Astro-Knights Island (7 page)

Chapter Twelve

Inside Mordred's Dungeon

The owl flew in circles, blocking their way into the underground passage.

Alice was fascinated. “It's like, part owl, part . . . something else. In those books about Mordred I read, he called his mechanical creatures ‘robots.'”

Inside the pouch hanging from her waist, the robot mouse began to wiggle and squeak.

“It can probably sense the owl,” Simon guessed. “I saw a barn owl swoop down and grab a mouse once in the stables. I couldn't believe how fast it moved!”

Alice thoughtfully looked down at the pouch. “It might work,” she mumbled. “But it's too cruel.”

Simon suddenly realized what she meant. “Of course! Maybe if we feed the mouse to the owl it will let us pass.”

Alice hugged the pouch. “But it's just an innocent little mouse!”

“It's not a real mouse,” Simon reminded her. “It's a robot. Mordred created it. And right now it's our best chance of finding out what's at the end of that rope.”

Alice sighed and nodded. “You're right,” she said, opening the pouch. She took out the mouse and placed it on the ground. “Good-bye, Mordred Mouse.”

Before the robot mouse could skitter away, the robot owl eagerly swooped down and ate it in one gulp. Then it flew to Alice and hovered next to her shoulder.

“I think it likes you,” Simon remarked.

“It's amazing,” Alice said, studying the tiny metal gears and parts that made up its body. “Mordred must have been a real genius.”

“More like an
evil
genius,” Simon said. “At least, that's what it sounds like. But we'll never know unless we find that secret bunker of his. Let's go!”

Simon shimmied down the rope, and Alice followed with the owl flapping his wings behind her. They jumped down into what looked like an underground lab. The wall was covered with plans for a spaceship, the robot owl, and the robot mouse. A portrait of Mordred hung crookedly over a desk strewn with papers. Gears and tools littered a rickety wood table.

“We found it!” Simon cried excitedly. “Mordred's secret bunker! There's got to be something in here that tells us how to get that flying craft going.”

Alice picked up a leather-bound journal from the desk.

“Maybe it's in here,” she said. She and Simon began to read the pages.

I've begun doing experiments of a very different kind. I've found that by mixing animal DNA and robotics, I can create a whole new breed of intelligent creatures. I've created a companion whom I shall call Merlin. Part barn owl and part machine. I believe I've made a breakthrough for the ages.

Alice looked up from the page and smiled at the owl. “Oh, hello, Merlin.” Then they read the next entry.

I've been ordered by the King and Queen to stop my experimentation. Curse them for their unenlightened thinking! It has been many months since I last wrote. I was jailed by the King and Queen, and it took me a great long while to tunnel out. But now I have returned to the lab, where I will continue my work.

“So this
is
his secret lab,” Simon remarked.

Failure! I have ambitious designs, but they require more power than this world can provide.

“Hmm,” Simon mused. “Sounds like he discovered that the manure wasn't enough to power his spaceship. But he must have found something. After all, he made it to space in the end.”

Then they read the very last entry.

They are coming! I must escape to the stars, even though my experimental craft is not ready. I fear I shall not survive!

“Okay,” Simon said, closing the book. “So it looks like we need to find a different kind of fuel if we want to power that spaceship. It's got to be in here somewhere. Or at least instructions on how to make it.”

Simon and Alice tore apart the lab, looking for anything they could find about the fuel. But they couldn't find a thing.

“Rats!” Simon said, kicking the dirt wall behind him. “We are never going to get into space!”

Alice was looking at the wall thoughtfully. “Hold on a second,” she said. “Let's think this through. The king put Mordred in a dungeon. Mordred dug a tunnel into this room and made it his secret lab. After Mordred escaped, the King must have blocked the tunnel. There might be something important in there.”

“Hey, that's not a bad idea!” Simon said. He kicked the wall again. “It should be just behind this, right?”

Dirt crumbled and flew into the air as Simon kicked it again. Alice joined him, and soon they had kicked a hole through the dirt that blocked the tunnel.

“There's
got
to be something good in here,”
Simon said hopefully. He took off running into the tunnel, and Alice and Merlin followed him. The tunnel ended at a low opening in the wall shaped like a half circle. They ducked and went through the opening—and found themselves in the dungeon cell with the weird, one-eyed robot!

“Aaaaaaaaah!”
Simon and Alice screamed.

“INTRUSION. SELF DESTRUCT,” the robot said.

The dome on top of the robot's head opened up, and a glowing green rod flew out and landed outside the bars of the cell. Then the robot's green eye went dark, and it collapsed to the floor in a heap of metal.

Alice sighed with relief. “Thank goodness. Merlin here is beautiful, but that . . . thing is just too creepy.”

Simon walked to the bars and looked out. “You know, that green rod seemed to be powering that robot. I wonder if it could power up the flying craft for us. It looks like it's the right size and shape.”

Alice walked next to him. “I think you're right!”

Excited, Simon thrust his arm between the bars, but he couldn't reach it. “Rats! I can't get it. And if we try to get to the dungeon from the other side, the guards will stop us.”

Alice tried to squeeze through the bars. “It's impossible,” she said. Then she eyed the robot owl. “But not for Merlin. Do you think he would listen to us?”

Simon shrugged. “Why not? Give it a try.”

Alice looked up at the metal bird and smiled sweetly. “Hey, Merlin, can you please fetch us that fuel rod?”

Without hesitating, Merlin flapped his wings, flew through the bars, and picked up the fuel rod in his talons. Then he flew back through the bars and dropped the rod into Alice's hands.

“Thanks, Merlin,” Alice said, patting him on the head.

Simon grinned. “If this works in the flying craft, we can finally rescue the Princess!”

Chapter Thirteen

Beyond the Fabric
of the Sky

Simon and Alice climbed back out of Mordred's secret lab. Merlin followed them as they retrieved the landskimmer from its hiding place in the hay and then zoomed across the muddy field, back to the flying craft.

Simon pulled back the control stick, and the landskimmer hovered in midair. They cautiously climbed out and entered the flying craft. Simon took out the green glowing rod and examined the control panel inside the cockpit. The rod fit perfectly into a slot on the panel. The
Excalibur
began to hum to life, and the control panel lit up.

Simon let out a cheer. “Huzzah! It works! Now we can go rescue the Princess!”

“We're forgetting something,” Alice reminded him. “The Princess liked Mordred. What if she doesn't want to be rescued?”

“We need to find out for sure,” Simon reasoned. “And besides, the knights are missing, too. I have a feeling that there's trouble up there.”

Alice squeezed in next to him inside the cockpit.

“Come on, Merlin,” she said, coaxing the owl closer. “I don't think you can fly as high as we're going.”

Merlin swooped into the cockpit and sat on Alice's shoulder. Simon lowered the dome over them and settled in the pilot's chair.

“All right,” he said. “We should probably head to that moon Mordred talked about in that page we found under his bed.”

Alice fished the paper from her pocket and read from it. “Mordred says that the star coordinates for the moon with alien life are X-56, Y-52.”

They studied the control panel. “I think we just push in the numbers here, right?”

He entered the numbers and turned to Alice. “You know, this is a big risk. What if something happens to this craft? We might never be able to get back here.”

Alice shrugged. “I don't think I'd miss it too much. Would you?”

“No, I guess not,” Simon admitted. “Except for the horses, maybe.”

He took a deep breath and pressed the button marked
LAUNCH
. The spaceship began to rumble and shake, and then suddenly . . .

Whoosh!
The ship shot out of the mud and zoomed into the sky. The ship was whizzing past the clouds in the blue sky so fast they were just a blur. Below, they could see the islands of Poptropica floating in the blue water.

“Huzzah! Now
this
is fun!” Alice cheered.

Then they entered the blackness of space, and the blurry clouds gave way to blurry stars. In the distance, they could see a bumpy moon the color of dull metal.

“That must be where we're going,” Alice reasoned. “Mordred said there was alien life on that moon. I wonder what the aliens look like.”

“I never really thought of that,” Simon said, suddenly sounding nervous. “What if they're enormous? With pointy teeth and sharp claws?”

“We won't know until we get there,” Alice said matter-of-factly. “And there's no point in worrying about it now. We've got to face whatever's in store for us.”

Then a loud beeping sound filled the craft. The lights on the control panel began to blink on and off. A message appeared on the screen.

WARNING. FUEL ROD DEPLETED.

“No fuel?” Simon asked. He glanced at the fuel rod to see that there was only a sliver left of the glowing green fuel. The spacecraft began to wickedly spiral toward the moon's surface.

“Hold on!” Alice yelled. They both closed their eyes as
Excalibur
crashed into the surface of the moon.