by William Wood
The walk across the glass bridge was an incredible and terrifying experience that he would never forget, but he was very relieved when they reached the other side and the door closed behind them. Calvin took a deep breath, and he tried to find the energy to keep going.
They were on another elevated walkway, over a hangar full of spaceships. They weren’t destroyed ruins of spaceships, but perfectly intact and new looking. There were all sizes and shapes—shuttles, fighters, and bombers.
“There we go,” Calvin said. “I think we just found a way home.”
“Oh, I can’t believe it, finally,” Jax said. “Let’s hurry.”
“I don’t see a way to get down to them. We could jump, but it’s way too high.”
“What’s that?” Jax pointed to a row of dark windows overlooking the hangar. “They look like the ones near the Sorenia.”
“It must be some sort of control room,” Calvin said. “Come on, let’s see if we can get in.”
This is it, Calvin thought. All we have to do is get into one of those ships and fly home.
Calvin was very tired and in desperate need of sleep, but he forced himself on. The door at the end was different; it was red with yellow stripes. Calvin took it to be a good sign.
When they reached the doors, they automatically opened up, and they found themselves face to face with the robot.
CHAPTER FIVE:
THE ROBOT
The robot was tall; it towered over Calvin and Jax by two feet. It was silver with thin black lines running the length of its metal body, which highlighted various small panels and strange symbols that were written across its wide chest. Its head and red eyes were round. Its mouth looked similar to a human one, but it was long and thin. Calvin, Jax, and the robot stood still, looking at each other. Nobody moved for several seconds. Calvin was afraid to move, afraid to talk, and afraid to breathe.
Suddenly the robot spoke in a deep, metallic, grating voice. It spoke a strange language that Calvin couldn’t understand, and it sounded very angry. When it finished talking, a small panel on the robot’s chest slid open, and a red light beamed out of it. The red light shined in Calvin’s face and slowly worked its way down to his feet. It did the same to Jax. When it was done, the red light changed to green and shut off.
The robot spoke again, in the same strange language, but its tone sounded completely different. It didn’t sound angry anymore. It sounded friendly, almost like the robot was talking to a long-lost friend. After a minute it stopped. It ended its last sentence on a higher note, like it had asked a question.
Calvin was astonished, and he didn’t know what to do. He thought they would be killed as soon as the robot caught them. Yet here it was, talking to them. Once again the robot spoke. It spoke for a few seconds and stopped. It seemed to be asking a question. This time Calvin answered; his voice cracked.
Terrified, Calvin managed to say, “I’m sorry, I can’t understand you.”
The robot spoke again, still in the same unknown language. “I don’t understand what you’re saying, please don’t hurt us. We
don’t have weapons, and we can’t hurt you.” Calvin put his hands up and showed them to the robot. Jax copied Calvin. Suddenly four more robots appeared as if out of nowhere. Calvin and Jax were surrounded. The robots all looked identical, except the new robots were almost all black with silver lines running down their frames. They were just as tall and looked just as formidable.
The silver robot spoke again. As it was speaking it raised an arm and pointed down the corridor. “What is it saying, Calvin?” Jax asked. “It sounds like it’s asking something.”
The robot didn’t seem as scary as it did before, but Calvin was still scared and confused.
“What do you want us to do?” Calvin asked.
“I think it wants us to go with it,” Jax said, visibly scared.
The silver robot moved down the hall and motioned for them to follow. Calvin and Jax cautiously followed it. The other four robots were right behind them.
“So you want us to go with you?” Calvin asked.
“Are we prisoners?” Jax asked. “Are you taking us to a cell? I really don’t want to get locked up.” He groaned. “This isn’t fair.”
“I don’t think they are taking us into custody,” Calvin said.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Normally when you lock someone up, you don’t politely invite him to follow you to a cell.”
“Oh, good point.”
They followed the robot to a junction where several hallways met, and they stopped in front of a dark gray section of the wall. The robot reached out and touched the wall. After a moment, the wall slid apart in two sections.
“You have to be kidding me,” Jax said. “Those spots on the wall downstairs were elevators? We didn’t have to climb all those stairs.”
Calvin didn’t answer. He was trying to decide whether it was a good idea to go with the robots or not. Maybe it was because he was so tired, but he couldn’t think clearly. It was a relief to finally get caught, and Calvin decided it was too late to resist. He, Jax, and the five robots got onto the elevator, and the doors closed.
“I think the silver one is in charge,” Calvin said, almost afraid to talk. Even as he said that, the silver robot pressed a button, and the elevator went up. Only dark shadows could be seen through the windows, a blur passing by at incredible speeds. Then all of a sudden bright light poured in, and they had to shield their eyes. When Calvin was able to look through the windows he saw an amazing sight: a city. He had to close his eyes and open them again to make sure, but it was a city.
“Oh, wow,” was all he managed to say.
“Calvin, do you see that?” Jax said. “I can’t believe it. How big is this ship?”
“Wow,” Calvin said again.
Dozens of tall, gleaming white buildings clustered together under a spacious glass dome. In the center was a single building that dwarfed all the others.
“I want to explore the city, go to the top of that building,” he said. “Do you see any people down there?”
Jax strained his eyes. “No, I don’t see any signs of life. But we’re too far away.”
They could also see lakes and green areas that looked like parks. The view disappeared when the elevator exited the glass dome. All they saw the rest of the way were dark, blurry shadows. It could have been his imagination, but at times during the elevator ride it felt like they were moving sideways, and then at an angle.
When the elevator emerged from inside the ship, and was moving across the top, Calvin’s suspicions were correct. The black emptiness of space was above them, and they were moving toward a tower. At first Calvin thought it was a mountain, because it was so big. At the top of the tower was a large glass structure that was lit with cold blue lights. Both Calvin and Jax gasped when they saw it.
“Do you think that’s the bridge?” Jax asked.
“That would be my guess,” Calvin said. “And I think that’s where we’re going. Maybe we’ll get to meet the captain.”
The elevator moved into the tower, and the view was gone.
“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Jax said.
“I think if they wanted to hurt us, they would have done it already,” Calvin said. “Besides, there isn’t much we can do at this point. They caught us. Now we wait and see what happens.”
The elevator changed directions again, this time straight up. Eventually, it slowed and stopped. The doors opened, and the group filed out.
Calvin stepped out of the elevator and into a huge computerfilled room.
“You were right,” Jax said. “It’s the bridge.” The room was a big glass sphere. The elevator shaft was in the dead center of the room. A carpeted circular staircase wrapped around the elevator and led up to a round platform above the elevator. Calvin speculated that must be where the captain sat. The view from the raised platform was perfect. From his seat he could see in every direction. Down below, computer s
tations and monitors filled every available space. There was just enough room for a walkway down the middle, running all the way around.
There was a view of space in every direction he looked. Around the outer edges of the room the floor was glass, and he could look straight down into space. But there were no people on the bridge, only a handful of robots sitting at computer stations.
As Calvin was admiring the view something caught his eye. There was a small, dark dot floating out in space. He strained to look at it, but he couldn’t quite make it out. It was far away and hard to see, but it looked like a small spaceship. Either it was black or dark gray. He couldn't tell. It was just sitting there.
As soon as they arrived on the bridge the robots went to work, moving around the room from computer to computer. Calvin and Jax followed the silver robot up the stairs to the captain's platform. It was an excellent place to see everything that was going on and stay out of the way.
The ship vibrated. They could feel it through the floor. The ship made several small movements, and then in an instant all of the stars became blurry. Calvin gasped. The stars disappeared, and a bright blue cloud wrapped around the ship. For a second, it felt like Calvin was everywhere at the same time. It only lasted for a few seconds, and everything returned to normal, except a blue cloud still surrounded the ship.
“What was that?” Calvin asked, astonished. He looked down, and he found Jax sitting on the floor. “Are you all right?” “I’ll be fine, just give me a second.”
“What was that?” Calvin asked again.
“I think I know,” Jax said. “We just went into hyperspace. We studied it on New Arlandia, but it is only hypothetical. Apparently it’s not for these guys.”
“Apparently, but does that mean what I think it does?”
“It means we’re moving faster than the speed of light. Oh, I don’t feel so good,” Jax said.
“Is it from going to hyperspace?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“You’re probably just hungry,” Calvin said and yawned. “And tired.” Now that he stopped moving, he realized how tired, hungry, and thirsty he was.
“Excuse me,” Calvin said to the silver robot. “I don’t suppose you have any food around here, do you?” Calvin looked at the robot. It was staring at a computer screen that was covered with strange symbols and numbers, and seemed very intent on it.
The robot turned to Calvin and said something. Calvin didn’t understand, but it sounded like another question. Calvin didn’t know what to do.
“I’m sorry. I don’t speak your language.”
The robot stood up straight, and it spoke a series of short sentences. Suddenly one of the black robots appeared and pointed its arm down the stairs.
“Are you taking us to get some food?” Jax asked. “I hope so. I’m really hungry.”
Calvin and Jax followed the black robot down to the main level of the bridge and then down another circular stairwell that was hidden behind the elevator. At the bottom was an intersection of four short hallways. The walls were lavishly decorated with gold and silver.
The light fixtures were encased in crystal shards. The carpet was dark red and very thick. At the end of each hallway was a large window.
The robot led them to adjacent rooms, not far from the stairs. On the side of the door were three lighted buttons: green, red, and white. The robot touched the green button, and the door to the first room opened, then it opened the door to the other room. Calvin walked inside the first one; it was a spacious bedroom. There was a bed next to a window that looked out into space. Thick red curtains were neatly tied to the sides. In the middle of the room was a round table with four chairs. There were also two dressers and a large monitor hanging on one wall. There were two marble columns with a richly carved archway between them. Through the archway was a dining area with a table and chairs. Immediately off to the left of the front door was a large bathroom with a shower and bathtub. Even the bathroom looked like it had been reserved for a king. The fixtures were gold. The tiles were dark red and azure blue. It was obviously an officer’s room, maybe the captain’s. On the Sorenia, the senior officers’ rooms were closest to the bridge, so if there was an emergency they wouldn’t have to run far.
The black robot left the room while Calvin was looking around. Another robot entered carrying a large covered tray. Quietly, the robot placed the tray on the table and left the room. Calvin was alone. He approached the table and lifted the cover off of the tray.
“Room service,” Jax said, walking into the room with his own tray. Calvin examined his meal with a great amount of nervousness mixed with curiosity. There was a brown slice of meat with some white mushy stuff. There was also a pile of long, thin, multicolored things that looked like noodles or a kind of vegetable. A glass of water was on the side. First he smelled the food. It smelled good, like beef and potatoes. He picked up a utensil. It was flat, like a shovel.
“That's funny,” Calvin said. “We’re literally gonna shovel it down.” He looked at Jax for a response, but he was already eating.
Calvin took a small bite of each item, to test it. Everything tasted extremely good. Then he tore into it like a starving man, which he was.
They ate in silence, savoring every bite, and drinking deeply from jugs of cold fresh water. When Calvin finished eating, he put the cover back on the tray.
“That was delicious,” Calvin said. “Whatever it was.”
“That could have been because you were so hungry,” Jax said. “I thought it was good too. What are we going to do now?”
“I get the impression these robots want to take care of us,” Calvin said. “And right now I’m so tired I can’t think straight. We’ve been given these rooms. I suggest we get some sleep, and tomorrow we can try to find a way home, or contact Space Command.”
“I’m too tired to argue,” Jax said, standing up. “Don’t do anything without me, OK?”
“Trust me,” Calvin said. “I don’t want to wander around by myself.”
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Jax,” Calvin said. The door closed, and Calvin went to the bed and sat. He felt loneliness tugging at him. He turned off the lights and got into bed. The hyperspace field lit his room with a soft blue glow that mesmerized him. He wondered what had happened to the crew of the Sorenia, and if they were all right. He closed his eyes and was asleep before he knew it.
CHAPTER SIX:
THE TOWER
When Calvin woke up he felt rested. He wasn’t sure how long he had slept, but the view outside was unchanged; they were still traveling in hyperspace. Calvin sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stood up and stretched his legs. He was surprised when a robot showed up at his door with more food. The food smelled good, and this time it resembled breakfast food.
There was a knock on the door, and Jax walked in before Calvin had a chance to respond. He was carrying his own tray of food.
“I’m really starting to like this place,” Jax said. “The service is really good.”
“Yes, it is. But I wonder how they knew I was awake.”
Jax didn’t respond. He was already eating. Calvin quickly forgot about his questions when he smelled the food. It smelled very good, and there was a lot of it. There were pancakes, eggs, and bacon with toast. There was a glass of something that tasted like orange juice. Also, the robots had left him a new set of clothes—black pants and a purple, longsleeved shirt. When they finished eating, Jax returned to his room, and Calvin tried on his new clothes. He shouldn’t have been surprised, but everything fit him perfectly and was very comfortable.
He was feeling a lot more at ease. He wasn’t afraid anymore, but he was still confused about what was happening.
Thirty minutes after breakfast, Calvin and Jax met in the hall outside their rooms, both dressed in clean clothes.
“Ready to go?” Calvin asked.
“Yes, do you think the robots will let us explore the ship?”
; “Only one way to find out,” Calvin said. They walked down the hall and climbed the stairs to the bridge. It was very quiet except for computer sounds. They stood at the top of the stairs and looked around.
“I don’t see any robots,” Jax said.
Calvin looked around. “This is the bridge,” he said. “They wouldn’t leave it unmanned. Look, there’s one over there,” Calvin said. There was a black robot sitting at a computer terminal.
“Think we can get by without getting caught?”
“Let’s go,” Calvin said. He quietly led the way around the main ring with Jax close behind. His biggest fear was that the robot would stop them from leaving the bridge, and make them stay in their rooms. But Calvin had to find a way to contact Space Command.
They walked slowly and quietly. Calvin’s eyes were fixed on the black robot, but his eyes should have been on where he was going. His foot hit a computer console with a loud thud. Calvin stopped. The robot looked up at him, but then something surprising happened. The robot turned and went back to work, not seeming to care about what Calvin and Jax were doing.
They stood still for a minute, looking around. Calvin half expected a swarm of robots to descend on them and take them back downstairs. When it didn’t happen, they casually walked to the elevator and into a waiting car. Both of them took a deep breath when the door slid quietly shut.
“Where to first?” Jax asked. There was a silver, button-covered panel next to the door, with a strange symbol next to each one.
“I’ve only seen robots so far,” Calvin said. “I really want to find some people. Let’s try the city.”
“I wonder which level it’s on.”
“Let’s work our way down, best guess. Go ahead.”
Calvin pressed a button that would take them down twelve levels, and the elevator began its downward journey. After a few minutes the elevator slowed to a stop.
Calvin was excited, but that feeling quickly died. When the doors opened, all they saw was a dark blue robot pushing a machine down a long corridor. The machine hovered a few inches over the floor, cleaning as it went.
