by William Wood
“She?” Calvin asked.
“Of course,” Astra said. “She’s obviously a girl.” Calvin looked carefully, but still didn’t see anything. Then a voice whispered from behind Astra, “Yi’n lorna.” Calvin looked at Astra.
“When I woke up, I noticed she wasn’t here,” she explained. “I freaked out. The poor little robot, what happened to her? Before I had a chance to dwell on it too much, I felt a tug on my jacket. I looked down, but there was nobody there. Then she started whispering to me, and I realized she can make herself invisible.”
“Oh.” Calvin stared back behind her. “That’s a nice trick. I wish I could do that.”
Calvin closed his eyes and massaged his temples. His head still hurt a little, and he was very worried. After everything they had been through, to find four pieces of the superweapon, only to get caught by the Goremog. There were still six pieces left to find, and it was looking very much like the adventure was over.
“We have to get out of here,” Calvin said. “Your father is going to kill me.”
“My father?” Astra asked. “I’d be more worried about the Goremog right now, if I were you.”
“Do you have a way to escape?” Wexton asked. He didn’t give Calvin a chance to answer. “Take me with you. They’re going to kill me. I have to get out of here, too. I can fight. I can help you.”
“I don’t know how we’re going to get out of here,” Calvin said. “But when we do, you can come with us.”
“Thank you,” Wexton said. His smile looked a little warmer this time.
“Any ideas?” Calvin asked.
“I’ve never been captured by the Goremog before,” Astra answered. “So, no. I don’t have any ideas.” It was clear that she felt, like him, very upset about being locked up, not knowing what was going to happen next.
“I wonder how long we’ll have to wait in here.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Wexton said. “You won’t have to wait long. You see, the Goremog will gas us and put us to sleep. That way they don’t have to feed us or guard us.”
“I see,” Calvin said, feeling the familiar stab of fear. “Then we won’t have to find something to do to pass the time.”
At that very moment, there was a loud hiss, and a white vapor streamed out of the ceiling.
“You may want to lie down,” Wexton advised. “At least sit down.” Calvin and Astra took his advice and lay down on the icy-cold floor, facing each other.
“Astra,” Calvin said. “It’s going to be all right.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I really think so.” Calvin said, trying to convince himself, not just Astra. He felt dizzy, and his vision went black. “Wait,” his mind said loudly. “I’m not ready.” He fell into a dark unconsciousness.
When Calvin woke up, he was lying in the same position. He hadn’t moved. He was instantly aware of severe pain in his head. He tried to sit up but found he couldn’t move his arms or legs. He opened his eyes and looked at Astra. She was still out. He tried to say her name, but nothing came out. Calvin wondered how long they had been unconscious.
The door to their cell opened, and a group of robots walked in. They were all black and had red symbols on their arms. They had dark gray helmets, with dark visors covering their faces. Each of them had long black pistols attached to their belts. A robot picked up Astra and carried her out of the cell. Calvin tried desperately to move, to kick, to scream to do something. But he couldn’t. He was completely paralyzed.
More robots entered, one for each of them. They were carried out, one by one. Calvin was wide awake the whole time, and he was beginning to feel a tingling sensation in the tips of his fingers. They were carried down a series of hallways. Calvin tried to memorize the route but couldn’t see very well, and after a few minutes he was totally turned around. He lost track of time. The only thing he could see were the light gray walls and an occasional doorway.
Finally they walked into a room. The robots sat them down in big, wide padded chairs and stood next to them. Calvin looked up. It looked like they were in a courtroom. At the front of the room was a large podium. A man in a black uniform stood behind it. His hair was black, with a lot of gray mixed in. It didn’t take Calvin long to realize that he was looking at his first Goremog officer. His stare was icy cold.
Calvin was able to glance sideways in both directions. He saw Astra, Dev, and Wexton were all awake and were looking at the judge. The man stared at them for a second, and then he began to talk. His voice was low and gravely. Calvin kept wanting to clear his throat just listening to him speak. What he had to say put fear into his heart.
“You’re accused of stealing a space cruiser from the quarantined planet Axia, a ship that was being prepared for use by the king of Traxia, ally of the Goremog Empire, to escape the plague happening on that planet. As a result of your actions the king and his entire family died. I find you guilty of theft and murder of the royal family of Axia. I sentence you to death on the prison planet of Doonterria. If you survive the interrogation process, you will live out the last days of your lives as you choose, because the planet has become unstable and will explode soon. There is no escape from Doonterria.”
He banged a gavel on the podium and unceremoniously walked out of the room. The robots carried them back to their cells and put them on the floor. The door clanged shut, and they were left alone again. They lay there on the floor for a long time before the paralysis wore off, and they were able to speak.
“What was that?” Calvin asked.
“They didn’t even allow us to say anything,” Dev complained. “We didn’t get to defend ourselves.”
“That’s because they had already decided what to do with us,” Wexton said sadly. “They were just going through the motions in there.”
“I don’t understand,” Calvin said. “Why did they have a trial for us? I thought the Goremog were ruthless killers. Whey waste time like that, if they already decided what they were going to do with us?”
“In the past,” Astra explained, “the Goremog were a just race. They believed in right and wrong and fought hard to protect the innocent. Maybe that was a leftover from the old days.”
“Or for some strange reason they feel a need to justify what they’re doing,” Dev said.
“But even if that’s true, we didn’t kill anyone,” Astra objected. “Our scanners clearly showed that there were not any life signs there. They’re basing their justification on lies, unless they really believe those things they said about us.”
“It was clear, at least to me,” Dev said. “That the Terrors killed them before we got there.”
“That must be why the ship was ready to take off,” Calvin realized. “They had the ship ready to go, and the Terrors got them before they had a chance to escape.”
“And we are being blamed for it,” Astra said. “This isn’t fair!” Then she shouted to the door. “We didn’t do it!”
“It’s no use,” Calvin said. “They won’t listen. They just want to get rid of us.”
“That’s the way they are,” Wexton said. “They did the same thing to me. They accused me of treason. They didn’t let me talk. They just said I was going to die on a planet that was going to explode soon.”
“And that’s where we’re going now,” Astra said angrily.
“Don’t worry, Astra,” Calvin said, trying to sound relaxed but not doing a very good job. “As long as we’re alive, there is hope.”
“I don’t know what hope we have of getting off that planet,” Dev said angrily.
“We made it this far,” Calvin said. “We should have died a few times over.”
“I’m with you, Calvin,” Wexton said. “If there is a way off the planet, we’ll find it.”
“I like your attitude,” Calvin said. He had to believe there’s hope, or they might as well give up. There was a loud hiss, and gas was pumped into the room. Calvin put his head down on the floor and waited. Before the darkness took him, he thought about his
mother and father. He wondered what was going on at home. He hoped they were all right.
When Calvin woke up, he had no way of knowing how long he had been unconscious. His head hurt, and it took several attempts to even open his eyes. His ears popped, and he became aware of a loud sound. The sensation of sight and sound hit him at the same time, and he was completely disoriented. Where was he? It took a second for him to realize what was going on, and where he was. He sat up and looked around. They were in another cell. Astra was sitting up, too, but both Dev and Wexton were still asleep on the floor.
“They moved us,” Astra said. “We’re on a different ship.” “How can you tell?” Calvin asked.
“I can feel it in the engines.” Astra said. “I’m guessing, but I think we arrived at Doonterria. We’re on our way down to the surface.”
There were no windows in the shuttle, so Calvin couldn’t confirm what she said, but the bumps and sounds of the engines led him to believe she was right. During the trip down, Dev and Wexton sat up. Dev rubbed his eyes, and Wexton stretched his arms and legs. They knew when the shuttle landed. There was a hard bump. The door opened, and four heavily armed robots walked in. They weren’t harsh or rough but kept their weapons pointed at them.
“Come with us,” one of the robots said in a metallic voice. They followed the robots down a corridor to a boarding ramp. When the door opened they were hit with a blast of cool air.
“Proceed down the ramp and go out,” a robot commanded. At the bottom of the ramp, they stepped outside into a clearing surrounded by tall trees. The ground was hard and dry, the trees were black, brown, and only partially covered with leaves. Two robots followed them outside. One of them kept its weapon pointing at the humans, but it felt to Calvin like he was the primary target. The one robot that didn’t have a gun spoke into a small communication device.
“We have arrived at the coordinates. Why are you not here?” There was a pause and no answer.
“I repeat. This is GX two. I am ready to hand over the prisoners. Please answer.”
“We could take them down,” the other robot suggested.
“No, I don’t have the access codes.”
Before the other could answer there a roar from overhead, and a dark shadow flew by at high speed. Several small explosions burst all around. The robots looked up at the sky. The one with the gun fired into the air. GX two ran inside the ship, leaving the other robot all alone. Calvin was stunned, feeling that they were missing an opportunity. That thought was not lost on Wexton. He threw himself at the Goremog robot. Its laser fired, missing Calvin’s head by mere inches. Wexton hit the side of the robot’s head, and the robot quickly retreated inside the ship. Lasers bolts from the air hit the ground, and one hit the ship. The boarding ramp retracted, and the door closed.
A blast of air from the engines created a huge dust cloud and almost knocked them down. The shuttle lifted off the ground and accelerated into the sky with a high-pitched whine.
Calvin, Astra, Dev, and Wexton watched the ship leave them behind. The spaceship flew up into the sky against a very beautiful sunset. The sun reflected off its metal body. A smaller ship followed closely, shooting at it with bright lasers.
“That was our only way out of here!” Dev said angrily.
When it was gone, and the only thing they could hear was the wind in the trees, they all stood still for a moment, looking at each other. Scribbles was visible now and was holding Astra’s hand.
Calvin thought to himself, ‘Wow, that little robot must have a strong power source to stay invisible for so long. I wonder how long we were unconscious on the Goremog ship. Then he looked into the faces of his companions. He saw sadness, and a complete lack of hope, which was exactly how he felt. He was hungry, thirsty, and tired, and worse, he had no idea what they were going to do. He looked around again to take in their surroundings. They were on top of a mountain, surrounded by half-dead trees.
There were several rivers flowing into a large lake, but the water levels were very low. Dozens of tall mountains were on the horizon.
“Who was the other ship?” Wexton asked.
“Enemies of the Goremog,” Astra said. “Take your pick. They have a lot of enemies.”
“It could have been the No’Rath,” Dev suggested.
“Who?” Wexton asked.
“The Nuh Wrath,” Dev pronounced the name slowly.
“Oh, right,” Wexton said. “That makes sense.”
“Who are the No’Rath?” Calvin asked. “Or, what are the No’Rath?”
Wexton looked at Calvin with a surprised expression. “Seriously?” He said. “You don’t know about the No’Rath?”
Calvin felt foolish. “Sorry, I haven’t been out here very long,” Calvin said, trying not to sound defensive.
“The No’Rath and the Goremog are ancient enemies,” Astra said. “They fought long and hard during the hundred year space war.”
“When Ion told me about the war, he said it was the universe against the Goremog,” Calvin said. “But anyway, it’s good that someone is out there fighting against the Goremog, right? They’ll keep ‘em distracted.”
“Unless we get caught in the middle,” Wexton said.
Suddenly something caught Calvin’s eyes. There was a light. It was a small white light, down in a valley below them. Then another light turned on. He looked closely. It was a small village, on the banks of a river. One by one, dozens of lights turned on. Then a thought occurred to Calvin, like a light switching on in his brain.
“Why did the Goremog bring us here?” Calvin asked. “They were meeting someone. There must be a base close by, or something.” “You’re right,” Dev said. “I wonder why they didn’t show up.” “That’s a really good question,” Astra said. “But remember, this
is a Goremogcontrolled planet.”
Suddenly Calvin felt very unsafe.
“Do you think they know we’re here?” Dev asked. “I mean, we
haven’t exactly been quiet, and they were supposed to be here to meet us.” “Something isn’t right,” Astra said. “It’s just doesn’t make sense that they were going to transfer us out here in the middle of nowhere.”
Everyone looked at Calvin. “All right, let’s get away from here, before the entire area is covered with Goremog robots.”
Calvin led the way out of the clearing and into the trees. The ground was dry and covered with dead leaves and broken branches, which crunched loudly as they walked. Fifty feet away they found a heavily damaged concrete foundation and a set of broken stairs descending into darkness. The ground was charred; even the trees nearby were burned. They all froze and stared at the stairs, except for Wexton. Slowly and cautiously he stepped to the stairs and peered into the darkness. He turned and made several hand motions that Calvin didn’t understand, but he had a very bad feeling Wexton was saying he was going down into the ruins of the building to see what was down there. Calvin shook his head, but Wexton crept forward and made his way down the stairs. Calvin waved his hands and wanted to shout at him to stop, but to Calvin’s alarm, Wexton disappeared into the darkness.
He wasn’t gone long.
“Calvin!” Wexton shouted. “Come down here. You have to see this,” Calvin’s heart started beating faster. “What did you find?” Calvin said on his way.
“Just get down here.”
What they found was the remains of a security station. It was dark, but cracks in the ground above let in shafts of light, dimly lighting up the room. There were pieces of broken computers spread across the floor. Another stairway led down even farther, but the way was blocked. There was an elevator, but it, too, was damaged and had no power.
“Was this the Goremog base?” Dev asked.
“That would be my guess,” Calvin said. “I wonder what destroyed it.”
“Do you think the No’Rath destroyed it?”
“I have no idea,” Calvin said. “Is there anything down here we can salvage, anything usable?”
“I�
�d like to look around,” Dev said.
“Calvin,” Astra said, her voice full of fear. “Look.” Calvin looked and saw something that froze his blood; a severed arm was lying on the floor. It had a metal rod through the middle and several robotic attachments on the outside. Calvin and Astra shared a look. Astra looked terrified.
“No,” Calvin whispered. “Not here, too. We just can’t get away from them.”
Astra shivered. “I’m freezing.”
“Do you think it’s safe to make a fire?” Wexton asked.
“It’s safer than freezing to death,” Calvin said.
“Then I’m going to make one,” Wexton said and left. Calvin and Astra and Scribbles followed, the sounds of the little robot’s arms and legs moving echoing on the stone walls. Back in the clearing, Wexton began gathering all the dry wood he could find. Calvin and Astra helped. They didn’t have to go far to collect wood for the fire. There were dead branches lying on the ground everywhere. They made a big pile near the tree. Wexton had a roaring fire going within five minutes.
The sun disappeared behind the mountains, and darkness began to grow. One bright star appeared in the sky. Once the sun was down, the temperature dropped even lower, and a blanket of stars spread out across the sky. It was beautiful. Everyone huddled around the fire to stay warm.
“What are we going to do?” Astra asked.
“We could try and make it to the village down in the valley,” Dev said. “I assume it’s a village.”
“What if it’s a Goremog base?” Wexton asked.
“I don’t know,” Dev said. “We can’t live in the forest forever. Do you have a better idea?”
“We’d never make it off of this mountain in the dark,” Calvin said.
“We don’t have to,” Wexton said happily. “We can sleep here, on the ground, or better yet, over there, under that tree.”
Everyone looked at him with a variety of expressions. Calvin was unhappy with the thought of sleeping under the stars, on the hard ground, but he figured it would be better than sleeping in a prison cell.
“It’s already cold,” Dev observed. “How cold do you think it will get?”
