by J. J. Green
“Stop worrying, won’t you? If we’re too heavy for her she won’t try it, I’m sure. Now, have we got everything?”
Carrie and Dave had replaced all of Harriet’s tools that Dave had managed to retrieve, plus the one he’d stolen. She was still missing a few, but that couldn’t be helped. They would just have to hope she or they didn’t need the missing tools for the job they had coming up. They had packed up their Liaison Officer toolboxes after checking that the weapons to attack the placktoids were still functional. A segment of blasted, melted rock had given them their answer.
They swept the sand bank with their torches but couldn’t see anything they’d left behind. “Okay, time to go,” said Carrie.
“Hold on, one more thing we haven’t discussed.”
“What’s that?” Carrie was impatient to be off. They were wasting precious minutes.
“If we don’t manage to find them in time, or we can’t get close enough to the High Commander to destroy it, we bail, right? Just open the gateway and leave. We’ve done the best we can in the circumstances to prevent the placktoids from having control of the galaxy in our time. The Council can’t expect us to do any more.”
“Hmmm...okay. But we should leave it as late as we can. If we can get through our gateway just minutes before they lay down the time shield, the placktoids won’t be able to follow us. They’ll be trapped here forever, and when we get back to our present they won’t exist. They’ll be trapped in their own past.”
“It’s risky, but...okay, agreed. I’m going to look up that word Gavin told us to open the gateway so we don’t mess up at the last minute. Woah.” Harriet had lurched up, clearly understanding what they were saying and in a hurry to get away. Dave grabbed the side of the upper shell with one hand while he felt inside his bag with the other.
Carrie was crouched in her side of Harriet’s shell, which housed the tool mechanism. It was a tight, awkward fit even sitting up, but it made sense for her to sit there and not Dave because she was the smaller of the two. She rubbed Harriet’s bent shell affectionately and wondered if she could come through the gateway with them to the future. The thought of leaving her alone in this world of evil placktoids and their mindless, slow-witted ancestors made her sad.
The sentient robot hovered above the sand, as if testing her ability to carry the weight of the two humans, then glided out over the water. Carrie shone her torch ahead, its light glinting on the rough waves of blue liquid. Dave kept his head low and his eyes fixed on his briefing tablet.
After a few minutes’ travel, Carrie began to appreciate the experience. The air was pleasantly cool and moist compared to the surface, and she had never been on an underground river before so she enjoyed the novelty. There was little sound but the rushing of the water, which echoed in the close walls of the tunnel. Then she heard a plop.
She didn’t quite believe her ears at first because she didn’t know of anything that would make such a noise in that world. It sounded nothing like a robot. It was something organic and heavy. Another plop resounded from the water and repeated as it echoed from the walls. She swung her light across the liquid. “Did you hear that?”
“Nope,” said Dave in the tone of someone who had heard something but was choosing to ignore it.
Two more plops followed in close succession. Carrie turned her torch in the direction of the sound but saw nothing but the familiar rippling surface. “Do you think there are things living in that liquid?”
“Do you mean, are there things living in the liquid we were dragged through and nearly drowned in, and have just spent an hour or so sitting right next to? My answer is, there better bloody well not be.”
“But it makes sense, doesn’t it? The planet surface isn’t very hospitable to life, but under here, away from the suns, it would be easier for creatures to live.” She put a hand to her mouth and her eyes widened. “Do you think this is where the Creators are?”
“I don’t think so. Why would they create robots to keep the mountains empty of rubbish and working? They would make robots to look after them, wouldn’t they?”
“Not if the mountains are important to their survival.”
Dave shook his head. “Let’s just concentrate on the job we’ve come to do, okay?” At 'okay’ there was a large plop right next to Harriet, and the liquid splashed, soaking Carrie and Dave. “Whah,” exclaimed Dave as he put his arms over his head.
Carrie held on to Harriet tighter, but she also focused the torch on the spot the splash had come from as it retreated behind them. “Come on, Dave, you aren’t scared when it comes to facing the placktoids.”
“The placktoids are the known unknown. It’s the unknown unknowns I don’t like,” he replied from under his armpit.
In the patch of light from Carrie's torch, a dark, wet shape rose. It was long and smooth-skinned and didn’t appear to have a head. Carrie couldn’t decide if that was a bad thing or not. On the one hand, she wished it had some kind of head; on the other hand, she worried about just what kind of head it might have. The thing rose a couple of metres or so, reaching nearly to the ceiling of the tunnel, before falling into the water like massive black sausage into a cauldron of boiling water. Ripples came sliding along the river surface towards them. The sound of the creature hitting the liquid repeated.
“Tell me you didn’t see anything,” said Dave.
“I didn’t see anything.” Suddenly, the surface of the river was alive with life. “And I’m not seeing anything right now.” Wriggling creatures like soft-bodied millipedes teemed among the waves. Carrie wondered if they were the prey of the headless thing, and if its appearance had driven them to the surface. Though as it didn’t seem to have a mouth, how it ate them she couldn’t guess. She recalled being dragged through the river in its current after they fell in. Had she passed through a shoal of the organisms, or alongside their nemesis? She shuddered. She hoped the predator—if that was what it was—wouldn’t try to have a nibble of Harriet, or Dave, or her.
Dave had lowered his arms and was muttering to himself as he clutched his briefing tablet in one hand. Carrie leaned closer. With horror she realised he was saying the word Gavin had told them opened the gateway. “Don’t say that,” she exclaimed. “We aren’t ready to go back yet.”
“I’m just practicing everything but the last syllable. I don’t want to forget in the heat of the moment. We might not get a second chance.”
“Oh, fair enough.” Carrie had completely forgotten what the word was, so she was happy for Dave to handle that job. She was glad to have him along. Though he was a bit of a wimp sometimes, he stepped up to the mark when needed and she could rely on him in a tight spot. She hoped she would one day learn to be as level-headed as her friend. Then she would be a really effective Liaison Officer.
Assuming they got out of this alive.
The wriggling things were becoming easier to see. More light than the beams cast by Carrie’s torch was shining on them. She turned to face the direction they were travelling. Rays of sunlight shone from a split in the ceiling and were dancing on the river’s ripples. It was difficult to tell how large the split was because she couldn't judge the distance, but it looked worryingly narrow.
She nudged Dave and pointed ahead. He put away his briefing device and gripped his bag tightly. Carrie did the same. Assuming the gap was large enough for them to fit through, it was in the ceiling, and Harriet would have to tilt upwards to go through it.
A massive plop sounded behind them. Carrie gave a small shriek. Had the headless thing decided to sample this interesting new source of food? She didn’t dare turn round. She didn’t want the last thing she saw to be the organ it used to catch and eat its prey.
The exit loomed larger and the light pouring through it became blindingly bright. Wafts of warm air blew over Carrie, scented with dust. Her bag across her chest, she leaned forward and grasped onto the sides of Harriet’s shell for dear life as she felt the robot tilt and lift. Her angle was worryingly sharp. Just
as Carrie began to slip backwards towards the dark underground river, Harriet was through the split in the ceiling and out into the baking air of the surface of the placktoid planet.
From behind came the sound of a final huge plop.
Chapter Twenty-Three – Desperate Measures
The light on the surface after hours in near darkness was almost painful. It took several minutes of squinting and blinking before Carrie could make out more than vague shapes around her. The suns were also unbearably hot once more, and she was soon soaked in sweat.
“Where now?” called Dave, raising his voice over the whistle of the hot wind.
Harriet’s speed was easier to gauge now that Carrie could see the ground beneath them. The robot was travelling at a tremendous rate. “I don’t think it’s up to us to decide,” answered Carrie. “Harriet’s in a hurry to take us somewhere.”
As her eyes grew accustomed to the light, Carrie peered ahead and to the sides. As before, the barren mountains ranged around them. These didn’t look familiar, however, and she concluded that they must have travelled far from the mountain the High Commander had taken over in their journey along the river and to and from the underground sand bank. She wondered if Harriet was returning them to the High Commander’s lair, and if she also understood how little time they had left before they had to open the gateway to the future.
She shifted in her awkward seat, her muscles cramped and aching. She looked forward to getting back to her flat and seeing Toodles and Rogue again. Even though Toodles was reticent about showing her affection for Carrie, she knew that, deep down, the cat adored her. And Rogue was always pleased to see her. Then Carrie remembered what Gavin had said: that when they returned, their and the placktoids’ actions in the past might have altered the course of history; that they might not even recognise the world they returned to. Her heart ached. She feared losing the things dear to her even more than she feared the placktoids.
“Look,” shouted Dave and pointed ahead. At a dizzying speed, a mountain approached. A familiar mountain. The mountain where they had been taken to the placktoid High Commander. Carrie had been right. Harriet understood, and she was taking them back there so they could destroy him.
But there was something strange about the mountain. Its slopes weren’t drab and matte as the others were. They sparkled silver. At first Carrie wondered if large numbers of the silver robots had broken down and been ejected down its slopes, but the silver sparks that glimmered in the light of two suns were moving. The movement appeared sluggish due to the distance. In fact they must have been zooming up and down the slopes.
“What’s going on?” Carrie called to her friend.
He had one hand over his brow as he peered ahead. “I think...I think the robots are fighting.”
“What?” Carrie rummaged in her bag. Liaison Officers carried observation equipment though she’d never had call to use it before. She found what she was looking for. A folded pair of what looked like eyeglasses. She opened them up and looked through them, rocking back and almost falling from Harriet as the glasses brought the mountainside before them into extremely close, sharp focus. Robots were engaging in some kind of battle on the slopes. Some of them had weapons, and they were blasting others who seemed to have nothing to defend themselves with. The assaulted robots were instead trying to overwhelm their attackers by sheer force of numbers, and using their pincers and other tools to damage them if they managed to get up close.
“What’s going on?” asked Dave as he followed Carrie’s lead and took out his observation spectacles.
“The placktoids have armed the evil robots the High Commander created, and they’re fighting with the good robots.” An idea about why that should be so formed in Carrie’s mind, and she studied the surrounding landscape for confirmation. Her suspicions were correct. The good robots were flooding out of nearby mountains to the one infected with placktoids from the future. “I think it’s like what happened to us before. The robots detected you were a foreign body and ejected you from the mountain, and they tried to eject the placktoids. Now that the robots in the surrounding mountains have detected the foreign placktoids, they’re trying to clean the mountain out. They’re treating them like an infestation.”
As she scanned the foothills of the mountain an inkling of another idea began to form but faded before it could take shape. The slopes were thick with the bodies of fallen robots. “This is awful, Dave. We have to get there and destroy the High Commander. The good robots are on an automatic response program. They can’t think. They won’t stop no matter how many of them are destroyed trying to clean out the mountain.”
Dave slapped Harriet’s shell. “Come on, Harriet, faster. We don’t have much time.”
The damaged robot seemed to be going as fast as she could, however, for she didn’t speed up. But the mountain was quickly approaching. Carrie wondered how much time they had left. Half an hour? Or less? “Come on, Harriet.”
Dave’s lips were moving silently. Probably muttering the gateway-opening word beneath his breath, Carrie thought.
“You know,” called Carrie, “I don’t think Harriet had anything to do with the evolution of immortal, thinking, evil placktoids.”
“You think they came from...?” Dave nodded ahead.
“I do. I think the evil influence came from the future. It’s a time loop. Their mythology is wrong.”
“And you think we can break the loop?” shouted Dave over the wind. “If we destroy the High Commander and the evil robots, the placktoids might not develop their desire to tyrannise the galaxy? We might change the future?”
There was no time to answer. They were at the mountain. Harriet shot up the side and Carrie and Dave had to cling on to avoid tumbling out and falling to their deaths. A tunnel entrance appeared ahead and, before they knew it, they were inside.
Harriet had the element of surprise, but the evil robots weren’t slow to catch on that she had invaded their domain. Carrie and Dave’s weapons were in their hands already. Carrie faced forward while Dave turned to defend their rear. Robots appeared in front, and Carrie blasted them to pieces. Hot shrapnel embedded itself in the rocky tunnel walls. She heard Dave fire and realised that robots must be approaching from behind, too.
But the lozenge-shaped silver machines that had been turned to the dark side were the least of her worries. They lacked maneuverability and the weapons they had were simple. No, these facsimile, replacement robots were easy to take care of. It was the placktoids themselves she was worried about.
As if drawn by Carrie's thoughts, a paperclip and pen placktoid appeared. Carrie fired double-handed, scoring long lines across both. She knew from experience that sometimes a single hit wasn’t enough. To put them out of commission she had to inflict damage across a large area. Satisfyingly, the two placktoids split in half and hit the tunnel floor.
In a second they were over and past them. Harriet flew confidently and at great speed towards her destination. The fans in the tunnels sometimes barely had time to open before she was through them, and she outpaced the evil robots that followed.
“Go Harriet,” yelled Carrie, and added a whoop.
But her elation turned to dread. They rounded a corner and entered the cavern dotted with holes where Carrie had searched for Dave earlier. On the far side ranged eight or nine placktoids of all kinds. “Turn around, Dave,” Carrie exclaimed. “I’ll need a hand with these.” She was already firing, cutting a swathe through their ranks. But the placktoids returned fire, and Harriet nearly spilled the two humans out as she swerved to avoid being hit.
For a moment, Carrie and Dave could do little but cling on, but the second Harriet levelled out they were firing, their beams hitting the placktoids from below. Two tumbled into the abyss, followed by a third.
A blinding, searing pain in her shoulder cut through Carrie. She screamed, smelling the scent of her own burnt flesh. Before she was aware what was happening, Dave was suddenly crushed on top of her and the light dimmed. H
arriet had closed the lid of her shell, squashing Carrie and Dave together. There was a hiss of melting metal, a scorching heat penetrating Harriet’s interior, and the world turned upright.
Harriet juddered, glided, then hit the ground. Inside her, Carrie and Dave were shocked through with vibrations as she slid along the floor. She hit a wall and her lid sprang open. The two humans were thrown clear and landed heavily.
Carrie’s weapons were knocked from her hands, and the second that she stopped moving she scrambled to find them. Springing to her feet with a weapon in each hand she quickly took stock of the situation. Dave was a few metres away, also rising and scanning for his firepower. Harriet—or what was left of her, for she was little more than a twisted, broken, melted lump of metal—was motionless against the wall of the chamber.
Carrie spun on her heel, wondering where they were; what part of the mountain Harriet had brought them to after bursting through the placktoid ranks. Then she saw she had brought them to the epicentre. Before them was the High Commander. An evil robot it had just created was emerging from its centre. They had only a second before it would fire.
Chapter Twenty-Four – The Flood
The black, sleek lines of the High Commander looked out of place in the smooth-walled chamber. Like all the other placktoids from the future, and like Carrie and Dave, it had no place here. No wonder the caretakers of the mountains, the silver robots left by the Creators, wanted to evict them. For the nth time, Carrie wondered where the Creators had gone and why they had left behind their creations to fend for themselves down the centuries.
Then like a bolt from the blue everything fell into place. The semi-organic mountain interiors, the blue liquid like lifeblood, the fans to keep the air moving. Finally, it all made sense.
“Shoot the walls,” cried Carrie.
“What? Why?” shouted Dave.
