Clash of the Worlds

by Chris Columbus

  She whipped them back and forth and toward and away from several more of the huge, alien-piloted robots, until five of them were in full pursuit. Their bounding steps rattled the equipment inside the rover. Zoe pressed a yellow button and the little vehicle rocketed forward even faster. It felt like the tiniest bump would send them flying up into space.

  But somehow Zoe was able to maintain control while Eleanor grabbed the sides of her seat and held on for dear life.

  “They’re all after us now!” Zoe said with a gleeful grin. “Let’s lead them into the jungle where we can lose them.”

  The rover hurtled toward the edge of the colorful alien jungle at close to 150 miles per hour. It felt like they were about to slam into it as if they were hitting a brick wall. But the vehicle ripped through the soft brush as if it were nothing. The speed and shape of the rover cut swaths through the jungle easily, the only obstacle being the trunks of the odd, bright orange trees that Zoe navigated around with ease.

  And they suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Eleanor finally opened her eyes again. Zoe smiled at her.

  “Fun ride, huh?” she said.

  Eleanor nodded weakly. She looked around and realized they were back on the beach again. There was still a small, lingering puddle of what used to be Kristoff House. Seeing it made Eleanor want to cry. Or go back and somehow destroy the UWO that had melted her house.

  “We lost them,” Zoe said. “Now we just need to sit here and wait for Deke to pick us up.”

  She hit a switch, and the cockpit window flipped open. Zoe unbuckled her seat belt and then stood up on the seat. Eleanor did the same. From the higher vantage point, she could just barely see over the tall, alien foliage.

  “There they are!” Eleanor said, pointing in the distance.

  The ship was in the air and approaching them quickly.

  “We’ll be on board and out of here before you know it, kid,” Zoe said.

  Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, a stream of green flames fired up from the forest.

  They engulfed the spaceship—melting it and its contents instantly.

  Eleanor and Zoe could only watch in horror as what was left of Rodney, Deke, and the spaceship fell from the sky like a mercury rainstorm.

  Deep beneath the ocean, not far from where Eleanor had just witnessed her only possibility for a ride home getting melted right in front of her eyes, her older sister, Cordelia, could not keep the image of the Wind Witch zooming down toward Atlantis from her mind.

  She and Adie had been woken from their sleep by a pleasant chime and a room-service breakfast of smoked fish and seaweed bread. Then Democritus ushered them out for a personal tour of the city.

  But Cordelia knew they had to leave. She knew the dream had been no dream, but an actual vision into the Wind Witch’s mind. She was there, now, somewhere in the city. And it wouldn’t take long for her to find them. Cordelia knew they needed to get out while they still could. They had to somehow get to the Eternal Abyss and retrieve what they came for before the Wind Witch got to them first. Not only that, but staying in the city much longer would endanger all the innocent inhabitants of Atlantis.

  “This next building is the largest docking bay for Atlantis’s fleet of vessels,” Democritus said as they walked through another long, clear tunnel connecting the city’s vast array of buildings.

  They stepped into an especially cavernous building. Like the rest, it was essentially a massive, clear bubble built into the side of the underwater mountain. But this was by far the largest one yet. All along the outside walls were dozens of sleek ships like the one that had brought them there. In the center were hundreds of workers building or performing maintenance on several dozen more vessels.

  “The city owns all of them?” Adie asked, barely above a whisper.

  “Yes, and we allow every citizen to use them whenever they like,” Democritus said. “After all, we can learn nothing new if we do not allow our citizens a means to travel and explore the world freely.”

  “Wow,” Adie said.

  It was a foreign concept for her. In Van Hook, Dakota Territory, and all the other towns across the prairie, every horse, carriage, or train was owned by someone looking to make a buck. It was even strange for Cordelia to consider. In San Francisco, the city had mass transit, sure, but it was still at least five dollars a ride.

  “So if I wanted to take one of these ships to the Eternal Abyss, I could?” Cordelia asked.

  She remembered very well what had happened last time she brought up the Abyss, but she had to keep pressing. The Wind Witch was after them; they had to hurry.

  “No,” Democritus said curtly. “These are only for citizens. Visitors may request transport to where they please, but never to the Eternal Abyss. It is in the Forbidden Zone. Why would you want to go there anyway? There is only death there.”

  “It’s complicated,” Cordelia said.

  “Nobody who has traveled to the Eternal Abyss has ever returned alive,” Democritus said. “The Iku-Turso consumes all life, all light, and shows no remorse or mercy.”

  “I’d take my chances,” Cordelia muttered.

  “You cannot go,” Democritus said. “Do not speak of it again.”

  Cordelia sighed but nodded, and then followed silently once Democritus continued the tour. But she found herself continually looking at the sleek submarines lining the walls. Just sitting there, free for the taking. She knew she had to do something to get out of there. It was almost like the link between her and the Wind Witch was allowing her to feel the old crone’s presence somewhere nearby.

  Cordelia grabbed Adie’s hand and began running toward the nearest Atlantisan submarine.

  There were footsteps behind them, but she didn’t stop or slow down. Instead, Cordelia ran even faster. Adie followed without questioning her. Once they got to the ship, she and Adie dove inside the already-open door. Cordelia remembered seeing Democritus press a small square of light on the clear wall when they’d first docked in the great city. She did the same and the door closed behind them.

  Cordelia looked out and saw Democritus leading a group of alarmed Atlantisans toward her. They looked panicked, but still walked in a brisk yet dignified manner.

  Cordelia stood at the front of the ship and studied the array of backlit controls and lights on the small console in front of her. It was covered in symbols she didn’t recognize.

  “Do you know how to fly this thing?” Adie asked.

  “Of course not!” Cordelia shouted. “I’m just going to wing it. Pardon the pun.”

  “The pun?” Adie asked.

  “Wing it. . . . Fly. . . . Never mind. Let’s go!”

  Cordelia pressed a button. Nothing happened. Then she pressed several more. Again, nothing. Democritus was standing just outside the ship now. She looked upset, but more worried than angry.

  “If you go to the Forbidden Zone, you will die,” she said calmly. She didn’t need to shout; even through the ship’s walls, Cordelia heard her clearly.

  “I have no other choice,” Cordelia said. “Trust me, I’m going there for your own protection, for the safety of all Atlantisans.”

  Democritus frowned, but said nothing more.

  Cordelia ran her hand along the console, pressing all the buttons until finally the ship slowly started moving forward, toward the outer shell of the huge bubble. It reached the edge and simply passed right through it as if there was nothing there.

  And then, they were out in the dark ocean, slowly drifting away from the huge and bright hanger. Cordelia saw Democritus still standing there looking up at their vessel with disappointment and maybe even a little pity on her face. No ships were dispatched after them. They were not prisoners after all, but guests.

  “Now what?” Adie asked as they drifted farther away from Atlantis and into the dark ocean behind them.

  “I wish I knew,” Cordelia said. “But at least we’re hopefully getting away from the Wind Witch.”

  She turned around to face th
e black wall of deep sea.

  Cordelia wasn’t sure she had done the right thing. The Wind Witch was a terrifying creature, but because they were related, she couldn’t actually kill Cordelia. She had tried before and failed. The dark ocean, housing deadly creatures like the Iku-Turso, however, followed no such rules. And to top it off, they were drifting aimlessly in a ship she didn’t know how to pilot.

  The truth was, Cordelia had probably just taken the two of them from a bad situation to an even worse one.

  The entrance to the pyramid containing Wazner’s tomb was nothing more than an excavated opening in the side of a nearby hill just outside of Aswan.

  “I thought you said we were going inside a pyramid?” Brendan said as he looked at the small opening in the hillside dubiously.

  “It’s one of the lost pyramids,” Sir Ed said.

  “So . . . it’s buried underground?” Brendan asked.

  “Yes,” Sir Ed said as he lit a torch. “If we spent years chipping away at the rock and dirt and sand and rubbish on the side of this hill, you’d eventually see the pyramid. But that’s rather meaningless to us. All we care about is what lies inside, right?”

  “Right,” Brendan agreed.

  “Let’s get on with it, then,” Sir Ed said, as he led them into the small opening of the lost pyramid.

  Once inside, his lone torch was bright enough to illuminate the narrow tunnel at least ten yards ahead of them. The walls were lined with hieroglyphics and other drawings. Sir Ed moved cautiously in the lead, with Brendan behind him and Jumbo right on his heels.

  “Careful,” Sir Ed whispered. “The pyramid is rumored to be rigged with all sorts of deadly booby traps. It’s doubtful any of them still work, but it’s best to be cautious just the same.”

  Brendan was suddenly aware of every single step as they slowly crept deeper into the pyramid. After thirty or forty yards, they reached a fork that split into three alternate paths. Sir Ed pulled out his copy of the Nazi treasure map, holding it closer to the torch.

  Brendan noticed that Sir Ed had drawn over the secret, hidden lines on the map with a pencil so they were more visible. The Englishman led them down the left branch.

  A few steps down the passageway, Brendan’s foot landed on a loose stone tile in the floor and sunk down several inches. The stone block crunched as it slid into the floor. He was about to take another step, when Sir Ed stopped him.

  “Don’t take another step!” Sir Ed shouted, his eyes wide with fear.

  “Why?” Brendan asked.

  “Do you hear that?” Sir Ed asked.

  Brendan listened carefully. From within the walls echoed the sound of ancient mechanics and grinding stone gears.

  “You just activated a booby trap,” Sir Ed said. “Take one more step and it will surely be your last.”

  “What do I do?” Brendan asked, panic causing him to wobble unsteadily.

  His foot was on top of a stone block that had depressed four inches into the floor.

  “Stay calm, for one thing, boy!” Sir Ed said, grabbing his shoulder to steady him. “We’ll figure this out. Nobody is getting left behind.”

  He crouched down near Brendan’s foot and examined the stone block. Then he passed the torch along the nearby walls. There were holes near the ceiling all along the corridor with drawings underneath them. He examined the symbols carefully and then faced Brendan and Jumbo again with a worried look on his face.

  “Oh dear, this is much worse than I thought,” he said.

  “What do you mean?” Brendan asked.

  “It’s so sad,” Jumbo sighed. “I feel like I had so much to learn from you.”

  “Hey, try to be a little more positive!” Brendan said.

  Sir Ed ignored them and instead walked several more paces down the corridor, holding the torch up near the ceiling. He came back a short time later and referred to his map again briefly.

  “We may be able to make a slight detour up ahead before it consumes us,” Sir Ed murmured to himself.

  “Before what consumes us?” Brendan asked.

  “This chamber is going to flood with liquid death,” Sir Ed said.

  “Liquid death?” Brendan cried.

  “Well, the translation may be a little wonky, but yes, I’m afraid so,” Sir Ed said. “However, we do have a slim chance of escaping alive. On the count of three, start running. Follow me, follow my every move. There is a passage up ahead that will take us up and away from this level . . . and hopefully to safety. Ready?”

  Brendan and Jumbo both nodded.

  “Okay,” Sir Ed said. “One, two . . . three!”

  He began sprinting down the corridor with Jumbo right behind him. Brendan stepped off the trigger stone and followed. The walls creaked and moaned. A thick, smoking black liquid, almost like tar, began oozing down the walls all around them from the small holes near the ceiling.

  “Don’t let it touch you!” Sir Ed shouted back.

  Brendan took bounding leaps over the growing puddles of black ooze that pooled on the floor around them. He glanced back. A huge wave of liquid death had formed, bubbling and churning as if it were alive, racing after them like a black tsunami.

  “It’s gaining on us!” Brendan shouted.

  But when he looked ahead again, the corridor was empty. Sir Ed and Jumbo had disappeared! He was about to give up and let the growing flood of black gunk overtake him, when a hand fired out from a narrow passage to his left and grabbed his shirt, pulling him into another corridor. The wave of black poison missed Brendan by inches.

  “You need to move faster, boy,” Sir Ed shouted, his face inches away. “Now come along then!”

  Brendan followed Sir Ed and Jumbo up a narrow set of stairs that wound their way slowly up in a loose spiral. All Brendan saw were orange flames from the torch, stone steps, and shadows. He wasn’t sure how high they’d gone, when suddenly they emerged into a cavernous chamber, breathing hard and sweating.

  Human-shaped sarcophaguses lined the walls around them. Pottery and jewels were scattered across the chamber floor and along built-in stone shelves. In the center of the chamber lay a massive, sealed tomb—carved, painted, and decorated with great care and precision.

  Sir Ed panted as he ran his hand along the top of it.

  “Wazner’s tomb,” he said.

  Brendan, Jumbo, and Sir Ed stared in awe at the ancient tomb.

  “Shall we open it?” Sir Ed asked as he handed Jumbo the torch. He opened his backpack and pulled out a crowbar. He wedged it under the tomb’s lid and began to pry it open. There was a loud, painful creak as it started to give.

  Just then, a pair of bony arms wrapped around Brendan’s torso.

  “Look, Jumbo,” Brendan sighed. “I’m still tired from the fistfight. . . . I’m not sure we need to have a wrestling match as well.”

  Brendan turned and saw Jumbo a few feet away from him, still holding the torch with both hands. Sir Ed was beside his young assistant, prying open the lid of Wazner’s sarcophagus.

  “Wait . . . if this isn’t Jumbo . . . then who . . . ,” Brendan said, his voice rising.

  Jumbo screamed, and Sir Ed’s eyes widened with fear in the glow of the torch’s flames.

  “Oh dear God!” Sir Ed cried, staring at Brendan in terror.

  Brendan slowly turned his head back as the arms tightened, and he struggled to breathe. He saw the empty sarcophagus first. And then he found himself face-to-face with a head wrapped entirely in browned linen.

  It was a mummy. And it was literally squeezing the life right out of him.

  Inside the book world of The Terror on Planet 5X, the last of the liquefied remains of Zoe’s ship fell from the sky. Eleanor’s scream faded as her last hope of escape vanished right before her eyes.

  She expected Zoe to break down completely. After all, she had just watched her own brother and spaceship get destroyed.

  But Zoe did not do that. Instead, she shook her head slowly from side to side as if she were mildly disappointed a
nd nothing more.

  “I always told him he flew that thing too low,” Zoe said quietly.

  “What are we going to do?” Eleanor asked weakly, still panicking. “How will we ever get out of here? I need to get to Tinz to meet up with my brother and sister again.”

  Zoe looked at Eleanor, still showing no signs of grief over the loss of her brother. She seemed too calm. But even still, Zoe’s lack of panic was gradually easing Eleanor out of a full hyperventilation.

  “You need to go to Tinz?” Zoe asked.

  “You’ve heard of Tinz?” Eleanor asked, shocked.

  “Of course,” Zoe replied with a benevolent smile. “And I can get you there.”

  “How?”

  “We can fly,” Zoe said.

  “But, the ship . . . ,” Eleanor said, pointing up into the empty space where Zoe’s ship had been just minutes before. But something was happening to Zoe that silenced Eleanor completely.

  Small cracks slivered across Zoe’s face like broken glass. It was happening to her hands and neck as well. Then her space suit cracked, until eventually she looked like a shattered human vase that had been hastily glued back together. Slowly the shards began to fall away. There was something underneath, something she recognized all too well.

  As the last jagged piece of Zoe’s exterior fell away, all Eleanor could do was scream.

  “Did you miss me?” the Wind Witch asked.

  Eleanor shook her head in disbelief. She almost retched in revulsion.

  “Oh, come now, I don’t look that bad, do I?” the Wind Witch taunted.

  The truth was, she did. She looked worse than ever. Her skin was so thin and ragged that Eleanor could make out every ridge and curve of her eye sockets and cheekbones. Her pallor was an unimaginable mixture of rot and gloss. When the old hag smiled, her brown teeth looked sharp and nasty.

  “How?” was all Eleanor managed to say.

  “Don’t you remember?” the Wind Witch said. “I told you some time ago that I have many aliases in the book worlds.”