the sedan turned off the highway into the woods.
there was nothing that could be called a road and it made its way slowly through the trees, having to go around almost every tree one at a time.
after they were about a hundred yards in from the highway, agent dworkin touched the control panel and the sedan stopped.
are we there? eddie asked.
not even close, agent khayyam told him.
why not?
because we are going to get out and walk.
in the woods?
these are the woods, aren’t they?
i have never walked in the woods before, eddie protested.
it will be a learning experience.
what about the bugs?
there are no bugs in these woods. it has all been taken care of.
are you sure? i have never been bitten by a bug.
most people in today’s world have not, dworkin said.
what if i get tired? eddie asked. will you carry me?
if we have to. but we would prefer not to.
enough talk, khayyam said. he opened the car door. let’s get moving.
*
montgomery turned his brain down to lizard level.
he began moving slowly through the woods.
he was confident he could find his destination just around sunset.
the night time was the right time - his time.
he had passed this way before.
*
eddie had fallen asleep.
he realized he was being carried on khayyam’s shoulder.
they were following dworkin as she carefully parted the low branches on the thickly clustered trees.
eddie had a dream in which he remembered first coming to earth…
coming to earth with… it was starting to come back to him.
suddenly they were in a small clearing.
the hut was there, just as it had been twenty thousand years before.
there was light showing through the single small window.
dworkin pushed open the door of the hut and khayyam followed, depositing eddie, now fully awake, on the floor.
eddie got up off the floor and looked around,
the old gang from the space ship was all there, seated in a circle in front of the dimly burning fireplace.
elvis, bigfoot, gilgamesh, cleopatra, merlin, robin hood, al-hakim, hongwu, genghis khan, shakespeare, babe ruth, and john dillinger.
and in the center - donald trump
donald trump got up and extended his hand to eddie.
it’s been a long time, eddie, he said. welcome home.
the end
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