Atherton #3: The Dark Planet (No. 3) (7 page)

lurked there.

"Hope's not going to help you. She knows better than to

interfere in our business," said Red Eye. "The only person we

answer to is Commander Judix, and she gave us free reign of

this place a long time ago."

The mere sound of the name Judix caused a wave of quiet

gasps from many of the beds. Judix hadn't visited the Silo in a

long time, but the Commander's power and cruelty were

legendary.

Red Eye stood over Teagan's bed, glaring down at her and

running the hard edge of the metal whip against the rusting iron

frame of her bed. He wiped his filthy nose on his even filthier

sleeve. The light had made his eyes and nose run

uncontrollably so that his face was damp and sickly in the soft

glow of the room.

"It's okay, Teagan."

Teagan turned to the doorway and saw Aggie staggering in.

Her voice was shaky, as if she were in shock, but Teagan also

heard the ever-present resolve in her best friend's voice.

"They're done," said Aggie, trying to gather herself together.

"Just shut your eyes. Go back to sleep."

Teagan closed her eyes, overcome by a feeling of

helplessness. "That's what we like, a good little worker who

gets her sleep at night," said Red Eye. He swung around and

looked over the cots. "We're going to work all of you even

harder than usual tomorrow because of this madness with

Aggie. Get to sleep! All of you! If I hear one more peep out of

this barracks before morning, every one of you's gonna be

sorry."

Socket laughed from out in the hallway, but it was not the big

laugh he usually used. He was still hurting as much as his

brother from the light they'd been exposed to. There was no

hiding the fact that the two men were in pain.

When the door was shut and the room was dark again, Aggie

whispered as quietly as she could.

"It wasn't that bad. Socket hardly knows how to use that thing."

Teagan knew Aggie was only trying to put on a brave face, but

she didn't say anything. She just reached over and held her

friend's hand. A few minutes later, when Aggie thought Teagan

was asleep, she began to cry quietly.

"Move over," said Teagan. She crept into Aggie's bed and held

her friend as close as she could. Aggie cried and cried, her

whole body trembling. But after a while she calmed down and

started breathing heavily. Teagan hugged her close and stayed

there a little longer. It wouldn't do to be found in the wrong bunk

in the morning, so she crept back into her own bed and tried to

fall asleep.

Aggie was a strong girl, but she'd just received the most

dreadful beating in the long history of the Silo.

The strange sound of an unseen monster weighed heavy on

Edgar's mind as he crept forward ever so quietly. A warm, faint

wind blew into Edgar's face. He assumed it was coming from

the keeper of this place, a creature blowing gusts of hot air past

sharp teeth, waiting for Edgar to arrive.

He thought of Dr. Kincaid's words,
the burning bridge of stone,

and he began to wonder--could this be the very place? He was,

generally speaking, at the end of the longest shard. And the

monsters he'd encountered outside were the last thing he'd

come to.
Beware the keepers of the gate.

"If it's true I've passed the keepers of the gate," Edgar said to

himself, astonished at his own good luck, "then this must be the

way to the docking station."

He rose to his feet with some effort and peered down the long

tunnel in which he stood. It led straight into the heart of

Atherton, and it was dimly illuminated in a way he'd never seen

before--with a kind of blue light.

Where is that coming from?
thought Edgar. He looked back at

the opening of the tunnel and saw tiny blue dots dancing toward

him. They were coming out of small holes in the ceiling and the

floor. First there were ten, then a hundred, and then a thousand

little blue bugs in the air.

Edgar wanted to reach out and touch them, and he very nearly

did. Isabel and Samuel had seen firebugs. They had known the

allure of touching them, of wanting to join with them in their

charming little dance.

"I can see why Isabel wanted to touch them," said Edgar. "They

are appealing little killers."

The thousand firebugs became two thousand, and soon there

was a thick fog of glowing cobalt between Edgar and the

outside world.

"Only one way to go now," said Edgar. He was afraid of what

lay ahead, but he also knew that if even a few firebugs touched

him he would never make it back to the surface of Atherton

alive.

Fortunately, the firebugs remained just a few feet beyond the

opening. They appeared to be trying to come nearer to Edgar;

the warm wind must have been too much of a struggle for their

delicate wings. They hung in the air, fighting to stay aloft in the

heavy gravity.

It's really too bad they can kill me,
thought Edgar.

Now that his fate had been determined, Edgar forged on. It was

an eerie feeling, walking toward the inside with no way of

escape, and he dreaded the idea of dying there alone.

Edgar's route turned into a climb again, though not a very steep

one. When he neared the top the tunnel was glowing orange

and yellow. Above him flowed a channel of liquid, a river of

molten rock behind a ceiling of solid glass. The glass kept the

river of fire from flowing into the tunnel where Edgar stood, but it

seemed to Edgar that touching the ceiling could be hot enough

to set him on fire.

Without any warning whatsoever the warm wind stopped. All

was perfectly still inside the tunnel for a few seconds as Edgar

realized the danger of what had just happened. He was

suddenly paralyzed with fear.

"The firebugs," Edgar whispered. Soon he would be

surrounded by thousands of the deadly creatures.

Edgar's mind raced. What could he do? He looked every which

way and saw nothing that might be of use to him. He gazed

back along the distance he had come. It was quite a long way to

the opening, but already a fog of firebugs had halved the

distance. They were merrily dancing toward him without effort.

Edgar tried to remember what Isabel and Samuel had said

about the Inferno. He knew he couldn't let firebugs touch his

skin, but his legs and arms were exposed. He didn't have

anywhere near the amount of clothing he would need to cover

himself completely.

"There has to be a way!"

Firebugs by the thousands were coming in a soft wave within

twenty feet of him, glowing through the middle of the tunnel. The

force of gravity was having a very real effect on their journey as

they lolled along in the center of the cave. They were thick as a

cloud at the level of Edgar's feet, thinner like a light fog at his

eyes, and--what was this? At the top. At the top!

Edgar's mind raced with an idea that might save him. At the

very top of the cave, in that last one or two feet, there were no

firebugs at all. Gravity was pulling them down, and this provided

Edgar with a chance.

With a swarm of firebugs ten feet off, Edgar leaped into action.

He began scaling the side of the tunnel. It was scraped and

grooved all around, and it would have been easy to climb if it

hadn't been for the heavy weight of his own limbs. It took all of

his effort to climb up to where the tunnel curved at the top, to

clench his toes into a crevice and hold on with his fingers.

Hanging on to the ceiling of a cave was a nearly impossible

task, even for Edgar, but it was made twice as hard by the

constant pulling of gravity from beneath him. The cave wanted

Edgar on the floor, not on the ceiling, and it pulled relentlessly.

And then there was the heat. The river of fire ran slowly in a

ribbon down the middle of the cave, five or six feet away, but it

was still ghastly hot where Edgar held on.

The first of the firebugs flew beneath Edgar. They, too, seemed

to struggle to stay so high in the air. They didn't appear to have

the ability to see or hear anything.

As the swarm of swaying bugs moved under Edgar, his fingers

and toes started to slide. It was quickly becoming painfully

difficult to hang on, and he had to constantly reset his hands.

He craned his head around in the foot of space he had and

watched. The sea of firebugs looked like cool, misty water he

could fall into and be refreshed, which made it the worst kind of

temptation. If it were possible to die a thousand deaths in a

matter of seconds, Edgar would do just that if he let go.

The procession of glowing blue was beginning to thin and he

could see the last of them working their way up the tunnel.

There were new sounds coming from up there as well.
Zap!

Zap! Zap!
Firebugs were being devoured amid the snapping

sound of something big and menacing.

There were only a few bugs left now--easy enough to dodge--so

Edgar climbed down the side and rested his aching hands and

forearms.

"I wonder what's up there," said Edgar. Seeing the very last of

the firebugs disappear, Edgar followed slowly behind. He

climbed up and into the rising part of the tunnel and watched as

the cloud of firebugs continued in front of him.

When Edgar crested the top he saw that the river of fire over his

head grew wider, closer, and unbearably hot. The whole ceiling

of the tunnel was clear like glass and every thing behind the

glass was molten lava.

I shouldn't be here,
thought Edgar, terrified by the power of the

place he'd stumbled into.
This is no place for people.
Whatever

this place was, though, he was certain a lot of energy was being

created and stored.

Directly ahead was the end of the tunnel, where a giant,

eyeless creature was gulping down thousands of buzzing

firebugs. It was the same as the stone-encrusted monsters he'd

seen outside--except far larger. Its head alone was covered not

in stones but glowing red boulders. Supercharged beams of

white light shot from its empty eye sockets. The monster's head

swung back and forth in a cloud of blue. It didn't seem to be

bothered by firebugs bouncing off the sides of its molten head.

The head was eyeless, noseless--
senseless
but for the great

rock-coated mouth that ate every thing in its path.

Its body snaked back into the rocks. This thing and the tunnel

were one--the thing and
Atherton
were one! There was no

separating them.

This must be the keeper Dr. Kincaid spoke about,
thought

Edgar.
I don't know how to get past it. I shouldn't have come

down here!

The monster appeared to be drunk on firebugs as its head

slumped forward and then sprang to life again. Edgar stood at

the top of the main tunnel where it split like a T. The monster

was down the left side, and on the right lay a passageway

leading, Edgar guessed, to more trouble.

I can't go back out, and if that thing finishes with the firebugs it'll

come after me next. I've got no choice but to run as fast as I can

to the right.

The firebugs were thinning out fast when Edgar made his move.

He made the fateful guess that this creature, like the others

outside, was attached to Atherton like a spring. If he could move

quickly enough he might be able to outrun it.

The monstrous head was energized from its dreamy meal of

glowing blue bugs. Its head lashed hard and the lights from its

empty eye sockets locked on Edgar. Someone had entered its

realm, and the giant stone-covered beast was not pleased. Its

head slashed forward, firebugs and flaming boulders flying

every which way. Parts of the monster actually broke free,

careening toward Edgar. Orange froth sizzled and charred the

walls black.

The mouth of the beast opened full and wide, big enough to

swallow ten Edgars in one crashing bite. Out of its mouth flew

thousands of firebugs and streams of lava. The stone jaws

slammed shut short of Edgar, but the wave of hot air sent

firebugs flying every where.

As the monster careened backward on its own internal spring,

its head smashed back and forth against the tunnel walls. The

deafening noise of rocks crashing into each other sounded like

the world was coming to an end. The movement created a draft

that pulled at Edgar's shirt and dragged the firebugs back into

the mouth of the monster.

The beast, battered and angry, retreated into the rocks and

disappeared from view. Edgar felt unbearably heavy and tired.

The weight of all that had happened on his journey finally

toppled him to the ground.

Little did Edgar realize that he was staring down the tunnel to

the very place Vincent and Dr. Kincaid had dreamed about.

Edgar was closer than he knew to something he couldn't have

imagined.

A way back to the Dark Planet.

CHAPTER 6A LEAP OF FAITH