by William Wood
“I’m glad you didn’t say anything,” Astra said quietly. “About the Goremog experiment, and the end of the world.”
“Yeah,” Calvin said. “We should wait until we know for sure.”
Calvin wanted to talk to Dev and Wexton, and plan their strategy. He wanted to figure out what they were going to do next and hear any ideas his friends might have. But he was too tired. He couldn’t sort through his own thoughts.
After they finished eating Calvin and Astra got up from the table. Wex and Dev, who had been sitting on the other side of the room, got up and met them at the door.
“I like this place,” Dev said. “We should stay.”
“We don’t have much of a choice,” Calvin said. “Nils told us the rooms on the third floor are all empty. Let’s go up there.”
“Wait!” Dev said loudly. “Nils said they were afraid to go up to the third floor. Why would he say that?”
“Maybe there’s something scary up there?” Wexton suggested. “A monster, or something.”
“What?” Dev said, alarmed. “Oh, I get it.” Dev smiled. “Getting me back for the whole supernova comment. OK.”
Wexton laughed.
Calvin led the way up two flights of stairs to a hallway with dozens of rooms. They each picked a room, and said good night.
Calvin walked into his room and closed the door. He took a deep breath and looked around. The room was small. There was a bed, a tiny wooden nightstand, and a wardrobe. What surprised and pleased Calvin the most was the small bathroom. His eyes grew wide and a big smile spread across his face when he saw the bathtub.
‘Nice,’ he whispered. ‘It’s too good to be true.’ He walked over to the tub and turned the handle. His heart jumped when water started pouring out. He almost shouted out loud, but kept it to a loud whisper, and raised his hands in the air triumphantly. ‘Yes!’ The water came out cold. Even if he had to take a cold bath he would have been happy. But after a minute the water became hot.
Calvin took off his clothes and got into the hot water. It felt wonderful to soak in the hot water and wash the dirt away. He almost fell asleep, and decided to get out. Calvin felt relaxed, and content. He also realized it was the first time he’d been alone in a long time. It was nice, for a change.
Calvin woke up the next morning. The sun was shining through his window. He’d slept very well. He must have fallen asleep as soon as he closed his eyes, and didn’t remember waking up during the night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:
DARK REVELATIONS
Calvin got out of bed, dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. He was the first person in the pub, and sat down at a booth near the fire, which was already going strong, and there was a delicious smell of food cooking, floating in from the kitchen.
Calvin was sitting, staring at the fire and didn’t notice the woman from the night before approach his table.
“Good morning sir,” The woman said.
What was her name? Calvin thought hard. Nils had said it when they first arrived, what was it? Then he remembered.
“Barouke, right?”
“Yes,” she said, smiling. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes,” Calvin said. “Very.”
“Then why don’t you come back and get a plate.”
Calvin followed her into the kitchen. She walked with a limp that he hadn’t noticed the night before. Also, she looked a lot older, but the pub was well lit, not shrouded in darkness and he could see the wrinkles in her face, and her hair which was long and white.
He was pleased when he arrived in the kitchen to find large skillets of meat and potatoes staying warm on the stove.
“Just help yourself to whatever you want,” Barouke said. “I’m just finishing up some gravy for the biscuits, and there is a pot of coffee hanging near the fire.”
“Thank you Barouke. Call me if you need help, all right.”
“I can handle things in here dear,” Barouke said. “Tell your friends to come on back whenever they wander down, please?”
“Yes ma’am.” Calvin said. He loaded his plate with sausage and hash browned potatoes, and went back to his booth by the fire. He found several mugs hanging on pegs and filled up his mug with coffee.
Astra wandered down. Soon Wexton and Dev joined them and before long, they were all at the table enjoying a big breakfast. After a few minutes Barouke came around with a plate of biscuits and a small pitcher of hot gravy.
Nils, and two men walked in, talking. Nils waved at Calvin’s table, and then went into the kitchen. They emerged a few minutes later with plates and mugs of their own. In the daylight, Calvin got a good look at the two men following Nils around. The one on the left had a scraggly brown beard, a large blocky nose and long unkempt brown hair. The other one was shorter, had spotty facial hair and ugly scratches on his face and neck. They were both dressed in the same black overalls as Nils and Barouke.
Calvin felt very welcome, as if they were long standing members of this family.
After a short lull in the conversation, Wexton asked,
“So what is our plan for today?”
“We’re going to find a way off this planet,” Calvin answered. “So first, we need to search the prison complex.”
“That sounds good,” Dev said. He seemed excited about the prospect.
“Everyone needs to be careful,” Astra warned. “How do you want to do this Calvin?”
Calvin had already been thinking about it.
“We should separate, but no one should wander around alone,” Calvin said. “How about Astra and I, and then Wex and Dev?”
That was fine with everyone.
“Should we tell everyone here what’s going on?” Dev asked.
“No,” Astra said. “I don’t think that’s a good idea yet. They all seem happy right now. If we tell them and there is no way to stop the experiment or get off the planet, they will die in terror. My biggest concern is that their panic level might slow us down. I think we should tell them later.”
“That sounds reasonable,” Calvin agreed. “No reason to scare them yet.”
They all agreed and parted ways. Dev and Wexton went off together. They grabbed several biscuits and stuck them in their pockets on the way out. Calvin and Astra headed off to conduct their own search. First, they checked out all the buildings in the center of the prison. They were stone and iron buildings on hard metallic streets; it was almost like walking on the hull of a spaceship. They didn’t find anything interesting; only personnel support structures: food storage, freezers full of meat, living quarters, offices, recreational areas, water tanks and a weapons practice room.
Then they approached the prison. Calvin had been dreading searching that area, afraid of what they might find there. His imagination was capable of conjuring up all kinds of images; mostly of dead people left to rot in their cells.
The prison was predictably very stark and depressing. The main facility was underground. They passed through two layers of fence and walls to get to the area that contained the prison cells. It was a large collection of tiny featureless rooms with filthy floors and doors with small windows. Calvin couldn’t help himself, and had to look through each window. He wanted to make sure they didn’t miss anything and didn’t want to have to go through again.
They searched the entire site, two levels down until they reached the back wall. It was dim; the air was heavy and had a fowl putrid smell. Calvin felt nauseous and hurried back up to the surface across the blood stained concrete floor and out the exit. He sat down on the ground, closed his eyes and breathed in short shallow gasps. Astra sat down next to him.
“That was horrible,” Calvin said. Astra didn’t reply. She had her hand over her mouth, and her eyes were closed.
Calvin didn’t believe in ghosts, but if he did, he would have imagined that the spirits of thousands of dead, tortured souls still inhabited the underground dungeon, crying out for help. Or maybe that much pain and horror left an after image behind that would neve
r go away. It took him several minutes to slow his breathing. Calvin shivered, he felt a cold shadow grasping him, like a giant pair of hands slowly crushing him. He stood up, and paced back and forth in the sunlight, hoping to shake it off. But he knew one more thing was just added to his collection of nightmares.
After a few minutes, the shadow dissipated and Calvin started to feel warmer. He looked up and saw the big red sun directly over them. Astra reached her hand out to Calvin; he took it and helped her to her feet.
Calvin kept them in the shade as they headed back in the direction of the inn, as he liked to think of it. They stopped in the courtyard outside the inn and sat down on a bench near a fountain. Next to the fountain was a large black rock. On the surface were rows of words, etched in a strange language that even the translator he was carrying couldn’t decipher.
“Did you find anything interesting?” Dev asked, as he and Wex joined them. “Well, we did. You need to come and see this.”
Something in Dev’s voice, and the look on Wexton's face made Calvin stand up quickly. Calvin and Astra followed Dev and Wexton to a corner of the prison they hadn't explored yet. They went through a gate, and down a short flight of stairs. At the bottom they found a small room with a row of windows that overlooked a wide open grass covered room. There were half a dozen trees and large rock mounds with dark tunnels. The whole thing was enclosed by a tall thick rock wall and the top was capped off with a glass and steel roof, which let in shafts of sunlight through narrow slats. There were a lot of dark shadows inside.
Wexton walked up to the glass and looked down on the prairie, which was fifty feet below them. Dev stayed back, with a nervous look on his face.
"Where is it?" Wexton asked.
"I don't see it." Dev replied.
"What are we looking for?" Calvin asked.
Astra walked up to the glass and looked down. "What is this place? It looks like a zoo exhibit."
Suddenly it dawned on Calvin; that's exactly what it reminded him of.
"Oh zap!" Dev shouted. "There it is!"
"Where?" Wexton said excitedly, moving from side to side.
Calvin scanned the enclosure, until he saw a shadow, slowly moving across the grass.
Suddenly a shape shot out from behind a mound and charged at them. It moved like lightning, too fast to see what it was.
It jumped into the air and slammed its body against the glass. There was a deafening crash and the glass shook violently. Calvin jumped back; along with everyone else.
The creature had its mouth open, showing rows of razor sharp teeth. The monster screamed, and dropped to the ground. Astra grabbed onto Calvin's arm and squeezed.
"I don't believe it!" Calvin exclaimed. "It's a Dark Terror!" He was both fascinated and petrified as he watched it walk in circles under the window. It looked like a Terror, but there was something different about it. "What were the Goremog doing here?" Calvin asked.
"Look at it," Astra said. "Look at it. It's just an animal. It has no robot parts."
"But it looks like a Terror," Dev said.
The monster slowly walked away, and disappeared behind a small hill.
“It’s a Crexion,” Astra answered. “The creature the Goremog altered into Dark Terrors.”
“They turn these things into Dark Terrors?” Calvin said, astonished.
“Yes,” Astra answered.
They stood there for several minutes, but didn’t see another Crexion.
“Have you only seen one?” Calvin asked.
“Yes,” Wexton said. “But this isn’t the only thing we wanted to show you.”
They left the observation room, and headed down a concrete slope into a tunnel. At the end of the path were three large doors. All were closed. Calvin walked to the middle door and tried to open it via a control panel on the side. The door wouldn’t open. There was a bar across the middle of the door. He put his hands on it and pushed; nothing happened.
Astra stepped up and put her hands on the door bar next to Calvin’s. The door didn’t move.
“It was worth a try,” Astra said smiling.
Astra took a step back and examined the door control carefully. She pressed a few buttons, which produced several angry buzz sounds.
"It's got power," Astra said thoughtfully. "But we don't have the key."
“Key?” Calvin asked. “What kind of key?”
“In this case it looks like a password, or a code,” Astra said. “We’ll have to find it if we want to get through these doors and something tells there’s something important behind them.”
“What do you think we’ll find in there?” Wexton asked.
“I don’t know,” Astra said.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Dev said. He stepped up to the keypad and worked the controls. “I don’t mean to brag, but I’m usually good at opening locked doors. It might take a few minutes though.”
“Take all the time you need,” Calvin said. They watched for several minutes as Dev tinkered with the controls. Nothing happened.
Calvin walked around, back and forth, until he became impatient.
“Are you hungry?” Calvin asked Astra.
“Yes,” she answered simply.
“Let’s go back to the inn and eat dinner.”
“That sounds good,” Astra said.
“I’m going to stay,” Dev said. “I think I can get this.”
Calvin and Astra walked back to the inn. Wexton stayed with Dev. Calvin felt better about that. He didn’t want anyone to be alone, still not trusting the residents of the prison yet.
There was a gentle cool breeze in the air, and the sun was beginning to sink behind the mountains.
They walked the deserted streets to the pub where they again found a large meal being prepared, including meat roasting over a fire.
They each were served large plates of delicious food, and ate by the fire. When they had finished, and were relaxing, Nils sat down at a table next to them.
“Find anything interesting today?” He asked.
Calvin told him about finding the Crexion pen, and the locked doors.
“There’s an animal in there?” Nils said. “We thought it was empty. It’s a good thing none of us went in there.”
“Right,” Calvin said.
“So, when is the planet going to explode?” Nils asked. “How long do you think we have?”
Calvin looked at Astra. If she was as surprised as he was she was hiding it well.
“So you know?” Calvin asked. “How long have you known?”
“I overheard you talking about it in the park this morning,” Nils answered.
“And you weren’t very quiet,” a voice said from a dark corner.
“I can handle this Petori,” Nils said. “Why don’t you get Freks and check the perimeter sensors; make sure we’re still alone here. I’d rather not be surprised if the Goremog come back.”
“Yes boss,” Petori said; and stomped out of the room.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Nils said. “How long do we have?”
“We don’t know,” Astra said. “We’re still trying to find out.”
“You’re hoping to find a way to stop it,” Nils said.
“And if we can’t,” Calvin added. “We’re hoping to find a way to escape.”
A shadow passed over Nils face. “I don’t think you’re going to find anything. The Goremog took everything of value with them.”
Calvin looked up and stretched his neck and shoulders.
“Now things are starting to make sense,” Nils said. “The earthquakes, rapid changes in temperature from day to day. Animals going crazy and dying off in droves. It seems we were all destined to die here after all.”
“We’ve been through every inch of the prison,” Calvin said. “And we didn’t find anything except the three locked doors near the wall. I don’t think we should give up yet.”
“That’s right,” Astra said. “I have a good feeling. If we can get in, we might find wh
at we need.”
“Forgive me if I’m a little skeptical,” Nils answered. “I hope you’re right, but I think we’ll prepare for the worst.”
Nils stood, and left by the front door. Calvin and Astra were alone.
Calvin thought about Nils’ last statement and wondered; how do you prepare for the worst? How can you prepare for the planet to explode? What was there to do?
The fire crackled softly. Splashes of firelight danced on the walls and reflected like liquid crystal in Astra’s eyes. At any other time, Calvin would have found this to be relaxing, especially with Astra sitting across from him. He was amazed at how he was always able to find peace in her eyes, and was struck with how beautiful she was. Even though they had survived several desperate situations, his outlook was changing. He had been holding on to the hope that the Alerians would find the Azure Frost, repair Ion and then go looking for them.
Now he was losing hope. The fact was that nobody knew where they were. They had traveled for an unknown duration to this planet; they were lost. Calvin had to be honest with himself; there was no possible way they were going to be found. If they didn’t get off the planet, soon, they would die when it exploded.
“After everything we’ve been through,” Calvin said. “We’re going to die here, on an unknown world. What will happen to your people, to New Arlandia?”
Then Astra surprised him. Instead of being positive, she replied, “All surviving Alerian ships will meet on the Korves moon, at the center of the Galaxy. When we don’t show up with the super-weapon, they will be forced to make their last stand, because more than likely, the Goremog will chase them all the way there. My people won’t give up without a fight. It will be a spectacular, but probably very short fight. The Goremog will hunt down any survivors until we are extinct.”
“I wonder how long my people can stay hidden,” Calvin said. “I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.”
“The Goremog will hunt down every living being in the galaxy and destroy it, and their war with the No’Rath will never end. We were their last hope.”
The fire burned peacefully, but the room seemed darker, and Calvin felt the crush of hopelessness.