Chapter Sixteen
About half an hour later, Arlen found himself inside Gamma Ray’s tour ship. The walls were oddly bare, except for a single picture of each band member. Everything was moving far too fast for Arlen to comprehend; just an hour and a half ago, they’d been captured by pirates, and now he was somehow, almost surreally, inside the tour ship of one of his favorite bands. He approached the lead singer, Johnny Nebula, whose spiked hair and all-around punk look for some reason didn’t intimidate him.
“Thanks for taking us back to the moon; we really appreciate it.”
“Not at all,” the man replied, “Always happy to meet some fans.”
Arlen was pretty sure he was going to start jumping for joy pretty soon. He hesitated a moment and wondered if he should ask the question he’d been dying to have answered.
“By the way, I loved your song ‘Escape Velocity.’ How’d you come up with it?”
Nebula shrugged.
“Glad you liked it. I had a weird dream one night about a shuttle trying to escape Earth’s gravity. And I just thought, “that shuttle’s totally me right now”…but, like metaphorically, you know?”
Despite not knowing at all, Arlen shook his head. He was beginning to think maybe Johnny just drank too much before writing songs. He didn’t say much for the rest of the trip until Johnny asked him:
“So, where on the Moon are you cool cats headed?”
“Can you drop us off at 221 Water Crest? It’s in Atlantis.”
“Got it.”
Johnny informed the captain of how to get there, and they finally glided into their driveway.
“Thanks, guys!”
Arlen waved to them as they took off a second time. Centara seemed indifferent to what Arlen perceived as a dream-like scene.
“That was so awesome! Did you see they even signed my OmniLink?!”
“That’s great, Arlen, but we better get going.”
Arlen fell silent instantly.
Chapter Seventeen
Arlen and Centara arrived home about half an hour later. Arlen, for once, was happy to be home.
“Mom? We’re home!” He exclaimed.
No answer. Centara opened the creaky wooden front door. The house was empty save for several beams of light streaming in through the windows. Centara looked concerned, but instead of saying anything, silently made her way to the back door. Their mother often liked to spend time in the garden out back, and Centara was hoping she might be there.
“Mom?”
The garden appeared to be run down, having not been tended to in at least a day or so. That’s not like mom, Centara thought. The sound of the back door opening made Centara jumped.
“Arlen? You scared the heck out of me!”
“Sorry, but you might want to look at this.”
Arlen showed her the letter Mr. Howell had written to their mom:
Maureen,
I’m writing this to you because you’re the only one I can trust. A friend of mine just quit her job at Enigma Corp. She says they’re up to something terrible. By the time you read this, I’ll probably be dead, but at least I can say I warned you. Please keep your family safe.
-Ted Howell
Centara looked at it for a moment before realizing what conclusion Arlen was leading her to.
“You think Enigma had something to do with mom disappearing?”
“I’m almost sure of it. Sibelius isn’t exactly the warm and fuzzy type.”
Centara nodded. Even she, who didn’t care much for politics and the goings-on of the worlds, had heard of Eric Sibelius’ legendary reputation for ruthlessness. If their mother had been so suspicious of Enigma, there was a good chance Sibelius’ men had taken her away to shut her up.
“Makes sense…”
“We need to find her.”
Centara agreed but said nothing; all of this was beginning to seem unreal to her. She tried to keep the thoughts of Sibelius torturing their mother for information out of her head. Finally, she brought herself back to reality and nodded.
“Why don’t you get the ship ready? I’ll get the cloaking device and stuff ready.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Without another word, Arlen departed for the garage. He didn’t have much experience with fixing and equipping ship weapons, but it was something he’d simply have to learn as he went. Perhaps, Arlen thought, with any luck, they’d even survive their trip.
Chapter Eighteen
Arlen loaded the ship with weapon attachments while Centara began operating the Cloaking Device.
“Do we really need all those weapons, Arlen? I mean, mom could be hurt right now…”
“It’s just in case. Besides, I’m almost done. How’s the cloaking going?”
Centara showed her brother the box, which indicated that they had a little less than an hour of cloaking left.
“Better turn it off for now to save it.”
Centara nodded, flipping a switch that turned the number display off. She loaded the box into the trunk of their ship and waited for Arlen to finish attaching a gas cannon to the ship’s hull.
“Done?”
“Yep. Let’s fly.”
Arlen volunteered to fly the ship, though Centara thought it was mostly to be the hero. She kept silent, though, and programmed the GPS system dutifully.
“We should be there in about ten minutes,” Centara reported.
“Thanks. When I tell you to, I need you to hit the cloaking switch, okay?”
“Yep.”
At least there’s no traffic, Arlen reflected. They were about a mile outside the gates when Arlen told Centara to turn the cloaking device on. The ship shook a little before getting used to the cloaking.
“Are you sure this is a good way to get in?” Centara asked.
“Not entirely. But it’s the only way we can get in without them knowing ahead of time.”
The ship finally stopped shaking, having adjusted to being invisible, and Arlen looked ahead to make sure he had enough altitude to fly over the gates. Centara looked at the ship’s digital readout.
“We’re only at 60; we’re gonna need more to get over the gates.”
“How much more?”
“I’d say another 20 feet at least.”
Arlen hands grew sweaty on the controls of the ship. Okay, I can do this…He’d only been in this position once before, in his school’s training scenario, but back then failure wasn’t a life-or-death situation. He tried his best to hold onto the ship controls while at the same time wanting to let go.
The ship trembled slightly.
“Careful, Arlen. You got this; just another 200 feet.”
Arlen was both calmed by his sister’s confidence in him and worried about failing her. He finally managed to stop sweating enough that he could get a steady grip on the wheel.
“One hundred feet….”
Arlen channeled all his strength and finally lifted the wheel up to the point where he thought it might get ripped out of the ship’s console.
“50 feet left…You’re good!”
Arlen was determined to get over the gates. He brought the wheel up slightly more and watched as they drifted over the security towers that lay in front of the estate.
I did it!
Arlen wanted to jump for joy, but knew they couldn’t celebrate just yet. Arlen sent his mother an O-Message:
Hi Mom. We’re back home. Can you tell me where you are?
A few moments later, Arlen got a reply:
“We were right! She’s in the memory factory inside Enigma Corp. Perfect.”
Arlen wanted to jump for joy, but knew they couldn’t celebrate just yet. Centara smiled. Don’t worry, mom, we’ll save you. Those scumbags are gonna pay, she thought.
Chapter Nineteen
The inside of the Memory Factory was nothing like Arlen remembered; instead o
f the hard wood floor he’d been expecting, the entire place was replaced with plush red carpet. He began to wonder if perhaps Sibelius had also re-arranged the machines in an attempt to throw passerby off. From experience working for Sibelius, Arlen thought it seemed like something Enigma Corp’s “Dear Leader” would probably do.
“So, where do we start?”
Centara’s question caught him off-guard; he had been assuming since they left home she had a plan in place.
“Not sure yet…”
Centara approached one of the dozens of machines labeled “Memory Makers” and took a picture of it.
“No photos in here, ma’am,” a gruff-sounding guard warned.
“Sorry.”
Blushing, Centara put the OmniLink away. She tried to walk away, but the guard got in front of her.
“Are you two authorized to be here?”
He pointed to Arlen and her. Centara gulped nervously. Luckily, Arlen picked up the slack by showing the guard his old badge.
“Arlen Burns. I was just showing my sister here around.”
The man nodded.
“Right. Carry on.”
Phew! Centara wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead. They wandered around the factory aimlessly so Arlen could pretend he really was there to show Centara around. He was about to tell her how the Memory Maker worked when the PA system talked over him:
“Dr. Finch to the Erasing Room. Dr. Elaina Finch to the Erasing Room..”
Erasing Room? Arlen had never heard Sibelius so much as hint the room existed during his time working there, and had to wonder why. He innocently tried to follow a tall woman who he presumed was Dr. Finch into the Erasing Room. Arlen noticed Dr. Finch was carrying a picture of something with her.
Arlen hid behind a wall and watched Finch type a four digit combination into the keypad on a door at the back of the factory. The door swung open, and Arlen and Centara followed her inside. The room was quite small, something nobody would probably bother noticing on a daily basis. Arlen was watching Finch when a voice demanded:
“Hey, what are you doing in here, kid?”
Arlen looked up to see two guards armed with ray guns standing at the entrance to the room.
“Um…Mr. Sibelius asked me to show Dr. Finch where it was…”
Arlen could barely convince himself this was true.
“Well, then, let me call him…”
Shit! Arlen thought as the guard pulled out his radio. Another guard entered the room from outside with Centara in tow.
“Found her snooping around without ID,” he explained.
The first guard spoke into his radio.
“Sir, I’ve captured two kids walking into the Memory Factory unauthorized…”
“Kids? Bring them to my office.”
Arlen shuddered at the cold, grating voice that had answered. The man on the other end of the radio was none other than Eric Sibelius, a voice he knew all too well.
Chapter Twenty
Arlen shivered uncontrollably as he and Centara were herded into Sibelius’ office. Arlen saw another scientist there who didn’t look familiar to him and wondered momentarily if they were to become experiments.
“Arlen? I’m surprised at you. You were such a good kid…planting false memories, stealing people’s dreams…”
“I regret ever working for you!”
Sibelius chuckled and Arlen felt small and powerless. He eyed the badge of the other scientist, which identified him as Ulysses Morrow. Morrow looked back at Arlen. Finally, Arlen sighed.
“Look, do whatever you want to me, but leave my family alone. I’ll give you anything to let them go.”
Sibelius looked between the kids and Morrow for a long moment. His calm arrogance annoyed Arlen even further. Sure, Sibelius had the money, guards, and power, but Arlen still wanted to be seen as a viable threat. Finally, The Director pushed a red button on his desk to activate the intercom:
“I have two kids I need sent to Re-Education, Karen.”
“Right away, sir.”
Morrow bit his lower lip. Was this really the kind of man he was helping? He thought of his own children, how others like him would lose sons, daughters, wives, and husbands if he let the bombs drop.
“Stop! I can’t do this anymore!”
Sibelius eyed Dr. Morrow, who could tell he was trying to be intimidating.
“What you’re doing isn’t right.”
He opened the door and let Arlen and Centara escape, causing Sibelius to rise from his desk in a mad rage.
“Stop them!”
He chased after them, knocking over things in his way as he did. Morrow peered to his left at Centara.
“Your mom’s in the Erasing Room! Follow me.”
Sibelius’ guards were on their tail. Arlen wasn’t quite sure how to react to this sudden change of heart. Sibelius got to the room first and cornered them.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Arlen looked the man over; he didn’t appear to be armed.
“Get inside, kids. I’ll deal with him.”
Centara fled into the open door, but Arlen refused to move.
“I’m not gonna abandon you.”
Morrow flung Sibelius off him, but the guards were getting closer. Sibelius got up faster than either Morrow or Arlen had expected. Arlen tackled the man to the ground, but wasn’t able to keep him there long. Sibelius began fighting Arlen, slowly pushing him back towards a gaping window pane. Arlen finally got the advantage and pinned Sibelius against the glass.
“Well, what are you waiting for? You’re not gonna kill me?”
Arlen’s blood boiled. True, this monster had kidnapped his mother, harmed him and Centara, and was planning something even worse, but if Arlen killed him, wasn’t he just as bad as Sibelius?
“What did you do to my mother?”
“She’s okay…her memory is about to be erased, but that’s it….I promise.”
“Let her go…and you get to live.”
Sibelius nodded. Arlen tried to laugh at the fact that the man, who had shown such great power before, was a coward as soon as his guards were removed from him. Sibelius looked as if he might burst out crying. Nobody’s ever shown me that kind of compassion before…
Here he was, kidnapping Arlen’s mother and threatening to re-educate him and his sister, yet the moment Arlen had the advantage, he chose to let Sibelius live. What reason did he have to be so forgiving? Maybe I’ve been looking at this all wrong…
“Guards, stand down; this project is over.”
Arlen smiled. Everything was going to be alright.
Chapter Twenty One
Sibelius led Arlen to the Erasing Room, where Centara was still being held by guards.
“Let her go,” Sibelius ordered.
“But, sir, you said…”
“I know. There’s been a change of plans.”
The guards released Centara and Arlen’s mom, who ran to her children.
“Arlen! Centara! Don’t ever do that to me again!”
Arlen let himself dwell in his mother’s hug for a long moment. When they were done, Arlen looked up at her solemnly:
“Sorry, mom. I’ll never leave home again.”
Arlen and Centara looked at their mother, who was starting to cry.
“Come On. Let’s go home…”
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