by Lucas Flint
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When I reached the escape pod, I forced it open and ran inside to find that Mom, thankfully, was still where Graleex had left her. I wasn't sure why I thought she might have been moved, since Graleex was the only person on the ship aside from us, but I guess I had just been very worried about Mom.
Anyway, I poured some of the red liquid on her, just as I had seen Graleex do, and it dissolved the blue glue instantly.
As soon as the blue glue dissolved, Mom stood up and said, “Thanks, Kevin. But how did you escape that alien? Where is my purse? Did you—”
“I didn't kill him, if that's what you were going to ask,” I said quickly. “Valerie knocked him out.”
“Valerie?” said Mom. “But Valerie doesn't even have a body.”
“I'll explain later,” I said, glancing at the exit, but seeing that Graleex was still not here. “Right now, we need to figure out how to get off this ship before Graleex wakes up and tries to kill us both.”
“Can't we just use the escape pod?” said Mom, gesturing at the floor. “I mean, we used it to escape one ship already. Can't we do it again?”
“I don't think so,” I said. “We need to figure out how to open the floor first so that the escape pod can actually descend back into the sea. Val? Are you on this?”
“I am looking, Bolt, but the ship's opening systems are more complicated than the systems for the artificial limbs are,” said Valerie. “I do not think that we can open it from here.”
“What if we went to the control room?” I said. “Do you think we could open the floor there?”
“Most likely, but that would mean leaving the escape pod,” said Valerie. “And with Graleex still alive, that means you will make it easier for him to find you.”
“But if we stay here, then he will find us and we will probably get killed,” I said. I looked at Mom. “Mom, you need to come with me. We're going to the control room to find out if we can open the floor so we can escape back into the sea again.”
“All right,” said Mom. “But what about the alien? You said he's still alive.”
“He is, but he's knocked out cold and probably won't wake up again anytime soon,” I said.
In truth, though, I was only hoping that Graleex would not wake up again soon, because if he did wake up … well, I didn't want to think about it. I just wanted Mom to remain calm, because I could tell that she was just as worried about this as I was, if not more so.
“Okay,” said Mom. “Where is the control room?”
“I don't know,” I said. “Val? Do you have a map of the ship?”
“No, but I have a map of the Spinner, which I believe is similar to this ship in design, so I can tell you how to reach the control room from here,” said Valerie. “But I don't know every security feature that the Pokacu like to build into their ships, so you should advance with caution and avoid running into anything that looks suspicious.”
“Okay,” I said. “Just tell us where to go, Val. We're listening.”
-
Mom and I walked cautiously but quickly through the lower decks of the ship. We were not walking as quickly as we could, per Valerie's earlier warning, but it was frustrating because we knew that Graleex could reawaken any time and come after us again. That the air was humid and the ship was in general dark and creepy didn't help matters at all.
But either the ship's security systems were down or Graleex had forgotten to install some in his ship, because we did not run into any obstacles on the way to the control room. I kept my hand on the gun I had stolen from Graleex, however, just in case he appeared out of nowhere again.
What really scared us, though, was the creaking and groaning of the ship. I didn't know how strong Pokacu spaceships were built, but this one sounded like it was on the verge of being crushed underneath the tons of water surrounding it. I kept expecting the ceiling to give way and drown Mom and I, but it held as we made our way to the control room.
After several tense minutes of walking up stairs and down narrow halls, we emerged into a control room that looked almost exactly like the control room back on the Spinner. Unlike the Spinner's control room, however, this one looked older and more damaged, with rust stains on the walls and floor. Some of the monitors were blackened out completely, while others just barely flickered on. I was amazed that Graleex had somehow managed to keep the ship together for fifteen years and that it hadn't just been crushed underneath the weight of the ocean water already. He must have been a better repairman than I thought.
“Okay, Val, we're here,” I said, looking around the interior of the ship. “How do we open the hold?”
“I do not know,” Valerie said. “I am not as familiar with the intricacies and controls of Pokacu spacecraft as I could be. I cannot tell you which buttons or switches do what.”
“So it looks like I'll have to experiment,” I said. My shoulders slumped. “Where's Dad when you need him?”
“He is still fighting Ring Out and Tornadess, most likely,” said Valerie. “Why do you ask?”
“That was—oh, never mind, Val,” I said, shaking my head. I looked at Mom. “Val says she doesn't know how to open the hold, so we're going to have to figure out which buttons do what on our own.”
Mom nodded and we walked up to the controls. Stopping before them, I frowned, because the control layout looked like no control layout I had ever seen before. There were strange, shriveled-looking buttons arranged in odd star patterns, along with levers built directly into what looked like touch screens. Granted, I wasn't exactly surprised by this, because the Pokacu aren't humans and so it makes sense that they would have different controls for their ships than the kind we humans made, but that just added to the confusion because none of these buttons were clearly marked. Well, a few were marked in the Pokacu language, but that might as well have been gibberish to me, so I couldn't rely on it.
“Mom, what button do you think will open the hold?” I said, glancing at Mom.
Mom shrugged. “I don't know. It all looks so complicated to me.”
“If Dad were here, he'd probably be able to figure it out just from a glance,” I said. “But we don't need Dad to figure this out. If there's one thing I've learned from years of watching TV, it's that the red button is always the most important one.”
I looked down at the controls and saw exactly sixteen red buttons of varying sizes and shapes.
“So, which red button is the most important one?” said Mom.
I shot an annoyed look at Mom. “Could you be a little less sarcastic and a little more helpful?”
“I'm not a tech genius like your father, so I can't be that helpful,” said Mom.
“Pushing a button isn't exactly rocket science,” I said. I shook my head. “Whatever. I'll just press the biggest button.”
So I pressed down on the biggest red button, which squished under me like my belly. In fact, when I pressed the button, I thought I felt something wriggle under my finger, causing me to pull my hand off it immediately.
As soon as I took my finger off the button, I looked at the monitors in front of us. I hoped that at least one of these monitors would show a layout of the ship, maybe even display a security feed in the hold where the escape pod was so we could see if the doors opened, but unfortunately it was all Greek to me.
“What did the button do?” said Mom. “Did it work?”
“I don't know,” I said. “Maybe it's bro—”
I heard the clanging of metal above and looked up in time to see a large metal cage fall from the ceiling. Without thinking, I jumped backwards, but I tried to push Mom out of the way, too. Unfortunately, I messed up and only succeeded in making Mom stumble slightly before the cage fell around her, trapping her inside it.
“Mom!” I said, running up to the cage and wrapping my hands around its bars. “Are you okay?”
Mom had fallen against the back of the cage, but pushed herself off its back bars and looked around its interior in shock. “Yes, but where did this cag
e come from? And why is there a button for it on the controls for the ship?”
“To capture fools like you, of course,” said a familiar voice behind me.
I whirled around to see Graleex standing in the entrance to the control room, his organic cannon pointing at me. His face was bruised from where the hammer had hit him, but he otherwise looked fine and ready to kill me and Mom.
“Surprised to see me?” said Graleex when he noticed my facial expression. “I suppose you are not aware that we Pokacu are very hard to knock out for very long. But it doesn't matter. The memory copier still got a lot of information from your mind, so I no longer need to keep either of you alive.”
Feeling the panic rising within me, I aimed the gun at Graleex's body. “Stay back or I'll shoot.”
Graleex, to his credit, didn't even seem disturbed by the fact that I was threatening to shoot him. “Pathetic human, do you honestly believe that I am scared by your puny threats? But please, go ahead and shoot me. Maybe it will tickle.”
Although I really didn't want to shoot him, I realized that if I didn't kill Graleex then he would just kill us. So I pulled the trigger, not sure what kind of projectile would shoot from the gun.
As it turned out, however, nothing fired from the gun at all. I pulled the trigger several more times, but the gun didn't work. I looked up at Graleex, who seemed amused by my bad luck.
“Um, is your gun broken or something?” I said. “Because it isn't shooting.”
“The gun will not fire for anyone but its owner,” said Graleex, “who just happens to be me. Unlike your human weapons, Pokacu weapons are generally coded to match the DNA of their user. It prevents others from using our own weapons against us and makes it easier for us to kill our enemies, as you are soon about to learn.”
With my weapon rendered useless, I did what anyone in my situation would do: I threw the gun at Graleex's face.
Much to my surprise, Graleex apparently didn't see that coming, because he failed to dodge the gun, which hit him in the face. He staggered backwards from the blow, but still tried to shoot that blue glue at me, though due to his bad aim it actually hit one of the monitors.
Nonetheless, I dove behind the control seat and began crawling along the floor, heading for a ventilation shaft in the floor that looked like it led somewhere. I pulled the vent off and crawled into it, which put me into a small space directly underneath the control room that gave me a little room in which to crawl. I pulled the vent closed above me and quickly crawled along the floor, while Graleex shouted above, “Where did you go, human? Come out and show yourself!”
I didn't respond, partly because I didn't want him to know where I had gone, but also because the air down here was even stinkier than it was up there and I was afraid that if I spoke I would end up inhaling some of it and getting sick.
But I couldn't stay down here forever, either, especially since Mom was still held captive in that cage. Sooner or later, I would have to emerge, but how was I supposed to beat him? I didn't have my powers anymore and that gun turned out to be the most useless weapon ever.
Then my earcom crackled and Valerie said, in a low voice, “Bolt, I think I have an idea about how to defeat Graleex.”
“What is it?” I whispered, whispered so low that I barely even heard myself because I was afraid of being heard by Graleex above.
“I've been trying to hack into the ship's systems via the artificial limbs and I discovered something I could use to defeat Graleex,” said Valerie. “But you will have to distract him long enough for me to complete it.”
“How long will that take?” I said.
“A minute or two, I think, because I have nearly gained access to the ship's systems,” said Valerie. “You just need to distract him for a short time.”
The idea of distracting Graleex—who wanted me dead—freaked me out more than anything, but I trusted that Valerie knew what she was doing. Besides, I had a feeling that Graleex might decide to just kill Mom if he couldn't find me, so I had to be quick.
Crawling through the ventilation shaft, I heard Graleex walking above me, calling out for me to show myself, but I wasn't able to do that until I found another vent that I could crawl out of. I had to get in an awkward position to do it, but I succeeded in carefully and quietly removing the vent, which I crawled out of and then replaced as quietly as before.
I had emerged behind a large computer system, which I peeked over to get a good look at Graleex before I showed myself. Graleex stood in the center of the room, looking around for me, but he didn't seem to have heard me yet. I would have been content to just sit back and hide here, but Valerie's plan required that I distract Graleex.
Bracing myself, I stood up and shouted, “Hey, ugly! I'm over here!”
Graleex whirled around and fired blue glue at me. I ducked, causing the stuff to splatter over the wall behind me, and said, “Bad shot, ugly! I've seen blind mice with better aim than you!”
Graleex just growled. He ran toward me, while I dashed toward the entrance. I wasn't really intending to flee the room, but I wanted to get him away from Mom, who was still stuck in the cage that had fallen on her.
Unfortunately, Graleex was much faster than I thought, because he reached the entrance before me and blocked it with his bulk. I skidded to a halt as Graleex fired more blue glue at me. Instinctively, I jumped to the side to avoid it and then I lashed out with a punch at Graleex's face.
But right before my fist connected, I remembered that I had lost my powers and didn't have super strength anymore. It was too late for me to stop, however, so my fist flew at the alien at full speed.
Graleex caught my fist with his three-fingered hand and crushed it under his grip. I cried out in pain, but Graleex didn't seem to care. He just twisted my arm and forced me down to the ground, where I hit the floor with my head again.
Then Graleex pointed his organic cannon at my head and fired, but I rolled out of the way at the last second. The blue glue splattered inches away from my head, some of it getting onto my face, but I jumped back to my feet and started walking backwards away from Graleex, who began advancing on me with the ugliest scowl I had ever seen on another being's face.
“Uh, Val?” I said under my breath, glancing over my shoulder every now and then to make sure I didn't trip. “Is the trap ready yet?”
“Almost,” said Valerie. “Just lure Graleex to the center of the room. That's where the trap will be sprung.”
“Okay,” I replied and then I looked up at Graleex again and said, “Hey, ugly, bet you can't catch me!”
I turned and ran toward the center of the control room and heard Graleex take after me. Because Graleex was faster, I knew that he would be on me soon, which was why I hoped that Valerie really did have the trap set and that she knew what she was doing.
Upon reaching the center of the room, I whirled around to face Graleex again. He was still coming at me, so I said to Valerie, “Val? Is the trap ready yet?”
“Almost,” said Valerie again. “Should be any second now.”
Before I could tell her that she should do it now, Graleex finally caught up with me. He grabbed my neck and lifted me off my feet, his iron grip choking me.
“Enough games, human,” said Graleex, though his voice became distorted, like he was lapsing back into the Pokacu language. “I will pop your head off your shoulders like a Chechen. I mean a chicken. God, I hate your human language. It's so confusing.”
I wanted to ask Valerie if the trap was ready yet, but with Graleex's tight grip on my throat, I was unable to speak. I just struggled to free myself, but Graleex's grip was impossible to break.
“Okay, Bolt, the trap is ready!” came Valerie's voice in my ear. “Get away from Graleex if you don't want to be caught in it, too!”
I couldn't respond, so instead I lashed out and kicked Graleex in the face. It wasn't a strong blow, but it caused Graleex to cry out in pain and loosen his grip on my throat, which I broke with my hands.
As I
fell to the floor, I saw a cannon, of all things, lower from the ceiling and aim at Graleex. It was behind him, so he couldn't see it, but I had to keep him distracted so he wouldn't notice it.
“Stupid human,” said Graleex, rubbing his face as he glared down at me. “Why do you persist in running away? You know you can't beat me. Why don't you just die a dignified death, rather than dying like a scared child?”
I smirked. “Because I'm not going to die today.”
I rolled to the side just as the cannon made a strange whirring sound. Graleex whirled around to face the cannon, but he was too late to dodge it when it fired blue glue at him.
The blue glue slammed into Graleex, sending him flying to the wall on the other side of the room. He slammed hard into the wall, but did not fall off, because the blue glue stuck him to the wall and was already solidifying rapidly. He tried to get it off, but in seconds the blue glue had become as solid as rock, leaving only his head free.
Standing up, I put a finger on my earcom and said, “Val, was that the trap?”
“Yes,” said Valerie. “I discovered a cannon full of blue glue stored in the ceiling and managed to gain access to it. I don't know for sure why it was there, but I thought we could use it to hold Graleex down.”
“You mean that stuff works on him?” I said, looking at Graleex, who was struggling futilely to break the blue glue that held him against the wall. “The Pokacu aren't immune to it or anything?”
“Apparently not,” said Valerie.
Feeling triumphant, I walked up to Graleex, who glared at me as soon as he noticed me approach. I stopped several feet from him, however, just in case he had some other trick up his sleeve that he could use to get me even while he was stuck with the blue glue.
“I don't know how you managed to use my own weapon against me, human, but I do know that I will kill you as soon as I free myself,” said Graleex.
“Which should take ten years,” I said. “Or maybe another fifteen, but you'll be okay with that, won't you? I mean, you spent the last fifteen years imprisoned in your own ship. Don't see why you can't spend the next fifteen years doing the same.”
