A MODERN  RUMPELSTILTSKIN

“You reckon your whizz kid son Alan can hack his way into anything,” said Karker quietly but menacingly.  “Well, Rivers, he`s got three days to hack his way into the computer system of Andromeda Finance.”

            Alan glanced at his father apprehensively and he felt himself fighting for breath as he heard him say, “Sure, Karker,  - he`ll do the necessary.”

            “He`d better ,” snarled Karker. “The boys in my syndicate are expecting to make  a financial killing. However, another kind can easily be arranged if your precious Alan doesn`t come up with the goods.”

            Alan holed himself up with his computer and began his nefarious activities. He found it much harder to accomplish than he had at first thought, but he knew he had to succeed….He didn`t like the threats. He worked away. On the first occasion he was working well into the night without making any progress, when he was suddenly conscious of someone else in the room. Strangely he did not feel any fear; rather the opposite, an empathy. As his eyes focussed, he saw that his visitor was a tall man , very tall in fact, who spoke to him in cultured tones.

            “Can I help you in your task? Before you answer, I must tell you that I demand a favour in return. Are you willing to be helped?"

            The young man was desperate – he did not really care about the favour or who the tall man was , whose features he somehow could not make out. He did recognise , however, that he did need help.

            “What is the favour? ….I have little to give.”

            “The audio-visual equipment there; I could take that ….if I help you”.

            Alan quaked . The equipment had been a gift from his father before he had fasllen into the clutches of Karker. But he felt he had no choice.

            “All right. Just make this bloody thing work.”

            The tall man obviously knew his stuff. He worked silently, speedily and successfully. The initial steps to the coup of the decade were taken. Alan paid his due. The stranger seemed to disappear as mysteriously as he had appeared. Alan would have believed it all a dream if his Hi-Fi gear had not gone.

            The second night brought no further success for  Alan and he was getting desperate again: he had learned nothing from the previous night`s endeavours. But this second step was crucial. Just as he was about to give  up , he felt the presence in the room once again.

            “Need more assistance?” his visitor asked.

            “You know  I do! Who are you ? Where do you come from? How did you get in?”

            “I am here to help – not to answer questions. Which do you want?”

            Alan needed help more than he needed answers.

            “Help”: the reply was unequivocal.

            “What have you got to offer this time?” The tall man waited for Alan`s reply which he gave after a moment`s hesitation. He felt he was going to lose everything he had , which wasn`t much. He knew his father was depending  on him to work things out. He couldn`t call on help there. He was on his own, with only the stranger.

            “I have the sports car.”

            “Excellent, that `ll do. Let`s get started.

            Before Alan could say anything more, the visitor began. The work seemed to Alan to be done so easily under the expert hands of the tall man.

            One more night`s graft, thought Alan , and the “killing” would be made.  The third stint however would be no picnic. The young man determined to finish the job begun so well by his companion and positively looked forward to the final operation when he would be able to announce his success. He felt confident he could manage on his own now.

            Unfortunately, his confidence was misplaced. No matter what he did , he could not clinch the business. Once more he was growing weary. To add to his troubles his girl friend was becoming suspicious about his nightly disappearances, which he had difficulty explaining.

            The tall stranger appeared just as he was at his wits` end. Almost welcoming, Alan greeted him.

            “You again!”

            “So near and yet so far away still?” his visitor inquired.

            “I am . But I have no more to give.”

            Alan was desperate. He so needed help but had nothing to offer in return.

            His visitor had a suggestion. “What about the ill-gotten gains when we crack it? It will be a tidy sum. I won`t leave you without; how does fifty-fifty suit you? You`ll see me in a week`s time when I return to claim my dues.”

            Alan felt he had no answer. After all, beggars couldn`t  be choosers. He had to carry on for his own and for his father`s sake. He had to succeed at all costs.

            “Let`s start work,” said the mystery man. Alan marvelled at the way he pushed this key and that, without a pause , manipulating the machine , as it did his bidding.  The work was eventually finished and the young man was elated. The syndicate  would believe he had done it and he would be heir to a fortune! He had no thought of the stranger`s return:  a week seemed like an eternity after the hectic three days he had just had. After all, he had not actually said anything and promised nothing…

            The rewards were worth all the agony when Alan and his father received their share of the spoils. Of course, it was theoretical at this stage ; the actual money would come later. The following few days were like living in a kind of euphoria for father and son. They had only to keep a low profile now for a few months. Then all would be well. A week passed and no visitor arrived; he was almost forgotten. He is not going to show up , thought Alan; perhaps he has thought it over. What can money mean to a man of such ability?

            One night Alan was taking his ease in his room , thinking how he would eventually spend his money. Another load off his mind was the fact that he had managed to convince his girlfriend with some tale about his absences. His thoughts were interrupted by a feeling of unease. He turned round; the tall stranger had returned!

            “I have come for my reward,” he said, quietly and deliberately.

            Alan displayed a truculence engendered by thoughts of his new found riches. “No way can I give you what you have asked for. In any case, I have not got it to hand yet. We all have to lie low for the time being till the heat`s off, and only then do we receive the cash. So it`s impossible at the moment.”

            “Within a year you will have the cash,” said the night visitor calmly. “I`ll tell you what. I`ll strike a bargain with you, give you a chance. I won`t hold to our little deal…..if you can guess my name when I return . You can even have three guesses. Till then….” The stranger departed as quietly as he came.

            What an impossible task , Alan thought. His “partner in crime” was clearly a man of his word. He had a year to try …and guess. Alan and his father searched the cyclodedias of names, ancient  and  modern The name was patently unusual –like the man. Endless lists were made and edited. The year wore on inexorably , only made bearable by the eventual receipt of their share of the successful scam. They had decided on three names: they had only three guesses. They had a clue however: the helper was obviously no ordinary man. Maybe he was not of this earth; his facility to appear and disappear at will indicated some supernatural power. Moreover, there had been “sightings” recently, UFOs and the like. Alan was not a sceptic; there were not so many of these sceptics as there once  were , say, in the early nineties. There had been a deal of corroborative evidence of the existence of life on other worlds in the latter part of the decade. 

            It may be that I have been visited by a denizen of the deep – deep space, thought Alan. The name must be one known to man , otherwise it would be no contest. The only “space” names known are in astronomy , he reasoned. “Maybe we are on the right track “ he remarked to his father. Nevertheless, he recognised that the odds against getting the name right were formidable. However, this line of thought was something to go on. They both considered it strange that the defrauded company  was called Andromeda Finance. It was possible that here was another clue!

            So there were three names on the list the night when the stranger came back as promised.

            “Are you ready to guess?” he asked confidently. “You know the terms of the agreement .”

            Alan and his father , whose composure , despite reassurances from his son, had to be regained , nodded. Their mouths were momentarily too dry to speak. “Only three?”  - they were bargaining for time. But what it would avail them, they did not know.

            “Only three,” confirmed their visitor.

            They hoped, how they hoped, the category of names was the right one.

            “Speak now. But your chances are slim. I am waiting to claim my reward.”

            Alan hesitated. “Is it….is it…Jupiter?”

            “No, it is not, “ betraying no emotion, except for a slight narrowing  of his strange eyes, which Alan saw for the first time.

            After a planet, father and son had decided on a spiral galaxy; but they had so many to chose from. They felt their hope of success was  forlorn . But one had been in the news of recent in the UFO magazines.

            “Is it …Galileo?” Alan`s voice was scarcely audible. He could feel the tension in his throat. Father and son were visibly agitated, as they awaited the reply.

            “It is not. You have only one guess left,” he said, with something of an air of grim satisfaction .

            Alan felt he had detected some vestige of fleeting emotion upon the face of the questioner. Perhaps he was near the mark.

            “Only one left….I wonder if it is ….related to Andromeda…..the father, Cepheus?”

            At the word, the tall man`s face. ( , so tall that the face could hardly be distinguished , ) twisted in a seeming agony. What seemed an effulgence surrounded the  mysterious visitor as he vanished with the speed of light  through the roof and up into the darkness.

            They had hit upon the name because fortunately for them the latest probes had suggested life on some planets within the Cepheus galaxy. Alan and his father had taken a big chance and it had come off.. Their illicit activities , never to be repeated, had resulted in a nightmare for them . They had also resulted in riches which now they felt difficult to spend. The price had almost been too high. With all that money, they might receive another and a different visitation.

© A.B. Finlay Ph.D