“Shouldn’t we test it first?” said Regan. “To be sure it really is water. We’re not on Earth, after all.”
“I already tested it the only way I know how. It feels and smells exactly like water,” said Ryan.
“And it probably is. But what if it turns out to be some strange liquid that doesn’t exist on Earth? For all we know, a single drop might kill us.”
Ryan looked at his hands nervously and then quickly wiped them dry on his pants. “Okay. That’s a good point,” he acknowledged. His forehead creased in thought. “So how else do you test for water?”
“I have no idea.”
“But you were the one who just said we should test it.”
“I know,” she said. “Since I came up with the idea, I thought you could come up with the test,” she added, smiling.
Ryan laughed. “Okay,” he said. “I accept the challenge.” He thought for a moment. “I guess the key is to think of properties of water that are unique.”
“Are there any?”
“Yeah. I know I learned that water is pretty remarkable, either from Mom or at school. Give me a minute to remember.” He strained as hard as he could until some of the information finally began to come back to him. “Okay,” he began. “Here’s a unique property. Things expand when they get warmer and contract when they get colder. Like the liquid in a thermometer. So if you freeze a liquid solid, it contracts: it takes up less space. But water does the opposite,” he added triumphantly. “Water actually expands when it’s frozen.”
Very interesting, thought Regan. She remembered leaving a bottle of water in the freezer a few months earlier. Sure enough, when it had turned to ice it had expanded and broken the bottle. She hadn’t really thought about it before, but he was right.
“And because water expands when it freezes,” continued her brother, “ice is less dense than water, so it’s able to float on water. This floating thing is very unique to water also.”
“So what are you saying, that if you made ice-cubes out of gasoline and put them in a glass of gasoline, the cubes would sink to the bottom?”
“Exactly,” he said. He smiled as an image popped into his head of a woman in a fancy dress, sipping a glass of cold gasoline like it was lemonade. “I remember Mom telling me that this was a very important property of water. Because ice floats, in the winter a lake or river becomes frozen on top, protecting the water beneath from freezing also. If ice didn’t float, the surface would keep freezing and sinking to the bottom until the entire lake or river ended up as a gigantic cube of ice, killing all the fish.”
Regan listened in fascination. There had to be a way to use this information. And then it hit her! Of course. “You did it Ryan. We have our test. All we have to do is turn some of this stream ‘water’ into ice and see if it floats in the stream.”
“Good plan, Regan. But unless you happen to have a freezer with you it doesn’t help us.”
Regan grinned broadly. “You’ve been in California too long, Ryan,” she teased. “It’s true that in San Diego the only way to freeze water is with a freezer. But in other parts of the country there is another way—leave it outside during the winter.”
Ryan laughed. Maybe he had lived in California too long. He still couldn’t see how this helped them. The answer suddenly dawned on him as it had on his sister and his mouth dropped open. He hadn’t adjusted his thinking to the possibilities of the alien city. In the zoo they had instant access to dozens of worlds, several of which would be cold enough to freeze water. Using an entire world as a freezer seemed a bit excessive, but a good scientist had to be able to use whatever tools were available.
Regan could see that he had caught on. “We’ll need to go back to the city and find a small container that will hold liquid. Then we can drop it off on an ice-planet and come back after it’s frozen.”
Ryan nodded. “If it floats in the stream, we’ll drink some. It still might not be pure water, but it’s the best we can do.”
“I agree,” said Regan. “What about possible diseases?”
“We’ll just have to be careful,” her brother replied. “Provided the ice floats, we can drink a very small amount. If that doesn’t kill us by tomorrow, then we’ll know it’s okay.”
“And if it does kill us by tomorrow?” said Regan.
“Then we won’t be thirsty, will we,” responded Ryan with a straight face.
“Very comforting,” said Regan.
They turned away from the stream and headed back for the tram. They were halfway there when they spotted their first large animal.
And it spotted them.
It was about seven feet tall and probably weighed six-hundred pounds—with most of this weight in the form of dense, rippling muscle. Its mouth was packed with dagger-like teeth. It was orange and black and looked somewhat reptilian. It had eight powerful legs, four on each side, and each foot ended in a claw that a raptor would envy. It was a vicious predator; an unstoppable killing machine.
And it was between them and the tram.
They froze in place, their breath stuck in their throats. If this beast attacked, it would cut them both to ribbons before they could even blink.
Regan’s mind worked furiously. Was there any way out of this? They couldn’t possibly outrun it. Besides, running was a very bad idea. Kids who hiked in California were taught that if they encountered a cougar, also known as a mountain lion, the last thing they should do is run, because running only made them look like prey.
What else could they do? They were no match for this alien monster physically. But then, humans had never been a match, physically, for any of the predators they had conquered. Only their superior brainpower had allowed them to become the top predator on Earth.
The creature stared at them for several long seconds, trying to figure out what to make of them. Finally, satisfied that they would make easy prey, it snarled fiercely and started toward them with a killer’s gleam in its eye, preparing to attack.
And with the immense strength and physical weapons available to the creature one thing was certain; at this moment, all the human brainpower in the universe wasn’t going to stop it for even a second.
Chapter 19
The Swarm
Suddenly, Regan had an inspiration.
She picked up a large rock by her feet. “Brace yourself, Ryan!” she yelled. And then she did something her brother would never have expected in a million years. She jumped on his back.
Despite her warning he barely managed not to fall over as she climbed up his back and sat on his shoulders. What was she doing?
“Now growl and scream at it!” said Regan, who immediately took her own advice. While they were screaming she threw the rock as hard as she could at the snarling monster, hitting it in the center of its body.
They continued growling and yelling as loudly and fiercely as they could, feeling ridiculous trying to scare this formidable beast with their yells and puny human teeth.
The creature stopped seven feet from them and considered. It studied them carefully for about fifteen seconds while they continued to shout insults at it and then, thinking better of it, hastily retreated back into the woods.
Ryan couldn’t believe it! But he wasn’t about to wait around to see if the creature was really gone for good. He raced for the safety of the tram, not even stopping to remove Regan from his shoulders until they arrived. They entered the vehicle and quickly began driving back the way they had come.
“Regan, that was brilliant. I thought we were goners for sure. Then, when you hit it with that rock, I thought we were double goners.” He shook his head. “And I also thought you’d totally lost your mind. How did you know that would work?”
“I didn’t,” she responded simply. “But I know it works with coyotes and cougars and I thought it might work with this thing.”
Coyotes and cougars. Ryan had forgotten about that. When you saw one of these animals you were supposed to look as large and threatening as possible so they
wouldn’t think you were an easy meal. “Okay, but a coyote or a cougar is like a bunny rabbit compared to that thing. What made you think it would work on that monster?”
“I guessed it had never seen a human before. That thing has to be used to animals running away from it. So when we changed from two small, unknown animals, into a bigger, two-headed animal, and instead of running actually had the nerve to yell at it, it became confused. Just as I hoped, it wasn’t very smart and decided not to take the risk that we were tougher than we looked.”
Ryan laughed. “Just about anything would be tougher than we looked. My guess is that a pair of bunny rabbit slippers are tougher than we looked.” He paused. “But you can’t argue with success. You were absolutely right. Nice going!”
Regan beamed. “Thanks. Who’d have ever thought that Pennsylvania could be this exciting.”
“Or this far away from Earth, for that matter,” joked Ryan.
They traveled back to the door leading to the alien city in reasonably good spirits. Outsmarting a carnivorous alien creature instead of becoming its meal could cheer anyone up. After searching through several buildings they found a few things that could serve as containers and carried out their experiment, staying closer to the tram this time and keeping more alert for dangerous animals. It worked. The ice floated in the stream. They congratulated each other, took a few sips of water and then returned to the city.
They wandered through the city for several more hours and were surprised to find that the lighting dimmed gradually. The city must have been set to the same cycle of light and dark as the Earth. Finally it was dark and they realized they were exhausted. They found a stretch of soft ground and slept soundly through the night.
When they awoke the next morning, both hunger and thirst gnawed at them painfully. But so far the water hadn’t had any ill effects. They would wait a little longer and return to the wooded planet for more.
They traveled for about an hour when they ran across another building with a holographic display at its front. The building was shaped like a perfectly cut diamond and it sparkled just as brilliantly. The hologram showed a large triangle facing a semicircle of tiny triangles. Behind the large triangle was a separate holographic image of a solar system in space.
Ryan guessed the holograms in front of buildings must serve the same purpose as signs in front of public buildings on Earth. The display in front of the zoo building had identified it quite nicely. “What do you think this building is?” he asked Regan.
Regan studied the hologram. “I’ll bet it’s a school,” she said finally. “The big triangle represents the teacher and the little ones the students.”
Ryan nodded. “It could be.” Why not? After finding the tram and saving them from the ultimate predator, he was beginning to respect his sister’s instincts. He gestured toward the entrance. “Let’s find out.”
They entered a room that contained several ordered rows of solid, tan-colored cubes, about three feet high. On a raised platform next to each cube sat a glass sphere about the size of a softball. They picked one up and examined it, but as usual couldn’t figure out its function or purpose.
Regan put her hand on the side of one of the large cubes. It was smooth and very hard. She decided to sit on it and rest her feet.
She gasped as the hard surface completely gave way under her weight and engulfed her. It was as if the material had turned to liquid for just an instant, had surrounded her, and then had hardened again.
“Are you okay?” asked Ryan in alarm.
“I … I guess I’m fine,” she said in surprise. A smile slowly formed on her face. “You gotta try this. This is the most comfortable chair I’ve ever been in. Like floating in water—or maybe Jello—only better.”
“But how will you get out of it?” asked Ryan.
She frowned. “I don’t know.” She tried to change position—and the chair let her. As soon as she moved it reliquefied—not hindering her movement at all—and then solidified again when she stopped moving for a few seconds. As they had come to expect of things associated with the city, it was quite remarkable.
Ryan sat on the cube next to her and it gently engulfed him as it had his sister. Regan was right. The chair was impossibly comfortable. He wondered if there was a way for it to massage his back while he sat. Probably.
He looked to the front of the room and was surprised to see the same holographic image they had seen outside; a large triangle surrounded by smaller ones. He decided to inspect it more closely.
As he got up he stumbled over his own feet. Instinctively he grabbed for the raised platform beside him as he fell and was able to right himself. That was a relief.
“Are you okay?” asked Regan.
“Fine,” he replied. As he answered he noticed that the glass globe that had been sitting on the platform he had just grabbed had slowly rolled to the edge and was teetering there. He lunged for it. Too late. The globe fell to the floor and smashed into dozens of pieces.
Regan winced but then shrugged her shoulders. “Look on the bright side. At least no one is here to miss it, whatever it was. I wouldn’t worry about—”
She stopped in mid-sentence, horrified. They had forgotten about the city’s immune system. Would the destruction of the globe somehow alert the city’s defense force again? From the look on Ryan’s face it was clear he had also realized the danger they were in. “Let’s get out of here!” he urged.
Regan screamed.
It was too late. Their worst fears had been realized. A swarm of the black, piranha-like insects erupted through the floor with astonishing speed, totally surrounding them in seconds. Millions of pairs of tiny insect legs clicked furiously on the ground and millions of pairs of mandibles gnashed together horribly.
The siblings watched in terror and revulsion as the unstoppable wave of death advanced steadily toward them.
Chapter 20
Repairs
The insects fell upon a few of the broken pieces of the globe, which immediately melted away under their ever-moving jaws.
Ryan and Regan held on to each other, helpless, and braced for the end.
The insects cut a careful path around them to get to the other pieces of the globe.
Around them?
Ryan saw an opening! In their present formation he might just be able to jump beyond the swarm. He launched himself forward with all of his might.
He realized with a sickening feeling that he wasn’t going to make it.
But just as he was about to land on thousands of the insects at the edge of the swarm they scattered, leaving him an open space.
Could it be? He took a step toward the center of the swarm.
And they scattered once again. Again, his foot landed on empty floor.
“Look!” he yelled excitedly to Regan. “They’re not trying to eat us. They’re avoiding us.”
In seconds Regan had verified what her brother had said. In fact, it was impossible to touch one of the scurrying insects. They managed to completely avoid the two kids while going about their business of devouring every piece of the strange broken globe. And then, while Ryan and Regan looked on in astonishment, thousands of the bugs packed themselves into a tight ball. They stayed in this position for only a few seconds and then fell away again to reveal a perfect, intact, glass globe.
Ryan’s hypothesis had been tested, after all, and it was wrong. The insects weren’t the defense crew. They were the repair crew.
Ryan could tell from the look on his sister’s face that she had reached the same conclusion he had. Although he still hadn’t entirely lost his fear of the ferocious looking creatures, he decided to bend down to get a closer look at them. But as he began to do so the bugs chewed several holes into the floor and scurried into them, almost faster than his eyes could follow. The holes instantly filled up again to match the rest of the floor, and other than the repaired globe, no sign remained that the insects were ever there.
Unbelievable.
“You kn
ow what this means,” said Regan in elation. “It means that Mom and Dad and the other scientists are alive! Those things couldn’t have eaten them.”
Ryan’s eyes widened. Regan was absolutely right! He allowed himself a glimmer of hope for the first time since the group of Prometheus scientists had disappeared.
But Regan’s spirits sank once again as she remembered her mom’s desperate condition. “They must have found out the bugs wouldn’t hurt them and ran to take Mom to the hospital. By the time we got back, they and the bugs were gone.”
“We never even looked to see if they’d repaired the staircase,” said Ryan. Knowing that the bugs were the repair crew and not the defense crew cleared up several mysteries, but many others remained. “But this still doesn’t explain what happened to all the equipment in the room,” he pointed out. “Or how so many people could have left a room so quickly while carrying Mom,” he added. “And we still don’t know where they are and why the entrance to the city is gone.”
“Maybe not,” said Regan, “but things are certainly looking up. It would be a lot harder for us to solve these mysteries if we were bug food right now.”
Ryan smiled. “You’ve definitely got a point there,” he admitted.
“Let’s get out of here,” she suggested.
Ryan eyed the hologram floating in space, now only a few feet in front of him. This had been his goal when he had left the chair in the first place. “Okay,” he said. “But I want to try something first. Holograms were used as controls for that tram we were in. Maybe these are controls too.” He walked over to the hologram and touched the image of the large triangle suspended in air.
They gasped in alarm as the hologram disappeared and they were suddenly floating in deep space, surrounded by nothing but endless blackness and billions of stars.
Where were they?
They couldn’t survive in deep space.
It gradually dawned on them that they hadn’t gone anywhere. Their surroundings were just a perfect illusion. The small hologram with the triangles had just been replaced by a far larger one of deep space, extending as far as they could see in every direction. It totally surrounded them and was breathtakingly realistic.
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