“It is... time... to pass... The Torch,” gasped the yellow man. Clutching one hand to the wound in his side, he held out a yellow gold ring in his other hand. The look in his eyes pleaded with the man to take it from him, yet seemed sad at parting with it, too. The man took the ring carefully, barely looking at it, because he was so awestruck by the sight in front of him.

“This... this is incredible,” he muttered. “I don’t know who you are, but we’ve got to get you to a hospital.”

The yellow man clutched the man’s arm, though doing so obviously caused him pain. “No! No, there is not time. I am only the Torchbearer; I do not matter. The only thing that matters is The Torch, and now that it has been passed, my work is done.”

“But it’s just a ring,” protested the man. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“It is more than ‘just a ring;’ it is the future of your world. The Torch is many thousands of years old, and its original guardians sent it on a journey long, long ago. The Torch is more than ‘just a ring;’ much more. It is a weapon...”

“A weapon?...” the man seemed astonished. The Torchbearer winced, and waved his hand for the man to be quiet.

“It is a weapon, and much more. It is also information. The guardians of The Torch sent out the first Torchbearer to gather information about the universe. Though passed from Torchbearer to Torchbearer many, many thousands of times since then, The Torch has gathered information all this time. The guardians intended for The Torch to make a long journey through the universe, and it has. Knowing that they would not live to see The Torch’s return, they built a place for The Torch to be returned to – a sconce, if you will. Once returned to this place, the information gathered by The Torch may be shared with others.

"The information is not complete. The guardians’ understanding of the size of the universe was limited, and the path they charted for The Torch and its Torchbearers was chosen according to that understanding. However, the journey chosen for The Torch is now completed. The only thing left to do is for the new Torchbearer to return The Torch to the place the guardians have constructed for it. You are the new Torchbearer. You are the last Torchbearer.”

“Me? But I only just met you, and that was only by accident,” the man protested again. “I don’t know how to use this thing, and it doesn’t look like you’re going to have time to teach me.” He looked at the ring in panic, thinking that it felt much heavier than it actually was.

The Torchbearer looked at the man with a hopelessness that made him seem to wither. “The Torch is information like you have never dreamed. It is its own teacher. The Torch will light your way. You have only to put it on.”

The man looked a little shocked. Holding the ring between his thumb and forefinger, he held it up to his eye, as if he was inspecting it through a jeweler’s glass. He was so awestruck at the sight of this dying alien, and the story he was hearing, that he hadn’t yet considered putting it on. Gulping hard, he looked again at the dying alien. The Torchbearer stared back in expectancy. As incredible and unlikely as the situation seemed to be, he couldn’t deny that the Torchbearer was no Earthling, and with that, he considered that he had no reason to not try the ring on. Finding it a little big for his ring finger, he placed it on his right middle finger. It fit. That was all it did. “Okay. Now what?” the man asked. He looked back at the Torchbearer, and saw that he had a grim expression on his face. Whoever he really was, he was almost dead.

“Now...” gasped the Torchbearer, “you must return The Torch to the place the guardians had built for it.”

“And where is that supposed to be?” asked the man.

The Torchbearer said nothing. Instead, the ring itself answered. “The place the guardians constructed is located in the northwestern hemisphere of this planet. It is currently known as ‘Area Fifty-One.’”

The man’s hand jolted out as far as he could reach in front of him, and then his head reared back as far as possible, and he looked at the ring in astonishment. He started to question if he’d really heard the ring talk, but reconsidered, deciding that the amazing was commonplace, at least for today. Then he laughed. “Area Fifty-One? That’s a military base that ‘doesn’t exist!’ How am I supposed to find that?”

In answer, a golden beam of energy leaped from the jewel of the ring, and arced its way across the sky.

The Torchbearer grimaced when he tried to smile, and he said, “The Torch... will light... your way.”

Staring after the golden beam, the man asked, “Oh, well, yeah, of course. But what am I supposed to do now? Say, ‘Follow that light trail?’” With that, a golden aura surrounded the man, and he began to lift into the air.

The Torchbearer laid his head back on the ground, and sighed deeply, the tension seeming to release from his body. With his last breath, he answered, “Yes, that will suffice.”

As he lifted just above the treetops, the man protested, “Uh, hello? Ring? Um, Torch? Shouldn’t we at least bring him along, or something?”

Another golden beam lanced out of the jewel of the ring, towards the ground, and as it picked up the body of the dead alien, the ring answered, “Body in tow as you requested, Torchbearer.”

The man looked oddly at his right hand. “What did you just call me?”

“‘Torchbearer.’”

“Why?” asked the man.

“You were chosen by your predecessor; that is your title.” There was no sarcasm or impatience in the voice of The Torch. It’s tone was purely informational.

The man stared out across the open sky, his gaze following the long trail the beam was making ahead of him. Looking down, he was amazed at how comfortable he felt this high up. He figured it to be something the ring had done. “Amazing. Okay, that’s fine, but what made me the one? Why did my predecessor choose me?”

“When he was dying, you were there.”

“That’s it?”

“Affirmative.”

The man stared after the beam again, and repeated, “Amazing. Tell you what ri... uh, Torch, why don’t you just call me Brand for right now?”

“Query: you are the Torchbearer,” stated The Torch. “Why do you wish to be called ‘Brand?’”

Brand answered back, “Well, it’s like you said; ‘Torchbearer’ is my title, but it’s not really my name. My name is Brandin Iron, but everyone calls me ‘Brand.’ I’d just be more comfortable right now if you’d call me Brand too, until I get used to all of this. Okay?”

“Noted,” The Torch informed him.

“Thank you.” Brand and The Torch followed the long yellow light trail for another couple of minutes, and finally, looking behind him, Brand asked, “Torch? Did you ever know my predecessor’s real name?”

“Affirmative,” answered The Torch. “Your predecessor’s real name was ‘Torchbearer.’”

“I want to know what his name was before he had that title,” said Brand.

“Affirmative. He was always Torchbearer.”

“Come again?”

“On his world, names reflected occupations. Before the coming of his predecessor, he was the keeper of a ceremonial torch that had to do with that world’s dominant religion. With the coming of his predecessor, he saw continuing the mission of the Torchbearers as a sacred trust.”

Brand raised his eyebrows, and pursed his lips for a moment. “Oookay,” he said finally. Staring after the beam, he asked The Torch, “How long before we reach Area Fifty-One?”

“Four minutes, fifty-four seconds,” answered The Torch.

“Can you tell me about the guardians,” asked Brand.

“The guardians are... Brand, there are two projectile bearing aircraft heading for us on an intercept course.”

“Omigod, omigod. It must be a security sweep from the base. They must have seen us coming in on the radar!”

“Negative. Torchlight renders you invisible to radar detection. It is more likely they are investigating the source of the torchlight beam connecting with the sconce.”

“Great!” exclaimed Brand. “Torch; quick! Can the torchlight make me look like my predecessor?”

“Affirmative.”

“Do it!” With that command, the yellow torchlight formed a yellow skin around Brand, and he took on the appearance of his predecessor, Torchbearer. Just then two jet fighters roared by.

“Brand, one of the pilots is trying to communicate with you via radio waves. Do you wish to respond?”

“Can you do that?” asked Brand.

“Affirmative.”

“Cool. Yeah, patch me through,” answered Brand.

“...Respond. Over... You are headed for United States government airspace. If you do not acknowledge, we will be forced to fire. Please respond. Over,” came the voice of the pilot.

“Uh, hello,” started Brand.

“You are headed for United States government airspace! Identify yourself immediately, or we will be forced to fire.”

Brand waved at one of the pilots. “Um, acknowledged! My name is Torchbearer. I’m looking for Area Fifty-One!”

No further communication came from the pilots. Instead, one of them fired a heat seeking missile at Brand.

“Brand, we have been fired upon,” The Torch informed him.

“Avoid it! Avoid it!” hollered Brand.

“Affirmative.” Immediately, a third beam of torchlight lanced out of the jewel of The Torch, and connected with the missile, exploding it on impact. Three more missiles followed with the same results.

“Oh, this is cool!” laughed Brand. “Can they hear me now?” he asked.

“Negative, Brand. Communications were terminated when you mentioned Area Fifty-One.”

“Listen, maybe it’d be better if you called me ‘Torchbearer’ after all, okay? I don’t think I want these guys to know my real name.”

“Noted,” answered The Torch.

“Good. Patch me through again.”

“Link established.”

“Pilots. I’m going to land at Area Fifty-One. You can escort me in, or you can have somebody pick up you and what’s left of your planes. Which will it be?” asked Brand.

After a brief silence, one of the pilots called over the airwaves, “Base Command, this is Piranha One. Did you copy that? We need further instructions; I don’t think we’re going to be able to stop him. Over.”

“Torchbearer, this is Area Fifty-One Base Commander Abin Steele. Piranha One and Two will escort you in. Please land with them on the runway.”

“Thank you, Commander. Will do.” Brand and the two fighters landed on the runway. “Torch,” asked Brand, “is there any weapon that can penetrate your defenses?”

“None yet known,” informed The Torch.

“Keep your defenses up,” answered Brand. “Things could be about to get hostile.”

“Noted.” Three jeeps rolled up the runway towards Brand and the two fighters. Two of them bore five soldiers each; one on each jeep manning a mounted machine gun. Over the radio waves, Brand heard, “Piranha One and Two, stay inside your cockpit until you have the all clear. Do you copy? Over.”

“Roger that, Base Command. Piranha One and Two, staying in position.”

The jeeps rolled to a stop, and when the two mounted machine guns were trained on Brand, a man in an officer’s uniform got out of the lead jeep, accompanied by a Military Police officer. “Torchbearer, I’m Base Commander Abin Steele. Pleasure to meet you.” The officer reached out to shake Brand’s hand, and Brand returned the greeting with a curt and forceful shake. “Due to the highly unusual nature of this event, I hope you’ll forgive me if I come right to the point, and ask you what your business is at Area Fifty-One.”

As the remaining eight soldiers jumped out of the jeeps, and formed a perimeter around Brand and Commander Steele, Brand smiled warmly through his torchlight disguise, and said, “Not at all, Commander Steele; I’m here to evict you.” With that, the eight soldiers drew their sidearms, and aimed at Brand. “Commander, I hope you don’t allow them to shoot. Their bullets will never touch me, but some of them are bound to hit you, don’t you think?” The Commander waved them down, and the soldiers returned their guns to their sides, but didn’t holster them. “I hope that you won’t think me hostile, Commander. It’s just that I’ve come to reclaim what belongs to my race.”

Commander Steele blinked once, and tilted his head slightly forward. “Your race built this base?” he asked.

Brand smiled at that. So they know that it’s built by aliens, he thought. “If you’ll allow me to come inside, Commander, I believe I can prove it to you.”

Steele stared hard at Brand for a minute, and Brand thought that maybe the Commander had seen through his disguise. Then he pointed in the general direction of his men, and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. They holstered their weapons and hustled back to their jeeps. As they did so the Commander stood aside, and said, “If you’ll ride with me, we’ll go inside.”

Brand accompanied Steele to his jeep, and once they were seated, all three jeeps backed away from the fighters, and turned around quickly, heading back for the base. As they did so, Brand heard over the airwaves, “Piranha One and Two, this is Base Command. You now have the all clear. Repeat: Piranha One and Two, you now have the all clear. The situation is now under control. Over.”

“Roger that, Base Command. This is Piranha One and Two, heading back to the Aquarium with the rest of the fish.”

After the small procession was a minute underway, Commander Steele asked, “Just what sort of ‘proof’ do you have, Torchbearer?”

Brand smiled, and answered quietly, “When we get to the base, Commander Steele.” Changing the subject, Brand asked, “Tell me, Commander, of all the things my people have observed of your world, I don’t think I have ever heard the name ‘Abin.’ Where does it come from?”

For the first time, the Commader laughed. “Ha! Damned if I know at that! Sounds like it came from some damn funnybook, doesn’t it?”

“‘Funnybook?’” asked Brand. The Commander laughed again.

Story and characters owned by Chris Bishop, copyright 1997, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.