Smasher

by Scott Bly

  Callaya felt it, too. Charlie watched her rip the door of her cage open.

  Suddenly Charlie knew he could do the same. He focused on the flood of Hum energy. With a few simple notes he easily broke the straps holding him.

  Was The Future vanishing?

  Foxx screamed.

  This was the moment to strike. Charlie grabbed Callaya and thrust an arm toward Foxx, palm out.

  The unexpected force of energy that exploded from Charlie’s hand knocked Foxx to the ground. The lights dimmed.

  Charlie let out a deep breath. He dragged himself to his feet. Foxx lay still. Pandora’s Box was on the table.

  “Geneva?”

  No response. If it weren’t for her shallow, panting breath, Charlie would have thought she was dead. He disconnected the electrical lines and grabbed a bottle of water. He sprinkled some into her mouth and a little on her face. He didn’t want to make her sick. He waited, and then he did it again. Callaya, up on the table, licked Geneva’s ear.

  Her eyes rolled slightly. A sign of life, at least. Relief washed over Charlie for the first time since she’d been kidnapped.

  “Geneva, we did it.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” a singsong voice said.

  Charlie spun.

  Foxx wasted no time. A bolt of energy hit Charlie, and he collapsed in agony. Pandora’s Box skittered across the floor.

  “Never turn your back on your enemies,” Foxx taunted.

  Despite the pain, Charlie grabbed Callaya and thrust his palm forward again.

  The new blast of energy ricocheted harmlessly off of Foxx and into a rack of computer gear. It exploded in a burst of sparks and debris.

  Charlie looked around, panicked. He reached for Pandora’s Box.

  But why would it work now?

  There was no other choice. Charlie flipped the latch.

  Pandora’s Box was open.

  * * *

  Charlie’s entire world went dark.

  The spinning blackness returned, enveloping him along with Foxx. The box was so strong now that Charlie felt his flesh being pulled. His entire being stretched and compressed. It sucked him in with a power he’d never felt before.

  Foxx could no more resist Pandora’s pull than Charlie had. The box trapped both Foxx and Charlie in the blink of an eye.

  Charlie floated in limbo. Surely he must be dead. Then he remembered. I’m a prisoner in Pandora’s Box. But what about Foxx?

  He tried to see in the darkness. The world rotated around him.

  A point of light in the distance grew, and the light became Foxx. Not the Gramercy Foxx Charlie had seen in the flesh, but Foxx as he should have appeared — an incredibly old man, if you could even call him that.

  Foxx had cheated time, living impossibly long in a place that was not his own. Inside Pandora’s Box, his toothless mouth gaped open in a silent moan, mirroring the blackness around them. The rattling whisper of the near-dead man seeped directly into Charlie’s mind. You have made a terrible mistake, boy. Before I escape from this child’s attempt at a prison, I will show you what it is to have your soul eaten. Charlie tried to run, but his efforts were fruitless. Foxx’s toothless mouth opened even wider, and Charlie felt a tug at his mind.

  What did you do to my mother? It was his final question, the only thing left to say. He repeated it over and over. The darkness of Foxx’s power closed in.

  But suddenly a light in the darkness descended from above. Foxx looked up to the source of the interruption. He fell back.

  Release my son.

  Her son? Charlie raised his eyes to the light. Kindness poured down into him, filling him with love and awe.

  Callaya? Foxx rasped. This cannot be!

  But it is, brother, it is.

  You’re too late. Foxx pounded Charlie’s mind, threatening to split into it from sheer force.

  Callis, I should strike you down and cast you into oblivion. But Charles will not learn vengeance from me. I have spent a hundred lifetimes learning to forgive you.

  Foxx raged. I understand more than you know! How dare you condescend —

  SILENCE!

  Charlie sensed that her power was great.

  The Hum is not a tool. It is a source of beauty, the center of all living things. It thrives on belief — on love. You awakened them, brought them together. Humanity broke free, Callis. The Hum thrives again. Now go!

  The old man receded in the distance. Instantly he was light-years away.

  It’s really you? Charlie asked without speaking.

  The body is only a shell. The light — the Hum — comes from within.

  Are you the Hum?

  We all are. You know that.

  What did Callis do to you? And why?

  None of that matters. Beyond the physicality of space and time, things are very different. You can hear me because we are in this place.

  Mother … Charlie had wanted to say that for so long. He choked up.

  There is more at stake here than my brother’s sad attempt to create a world of slaves, Charles. He could never have succeeded — humankind cannot be enslaved. The spirit is too strong.

  They said you were dead.

  We all exist beyond space and time. Do you understand?

  He didn’t.

  I’m always nearby, Charles. Remember that. You may not see me or hear me, but I’m in a world that is closer than your own skin.

  Can I come back here to see you again? he asked.

  No. You must leave. I’m so sorry, my love, but time has run out.

  A point of light quickly grew into the form of Callis again — his twisted face a wreck of silent, immobile fury.

  Callis, Callaya said, I am releasing my son from this prison. You will stay.

  Hear me, I beg, Callis cried desperately. Everything I have done has been out of —

  Selfishness! she interrupted. Now you will suffer the consequences!

  Callis shivered. Once again he shrank back into a point of light.

  I’m so proud of you, Charles, she said. You have made strong choices. We will both be removed from this place now. Remember that I love you. Believe …

  Charlie felt the pulling blackness begin to swirl around him again. He was being released from Pandora’s Box….

  Not a moment had passed.

  Callaya was curled beside Geneva, and Lawrence Yates was still unconscious. Pandora’s Box truly existed outside of space and time.

  Charlie spun around, panicked that the box would be gone. Gramercy Foxx could be behind him, preparing another attack. Had he imagined everything?

  No. Foxx had disappeared. The charcoal-black box sat in his place. Locked inside, he couldn’t hurt anyone now.

  Was there an entire universe inside Pandora’s Box? All that blackness — it had seemed infinite. And how had his mother intervened? Charlie was too exhausted to understand. He picked up the box. It was heavier. Grandfather was right.

  His mother! Charlie would ask Grandfather when he returned.

  But what now?

  He ran to Geneva. She looked up at him wearily when he held her hand. “Charlie?”

  “I’m here.”

  “Did you do it?” She tried to look around the destroyed room.

  The door burst open. John McCallum dashed in, gun raised. His flashlight flared in the dim emergency lighting.

  “Don’t shoot!”

  “Kids, are you in here? I’m not gonna hurt you!”

  Jane Virtue ran into the room at the sound of Charlie’s voice. “Charlie?” She grabbed him by the shoulders. “Are you OK?”

  “I am,” he said. “But Geneva …”

  “I’m so sorry. Foxx was … he made us …”

  “Where is Foxx?” McCallum asked, tending to Geneva and releasing her from the restraints.

  “He’s in there,” Charlie said, pointing at Pandora’s Box.

  “Gramercy Foxx is in here?” McCallum asked, picking it up.

  “Don’t open it!”


  “I won’t, but we’ll need a safe place to put it.”

  “No! I’m going home. And I’m taking it with me,” Charlie insisted. “My grandfather will know what to do with it.”

  “Sir!” Two members of the security team dashed in. “The audience is evacuating down the emergency stairs, as ordered.”

  “Any problems?”

  “None. They’re helping one another.”

  McCallum nodded.

  “Permission to speak freely, sir?” McCallum allowed it. The two Reds stumbled over each other’s words.

  “What you did for us …”

  “The people back there, they were all talking about it …”

  “I don’t understand what happened, but …”

  “You saved us, sir.”

  “You brought us out of it, sir.”

  “That flash of light! That was you …”

  “Wasn’t it?”

  McCallum thought about it all. What had happened? They had been under Foxx’s control. People had heard him. The sense of community had been so strong. Had there been a revolution? Then the explosion, the flash of light. It had all happened so fast. He didn’t know what to make of it, but he had been at the center of it.

  “I don’t know,” McCallum said with great hesitation. “I wasn’t alone.”

  The Hum, Charlie thought. A man like Foxx could never understand it.

  Charlie squeezed Geneva’s hand tightly.

  “Blue Bird, come in,” McCallum said into the radio. “Yeah, McCallum here…. Yes, that McCallum. Thank you. Yeah, OK. I love you, too. Look, pick us up on the TerraThinc pad. I know it’s high. Are you OK to fly? OK, good. Just get there. Four of us coming out.”

  Charlie helped get Geneva down from Foxx’s table. She rolled her nano-skin back down over her robotic hands like a pair of gloves.

  “You did it, didn’t you, Charlie?” she asked weakly.

  “We did it.”

  “You’re sure you don’t want to come with me?” Charlie asked over his shoulder from the passenger seat of McCallum’s Command Vehicle.

  “I have things to check out, other times to explore,” Geneva said from the back. “Honestly, the memories that have returned have only raised more questions.”

  A week had passed since the release of The Future. Geneva had been searching for answers. She had subjected herself to numerous scans to reveal her robotic parts. But it didn’t answer her most fundamental question — who was she? Every answer yielded another question. She planned to find the truth, and hopefully her identity.

  “Well, I can’t force you, but I hope you’ll visit,” Charlie said with a smile. He turned to John McCallum, in the driver’s seat. “You’ll take care of everything, won’t you?”

  “I’ll do my best,” McCallum said. “Jane and I have a lot of work to do. People are looking to us for guidance — the highest levels of government. They’ve got us on a plane later today. We may even have to go speak to the chancellor himself. I don’t want to know where, or when, you’re going,” he said firmly. “The government doesn’t know the truth about either of you, and they won’t learn it from me.”

  The search for Gramercy Foxx had become a worldwide manhunt. People wanted an explanation.

  Foxx had been correct that The Future had brought unity to the planet. But not the way he intended it to happen, through mind control and slavery. Instead, a sense of community and cooperation had shifted the world. Once the spokesperson for Gramercy Foxx, Jane Virtue was now the most prominent human-rights activist on the planet.

  This morning was the first time the police had managed to get the streets back to anything resembling normal. This was McCallum’s first opportunity to get Charlie and Geneva away.

  “You’re a very brave young man. Even with your … the … supernatural stuff,” McCallum said, searching for the words, “you’ve shown real courage.”

  Charlie felt a lump in his throat. He didn’t know what to say.

  “Best of luck, Charlie,” McCallum said warmly. “And to you, too, Geneva.”

  * * *

  Charlie climbed out of the truck into the street, carrying Callaya. He pulled his pack tighter onto his back. Geneva slipped out after. McCallum’s team had cordoned off a block to keep the public away from one particular open manhole. Smasher, Charlie thought. The Hum was so strong now.

  He looked over his shoulder and waved back at McCallum. Geneva stood next to Charlie, ready to go. Charlie would miss her, but she could take care of herself. He and Grandfather needed to leave their mountain. It had become too dangerous. Charlie had a long story to tell. And he had some questions, too.

  “I thought you were human all along,” Charlie said.

  “Did you?” Geneva asked, amused.

  “Yeah, I only make friends with humans. It’s kind of a rule I have.” They smiled at each other. Their adventure had come to an end.

  “Well, you said you went back on your own. Show me what you can do. You ready to smash some atoms?”

  Charlie closed his eyes. The Hum poured into his feet so powerfully that the portal opened effortlessly. He looked over at her.

  “Not bad for a twelve-year-old.” She smirked.

  “Thirteen,” he corrected. “My birthday was last week.”

  “What? Happy birthday! Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “There was a lot going on that day. You’ll be OK?”

  “Of course. Besides, I know where to find help.”

  “Yeah, me too,” he said with a smile.

  The swirling blue portal awaited them.

  “After you,” Geneva said.

  Charlie was ready to go home.

  Home. Grandfather and the cottage.

  “Geneva, what about the Interrogator?”

  “The future is relative, Charlie,” she said. “Your future, that is. Besides, I’m pretty sure you can handle whatever comes.”

  “Right.” He reminded himself of what he had just accomplished. His grandfather had changed, too. Charlie was pretty sure the days of conflict and fear were over.

  He closed his eyes, straightened his pack, and held his puppy tightly in his arms. He stepped in.

  The familiar splash and disorientation of the blue time water preceded Charlie’s first deep breath. Geneva appeared next to him, loose hair flowing all around her in an angelic aura.

  The two friends clasped hands one last time. Later, friend. Geneva’s voice echoed in his mind as she shot him a mischievous, knowing smile. Then she darted away, propelled by rippling energy waves.

  Charlie was looking forward to his little bed. And a simple life again. He’d had enough adventure for now. Maybe Grandfather would make him a cup of his favorite tea, sweetened with honey.

  Friend.

  He headed home.

  First and foremost, I would like to thank Audrey, my confidant, love, and laugh-mate. She read the first draft, generously lied to me and said it was good, and then continued to put up with me through every stressful draft that followed.

  I am grateful to my agent, Deborah Warren, and her inimitable husband, Phil.

  Thanks to Cameron Malin with the FBI for his enthusiastic technical review, and to Jim Davidson for the introduction.

  Thank you, Christine Cuddy, for legal counsel, and Lisa Yee and Michael Reisman for writer’s counsel — you helped this book noob learn the ropes.

  And thank you to my many readers for helping me to find the ghosts in the machine — Jessica, Alex, Jay, Brandon, Nate, Bob, Kaitlin, Declan, Laura, Paul, Shawn, Kerry, Noam, and Tom. I mentioned Audrey already, right?

  A very special thanks to the assistant editorial crew at Scholastic — Sara Waltuck and Grace Kendall.

  And the biggest thanks of all go to my über-editor, Bonnie Verburg, without whom this would never even have begun. Bonnie, thank you so much for getting a virus on your computer, and even more for asking me if I’d ever thought about writing a children’s book.

  SCOTT BLY is the owner and president of
a Los Angeles–based computer technology company, where he builds complex computers and “battles computer viruses and hackers,” as he puts it. In 2006, Bly began sketching out a simple novel about a boy who was taken to the future and had to learn everything related to modern technology in a very short time. Dealing with different time periods, he made the decision to keep the language contemporary for young readers. Over several drafts, he created additional characters and adventures, and he wrote more than nine versions before his book was finished in 2013.

  For years, Bly has been teaching computer skills to young people, and while working on this book, he invented games to use in the classroom — with overwhelming success. A songwriter, filmmaker, and gamer himself, Bly is developing games based on the world of his book at www.SmasherOnline.com.

  As a child in Kansas City, Bly had his own experiences with bullies, and he very much identifies with the hero in this book — a boy who has to overcome his fears in order to achieve something very difficult. Bly attended film school at USC and has lived in Los Angeles for more than twenty years. This is his first book. Please visit him at www.ScottBly.com.

  THE BLUE SKY PRESS

  Copyright © 2014 by Scott Bly

  All rights reserved.

  SCHOLASTIC, THE BLUE SKY PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  Library of Congress catalog card number: 2013051217

  A note from the author: Although Charlie’s story begins in 1542, I chose to use contemporary language to make the book more accessible to young readers.

  First printing, April 2014

  COVER DESIGN BY JEANNINE RISKE

  COVER IMAGES BY KONSTANTIN INOZEMTSEV/GETTY IMAGES AND RUBBERBALL/GETTY IMAGES

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-63359-8

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.