Glitch Mitchell and the Unseen Planet

by Philip Harris

  Glitch sat there, trying to slow his heart before it tore loose from his chest. Fido’s rocky arm disappeared into the wall, leaving just his face staring down at Glitch. Glitch nodded his appreciation, eliciting a broad smile from Fido before his face also disappeared into the rock.

  “Are you okay?” said Anderson, frowning at Glitch.

  He hesitated, taking a deep breath and silently checking off limbs and organs before nodding. “It’s just like Disneyland. A hot, deadly Disneyland. Without the mascots. Or the lines.”

  “He’s okay,” said Anderson to the doctor.

  Zheng forced a smile. Glitch leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath, instantly regretting it. The sulfur smell wasn’t as strong here, but it was still uncomfortable.

  “So,” he said, coughing, “where do we go from here?”

  “The ledge seems solid enough to survive the earthquakes, but we need to get moving.”

  There was a soft rumbling, and the wall next to Glitch bulged outward until Fido’s face appeared. He stepped onto the ledge and bent down, peering at Glitch with a childlike look of concern. Fido tilted his head and raised his heavy eyebrows.

  Glitch gave a thumbs-up, hoping that was the universal sign for “Everything’s good, feel free to save my life again in the future.”

  Fido straightened up, a broad grin spreading across his face. He raised one blocky hand and stared at it until it transformed into an approximation of a thumbs-up. Glitch smiled and nodded.

  Steam hissed, and a column of liquid rose from the river like a fountain. Glitch pulled back as a wave of heat hit him. Fido laughed and kicked a few pebbles over the edge and into the river.

  “Glitch, we need to get out of here,” said Anderson.

  Glitch waved at Fido. Once he was sure he had Fido’s full, determinedly focused attention, Glitch pointed at himself, then to the left and right. “Which way?” He spoke slowly and loudly, as though he was talking to his senile grandfather.

  Fido tensed, his eyes growing wide with excitement. He looked right then snapped his head left. He smiled slyly.

  “No,” said Glitch, shaking his head firmly. “I’m not playing.”

  Fido frowned and tilted his head, looking for all the world like a confused puppy. Glitch pointed at himself again then jabbed his fingers left and right. Another column of superheated liquid rose up, splattering the ceiling and splashing them with a few hot beads of liquid. Glitch motioned toward the river then tipped his head back, closed his eyes, and stuck out his tongue.

  “What are you doing?” said Anderson.

  “I’m playing dead,” said Glitch around his tongue.

  Anderson shook her head. “Come on.” Anderson began walking along the ledge, moving back up the river the way they’d come.

  Fido ran up the wall, parkour style, past Anderson and onto the ledge in front of her. His face broke into a huge, ragged grin. He walked backward along the ledge in front of Anderson, matching her every step.

  Glitch shook his head in mock despair and stood. “After you, Doctor Zheng.”

  The doctor looked nervously over the edge toward the boiling liquid then carefully skirted her way around Glitch. She followed Anderson, her hands clutching at the rough wall. Glitch let her get ahead a little way but stayed close enough that he might be able to catch her if she fell.

  In places, the ledge was barely wide enough for them to pass, and they were forced to cling to the wall and shuffle sideways, trying not to think of the lethal river a few feet beneath them.

  Eventually the ledge petered out almost completely, narrowing to a tiny strip barely two inches wide. Fido just continued walking, stepping into the wall, his feet merging with the rock to support his weight. After a few paces, he realized he wasn’t being followed and stopped. He waved at them, beckoning them on. Anderson shook her head. She pointed toward the river hissing and spitting below. Fido shrugged and plodded back along the wall toward them.

  Doctor Zheng leaned nervously around Anderson and looked at the sliver of rock the ledge had become. “We’re stuck?”

  “It looks like it,” said Anderson. “We’ll have to go back.”

  The doctor closed her eyes and let out a long breath. Glitch found himself doing the same. The doctor’s anxiety was infectious.

  “Maybe I could just wait here?” said the doctor.

  “We’ll take a quick break,” said Anderson. “Try to relax, but don’t breathe too deeply. The air’s pretty bad.”

  Fido had attached himself to the wall nearby. He hung there, watching them expectantly. Glitch moved back to a wider section of the ledge and sat. The river hissed and spat. A wave of sulfur hit him, and he grimaced.

  “You’re looking a bit green,” said Anderson, making Glitch jump. “Sorry,” she said, smiling.

  He shook his head. “The doctor may have the right idea. Maybe you and Fido should check out the other end of the ledge and come back and get us.”

  “How’s your head?” said Anderson.

  Glitch frowned. “A bit fuzzy but nothing compared to my last hangover.”

  “It’s the air. There’s oxygen here, but there’s frak-knows-what-else mixed with it. If we’re not careful, we’ll pass out.”

  “Frak?”

  “You’re not the only science fiction geek on this planet, you know.”

  “The doctor likes science fiction?”

  Anderson gave a laugh. “Nooooo, she’s more of a science fact geek.”

  The doctor coughed. She was rubbing her temples, and her skin was pale.

  “She doesn’t look so hot. I mean, good. Not so good,” said Glitch.

  “No, she doesn’t.”

  “We should go.”

  Anderson nodded, but as they moved to go back to the doctor, Glitch raised his hand. He was watching Fido. He was still clinging to the wall, but he’d apparently grown bored of watching them. He was systematically pushing his hand into the wall, pulling out a lump of red rock, and placing it back into the wall a few feet to his right. In the process, he was creating an opening.

  “What’s he doing?” said Anderson.

  “I think he’s digging us a way out.”

  Fido saw them watching him. He waved excitedly, calling them over. As they got closer, they could see the crevice was already a couple of feet deep and looked almost wide enough for Glitch to fit inside.

  They watched as Fido worked. Encouraged by their attentiveness, he moved quicker, pulling more and more rock free until finally the back of the wall caved in. A pale light trickled through.

  “It’s a… way out…” said the doctor. Her voice was quiet, and she was leaning heavily against the wall.

  More of the rock fell away, and Glitch felt a slight breeze against his cheek. The doctor coughed, a harsh rattle that quickly turned to retching. She leaned forward, her hand pressed against her chest. Anderson ran forward, caught the doctor as she slumped sideways, and lowered her gently toward the ground. The doctor lay there, eyes closed, her skin waxy.

  Anderson pressed her hand against the doctor’s neck. “We need to get her some air. Help me get her up.”

  Supporting her, Glitch and Anderson managed to get Zheng upright. She was smaller than both of them and fairly light, but it was difficult to maneuver her without one of them slipping off the ledge. After a couple of aborted attempts, they managed to half carry, half drag the doctor to the crevice.

  Fido was still digging, but the opening was just wide enough for them to get through. Beyond it lay a cave lit by soft white light. Glitch felt cool, clean air filtering in from the other side. He dragged in two deep breaths, and the freshness brought home just how rancid the air they’d been breathing was.

  As they drew near, Fido moved aside to let them into the gap. The edges of the opening were rough, and Anderson caught her jacket on a jagged piece of rock. With exaggerated care, Fido unhooked the jacket, then he tore away the offending chunk and threw it over his shoulder.

  With almost painf
ul slowness, Anderson and Glitch shuffled through the opening, the doctor’s unconscious form dangling between them. They carried her a few feet into the cave and laid her carefully on the ground. Anderson slipped off her jacket and placed it under the doctor’s head, then she checked Zheng’s pulse again.

  “Will she be okay?” said Glitch.

  “I don’t know for sure, but her pulse is pretty strong, and the air seems clear in here. That should help.”

  Glitch looked around. The cave was vast, but the ceiling was peppered with holes that let in broad pillars of light. The holes continued a few hundred feet to the left before stopping and letting the cave get swallowed up by shadows.

  To the right, the floor rose at a steady incline. A faint glow rimmed the top of the rise. The walls and ceiling of the cave were made of the familiar red rock, but the floor was a darker red, and it was slick, like glass. In places the surface was cracked, and Glitch could see multiple layers. Different shades of rock formed as it had melted and solidified thousands of times.

  Fido appeared, stepping out of the wall as usual, but he seemed nervous, almost scared. He looked around the cave then tentatively stepped across the slick floor, watching his feet carefully. He looked at Glitch and gave a halfhearted smile. He took another step, his right foot sliding on the glassy surface, then stood with a faintly terrified expression. Whatever powers gave Fido the ability to merge with rock clearly didn’t extend to this new substance.

  “Come on, Doctor. Think of all the exciting discoveries you’re missing,” said Anderson, her voice filled with worry.

  “Is there anything I can do?” said Glitch.

  Anderson tilted her head toward the slope. “Take a look up there—see if there’s some water or a way out. She needs fresh air more than anything. It’s better here, but I’d still like to get out of these caves.”

  Glitch nodded and headed toward the slope. The slick surface made the ascent treacherous. He kept slipping, losing his balance, and twice he ended up thumping onto his backside. The second time he was pretty sure he heard Anderson laughing quietly to herself.

  But about three quarters of the way up the slope, he reached a series of small holes in the floor. The edges were slick and difficult to grip, but they were just big enough to fit his hand into. The rock around the holes was warm, too hot to touch in some places. But there were dozens, perhaps hundreds of them, and they made the last thirty feet of the climb much easier.

  A line of boulders lay scattered across the top of the hill, all of them made of the same slick rock as the slope. Glitch counted a dozen of various sizes, from bowling balls to one that was larger than Fido. From a distance, the rock seemed to glow with an inner light, but as he got closer, he saw the light was coming from beyond the crest of the hill.

  Glitch grabbed one of the bigger boulders and hauled himself the last couple of feet up the slope. As he rounded the lump of rock, he stopped, his eyes growing wide. Glitch stood, staring for a minute, then called back down the slope. “Captain Anderson, you’re going to want to see this.”

  “See what?”

  Glitch turned back and stared at the planet hanging in the sky. “It’s Earth.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Visions of Earth

  Glitch, Anderson, and Doctor Zheng are rescued from an underground river of boiling liquid by Fido, who places them on a narrow ledge. The air in the tunnel is toxic, and as they search for a way out, Doctor Zheng collapses. Fido breaks through the tunnel’s wall, providing them with access to a cave and fresher air. As Anderson looks after an unconscious Doctor Zheng, Glitch climbs out of the cave.

  Glitch dragged himself up the slope. The almost glass-like boulders running along its top seemed to glow, but as he got closer, he saw the light was coming from beyond the crest of the hill. He grabbed one of the boulders and hauled himself up the last couple of feet. He stopped, his eyes growing wide. Glitch stood transfixed for a minute then turned and called down the slope.

  “Captain Anderson, you’re going to want to see this.”

  “See what?”

  Glitch turned back and stared at the planet hanging in the sky. “It’s Earth.”

  It was a familiar sight, a scene from hundreds of movies and documentaries and photographs, but still it took his breath away. No camera, no special effects company could come close to capturing the majesty of the blue planet. Glitch swallowed, his vision unexpectedly blurry.

  There was movement beside him. “Wow,” said Anderson.

  “I thought you’d be used to this sort of thing.”

  “I’m a pilot, not an astronaut.”

  It was a couple of minutes before Glitch spoke again. “If that’s Earth, where are we? The moon?”

  Anderson looked at Glitch and raised her eyebrows. “Does this look like the moon?”

  Glitch had to concede she had a point. They were standing on the edge of a cave cut high into a wall of red rock that continued far above them. Several hundred feet below lay an apparently endless plain, also red. Dotted across its surface were dozens of scraggy trees, their sickly, pale limbs twisted and bent. A narrow slope led away from the cave and zigzagged down the cliff to the plain below. The sun, their sun, was high in the cloudless sky, and Glitch felt its heat on his skin.

  “There’s something out there,” said Anderson, pointing away to the right.

  It took a few seconds for Glitch to see it, but there was a flash of white as the sun caught something metallic, a cluster of structures off in the distance. Glitch peered at it for a minute. “It looks like the Invisitude’s city.”

  “You could be right. Either way, that’s where we should be heading.”

  Glitch wasn’t happy with that idea. “You want to go back there? They tried to kill us.”

  “They also have the only way for us to get home. Unless you’ve got any better ideas, that’s where we need to go.”

  “But…” Glitch’s voice trailed off. Again, he had to concede the point. “How’s the doctor?”

  Anderson looked down the slope. “She’ll be okay, but I’d better go and check on her.”

  Anderson turned and half walked, half slid back to Doctor Zheng. Glitch took another look at the earth hanging there, so big it felt as though he should be able to touch it, then turned and followed her. The doctor was awake by the time they reached her, and the color was returning to her cheeks. Fido was crouched nearby, eying the glassy slope warily.

  As they approached, Doctor Zheng pushed herself up onto her elbows, grimacing at the effort. “What’s up there?”

  “The earth,” said Glitch.

  The doctor frowned, and she began struggling to her feet. “What happened? How did we get back to Earth?”

  Anderson glared at Glitch. She put a hand on the doctor’s shoulder. “You need to stay where you are—take plenty of deep breaths.”

  “But we have to warn the government.”

  “We’re not on Earth,” said Anderson. “I think we’re on a planet in orbit around Earth.”

  Zheng’s excitement turned to confusion. “But how is that possible? There are no other habitable planets in our system.”

  “Well,” said Anderson, “there is now.”

  “It’s probably been here all along, but the government has been covering it up,” said Glitch.

  Anderson looked at him. She seemed unsure whether he was joking, so he gave her his biggest smile. He wasn’t a conspiracy theorist. Seeing the mess governments made of running their respective countries, he doubted they could get themselves organized enough to hide an alien needle in a haystack, let alone an entire planet.

  “I have to see,” said the doctor, her voice filled with a mixture of desperation and excitement.

  Anderson held up her hand. “Wait five minutes. At least. Take some deep breaths. You need to get some oxygen into your system. The planet will still be there when you’ve recovered.”

  The doctor rolled her eyes and took an exaggeratedly deep breath. Glitch smiled as
Anderson shook her head in exasperation.

  Slightly less than five minutes later, the three of them were making their way back up the hill, led by the apparently fully recovered Doctor Zheng. They were halfway up the slope when they heard a gruff bark from behind them. Glitch turned to see Fido standing at the foot of the hill, staring pitifully at them.

  Glitch stopped. “You go on ahead. I’ll catch up.” He began making his way back down the slope.

  Fido moaned softly as Glitch got closer. The rock creature stepped forward, his eyes growing wide as his foot skidded on the slick surface. He moaned again.

  “Careful, you’re starting to sound like a Wookiee. Disney will sue you.”

  Fido tilted his head.

  “Never mind. Look, you don’t need to come with us. You can go back.”

  Glitch stood next to Fido and pointed toward the opening in the wall. Fido looked, but when he turned back, his face was filled with hurt.

  “Don’t look at me like that. You belong in there. It’s safer. You’ve got family. Probably.”

  Fido looked up the hill toward Anderson and the doctor. He moaned again. He lifted his foot and slammed it on the ground, trying to force it into the rock. It skidded across the surface, and he growled in frustration.

  “You need to go,” said Glitch, mustering as much sternness as he could manage as he pointed back toward the crack in the wall.

  Fido stamped his foot again, at Glitch this time. Then he took three determined steps up the slope. His feet slipped, and he almost lost his balance. Fido turned back to Glitch and grunted.

  “Okay, okay, it’s up to you.”

  Fido turned and started up the slope, Glitch following close behind. By the time they reached the handholds, Fido was crawling on hands and knees. Progress was slow; every few feet, he slid backward. Fido’s groans of frustration were matched only by Glitch’s.