Star Seekers

by Gloria Gage

  He could see the key now hanging from a cord, dangling just below the bell clapper, but stretching as far as he could, he still couldn’t reach it. He tried climbing higher, but there was nothing to hold onto, and the walls were so far apart he couldn’t brace himself between them.

  “There’s no way!” he said aloud, thinking how he’d feel returning to his friends without the key. “After climbing ten miles in the air, I’m not going back without that key!” He looked around desperately for a solution. About two feet above his head there was a hook mounted on the wall, perhaps once used to tie off a rope for ringing the bell.

  Josh stared at it for a long moment, then reached down with one hand and carefully removed his belt. With one arm wrapped securely around the ladder rung, he managed to pull the end of the belt through the buckle to form a sort of noose. Then he began to swing it upward, trying to loop it over the hook. After several attempts, he managed it and pulled hard to tighten the belt and test the strength of the hook. It seemed pretty secure.

  He closed his eyes and prayed that this would work. He took a few deep breaths, wrapped the other end of the belt tightly around his hand, and began to climb the last few rungs holding only to his belt with his right hand, and stretching his left as far up as he could. Just a few more inches…that’s all he needed.

  One finger touched the key, and started it swinging slightly, but then his foot slipped off the rung of the ladder, and he fell!

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Josh’s hold on the belt yanked him roughly back against the side of the ladder, where he managed to grab hold, hugging it tightly. It took a few minutes for his heart to stop racing in triple digits. “Whew! That was close.” He looked down and immediately regretted it once again. His vision was blurry but he was too high up to really see Chris and Logan so far below him anyway. Only the walls of the tower that seemed to go on forever—down to the center of the earth!

  Maybe it can’t be done. Or, maybe there’s some other way. If I fall and kill myself, it won’t help Marty at all, but I can’t give up. I’m so close—this time I’ll get it! Josh breathed deeply and opened and closed his cramping hands for a minute. Ready or not, he told himself, I can do this! I will do this!

  Wrapping the belt as tightly as he could around his hand, Josh moved his feet one at a time closer to the top rung of the ladder. With each rung higher, he moved closer to the bell, but his whole weight was now supported by his grip on the belt and its tentative connection to the hook on the wall. His left hand stretched out as far as he could, his fingers aching with tension. He just needed an inch more! With a final lunge, he touched the key and closed three fingers around it, allowing his weight to pull on the cord that held it.

  Now he was caught in a most precarious position, one foot on the top rung, the other stretched out in space, his arms pulled as far as possible in opposite directions. With one sweaty hand, he gripped his belt, praying that it would not slip from its tenuous hook. His other hand clutched the key suspended in space from a thin cord. Then with a loud ‘snap’, the cord broke, and his foot slipped from its precarious foothold. Josh fell backwards slamming hard against the wall. But the belt held firmly to the hook, and for a moment, he hung suspended from it—so high up he couldn’t begin to count the stories.

  His breath was knocked from his lungs when he crashed into the wooden rungs of the ladder, but the key was safe in his tightly held fist. As soon as he could regain his foothold, he wrapped both arms around the top rung and held on gratefully, as tears leaked silently from beneath his eyelids.

  Thank you, he whispered, keenly aware that a power greater than his own had given him the strength to succeed. With the key tucked securely in his pocket, and his belt forgotten and still swinging from the hook above, he slowly made his way down to earth again. There would be a day sometime in the future when he would share with his friends the details of his climb, but not today. Today, they had to rescue Marty.

  Far below, Chris and I were both growing frantic. I had stepped away for a minute to check with Amy and form a plan that I hoped would succeed in helping us escape safely with Marty in tow. Chris yelled when she finally spotted Josh making his way slowly back to the ground, and we both began to yell encouragement together. “Josh, thank heavens! Are you okay? We were so worried! We couldn’t even see you way up there!”

  When his feet finally touched the floor, he collapsed in a heap. That didn’t stop Chris from throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

  “Man, that was a long climb—you okay, dude?” I squeezed his arm.

  “No sweat!” Josh said, grinning as he dropped Key Number Six into my hand, but I noticed some lines etched in his face that I was quite sure had not been there before.

  “Okay,” I said, smiling. “Together, we’ve actually managed to find all six keys. I could never have done it without you guys.”

  “We wouldn’t have missed it,” Chris said.

  “Well, most of it,” Josh murmured with a grimace

  While Chris fussed, and Josh rubbed some feeling back into his arms, I stepped aside furtively and hid the chain and all six keys behind a rung on the ladder. Just in case, I thought to myself, we might need an ace up our sleeve.

  Once Josh was fairly recovered, we moved on into the next large room toward what we hoped would be the end of our journey. Once again, I checked with Amy and asked her to test our super powers, in case we needed them against the Rats Gang. But we were disappointed to discover they no longer worked.

  “Oh, well,” I said. “I guess it’s back to plain old ingenuity.”

  “Yeah,” Josh agreed, “but we can outsmart a bunch of dumb rats anytime, right?”

  Chris and I nodded our agreement, trying not to think how much we wanted the powers back at this moment.

  Amy’s voice interrupted again, “Logan! It’s the RATS. I think they’re coming!”

  “What about Marty? Is he with them?” I called out anxiously.

  Just then, a door opened ahead, and five members of the RATS gang marched in, two of them holding onto Marty’s arms.

  I stepped forward quickly. “Marty, are you okay?”

  “I… I guess so,” he answered. “But, Logan, I want to go home now. Isn’t it dinnertime? Mom will be worried about us. I love you, Logan, and I want to play with Tabs now! Can we please, can we?”

  “Yes, sure, Marty. I love you too! Hang in there and we’ll take you home real soon.”

  “We’ll see about that,” the Rat’s leader said impatiently. “I’m Gniktar. Did you bring us something?”

  “Yes, we have all six keys,” I answered, proud of our accomplishment.

  “Well, I must admit I’m surprised,” he said with a smirk. “We didn’t really think you puny youngsters could pull it off. We were ready to destroy that Dr. Barnes and his whole office full of weird stuffed animals, when he discovered our portal and removed it. He had no idea what it was, but it ended our access to your world. And then you kids stumbled onto it, and we decided you might prove useful to us.”

  The three of us stood still with our chins held high, trying to look more confident than we felt, as we stared at the five gruesome looking crooks.

  “We have your keys alright, and they are in a safe place. As soon as you release my brother, I’ll tell you where they are.”

  Gniktar looked startled, but then a wide grin spread across his rodent-like face. “Well, well, it looks as if we have reached an impasse. Hmm…” He rubbed his chin and his beady eyes seemed to grow even smaller and blacker.

  Then, his grin vanished and his face was filled with a look of cruel hatred. “I’m sure your friends would be willing to tell us where they are, if we apply a little pressure.”

  “They don’t know where the keys are hidden. And if you hurt any of us—you’ll never know!” I shouted.

  Gniktar laughed, “Quite a clever plan you devised. There’s only one problem. You see, Logan, we’ve been watching you since you entered ou
r castle. We have the keys already. And thank you for bringing them to us. The treasure is ours, right, boys?” They all laughed together.

  Gniktar’s head snapped up and an even more fierce expression filled his face. “Here is our offer, take it or leave it! We have prepared a very special contest. Your challenger against ours. If you win, then all of you and your brother go free, leaving the keys with us. But…if you lose…then your friends and your brother will be free, but you, Logan, will remain to become one of us. We can use someone of your initiative and determination.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  “Wait! We’ve already done everything you asked,” I said, trying to keep a note of desperation from my voice. “Release my brother right now, or we’ll…!”

  “I’m afraid you’re in no position to make demands,” he shouted. “Take our offer…or you’ll all stay!” Gniktar walked closer, towering over me threateningly.

  I couldn’t think of anything to say to that. We had no choice but to go along for now.

  Gniktar went on, “Step into our courtyard and I’ll show you our little contest.” He led the way through a tall wooden door.

  I looked at Josh and Chris, trying to encourage them, but we realized now that we had no choice but to follow. I gave Marty a quick smile before we stepped through the door into yet another startling new world.

  Josh gasped, “It really is like another galaxy.” We stared at the incredible room that looked like something straight out of a Star Wars movie. The walls and floor were made of that now familiar but weird type of metal, shiny and reflective. The roof, which appeared to be identical, began to slowly roll back, opening to reveal what must have been a computerized screen, because it revealed a starkly purple sky above, with six moons stationed across it.

  Against one wall was a long control panel with multiple computer monitors and electrical panels. Their obvious purpose was to control the myriad of strange equipment spread across the floor like some mythical obstacle course.

  “Who will be your champion?” Gniktar asked.

  “It’s my challenge!” I said, stepping forward, much more boldly than I felt.

  “Good. And here is our contender—Tnedor!” From another door behind them stepped a giant of a man. He was at least six foot four and must have weighed three hundred pounds or more.

  Josh shouted indignantly, “That’s hardly fair—he’s three times our size!”

  “Who says we have to be fair? It’s our game and we make the rules!” They all snickered loudly, certain that we had no chance to compete against Tnedor’s strength and size. “You may take a little time to prepare. The games will begin in five minutes.”

  “It’ll be okay,” I whispered to Josh and Chris. “Sometimes size can work against you.”

  “He looks pretty confident,” Chris said hesitantly. “But his weight could be a problem if speed is important.”

  “Josh, will you and Chris check out the course? I need to talk to Amy for a minute.”

  The five minutes passed quickly. Chris and Josh looked over the course swiftly, attempting to judge the most critical areas, and the best chances I might have to succeed. There appeared to be three different obstacles to pass, and they went over them quickly with me, giving suggestions where they could see areas I might have a chance to be faster than my opponent.

  Chris was worried, “I don’t know about this, Logan. They all look really tough. The second one especially is based on strength and agility. I’m sure you can beat him on the agility, but if he gets a direct hit, you won’t stand a chance.”

  “I only have to win two out of three, right? So which ones do I have the best shot at taking?”

  Josh offered his advice. “My best guess is you may be able to beat him on one and three. Those are based more on agility and balance than pure strength. But he has probably done all these before, and experience may be a big factor—especially on the last one.”

  “Okay. All I can do is try my best. But just in case it goes wrong, Amy and I arranged for ‘Plan B’, so stay in touch with her. And whatever happens, you have to promise me that you’ll get Marty, and then Amy will get the three of you out of here, with or without me! I want your word on that.”

  Gniktar yelled out, “Time’s up, children! Let’s play!”

  “You can do this, Logan! I know you can,” Chris encouraged.

  “Yeah! You got it, man—take him down!” Josh shouted.

  I stretched my legs briefly in preparation, as I faced the first challenge. It didn’t look too tough. I had done some things like this at school. And while my opponent this time was much bigger, he would also naturally be slower, so I felt I had a decent chance.

  First, I had to climb a rope, and then swing across onto several swinging rings to a ladder. Then climb up six feet higher, cross over a flexible balance beam and grab a flag before Tnedor could reach it. Simple enough, I thought looking it over. But the Rats had another twist to add to the game.

  Gniktar stepped forward with a metal torch, reached up, and set fire to the top of the rope. At the same time, laser beams began to cross back and forth in random patterns inches above the balance beam. Still brandishing the torch high in the air, Gniktar yelled, “Ready—Go!” and lowered it swiftly to the ground.

  Chapter Forty

  I started fast and strong as I leapt for the rope, reaching hand over hand even as the flames above burned their way swiftly toward me. When I was about two feet from the top, I could feel the heat began to singe the hair on my arms. As the flames began to scorch my fingers, I risked a desperate leap and managed to grab hold of one of the rings and swing ahead toward the ladder. Only seconds after, I released it and made my leap, the rope burned through completely and fell to the ground. One disaster averted!

  Now I moved quickly, swinging from ring to ring. A glance to the side showed me that Tnedor had already crossed his rings and was climbing another ladder toward the wooden beam above. Seconds later, I was on the ladder too, climbing furiously toward the top. I was only inches behind Tnedor, but by now, the giant was already stepping carefully, balancing his steps on the beam to avoid the lasers. If a laser connected with either of us, we would fall twenty feet to the metal floor below. Just passing through them without being hit looked impossible.

  Now on top, I studied the beam for a critical second, then started across, lifting one foot at a time in a weird balancing act, allowing the deadly laser to pass across just inches from first one leg, then the other. As the laser pattern grew faster and faster, I could again feel the heat of the flames below as they caught up behind me. Now the wooden beam itself was ablaze. For a moment, my confidence deserted me.

  A second later, the lasers stopped, but the beam began to vibrate beneath my feet. I couldn’t keep my balance and began waving my arms frantically to try and steady myself as the wood shook wildly beneath me.

  I thought of Marty, and suddenly, I was focused again on the task before me. The fear was unimportant—I simply had to win! I couldn’t let my brother down. Suddenly, I felt new strength flow into my legs. I tried to ignore everything but moving ahead. I didn’t think about the lasers, the fire, or about crashing onto the hard floor below. I heard Tnedor yell, but didn’t turn to look, just kept my eyes on the flag, now only four feet ahead of me. But the end of the beam was now fully ablaze. Beneath my feet, it began to rock up and down, threatened to collapse.

  I made a quick decision. I deliberately pressed down with all my weight, and then as the beam bounced slightly upward—for the final time before breaking in two—I leapt across the flames, just catching the ladder with one toe and grasping a rung with my right hand. With my left, I stretched up and grabbed the flag. Then, half falling and half sliding, I made it safely to the ground.

  I looked around to see that Tnedor had fallen from the beam. He appeared unharmed, but he was obviously furious at losing the first round of the contest.

  Chris and Josh rushed to surround me, as I stomped my smoking sneakers on the f
loor. “Are you burned anywhere?” Chris asked.

  “I’m okay, I think. Just singed a little.”

  Josh yelled out with pride, “You did it! One down!”

  “Yeah. But two more to go!” I reminded him.

  The second contest looked even more impossible. Speed would not be a factor in this one. I prayed for courage, but felt tingles of fear creep up the back of my neck, as I stared at the second challenge before me. Then it was time. The contest continued.

  We both had to climb high up, to yet another platform structure where we would fasten a heavy harness around our waists with a bungee cord attached. We each grabbed a light saber, then jumped from the platform leaving us suspended, bouncing and swinging wildly in the air.

  I had tried bungee jumping once before and was somewhat prepared for the sudden rush of blood to my head, the turning of my stomach, and the jerk of the cord as I reached the end of the tether. After all that, just maintaining a tight grip on the sword was a feat itself. Now, as we both bounced in the air and began to swing back and forth, I struggled to maintain my equilibrium.

  Before I could clear my head, I felt the burning shock of Tnedor’s saber on my back. It knocked the breath from my lungs, and set me spinning dizzily in circles. I tried desperately to keep my sword out in front to deflect the blows. Now my opponent came in for the kill, but I managed to right myself. As I twisted forward, I directed my aim into Tnedor’s chest, and heard a satisfying grunt from the big mutant for my effort. But on the next upward swing, I caught another strike from Tnedor; this time to my head, and saw nothing but darkness and a myriad of stars.

  Before I could recover, Tnedor pressed his advantage and caught me violently in the chest. My entire right shoulder and arm went numb, and my sword slipped from my hand. The second round was quickly over. We were tied at one win apiece.