The Intrepid Misadventures of Supreme Overlord the very Irreverent Captain Quirk and the Brat Trekkers #5: the Batman returns...again! We observed a moment of silence on the main open deck of the Brat Packers Delight to commemorate those who perished in the September 11 tragedy. A slight cosmic breeze fluttered the unfurled flags of the Old World countries as people settled down to hear the speeches and dedications for the day. The new Food and Beverage and Entertainment Manager had done a sterling job as usual and both Spock and I looked on from our perch on the upper deck with pride. Okay, it wasn’t Spock but me who felt the welling of pride because Spock, as you may well know, does not feel anything. I said to Spock, ‘This Loganathan has done a sterling job...I’m so proud of him...’ Spock turned to me and asked, ‘Why do you insist on calling him Loganathan rather than Lenzi... he told us that he prefers to be called Lenzi...’ ‘What the hell is a Lenzi?’ I mused, ‘a resident of Lenasia?’ ‘That’s just what he likes to be called!’ Spock interjected before I lapsed into a long soliloquy as I was prone to do. ‘I like to be called Superman but no one calls me that!’ I shot back, ‘Anyway, Loganathan is a good Tamil name...it’s what his parents decided to name him...’ ‘Okay!’ Spock conceded, ‘but you really must stop calling Margaret Maggie!’ ‘Why not!’ ‘She hates it with a passion...did you see how her nostrils flared each time you called her Maggie?’ ‘Okay, okay...I’ll call her Margaret and....and, in any event...do I detect a softening of your no emotion rule? Don’t tell me that you sessions with the good professor are actually making you more...more human!’ I chuckled. ‘I resent that!’ he protested. ‘You resenting anything...really...aren’t you becoming just a little too emotional my old friend Spockalingum Manikum Govender?’ That blew Spock’s no emotion rule and he started spluttering and whimpering, ‘...but...but...but you promised me way back when that you will never call me that again...no one knows my name...I even stayed away from Cheers because everyone knew my name...this is so unfair!’ ‘Okay...there...there!’ I comforted him, ‘I won’t call you that again...I promise...now get a hold on yourself...look Maggie...I mean Margaret is coming up the stairs...’ I had never seen a grown man recompose himself so quickly in all my lives. He looked towards the stairway and realised that I had lied to him again. Loganathan waved at us from the main deck and I showed him the thumbs-up signal. He was a real livewire our Loganathan...he had commandeered the robots and taught them how to mix exotic drinks and to cook all kinds of exotic snacks. He and Ronald had become good friends and they became inseparable. I was a little concerned but when I saw them coming out of the bar the other night assisted by two ex-vestal virgins with huge grins on their faces, I changed my opinion. But they were fun guys to have around and I was secretly happy that Spock convinced me to appoint them. The Captain walked onto the podium and signalled to the thousands seated on the sprawling main open deck to settle down. ‘Our first speaker is none other than our illustrious patron and visionary...President John F Kennedy...’ JFK moved slowly and deliberately to the podium and occasionally held his head gingerly as if still in some discomfort. The applause was rapturous but the mood was pensive. ‘Ladies and Gentleman, I stand here before you as a person blessed with many lifetimes of experience and reflection. I didn’t know back in 1961 that the idea that I had promoted would blossom into this reality today. I said, “It is a most important decision that we make as a nation. But all of you have lived through the last four years and have seen the significance of space and the adventures in space, and no one can predict with certainty what the ultimate meaning will be of mastery of space”...I never envisaged or imagined that I would be standing on the deck of the Brat Packers Delight sometime in the distant future...which is, of course, today, and addressing this fine gathering of most of the most distinguished people who ever walked the earth...people whose books I read and cherished, people whose music inspired me to greater heights and people whose artworks always held more than a passing fascination with what is possible when we dare to imagine...’ The Captain waited until the applause finally subsided and said, ‘and it is my honour and privilege to welcome John Lennon to lead us in our universal anthem...’ John Lennon acknowledged JFK and made a snide remark about his visa application and the led us in the universal anthem, Imagine Once More. ‘We are the children of our imagination and with each passing constellation, We imagine once again that things will never be the same as we imagined they were...’ John could not resist giving his own speech when he was over with the anthem, ‘I imagined peace then and I experience it now. I never imagined that I would ever see the world as I imagined it then and I never imagined that this world would itself end and its spores scattered to all ends of the universe much like how the earth was created...how foolish we must feel now that there is no earth...no place that we can call home...how trivial all the wars must seem now...bloody idiots!’ he said as he slammed his guitar onto the shiny deck and stormed out mumbling, ‘if only they gave peace a chance!’ The magic of that moment was not lost on anyone but the life of the Supreme Overlord is not a simple one and I had to leave the festivities to attend to security breach. Spock followed me down the stairs to the checkpoint. ‘What’s going on here? Spock demanded to know, ‘How dare you summon the Supreme Overlord at such an auspicious time...’ Spock knew that I loved the word ‘auspicious’ which was the first word taught to any school principal at college. The sentry on duty pointed to a man wearing a Batman outfit, ‘he wants to come aboard...he says he is Batman but his aura ID says that he is Lutch Perumal...and he has a large bag which he does not want us to inspect...what shall we do Supreme One?’ I walked over to Batman and asked him what was in the bag that he was clutching ever so tightly to his chest. ‘Nothing!’ he answered. ‘Throw him out!’ I instructed the sentry as I turned to leave. ‘No...no!’ Batman protested, ‘I’ll show you what’s in my bag!’ He placed it on the table and we all moved away afraid that it might be some kind of trap. He opened the tightly packed bag and out cascaded thousands of small pieces of paper. ‘What is it?’ Spock asked. ‘It’s all the pearls of wisdom that I’ve been collecting over my lifetimes...I kept every one of them ever since the Revolting Revolution decided to burn my books on earth...’ ‘What are these pearls of wisdom?’ Spock asked with a now bemused look on his face. ‘Sayings, phrases, witticisms...you know...the condensed paraphrasing of tomes of proper wisdom...you know...’ ‘Why on earth would you want to keep these...these...trinkets?’ Spock asked. ‘Because they make me what I am!’ he whispered. ‘They make you Batman!’ I laughed, ‘Let him through...he’s harmless...but keep an eye on him...lol’ (Catch the next episode of The Intrepid Misadventures of Supreme Overlord the very Irreverent Captain Quirk and the Brat Trekkers #6: September 12
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 09:28:40 +0000
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