by Tracey West
“This must be what the secret order was talking about,” Simon guessed.
“Do you think it’s a spaceship?” Alice asked.
Simon walked around the craft. It was smaller than the ones that had come from the sky, and there was no glass dome on the top.
“I’m not sure,” he said, and then he jumped into the pilot’s seat. “But there’s only one way to find out.”
Alice hesitated just a second before jumping in beside him. “Might as well. The more time I spend out of that kitchen, the more I don’t want to go back.”
“All right. Brace yourself,” Simon said, and Alice closed her eyes and gripped the side of the craft. Then Simon pressed the green button marked START on the control panel in front of him . . . and nothing happened.
Alice opened her eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure,” Simon said.
Alice pointed to a gauge on the panel that read FUEL. The arrow was pointing to EMPTY.
“I guess it needs fuel to run,” Alice said. “But what kind?”
Simon climbed out of the craft and walked around it. “It looks like this is where the fuel goes,” he said. He unscrewed the cap and peered into the hole.
“Phew! I’d know that smell anywhere. This thing runs on manure,” Simon said.
Alice grinned. “Lucky us! There’s plenty of that around here.”
“Don’t I know it,” Simon grumbled. “Be right back.”
He climbed out of the windmill and returned a few minutes later carrying a sack of manure. Holding his nose, he dumped it into the fuel tank. Then he jumped back into the craft.
“This better work,” he said, pressing START once more.
This time, the craft roared to life. It quickly shot straight up into the air through the top of the windmill.
“We’re going to the stars!” Alice shrieked, laughing.
The craft lurched wildly from side to side. Simon started pressing buttons like crazy until the craft evened out.
“I don’t know,” Simon said. “I don’t think it goes much higher. But I think we can go lower. See?”
He pulled on a stick coming out of the control panel, and the craft gently lowered until it was hovering just a few feet off the ground.
“Whoo! This is almost better than riding a horse!” Simon cried as the craft zipped across the muddy field next to the windmill.
Alice’s eyes were shining. “This is fun! Can it go faster?”
Simon tried some more buttons, but the speed didn’t change.
“I guess not,” he said. “This thing is cool, but I don’t think it will get us into space.”
“It might not,” Alice agreed. “But that might.”
She pointed to an object sticking out of the mud in the middle of the field. It was another spacecraft—larger than the little landskimmer they had found and with a clear dome on top.
“It’s one of the invaders’ ships!” Simon said excitedly. He pulled back on the control stick, and the landskimmer hovered right next to the craft. Simon jumped out.
“Does it work?” Alice asked.
Simon opened the dome and climbed into the cockpit. “The panel here says that the fuel is empty, too,” he said.
“We should get more manure,” Alice suggested. “There’s plenty of it around here.”
“Don’t I know it,” Simon muttered. He climbed out of the cockpit and examined the craft. The word Excalibur was painted on the side. Simon kept searching but couldn’t find the fuel tank.
“I don’t see a fuel tank like the one on the landskimmer,” he reported. “I don’t think this thing uses manure.”
Alice frowned. “Too bad we don’t have any space manure,” she said. “Maybe that would do the trick.”
Simon thought for a minute. “Wait a second. When Mordred escaped from the dungeon, he flew into space, right? So he must have used something from around here.”
Alice nodded. “I bet the secret is in his lab. I just wish we could find it!”
Chapter Eleven
The Secret under the Hay
Simon and Alice hopped into the landskimmer and sped across the muddy field.
“We’d better hide this thing,” Alice suggested. “We don’t want the secret order to find it.”
They quickly hid it under a pile of hay and then sat down with their backs against it. Alice took a flask of water from her pouch, took a sip, and handed it to Simon.
“Looks like we’re stuck,” she said.
Simon shook his head. “We can’t be. There’s got to be something we’re forgetting. Let’s try to think back over the last day.”
“Well, let’s see,” Alice began. “The lady-in-waiting told us that she was delivering secret messages to the order for the Princess. Then you got into the Princess’s room and found out that she was a member of the order and she was in touch with Mordred.”
Simon nodded. “And the secret order told us there was something in the windmill, which we found.”
They were both quiet for a moment, thinking.
“Wait a second,” Alice said finally. “Didn’t the Princess say some other things in her letter?”
Simon took the crumpled paper from his pocket. “Here it is,” he said. He began to read aloud. “‘The order believes the Great Inventor kept many of his secrets under his bed, but the—’”
“That’s it!” Alice cried. “She must be talking about his bed—the one in the museum. Maybe there’s a map to the location of his secret lab or something!”
Simon’s eyes brightened. “It’s worth a try. Let’s go see what we can find.”
They hurried back to town and ran into the museum. The curator coughed politely.
“You need one coin—”
“We’re on official business from the King!” Alice announced as she and Simon breezed past him. The curator didn’t know what to make of that, so he let them pass. They climbed up the rickety stairs and knelt down in front of Mordred’s old bed.
Alice slid underneath, pushing away cobwebs. Then she triumphantly emerged holding a yellowed piece of paper.
“I found something!” she cried, holding up a yellowed piece of paper. Simon leaned in to read it.
I have found a nearby moon with activity that I believe to be alien life! I have found that animal waste makes decent fuel, and there is just enough manure in Arturus to bring my flying craft to this moon. The star coordinates are x-56, y-52.
“‘Alien life?’” Simon asked.
“It means . . . from another place,” Alice said.
“He means that he found people—or something—living on this moon.”
“Maybe those aliens are the ones who attacked us,” Simon guessed. “Anyway, this isn’t much help. Mordred says he used manure to take his craft to the moon, but I don’t see how I’m supposed to get manure into that ship we found in the mud.”
“Maybe he did something to change the manure,” Alice mused. “You know, to make it work in the flying craft.”
“Which is exactly why we need to find his lab,” Simon pointed out. “Isn’t there anything else under there? Like a map?”
Alice shook her head, stood up, and dusted her hands off on her skirt. “Nothing except for dust bunnies and cobwebs. But you’re welcome to look yourself.”
Simon stood up. “Forget it.” He said. Then he marched downstairs without saying another word.
Alice followed him outside. “We can’t give up now!” she urged.
“It doesn’t matter,” Simon said. “I don’t know what I was thinking, anyway. I’m just a stable boy. Did I really think I could fly to the stars and rescue the Princess?”
“Yes, you did,” Alice reminded him. “And you can. We can.”
They walked past the Pl
anetarium and the Crop Circle Inn and headed for the Castle. Two large haystacks sat on the path in front of them.
“More hay!” Simon complained. “Did Mordred know a way to turn hay and manure into gold? Because that would actually have been useful in a place like this.”
He gave the haystack a good kick, and the bundle nudged forward. To his surprise, Simon saw a gleam of metal on the ground by the stack.
“What’s this?” he wondered. Curious, he gave the stack a push, groaning, until he revealed a round, wooden door with metal hinges.
“Now that’s interesting,” Alice remarked.
“It looks like it goes underground,” Simon said, kneeling down. Then he frowned. “But there’s a lock on it.”
Alice reached into her pocket. “Maybe this will work,” she said, handing him a Key. “It’s the one I swiped from the order, remember?”
Simon grinned. “Alice, you are the best!” he said, and his friend blushed. Simon took the Key, opened the lock, and slowly opened the door. A rope dangled down into a dark hole.
A mechanical whirring sound came from down in the hole. Simon and Alice peered down, and they saw two blue, glowing eyes coming up through the darkness—fast.
“Look out!” Alice warned.
They quickly darted out of the way as a winged creature flew out of the hole into the light. Its entire body—sharp claws, pointy beak, wings, and feathers—was made of metal.
“It’s Mordred’s mechanical owl!” Simon cried.
Chapter Twelve
Inside Mordred’s Dungeon
The owl flew in circles, blocking their way into the underground passage.
Alice was fascinated. “It’s like, part owl, part . . . something else. In those books about Mordred I read, he called his mechanical creatures ‘robots.’”
Inside the pouch hanging from her waist, the robot mouse began to wiggle and squeak.
“It can probably sense the owl,” Simon guessed. “I saw a barn owl swoop down and grab a mouse once in the stables. I couldn’t believe how fast it moved!”
Alice thoughtfully looked down at the pouch. “It might work,” she mumbled. “But it’s too cruel.”
Simon suddenly realized what she meant. “Of course! Maybe if we feed the mouse to the owl it will let us pass.”
Alice hugged the pouch. “But it’s just an innocent little mouse!”
“It’s not a real mouse,” Simon reminded her. “It’s a robot. Mordred created it. And right now it’s our best chance of finding out what’s at the end of that rope.”
Alice sighed and nodded. “You’re right,” she said, opening the pouch. She took out the mouse and placed it on the ground. “Good-bye, Mordred Mouse.”
Before the robot mouse could skitter away, the robot owl eagerly swooped down and ate it in one gulp. Then it flew to Alice and hovered next to her shoulder.
“I think it likes you,” Simon remarked.
“It’s amazing,” Alice said, studying the tiny metal gears and parts that made up its body. “Mordred must have been a real genius.”
“More like an evil genius,” Simon said. “At least, that’s what it sounds like. But we’ll never know unless we find that secret bunker of his. Let’s go!”
Simon shimmied down the rope, and Alice followed with the owl flapping his wings behind her. They jumped down into what looked like an underground lab. The wall was covered with plans for a spaceship, the robot owl, and the robot mouse. A portrait of Mordred hung crookedly over a desk strewn with papers. Gears and tools littered a rickety wood table.
“We found it!” Simon cried excitedly. “Mordred’s secret bunker! There’s got to be something in here that tells us how to get that flying craft going.”
Alice picked up a leather-bound journal from the desk.
“Maybe it’s in here,” she said. She and Simon began to read the pages.
I’ve begun doing experiments of a very different kind. I’ve found that by mixing animal DNA and robotics, I can create a whole new breed of intelligent creatures. I’ve created a companion whom I shall call Merlin. Part barn owl and part machine. I believe I’ve made a breakthrough for the ages.
Alice looked up from the page and smiled at the owl. “Oh, hello, Merlin.” Then they read the next entry.
I’ve been ordered by the King and Queen to stop my experimentation. Curse them for their unenlightened thinking! It has been many months since I last wrote. I was jailed by the King and Queen, and it took me a great long while to tunnel out. But now I have returned to the lab, where I will continue my work.
“So this is his secret lab,” Simon remarked.
Failure! I have ambitious designs, but they require more power than this world can provide.
“Hmm,” Simon mused. “Sounds like he discovered that the manure wasn’t enough to power his spaceship. But he must have found something. After all, he made it to space in the end.”
Then they read the very last entry.
They are coming! I must escape to the stars, even though my experimental craft is not ready. I fear I shall not survive!
“Okay,” Simon said, closing the book. “So it looks like we need to find a different kind of fuel if we want to power that spaceship. It’s got to be in here somewhere. Or at least instructions on how to make it.”
Simon and Alice tore apart the lab, looking for anything they could find about the fuel. But they couldn’t find a thing.
“Rats!” Simon said, kicking the dirt wall behind him. “We are never going to get into space!”
Alice was looking at the wall thoughtfully. “Hold on a second,” she said. “Let’s think this through. The king put Mordred in a dungeon. Mordred dug a tunnel into this room and made it his secret lab. After Mordred escaped, the King must have blocked the tunnel. There might be something important in there.”
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea!” Simon said. He kicked the wall again. “It should be just behind this, right?”
Dirt crumbled and flew into the air as Simon kicked it again. Alice joined him, and soon they had kicked a hole through the dirt that blocked the tunnel.
“There’s got to be something good in here,”
Simon said hopefully. He took off running into the tunnel, and Alice and Merlin followed him. The tunnel ended at a low opening in the wall shaped like a half circle. They ducked and went through the opening—and found themselves in the dungeon cell with the weird, one-eyed robot!
“Aaaaaaaaah!” Simon and Alice screamed.
“INTRUSION. SELF DESTRUCT,” the robot said.
The dome on top of the robot’s head opened up, and a glowing green rod flew out and landed outside the bars of the cell. Then the robot’s green eye went dark, and it collapsed to the floor in a heap of metal.
Alice sighed with relief. “Thank goodness. Merlin here is beautiful, but that . . . thing is just too creepy.”
Simon walked to the bars and looked out. “You know, that green rod seemed to be powering that robot. I wonder if it could power up the flying craft for us. It looks like it’s the right size and shape.”
Alice walked next to him. “I think you’re right!”
Excited, Simon thrust his arm between the bars, but he couldn’t reach it. “Rats! I can’t get it. And if we try to get to the dungeon from the other side, the guards will stop us.”
Alice tried to squeeze through the bars. “It’s impossible,” she said. Then she eyed the robot owl. “But not for Merlin. Do you think he would listen to us?”
Simon shrugged. “Why not? Give it a try.”
Alice looked up at the metal bird and smiled sweetly. “Hey, Merlin, can you please fetch us that fuel rod?”
Without hesitating, Merlin flapped his wings, flew through the bars, and picked up the fuel rod in his talons. Then he flew back through
the bars and dropped the rod into Alice’s hands.
“Thanks, Merlin,” Alice said, patting him on the head.
Simon grinned. “If this works in the flying craft, we can finally rescue the Princess!”
Chapter Thirteen
Beyond the Fabric
of the Sky
Simon and Alice climbed back out of Mordred’s secret lab. Merlin followed them as they retrieved the landskimmer from its hiding place in the hay and then zoomed across the muddy field, back to the flying craft.
Simon pulled back the control stick, and the landskimmer hovered in midair. They cautiously climbed out and entered the flying craft. Simon took out the green glowing rod and examined the control panel inside the cockpit. The rod fit perfectly into a slot on the panel. The Excalibur began to hum to life, and the control panel lit up.
Simon let out a cheer. “Huzzah! It works! Now we can go rescue the Princess!”
“We’re forgetting something,” Alice reminded him. “The Princess liked Mordred. What if she doesn’t want to be rescued?”
“We need to find out for sure,” Simon reasoned. “And besides, the knights are missing, too. I have a feeling that there’s trouble up there.”
Alice squeezed in next to him inside the cockpit.
“Come on, Merlin,” she said, coaxing the owl closer. “I don’t think you can fly as high as we’re going.”
Merlin swooped into the cockpit and sat on Alice’s shoulder. Simon lowered the dome over them and settled in the pilot’s chair.
“All right,” he said. “We should probably head to that moon Mordred talked about in that page we found under his bed.”
Alice fished the paper from her pocket and read from it. “Mordred says that the star coordinates for the moon with alien life are X-56, Y-52.”
They studied the control panel. “I think we just push in the numbers here, right?”
He entered the numbers and turned to Alice. “You know, this is a big risk. What if something happens to this craft? We might never be able to get back here.”