Final Quest (21 page)

- 65 -

DEATH OF A FRIEND

Drew and Jasmin are back on their feet. Jasmin is awkwardly holding the knife, its long, thin blade glistening menacingly. There’s hesitation in Jasmin’s eyes. She’s facing a horrible choice: either she kills Drew, or Drew kills her.

Drew is inching towards Jasmin as though he senses her indecision.

Santtonnice turns towards Capurni who is working with Jamie to enter the sequence of numbers into a control panel.

“Five, three, four, twenty-one…” Capurni says.

Jamie is furiously manipulating one of the control panels. He must be entering the numbers.

Santtonnice raises the emerald in his hands.

He takes a step towards Jamie and Capurni, but unexpectedly stumbles and goes flying through the air, smashing into a control table.

Squirt bounces up from the floor, a huge smile on his face.

I rush to one side to get a closer look at Santtonnice.

His ankles are wrapped in wire. Squirt must have found some wire and wrapped it around Santtonnice’s ankles, causing him to fall.

Michael grabs a chair and smashes it over Santtonnice’s head. The chair breaks into pieces, momentarily dazing Santtonnice.

Radwin dives at Santtonnice and flashes his lights, further confusing the hideous spider-like being.

I’ve got to get the emerald.

“Eight, thirty-four, ten…” Capurni says.

Jamie continues to enter the numbers.

Michael grabs something from one of the tables. It’s a splintered piece of one of the legs from the chair he used to hit Santtonnice.

One of its ends is a jagged piece of metal.

Radwin is still flashing his lights into Santtonnice’s eyes.

Michael launches himself at Santtonnice who is lying on the floor.

Over and over again, Michael stabs Santtonnice with the broken chair leg.

With blood spurting out of Santtonnice, I fall on my knees and crawl towards him.

“Keep hitting him,” I say to Michael.

Michael is like a wild man as he continues to smash the chair leg into Santtonnice.

I’m within inches of being able to grab the emerald necklace.

Michael pauses in his attack.

I grab the necklace and tug.

Nothing happens.

“I can’t get it off him.”

Michael joins me.

Santtonnice is barely conscious.

We have the gold chain in our hands.

“Pull!” I shout.

The chain snaps.

Michael and I fall backwards.

The emerald is in my hands.

Immediately, I unleash my fury on Santtonnice. He’s not going to get away this time.

Over and over, I shout “Abruella!

Bolts of lightning are smashing into Santtonnice.

I aim the emerald at his head, pulverizing him again and again.

Santtonnice is on fire. He’s consumed by flames.

A horrible scream crawls out of his mouth.

His eyes close.

He’s helpless to fight back.

I continue to shout, “Abruella!”

The lightning bolts are ripping him apart.

An arm grabs me.

It’s Michael.

“You can stop,” he says. “Santtonnice is dead.”

I stare at Santtonnice.

There’s barely anything left of him.

“Ten more numbers,” Capurni says.

Jamie is carefully entering the numbers on a control pad on one of the tables.

I realize that Drew and Jasmin are silent.

They’re gone.

I hear an ugly groan from behind the tables.

I’m sure it’s Jasmin.

I race around a few tables.

I’m shocked by what I find.

Jasmin is kneeling over Drew.

Protruding from his chest is the handle of a knife.

Drew is not moving.

- 66 -

FIVE MINUTES

Jasmin starts to cry.

She has killed Drew, the love of her life.

I put my arm around her.

Tears are falling from my eyes as well.

Drew was our friend.

“That’s the last number,” Capurni shouts.

Jamie and Capurni race to a series of large windows that overlook the disaster that is unfolding below us.

The rest of us follow.

Noticing the blood flowing on Jasmin’s arm and leg, I touch my emerald against her wounds.

The bleeding stops.

Looking out the window, I cringe.

Much of Washington is gone. The White House no longer exists.

The sky is filled with VOPs that are continuing to dive like angry birds.  There’s no resistance to them. There are no more jet fighters attempting to stop them.

Suddenly the sky turns red with explosions. It’s as though a volcano is erupting in front of us.

Thousands of VOPs are self-destructing.

We have done it. We have destroyed the VOPs.

Balls of fire are twisting towards the devastation below.

Our Space Explorer shudders from the blinding explosions.

“Five minutes,” a voice says. It’s Michael’s father again. “Great work everyone, but you’ve got to find a way to destroy the  Explorers before they attack us with other weapons. If you are unable to destroy them within five minutes, we will have to launch nuclear warheads at them.”

I wonder if they have considered what will happen if a nuclear weapon explodes near my emerald. I know we are going to have to flee from the Explorers before this happens, but first we must try to stop them. Although nuclear warheads might stop the Explorers, the resulting explosions would kill millions of people and damage the environment for decades.

Two humungous Space Explorers are turning in the sky.

“They’re repositioning themselves to begin a new attack,” Michael says.

“The power of the weapons on the Space Explorers is many, many times greater than those of the VOPs,” Capurni says. “Within minutes, they will kill millions and millions of people. We must act fast.”

“What can we do?” I ask.

Michael and Jamie are exploring controls on one of the walls near where we are standing.

They start pushing buttons.

One of the walls opens revealing a pod, or what looks like a glass bubble. There are two chairs in the pod.

Michael and Jamie leap into the chairs as though they know exactly what to do.

In an instant, they’re putting on helmets that were attached to the arms of the chair.

It’s as though Jamie and Michael are sitting at a new video game control center.

Their chairs swivel.

They begin to touch buttons on the armrests of their chairs.

Pulses of light begin to shoot from our Space Explorer.

The window in front of Jamie and Michael lights up. It appears to be showing targets.

“Use the joystick,” Michael says.

There’s a short black joystick that resembles a video game controller on one of the arms of each chair.

As Michael twists the joystick, the pod where they are sitting turns in another direction.

Michael maneuvers the pod so that they are facing the other two Space Explorers.

“I think the red button can be toggled to lock onto a target,” Jamie says.

“I’ve got the Explorer on the far left,” Michael says.

“I’ve got the one on the right in my sights,” Jamie responds.

“We’ve got to make this count,” Michael says.

“Got that,” Jamie replies.

“Ready to shoot?”

“Yes.”

“Fire away!”

A burst of light leaps from our Space Explorer leaving a trail of white vapor behind it.

As Michael and Jamie continue to fire, small explosions begin to occur on the surfaces of the other two Explorers.

The two gigantic Space Explorers turn towards us.

Streams of light fill the sky.

We’re under attack.

“Green button,” Jamie shouts. “It launches missiles.”

A barrage of missiles streaks towards the two Explorers.

The missiles explode before they reach their targets.

“They must have a missile defense system,” Michael says.

Through the blinding fire and black smoke in the sky, missiles are coming at us.

“I don’t know how to stop them,” Jamie shouts.

Our Explorer explodes in various locations as the missiles hit us.

Flames leap in front of our windows.

“Michael, you have three minutes,” a voice comes from a spy-pad.

In three minutes, nuclear warheads are going to be fired at the three Space Explorers.

“Even if the Zelareans in the other two Explorers use their missile defense system, the nuclear warheads are still going to explode,” Michael says to Jamie.

“All three Space Explorers will be vaporized by the nuclear weapons,” Jamie says.

I race to another window.

Can my emerald possibly save us? If I can use it to destroy the Explorers, there will be no need for any nuclear weapons.

I focus on one of the gigantic Space Explorers. There are small fires burning on its surface from the continuing attack by Jamie and Michael.

In the distance is the Atlantic Ocean.

“Korabellum, Space Explorer into the Atlantic Ocean.”

I shut out everything that is happening around me.

The only thing that exists is the Space Explorer I’m looking at.

I visualize the Explorer turning towards the ocean. I concentrate as it drifts downwards.

In my mind, I keep repeating my command.

The Space Explorer is picking up speed.

It’s falling into the ocean.

“Emily, you did it!” Capurni exclaims.

I blink my eyes, returning back to reality.

In the distance the gigantic Explorer plunges into the ocean. The impact is incredible. Massive waves leap upwards. The huge structure explodes as it slowly sinks.

“One minute,” a voice comes from Michael’s spy-pad.

“Dad,” Michael shouts, “call off the nukes. Emily can destroy the other
Space Explorer. There’s no need to send any missiles at the Explorer where we are. We have complete control of it. I’m sure Jamie will even figure out a way to safely land it.”

There’s no response from Michael’s father.

“Emily, do your magic on the other Explorer,” Michael says. “I think we’ve lost contact with my father. We’ve got less than one minute to stop them from sending the nuclear missiles at us.”

Immediately I focus on the other Explorer.

“Korabellum, Space Explorer into the Atlantic Ocean.”

A huge explosion rips apart one of the walls of the command room. Our Space Explorer shifts.

We’re all sent flying.

“We’re going down!” Jamie shouts.

“You’ve got to reach me!” I yell at my friends as I crawl back to the window.

The second I have a view of the other Space Explorer, I say, “Korabellum, Space Explorer into the Atlantic Ocean.”

Even though our Explorer is dropping like a bomb towards the surface of the earth, I keep concentrating on the other Explorer. I keep repeating the command.

As the other Space Explorer begins to descend towards the ocean, I shout, “Sandarium, Hall of Mirrors, Elpis.”

- 67 -

VICTORY

The Hall of Mirrors was the safest place I could think of to come to on the spur of the moment as our Space Explorer was about to crash.

A group of confused, but happy faces greet me.

I wonder if all my friends were touching me when I gave the command to my emerald to bring us here.

Jasmin is hugging Michael. They both have huge smiles on their faces. Jamie is sitting on the floor, looking victorious.

Tiny paws digging into my shoulders tell me that Squirt is here.

Radwin is buzzing around the room in celebration, his bright lights bouncing off the mirrors creating the effect of being at a concert.

Where’s Capurni?

“Capurni?” I say.

There’s no response.

“Great work,” a voice echoes behind me.

I turn in the direction of the voice but still don’t see anyone.

Capurni appears through a crack in the wall that I don’t remember seeing before.

“Great work everyone,” Capurni says again. “I believe the three Space Explorers have been destroyed and your planet has been saved, even though the damage was significant.”

Significant? That’s an understatement, I think.

I wonder if my mother and father are still alive.

Completely unexpected, a multitude of beings begin to flood into the Hall of Mirrors from undetectable cracks in the walls.

Capurni’s smile tells me that we don’t need to be frightened.

Soon, the Hall of Mirrors is filled with the Forgotten People.

“These are some of the Forgotten People,” Capurni says. “When their leaders were captured yesterday by the Stapols, these people went into hiding. Now that the the Zelareans and the Stapols have been defeated, the Forgotten People would like to reclaim their planet.”

I wonder if Capurni somehow influenced my decision to return to Elpis. Did he use sensergy to put a thought into my head about where we would flee when the Space Explorer was crashing?

Capurni grins at me. I think I have my answer.

As Capurni turns to the hundreds of people around the room, he says, “I would like to introduce you to the Keeper of the Emerald.”

I know how important the emerald is to the people of Drapesia. I hold it high above my head. A green light glowing from it is reflected in the mirrors around the room.

Perhaps the emerald is also pleased to be back home. I know that my emerald belongs on Drapesia. I’m convinced that Capurni would be the perfect Keeper of the Emerald.

The Forgotten People bow to me. I’m humbled by their reverence.

“I know that each of you is eager to return home,” Capurni says as he looks at me and my friends.

“Home, home, home,” Squirt says.

“But first,” Capurni continues, “we need your help.”

I wonder what it is that Capurni is going to ask us to do.

“We need to return to the Wall on Zelares where the leaders of the Forgotten People are imprisoned. It’s time to set them free.”

“We’d be happy to help,” I say.             

“Emily, there are a number of concerns to be resolved on this planet. After we free the leaders, the Forgotten People will have to help hundreds of thousands of Drapesians who are addicted to trichoma. The Forgotten People will need you to help them travel to the other islands to do this. Some of their scientists will also have to change the settings on the controls for the trichoma to prevent an overdose from flooding the planet this evening as the Zelareans planned.”

I nod. I’m more than willing to help Capurni and the Forgotten People. I realize that there is one more request that Capurni hasn’t mentioned.

He smiles at me.