“I understand,” said Kalith. “But time limited.”
“Limited? How?”
“Invisitude need help. Perhaps your help.”
If Zheng had seemed excited before, now she was ecstatic. “Of course. Anything, anything at all.”
“But first,” said Anderson carefully, “we need to get you out of this cage.”
Zheng let Anderson help her up. The two of them slowly left the machine. Zheng was a little unsteady on her feet, and she leaned heavily against Anderson as they walked.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” asked Anderson.
Zheng nodded, but she looked pale.
“What happened to you? How did you end up in there?”
“The gateway led us to some caves.”
“We came the same way,” said Anderson.
“What about the explosives? Did he destroy the gateway?”
“Yes, we made it through just before they went off. How did you get here?”
“He brought me through another gateway. Captain, he seemed to know exactly where he was going.”
“Like he’s been here before?” asked Glitch.
“That’s impossible,” said Anderson. “The gateway was dormant when we discovered it, and it’s been guarded ever since. No one apart from the survey team has been through.”
Doctor Zheng shrugged. “He knew to bring me here, and he knew how to start that machine.”
Glitch ran his fingers through his hair and let out a deep breath.
Zheng looked at Glitch and frowned. “You’re Dwayne Mitchell. The one who wrote about the aliens.”
It was a statement rather than a question, but Glitch nodded anyway.
“Such nonsense,” said Zheng. “I find it hard to believe my fellow judges voted for it.”
Glitch blushed. “I… errm… prefer to be called… Glitch.”
“Glitch?” said Zheng, her voice tinged with contempt. Apparently the effects of the machine were wearing off.
“Y-yes.”
Zheng let out a little snort and turned away from him. She took another drink of water from the canteen and returned her attention to Kalith. The floor shook again, and a rumbling sound came from somewhere deep beneath the room.
“I apologize,” said Kalith. “Time is passing.”
“I’m sorry. Kalith,” said Doctor Zheng, “we’re wasting your time with our mundane chatter. You said you needed our assistance?”
“Yes. Invisitude require help. Kalith open gateway. Kalith guide discovery.”
“You helped us find the gateway? How?”
“Provided evidence. Clues.”
Questions flooded Glitch’s mind. Things like “How the hell did you do that?” and “Does that mean you’ve been to Earth?”
“So now we’re here,” said Anderson. “How can we help you?”
“I will show.”
Without waiting for a response, Kalith moved toward the door she’d come through. It opened as she got near, and she led Glitch, Anderson, and Zheng outside. The door opened onto a corridor made of polished metal. Harsh white lights ran along the ceiling, creating the sterile feel of a hospital but without the chemical tang of disinfectant.
Kalith turned right. Again Glitch was struck by the alien’s strange, floating movements. They had a hypnotic quality to them; he couldn’t stop looking. A short way down the corridor, they reached a door. It slid open as Kalith approached, and she led them inside.
Glitch had expected another corridor on the other side of the door, or another lab. Instead, they found themselves in a circular, domed room, well over two hundred feet across. The dome seemed to be made of a single piece of perfectly formed glass. Outside, the sky was icy blue. Only a handful of wispy white clouds marred the otherwise uniform expanse. Glitch got the distinct impression he was inside a giant snow globe. It wouldn’t have surprised him if the room had suddenly been picked up and shaken.
There was a low rumbling from somewhere beneath the room, and Glitch tensed. But no giant hands reached out of that near-perfect sky. Nor did the glass shatter, slicing them to shreds, which was the other disaster scenario Glitch’s imagination conjured up.
The room was filled with dozens of identical machines set out in a grid. Each one was about fifteen feet high and comprised of a metallic sphere resting on a cylindrical plinth. Thick metal cables sprouted from each of the spheres, weaving around each other and the plinth to create a nest-like structure before vanishing into the floor. A quiet humming filled the room, and the faint smell of ozone hung in the air.
But Zheng and Anderson weren’t looking at the machines. They’d moved to the edge of the room and were looking through the dome. As soon as Glitch joined them, he understood why.
The dome was located on top of a building in the center of a huge city. Hundreds, probably thousands of buildings stretched out before them, and each building was unique. Some were simple metal blocks, polished to a mirror sheen or roughly textured. Others were egg shaped or spherical. Still more were seemingly random clusters of geometric blocks, cubes, cylinders, and pyramids.
There seemed to be no organization to the structures, but roads ran between them. Or maybe they were paths—it was difficult to tell from so high up. There was movement along them—tiny ants that could be people or vehicles or actual ants.
Most of the buildings were solid, but a few appeared to be made of scaffolding. One of the nearest looked like a giant spiral staircase over thirty feet wide with steps that were at least two floors deep.
Six other domed buildings lay dotted around the city, seemingly identical to the one they were in. They were the tallest buildings by far, at least four times the height of any of the others. The body of each one was a simple cylinder, and the dome sat on a flat disk on top. The cylinders were about a third of the width of the disk, and there were no markings along their lengths, no windows or elevators.
Glitch could barely believe what he was seeing. “Maybe we’re on Rama?”
“Pardon?” asked Anderson. She was in awe of the sight stretched out before them, and she didn’t look at Glitch when she spoke.
“Rama. It’s a spaceship from a book by Arthur C. Clarke. There’s a mysterious city in it a bit like this one.”
“What happens?”
“Nothing much, really,” said Glitch.
Zheng tutted, and Glitch suddenly wished he hadn’t brought it up.
At the far edge of the city, so distant they were barely visible, stood a range of orange-red mountains. A few shredded clouds clung to the tops of the jagged peaks, but there was no sign of snow. The view of the mountains was slightly distorted. At first Glitch assumed it was some sort of heat haze, but then there was a burst of bright light off to his left. The light flared again in a different place.
Zheng had seen it too. She gasped. “It’s an energy field.” She shook her head.
A dark shape swept in front of them, some sort of bird or a drone; it was gone too quickly to tell for sure. Glitch delicately tapped the dome. It rang slightly, an almost musical sound.
“It is secure.”
It was Kalith. She was standing behind them as they took in the remarkable view.
“It’s… incredible,” said Zheng. “This is your capital?”
“Do not understand.”
“Your main city. Where your leaders live.”
“Only city.”
Zheng’s eyes widened in surprise. “There’s only one Invisitude city?”
“Yes. Very few Invisitude.”
“Are there other races?” said Glitch. His thoughts were on his essay. He hadn’t included energy beings in it, but he’d covered most of the standard aliens—grays, little green men, humanoids with pointy ears.
“Yes,” said Kalith. “There are many.”
“But you are the primary species?” asked Doctor Zheng.
“Do not understand.”
“The most intelligent, the most advanced.”
“Yes.”
&nbs
p; Light flashed on the street far below them as sunlight caught something silver. The ground began to shake. Glitch pressed his hand against the dome to steady himself. The glass was warm. The earthquake lasted a full minute. There was a soft thump, and a thin pillar of smoke rose from one of the other domed buildings.
Kalith stared at it then turned back to Zheng. “Please. Time is limited.”
Zheng glared at Glitch as though he was the one who had been causing the delay. He felt a wave of indignation but blushed anyway.
“I’m sorry,” said Zheng. Her voice cracked a little.
Anderson moved toward her, a look of concern on her face.
Zheng frowned and gave a slight shake of her head. “How can we help?”
Kalith bowed slightly then turned and swept her hand in an arc, gesturing toward the machines filling the room. “This is geogrid. Network of geons. Harnesses gravitational energy. Stabilizes core. Maintains planet integrity.”
Zheng looked around the room. Glitch wouldn’t have thought it was possible for her to look more excited, but her face filled with wonder. It reminded Glitch of his five-year-old nephew opening presents on Christmas morning.
“This geogrid holds the planet together?” asked Zheng. “That is incredible. Just incredible.”
“Yes,” said Kalith. “There are limits. Instability is increasing. Exceeding geogrid capacity. Collapse is inevitable.”
A look of genuine sadness flickered across Zheng’s face. “But, Kalith, Earth does not have this level of technology.” She gave a snort of contempt. “We can barely keep our own planet in one piece. How can we possibly help you?”
“We need sanctuary.”
Now it was Anderson’s turn to look incredulous. “Sanctuary? You want to come to Earth?”
Kalith bowed her head. “Yes.”
“I’m sorr—”
“Yes,” said Zheng. Anderson opened her mouth to object, but Zheng ignored her. “We will provide whatever assistance we can to you and your people.”
“Thank you.”
“I think what Doctor Zheng meant to say,” said Anderson, her eyes fixed on Zheng, “is that we’ll discuss your situation with the appropriate authorities. I’m sure Earth will gladly provide whatever assistance it can.”
“I understand,” said Kalith.
“But, Captain,” said Zheng, her hands stabbing the air, emphasizing each word. “The technology here is incredible. The benefits of the knowledge the Invisitude could bring would be immense. We can’t just let that opportunity pass us by.”
Without moving, Anderson seemed to grow slightly. Her presence in the room became stronger, as though she’d turned on her authority boosters. Glitch could suddenly see how she’d become captain.
When she spoke, her voice was calm, quiet, and filled with determination. “That is true, Doctor Zheng. We’ll talk to the government about the situation here.”
At the mention of the government, Zheng gave a dismissive snort. Glitch couldn’t disagree with Zheng’s assessment of the idea.
“We will talk to them,” continued Anderson, “but we do not have the authority to commit to more than that.”
Doctor Zheng started to protest, but Anderson raised her eyebrows, and the doctor’s voice trailed off.
Anderson waited until it was clear Doctor Zheng wasn’t going to object further, then she turned back to Kalith. “How much longer can the geogrid keep the planet in one piece?”
“Three Earth weeks. At best.”
“And at worst?”
“One Earth week.”
Glitch looked at Zheng. That wasn’t a lot of time to cut through government bureaucracy to solve even a simple problem, and what to do with a group of alien refugees was far from simple.
“We don’t have very long,” said Doctor Zheng, “but I’m sure we can find a way to help you.” She looked toward Anderson as though daring the captain to contradict her.
A shadow moved across the corner of Glitch’s vision. Before he could mention it to Anderson, the man in the black suit, John Smith, walked out from behind one of the geons. Glitch saw no sign of his gun, but Smith was holding a sleek silver object and wearing a smug smile.
“You’re right, Doctor Zheng.” Smith’s voice was filled with contempt, and he almost spat her name. “That isn’t much time, and unfortunately things are about to get a lot worse.”
The group stared at Smith, his surprise arrival and the apparently limitless depths of his confidence leaving Glitch speechless, along with everyone else.
It was Anderson who eventually broke the silence. “How exactly are things going to get worse?”
Smith held out his arm, the silver object hanging between his finger and thumb. He waggled his hand, and sunlight glinted off the metal. “Clicky, clicky. Boomy, boomy.”
Glitch saw Anderson’s eyes darting around the room. She caught sight of something she didn’t like, and her jaw clenched. Glitch followed her gaze and found the source of her anger. Three of the geons had silver packages attached to them. The packages were shaped like egg boxes designed to hold seven eggs. There were no blinking lights, no obvious wires, no big red buttons, but it wasn’t much of a leap of logic to assume they were explosives.
Kalith moved forward, and as she did so, she grew taller and wider, more imposing. “You know him?”
“Not exactly,” said Zheng. “He brought me here against my will and destroyed the gateway on Earth.”
“Gateway is… destroyed?”
Smith laughed. “Yes, Ms. Kalith. Gateway is destroyed. Plan is failure. Planet will collapse.”
Kalith advanced toward Smith again. Flashes of red flickered through her body.
“Ah, ah, ah!” said Smith, waving the metallic object.
Kalith tilted her head but continued moving.
“He wants you to stop,” said Anderson. “He’s rigged explosives to some of those machines.”
Kalith stopped moving, but more red flickered through her body.
“You’re such a smart cookie, Ms. Anderson,” said Smith. “I guess that’s how you got to be captain so quickly. Or was it Daddy’s influence?”
Anderson pursed her lips. “What do you want?”
“Oh, the usual. World peace, unlimited wealth, that sort of thing.” Smith gave Anderson a huge, toothy grin. “Actually, I don’t want anything.”
Smith squeezed the metal object, and it changed color from silver to red.
The lights on the explosives began to blink.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Saboteur Strikes
Doctor Zheng has been placed inside an electrified cage by John Smith. With the help of Kalith, an alien being made entirely of energy, Glitch and Captain Anderson free Zheng. Kalith explains that the planet her people, the Invisitude, inhabit is collapsing. She opened a gateway to Earth in the hope that the human race might be able to provide sanctuary for the Invisitude. She takes the humans to a domed building overlooking the Invisitude city, where they are surprised by John Smith, who has attached explosives to part of the geogrid—the technology that is preventing the planet from collapsing.
Captain Anderson pursed her lips. “What do you want?”
“Oh, the usual. World peace, unlimited wealth, that sort of thing,” said Smith. He gave Anderson a huge, toothy grin. “Actually, I don’t want anything.”
Smith squeezed the sleek metal object. It changed color from silver to red.
The lights on the explosives began to blink.
Anderson moved toward the machines, but Glitch grabbed her arm.
“No!” he shouted. He dragged her backward, toward the entrance to the room.
Zheng had already taken cover behind one of the other machines. She was too far from the door to risk making a break for it. Kalith didn’t move. Either she hadn’t realized what Smith had done, or she couldn’t quite believe he’d done it.
Smith darted behind the machinery, moving away from the door. Surely that meant he’d given himself a few minutes t
o escape?
He hadn’t.
The first explosion tore apart the side of the machine farthest from Glitch and Anderson. Metal screamed as it was ripped into dozens of razor-sharp fragments and flung across the room. Glitch turned away, trying to cover himself and Captain Anderson with his arms. He flinched as shards of metal bounced past, ricocheting off the metal floor. A sheet of metal spun by, a lethal Frisbee whistling past Glitch’s head. The room grew warm, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Smoke filled the air as flames took hold of the machine’s carcass.
There was another explosion, the sound oddly muffled. Fresh lumps of metal, some of them burning, bounced around them. A chunk about the size of Glitch’s hand slammed into the dome covering the room and left a black scorch mark across its surface. Thick gray smoke billowed across the room, blocking the view of the city. Glitch pressed his hand over his mouth to protect himself from the smoke, but the air around him was clear, if a little metallic.
The third explosion was the closest, and Glitch was sure that this time, they’d be hit. But despite them being less than twenty feet away and in the direct path of the explosion, none of the debris scattered about the room hit them.
As the rain of debris slowed, Glitch looked back toward the sites of the explosions. His view was blocked by Kalith. At least, he thought it was her.
She stood between Glitch and Anderson and the three machines that Smith’s explosives had destroyed. But she’d changed shape. Her legs had merged into one solid block and, along with her body, had spread out, creating a wall between them and the explosions. Debris littered the floor in front of Kalith where it had hit her and bounced off. Glitch shuddered at the thought of what those jagged fragments would have done to them if Kalith hadn’t been there.
With a pop, the nearest machine emitted a shower of sparks. The tubes and cables had been torn free, and a thick, brown, soup-like substance was leaking steadily from the remains. The machines themselves had been reduced to twisted wrecks, blackened and burned. Whatever was in those devices had packed a punch.
“Are you okay?” said Glitch.
“Yes,” said Anderson. “You?”
“I… think so. Thanks to Kalith.”
Glitch Mitchell and the Unseen Planet Page 6