by Mark Lawson
NATE
ARMSTRONG
and the Death Ray of Sultron
Published by Mark Lawson
First published 2013
© Mark Lawson
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright restricted above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
This book is a work of fiction. All characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
ISBN:
9781925112467 (ePub)
9781925112474 (Mobi)
Distributed by Palmer Higgs Pty Ltd
www.palmerhiggsbooks.com.au
Chapter 1: Meet Nathaniel Armstrong
Nathaniel Armstrong raced into his bedroom and dived behind his bed. He slid across the wooden floor and came to a stop with his back against the bedroom wall. He paused, pondering his next move, and then scrambled across the floor to the cover provided by his bed.
The second hand on the wall-mounted clock swung quietly around the clock face. The room was deadly silent. Nathaniel hardly dared to breathe for fear of giving away his location. He slowly sucked in as much oxygen as he could, fighting against his aching lungs as he tried to breathe as deeply, yet as quietly, as possible.
He waited and waited behind the bed. Maybe his foe had lost him in the hall. Maybe his laser blaster had hit its target and the robot assassin sent to kill him was now little more than a smoldering mass of metal.
Nathaniel glanced down at the dark canister that he held tightly in his left hand. A dark gas swirled around inside the clear container, ripping at the sides like it was trying to escape. “I must not fail,” he thought to himself. “The fate of the Galaxy depends upon me putting this black hole back in the centre of the K-35 Solar System. But how do I get it there in the three Telorian hours that I have left?”
The sound of cracking wood and plaster interrupted Nathaniel’s thoughts. A shower of splinters rained down upon him as he crouched behind the bed. Mustering up all the courage he could, he slowly inched his crop of wavy red hair, his forehead, and then his eyes, over the top the doona. There, just a few metres away, stood the most terrifying robot Nathaniel had ever seen. Where his doorway had been, Nathaniel now saw a great hole in the wall that matched the size and shape of the metal monster. Its great head scanned the room for any signs of life. In an instant it detected Nathaniel’s presence and whirred around to face its target.
“No point in hiding now,” sighed Nathaniel. He stood and faced the robot in a display of courage befitting a seasoned space soldier.
“You’ve picked the wrong Earth boy,” declared Nathaniel, staring into the machine’s cold, blue eyes, “I will destroy you!” Nathaniel snatched at his hip in an effort to draw his laser blaster from its holster. He tapped up and down the side of his leg in a vain attempt to locate the weapon. It was nowhere to be found. It must have fallen out of the holster as he ran down the hall towards his bedroom. Nathaniel froze.
The machine’s eyes widened as if mocking its victim. Its chest cavity slid opened to reveal three deadly laser cannons, each trained upon the small boy.
The two foes stood facing each other across the room. The seconds stretched into silent minutes as neither combatant dared to make the first move. Nathaniel could feel his heart thumping against his ribs. A tiny bead of sweat ran down his forehead, across the bridge of his nose then dripped to the floor.
If he was to complete his mission he would have to tear the robot assassin apart bolt by bolt with his bear hands. Nathaniel lunged at the machine, bracing himself against the hot blasts from the cannons.
“Nate, breakfast time and then school!” The sound of his mother’s voice echoed up the stairs and into Nathaniel’s bedroom.
“Coming Mum,” Nathaniel sighed as he broke off the battle with his imaginary, robot foe.
“How’s a kid supposed to save the Universe with school five days a week!” he muttered to himself as he quickly jumped out of his pajamas, kicking them into the corner of his room. He pulled his school shirt over his head and hopped towards his still intact doorway as he wrestled his pants up his legs.
Nathaniel Armstrong, or Nate as his friends and family called him, was eager to start the day. He was the kind of boy who was eager about everything he did. Confident and enthusiastic, he lived his young life at a hundred miles and hour, and enjoyed every minute of it.
Physically, Nate was not very tall, but he wasn’t short either. He was about the right height for an eleven year old boy. He was thin and muscular – the kind of body that a boy develops from running, not walking, everywhere he goes.
Nate lived in a fairly typical street in a rather ordinary, small town. He lived with his mother, Betty, his father, Roger, and his two sisters, Victoria and Georgiana.
Victoria was fourteen years old, and the self-appointed head of the Armstrong household. She was tall and slim, a typical teenager whose life revolved around her friends and school. Nate had seen very little of Victoria in the past few months, it seemed to him that she was always either out somewhere with her friends or locked in the bathroom grooming herself for her next outing.
Georgiana was four, a little blonde bundle of energy, and the comedian of the family. She always had something to say, and a unique way of saying it. Georgiana adored her older brother, and she followed him around the Armstrong’s home whenever he was not at school.
Nate bounded out of his room, dressed in his school uniform, and charged towards the stairs. His shirt was incorrectly buttoned, his tie bound near his throat in something that barely resembled a knot and his pants were twisted at the waist, so that the pockets sat one in front of, and the other behind, his hips.
Betty Armstrong was relaxing with a cup of coffee at the kitchen table, bracing herself for the morning rush to school. Victoria and Georgiana were arguing over who would have the last of the breakfast cereal. The box passed to and fro over the table in a high stakes game of tug-of-war until it tore along the edges, spilling the last of the cereal over the table.
Oscar, Nate’s pet bird, was sitting in his cage near the window squawking in excitement as the girls emerged from their battle. They both looked rather sorry for themselves as they realised that neither of them would have the last of the cereal.
Victoria scowled at her younger sister just as Nate came galloping down the stairs towards the kitchen. As he descended the last flight of stairs, two steps at a time, he tripped over one of the toys that he had left out from the night before. He became airborne and plunged, head-first, towards the landing below. As he flew through the air, he twisted and contorted his body in much the same way that a cat does when righting itself in a fall. After performing a number of seemingly impossible, acrobatic maneuvers, he landed on his feet at the bottom of the stair well, and continued running into the kitchen without breaking stride.
“What’s for breakfast Mum?” Nate asked eagerly.
“Usual darling,” replied Betty, looking up from her coffee. She adjusted Nate’s uniform in an effort to make him as presentable as possible for school.
“And what treasures do you have left in your pockets from yesterday?” she asked as he rummaged through his pant’s pockets. “Let me see: a length of string; a pencil sharpener; an empty chip packet; and …,” Mrs Amstrong paused and screwed up her nose in disgust, “… and half an apple I suspect.” She pull
ed out a particularly nasty looking green and brown wrinkled object, and carried it between her thumb and forefinger to the kitchen bin. “Now eat up, we don’t want to be late.”
Nate hurriedly ate his scrambled eggs and toast, drank his juice and grabbed his schoolbag from the corner of the kitchen. He slung his bag over his shoulder and headed for the front door, ready to board the bus to school.
School was the highlight of Nathaniel’s day. He enjoyed learning and seeing his friends. He particularly loved the science lessons that his teacher presented every Friday morning. Today was Friday, and Nate was looking forward to school more than he did on any other day of the week. He loved to learn about the world around him. He loved to learn about insects, reptiles and all kinds of sea creatures (although he was sure that he never wanted to meet a shark in the open ocean). His favourite topic, however, was space and the Universe. He knew all of the planets in the solar system, in their correct order. He knew that the Sun is a star that lies at the centre of our solar system, about which all of the planets orbit. He knew that he lived on a small planet on the edge of a galaxy known as the Milky Way, and he knew the names of a number of other planets and stars.
Nate had recently read that Castor and Pollux are the twin stars that appear in the constellation Gemini. He had taken it upon himself to impart this knowledge to all of his classmates, whether they wished to know of it, or not. To some extent, his enthusiasm was contagious. Nate’s best friend Sam also shared his interest in space. They often talked for hours about just when Betelgeuse will go supernova, whether there was once water on the surface of Mars, and which of Gliese 581c or Gliese 581d is more likely to support life.
Nate was in luck. Today his teacher had planned a lesson about space. Armed with a dusty DVD from the school library, Mrs Molloy strode into her raucous classroom. “Settle down children,” she scolded. “Sam, Nathaniel, get off the table. The rulers aren’t meant to be used as swords.” Nate spotted the DVD in Mrs Molly’s hand. Obediently he leapt off the table and settled down in his chair to watch the television that the class assistant was wheeling in through the door. Nate leaned back on two of the chair’s legs, flicking a large, red rubber band in his fingers, as Mrs Molloy slid the DVD into the player.
The DVD started with footage of the Earth shot from outer space. The narrator’s voice broke into the silence:
“This is the third planet from our Sun: Earth. It’s one of hundreds and thousands of other planets in our Galaxy. In our own solar system we have seven other planets as our immediate neighbours….”
“Old news”, thought Nate, as he began to daydream about visiting other planets and meeting strange aliens.
The DVD had only just begun when Nate heard a rustling noise outside the classroom window. He turned to the source of the disturbance and saw what looked like the hand of a giant, green frog pressed against the glass. The hand was larger than an adult’s, and it had six fingers. It was long and slender, and each of the fingers bulged out at the ends into large, rounded fingertips. Nate rubbed his eyes in surprise. He focused again on the window only to see the garden beyond his classroom.
Nate jumped up from his chair and started to run towards the window. Before he had taken more than a few steps from his desk Mrs Molloy’s stern voice stopped him in his tracks, “Is there anything wrong, Nathaniel?”
“I thought I saw …” Nate paused to consider whether it was wise for him to disclose to his teacher what he thought he had just seen. “No, no, n… n… never mind, there’s nothing wrong Mrs Molloy,” Nate stammered.
“Then sit down please and watch the video with the rest of the class!”
Obediently, Nate returned to his seat, unsure of what he had seen, or even if he had seen anything at all. He looked again towards the window, hoping for confirmation that he had simply seen a branch hanging from the large oak outside, or a shadow falling across the window pane.
“Perhaps it’s best not to mention this to anyone,” Nate thought, as he focused his attention on the television screen, hoping to enjoy the rest of the video about the solar system.
Nate sat through the remainder of the program, taking in every word that the narrator spoke, all the while fidgeting with his elastic band.
It didn’t take long for lunchtime to come around.
Even before the bell rang, Nate was halfway out of his chair and looking towards the doorway leading to the playground. He always seemed to know just when the bell was about to ring, and he was always one of the first out of the classroom at lunchtime and at the end of the school day.
“Natha …,” his teacher began.
Mrs Molloy had intended to finish what she was saying with something like “Nathaniel, wait for the bell before you leave class,” but she didn’t have time to get the words out, as the sound of the bell in the background interrupted her rebuke. In any event, she soon realised that her words were futile – the whole class, led by Nate, was now charging, as a single mass, towards the classroom door.
At lunchtime Nate always played soccer. He particularly liked playing with the older boys, they were bigger and quicker than he was, and, in his opinion, it was much more fun to play at their level than with the younger children.
“Nate, watch out!!” shouted one of his teammates in an attempt to warn him about the defender that was zeroing in on him. The warning barely reached Nate’s ears before he turned, deftly, on his right foot, narrowly avoiding a very large boy who had been running at him. Nate shot the ball to another of his teammates who slammed it towards the goal. Nate’s team erupted into celebration as the ball rolled around in the back of the net.
As Nate rushed over to join in the celebrations his attention was caught by a bright silver flash disappearing up the trunk of a nearby tree. He stopped and looked up into the foliage. A cold shiver ran down his spine as his gaze locked upon what looked like a large, silver figure crouching in one of the branches. “Is that thing watching me?” Nate thought to himself. He shook his head as if to clear his mind and looked back up into the tree. Whatever it was, it had now gone. “Probably just a possum,” he concluded, as he joined his team in the hysterical jumping and running around that marked the end of the game, and a resounding eight goals to three victory.
As he walked back to class with his friends Nate felt very uneasy. He had a sense that he was being watched, but by whom? Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No one was loitering around the school who should not be there. Mr Young, the gardener, was tinkering with a mower in the corner of the playing fields, Mrs Molloy was waiting at the doorway for her class, and Ms Brickley, the School Principal, was patrolling the playground reminding the boys to tuck their shirts into their pants. Nate looked along the fence that ran around the perimeter of the playground. He couldn’t see any strangers. What was causing him to feel so strange? He shrugged his shoulders and walked into his classroom.
The afternoon was uneventful: mathematics, spelling and a creative writing exercise. Nate wrote about visiting an alien planet, Aquarro 5, and the strange green, frog-like creatures that he met there.
On the bus on the way home from school, Nate and Sam sat next to each other. As the bus weaved its way through the quiet back streets of Nate’s home town, the boys chatted incessantly about soccer, space and what they planned to do on the weekend.
“I think I will be a great soccer player when I grow up,” declared Sam. “With all the money that I’m going to earn I’ll buy myself a large house and keep lots of snakes and lizards as pets.”
“I want a lizard that’s so big I can ride it to school,” added Nate.
Both boys glanced at each other as a look of intense satisfaction spread over their faces. “Cool!” they exclaimed in unison.
Nate was so engrossed in his conversation with Sam that he didn’t notice the two green, six fingered, hands stuck to the back window of the bus. Neither did he see the pair of large, yellow eyes that peered out at him from between the hands.
Chapter 2: Contact
Nate and Sam jumped off the bus at their stop. The strange creature that had ridden home with them sprang from the back of the bus into the bushes that lined the terraced houses beside the road. It pushed aside the dense leaves and stared out from the foliage at Nate and Sam.
Nate felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. He paused for a while before resuming his wrestling match with Sam on the grassy footpath.
“I give,” conceded Sam. Nate rolled off his friend and lay on the grass looking up at the sky. Both boys laughed until they had tears in their eyes.
It wasn’t time for Nate or Sam to go home yet. The hour or so after the bus dropped the boys off from school was time that they always spent kicking a ball about the street, playing at the park or exploring down by the stream that ran past the back of the houses in the estate.
“Lizard catching?” suggested Sam.
“Great idea,” Nate confirmed. “And they should be just coming out too.”
The weather was just beginning to warm up as spring gave way to summer. Both boys had waited patiently while the lizards that lived near the stream hibernated through the winter months.
Nate and Sam scrambled along the small path that ran beside the last house in the street, down to the stream and the woods that lay beyond the urban expanse. The creature that had ridden the bus home with Nate and Sam silently shadowed the boys, moving from hiding place to hiding place behind the rocks and trees along the edge of the path.
Sam teetered precariously on the rocks near the water as he waited, rather impatiently, for a small, silver lizard to leave its hiding place under a large sheet of grey rock. He squatted down and looked under the rocky outcrop. “I know you’re under there,” he whispered, “I saw you go in.”
“Got another one,” shouted Nate, as his hand shot out to his left and intercepted a large water dragon that seemed quite surprised at being caught. Nate studied the lizard closely, turning it over to look at its belly, and then let it go. The lizard quickly darted into the water and disappeared from sight.
