Whatever it was, it reached a plateau and began to disappear. I could not think of any event that impacted our atmosphere under those conditions and with that time frame. I was nearly in a panic, then decided to relax and just let my mind wander and I may have found the explanation.

“My mind wandered from something naturally occurring either through our geology or increase in the Earth’s population, to something man-made and occurring during a limited time span. What harmless substance could man have begun manufacturing nearly one hundred years ago, and then suddenly stopped producing?

“The key my friend was that it was not harmless. It was harmless in itself but reacted with the ozone in our atmosphere increasing the ability of ultraviolet rays to reach the Earth’s surface and cause harm to the population. Valmid, I think the component of Earth’s atmosphere that can destroy these monsters is chlorofluorocarbons.”

Valmid’s brow wrinkled, for he was unfamiliar with this class of chemicals. Elmo explained that these chemicals were used as refrigerants and propellants to disperse material from spray cans.

“Everyone thought these chemicals were harmless, but eventually discovered that they were reacting in the upper atmosphere and destroying the Earth’s protective layer of ozone. After this was discovered, chlorofluorocarbons were replaced with other chemicals that are inert, which would explain the decline of this mysterious substance in our atmosphere.” Elmo guessed that there must be something in the makeup of the Gylexian lung that makes breathing chlorofluorocarbons fatal.

Valmid became extremely excited at the prospect of ridding his planet of its plague. “We must produce this chemical immediately!” he said.

“I’m a physicist, not a chemist,” Elmo countered. “The only way I had this information about chlorofluorocarbons was the fact it was common knowledge on Earth due to the ozone layer. I have no idea how to make the stuff.”

“We must obtain the information,” Vlamid responded.

“But where can such information be found on Roth?” Elmo wondered. But before he could complete the thought he had another: “I’m going home.”

“Yes my friend, you’re going home. I’m sure, in time, our chemists could reproduce this chemical, but I am impatient to gain the knowledge needed to formulate these compounds.”

Suddenly Valmid detected that Elmo had some uneasiness about returning to Earth. Valmid quickly added, “We will not use the same wormhole you used to travel to Roth. The wormhole we shall use will have little impact on your age.”

Elmo was relieved to hear his age would not be altered. In fact, he feared that upon his return to Earth his age would revert to that of an old man. He enjoyed being young once again. He thought of all the things he still wanted to do and all that he still wanted to learn.

“You know Elmo, you would have returned to Earth in a day or so if you had been unable to help Roth with its problem. When you first arrived, I intended to keep you here until our problem on Roth was solved. We grew to be friends and I found that not only were our chemistries similar, but our emotions as well.”

With that, Valmid left the living room and returned with a small plastic case. From the package, he extracted what appeared to be a large piece of black colored foil, and spread the foil on the living room floor. It was circular, and about six feet in diameter. Upon close inspection, Elmo could see circuits incorporated in the perimeter of the foil.

Valmid smiled, “Elmo, this is my time-space machine. We shall journey to earth and the device will be transported with us, unlike your machine. With this type of device, we can travel to many different destinations in one outing. And because it is so compact, we carry several along in case of an unexpected occurrence. I will use the coordinates for the place from which you left and that is where we shall arrive.” Valmid then left the room.

Elmo was alone with his thoughts. He had experienced so much in so little time, traveled to another planet, and contacted a race of intelligent beings. He studied his surroundings, his thoughts immersed in the unreal aspect of this adventure.

Valmid returned attired in his most regal garments. “Are you ready Elmo?”

Elmo could not believe he was going home. The question that haunted him, that he was unable to answer, was a simple one: Would he stay on Earth? His love for Mildred was strong, but he was now in his thirties and she in her seventies. And after his brief stay on Roth, would he ever be satisfied spending the rest of his life on Earth and never again exploring a distant planet. These complex issues filled Elmo’s brain as he stepped into the foil circle with Valmid, who was holding a small control device for his machine. He entered the proper coordinates, pushed a button and Elmo’s world went blank.

To be continued...