by William Wood
“This is it,” Calvin said. “Let’s get everything going.”
“I’ll take the bombers and fighters,” Astra said.
“I’ve got the robots,” said Dev.
“Then I’ll control the tanks,” Calvin said.
Everyone hurried to their seats. They performed checks on the bombers, fighters, robots, and tanks to make sure they were activated, powered up, and ready to fight. The monsters surged forward. A sea of individual dots merged together into one big red mass, converging on the castle.
In a hangar under the castle, rows of bombers were lined up and ready to take off. Three large doors slowly opened in the cliff wall over the ocean. Engines roared to life. Computers calibrated bombs and armed their explosive cores. More lined up behind them. When the doors opened, three bombers shot into the air. As soon as they were clear the process repeated. The monsters had reached a wide open field just outside the ruins of the city. Astra had the bombers programmed to begin dropping their bombs on the front of the approaching mass as soon as they were able.
The storm had decreased, but instead of thunder and lightning, the air was filled with the thunder of explosions. Halfway across the field, Calvin ordered everyone to open fire. The robots charged headlong into the approaching tsunami of monsters. The tanks launched a bombardment of artillery. The bombers swooped down from above and released a torrent of small but powerful bombs. Huge fireballs shot into the sky. The power of the bombers’ attacks was exciting and terrifying at the same time. Large clusters of monsters were consumed. When the monsters got closer, the tanks unleashed volleys of high-powered lasers into the approaching mass. It wasn’t enough. When they reached the tanks, the monsters tore them apart.
There were too many of them. They ran through the ruins, jumped over broken walls and flattened buildings, heading directly toward the castle. The Terrors went insane with rage. They smashed everything in their path. When they reached the massive wall that wrapped around the castle—a barrier Calvin thought would slow them down—they went right through it, almost as if it wasn’t even there. Explosions rocked the castle. Out of bombs, Dev instructed the bombers to crash into the invading army; one last desperate act. A thousand monstrous screams filled the air in one terrifying roar.
That’s when the monsters reached the second line of tanks, which were positioned near the outer wall. They were able to get several shots in but were overwhelmed and quickly destroyed.
The situation was clear to Astra, who was staring in terror at the sensors screen. The monsters were coming, and nothing was slowing them down. The horrible screaming got louder.
“Calvin, how about that plan B?” she shouted. “You might want to get it ready!”
Calvin felt instant panic. He knew what that meant. Astra didn’t think they were going to stop the Terrors.
“OK!” Calvin shouted back. “I’m on it!”
“Calvin, you better hurry up!” Astra shouted, sounding very scared.
“Dev, I have an idea!” Calvin said. “Put all of the robots in the stairwell. It’s small and narrow. The monsters will have to fight their way up to us, and our robots will slow them down. It might give us an extra minute.”
“Good idea!” Dev said loudly.
“Hurry, Calvin!” Astra shouted.
“It’s on the way.”
From down below, the sounds of the doors being smashed to pieces reverberated up the stairwell.
Calvin and Astra looked at each other.
“We can’t do anymore here,” Astra said. “Let’s get out of here!” Calvin, Astra, and Dev scrambled out of the room. They ran downstairs and grabbed their backpacks, hurriedly stuffing them full of their things as quickly as they could and tore back up the stairs. From down below, the screams from the monsters were very loud now. They ran up the stairs to the very top. The door was open and they ran through it. Dev closed the door behind them and fastened the bolt, knowing there was no possible way it would hold. A robot was waiting for them on the roof, holding the fourth segment.
The sounds from downstairs were horrifying, even through the door. The monsters were screaming loudly, there were shots of laser fire and small explosions. The tower shook and began to sway from side to side slightly. The noises were getting louder, closer.
“Hurry, Calvin,” Astra whispered. “They’re coming!” The sound got so loud, so fast, Calvin worried that the robots they placed on the stairs either were not fighting back or were no match for the horrible Terrors. Suddenly a large shape flew up over the top of the tower and hovered just above them. It was a ship! A side door opened, and the ship slowly moved down until it was low enough for them to jump in. As quickly as they could they all threw their backpacks through the open door. Astra commanded the robot to put the fourth segment into the ship. The screams of the monsters had reached a deafening level.
Calvin took Astra by the hand and guided her toward the ship. He put his hands around her waist and lifted her up into the open door. “You’re next!” Calvin shouted.
Dev got a running start and jumped into the ship. He cleared the distance with no problem. The door holding the Terrors back splintered into a thousand pieces.
“Calvin!” Dev and Astra screamed.
Calvin wanted to look behind him and see how close the Terrors were, but he knew he only had seconds to escape. He ran and jumped, but the ship started pulling away before he landed.
Calvin reached out but missed. He was able to get ahold of one thing. Dev was lying on the floor with his hands out. Calvin caught them and held on for dear life. The ship rose higher into the air. Calvin looked down, just as a dozen Terrors swarmed onto the roof of the tower and tore the robot apart.
Seconds later they were flying over the ruins of the city. Hoards of Terrors destroyed what little remained of the ruins and converged on the castle. Several fires burned.
He looked back. There was a monster hanging off of the back of the ship! It clung to a maintenance hatch. Its eyes glowed dark red, and it opened its mouth to show its teeth.
Calvin tried to pull himself up, but he was stuck, unable to move. “Dev!” he screamed. “Pull me up!” But the high-pitched whine from the ships engines was very loud. “Help!”
The monster glared and swiped its arm at him, but it was too far away. The creature roared, jammed its fist through the skin of the ship, and grabbed onto something on the inside. Then again with the other hand, it punched holes through the ship to slowly make its way closer to Calvin.
Calvin was horrified and desperately wished he had a way to shoot the thing. Then he realized he had a laser pistol strapped to his thigh.
He was going to have to let go of Dev with one hand. The monster kept coming.
Quickly, Calvin let go. It wasn’t easy, but as he pulled away, Dev tightened his grip and would not let go.
Finally he was free with one hand. Dev almost lost him altogether, and he grabbed Calvin’s hand with both of his.
Calvin grabbed his laser pistol off of his leg and fired at the monster. The first few shots seemed to do nothing but make the monster scream. Then he adjusted his fire and started firing at the monster’s arms. Calvin kept firing, making several direct hits on the monster’s arms and hands. Finally one arm blew off and the monster hung, unable to move. Calvin kept firing. The monster must have realized it was about to fall, and the seriousness of its situation. It swung itself back and tried to throw itself at Calvin. It fell short, barely touching his boot. The monster fell with a horrifying scream.
Calvin almost lost his grip on Dev but somehow managed to hold on. He dropped his laser pistol and grabbed hold of Dev with his other hand. It took all of his strength, but Dev pulled Calvin up into the ship. They both stayed on the floor for a moment, trying to catch their breaths.
Calvin felt the ship turning. He climbed to his feet and walked to the front. Astra was sitting in the pilot’s chair.
“That was close,” he said, sitting down next to her. “Yes, it was,” Astra sai
d. “I didn’t think we were going to make it.”
“We’re not there yet. Can we use this ship to get into orbit and find the Frost?”
“No,” Astra answered with disappointment in her voice. “The ship has sustained too much damage.”
“What are we going to do now?” Dev asked, standing in between the two seats and looking out of the window ahead. The lights on the control console flickered several times. There was a loud bang from somewhere in the back of the ship.
“We’re going to crash,” Astra said simply, as if she didn’t believe it herself.
“What?” Dev asked. “This can’t be happening.”
“Why can’t we catch a break?” Calvin asked, disbelieving. The ship started to lose altitude. “Astra, can we make it to the star port? She played around with a bunch of knobs and buttons. “We can put everything into the engines. We don’t need shields, life support, or weapons.” She turned it all off.
The ship stopped losing altitude and leveled out.
“Can we make it?” Calvin asked.
“No,” Astra admitted. “Before the computer died, it said the star port was forty-seven miles away. The Terror broke several fuel lines and made a hole in one of the fuel tanks. We are leaking fuel. We’re still going to crash. Dev, you better sit down. Put a harness on.” “OK,” Dev said. He walked back to a seat and sat down. They were over a thick forest.
It wasn’t long before the shuttle started losing altitude again. Calvin sat down next to Astra and quickly buckled his own harness.
“That’s it, we’re out of fuel,” Astra said. “We’re going down.” The engines choked and sputtered. The shuttle began to lose altitude again.
“I’m sorry, Calvin,” Astra looked at Calvin and tried to smile. Calvin reached out and took her hand, smiling back.
“Thank you for being my friend,” he said.
Astra channeled every last volt of battery power into the engines. The ship slowed down, but Calvin didn’t think it was enough. The ship dropped into the trees. Branches and leaves beat against the glass windows. They collided with a large branch and tumbled end over end, landing upside down on the forest floor.
The sounds of groaning metal, falling trees, branches, and leaves, and the last gasp of the engines died away. Silence took over. For a moment, nobody spoke. Calvin, Astra, and Dev were hanging upside down, securely harnessed in their seats. Calvin and Astra looked at each other. Her hair hung straight down around her face.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Whoever put this ship together did a good job.” “Dev, are you all right back there?” Calvin asked, turning around. Dev’s eyes were open, and he was rubbing his shoulders. “I’m OK,” he said, giving a crooked smile.
Calvin unhooked his seatbelt. He held onto the seat to prevent himself from falling, but his hand slipped. He fell anyway and landed on his head. Fortunately, it wasn’t far, just six inches. He got up and helped Astra. She unhooked her seatbelt. Calvin caught her as she fell and gently set her down on her feet.
“Thanks,” she said, and gently touched his head. “That looked like it hurt. Are you all right?”
“I’m OK.”
“How close did that monster get to you?”
“Too close,” Calvin said. Astra held his hand, and together they stumbled outside. The ship was in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by tall trees. Dark smoke poured from the engines and billowed up through the trees. Calvin led Astra to the nearest tree, and they sat down on the ground. Astra lay on her back and closed her eyes. When Calvin closed his eyes, the world spun around him.
“I don’t feel very good,” he said.
“We just crashed,” Dev said, sitting on the ground next to Calvin. “I have a feeling that might be part of your problem.” No one spoke for several minutes. There was a cool breeze blowing through the trees, but he could tell the wind was blowing harder above the forest. The sound was relaxing.
Finally Calvin spoke. “When was the last time we ate? I think I’m hungry.”
“You think you’re hungry?” Dev asked. “I’m not having that problem. I know I’m hungry.”
“I don’t know when we ate last,” Astra said. “But I’m starving.” Nobody moved. Eventually, Calvin became too hungry to wait. He groaned as he stood. He must have tensed every muscle in his body during the crash, because every part of him hurt. Calvin retrieved a backpack from the ship and gave Dev and Astra some food and water. After they finished eating, Calvin and Dev collected all of their gear from the ship and put it in a pile. The fourth segment was very heavy, and it took both of them to move it. When they set it down on the ground next to the rest of their stuff, Astra got up and inspected it. “At least we didn’t lose any gear,” Calvin said.
“The segment seems to be undamaged,” Astra said. “Now what are we going to do with that?” Dev asked, pointing at the fourth segment. “We can’t carry it all the way to the star port. It’s too heavy.”
“It won’t be that bad,” Astra said, “because we have these.” She took four black round devices out of a pocket of her backpack. “I found them in the castle, in an equipment room.”
“Are those what I think they are?” Calvin asked.
“Yes.” Astra smiled. “Antigravity generators!”
“Oh, thank you!” Calvin exclaimed. “You’re wonderful.” Astra smiled. “Just trying to help.” She handed the devices to Calvin.
“What are those?” Dev asked.
“They create a bubble of zero gravity around an object,” Astra explained. “So even though the segment weighs two hundred pounds, you can carry it on your back and not even know it’s there.” “It’s amazing you’ve been able to make them so small,” Dev said. “We have something similar, but much larger.”
It only took three antigravity devices to make the fourth segment weightless. Dev strapped it to a backpack, along with the other backpacks stuffed with the rest of the gear, and put it on.
Astra stood next to Calvin. She looked tired.
“Will those things work on a person?” Calvin asked. “I don’t see why not,” Astra said, with a confused look. “Here,” Calvin said. He turned one on and handed it to her. “Oh, I get it,” she said. Calvin picked her up. She was very light. Calvin let her climb on to his back, and they started off on their hike to the star port.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:
THE STAR PORT
They left the crash site and headed east, picking their way through a thick forest. Astra had her scanner resting on the back of Calvin’s neck and was reading it.
“We’re closer than I thought,” Astra said. “The star port is only nine miles away.”
Calvin carefully stepped over a mosscovered fallen tree. “That’s better than twentysix,” he said.
“What if we get there and none of the spaceships are flyable?” Dev asked.
“I’m more afraid of what we’ll find when we get into orbit,” Astra said.
“Or what we won’t find,” Calvin said. He was worried about both of those things, but at the present, he was worried about running into Terrors out in the open. They walked for two hours over rough terrain, over small hills and across a shallow ravine. But generally the path forward led downward at a gentle incline. Calvin kept his eyes and ears open, but he never saw or heard any Terrors.
They took a short break on a large flat rock in the center of a clearing. Astra stretched out on the rock and warmed herself in the sun. She looked happy.
Calvin stared up into the deep blue sky and wondered what was waiting for them up there. If they found nothing but a debris field, what would they do?
The sun felt very good, but it was starting to get hot, and he was ready to get back to the shade under the trees.
They rested for ten minutes, and when they were ready to continue, Astra turned her antigravity generators back on and climbed on Calvin’s back.
Thirty minutes later, under a canopy of green leaves, Calvin listened
intently for the distant scream of approaching Terrors. He was happy that he didn’t hear anything except for the gentle wind in the trees and an occasional bird overhead. He also heard several almost imperceptible beeps.
“Oh, come on,” Astra exclaimed. More beeps and a bang.
“Something wrong?” Calvin asked.
“I downloaded the database from the castle before we left,” Astra said. “Most of the files are unprotected, but I found a locked area. I’m trying to get in, but no luck so far.”
Calvin walked around several large rocks. “What have you found so far?”
“I found a bunch of personal journal entries,” Astra said. “The people who lived in the castle were called the Myantes. They were displaced by the Goremog sixty-one years ago and found this planet. They built the castle and the city. That’s all I know so far. There is a set of files I can’t get in.” There were more beeps. Astra groaned.
“Can I try?” Dev asked.
Astra hesitated and then said, “Sure, I’m not getting anywhere.”
Dev took the handheld scanner and worked the controls.
Astra looked up at the trees above and took a deep breath. “It feels so good out here,” she said.
Dev furiously worked the scanner. There was a steady stream of beeps.
“Here you go,” Dev said smiling, after twenty-five seconds.
“What?” Astra took the device from him. “You got in?”
“Yes,” Dev said. “That was a little tricky; whoever designed that code knew what they were doing.”
“Are you sure?” Astra said. “How did you do that?”
“I can’t explain it,” Dev said. “I’m just good at breaking code.”
“That’s a handy skill to have,” Calvin said.
Astra read for the next thirty minutes, while Calvin climbed down a steep rocky hill and over a cool mountain stream.
“No,” Astra said. “I can’t believe it. It says here that the Myantes people found the Goremog lab deep underground. They moved in and continued research on the Terrors. They made their own modifications and created an army of them to protect themselves from another Goremog attack.”