The Fifth Element

28

There is nowhere more peaceful than space.

The little ZFX200 rocked gently as it sped through the interlaced layers of Space Time, pulled at a high multiple of the speed of light by the tightly twisted strands of the superstring plasma drive.

Korben was paying no attention. He had put the ship on autopilot.

All his attention was focused on the lovely being that lay resting in his arms.

He wiped Leeloo’s perfect forehead.

She opened her green eyes.

“Apipoulai,” whispered Korben.

Leeloo rewarded him with a smile that outdazzled the myriad stars flashing past.

“The Diva asked me to look after you,” Korben said.

“Humans act… so strange…” she whispered weakly.

“What do you mean?”

“Everything you create… is used to destroy…”

“We call that human nature,” said Korben. “Didn’t you learn that off the screen, scrolling through the database?”

“Not finished yet…” said Leeloo. “I’m only up to V.”

“You still have some good words coming.”

“Like what…?”

“Like valiant. Like vulnerable. Like very, very…”

“Excuse me!”

Their moment of romantic reverie was broken by a loud BBBRRRRIIIINNNNG!

Father Cornelius answered the phone in the rear of the cockpit.

“It’s a General Mambo.”

“Munro,” corrected Korben. He turned on the computer in front of Leeloo and kissed the universe’s loveliest forehead.

“Finish your lesson. I’ll be right back.”

Leeloo watched glowingly as Korben got out of his barca to answer the phone.

She turned back to the computer screen. She scrolled past V, to W.

WAR. The word was illustrated with pictures from humankind’s history.

The Civil War, World War II, the Trojan War, the Vietnam War…

Tears began flowing in parallel streams down the universe’s two loveliest cheeks.

The first thing Korben heard when he picked up the phone was a throat clearing.

Not a military but a presidential throat.

“Major Dallas, I would first like to salute warrior, a true combatant, a shining example of this Army’s might. In the name of the Federation and its territories, and all who fight for freedom and democracy…”

Korben shook the receiver impatiently.

“Mr. President, why don’t you just get to the point? What’s the problem?”

The President let out a deep sigh. “There’s a of fire twelve hundred miles in diameter heading straight for Earth. And we have no idea how to stop it. That’s the problem.”

“How much time before impact?”

There was a moment’s delay while the President consulted with his scientific staff. “If its speed remains constant—one hour and fifty-seven minutes.”

“I’ll call you back in two hours,” said Korben He hung up.

The President fell back into his chair, filled with despair.

Korben climbed back into the pilot’s barca the little ZFX200…

And kicked in the ultra-turbos!

Less than an hour later, the spacecraft was parked on the sand, under a desert sun.

Korben got out, carrying the unconscious Leeloo in his arms. Loc Rhod followed, still carrying the Sacred Stones wrapped in the blue-bloodied shirt.

Father Cornelius was already busy, digging with his hands into the side of a dune.

Korben interrupted him. “Father,” he said. “Your temple. Where is the entrance?”

“It’s here somewhere,” said the old priest. “But one year the dune is on the left of the entrance, and the next year it’s on the right…”

He resumed digging.

Loc Rhod was already staggering in the heat.

“I can’t take it any more!?” he said. “I’m a celebrity!! I’m not cut out to be a hero in real life, just to play one on the radio!! Just bury me where I fall!!”

And he dropped, exhausted, onto the sand.

Which moved under him.

“Yikes!!”

Loc Rhod jumped up just as a trap door opened in the sand underneath him.

The young novice, David, emerged. “Thank God you’re here!”

Korben called to Cornelius, who was still digging in the loose sand:

“Found it!”

President Lindberg was dozing fitfully in his chair.

An aide entered the office and woke him gently. “They’ve just landed in the desert.”

The President wiped the presidential forehead, a regular Rushmore of a brow. “How much time left?”

The aide pointed to the viewscreen on the wall.

It showed a small, blue planet, glowing like a precious jewel in the vastness of space.

And heading straight toward it, a malevolent hall of dark fire.

“A little over an hour, sir!”

Father Cornelius and David went first, down the long passageway, into the underground chamber.

Korben followed, carrying Leeloo in his arms. Loc Rhod came last with the stones.

By the time Korben got to the central chamber, David and Cornelius had already lighted the ceremonial room with strategically placed balls of sputtering light.

Crude and smoky, but effective.

There was an altar at the center of the chamber. Korben laid Leeloo on it, gently.

Reverently, even.

Around the altar were four stone pedestals. Father Cornelius was going from one to the other, examining them.

“This one must be… water,” he said uncertainly.

Korben was suspicious. “Don’t tell me you don’t know how it works!”

“Of course I do!” Father Cornelius said. “Theoretically, anyway. The four stones are placed around the altar, and the Fifth Element is there, in the middle.”

He nodded toward the altar, where Leeloo was sleeping peacefully. “If we set it up right, the weapon against Evil should work.”

“But you’ve never seen it work,” Korben said. Cornelius shrugged. “Uh, thank God… no!” Korben, always the man of action, took one of the stones from the shirt Loc Rhod held in his arms, like a lumpy baby.

“OK, let’s see. Every weapon has a manual. It’s got to be around here somewhere.”

He held the stone up in the dim, smoky light, examining the symbol carved on it.

Air.

He carried it to one of the four pedestals, also carved with a symbol.

Air.

A match.

“Let’s do it!” said Korben. “Match the symbols.” Father Cornelius, David and Loc Rhod took the remaining three stones, and after a few mixups, matched them to their proper bases.

Then they all stood back, watching to see what would happen.

Waiting for something to happen.

Waiting for anything to happen.

“Nothing’s happening,” said Korben. “It doesn’t work!”

“Of course not, not yet,” said Father Cornelius. “The Stones have to be open.”

“Open? You know how to do that?” “Theoretically…” said Father Cornelius. “Theoretically… no.”

On the other side of the small, threatened globe known as Earth, the President of the United Federation was in his office, watching the remote feed on the wall-sized viewscreen.

It showed a dark planet heading straight for Earth at blinding speed.

“Leeloo!”

Korben was bending over her, trying to awaken

her.

“The Stones! Do you know how to open them?” Korben had to bend way over to listen. With his hand behind his back, he motioned for his companions to be still.

Leeloo’s voice was as soft as the single string of a harp.

“The wind blows… the fire burns…”

“I know all that, Leeloo!” Korben said. “But what about the Stones?!”

“…rain falls…”

“Let her rest,” said Father Cornelius. “It’s the only way for her to heal.”

Korben backed away, frustrated. He picked up one of the stones off its pedestal. “The rain falls… the wind blows… what the hell does that mean?”

“Maybe it’s a game!!” Loc Rhod offered. “Like charades??”

“No!” Korben said, replacing the Stone in its pedestal. “It’s much simpler. If we don’t figure out how these things open in five minutes, we’re all dead. Got it?”

“Got it!!” said Loc Rhod.

The evil planet drew closer and closer. Instead of light, it threw off darkness. Its shadow preceeded it, slicing across the blue planet like an eclipse.

On the desert, a darkness fell over the sand, cooling it instantly.

Inside the temple, the blue globes sputtered and went out.

In the President’s office, a tech turned a worded face away from the communications console.

“We’ve lost contact with Cornelius and Dallas.” “How much time?” asked the President.

“Three minutes.”

“We’ll never make it!!” said Loc Rhod.

He was holding a flashlight, while Cornelius, David and Korben tried each stone in turn, shaking them, turning them, knocking them together—all to no avail.

Loc Rhod bent over one the stones and let out a hopeless sigh…

Popf

Korben, David and Cornelius all wheeled around at the slight popping sound.

Loc Rhod picked up the stone. “It moved!! Korben!! Korben!!”

Korben, Cornelius and David rushed over. The stone seemed to be swelling slightly.

“What did you do?” asked Korben. “What did you say?”

“Nothing!! Swear to god, I didn’t do nothing!!”

Korben grabbed the DJ by one ultra-padded shoulder. “Look, you did something that set it off. Try to remember. Concentrate. Tell me exactly what you did!”

Loc Rhod bent over the pedestal. “I was like this, with my hands here, and I said ‘we’ll never make it’!! That’s all!!”

“And then?” asked Father Cornelius.

“And then?” asked David.

“And then?” asked Korben

“And then I guess I sighed. Like this.”

Loc Rhod sighed.

Pop pop!

The stone opened even more.

“I’ve got it!” said Korben. “The wind! The wind blows…”

He bent over and blew gently on the Sacred Stone. A small square opened, showing a bright blue patch of sky, complete with miniature clouds. A yellow beam of light shone up, illuminating the wide smile on Korben’s rugged face.

“Everyone on a Stone!” he yelled. “Water for water! Fire for fire! Earth for Earth!”

David scraped up a handful of dust and tossed it on his stone.

Pop pop pop!

A patch of green appeared, and a green beam lighted his eager young face.

Father Cornelius looked around for water—then mopped his brow with a handkerchief and wrung a few drops of sweat onto his stone.

Pop pop pop!

A tiny window opened, revealing a raging sea complete with whitecapped waves. A blue beam of light shone up on the old priest’s face.

Loc Rhod was having trouble with the fourth stone.

He was going through his pocket’s. (There went lots of them.)

“I don’t have a light!!” he said. “I quit smoking last week!!”

Korben patted his own pockets and found his box of marches.

There was one left,

“Don’t breathe!” he said.

He struck the match.

A tiny flame appeared… sputtered…

flickered…

Dead silence gripped the room as Korben approached the stone with the tiny flickering match.

Loc Rhod, David and Father Cornelius stood stock still, like statues, Leeloo lay languidly the altar.

Cupping the tiny flame in his ham-sized hand, Korben tiptoed toward the fourth stone.

He touched the flame to the stone.

Pap pop pop!

A patch of fire appeared within the stone, and a bright red beam flashed out, joining the yellow, the green and the blue beams on the ceiling of the temple.

“How much time?” asked the President.

His eyes were fixed on the viewscreen, which was filled with the nightmare vision of the approaching ball of dark fire.

“One minute.”

“Leeloo!” said Korben.

He centered her on the altar, where the four beams criss-crossed.

“Let’s go!” he said. “According to Father Cornelius, it’s your move…”

In the shadows, the old priest and his novice were praying softly.

Loc Rhod was standing beside them, muttering his own form of prayer.

Leeloo rose to her knees.

“Protect life…” she said. “Until death…”

Her eyes closed.

“You can sleep tomorrow!” said Korben, shaking her gently. “Come on…”

“I want… to sleep… forever… .”

“No!” said Korben, shaking her harder. “You can’t! The world needs you—and I need you, too. I’ll take you on a vacation afterwards. A real vacation this time, for as long as you like! Come on! Wake up, baby! Time to work!”

Korben stepped back as Leeloo struggled to her feet in the intersection of the four beams.

She stood, wavering unsteadily, and a white beam of light formed around her, shining straight up toward the ceiling of the temple.

“Come on, Leeloo!” said Cornelius.

“Come on!” said David.

“Green!!” said Loc Rhod.

The white beam, rose—

Then weakened and grew dim, as Leeloo fell to her knees on the altar—

Then collapsed to the floor.

The dark planet filled the viewscreen.

The President wanted to dose his eyes, but he couldn’t.

He had been a boxer at Annapolis, and he knew

the feeling.

It was too familiar. It was when you were losing, waiting, watching the knock-out punch coming straight at you.

In slow motion.

“Fifty seconds,” said the tech.

“Leeloo!”

Korben picked her up off the floor.

The walls behind him were oozing a mysterious black liquid.

It squeezed from the stone walls and fell in hideous drops, like something from the grave.

It dropped its splatters onto the floor, hissing ominously where it hit.

One drop fell at Loc Rhod’s feet and ate a hole in the stone floor.

SSSssssssss!

Loc Rhod backed away, barely dodging another drop. And another.

Whatever it was, it was falling like rain. A final deadly add rain.

“Leeloo!”

Korben helped her back onto the altar, into the light of the crossed beams.

He climbed onto the altar with her. He stood helping her to her feet.

“If you don’t get with the program, we’re ali going to die!” he whispered into her ear. “And that’s not on my schedule for today!”

Leeloo wrapped her arms around his neck and. hung there, exhausted.

“What’s the use?” she whispered. “What’s the use of saving lives, when you see what you humans do with them?”

“You’re right!” said Korben. “But there are lots of good things. Beautiful things worth saving.” “Like…”

“Love, for example!”

“But I don’t… know love. So there is no need for me, other than this…”

“Wrong said Korben. “The world needs you. But I need you even more. More than you can imagine. Stand up straight!”

“Why?” Leeloo looked straight up into Korben’s worried, tormented face. “Why would you… need me?”

“Because…” said Korben.

“Tell her!” muttered Cornelius to himself. “Tell her for God’s sake!”

He was pressed against the wall with David.

A drop of black fire dropped on Loc Rhod’s shirt.

SSSssssss!

He ripped off the shirt and threw it away.

“Tell her!” muttered Father Cornelius.

“Because! ” said Korben again.

Leeloo looked up at Korben.

Her eyes were like twin green earths, filled with tears like shining seas.

“Tell me,” she said.

“Because I love you,” said Korben.

Leeloo smiled shyly. “Now you have permis—”

“Permission?”

“To kiss me.”

And Korben did.

And the white beam grew brighter around

them.

The Divine Light grew in intensity until it filled the temple and burst through the top, scattering sand (and a stray camel or two) like an explosion as it soared upward, into the upper reaches of the atmosphere, where it struck the ball of dark fire just as it was beginning to enter the atmosphere…

In the temple, Korben and Leeloo kissed like there was no tomorrow.

Only, there was.

Thanks to them, there would be many tomorrows.

The black liquid oozing from the walls solidified into stalactites that broke off and shattered on the floor of the temple.

The dark planet screeched with a sound like screams. And began to harden and crust over.

In the office of the President, two massive eyes opened under a broad brow.

The President realized that he was still alive. And so was the planet Earth.

“The intruder seems to have stopped, sir,” said the tech. “Sixty-two miles from impact! It has fallen into a harmless orbit.”

The President breathed out, and as he did he realized he hadn’t breathed in for several minutes.

Breathing felt wonderfully, miraculously good.

Lindberg even smiled.

The white beam had lost its intensity, but Korben and Leeloo were still standing, washed in the flickering of light that lapped around them like the gentle waves of a receding ebb tide.

It was a long kiss.

Father Cornelius and David were on their knees, just finishing their prayers.

Loc Rhod opened his eyes.

“This guy’s a killer with the babes,” he confided to Father Cornelius. “I knew it from the moment I laid eyes on him.”

Cornelius and David laughed.

Leeloo and Korben kept on kissing.