Almost Perfect

CAPTAIN JACK IS BARGAINING

‘What is this?’ Jack asked Brendan.

Brendan, pottering past with a piece of toast, paused and ruffled his hair. ‘It’s got many names. Call it our Belief System. It’s a way of bonding all our true believers together, giving us the power we need to do all our good deeds.’

‘It’s obscene,’ growled Jack.

Brendan offered him a bite of toast. Jack shook his head. ‘You’re only saying that cos you’re on the inside looking out. I think it’s all rather beautiful. It’s kind of like the tar baby. And it’s only a temporary solution until we can find that machine.’

‘It’s not working. Let me out of this – I can help you,’ said Jack.

‘Pleading?’ Brendan squatted down, meeting Jack’s eyes. ‘It’s rather beneath you, Captain.’

‘Not if it saves lives,’ said Jack.

Brendan rolled his eyes. ‘You are so noble, I could eat you up. Sure you don’t want some toast?’

‘What would be the point?’ sighed Jack. ‘How long are you going to keep me here?’

Brendan shrugged. ‘Dunno. In a few hours we might let you all out for a bit and play with you. Depends how up for it Jon is. Then we’ll pop you all back in. Cos I’ve got yoga, and I can’t leave you all alone with Jon. He might go mad.’

‘You know that’s not what I meant.’

‘Truthfully, until we get the device back. The problem is, our need for power’s growing at a rate… oh, I dunno. It’s a bit worrying. Frankly, I think we’ll be running out of boys soon. Which isn’t a great state of affairs really, is it? We might have to reach out wider and wider. You know, Aberdare.’

‘Can’t you see how stupid this is?’ gasped Jack.

‘Totally,’ admitted Brendan. ‘But it’s what we’ve got to do to stay alive, to carry on searching, to find that bloody thing. Trust me, Jack, I’m a god. It’s what we’ve got to do to stay alive. When we get our power back, we’ll make everything right again.’

Jon walked into the room, towelling himself after a shower. ‘You all right babe?’ he asked Brendan.

‘Yeah,’ said Brendan.

Jon flicked Jack playfully with the towel. ‘Are you talking to the furniture again?’

‘Stop this!’ said Jack.

Jon arched an eyebrow. ‘You don’t look happy Jacky,’ he said, squeezing Jack’s cheek. Jack growled at him. Jon laughed and dropped the towel over Jack’s head, leaving him fuming.

‘Come on Bren, let’s get some clothes on and go and see how things are downstairs.’ They walked away, laughing, and all Jack could see was cotton.