The large city shimmered, the waves of heat making it dance and ripple in the sun like an optical illusion. Brendan breathed in as if to sigh, but the hot air was so thick he gargled and coughed, the heat choking him.
He trudged along the road toward the town. As he approached, Brendan noticed a surprising amount of green for a desert. The city was built on a river, nestled in a shallow valley of low, tan hills. The flatlands on both banks of the river were covered in buildings and splotches of green palm trees and other plants. It gave Brendan hope of finding some fresh water there.
As he got closer to the city, he spotted a camel standing on the side of the road, tied to a fence. The animal looked content, even sleepy. Brendan grinned.
“Wow, Gilbert,” Brendan said sarcastically. “These camels really are scary man-eaters!”
He reached out to pet the camel, when it suddenly opened its mouth, revealing two rows of razor-sharp teeth. The beast let out a roar that sounded more threatening than a mountain lion’s. The camel’s head shot forward to take a bite out of Brendan’s arm, but he was tied securely to the fence and couldn’t get close enough.
“Okay, I guess I owe you one after all, little dude,” Brendan muttered to himself as he scampered away down the road. “You never know how twisted things are gonna get in Kristoff’s books.”
Tires crunched over gravel behind him, just before a loud horn blared in his ears. Brendan spun around and found himself face-to-face with two bulbous headlights. A jeep barreled down the road right toward him at speeds better suited to a race track than a bumpy desert road. The horn blared again; the jeep wasn’t slowing down, as dust and sand kicked up behind it like a trailing yellow cape.
Brendan just stood there and gaped at the car that was mere seconds away from turning him into human roadkill. He wondered briefly if some guy would come by later and scoop up his flattened carcass and dump it into a trash can on the back of a pickup. Maybe it was the heat, or his growing thirst, or maybe it was the same thing that caused deer to stop in the middle of roads when cars approached, but Brendan didn’t and couldn’t move.
It was like his feet were glued to the road.
Brendan stood there and watched as the jeep rumbled toward him at breakneck speed, still blaring its horn.
In a small cave on a strange island that doubled as the planetary setting for Denver Kristoff’s science-fiction novel The Terror on Planet 5X, Eleanor Walker huddled herself into a ball, cold and alone, and she cried. She cried for her dead friends, Lefty and Fat Jagger, and for her brother and sister who had abandoned her there.
Eventually, exhaustion took over and she drifted into an uneasy sleep. Eleanor dreamed of horrible monsters that melted her home and family and friends. She dreamed of Brendan and Cordelia having private conversations where they confessed to each other that Eleanor was really a hindrance on their mission and they wished they’d left her behind—back in San Francisco. She dreamed of all the things she still didn’t have: a horse of her own, real human friends her own age, siblings who respected her, and a happy family with a big house and all the stuff they’d ever want.
At some point in her sleep, she became aware of voices speaking above her. Normal voices. Human voices.
“What is it?” a man said.
“What do you mean ‘what is it?’” a crisp female voice replied. “It’s a little girl.”
“A little girl on Planet 5X?” the man said. “Impossible.”
A third voice spoke, this one stilted and emotionless, as if it came from a machine instead of a person. “The probability of preexisting human life on Planet 5X is fourteen billion seventeen hundred million eight hundred seventy-six thousand six hundred five to one.”
“I don’t care what the probability is,” the woman said again. “I trust my eyes, and my eyes are telling me that we’re looking at a little girl sleeping in this cave.”
“I think she’s dead,” the man said.
“According to my sensors, she is very much alive,” the machine voice said. “Her heart rate has escalated to eighty-one beats per minute and she is severely dehydrated, but she is not deceased.”
Eleanor groaned and rolled over. Two faces peered in at her from the narrow cave opening. A man and a woman. They took a step back as if the sight of a little nine-year-old girl was suddenly the scariest thing they had ever seen.
“Who are you?” Eleanor asked, also wondering where that third robotic voice had been coming from.
The woman took a gentle step toward Eleanor.
“Don’t do it,” the man said. “She could be armed.”
“Armed?” the woman asked incredulously. “She’s a little kid!”
“I still wouldn’t go anywhere near her,” the man said. “She could be carrying an infectious disease or some strange virus from her home planet. . . .”
“There’s no need to be so cautious,” the woman said.
“I’m just looking out for your well-being,” the man said. “Like any good older brother should.”
The woman rolled her eyes and took another step closer. She smiled at Eleanor as she reached her hand out. She had long, red hair that draped across her shoulders like fire and green eyes that burned so intensely Eleanor almost screamed, sure that they could shoot out the same green flames that had melted Kristoff House . . . and Lefty Payne. The woman’s smiling lips were bright red and shiny with glossy lipstick.
“It’s okay, little girl,” the woman said. “What’s your name?”
“Eleanor.”
“How did you get here, Eleanor?” the woman asked.
“It’s a long story,” Eleanor said.
“Why don’t you come with us,” the woman said. “You can tell us all about it.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” the man said.
The robot voice suddenly chimed in, seeming to come from nowhere. “Maybe I should perform a routine examination scan before you—”
“Stop! Both of you,” the woman said before turning back to Eleanor. “You’ll be safe. We’ll take good care of you, I promise.”
Eleanor hesitated, but only for another second or two. The woman seemed nice. Eleanor already liked her. She was strong and didn’t seem to let anyone push her around. Besides, anything was better than being alone. Eleanor had basically been ready to just give up and stay curled up inside this cave forever.
She reached out and took the woman’s hand, which was covered in a gray-leather glove. The woman’s grip was firm as she pulled Eleanor to her feet and then helped her squeeze out of the cave and back into the strange alien jungle. Once outside, Eleanor got a much better look at her new friends.
The woman was tall and wearing a skin-tight gray leather space suit that looked as if it did a much better job showing off her curves than actually functioning as a working space suit. Her matching gray boots had pointy heels almost as long as Eleanor’s forearms, and she carried herself confidently, as if there was nothing she couldn’t handle. There was a bright yellow belt around her waist holding a small device and ray gun that both looked like they were from a fifties science-fiction film.
The man was just slightly taller than the woman, with the same deep red hair. His was buzzed on the sides and combed into a pompadour on the top that curled over his forehead like a red wave. He had a similarly tight gray space suit that showed off bulging muscles and a matching ray gun on his yellow belt. He gave a cautious grin when Eleanor looked at him, and his teeth were huge and white.
“Who are you guys?” Eleanor asked.
“I’m Zoe,” the woman said. “The overly protective fellow here is my brother, Deke. And that voice you’re hearing on our remote communication device is our spaceship’s mother computer, Rodney.”
“Rodney?” Eleanor said with a laugh. “That’s kind of a silly name for a computer.”
Suddenly, a deep whirring sound came from the speakers on the astronauts’ belts. It sounded oddly like an electronic whimper. A low whistle followed it, sounding r
emarkably human and sad.
“Now look what you did, kid,” Deke said. “You went and hurt Rodney’s feelings.”
Zoe leaned in closer to Eleanor and shielded her mouth with the back of her hand. “You can’t be too hard on Rodney,” she whispered. “He’s very sensitive . . . for a computer.”
Eleanor nodded and then, in a soft voice, said, “I’m sorry, Rodney. I really like your name. It’s very sweet.”
“You really think so?” he asked. “I am quite fond of it as well.”
More whirring sounds and several light beeps emitted from the speakers. They coursed with obvious mechanical delight.
“What are you guys doing out here anyway?” Eleanor asked.
“We’re space rangers,” Zoe said. “We’re hot on the trail of an extraterrestrial we tracked to this planet, known as Planet 5X.”
“Did this extraterrestrial do something wrong?” Eleanor asked. “Why are you after him?”
“Him?” Zoe said. “Why do you assume it’s a man? It’s an alien; it might not even have a gender. But girls can be on the run too, you know? What are you, from the Dark Ages?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume anything,” Eleanor said, worried that she’d just lost her one chance to make new friends so she wouldn’t have to be alone anymore.
“Don’t mind my sister,” Deke said. “I keep telling her to lighten up on the whole strong-woman routine or she’ll never find a good husband.”
“Husband!” Zoe scoffed. “I don’t need a husband. Maybe to do my laundry for me . . . but that’s why we created robots! I’m perfectly fine being on my own. I can handle myself quite well, thank you.”
“Right!” Eleanor ventured with a grin, assuming this was the response Zoe wanted.
“See?” Zoe said triumphantly. “She gets it! I think you and me are going to get along just fine, Eleanor.”
“Me too,” Eleanor said, smiling.
“But the real question is, what are you doing here all by yourself?” Zoe asked. “And how did you get here? This planet is supposedly unexplored.”
“Like I said . . . it’s a long and complicated story.”
The sibling explorers looked at her as if they had all the time in the world.
“I hate to intercede,” Rodney said in his monotone voice. “But my sensors have detected three more UWOs approaching your coordinates quickly.”
“Don’t you mean UFOs?” Eleanor said, as the ground began to rumble uneasily under her feet.
“Negative,” Rodney said. “The acronym utilized stands for Unidentified Walking Objects.”
“Oh,” Eleanor said as the ground continued to shake. Then her eyes went wide with fear and understanding. “OOOooh! You mean the giant robots that shoot melting green fire!”
“You’ve seen them?” Zoe asked.
Eleanor nodded. “They killed my friend and melted my house.”
“You live here?” Zoe asked.
“We don’t have time for this!” Deke yelled, drawing his ray gun from his belt. “Rodney, what’s our best escape route?”
“Computing,” Rodney said robotically. “Computing.”
He computed for what felt like ages to Eleanor. On a smartphone she could have looked up driving directions from Fisherman’s Wharf to Omaha, Nebraska, including traffic patterns and tolls in like two seconds.
“Escape route negative,” Rodney finally said. “Window of evasion has expired. The UWOs have surrounded your position. The probability of survival is fourteen thousand—”
“No time for calculations now,” Zoe shouted as she pulled Eleanor next to her.
The three of them huddled together with their backs to the cave wall as the massive, green-fire-spewing robots thundered through the tall trees and thick alien foliage. Three robots emerged simultaneously in a half circle around the smooth, black stone cliff, blocking any chance of escape. Then, as if they’d been practicing synchronization for weeks, the UWOs raised their green flamethrowing hands and pointed them at the explorers.
Eleanor’s shrill screams pierced through everything else as the flames erupted from the robots’ hands and turned her whole world bright green.
Out in the sea, not too far from the “planet” designated 5X, Cordelia and Adie screamed in shock as they both splashed into the cold ocean. When the bright ball of light struck the bottom of the sailboat that Gilbert had built for them, the boat had simply evaporated out of existence, leaving the two occupants suspended several feet in the air above the surface of the water for a split second.
It wasn’t until Cordelia splashed down into the salty ocean that she felt much of anything. The water was so cold that it knocked the wind from her lungs, and she gasped for air as she treaded water.
Adie splashed wildly next to Cordelia, screaming that she couldn’t swim. Cordelia swam over to her, glad to have something distracting her from the temperature of the water. She looped her arm under Adie’s armpit and pushed her up to keep her head above the surface.
“Stay calm, stay calm,” Cordelia said slowly, trying to keep her own voice as steady as she could. She had done this before, back when she taught Eleanor how to swim a few years ago. “The more you thrash, the more you’ll sink. Keep moving your feet in slow, steady circles.”
Adie nodded and, slowly but surely, her flailing slowed so that she was nearly lifeless in the water. Cordelia saw her bare feet kicking beneath a billowing yellow dress in the water.
“I’m going to let go now,” Cordelia said, struggling to keep afloat herself while holding Adie up.
“No!” Adie yelled, her eyes widening.
Cordelia told herself to be patient, remembering that there probably weren’t a lot of swimming pools in the late 1800s Dakota prairie. Lakes, maybe, but traveling thirty miles away to a lake to go swimming wouldn’t be particularly easy without cars.
“You’ll be okay, I promise,” Cordelia said. “I’m right here.”
Adie nodded as she spat out some of the water she’d accidently gulped down while struggling.
“This water tastes awful,” she said.
“Salt water,” Cordelia said.
“I read about oceans being salty, but I never imagined this,” Adie said. “I’m actually swimming in a real ocean!”
Cordelia nodded, glad that Adie’s mood had shifted. But she was still worried about whatever had been the source of that blue light. It was incredible how Adie always looked at the bright side first. Cordelia wasn’t sure she’d ever met someone so optimistic.
Cordelia treaded water and looked down into the deep, clear ocean. There didn’t appear to be anything below them. But it was much harder to see with her face now just inches from the surface.
“Oh no,” Adie said.
“What?”
“There’s another light coming.”
Cordelia spun around. Another blue light was coming up underneath them. But this one looked different. For one thing, it seemed to be slowing as it approached. Additionally, as it got closer, Cordelia could clearly see it was a larger object with a dark shape inside of it, and not just a ball of light.
They watched in awed silence as the light grew under their kicking feet. It was the size of a whole room. Cordelia realized then that it was a vessel of some sort. But like no vessel she’d ever seen. It was long and sleek, almost the length of a school bus, and entirely transparent, with just a few blue lights visible along the bottom. And there was a person clearly visible inside.
The vessel continued to rise, far more quickly than it had appeared to be moving when it was farther down, and for an instant Cordelia was sure it was going to break their ankles. So she closed her eyes and tensed for the impact. Except there wasn’t one.
Instead, both Adie and Cordelia were suddenly sucked under the surface of the water and into the strange submarine, right through its exterior as if it were made of nothing.
They found themselves sprawled on a dry, hard floor. Cordelia shivered and looked up at the lone occupant of the
vessel. The woman standing in front of them looked far more human than Cordelia had expected. She had a beautiful, striking face, with normal arms and legs. The only real difference was the color of her skin. It was tinted light blue and shimmered as if it were constantly changing colors. Her long, flowing hair was jet black. Her irises were red with pupils so tiny they looked like nothing more than a single drop of black in the center of her eyes.
She appeared to be ageless, and wore an iridescent pearl garment that looked more suitable for a runway than for piloting a submarine. The woman also wore a crown made of sparkling seashells and had an aura of royalty about her, as if she possessed more dignity and grace in one hand than one human could possibly ever hope to achieve in a lifetime.
The woman pressed a glowing symbol on an invisible inside wall of the strange vessel. The submarine had glass walls on every side, and it terrified Cordelia and Adie when it started descending into the depths again.
“Lucky I found you,” the woman said. “It’s nearly mating season for the nine-gill sharks. They are beautiful and wondrous creatures of the sea. But during mating season, they feast on just about everything and anything they can find. And that boat you were in wouldn’t have done much to protect you.”
Cordelia and Adie stared blankly at their rescuer. They were still too shocked to process much of what was happening, let alone offer any coherent replies.
“I’m sorry,” the woman said after a few moments of silence. “Are you having difficulty understanding me? Do you speak a different language?”
She looked down at Adie and Cordelia still seated on the floor, shivering and wet. Her expression had shifted slightly. She was still smiling, but now it was tinged with pity, the way someone might look at a clumsy toddler struggling to take its first steps.
“We can understand you just fine,” Adie said, finally climbing to her feet. “I’m Adie! And this is my friend Cordelia.”
“How wonderful to meet you, Adie and Cordelia,” the woman said. “You have beautiful names. I’m Grand Premier Annex Democritus, the humble elected servant of the people of Atlantis.”
Clash of the Worlds Page 17