Space Runners #2

by Jeramey Kraatz

  Benny tapped on his screen, opening up blueprints for what looked like a giant Space Runner bus, big enough for several people to live in reasonably comfortably.

  “It’s like an SR RV,” he murmured to himself.

  “Awesome,” Drue said. “But isn’t there like—I don’t know—a giant asteroid-shredding missile launcher in here somewhere?”

  “From what I’ve heard, you’ll have to talk to Dr. Bale about something like that,” Pinky said. “Elijah was always adamant that his innovations not be applied to any sort of weapons. You wouldn’t believe the government contracts and licensing deals he turned down.”

  “Ugh,” Drue groaned, reaching for more cookies. “All I’m finding is stuff about how the gravity can be controlled on a room by room basis at the Taj, which I’m sure will be super helpful if I ever want to hang a portrait of myself in the lobby, but not right now. Talk to me about some of these prototype SRs, Pinky. Where are the dual-engine hyperdrives? Or a Moon motorcycle?”

  “I hesitate to point out that something like that has been produced,” Pinky said. “But it was far less practical than a normal Space Runner.”

  Drue’s eyes practically sparkled. “Where is it?” he whispered.

  Within a few minutes, Pinky had led them down into the basement and through a series of corridors. Eventually, they came to a long spot in the hallway where there appeared to be no doors. Pinky stopped.

  “I advise you not to touch anything down here,” the AI said, keeping her gaze planted firmly on Drue.

  “Scout’s honor,” Drue said.

  Pinky sighed. “I know for a fact that you were never a scout, Drue Bob Lincoln the Third.”

  “Uh, in where, though?” Hot Dog asked.

  Pinky waved her hand, and a section of the wall slid away, revealing the entrance to a pitch-black room.

  “Secret level,” Ramona chirped. “Woot.”

  “I don’t know why I’m surprised by this,” Hot Dog said, shaking her head.

  “What is this place?” Benny asked, staring into the darkness.

  Lights flickered on overhead as Pinky walked in, revealing a huge room filled with row after row of shelving racks holding all sorts of devices, tools, and hulking shapes draped in white dust covers. On one side of the room, five Space Runner—or Space Runner–inspired—models lined the wall.

  “It was originally designed as a sort of vault area, but in practice it’s become a storeroom for Elijah’s failed or discarded toys,” Pinky said. “Many of the projects he abandoned or that never lived up to his expectations ended up here. All these should be in the plans I sent to your HoloTeks.”

  Drue darted straight for the prototypes. “This is what I’m talking about. You’ve been holding out on us, Pinks.”

  “How did this stuff even get down here?” Jasmine asked, wandering farther into the room.

  Pinky pointed to a square on the cement ceiling. “This opens up. We’re underneath the courtyard. The fountain out front is directly above us and moves aside to allow easy access to and from the garage.”

  Hot Dog had wandered down one of the rows of shelves, and was now holding up what looked to Benny like a metal skull with wires dangling from the neck. “Elijah was building robots?” she asked.

  “No way,” Benny said.

  “Before settling on a holographic interface for me, he did toy with the idea of giving me a more palpable form,” Pinky said.

  “Analog realness,” Ramona said.

  Hot Dog looked back down at the skull in her hands. “This is terrifying.”

  Benny picked up one of many sets of gloves sitting on a shelf, a thick band across the knuckles.

  “These look like the gravity gloves we used in the video game sim,” he said.

  “Close,” the AI replied. “Those actually emit high-voltage, supertargeted magnetic fields. Elijah used them to move around dead Space Runners back in his early testing phases.”

  From across the room, Drue gasped. “What. Is. This?!”

  Benny found him beside a red Space Runner that stood on four short, shining metal disks.

  “Ah,” Pinky said. “For a while Elijah was entertaining the idea of landing on an approaching comet and riding it for a few days.” She motioned to the disks. “These are designed to shoot off of the vehicle and latch on a passing celestial body. Then, the powerful electromagnets hidden inside could theoretically pull the Space Runner to, say, a comet, holding it stable on the celestial body. Eventually he lost interest in the idea.”

  “He really went through a whole magnet phase, huh?” Hot Dog asked.

  “Brilliant,” Jasmine said, coming up beside Benny. “To design something like this and keep it in storage. Most people would kill to even have a working concept.”

  “Why land on a comet when he could just race beside it and—” Drue stopped mid-sentence, his mouth hanging open. “There it is.”

  He darted away from them, making a beeline to a yellow bike-shaped craft in the corner.

  “A Moon motorcycle!” he shouted.

  “That would be the Galaxicle, yes,” Pinky said.

  “How does it work? No, let me guess—mini hyperdrives in each wheel? Pinky, I’m taking this for a spin.”

  “Absolutely not,” Pinky said. “That prototype hasn’t been tested in years, and it proved to be far too impractical for use in space. It was little more than a novelty.”

  “I just want to go for a ride around the Taj!”

  “It’s far too fast for—”

  “Too fast?” Drue asked. “I think I’m in love.”

  “You’d probably break every bone in your body,” Hot Dog said.

  Ramona smirked. “Let him do it.”

  “Put one finger on that and—” Pinky started, but she abruptly turned back to the others. “There’s a call.”

  “A what?” Benny asked.

  “It’s Dr. Bale.”

  Benny looked around, unsure of whether he should be excited or concerned. From what he could tell, they felt the same way.

  “Okay,” he said. “So what do we do?”

  “Well?” Drue asked. “Answer it, dummy.”

  “Yeah,” Hot Dog agreed. “Maybe he’s got news about the aliens or something. He could’ve seen them headed our way.”

  “I can route it to your HoloTek,” Pinky said.

  Benny nodded and pulled out his datapad. He took a deep breath before tapping on the screen. The scientist’s face appeared. He was back in his strange space truck—the Tank.

  “Benny,” he said, peering into his HoloTek camera. “Very good. I was hoping you’d be the one who answered. I suppose I have Pinky to thank for that.”

  “Yeah, you—” Benny started.

  “I’ll cut to the chase, my boy. I have something I think you’ll be very interested in.”

  Benny blinked. “What?” he asked.

  Dr. Bale’s lips spread over his teeth, revealing a toothy grin. “Contact with Earth.”

  “What?” Benny asked. “How? When?”

  “I’ll show you.” Bale paused, adjusting his thick goggles. “We’ll be at the garage’s auxiliary port in ten minutes. See you then.”

  Before Benny could react, the screen went black.

  10.

  Hot Dog’s eyes went wide. “Ten minutes?” she half shouted. “He’s almost here!”

  “Could he really have a way to contact Earth?” Benny asked.

  “Of course,” Jasmine said. “I mean, anything is possible.”

  “If he wants to carve a message into the Moon with lasers,” Drue said, “you can tell him I already had that idea and it got shot down.”

  “I’m much more concerned that he might have brought a bunch of those weapons with him.” Jasmine shook her head. “He could have called us before he left his camp. He didn’t want us to have much notice.”

  “They’ve disengaged whatever cloaking technology they were using,” Pinky said. “I’ve got five vehicles approaching the Taj perimeter.
There appear to be three drivers. The two unmanned crafts are quite large, likely floating containers.”

  “Right.” Benny raised a hand to his temple, rubbing the side of his head as he turned away from the Space Runner prototypes. “Let’s get up there.” He started for the door, and then paused, looking to Pinky. “Call the Pit Crew,” he said. “Tell them what’s happening. Tell them everything we know about Dr. Bale. This could be big, and we should be figuring this out together.” He groaned. “I’m sorry about how much Ricardo is about to yell at you.”

  “I appreciate that,” Pinky said. “But save the concern for yourself.”

  “Wait,” Hot Dog said, catching up with him as he headed into the hallway. “So we’re just going to let Dr. Bale in?”

  “I don’t know,” Benny said. “We’ve got, what, eight or nine minutes to decide?”

  “I’m not thrilled by the idea,” Jasmine said. “But not letting him inside the Taj could provoke him. We don’t want to do that.”

  “Maybe he’s not as nutso as we thought he was,” Drue said as they piled into an elevator that would take them up to the lobby. “Maybe he just wants some tacos instead of Moon dust bars.”

  “Plus, if he has figured out a way to get in contact with Earth . . .”

  Benny’s thoughts turned to what this could mean for them, just how important it was that they be able to warn humanity of the alien threat. It had been almost a week since they’d had any sort of contact with the planet. And it wasn’t just Taj satellites that were destroyed in the first asteroid assault; who knew how many telescopes, communications hubs, and unmanned space stations had been obliterated? Had people sent up Space Runners to check on the Taj? Were they aware of the threats floating between Earth and the Moon? Or was the planet still blissfully unaware that anything major was happening? If Dr. Bale could get them in touch with Earth, they could finally have answers to at least some of their questions.

  He thought, too, of what else contact with Earth would mean for him: a chance to call home. To see and talk to his family. He wasn’t sure how he’d break the news of everything that had happened—was happening—to them, but he knew that just seeing their faces and hearing their voices again would make everything better somehow.

  They tore through the lobby and out into the courtyard, none of them speaking. When they made it to the garage, they found Bo McGuyver reassembling a hyperdrive engine while Ash tinkered with a laser mounting. Benny and his friends must have looked worried when they entered, because Ash immediately hurried over to them, her eyebrows raised in concern.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Dr. Bale is coming,” Benny said. “He’s on his way now.”

  Pinky appeared beside them. “I’m estimating his time of arrival at five minutes and forty-seven seconds.”

  “He’s coming here?” Ash asked. “When that man left the Taj the last time, he made off with a bunch of prototype SRs.” She turned to her brother. “Yo, Bo. Help me hide anything valuable we haven’t already stashed underground.”

  She whipped out a HoloTek and tapped on it, causing the floor to shift on the far side of the garage. Several rows of Space Runners sank below the concrete. With a nod of satisfaction, Ash motioned her brother toward their gadget-filled toolboxes against the far wall. Ramona sat in one of the two oversize satellite Space Runners next to them, face buried in her HoloTek, seemingly oblivious to everyone else.

  “The auxiliary tunnel is still sealed,” Pinky said, a hesitancy in her voice. “Would you like me to open it?”

  There was a stomping of boots behind them as Ricardo and Trevone burst into the garage, Ricardo leading.

  “Where is he?” he shouted. He glared at Benny as he practically snarled each word.

  “Four minutes and twenty-four seconds away,” Pinky said.

  “Pinky told us he has an arsenal,” Trevone said. “What if this whole thing is just a trick to—”

  Ricardo raised a hand in the air so quickly that Trevone jumped and stopped speaking midsentence.

  “I can’t believe you,” he said, pointing at Benny, then gesturing to the rest of them. “All of you. Going out there. Finding him and then not telling us.”

  “I know,” Benny said. “I’m sorry, but we—”

  “You need to leave.” Ricardo took a few steps toward him.

  “Uh.” Drue came up to Benny’s side. “Dr. Bale is kind of expecting us.”

  “Also,” Jasmine said. “About those weapons.”

  “Yeah.” Hot Dog pulled on a blond curl. “Are we letting this guy in here for sure?”

  “He obviously has resources that we need,” Ricardo said. “We can’t ignore whatever he’s offering if he really can get us back in contact with Earth. That would mean reinforcements. We could get together a whole search party for Elijah. And as far as his weapons go . . .” He turned his attention to Trevone. “We could use them.”

  Trevone clenched his jaw.

  “So, you think we should let him in?” Benny asked.

  “We are letting him in. It’s not your decision to make.”

  “Gentlemen,” Pinky said carefully. “You are putting me in a very awkward situation. I’m going to need the two of you to find some common ground very quickly.”

  Benny looked up at Ricardo, thinking again of his father’s words. About trusting others. About the importance of the caravan sticking together. If he said no now, he’d just be making the Pit Crew and Dr. Bale mad. Plus, they did need all the help they could get.

  Finally, he nodded. “Ricardo’s right.”

  Drue took a few steps away from the group, looking around the garage floor, before finally picking up a long, thick torque wrench.

  “What are you doing?” Jasmine asked.

  Drue shrugged. “I dunno. If he pulls anything funny or tries to hold up the Taj, I kind of want to be prepared. This may shock you, but I’ve never actually been in a fight before, so I don’t know how to throw a punch.”

  “Put that down,” Hot Dog said. “Not that I think he’s going to look at you and be scared, but it’s probably not going to help things at all.”

  “ETA fifty-two seconds,” Pinky said.

  “The brat has a point,” Ricardo said. “We should have some sort of plan if this goes bad.”

  The AI waved to a row of SR trainers in one corner of the garage. “Perhaps you’re forgetting that I have control of most everything in here. If he so much as implies a threat, I’ll have him pinned against the wall.”

  Benny turned to her. “Good. Be on your guard, just in case.”

  “You’re not in charge, Love,” Ricardo said, taking a step toward Benny and puffing out his chest. Then he glanced at Pinky. “Be ready.”

  They stood there, staring at the corridor that led outside the Grand Dome. Apart from Pinky’s updates and the sounds of the McGuyvers tucking sensitive equipment and plans into locked cabinets, the garage was silent. And then the vehicles were shooting in from the tunnel, their hyperdrives rattling, louder than any Space Runner Benny had heard.

  They parked at the far end of the garage and took their time getting out of their vehicles. Benny and the others stood back, unmoving.

  “Here goes nothing,” Hot Dog murmured as Dr. Bale stepped out of his car. He said something to his assistants, and Todd and Mae hurried to one of the giant rectangular boxes that had floated in behind them.

  “Hello again,” Dr. Bale said as he walked toward Benny’s group. He nodded to Pinky. “Ms. Weyve. It’s been many years.” He smiled a little. “He chose a good time to upload your image.”

  Pinky let out a short, breathy laugh as she crossed her arms. “Dr. Austin Bale. You certainly look as though you’ve spent the last few years on the dark side. The Taj’s spa, fortunately, can do wonders for a tired face.”

  “Pinky,” Ricardo muttered.

  But Dr. Bale didn’t seem to be concerned by the AI’s comments. Instead he grinned and smoothed down his oily hair. “I haven’t been liv
ing in luxury up here on the Moon, no. Too much work to be done to worry about keeping up appearances.”

  Mae and Todd pulled a big metal trunk from one of the containers and carried it between the two of them. Benny couldn’t tell if it was exceptionally heavy, or if the two thin assistants were just weak from spending so much time on the dark side, surviving on sustenance packets.

  “I can’t tell what’s inside.” Pinky’s voice came through the speaker in Benny’s collar, so quiet he could barely hear her. “But I’m sensing dozens of small power sources.”

  “You said you had a way for us to contact Earth,” Benny said, taking a few steps forward.

  In a flash, Ricardo was standing beside him. When he spoke, his voice was deeper than usual. “My name is Ricardo Rocha. As the senior member of Elijah West’s Pit Crew, I’d like to welcome you to the Lunar Taj on his behalf, and hope—”

  “Yes, it’s a pleasure,” Dr. Bale interrupted. “I know who you are and you know who I am, so I think we can go ahead and dispense with the formalities in the essence of time.”

  He pulled off a glove and reached down, touching the side of the trunk. It sprang open, and Benny instinctively held his breath. Inside he could see what looked like a pile of small black objects. Bale picked one up, holding it in his open palm so they could see its twelve equal, flat sides, which gleamed in the light.

  “That’s what’s reestablishing our comms?” Benny asked.

  “Close,” Dr. Bale said. He nodded to Mae, who pulled out a HoloTek. After a few taps, the device flew from Bale’s hands and hovered in the air twenty feet above them. He continued. “The remaining asteroids between here and Earth are your problem. As long as they’re around, there’s no safe place to park a satellite. And SRs aren’t primed for automated tactical response when threatened—one of Elijah’s grosser oversights.”

  He pulled something out of the pocket of his patched space suit, holding it up to them between his thumb and index finger: a piece of alien asteroid rock no bigger than a lug nut.

  “What you need is protection,” he said. “That’s what I’ve come to offer you.”