Nate Armstrong and the Death Ray of Sultron

by Mark Lawson

  Nate sensed that he was walking deeper and deeper underground as he moved slowly down towards the large, cathedral like area ahead of him.

  As he walked further into the cave Nate could see that glassy floor gave way to dusty soil. Nate bent down and scratched away the dirt beneath his feet. A few inches below the surface he hit rock, the same cold, glassy rock that lined the entrance to the cave.

  “This rock must run along the whole of the cave: floor, walls and ceiling”, thought Nate. “It must act like insulation, preventing the heat from the planet’s surface from penetrating into the space below.”

  Nate was quite correct. The cave itself was a giant, underground bubble, insulated against Sultron’s unbearable heat. The glassy material that Nate had observed on the walls, ceiling and floor was actually a great sheet of super-heated, compressed carbon, or, as those on Earth more commonly called it, a diamond. It was like a giant tube, ballooning out in the middle in the chamber that Nate had just entered, and narrowing to a few metres in diameter where it met Sultron’s surface.

  The centre of the diamond tube was massive. The dim light coming from the translucent ceiling and walls allowed Nate to see that the whole chamber opened up before descending deeper into the bowels of the planet. In the distance, nearly two kilometers ahead of him, Nate could just see the faint, orange glow of what he assumed was the opposite wall of the cave.

  As Nate walked deeper and deeper into the cave he noticed that the orange patches on the walls became smaller and smaller, eventually disappearing from sight. Grey rocks that had initially only dotted the walls now dominated the sides of the cave. They rose up from the floor on either side, stretching towards the glowing, orange ceiling.

  The soil beneath Nate’s feet was now soft and rich. Nate felt a drop of water fall onto his shoulder. He looked up only to feel another droplet hit him in the face. The air had become more humid and was now condensing on the ceiling of the cave, watering the area with a kind of perpetual, summer shower.

  As the cave opened out, the domed ceiling stretched out wider and wider above the whole expanse, bathing everything in the same soft, orange glow. Nate’s eyes had now adjusted to the low light sufficiently to allow him to see further into the cave. Before him lay a lush, green rainforest. Smaller plants surrounded the edge of forest, leading into a dense jungle dominated by tall, thick trees. The walls of the cave were covered in thick moss, which hung down in veils to the floor beneath.

  Within the forest, the air was humid and dank. Nate struggled to breathe as the moisture in the atmosphere filled his lungs.

  He pushed through the thick vines and knee height foliage that spread their large green leaves as far as they could to catch the faint light that fell from the ceiling above. The trees loomed high above Nate’s head, forming a canopy that provided an additional filter for the light falling to the floor of the cave.

  Nate reached out his hand to touch the trunk of a nearby tree. It felt smooth and damp. He looked up into its branches and saw what looked like a yellow fruit hanging just above his head. Suddenly Nate realised how hungry he was. He jumped up, catching the lowest branch and swinging his body up into the tree. Nate picked a piece of the fruit and hungrily ate. It was sweet and filling. As he buried his head in the fruit a large, red insect, like a centipede, ran up the trunk of the tree, along a branch and into the leaves and out of sight. Full and satisfied, Nate fell to the forest floor, wondering what he would do next or where he should go.

  “Perhaps if I climb to the top of one of these trees I may be able to use the holograph compass to get my bearings,” thought Nate. He had to find a way out of the cave and into the compound as soon as possible. Every minute that he spent in the cave was a minute more that the Lisaurians had to build their deadly weapon. Looking around, Nate saw a particularly thick tree trunk. He swung himself up onto the lower branches and began to climb.

  Nate climbed effortlessly up the great tree. He made fast progress, aided by the suit that flooded his muscles with energy. As Nate reached the top of the tree, he broke out through the canopy into the brighter light above.

  The ceiling of the cave was still high above him. Mosses and vines lined the walls of the cave on every side of the dense forest. Nate thought that he could see small caves behind the mossy growth on the distant walls. He squinted into the semi-darkness in an effort to confirm whether they were caves or just shadows cast on the walls from the dim light above. They were caves, Nate was sure of it.

  Nate reached into the pocket of his suit and removed his holograph compass. He held it in front of him and looked intently at the instrument. The screen burst to life. Suddenly the air around him was filled with a 3-dimensional holograph image of the cave. The images spun around Nate’s head as the compass aligned itself with his perspective.

  As he stared at the image, Nate could clearly make out the cave’s entrance. He could see the passage through which he had entered the main chamber and he could see the plants and trees that he had pushed his way through to get to the place where he now stood.

  The enormity of the subterranean cavern struck Nate yet again. The strange forest was huge – it was at least two kilometers long and almost as wide. Nate’s attention was caught by an unusual cylindrical structure jutting out from the top of the stoney cliff on a distant wall. The cylinder entered the chamber through the ceiling and traveled, at an angle of about 45 degrees, until it disappeared into the nearby cave wall.

  Nate wondered where Dargon’s facility was in relation to the cave. Responding to Nate’s inquiry the image of the forest shrunk, revealing details of what lay above the surface. He could clearly see Dargon’s ship and the surrounding buildings perched almost directly above the far side of the cave. He could also make out the giant, black, insulating barriers that formed a dome over the whole mining operation.

  Hope welled in Nate’s chest as he realised that the strange cylindrical structure that he had seen on the holograph was, in fact, the edge of one of the ventilation shafts, running from the main mining bore up to the surface of the planet, just inside the dome. If he could break into the shaft, he should have a clear passage to the ship. He could continue with his mission after all.

  Nate determined to make his way to the mine shaft as quickly as possible. He had no time to waste. The fate of the Universe may lie in the minutes or second that he was able to save on his way across the cave to the ventilation shaft. The holograph image again expanded revealing the layout of the cave. The cylinder lay directly opposite the hole through which he had entered the cave. It was more than a kilometre away from where Nate was now standing and, at its lowest point, some three quarters of the way up the side of the far wall. With all the vines and moss covering the walls it would be a hard climb, but he could do it.

  Nate was preparing to close his holograph compass when he noticed movement in the image just behind where he was standing above the canopy. Almost simultaneously, Nate heard a high pitched screech that nearly threw him off balance.

  Nate glanced over his shoulder and froze in fear. A number of winged creatures were swooping down towards him from the ceiling of the cave. As they approached, Nate was able to see more of them in the dim light. They were the size and shape of large bats, about a metre across and a metre and a half long. They flew in the air with slow and almost effortless movements, their wings stretching out from either side of their muscular bodies. At the tip of each wing a shiny black spur extended out some 10 or 15 centimetres. The animals had long, slender tails that ended in a stinger mounted menacingly on the end. Their feet were tucked into the body to provide a more aerodynamic shape, but even in flight Nate could see that the powerful legs ended in razor sharp talons that could slash a boy like him into ribbons.

  The creatures had faces that caused an immediate chill to run down Nate’s spine. Beady little black eyes and an upturned nose that sniffed at the air as they flew towards him. the face was dominated by a wide mouth set with row upon row of sharp teeth, runn
ing not only just inside the wide mouth, but all the way back to the throat. It was clear that this animal was a hunter and was used to tearing its prey to pieces before feasting upon its kill. At either side of the fearsome mouth sat two sharp spurs that the beast used to secure its prey when feasting. Atop the head sat two very large ears, which swung around as it flew, listening intently for its screeches to bounce back from distant objects, telling it what lay ahead.

  Nate could feel his head almost exploding from the sound of their high pitched screeches. “Helmet,” he shouted. “Helmet! Helmet!” But there was no response from his suit. He grasped at his ears with his hands in an effort to block out the piercing, immobilising sound. Nate made a grab at his collar in an effort to pull his suit over his head, but the paralyzing noise prevented his hands from gaining a firm hold on the material. The animals got closer and closer. Nate stood almost motionless atop the tree.

  The hideous bats swooped down upon Nate as they made their first pass. The creatures hunted in packs. One or two of them always made the first approach to an intended victim in order to draw blood. If the smell was to their liking the pack would move in for the kill.

  One of the creatures caught Nate on the right cheek with its talon, cutting a deep gash into his skin. Blood began to flow down Nate’s face and neck.

  As if worked into a frenzy by the smell of the blood, the animals began to fly even more erratically. They flapped and scrambled over each other, almost jostling to be the first to sink their gruesome teeth into Nate’s body. Nate stood motionless. His muscles twitched in a vain attempt to defend himself. Although he wanted to raise his hands and beat off the creatures, his arms wouldn’t move. He wanted to climb down the tree to safety, but the muscles in his legs wouldn’t move either. Frenzied screeches echoed around the chambers and bore deep into Nate’s aching head. He clawed at his ears as the creatures dove down towards him, their teeth bared for the kill.

  Chapter 13: Not yet out of the woods

  On their second pass one of the creatures catapulted into Nate’s chest, sinking its talons deep into his suit. The force of the impact nearly knocked Nate from the branch on which he stood. As it heaved its body towards Nate’s throat it sunk the sharp spurs on the end of its wings into Nate’s shoulders, clawing its way up his body. Pain shot through Nate as the spurs, like long daggers, sliced into the suit and into his flesh beneath. The creature raised its face level with Nate’s and sniffed at him. The rows of teeth and the large throat opened up to attack. The spurs on either side of the hideous mouth twitched in anticipation of a feast.

  Another beast had landed on Nate’s back. Its warm breath and shrill screams told Nate that it also was anxious to sink its teeth into his flesh.

  The creatures continued their high pitched chorus as Nate struggled to maintain his balance on the branch. The sound pierced Nate’s head, causing him to wince in pain. He wanted to fight off the creatures, but he couldn’t, the sound was too intense.

  Why hadn’t his suit responded when he asked for the helmet, and why had it stopped fueling his muscles with energy? It had torn like paper when the first of the creatures had attacked him. It was as though it too had given up the fight. Shaking himself back to his senses, Nate realised that he had to do something, or he would die in this strange forest.

  Nate released his grip on his ears and, mustering all the strength that he could find, lashed out with a closed fist at the animal on his chest. He missed. As his arm swung weakly over the animal’s head its high pitched squeals stabbed deep into his ears and his brain. Nate looked into the beast’s cold, black eyes, shivered and swung a second time, striking it on the side of the head. Surprised, the animal let go of Nate’s suit and went flying across the treetops. Nate reached over his shoulders and grabbed the sides of the second beast’s head. He flung the creature away from him. For the moment, Nate was free of the creatures, but it was only a matter of time before they would regroup and launch another attack. Nate clasped his hands to his ears to shield them from the piercing screams of the creatures as they massed above him, readying to dive down for another strike.

  Nate realised that he had no chance of surviving if he remained out in the open above the forest canopy. He couldn’t continue to defend himself against their vicious attacks. Their loud screeches ripped into Nate’s brain as the smell of blood in the air continued to work the creatures into a feeding frenzy.

  Summoning all the energy that he had left, Nate threw himself from the branch upon which he was standing. He fell and fell, crashing through branch after branch as the world around him blurred into ribbons of light and darkness. Nate’s limbs were tired and slow. Even turning his head to look for a passing branch to reach out to required a superhuman effort.

  Nate knew he had to stop his fall or he would be killed upon impact with the ground. He tried and tried, but he still could not move his arms. His attempts to catch the branches as they flashed by would have been comical had his circumstances not been so dire. Nate tried desperately to move his hands and reach out for something, anything. Great beads of sweat formed on Nates’s face as he wrestled against frozen muscles.

  As Nate fell past the last of the branches he closed his eyes expecting to crash into the undergrowth and the hard, clay forest floor.

  Seconds passed. Nate closed his eyes tighter and tighter. “Where was the bone shattering thud?” he thought, “Why haven’t I felt the impact with the ground? Is it really painless to die from a fall like that?”

  Slowly Nate opened his eyes. The ground was only inches from his nose. Nate shook his head in an attempt to restore his vision as he swung, suspended just above the hard, forest floor, his legs in the air and his arms out to the side of his body.

  Nate looked back up the tree in the direction from which he had just fallen. As he looked he saw the left leg of his suit, stretched out well beyond the place where his left foot would have been, wrapped around one of the lower braches some two or three metres above the ground.

  “You caught me,” laughed Nate. “You caught me.” He was barely able to contain his elation and his surprise at being alive.

  “Of course,” came the simple reply.

  “You caught me,” Nate repeated, still overjoyed that his suit had come to the rescue yet again. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure Nathaniel Armstrong.”

  Nate paused. “Why couldn’t you hear me when we were being attacked?” he asked, trying not to sound accusing .” Why couldn’t you form a helmet over my head? And why couldn’t you fight off the creatures when they sank their talons into you – it was as though you were just a normal suit?”

  “It seems that the creatures that attacked us feed on all kinds of energy,” replied the suit. “They eat flesh, but they also absorb other forms of energy, including the telepathic energy that connects us. I simply couldn’t hear you. I suspect that is why you were not able to sense them coming towards you – they absorbed the telepathic energy that normally allows you to see things before they happen. As they got closer I couldn’t even move. I couldn’t react when they sunk their claws into me – I was defenceless. Fortunately, I regained my strength just before we hit the ground.”

  “Thank you,” Nate repeated. He dropped to the forest floor, shook his head in an effort to reorient himself and slowly got to his feet. He pressed the wound on his cheek in an effort to stem the flow of blood.

  Nate took out his holograph-compass again. He flicked it open and the same 3D image spread out before his eyes. He was determined to consult the compass regularly – if there were carnivorous creatures in the air above the forest that could absorb his telepathic energy, then what was to say that there were not equally menacing creatures at ground level ready to make a meal out of him.

  Nate noted the general direction to the ventilation shaft he’d discovered earlier. The image then shifted to reveal the area below the canopy. Nate could see the trees and the plants in great detail as he calculated the route that he was to take to hi
s destination. A green beam of light shot out from his location on the map into the 3D representation of the jungle ahead of him. The beam was showing Nate how to get to where he needed to be.

  Nate set off between the trees in the direction indicated by the compass. He pushed through the undergrowth and the vines that hung down from the tall, strong trees. Nate was very careful, however, to stop every few minutes to consult the holograph compass. He noted his position in the forest, the path that he was meant to take to his destination and (most importantly) he checked for any movement at or around his location. He did not want to be on the menu if another hungry creature was roaming the forest. He had an important mission to complete. He had to make it to the ventilation shaft, and fast, and into Dargon’s compound.

  After about half an hour of repeating his ritual of walking a short distance, stopping and consulting the map and adjusting his course accordingly, Nate came to a small clearing near a tree with a particularly thick trunk. As he consulted the compass Nate noticed a small, dark mass moving along the forest floor towards his present location.

  Fearing the worst Nate dove behind a rock. He squatted there, fearing what horrible beast might be coming his way. Nate waited and waited, peering out over the top of the rock as often as he dared. He still had the holograph compass open. As he looked at it he realised that the dark mass could now be little more than a few metres away from him. He hurriedly closed the compass and ducked down behind the rock.

  After a short while Nate heard the bushes at the edge of the clearing begin to rustle. It didn’t sound to Nate like a great beast had emerged from the forest, the rustling was too quiet for that. He quickly stole a glance over the top of the rock. He was relieved to see a herd of harmless looking rodents, barely a foot high, run through the undergrowth and into the clearing. The rat-like creatures were covered in thick, grey fur. They scurried along, falling over the vines that lay on the forest floor, and occasionally over each other, as they ran across the clearing and into the undergrowth on the other side.