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“Hurt?” bellowed Santa
incredulously, “Hurt? What could hurt a Santa?”
“I don't know, boss, but he says
he's got some bad news to tell you.”
Moments later, Santa and Ringlo watched
as the hatch opened on Santa Tommy's craft. But Tommy did not immediately
come out, so Santa and Ringlo went into the ship. They found Tommy
slumped in his chair, too weak to get up. He looked remarkably like
Santa Klaus, albeit his hair and beard weren't quite so white, and
his eyes were brown instead of blue. There was blood matted in his
hair, and his breathing was labored. He lifted his eyes slowly towards
Santa and Ringlo.
“Hello, Papa. I'm afraid I've
got some bad news for you.” he said weakly.
“That can wait a moment until
we fix you up.” replied Santa. Santa placed his gloved hand
over Tommy's forehead. A soft glow surrounded both Santas as the
healing power worked on Tommy.
“Holly and mistletoe!” exclaimed
Santa Klaus. “Why, your injuries are magical in nature! Exactly
what happened, Tommy?”
“It was an invasion, sir. An
invasion of the Alpherian star system.”
In his conference room, Santa stood
behind his desk, both hands supporting his weight as he leaned forward
to address the view screens before him. On each screen was the visage
of every one of his Santa operatives from all the Earth colonies.
His eyes surveyed them all: some were taller, some shorter, some
had different color eyes or hair or skin. But they all had the
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same spirit.
“Boys, we've got a problem.”
began Santa. “The Alpherian star system has been invaded by extradimensional
beings of a magical nature.” There was a collective gasp from
the screens. “The planetary defense forces were overwhelmed as
they had no defense against magic. The twin planets were quickly subjugated.
So our two Santas in that system, Tommy Thomerson and Danny Jackson,
engaged the enemy. They were simply outmatched. Tommy was wounded
and barely escaped with his life. Danny's whereabouts are unknown.
We have to assume he was captured… or worse.” There were cries
of outrage from all the screens, with all the Santas shouting and
talking at once.
“Now boys, settle down. Tommy believes
the enemy intends to conquer the rest of the Earth colonies, using
the Alpherian system as a base. Humanity has no defense against magical
entities. That means it's up to us, fellas. The Santa Squadron is
mankind's only hope.”
As Santa's elves retrofitted his galactic
sleigh with the modifications he directed all the Santas to make to
their sleighs, Santa gathered some personal items. He opened a large,
oblong wooden box and stared at the contents a minute. It's been a
long time since I've needed you, he thought. Hurriedly, he closed
the box as he heard Mrs. Klaus approaching.
“Kris…” she began. She always
referred to him as Kris, as his name was Kris Kringle before he became
Santa Klaus. “Kris, I'm frightened.”
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