“Roger!” came the mechanical voice of the conductor.
“And let’s have some singing.”
“Right-eo, pops!”
Mayor Gordon shook his head and gave himself a mental note to talk to the orchestra’s linguistic programmer first thing in the morning.
The orchestra played a surprisingly beautiful song.
“Circles! We’re all doing circles now!” Mayor Gordon yelled to the crowd on the dance floor. Ignoring the red and blue tiles, everyone began to move in circles with their partner. A gross sound spewed from the floor as several dozen tiles glowed yellow at the same time. The mayor put his hands to his ears and yelled at one of the technicians. “Turn those stupid tiles off!”
Finally, he faced Simon and Tonya and said, “I have to get ready for my speech, so you two be good. Try to stay within the lines, will you?”
They both nodded, and the mayor left. Simon glanced across the dance floor and saw Thornapple and Gwin both smiling at each other.
“So do you wanna try this over again?” Tonya said in a cool voice.
Her hair had already returned to the same sultry blue color as before. A soft breeze caressed her face. Simon stared into her yellow-green eyes and thought for a moment that she looked like an angel in the moonlight. He melted like butter in a skillet.
“Yes. I’m sorry,” he said.
“I’m sorry, too. You’re right—I shouldn’t have danced with Alvin.” She rubbed Simon’s arm affectionately. “Besides,” she added with a playful smile, “he’s much too old for me anyway.”
Simon put his arms around Tonya’s thin waist, and they began to dance. At first they were rigid, but they both loosened up as the music played. One of the robots started to sing. Simon thought it was odd that such a lovely voice could come from a lifeless machine.
“So where’d you get your dress?” Simon asked, trying to make small talk.
“I made it.”
“You made it! When did you do that?”
“I’ve been sewing it for over a month now. This is why I’ve been so excited for the dance. I wanted to see your reaction when I wore it.”
Simon examined the workmanship of the dress more closely. It was actually much more modest than what he would have expected her to wear at a formal dance. He reflected back on the skintight outfit she had worn the first day they met. A lot of things had happened since that day. Although Simon had known about Pudo for only two months, Tonya had lived in the new parallel world the whole school year. Standing next to the young lady, Simon felt like a little kid; he couldn’t believe how mature she had become over the past nine months.
“Your dress is beautiful. You did a fantastic job.”
“Thank you,” she said, blushing. They rotated a couple of times before Tonya spoke again. “Simon,” she said in an oddly hesitant voice.
“Yes.”
“You said my dress was beautiful, but… what about me?”
“Huh?”
“Do you… do you think I’m beautiful?”
Simon’s eyes widened in shock. A flood of emotion inundated his body. Intensely hot all of a sudden, he felt the need to fidget with his top button.
“Well, I—” He fumbled for the words.
Just then, Mayor Gordon’s voice boomed over the loud speakers. “May I have your attention, please? May I have your attention?” The orchestra stopped playing. “Thank you. Good evening, fellow citizens of Highland City. As your mayor, I’d like express my gratitude to everyone who made the festivities today possible.”
Everyone cheered—especially Simon, who was focusing his whole attention on the mayor.
“It’s been one thousand years to the day since we were victorious at the Battle of Lisardious.”
The people cheered again.
“We’ve come a long way since that dreadful day, and I hope we never see another alien again… well… except for our Chamelean and Earthling friends, of course.”
He nodded towards Simon and Tonya, and the crowd laughed in agreement.
“So that we will always remember our past,” the mayor continued, “and to remind us of what we’ve become over the last thousand years, I present to you this statue.”
Pulling away a thick, gray cloth, he revealed a life-sized bronze statue that portrayed a group of smaller Puds sitting on the shoulders of larger Puds. The smaller Puds wore expressions of celebration and triumph on their faces, while the larger Puds resembled beasts of burden—like oxen—forced into bondage by the yoke of oppression.
“This statue was found in an archeological dig beneath the city some time ago. Those little Puds have been riding on top of the big Puds for almost a thousand years, and I’m sure they’re a bit saddle sore by now.” Sporadic laughter rang forth from various parts of the crowd. “But our scientists refuse to let them rest. I’m sure if these ancient Puds could talk, they’d probably ask to go back into the dark catacombs where they were found just to get away from the archaeologists. Now that our scientists have translated the engravings, taken dozens of samples, and done all of their superfluous experiments—” Mayor Gordon turned to a group of men standing nearby and asked, “You are finished poking and prodding it, aren’t you?”
Wringing his hands and looking quite anxious, the head archeologist, a tiny man dressed in a white overcoat, responded in earnest, “Actually, now that you mention it, we would like to take another look at the translation. There’s been some debate recently regarding the interpretation of some of the ancient characters. Maybe if we could just study it for one more—”
“Oh, nonsense!” Mayor Gordon said. “The translation sounds good to me.” He turned back to the audience and exclaimed, “This monument is finally ready for the public to enjoy. The engraving on the statue reads as follows:
“‘See the brave warriors of Pudo, the small and the big, extinguishing our enemies so that our children may live to be wise and strong for thousands of years. With this memorial, let us never forget the great Battle of the Lisardians.’”
The crowd clapped their hands and shouted with joy. Mayor Gordon, beaming with pride, said, “Now, I don’t want to interrupt your dance any further, so I’ll end with this reminder—”
Ignoring the mayor’s speech, Simon squinted his eyes to read the inscription on the statue. The strange characters glowed and then melted into English. The first line read: “Here lie the brave warriors of Pudo…”
The mayor’s words crept into Simon’s ears. “Our city was forged from the blood of our ancestors. We are the superior race, and if it were not for the little Puds, we wouldn’t be here—”
Mayor Gordon raised his arms towards the statue. Simon jerked his head around to see the words on the next line of the inscription. “The big and the small—fighting as one, living as one, dying as one…”
“So I encourage you all to pay your respects to those that gave their lives in the war,” Mayor Gordon concluded. “Please enjoy the rest of the dance.” The mayor turned to the mechanical orchestra. “Conductor! Continue where you left off.”
The music started back up again, and the lead robot resumed singing from the exact syllable it had last sung before getting interrupted. Tonya put her hands around Simon’s neck and pressed him to dance. Before they rotated, however, Simon read the next sentence on the statue. “May our progenitors be wiser than us when our enemies awake from their slumber one thousand years from now…”
The boy’s stomach lurched in anticipation to read the next line. His back now faced the monument, so he had to wait a few more seconds.
“Well?” Tonya’s clear voice broke his concentration and startled him. He had almost forgotten she was there.
Simon responded impatiently, “Well, what?” He could almost see the statue now.
“You never answered my question.”
“What question?”
“Do you think I’m pretty?”
Ignoring the question completely, Simon read the next sentence. “…and let this mem
orial serve as a commemoration of the folly of our wise yet foolish nation…”
He moved out of range again.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” he said, trying to look back at the monument.
“Hey, if you don’t wanna answer, you don’t have to,” she said. Simon urged her to rotate faster. “I’m just trying to figure you out, that’s all. We’ve spent a lot of time together lately, and… I don’t know—I thought maybe you—”
Simon read the last line of the inscription on the statue. “Let us always remember the great and terrible Battle of the Dragunos.”
“Oh my gosh!” Simon interrupted.
“What is it?”
“The Lisardians… They weren’t aliens.”
“Ahhh, can we just spend one night without talking about Pudo history?”
Simon was frantic. He had to do something, fast. Tonya obviously didn’t care about his discovery, so instead of arguing with the apathetic girl, he blurted, “I have to go, Tonya. Thanks for the dance.” He left her without saying another word.
The poor girl just stood there, fuming with anger and hurt as she watched Simon rush off towards Thornapple and Gwin. Her bottom lip started to quiver, and her hair faded to a murky black.
“Thorn!” Simon cried. “They weren’t aliens…”
“Simon, what are you talking about?” Thorn asked with a disturbed expression on his face; he had just been in the middle of telling a joke to Gwin.
“Your scientists have it all wrong…” Simon said, trying to catch his breath. “They were lizards, not aliens!”
“Who were?” Gwin asked.
“The Lisardians! This whole time, everyone has been calling it the Battle of Lisardious, but it’s actually the Battle of Lizards—or dragunos—whatever you call them.”
“Wow,” Gwin marveled. “How do you know that?”
“I read it on the statue.”
“If that’s true,” Thorn said, “then this could be pretty serious. We have been having a lot of draguno attacks lately.”
“It’s more serious than you realize,” Simon said in haste. “I also read that the dragunos are coming back soon. Thorn, we have to get into the sealed portion of the library.”
“This is awesome,” Gwin exclaimed. “Let’s go.”
“Hold on, Gwin,” Simon said; her supportive attitude shocked him. “You’re not coming with us. We’re going to have a hard enough time as it is sneaking into the vault. There’s no reason for you to get involved.”
She shook her head. “If the Lisardians—I mean dragunos—are coming back to destroy the planet, then that’s a pretty good reason to get involved, don’t you think?”
“I don’t know, Gwin,” Thorn said, siding with Simon. “We’re not exactly leaving on a mission to save the world. We’re just going to look at some old books.”
“Okay,” she conceded, “but let me know what you find.”
“All right,” Thorn said. “We’ll see you later.” They started to walk away, but then Thorn whirled around and added, “Most likely we’ll be right back. Save me a dance, will you?”
“I’ll be waiting for you,” she said, winking. Thorn debated whether she had directed the wink towards him or not, but he blushed nonetheless. Simon’s cheeks reddened as well.
Chapter 18
The Library
Except for the old librarian sleeping at the front desk, the library appeared empty. Most of the lights had been turned off to conserve energy. An eerie sensation filled the pit of Simon’s stomach as he crept past the tall desk and headed for the vault.
“How are we going to get in?” Thorn asked in a half-whisper.
The librarian stirred in his seat.
“Shhh!” Simon scolded. “I’m going to use magic.” He put his hand on the digital keypad.
Thorn raised an eyebrow. “You’ll probably set the whole place on fire or something.”
“Shhh! Let me concentrate. I got my video games working, didn’t I?”
“Something tells me this security system is a bit more complex than your video game machine.”
The old man at the desk snorted loudly, and both boys froze. A few moments later, the librarian readjusted himself in his chair and fell back asleep. His deep breathing echoed across the marble floors and pierced the silence of the library like a dragon struggling to sleep.
“Keep your voice down,” Simon said. Overwhelmed, the inexperienced magician glided his hand along the seam of the metallic door. The hinges that held the massive door in place were wider than his fist.
Simon put his hand on the digital keypad again and closed his eyes. In his mind, he visualized the circuits and conduits of the security system. He traveled along a blue wire and then a red one. A series of white beams of light reflected off a diamond prism and ran down various tunnels. Feeling euphoric, Simon chased after one beam and soon found himself deep into the circuitry of the electronic system.
Tiny nanoprobes zoomed around in the air to defend the microchips from foreign objects. Simon visualized a speck of dust shooting out of an opening in the floor. Like mosquitoes attacking a helpless child, the nanoprobes pounced on the dust particle and broke it up into tinier fragments with their minute lasers.
Simon’s consciousness moved down another tunnel and into a huge opening. He saw a gigantic globe with blue electricity surging up the sides to reach the top. It was the kind of glass ball that made your hair stand up when you touched it. He had seen one at a school field trip to the planetarium last year. The only difference was that, somehow or another, he was inside of it.
A colorful arrangement of diodes and capacitors lined the floor, and a huge tower of microchips sprang upwards in the center of the room—attracting the energy like a lightning rod. Simon became discouraged at seeing the millions of electronic components.
Which one is it? he thought.
Then, out of obscurity, he saw something almost hidden within a bed of strange-looking electrodes. It was a tiny, insignificant thing—too small for anyone to notice—but it seemed important for some reason. As Simon’s consciousness drew closer, he realized it was just an ordinary fuse—the type one might find in a strand of Christmas lights.
No, he argued. This little thing? How could this tiny fuse bring down the entire security system? How could something so small make a difference?
He wanted to give up and go back into reality, but his inner self forced him to stay. The little glass cylinder came more and more closely into view. Soon, his vantage point was such that the fuse was all he could see. He concentrated all his energy on the tiny thread contained within the glass tube.
Outside this strange mechanical world, Thornapple watched patiently as Simon manipulated the security system. From the little Pud’s viewpoint, it looked like Simon was merely stalling. He was about to comment on this but stopped himself when he saw a bead of sweat run down his friend’s face.
Simon’s jaw muscles tightened. His cheeks turned red, and he began to tremble from the terrible strain he was under.
“Are you okay?” Thorn grabbed his arm, but Simon wouldn’t let go of the digital keypad. “Simon!”
Inside the security system, Simon watched as the tiny thread in the fuse snapped in two. Instantly, the entire system turned off, and everything went black.
“Simon, are you okay?”
Disorientated, Simon realized he was back in the library. “Shhh! You’ll wake up the librarian,” he warned.
“It looks like it didn’t work,” Thorn said.
“Well, you interrupted me! I think I almost had it—”
A loud pop sounded, and the thick door creaked open a quarter of an inch. The librarian jumped in his seat.
“Is someone there?” the old man asked while fumbling for his cone-shaped cap.
Simon and Thorn held their breath. They watched the librarian stand up and rotate towards them. Just then, a clap of noise echoed throughout the library.
“Sorry about that,” someone said.
A feeling of relief swept over the two boys as the old librarian sat back down.
“May I help you?” he asked in his deep-drawled voice. The man peered over his desk to see Gwin picking up a holographic pad from off the floor.
“Yes, you can.” She winked at the two boys behind the desk. Simon could have sworn her wink was directed towards him, but Thorn would beg to differ. “I hear you have the newest edition of the Scientific Lecture Series,” she said with a perky grin.
“Why, yes, we do,” the man squealed. “Let m’see, here.” He looked down at the monitor on his desk and tapped some keys. “Lecture Series… Lecture Series…” he mumbled to himself.
Gwin signaled for the boys to go into the vault.
As they left, Simon mouthed the words, “Thank you.”
Gwin smiled and winked again. This time Simon felt positive she was winking at him.
Not waiting another second, the two boys slid into the vault and shut the door behind them. They began to choke on the noxious fumes that billowed from the vents. Simon dropped to his knees and tried to feel his way through the dense clouds of neon-blue smoke, but he kept bumping into things.
“Take this,” came a strange, mechanical-sounding voice.
Simon turned around and saw the silhouette of a small Pud behind the veil of thick smoke. The strange figure stepped forward, breaking through the blue fog like a knife cutting through butter. Unprepared at seeing the futuristic-looking mask the person was wearing, Simon took a gasp of the vile air and started to cough.
“It’s me—Thorn!” the little Pud said from behind the frightening disguise. He handed Simon a gas mask.
Feeling slightly foolish, Simon took the mask and put it over his head. The black rubber suctioned itself to his chest and drowned out the external noise completely. His glasses pressed into his face, but he ignored the discomfort.
Paraworld Zero Page 20