�� I beamed modestly. � On one hand it was nothing, really. � But on the other hand it was something that no one in this future world would have thought of, least of all the Annunaki. � (Cultural events like Halloween had a way of leaving a record of themselves, but this was something different.) � Now if it just worked, I would have proved my worth.

�� The following days were filled with a plethora of activities. � Costumes were made, roles were assigned, and actions and dialogue were rehearsed. � Finally, when I was sure that we were as ready as we could be, I brought up the most important aspect of it all. Weslee and I needed to perform a short reconnaissance.

�� But when I broached the subject of checking out the lay of the land at �New� Jerusalem, Weslee developed cold feet. � I suspected that it was more a case of him losing interest. � I also suspected that Perki had not sent Weslee on any errands that day when I had been enhanced and had slept off my �time travel� lag. I suspected that he had been goofing off and that Perki had just been putting a good face on it. � Either that or he had gone somewhere looking for a new T-shirt to augment his already considerable wardrobe of them. � In any case I suspected that Weslee was more interested in his appearance than anything else. � He had spent a lot of time preening himself during the time I�d known him. � He was probably more afraid of mussing his fur than being caught by the Annunaki. � Oh sure, he�d been helpful when it didn�t come down to any action. � He�d been real good at explaining things � as long as it didn�t require any more action than that. � His ability to explain things proved he wasn�t stupid. � Weslee wanted motivation. I considered. � How best to motivate him?

�� Then I thought I had it. � It would involve a scam, but I had no compunction about that. � It was in a good cause.

�� �Weslee,� I said, fixing him with a very portentous look, �Do you know what a sidekick is?�

�� He scratched his head a moment, he hemmed and hawed for a few moments more and then he admitted that he did not in fact know what a sidekick was.

�� We were standing in the front yard of Perki�s cottage.� The various people whom Perki had gathered together for our little troupe/assault force had split up for the moment. � We didn�t want to attract the attention of the Annunaki by maintaining a large group for very long, at least not until it was time to put on the show. � They had gone their separate ways. � I had suggested they utilize the time by rehearsing the plan and their parts in it over and over � it could not hurt them, I�d said, to know their parts so well that they came to believe that they were who they were supposed to be. � Everyone had agreed. � As a consequence Weslee and I were alone. � Nevertheless, I looked around very carefully, as if I wasn�t sure we were alone. � Then making my voice as reverent as I could and speaking in awed, hushed tones so that Weslee had to lean in close to hear me, I said, �A sidekick is the most important person in the world, even more important than the hero! � And you know why that is, Weslee?�

�� He wasn�t buying it yet, I could tell. Like I�d said, he wasn�t a dummy. � But he was sniffing around the idea, obviously suspecting that I was about to nominate him. � Cautiously he replied, �No Doc, if I don�t know what a sidekick is then how am I supposed to know why he�s so important?�

�� �The hero always moves on Weslee,� I said, wrapping a comradely arm around his broad, furry shoulders. � �But the sidekick gets to stay and be the king or emperor or whatever. � That means that he not only gets the girl, the best food and the best, uh, T-shirts or whatever � � I almost spoiled it here by laughing out loud, but I managed to suppress my hilarity and went on in even more portentous tones than before � �The sidekick gets to bask in all the glory the hero leaves behind.��

�� �But Doc!� Weslee protested a little less vigorously than he should have, �Why, that hardly seems fair! � How come you, er, I mean the hero has to move on and I, um, I mean the sidekick gets to stay behind and garner all the glory?� � Then he gave me a sidelong, sly glance, checking to see if I had caught his verbal faux pas.

�� I pretended not to notice. � Instead I studied the rainbow like arches in the sky for a moment and then looked around sorrowfully as if I was taking one last, reluctant look at this wonderful world that I, as the hero, would soon be departing. � I paused a moment longer, than drew a ragged breath. � �Weslee, my boy, that�s the code of the West.� � I drew myself up manfully. � �A man�s gotta do what a man�s gotta do. � There�s always another damsel in distress or world or whatever. � I�ll be needed somewhere else sooner or later.� � I wiped a mock tear of pride out of the corner of my left eye and sighed in bitter, melancholy regret. � �But!� I held up a remonstrating finger and pointed it right at Weslee, �If I don�t go to New Jerusalem and check it out, than I can�t get the rest of the show on the road, as it were. � And this is where the sidekick comes in. � He pretends to be helping the hero so that he can get the hero on down the road. � I�m not stupid, Weslee, I know what you�re after. � I know that you�re pretending to have cold feet so that it will look good. � Well, don�t do me any favors. � Let�s just lay our cards on the table and get this over with.� � I smacked my forehead as if something obvious had just occurred to me. � �Why, I�ll bet you even knew all along what a sidekick was and were just playing dumb. That�s all right though, I forgive you. � That�s what heroes do all the time, because they�re so good hearted.� � And I gave him a very understanding look, full of warmth and good cheer.

�� Weslee gave me a stunned look. � He started to protest, but then obviously an idea latched hold in his mind and wouldn�t go away.� He gave me an insincere smile. � �OK, Doc. � You got me! � I was planning on being your sidekick all along, but I didn�t want to seem too eager.� � He couldn�t quite hide the dreamy look of glory to be coming his way though, as we went back into the cottage to prepare for the journey. He was muttering a bit though � �Boy, that West place must really be tough!�

�� I hid a self-satisfied smirk behind my hand as I followed him back inside. � These lazy, proud, self centered genius types were all the same: As long as they thought it was their idea -- whether they were covered in fur or were wearing a suit, back where I�d come from � it was OK. � But then I felt a little guilty. � I hated to do this to Weslee. � He wasn�t all bad � he did have a soft heart. � But I was committed now and had to go through with it. � Later I�d explain and apologize and ask him if he wanted to go with me when I left. � I had been telling the truth about that. � Now that I�d found Edgar and knew what he could do I was going exploring. � I hoped that Perki would come along too. � I didn�t see why she wouldn�t. � She�d already made it plain that this wasn�t her world. � What did she have to hold her here after this was over? � But that was something that could wait until later also. � First we had to survive the coming battle with the Annunaki and that was by no means one hundred percent assured.

�� The next day, after we had gathered together what we�d need, had gone over our plan and had rested a bit from our previous days of activity, Weslee and I made the short trek back to where Edgar was still patiently waiting.

�� Edgar�s doors opened and after we�d stepped inside, his mellifluous, sonorous voice greeted us with what I could only describe as joy. � �It�s good to see you again, sire. � Where shall we venture?�

�� �Well, it�s good to see you too, old friend,� I said, meaning it. � Edgar might be a machine, but he had saved my life and he had more class than most people I�d known back in the past where I�d come from. � �Um, I hope this isn�t putting you in jeopardy, but Weslee and me here, need to go to New Jerusalem. � I believe you said that time and space were interconnected and that you could travel in space as well?�

�� I looked up to where on a real elevator the number indicators would be and saw Edgar�s holographic �face� regarding me with an air of supreme confidence balanced with just the right expression of dignified �subservience.� � If Edgar had been a butler he�d have excelled at it. � �Why you are certainly right sire. � I can travel exclusively in space also. � And you need not fear for my safety. � The Annunaki have no idea that I exist. � Their own method of time travel, if I may be so bold sire, is a bit less polished than mine. � Additionally sire, they have no weapon that I cannot defend myself against. � So � as you wish.� His door closed and this time the motion was different.

�� As Weslee and I rode to our destination I toyed for a moment with asking Edgar what sort of weapons he enjoyed and why he hadn�t mentioned them before, and thought about suggesting that we use him for our assault. � But then I immediately saw two problems with that. � It was the sort of assault the Annunaki would be expecting and perhaps Edgar had overestimated his abilities. � And even if he hadn�t overestimated his abilities I preferred using him as an escape vehicle-- should it come to that. � But I did make a mental note to ask him what sort of weapons he had � in case they came in handy in some other escapade. � Assuming, of course, we survived this one. � In the meantime I needed to rehearse a few details with Weslee.

�� By the time I�d finished with Weslee, Edgar had stopped moving. � His doors opened and I saw three things. � One, that Edgar had chosen well and we were fairly well concealed in a grove of trees. � Two, that New Jerusalem was even bigger than I�d imagined. � Weslee and Perki both had tried to prepare me for the sight I was now seeing, but I had assumed she and he � especially Weslee � were exaggerating due to pessimism. � But they weren�t lying! � Still, I�d needed to see for myself.

�� The third was not immediately apparent. � That is, I knew there was a third thing, but I wasn�t sure what it was. � I studied New Jerusalem through the binoculars Weslee had rounded up from somewhere, scrutinizing it very carefully for several moments before it came to me. � There had been a movie I�d seen back when I was twenty something that had depicted something like New Jerusalem. � Also there had been an urban legend floating around for years � I�d first heard it in my very early teens � about an object that was similar to what New Jerusalem looked like. � In short, back behind the added towers, New Jerusalem looked like a gigantic, huge, gargantuan mother ship come to earth. � The only difference � and that was what had made it hard to define right at first � was the fact that the lines were blurred as if the ship had been here so long that slight additions and haphazard alterations had been made in the intervening years. � But now that I had it, the main lines could be clearly seen. � A quotation I had not thought of in years, since my Sunday school days, came clearly to me as if I had just heard it yesterday.� �And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven�� I thought then that John must be spinning in his grave.

� � � � � �

�� But then I shifted my attention back to the matter at hand. � How easy would it be to gain access? � Relatively easy, it appeared. � Due to the additions, it was no longer a closed system. � At least it would be relatively easy to get in if one just regarded the architecture. � But what about the occupants? � How lax or tight was the security? � To put it another way, how sure were the Annunaki that the conquered people were firmly under the �boot heel?� � To put it yet another way, I wanted to see if there were any security checks performed on any one leaving or entering. � To put an even finer point on it, I wanted to see if anyone who appeared way out of the ordinary would be checked. � Our group was going to be way out of the ordinary. � If I could see someone else even vaguely like that be allowed to enter the city without being overly scrutinized, then I would feel fairly confident that we could enter also. � Of course I had to wait for a while.

�� In the meantime Weslee fidgeted and then when that wasn�t enough to distract him he picked a fight with Edgar. � �You overrated piece of travel technology, you sure have a fine opinion of yourself. � Why, I even bet you think you�re gonna get to be Doc�s sidekick here!� � Edgar retorted, �You narcissistic buffoon. � You�re nothing but a genetically enhanced fur ball!� � They should have left you in the forest where you belong!� � I was amused. � I didn�t know Edgar had it in him. � But then I sobered. � I didn�t need any bickering in the ranks. � I was about to intervene when I saw it -- the group I had been watching for. � With the binoculars I saw that it was some kind of traveling troupe. � With the binoculars I could clearly see these words painted on the lead wagon: � �Seven Hills Seminary Show.� � The guard at the gate, a whip lean Annunaki, gave them a perfunctory glance and waved them right on in. � I�d seen enough, and heard enough bickering coming from behind me for that matter. � I looked up at Edgar, giving him a disappointed look. � He immediately ceased his portion of the hostilities. � I turned to Weslee � and glared at him. � "You still want to be my sidekick?" � He too immediately subsided and began bobbing like I was hitting him and he didn�t know which way to duck. � I suppressed a laugh and said, �Home, Edgar.�

�� But when we got back to the cottage I started having second thoughts. � True, it certainly appeared that the central group would get in easily enough through the lax, smug security. � But the central group was not all there was. � We had to get a larger force into the city and they had to be secreted outside the city until we gave the signal for them to enter. � A small troupe of �players� would easily escape suspicion, it seemed, but we could hardly leave a larger force loitering around in plain sight. � And that was the source of my second thought. � I had been so focused on the city itself that I couldn�t remember what the lay of the land was, or if I had even paid any attention to it. � For the life of me I couldn�t remember what the land around the city lo oked like. � I asked Weslee, like I was grilling him and already knew the answer. � He gave me a blank look. � But then he grudgingly admitted that he knew someone who might know. � It could only be Edgar! � Perhaps the day was saved after all? � Perhaps everything was not ruined by my inexperience?

�� Nonchalantly, I went outside and around to the back of the cottage where Edgar now resided. � (The reason, for those of you astute enough to notice it, why Edgar had not landed behind the cottage originally had something to do with spatial/ temporal co-ordinates. � I am still not sure I understand it. � However, according to Edgar, if he had landed right behind the cottage originally, then the Annunaki would have had a high percentage chance of finding us, but since a certain amount of time had gone by then the percentage had gone down.) � I entered with Weslee right at my heels. � Why couldn�t he be his usual lackadaisical self when I most wanted him to be? � At any rate Weslee was there so I continued my nonchalant act, as if I were just verifying something that I already knew.

�� Edgar looked thoughtful for a moment and then gave me a wink when Weslee�s attention had wandered for a moment. � �If you�ll open the compartment on the left hand side of the door � the compartment where in a real elevator there is placed a phone to call for assistance � you�ll see that I have a computer monitor. � That monitor, among other things, keeps a record of everywhere I�ve been and whatever I�ve �seen.�

�� Remaining nonchalant, I pulled open the compartment door that Edgar had referred to. � Looking inside, I saw a monitor. � I fooled around with it for a moment until I saw that it was mounted on telescoping tracks that allowed it to come out and be put back in again. � With Edgar�s assistance I turned it on and found the control he indicated that would give me the function I wanted. � I accessed the function and saw with a sigh of relief that appearing on the small screen was a photo of New Jerusalem. � Panning around with another control I saw what I hoped I would see. � Not only had security grown lax at the gate, but thick vegetation had been allowed to grow up unimpeded around the perimeter. � I thanked Edgar and turned to Weslee with a severe look. � �Let this be a lesson to you! � Some �people� pay attention.� � Weslee looked so crestfallen that I could not maintain the charade. � Chuckling, I confessed.

�� Weslee, like all good sidekicks everywhere, summed it up. �The mission is a go, Doc!�

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