Kala bears, wicked mutations of Australia's koala bears (marsupials), are on the rise.
Humans were destroying the koala's whole world, their trees. They were powerless to resist until, under pressure, a mutation occurred. Their eyes went from brown...
It's all come together for the company's trip to Sirius. Here is the crew list that Commander Winnie has put together. (Avatars are in place for those who need to keep a presence here on Earth.)
Human: Dog Girl MC Tara Captain Chimie Thighbone Debbi Myself - 'The Earthling Neil'
Animal: Butch the Renegade Alsatian
Sirian: Commander Winnie Silverfox Green Dog Dorothea Dolphin
We gathered on the lawn and Winnie gave a little speech.
"my frens and my soljers im am winnie an im am ver happy for we go on big holiday now."
(Note: As Winnie can be a bit hard to follow if you're not used to him, I'll translate - Milinda.)
Winnie turned to Johny Bee.
"My dear Johny. It's time for you to go back to your people, for some undercover work. I suggest you tell the kalas how you fooled stupid Winnie, made him think you had rebelled and joined his army. Tell them you did it so you could spy on us.
"The old bears in charge will love the idea of a clever young kala tricking stupid Winnie. You can play the hero. Gain the leaders confidence, then you can roam and gather intel."
The company said their goodbyes to Johny, a little sadly, and he headed off into the bush. Johny has become much loved. Just by his presence he has changed the whole 'us and them' paradigm.
Winnie continued.
"My dear friends, I have something I need to tell you. I have been a bit tricky. I have not told you the whole truth."
Neil: Oh Gawd – here we go – damn bear and his secrets.
"I didn't want to frighten you with the real reason we are going to Sirius. So I said 'holiday' as a little trick. To get you excited. Now I will tell you the truth and you can say no if you want to."
Neil: Sneaky bugger. Of course no one's going to back out now.
"What I didn't tell you is that there is big trouble on Sirius. Something very strange, very evil, is growing there. It's eating the heart of Sirius. So we are going to help, like Sirius helps Earth."
I'm not impressed. Nevertheless, like every misfit junkie rebel I ever knew, I had my childhood dream ... One day the aliens will come. They will find me. I will climb aboard their saucer and fly away from this horrible place.
I must say though, I never imagined the aliens would be a silver fox, a green dog, and a little corduroy bear.
Whatever. We're all in now.
Nice of Winnie to warn us that there's some kind of trouble waiting for us when we get there. But the thing with trouble far away is, it's far away. I imagine all those young Anzacs, leaving the farm and heading off to Egypt, to Gallipoli. What a grand adventure it must have all seemed. Before the slaughter.
Anyway.
We all piled aboard the saucer and we were off.
Hi ho.
Marie Curie: Hi ho indeed! I'm strapped in, ready for take off... and ready for the next instalment!
Neil: Yeah MC. Bout time we had a great big adventure. 😎
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
