upon the carpet。 'What of you？' she asked。 The King shrugged。
'Back to 1958； I guess。' His voice lacked any enthusiasm。
'You going to take the draft； then？' Rex posed the question。
'Can't see that I have a lot of choice。 This was all preordained； wasn't it？' Christeen nodded。
''Fraid so chief；' the Time Sprout agreed。
'The thing that really peeves me；' said Elvis； 'is that I e across real two…dimensional in all this。 No depth of character； d'you know what I mean？'
'But you never had any real depth of character； chief。 You're one shallow son of a gun。'
'Guess so；' Elvis shrugged。 'Rich and pretty； though。'
'So it can't all be bad； can it； chief？ And anyway； sprouts can't really travel through time。 I'm just a figment of your imagination。 All this is just an illusion for you。 You won't remember any of it； once you're back in fifty…eight。'
'What a bummer。 I gotta do all that bad stuff again and no…one ever gets to know what a hero I really was。'
'We know；' said Christeen。
'Yeah； I guess you do。 Uh； and just a couple of things before I go。' The look of enlightenment was once more upon the King's face。
'Oh yes？' said Rex； who had seen it before。
'Right；' said Elvis。 'Now； if that cat Jovil has spent the last fifty years in cold storage； how could he also have been on Phnaargos when they sent him back in time to get me？ And if the Dalai had been all those other people through history； how e he never knew who I was？ All that SUN baloney。 And I'll have you know that Heartbreak Hotel was recorded on RCA。 So that SUN disc is a phoney； which probably means that all this is a。。。'
'e on； chief；' chirruped the sprout。 'We really must be going。。。' And in a flash they were。
Rex and Christeen were left alone。 Above them the pyramid's pinnacle broke away and roared off into the sky。 'Big boobies；' said Fergus。 'I'm sorry to keep on； but it's something of a fixation。'
'To boldly go；' Jovil told him； 'where no Phnaarg has ever gone before。'
'If the disc is a fake and Jovil couldn't be in two places at once；' said Rex。 'Doesn't this mean that all this。。。' Christeen smiled up at him。 She was the most beautiful woman who had ever lived。 'Oh； nothing；' said Rex。
'Kiss me； you fool；' said God's only daughter。
Planet Earth rolled on in ever decreasing circles about the sun。 But everything was really going to be all right this time； wasn't it？
'I can't eat this；' came the voice of Deathblade Eric。 'This fellow's got green blood and he smells like stale cabbage。'
'So he does；' Rambo agreed。 'Now there's a thing。'
'And what about me？' Gloria asked。
'Buggered if I know dear。' Ms Vrillium admired herself in the mirror。 'I expect we'll find out in the sequel。 All this is really far too good to be true。'
And it was。
THE END
1