Xalata Orbit and Melody Fret: The Hammer of Asttar

by Nick Evans

  "I'm not going out there while it's standing looking at me," said Glitch, anxiously.

  "No need, Glitch. I have a plan," responded Wiglet as Xalata and Melody looked on with their mouths open in shock from the attack. Brett was holding onto Castrana, but Wiglet said, "Really, Brett I think Ms Machin can make her mind up what she wants to do now. It's certain that she can't do us any harm and she always has the option of the quick exit, if she fancies that." He nodded towards the wrecked door. "Now, let's be speedy, this way," and he led them to the bedroom furthest from the entry.

  "Why are we going in here?" said Xalata, "This is just a bedroom and doesn't go anywhere at all."

  "On the contrary, Xalata, it goes everywhere we want, look!" and he pointed to the corner of the room where a small panel was set near the floor. "Come in, come in. Shut the door. Now ..." Wiglet pulled out a small control unit, touched a few elements on the surface and a moment later, the far wall of the room shimmered, brightened and then gave forth a dazzling light that had them all shielding their eyes.

  "A portal? Here?" said Melody, "How does that work?"

  "Quite simple, Melody. A portal can be anywhere to anywhere, if you have the technology, but it is incredibly dangerous unless you are absolutely certain what you are doing. Our friend Fark has found that his portal has disappeared. The simple reason is that it's here. Each portal is programmed with its own identity and termini. This one happens to now be owned by me since I deregistered it from its original owner, which was the Lunar Corporation. That's where Fark stole it from, for his own purposes."

  "So Fark can't control it any more?" asked Brett, "And we can use it to travel?"

  "Yes, and we had best do it swiftly, because I can hear that thing preparing to blast again," and sure enough, a rumbling outside told its own story as the Cryomorph stood itself once more in front of the home entrance and focussed on its target.

  Wiglet stepped through the now open portal and arrived in an atrium not dissimilar to the one that was adjacent to the home they were leaving. The others hurried after him and, when they were all through, Wiglet closed the portal, just as they all heard another terrific blast.

  "So, where are we?" said Xalata, looking around, and then she gasped, "Oh, I know!" That's the entry to the Control Room!" and she dashed across the atrium and flung open the airlock door into the entry. The others followed behind, looking a little dazed and displaced after having been 'jumped' to another location.

  Brett was still hanging on the Castrana who was evidently getting very irritated by being hauled around the place. "Let me go, you oaf!" she spat as he dragged her to the Control Room.

  "Absolutely not. I want you to see this little game played out to the end. Your great master, the Lord Asttar will mebbe need to pull his socks up if he's going to stop us unbelievers foiling his plans, don't you think?"

  They walked into the Control Room and Wiglet and Glitch were already surveying the big screen and unlocking the access from there. "OK," said Glitch, we'll try again. We have 300 seconds once we start the programme and then the asteroid will begin to track away from the Earth. Simulator was OK - yes?"

  "Indeed," said Wiglet "and I think we should activate as soon as possible, for I fear that the other protagonist in this little drama will not be long in arriving."

  "Oh, so true," came the by now familiar voice of Fark, sneering as he spoke. "Stand aside, children and let the grownups take over the controls."

  Glitch reached to press the activation element on the screen, but Castrana suddenly dived away from Brett, ripping her sleeve as she dragged her arm out of his grip. "Oh no you don't!" and she threw herself at Glitch, knocking him to the floor. Brett sprang forward but Fark stepped between him and Castrana, holding the EDW in front of him in a threatening way. "You really don't want to find out how this feels, Brett. Now, stand back against the unit over there - all of you! Castrana, relieve them of the keys and anything else that might be useful to them."

  Melody and Xalata looked at each other, their brains racing. The programme just needed to be activated and the threat of destruction of the Earth would be gone. But they were trapped and Castrana was taking advantage of the fact that everyone was under Fark's control to push everyone into place by the unit. "Come on, little daughter," she crooned at Xalata. "Mummy's taking you for a walk."

  "You're not my mother," hissed Xalata, "even if the biology says you are. I wouldn't have a warped parasite like you for a parent even if ..."

  Castrana slapped her suddenly and hard, leaving a red mark on her face and bringing unwilling tears to her eyes. "Quieten down, creature. You need to learn respect for your elders."

  Brett glared at her and said, "I regret the day I ever set eyes on you, Castrana. You've been evil since the day we got together and I was too blinded to see it. The only thing I don't regret is Xally. I'm proud to say she's my daughter."

  "Idiot!" muttered Castrana and she focused her gaze back on Xalata. "As for you, watch your step. I don't tolerate backchat from little girls." Xalata forced herself to keep her gaze and to look defiant, even though inside she was breaking up. She didn't dare speak in case her voice sounded broken, but she continued to hold Castrana's attention unblinkingly. Castrana broke her gaze away, unable to stand Xalata's frank, appraising look. "Empty your pockets, all of you! Stick it all on here," and she indicated a worksurface at the other side of the room. Everyone did as they were bid.

  Melody, meanwhile, was horrified by the treatment of her friend and was looking for any way that she could break free, activate the programme and enable her friends to escape. No ideas came and she sank into a depressed and defeated sulk, which, she knew, would not do any good, but just summed up the way, she felt.

  Fark suddenly spoke again, waving the EDW in their general direction. "Now I 'ave your full attention, let's get some data, shall we? Since you have been meddling, things 'ave moved on considerably. The asteroid is now well on its way and we 'ave only to wait another couple of hours before it's past the point of no return and will be dragged into the Earth by gravitational pull. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we're going to sit and wait. Now, sit on the floor!" and he pointed to the floor in front of the unit.

  "Melody!" whispered Xalata, "what are we going to do?" There was no reply from her friend whose face was long and her eyes were full of tears. "Melody!"

  "Be quiet!" said Fark. "No talking. I trust you not one little bit. You, Xala-taar. Move over here."

  "Xal-atta," she muttered as she shifted over, separate from Melody.

  * * * * *

  The asteroid slid silently on, subtle corrections being made constantly by its on-board fusion engines tied in with its programmed navigation system. Because it was not of an even shape, the rotation of the rock could deflect it from its target by small degrees, but now, with intelligent navigation on board, it was homing in on its target and heading for the point of no return.

  In front of it, the orb of the Earth grew larger by the moment, starting to be a major feature of its viewpoint. Within the next few hours it would be caught, inescapably, in the gravitational pull of the blue planet and, in that embrace, the Earth was sealing its own destruction.

  On it sped, implacable, unstoppable and yet quite visible from an expectant Earth which saw its coming and trembled.

  * * * * *

  Wiglet raised his eyebrows. He was being signalled by Brett and was not really getting the message. Brett was desperately trying to get Wiglet to make some sort of diversion, attract Fark's attention, but Wiglet was just not understanding the frantic waggling of facial features that was going on. Risking being seen, Brett pointed at Fark and then at Wiglet and indicated that he should go to him.

  After a moment of puzzlement, Wiglet finally got it and stood up from where he had been seated and walked across the room towards Fark. "Erm, Mr Fark ..."

  "I told you to sit down and stay put, now, do it!" and Fark waved the EWD in a threatening manner.

 
"I'm so sorry," continued Wiglet, "But there's a matter of needing to use the local facilities for some of us. Particularly those of us who are older."

  Fark looked at Wiglet quizzically and then waved over Castrana. "He needs the loo. Take 'im and watch 'im."

  "I'm not going on pee duty!" exclaimed Castrana. "Do it yourself," and she walked back to where she had been watching the large screen.

  "It's not as if I have anywhere to run away to, now is it?" asked Wiglet. "I just need to go to the facilities over there and then return and sit down."

  "I'll follow you to the door," said Fark, "No tricks or one of these little girlies is going to get hurt!"

  "No tricks, of course," replied Wiglet as he began to walk towards the entrance that led to the toilets, passing Brett as he did so. Fark followed at a distance, holding the EWD in front of him and, just as he passed Brett he was hit from behind by Brett's weight flying at him in an attempt to overbalance him. Fark stumbled, fell, twisted around swiftly and pointed the EWD straight at Brett and pulled the trigger. A buzz, a flash and a smell of electrical discharge filled the room and Brett fell to the floor with a groan.

  Xalata leapt to her feet and ran to her father with a cry, but Fark was already on his feet and pointing the weapon at Xalata. "If you know what's good for you, my dear, you'll sit right back down and shut up! And you, Wiggins, you deserve a dose of this too. Sit down and 'old it." Xalata had no choice; she looked at her Dad who was evidently in pain, but still conscious and trying to sit up. Wiglet put his arm around her and started to walk her back to where they had been seated.

  "You wait, Fark. Just you wait ..."

  "Mm, thank you my dear. I am of course utterly terrified by the threats of a schoolgirl."

  Meanwhile, Melody had sat quiet all the time and was staring at the floor, underneath a unit, not far from where Fark had fallen. Xalata came and sat next to her and Glitch, muttering. While Fark continued to threaten Brett and Castrana watched the screen, Melody whispered, "Under there, look," and she pointed with her eyes.

  "What? Can't see anything," whispered Xalata.

  "Something fell out of his pocket when your Dad knocked him over. It's slid under there."

  Xalata peered and, eventually, could make out the shape of something under the unit, within reach, but needing one of them to move over there. In a flash she had an idea and ...

  "You maggot! I'm not your friend any more!" she yelled at Melody who looked at her with wide eyes full of shock and surprise. "I can't believe you said that. You make me sick!" And she jumped to her feet and strode over to where the unit stood.

  Melody, suddenly realising what Xalata was doing, responded in kind, "Well rid of you, you stuck up little insect. Go see what your Daddy wants," and she leered at Xalata across the room.

  The rest of the group in the room stared with mouths open as if they had been struck. "OK, ok. Calm down girlies, let's 'ave a bit of peace and quiet 'ere," said Fark and he turned back to Brett.

  Xalata wasted not a moment and, sitting with her back to the unit, reached around and groped for the object that Fark had lost. At first, she could feel nothing and then reached behind with her other hand, all the time keeping her eye on Fark and Castrana. Glitch and Melody meanwhile, looked on anxiously while Wiglet, who had no idea what was going on, simply sat with a puzzled look on his face. "I really do need to go, actually," he muttered.

  Then with a triumphant beam on her face, Xalata pulled out what her hand had discovered under the unit - it was some sort of control unit and, at first, she had no idea what it was. Fearful that the two captors would spot her, she kept glancing at it and then back at them, trying to work out what it was. Moments later, her face beamed with delight as she realised - it was the control for the Cryomorph.

  She looked up at Melody, glanced across at Fark and then, looking back at Melody, squinted her eyes and made explosive puffing expressions with her face. Melody, of course had no idea what she was trying to convey and looked at her friend in puzzlement. "What?" she mouthed, screwing her face up in lack of understanding.

  Xalata tried to mime walking heavily while sitting down - not the easiest feat - and then, looking across at Fark, waved her arms in a mime of an explosion, her mouth and eyes indicating the bang. Melody suddenly got it and her eyes lit with excitement. She pointed at the control and then at Xalata and then at the floor, indicating bring it here.

  Fark suddenly turned and saw the two looking at each other, "'Ere, you two. I thought you weren't friends. Stop the comms right now and sit quiet. You, Wiggins, on your feet. I don't want a mess on the floor so I'm taking you to the loo right now - if anyone else needs to go, join the queue. Any tricks and one of you gets really hurt. Orbit here was lucky that I had the zapper on low power otherwise he'd 'ave been in real trouble."

  Melody immediately stood up. "Er, I'd like to go too, please, Mr Fark," and she walked over to join Wiglet as they were ushered to the toilets by Fark.

  Xalata seized her chance and studied the control carefully, out of sight of Castrana. It was simple. The screen showed the viewpoint from the Cryomorph, which appeared to be ambling aimlessly around the atriums of the habitat. The main features of the dashboard were three elements: location coordinates for the Cryomorph which showed it was still in the region of the home where they had been held; an entry point for new coordinates and a pulldown for actions to be associated with the arrival of the Cryomorph at the destination. She quickly entered the location of the Control Centre, selected Destroy and then from a visual map, selected the exact location of the door. The Confirm command sent the instructions and a message came back to say they had been received, just as the others came back from the loos. On the screen, she could see that the beast had already sprung into action and was on the move.

  She tucked the control into her pocket and then stood to welcome back the others. "Sorry, Melody. It's just the stress of being held here by these criminals," and she hugged her friend, whispering, "It's on its way!"

  Chapter Forty-three

  "There are forty minutes left until the asteroid will be gripped by Earth's gravity," reported Glitch.

  "Thanks for the update, brat, but we know where it is and what it's doing. We're in control now and not you any more," leered Fark.

  "Yes, be quiet," echoed Castrana, rather pointlessly. It seemed that she felt out of the limelight at the moment and wanted to make an impact on the group, but Fark was definitely in control and the EWD ensured that he stayed that way. No one fancied risking a blast of high voltage electricity for his or her pains.

  Melody and Xalata however were quiet, expectantly waiting a change of fortunes for their little group. Fark was not paying them any attention so they had time to think what they would do when the game changed. They'd not alerted Brett, Wiglet or Glitch who were unaware of what would happen in a very short time. The reason for this was simple: Fark had made them sit apart from the two girls and therefore they couldn't communicate. Nor did they want to risk another pantomime where they tried to communicate what was happening, so they decided that silence was the best solution at this point.

  Xalata didn't dare look at the control she had tucked away in a sealed pocket of her suit. She knew roughly how far away the beast had been, but had no clue as to how long it would take to arrive.

  Fark and Castrana were watching the display intently, seeing the orb of the Earth grow bigger in the view from the asteroid. There was silence in the room as each of them contemplated the fate that awaited the Earth. Glitch looked defeated and Brett looked very angry yet powerless - the electric jolt from the EWD had sapped his strength and he was now in no position to tackle their two captors. Meanwhile, Wiglet was lost in his own thoughts although his gaze kept flashing across to the surface where their possessions, emptied from their pockets, had been dumped.

  The minutes ticked by and Glitch became ever more anxious. "Thirty minutes," he whispered to Wiglet who grimaced in response. There seemed to be no way to stop the evil
deed that was about to be committed.

  Down on Earth, undoubtedly, they would be trying to marshal together the resources to destroy the asteroid before it hit the planet. However, the four hours that they would have left after Earth's gravitational pull had seized hold of the giant rock would be too little to make any effective response before impact destroyed Beijing and laid waste to huge areas of the continent.

  Xalata fidgeted and made to stand up, but Melody grabbed her and whispered, "Stay put. We don't want to distract their attention from the screen. The shock needs to be at maximum."

  She sat back down again and waited. She was not a patient girl at the best of times and she was just wondering what their next step would be after the impact when there was the most enormous explosion, deafening everyone in the room and sending debris flying about, crashing into walls, breaking equipment and falling onto the team as they huddled with fear.

  A part of a door flew across the room and hit Fark squarely on the head, felling him at a stroke. Castrana was lacerated by flying glass and shrieked in horror as blood streamed from her face and hands.

  The moment the captives realised what had happened, they leapt into action, led by the two girls who had been ready for the shock. "Quick!" yelled Xalata, "we must get back to the cell that we were in, assuming that the Cryomorph hasn't destroyed that too."

  The shocked adults stumbled to their feet, but no one was injured seriously. Sitting on the floor had protected them from the blast and now their main objective was to get out of that place and back to the home where they had set up base previously.

  Wiglet came to his senses and set about opening the portal once more, which suddenly and magically appeared in one of the damaged walls. Xalata pulled out the Cryomorph control and said, "Let's finish the job," and entered some simple commands into the interface. Then all of them dived through the portal, just as another explosion rocked the Control Room and destroyed what was left of the equipment in there.