Atherton #3: The Dark Planet (No. 3) (26 page)

around the map as Aggie unfolded it.

"I've never been into Station Seven before, but one thing that's

good is this," said Aggie, pointing to a group of words Edgar

couldn't read. Aggie read them to everyone: "'Pipes and grates

throughout. Use these to make your way.'"

"This will mean we can move through the station without having

to walk on the floor where we'd be seen."

"We'll have to be real y quiet," said Teagan.

"But we're all good climbers, right?" said Vasher, surprising

everyone with his enthusiasm. He was secretly feeling more

like leaving with every passing second. "I mean, if there's one

thing we've learned how to do in the Silo, it's climb through

ducts and over grates and swing from vines."

"It's like Dr. Harding knew the skills we'd need from the very

start," said Landon.

"How do we get out of here?" asked Teagan.

"That will be the easiest part, I think," said Aggie. She walked to

the door and found the dial that Red Eye had turned the day

before. She read from the paper as she spun it back and forth.

"Twelve... nineteen... two..."

"Aggie?" said Vasher.

"I'm in the middle of this, can't you see?"

"The platform is moving."

Aggie stopped cold and looked over her shoulder.

"Socket's coming already!"

She went back to work--four numbers to go and her fingers

wouldn't stop shaking.

"Forty-four... twenty-four... eight..."

"Hurry, Aggie! Hurry!"

They all stood close behind her, readying themselves to rush

through to the other side.

"Thirty-one," said Aggie, and then there was a click and a

whoosh
as the metal door unlocked and opened. Everyone

darted through behind Aggie. Edgar looked back as the door

was closing and saw Socket's boots come into view.
Whoosh!

Click!
The door was shut and locked behind them.

As the five children of the green team stood staring at one

another in the faint light of the corridor, they felt certain that they

would never return to the world of the Silo. There had only ever

been one child who'd crossed over and went back again, and

that was Dr. Maximus Harding himself. It seemed to them more

than ever that Dr. Harding was guiding them to places they'd

never been, cheering them on from the watery grave of the

fallen House of Power.

If only they'd understood Dr. Harding's message a little better,

they would have realized they'd left something terribly important

behind.

"What's this nonsense?" said Socket as the platform reached

the bottom and he found the drying room empty of children

working. If they were hiding, they'd given him a perfect excuse

to punish them. And yet if they were at some mischief

elsewhere, his brother might slap him hard enough to dislodge

his goggles.

"Where the devil are they?" he said aloud, holding his bender

out as he inspected behind each of the large bins. He found

Edgar's boots and then Vasher's and kicked both pairs across

the room.

"Wait until I get my hands on them," he said, already imagining

them hiding in the vines upstairs.

The communication box on the wall flashed and buzzed,

startling Socket enough that he let go of his bender and it fell

into one of the bins. He struggled momentarily with whether to

retrieve his beloved weapon or go to the blinking red light and

answer it.

"Socket! Where are you?"

It was his brother's voice screaming out of the device. Socket

didn't want to answer it. He was sure that the green team had

been found making trouble on one of the other levels, and he'd

never hear the end of it.

"Socket! Pick up, you fool!"

Socket could tel this was no ordinary cal . Red Eye's piercing

voice was being broadcast throughout every level of the Silo.

"Yes, brother, what is it?" he answered.

"What took you so long?" Red Eye howled.

Socket was not a very fast thinker, and he could not come up

with a very good lie on the spot.

"Just in the drying room checking on things."

"Pick up the receiver," said Red Eye. Socket wondered what

his brother wanted to say that he didn't want the green team to

hear. He picked up the receiver and placed it to his ear,

lowering his voice clandestinely for effect even though he was

alone in the room.

"What is it, Red Eye? What's going on?"

There was a sound of a pushed button and Socket knew from

experience that this meant his brother had secured the line and

it was only the two of them now.

"That idiot, Shelton, is going out in the transporter again.

Commander Judix wants him to go beyond the wood, and the

crew deserted. Word is Captain Grammel showed up early and

they went to work for him. Commander Judix is furious."

"What's that got to do with us? We don't --"

"Stop your yakking and listen!" cried Red Eye. "Shelton's at the

door and expects me to go out with him. I'm going to try Judix

again--she won't answer me--but you might be running the Silo

alone today."

Socket was overjoyed. He could already imagine it, taking al

the credit for the food production, whipping the workers into

shape the way he wanted to.

"That sounds dangerous," Socket commented with a false show

of concern. "There's word of a war between the Spikers and the

Cleaners. Not too much food left out there."

He bit his knuckle the moment he'd said the words, wondering if

he'd scare his brother off his new duty.

"You think I don't know about the Spikers? I'm the one
told
you

about the Spikers!"

Socket hated his brother. He was always right about everything.

"Give that new boy, Edgar, a swift kick for me," said Red Eye.

"And keep them working down there. Judix is expecting a full

pallet tonight with Grammel on the dock."

Socket looked about the room and saw how empty and void of

activity it was. He seethed with anger as he thought of how far

behind they were.
You'll be sorry when I find you,
he thought.

"I'll keep them working, brother," said Socket. "Don't you worry

about a thing."

The line went dead and Socket hung up. He fished his powdery

bender out of the bin, then began his search for children he

would never find.

"What is it, Red Eye?" asked Commander Judix.

"Shelton is here at the door, ma'am, and he says you wa --"

"He needs a crew and you're all I've got. Socket can run the

Silo for a while. I need you and Shelton to find more children."

Red Eye was speechless. His blood ran cold at the thought of

being outside among the beasts in the forsaken wood.

"Is that all, Red Eye?"

Red Eye didn't answer, so Commander Judix continued. "Have

Socket bring a full pallet of blocks to Grammel's ship by end of

day."

She only heard raspy breathing on the other end. Just to be

sure he was paying attention she asked him a question.

"What's the new boy's name?"

Still nothing.

"RED EYE!" she screamed, and this produced a grunt on the

other end. He was paying attention again.

"I asked you a question. What's the new boy's name?"

Commander Judix heard Shelton in the background goading

Red Eye to get moving. And then, to her absolute amazement,

Red Eye said the name.
That
name.

"The boy's name is Edgar."

He slammed the phone down and was out the very door

through which Edgar had entered the Silo.

The communication box rang and rang until Hope walked past

and answered it.

The voice on the other end of the line was frantic. "Did you say

Edgar? Are you sure?"

Hope had never heard Commander Judix in such a state of

panic.

"DID YOU SAY EDGAR?" she cried again. It was the secret of

all secrets. Dr. Kincaid had told her and her alone of this

abomination of Dr. Harding's. She had long assumed the boy

was either dead or had never really existed at all.

"Commander, this is Hope. If you're looking for Red Eye, he's

gone. Maybe you can reach him in the transport--I don't know.

Are you okay?"

The line went dead and Hope was left to wonder about the

name that had so upset Commander Judix. Things were

beginning to feel out of control. Hope had known this feeling

once before, decades ago when the Dark Planet had begun to

fail. There were warning signs, some small and some not so

small, but then there had come a point when every thing

unraveled at once. And something right now signaled to her that

whatever had begun to change once more on the Dark Planet

could not be stopped... . And that something was caused by

what?

"Edgar," she whispered. "Who are you and where did you come

from?"

She wanted to go and find him, but she couldn't leave the

younger children alone for too long. She resolved to speak with

him the moment his workday was over and get to the bottom of

whatever bedevilment had entered the Silo.

Across the passageway of lies in Station Seven, Commander

Judix was shaking uncontrollably in her chair. Edgar?
The

Edgar? The secret boy, hidden on Atherton by Dr. Kincaid.

She'd never met Edgar, only been told of him after he was

gone, but the connection was fraught with meaning. The little

monster made by a mad scientist had been the beginning of the

end. But he was here now, and that could only mean one thing.

"I must go to the laboratory first, and then I'll retrieve that

horrible boy," she said.

When she turned to go, she was startled by a man standing in

front of her, and she cried out. The man didn't wear metal-soled

boots like everyone else, so she hadn't heard him sneak up on

her.

"Boo!" he said, then his sandpapery, booming laugh echoed

down the empty corridors.

Captain Grammel had arrived at Station Seven.

CHAPTER 21DR. HARDING'S

LABORATORY

"Sorry to startle you, Commander," said Captain Grammel. "A

long time at sea and all that--leaves me dying for some

entertainment."

Commander Judix thought Captain Grammel was looking a

little worse for the wear, and crazier than ever. As a sea captain

one would expect him to have deeply tanned skin and wisps of

windblown hair, but he had neither. In fact, he was completely

bald save for a little white tuft on his chin that might be called a

beard. It made his already thin face seem longer still. A small

tube ran from his nose to a tank hitched to his back. And he

wore the most outrageous goggles with enormous lenses, far

too big for his face, for he was extremely poor of sight.

He made a sound that, once heard, could never be forgotten. It

was a clearing of the throat that started down in his chest and

repeated over and over, like something was caught and he

couldn't quite get it out but refused to stop trying. It was a sharp,

honking sound that echoed dreadfully down the halls and drove

Shelton near mad when he had to hear it. Grammel was making

the sound just then, the sharp
honk! honk! honk!
as Commander

Judix tried to roll her chair past on her way to the laboratory. He

stepped in front of her, let out two more awful honks, and wiped

his nose with the back of his grimy hand.

"Sorry. Been holding that in a while," he said with one last

honk!
for good measure. "Where are you off to?" When he

talked it was raspy and full of air, giving the impression that the

tank on his back was probably forcing too much oxygen past his

nose and down his throat.

"I have something to do that can't wait," said Commander Judix.

"We'll have to conduct our business when I return."

"I'm on a tight schedule." He tapped his watch annoyingly. "Lots

of demand out there on the shores, more than ever, and

opportunity calls. Am I right?"

He leaned in close to the Commander's face. His eyes, huge

and bleary behind thick lenses, seemed to wobble in his head

as he let out yet another sharp series of honks.

"Get out of my way, you fool!" Commander Judix screamed in

Grammel's face, and the man backed away, surprised. Usually

it was he who held the upper hand in these meetings. He

thought it might be a new strategy of hers to throw him off

balance.

"I see how it is," he said, both hands on the arms of the chair

and holding her back. "You want more fuel, do you? Well, you

might not get
any
fuel if you don't start acting a little more

hospitable. Where's the food and the drinks like I always get?

What's happened to your manners?"

He paused a moment, let out a long and slithery
ahhhhhhhh

sound and wagged a dirty finger in her face. "You're angry

because I've stolen your transport crew, is that it? Well, I'll tell

you this--I didn't go looking. They begged me to take them in.

You should be mad at yourself, not me. They can't stand you."

He flashed a row of surprisingly white teeth rimmed with gold

and pushed up against the arms of the chair triumphantly.