End Boss

by Bryan Nyaude

  “Okay, let’s go,” I yelled at Ed, grabbing his arm in order to get his attention.

  What on earth was going on? The activation of the school’s orbital gun only meant that something dangerous was happening. We both bolted for the door and were hit by a wave of smoke, coming from somewhere within the building. Strange! The fire alarms didn’t go off to warn us about the fire which was rather puzzling. We got back in the room and closed the door back, to prevent the fire from coming into our room. An entire year of research was lined on the wall pads of our room and it would be a shame if all this work was destroyed.

  “Forget the work,” Ed growled at me, yanking me away from my data pads. “Our safety comes first, we can always do this another day, but we only live once.”

  Darn! He made a good point, but to just leave all this work behind and escape was something truly unbearable, and besides we were trapped in the room.

  “We have to jump,” I finally spoke, changing my demeanor.

  I realized that some of my work had been transferred to the school’s main system, which I could access anytime. All would not be lost as long as I had a com pad and my password. I could access my work from anywhere on the planet.

  “It’s probably 40 meters to the bottom, but I believe we can do it.”

  I didn’t sound really reassuring, since I didn’t honestly believe we could do it. A jump from this height was lethal—unless one of us had bio-enhancements done to our legs.

  “What! Are you crazy?” Ed screamed at me from the top of his lungs. “We might as well just wait in here and die slowly!”

  “Out of the question!” I yelled at him.

  Doing that would only make all my efforts to getting my PhD absolutely worthless. Abruptly, I had a brilliant idea, but it was risky. I went towards the hologram monitor and pushed it away from the wall, looking for an opening somewhere within the wall. I found it; however, it was covered with cords and wires which made it difficult to go through it. I began pulling the cords carelessly, not worrying about electrical shock, until it looked almost safe to go through.

  “You go first,” Ed backed away like a chicken.

  I had to admit, it did look a little unsafe to just waltz in. Anything, at this point, could happen. I went in first and signaled Ed to trail behind me, as we followed a path leading straight to the electric and ventilation system.

  “Check your com pad and try to see if you can find a signal,” I said, speaking to Ed, “That way, we can signal them to our position.”

  “Okay,” Ed replied quickly and took out his com pad from his pocket. I could hear him type in something on his com pad as I crawled slowly, making my way towards the ducts.

  “I got a signal,” he said, sounding excited. “They are saying something about a creature inside our school, wreaking havoc. All the guards within the vicinity are all headed towards it in order to buy time, to allow the students to escape safely. It looks like we are on our own for now.”

  Hmm! A creature was in our school and all the guards were fighting it? I mean, just one guard would be enough to take out any creature, considering the weapons the guards carried. But to activate the school’s orbital gun, and have it fire more than once, meant something was terribly wrong. I had to get out there and see for myself what was truly going on, because I wasn’t buying all this talk for one second. It was probably just some cruel prank my classmates were playing on us. Finally, we reached the end of the tunnel and saw one of the duct fans still spinning. It was spinning too fast for us to just go right through it, so we had to find some way to jam it, but with what? I looked around and saw a loose cord. With my laser pliers, I cut it into two and jammed the other half into the fans. There was a terrible noise as the lights flickered on and off continuously.

  “You Idiot!” Ed roared, with anger in his voice, “Tell me you didn’t just cut the power grid cord and jam it into the vent’s fan?”

  Oh no! I think that was what happened since all the power went off and the cord glittered with electric sparks. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! What was I thinking when I did that? We heard another loud noise and the ground trembled beneath our feet. The building was beginning to give out as small cracks appeared everywhere. It was only a matter of time before the entire floor gave out, and the whole building collapsed to the ground. With the fan jammed, I went through one of its loophole and reached the other side. Ed followed behind me, and we both hurried towards the other side of the building, scanning for an exit without any sign of fire. By some miracle, we found an empty elevator shaft, leading all the way to the ground. We were very fortunate that the elevator had powered down when the electric grid cord had been cut by me, of course.

  “Let’s go,” I said to Ed, as I jumped on one on the elevator electric cables.

  With no current running through them, the cables were harmless and quite useful as a means to escape. We proceeded down by sliding below, using the smooth surface of the electric cables until we reached the bottom. Once there, I opened the escape vent, near the elevator, and used it to get outside. Phew! As we got outside, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing with my own two eyes. Half the school had been destroyed and the fight was still going on—somewhere behind our dorm building. Seriously, could one creature really be responsible for this much destruction? Honestly, who were they trying to fool? It looked like the after math of one big battle of plasma ballistics. The ground was filled with injured people as smoke was everywhere. Okay, maybe this wasn’t a prank after all. I watched as our dorm building fell right in front of me, like a tall, old tree. From the rubble, I noticed several guards firing their weapons at something. It was really big, blue, and didn’t seem to be affected by their weapons at all. The great creature ravaged through the soldiers like they were toys, destroying buildings in the process. I stood there, watching in silence, with my mouth wide open.

  “What are you still doing here?” the faculty teacher, Miss Manrie, spoke to me, shaking me up. She was a slender, light tan, young woman—ten years my senior, with bright brown eyes that intimidated most of the students to their britches. “Get to your hover vehicle and flee now!”

  She held my shoulder and shook me deeply, knocking some sense back into me. Her lips smirked with anger and a slight sense of fear. She looked back after hearing the creature roar and pushed me away. “Go now.”

  “Okay, I am going,” I responded and slowly moved towards my mobile vehicle. I looked back at her and watched her still signal the other students away from falling buildings. “But what’s going on, Miss Manrie?”

  “No time to explain,” she responded, harshly waving us both away. “You two, flee while you can!”

  We listened and obeyed her instructions as we dropped the subject and dashed for our vehicles.

  “Message me when you get to your house,” Ed said, sliding into his hover vehicle. “I am going to find my girlfriend, she is probably in her dorm.”

  “Okay, Ed,” I said, sincerely, saying goodbye to my friend. “Be careful out there, and get out if it’s too dangerous.”

  “Well, you know me,” Ed laughed and he flew off out of the parking lot, going towards the girls’ dormitory.

  “That’s probably why I’m worried,” I whispered and turned on my vehicle, ready to leave.

  I knew Ed, all too well, to know how reckless and irresponsible he could be at times. I really hoped he wouldn’t do anything stupid, because he was my friend and also my research project partner.

  But still! Why was this all happening now? It just didn’t feel real or I was just refusing to acknowledge the facts in front of me. Before taking off in my vehicle, I looked back one time and noticed the giant blue monster looking back at me. It was so big and frightening; it sent a chill down my spine. I had never seen anything like it before—it wasn’t something normal. I felt like I was seeing something out of a horror movie. The ground collapsed as a huge explosion went off, trapping a lot of people underground. No! I didn’t believe this for a second, but this wa
s happening. Where did the explosion come from and who caused it?

  “No, this can’t be happening,” I screamed and suddenly opened my eyes.

  I was sweating and still unable to move my body at all. It was just a dream and yet all of this had happened in my past. It was the first time I had encountered the terror beast and definitely not my last. Oh! The old man was still working on my armor suit, from the other room, as I lay there motionless. He glanced at me for a second, and didn’t say a thing for some unknown reason. All I saw him do was get back to typing some instructions into the central processor of the machine remodeling my armor. I found it surprising and yet amazing how well he was able to adapt and understand modern day technology, so easily. Just what was he? Possibly, an alien or some sort of genetically enhanced being. Could I really trust him?

  Darn! I didn’t have a choice—seeing as that, he was the only being I could find at the moment, on this desolate planet. But, still, why was I having that dream now? There was something about that time I just couldn’t forget and I didn’t know what exactly. It felt like my dreams were reminding me of something important, something to do with that day I had forgotten. I took one big breath and got frustrated at the thought of not being able to wipe the sweat from my face. I was stuck in this position while my armor was being repaired. After a few minutes, I gave up trying to move my limbs and closed my eyes, hoping to get some real sleep. I could only hope that I would not start dreaming of my past again, because it was starting to get annoying and irritating.

  4

  Something sure smelled good, like roasted beef with extra sauce and garlic? Nope! I think that was just my burned skin I smelled. For some unknown reason, I smelled like tasty food. I opened my eyes slowly, like I had awakened from a long sleep. The light in the room was so bright; it hurt my eyes every time I blinked. I shielded my eyes completely, with my right arm, while getting up slowly. “This is amazing,” I gasped in surprise.

  My movements had become almost fluid, like the armor had become an extension of my own body. Damaged and broken parts had been repaired and replaced with new alloy coverings. The armor was so compact and light, my limbs moved effortlessly like feathers. I slowly turned my head, tweaking my neck back and forth. My muscles cracked loudly like I had been motionless for a long time. I looked up and did not see the alien man in the other room.

  He had gone off somewhere without me. I needed to find him because he had answers I desperately needed. I moved out of the compartment, unhurriedly, stretching my body. Something was still off—there was power still surging through my armor from the nuclear power core. I could feel it still flowing from the central power processor, running deep into every circuit of the suit. Oh well! As long as it was stable, there was nothing to worry about, for now.

  To my surprise, repairs had begun on the interior of the ship. Large metal sheets of platinum had been molded onto the dented walls, sealing the air pressure back in. I yawned out wildly, as I admired the handy work of someone truly brilliant. But who could have done this? Was this the alien man? No, it was impossible for one man to do all this in such a short time.

  Suddenly, I saw people inside the ship; however, this wasn’t the entire crew. They moved silently through the corridors, hurrying across the metal halls, very quickly. Their facial expression was alarming and they showed signs of life in their eyes. I looked at them for a second, wondering what was going on in their minds.

  “Do you know where my father is?” a kid stopped and looked me directly in the eye.

  My mouth opened, but no words came out. I bent down on one knee and thought carefully.

  Honestly, I had no idea how to respond to the kid’s question at all. How would I answer?

  I didn’t even know that a kid was part of the crew; he must have been a son of a crew member or someone who was smuggled onto our ship, when we were still back on earth. But if that was true, then where were they when we first arrived on this planet?

  “I don’t know, but when I do, I will let you know. It will work out somehow.” I smiled with a nod and patted him on the head.

  He smiled faintly, letting tears drip from his dark brown eyes. I got back on my feet and gradually walked away, leaving him to his thoughts.

  My first objective was to find the alien man—every clue I had pointed directly towards him. He was hiding valuable information I desperately needed to acquire. He had fixed my armor, but to what extent? Was I going to die? I had to know something and he held all the playing cards in his hands.

  But where could he be? I thought about it for a few seconds and the only thing that came to me was the main ship’s engine room. After all, this man wanted to leave this planet as soon as possible; so it would make sense that I would find him there. More people walked past me, ignoring me, as they hurried away to unknown compartments. I looked at them for a minute before walking away, to the engine compartment. Once I got there, I looked around the entire compartment and found him among a few remaining engineers that had survived the incident. By some miracle, he was blending in rather well. His skin had taken a dark tan almost like mine. The alien man had even cut and colored his hair to a brown dark color, even changing his eye color. I was taken back for a while. He had completely camouflaged himself like a chameleon. Just what was his end game? I walked cautiously and approached him without drawing any attention to myself.

  “We need to talk,” I bent down and whispered close to his ear.

  He looked up at me and frowned frantically, without ushering a word. The other men didn’t notice our suspicious gestures and continued to work on the engines. He dropped the electric faucet down and got up to follow me. I led him down towards the secret basement beneath engine 14. Cautiously, I looked both ways and listened quietly, to make sure we were alone.

  “Woke up cranky, I see,” the old man snickered in a comment while working on a particle accelerator. “It’s amazing that you made it through that entire process in one piece. Maybe, it’s because your genes mutated, when you first fell into that hole, causing the activation of the massive neon alpha particles you stored in your body.”

  What! I didn’t even have a clue about what he was talking about.

  “What does that mean?” I asked him with a puzzled expression. “If what you say is true, then I am either very fortunate or very unlucky. Just tell me something, old man, what is happening to me?”

  He glanced at me for a few seconds with curious eyes and then burst out loud in laughter, “I don’t really know honestly. You have somehow gained the ability to breathe the outside air like me without the need of an oxygen tank. Your cells and lungs are still for the most part normal. However, it appears you have an extra organ, connected to your heart—which might explain why you can breathe outside. I am sorry, Den, but the process is irreversible; the neon alpha particles bonded permanently with your central nervous system. I can’t say for sure what the long-term side effects will be; however, I will run a few more diagnostics before I can know for sure.”

  Oh! It wasn’t as bad as I thought, but I imagined the worst was still to come in the following weeks. But how and why did I now possess an extra organ? Oh well! There was no sense in thinking more about it, since there was nothing I could do to remove it from my body; plus it had proved useful in keeping me alive through this whole ordeal.

  Out of the blue, he looked shocked as he walked towards one of the engines. “This engine has been tempered with; someone on the inside did this.”

  I walked towards him and observed where he was pointing at. He was absolutely right—there was something jammed inside the engine turbines, something very dense and strong. Who could have done this? A frightening thought suddenly dawned on me. “I’ll be back. I need to check something.”

  I left him where he was standing and got up to the second level, to check the other engines. It was the same thing. All the engines had malfunctioned, due to inside interference. In theory, it explained why the ship had spiraled out of control. If some
thing was jammed into the engines, then there was no way we could have regained control of ship. Honestly, not the answer I was expecting to find. I walked slowly to engine one and bent down to observe the metal thing jammed in the turbine. This was no ordinary metal, it was still pulsing with an unknown energy source. I gripped my hand on it and tried to pull it out. It was stuck hard and it looked like it had been placed there during descent onto the alien planet. Things were definitely not looking too good at the moment. I got up and went back to the alien man, beneath engine 14.

  “Well, you were right, all the engines were sabotaged.”

  “Do you know anyone in your crew who could have done this?”

  “No, I don’t, but I think I will soon enough.”

  He sighed slowly and began walking towards the metal stairs, in silence. He glanced back at the engine, with a face of frustration before continuing up. I couldn’t help, but wonder what he was thinking. He was hiding something and I needed to know what.

  “Wait! I have to ask you something.”

  “Can it wait? I have to get back to work.”

  “No, it can’t, now listen carefully. You have something I want and I need it now.”

  “And what is it?”

  “Answers!”

  He laughed and began to walk upstairs, ignoring me completely. I guess diplomacy wasn’t my area of expertise. I quickly took out my pistol and pointed it directly at him. The alien man stopped moving after hearing the safety go off. “You don’t want to do this, kid.”

  “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

  “I see,” he turned his head and walked back towards me. “What do you want to know?”

  “Who were those people who kidnapped my crew,” I growled at him, pointing the gun at his chest cautiously.

  He didn’t answer. His eyes looked cold and dark like the deep abyss. I detected no ill intent towards me written on his face. There was something rather odd and strange about the way he was standing. I was no expert at body language, but I somehow knew to tread carefully around him.