Once upon a time there lived a man who didn’t believe in Santa Claus since his childhood. And he had a serious reason for such a misbelief. When he was the age of five or six he found a teddy bear in his mother’s wardrobe exactly the day before the toy was given to him by “Santa” in the supermarket. You may easily find this place if visit Valerian’s ancestral home by occasion and walk from it straight ahead till the next corner and turn to the right. The ancient building is standing over there and the shop continuously arranges Christmas sales and Santa’s meet and greet every year in December. And a lot of boys and girls become happy after visiting the supermarket, when they get their turn to sit in Santa Claus’s lap, whisper their wills to the bearded man’s ear and get a pretty toy from his hands. As for Valerian, he feels a bitter taste of lies and nostalgia every time when he has a chance to come by.
Valerian began his career on his home planet Earth, of course. He had just finished the school for gifted children with the view of becoming an astronaut, when he met his first “true love” in a small provincial town Miseraburg. Her name was Paulina and she was adorably beautiful. The same naive and gullible she was. But Valerian was also too young and credulous, so he fell in love and postponed his high school attendance for the nearest twelve years. Just then he realized that a family life was not a subscription to free catering and regular sex but a very expensive ticket to hard jobs and sleepless nights. Valerian was working shifts while Paulina was pregnant every four years and staying home. Neither her idleness, nor children were a problem, but her addiction to shopping. Paulina visited all sales within the radius of fifty miles from home every weekend. She was a well-known customer of every shop in the town. That woman randomly ordered items from various TV-shops lying on the sofa, from different on-line magazines sitting at the hairdressers’, and only distant-space-traders were not paid with her attention because she had been skipping IT-lessons at school and could not use any modern communication technologies. And guess who paid her bills? Oh, you are so smart to say that it was her husband!
When Valerian sold most of his gold medals obtained for intelligent and sport achievements, his mother’s jewelries, his valuable Birthday and Christmas presents, his collection of bikes and finally the pearl of the range – Harley Davidson Liberator 1942 – he decided to stop that insanity and divorced. By any means his first wife got a house, children and alimonies, and a prisoner of household received a testimonial of freedom in common parlance called the Bill of divorce. With that certificate and some survived elements of his brilliant portfolio Valerian left continental Miseraburg for London. For the last two hundred years, the whole island has been used as an academic area for astronauts training; and challengers from all over the globe, full of hopes and ambitions, arrive over there for studying at a couple of dozens specialized universities. Valerian had a job to become a student of the Trans Galaxy High School wherein he spent another six years of his miserable life.
Except for the days of practice on board the real spaceship based in the territory of the university, their everyday routine was rather dull. Boys and girls could have classes and afterward activities only within the limits of their prescribed schooling premises and residual campuses. Due to the huge distances, it was quite a problem to manage travelling to other academic divisions. They simply did not have enough time. As for flights, the air transportation is strictly regulated both because of safety requirements and fuel price. So, after some period of study they were all bored with each other and dreamt of the world outside the borders. Perhaps that was the main reason for young people to spend considerably much time in social networks and dating sites. By the final academic session, most of them had probable friends, partners and acquaintances throughout the galaxy of Milky Way.
After graduating from the Trans Galaxy High School, Valerian set off from Earth to his first place of job on Urania, a smaller planet in the nearby star system with rather more primitive social state than Earth. There on him found a girl, after their preliminary acquaintance by means of Love Site, and immediately started the second matrimonial adventure. Laurina was full of enthusiasm and secrets. In the beginning, Valerian admired her mysterious manner to hide something behind. He had to admit that every person of over thirty years old might have some snows of yesteryears, and never asked questions hoping that she would do the same. But sooner or later it should have been happened according to the Murphy’s Law and it did. Laurina as the representative of a more primitive Uranian society had a strong desire to move to the Earth. The inhabitants of our planet will surely ask “Why?” because we know all the problems of overpopulated postindustrial world persuading us to leave the homestead. But you should be born beyond to understand that for Uranians the Earth is attractive with its supermarkets, facilities, entertainments, etc. and a highly esteemed lifestyle. Well, after four years of their marriage, Laurina got a new passport with the terrestrial citizenship and after a while began to spill the beans.
One day, when Valerian came home after a twelve-hour watch and sat at the dinner table after saying “Hello!” to his three children on Earth by video-phone, Laurina opened the kitchen door and let two teenage boys and a girl in the dining room. Without giving any background information, she introduced her three kids to the “husband”, declared that she was pregnant with the fourth one, announced that her baby’s father is not Valerian and claimed for a divorce. To say that he was surprised is to say nothing. After a month or two Laurina departed from Urania together with her children and her real husband, who, by the way, was patiently waiting during the whole period of his wife’s marital affair for the particular result. So much disappointed, Valerian begged his boss for a mission on a faraway planet, and at last got it on the Selenia. Soon after the transfer he met a nice local woman with a poetic name Landila. She was widowed and lost all her family members, one by one: a father, a brother, the only son, a mother and a cat. Landila canalized all her energies for pleasing Valerian because he had become her last love. After five happy years together, she died of cancer, and he dispersed her ashes over the biggest river of Selenia according to her last will.
Devastated with the mourning, Valerian decided to move further through the galaxy. This time he leased a big ship, bought a patent of merchandiser, entered the parameters of the least studied sector on the map and started his way as an independent entrepreneur by chance. When he dove out of hyperspace Valerian checked his ship’s position first of all. He found himself in the vicinity of a big planet Gorgia. The mankind has already known about this pristine world for approximately two hundred years, but the Gorginians were taking such strong efforts in preventing interplanetary relations that an applicant could visit their sector only with the special permission. Valerian had no idea how to get the one, so he heaved aback and prepared himself for a long waiting. And it was absolutely easy for him to do nothing because, after all, in his forty-five he felt lost and castaway, and had no plans for future.
She appeared from nowhere; at least Valerian got such a strange opinion about the red-haired woman watching him through the viewing port. Wait a minute, how is it possible? He is half sitting in the chair inside a spaceship, and she is floating without any helmet or spacesuit in the empty space off-board!
- It’s a vision, an illusion or a dream. - Valerian murmured these words without any purpose, just to awake himself if necessary.
Drafting for a couple of days made him lazy, the gravity unit was off at uselessness, so he unfastened himself from the chair and swam to the window to check his experiences. There was nothing outside but the darkness of cosmos. Valerian reached the control board and switched the artificial gravity on. Then he took a tour to the engineering compartment, electronics chamber and the kitchen block, and returned to the captain’s bridge with the container of food and drinks. This type of modern ships is totally automated and a single pilot may operate a machine of a Big Apple size just by checking the controls and computer's reports. Valerian got cozy in the low and soft armchair, put the tray on the small table and opened the lid of the catering container. Under the lid there was a pressed plastic plate with two warm toasts in forms covered with layers of butter, slices of ham, lettuce and cheese. Hot coffee in a closed thermo-cup, cherry tomatoes held by plastic ribbons and some orange candies for dessert gave the impression of almost home comfort.
- I know that it will be possible only on a firm ground but I would like to have some beer and a shrimp cocktail. – Valerian said thoughtfully with addressing to no one.
The next moment a high glass full of cool yellow drink was lying in his hand and an ice-cream glass with pink shrimps in creamy sauce was staying on the table. Valerian got stuck of amazement. The first thought in his head that appeared at that moment was as absurd as the biblical story of the world creation. When he was a boy and laughed at “Santa Claus fairy-tales” his father insisted that once upon a time there lived such a person. Maybe the name of Santa Claus was not correct and invented by people, maybe the period of Santa’s existence was different from the fable one, but according to his father the phenomenon was real many centuries ago. The bush telegraph says that an old man was hiding himself in the North Pole all year round, catching the thoughts of children all over the world and collecting the materialized things in his premises, and then leaving his shelter after the day of winter solstice with the purpose to deliver all the gifts to certain addresses and to make the dreams of clear minds come true. And he travelled by some strange means of transport that most of public considered to be a flying sledge drawn by a harnessed deer. The fable says that Santa became weaker and weaker and disappeared one day because the children of the Earth stopped believing in him. But Valerian’s father made a supposition that the man called Santa Claus had just become too old and died of natural reasons.
All right, nice story, nice hypothesis and nice explanation of the materialized wish, but what really have lain under them? The next moment something or somebody knocked in Valerian’s head and asked the permission to come in. He nodded and saw the red-haired woman again.
- Don’t be afraid, - she said voicelessly. – I am not an illusion; I am quite a material creature of the material world. I live on the Gorgia planet, and my nature is rather different from yours. But you have already noticed it. My race got in touch with humans thousands of years ago when we were as curious as your people are at the moment. The epoch of space travelling gave us great experiences and also vast disappointments. By the Planet Council’s degree the Distant Space Research Program was closed, and we reduced or interrupted contacts to the less developed worlds. You have appeared at the traverse of Gorgia by chance, but don’t forget that any eventuality is a particular case of regularity.
- How can I get permission for visiting your planet? – It seemed that Valerian could handle himself and started to generate reasonable synopses.
- I think that you don’t need any permission as well as visiting the surface. – The woman became firmer than before, - It is so dangerous for the type of consciousness that you have. Human brain is fragile; you may even die down here. And for sure you will lose your mind and join those few desperate creatures who ignored the warning and landed a century or two ago. You consider them lost in mission.
- You may say that I’m a loser, but I’m not the only one. – He smiled because he found his joke to be funny. - You are so beautiful, what is your name, girly? – A male woke up in Valerian and changed the priority of desires.
- My name is Tartara. It’s the closest variant to the pronunciation in human language. I belong to the race that possesses the ability of controlling over material world and immaterial forms. So, you have to be careful with your wishes. – Tartara changed the details of her looks several times during the period of conversation.
- I try but can’t help thinking of you as of a beautiful woman. – saying this Valerian was both sincere and rafferty. The thoughts about his three wives appeared in his confused mind at random. – I was disappointed, betrayed and devastated by sadness, and I set off looking for relief. So seeing you here is not just a surprise for me but a chance of having love and happiness. With all my heart I wish you to be here and stay with me!
Oh, you can’t suspect him saying that on purpose! But a spoken word takes its flight! In a twinkling of an eye she materialized inside the compartment of the spaceship. Valerian had no time to understand what he had done. Really beautiful red-haired woman out of flesh and blood was staying in the center of the room, exactly at a point of his eyes’ view. She seemed to be steady and balanced; no signs of irritation, anger or fear, as if it could happen to her any moment. Tartara looked around and gave him a brilliant smile.
- Well, it’s not a problem for me. – She demonstrated her voice at last and it occurred to be pleasant and singing. – But you must make up your mind.
- I… I am pleased, I am happy… I don’t know what to say. Will you marry me? - Valerian could hardly control his tongue.
- I think I will. - And it seemed to him that she was ready to hear such a type of a question. - I had a vision recently and now I am sure about its meaning. I accept your proposal for several reasons. First, you need me. Second, I can’t say “No” according to the tradition of my people. And third, your mission corresponds to my destiny and it includes rendering hope and belief.
It occurred so easy to find areas of similar interest, and things in common in spite of the fact that a man and a woman belong to such different worlds and races. They were talking all night long. Tartara listed the arguments pro keeping her abilities in secret and contra advertising the Christmas magic back. Humans are not bad but they are human. Some people need protection from themselves because they generate “stinking” thoughts. Such a creature as Tartara may be deemed by them either as an angel, or as a demon, which is both not correct from any point of view. Valerian agreed on her principal ideas, developed an action plan and set the computer on the route back to Earth. The estimated time of flight will let them achieve the mother planet at the end of October. They still will have enough weeks, days and hours for giving away a spaceship, renting a plot in one of the distant Arctic islands, placing the house as far as possible from scientific bases and marine routes and materializing children’s wishes and their own production needs before the scheduled delivery of merry presents begins. And each family wherein kids still believe in Santa Clause, Weihnachtsmann, Saint-Nicolas, Babbo Natale, Joulupukki and Father Frost will be pleasantly rewarded for their love and patience that are remaining the most important features in the overpopulated postindustrial world.
Since then every year Valerian makes a crazy round-the-world tour by fabulous Father Christmas sledge of the latest design to fulfill the delivery of children’s presents that have been created by his mysterious wife according to the infants’ wishes. They even have their own daughter that inherited the incredible abilities of her alien mother. But this will be quite a different story. Be careful with your thoughts and don’t forget to make a wish when the time comes! (2019)