The Dark Planet

  ground.

  "I'm here," said Samuel from somewhere ahead in the

  shadows. "Come quick and see what I've found."

  Isabel marched forward into a widening space, and in the

  growing light of orange and yellow she finally came to Samuel's

  side and gasped.

  "It doesn't look like winter to me," said Samuel.

  The two children stood, mouths agape, staring down at a

  perilous cliff that dropped off in front of them. It was hundreds of

  feet to the bottom, and what lay there was about as far from

  being cold and wintry as they could have imagined.

  A river of fire, a hundred feet across, boiled and teemed along a

  twisting path as far as they could see in both directions. Beyond

  the hundred feet of molten rock, there was nothing but a rising

  wall of stone.

  "This is the Inferno, only worse," said Isabel, horrified. It was the

  Inferno on a grand scale, billions of firebugs hovering like a fog

  over billions of pounds of liquefied rock infested with thousands

  of cave eels greedily chomping on every thing their glowing

  jaws could reach.

  "This is a disaster," said Isabel, sweat beginning to trickle down

  her temple. The passage was hotter here, fueled by steam

  rising through the air.

  "We'll go back," said Samuel, finally concluding that he was

  ready to give up the adventure and let the adults decide what

  they would about this place. "We can hand in the tablets and

  the pen and show them the way."

  "At least they're not up here," said Isabel, her mind fixated on

  the firebugs as she crawled closer to the edge. "They stay way

  down there, don't they?" It seemed to put her at ease to know

  she wouldn't have to endure an outright attack.

  Samuel knelt and crept to Isabel's side and together they

  looked all around.

  "There," Isabel pointed across the river. Near the far wall, a thin

  pillar of stone capped with a round platform rose about a

  hundred feet, and a bridge of stone led from the platform to a

  dark opening. It was hard to see for sure in the mottled light, but

  the soft shadows that danced on the wall behind the pillar

  looked for all the world like the shadows of falling snow.

  "The chill of winter is there," said Isabel, suddenly curious

  beyond all reason.

  "I think you're right," said Samuel. He couldn't see how they

  would ever get across the river of fire, but didn't want to

  discourage Isabel. "There must be a way--a bridge or a tunnel.

  We just haven't figured it out yet." He took the tablet and the pen

  from his pack and began scanning the burned lines, numbers,

  words, and symbols.

  Isabel felt a terrible chill run through her as she thought of

  fal ing over the edge. She imagined she would be shocked with

  electricity over and over again until she hit the river and melted

  away in a puff of smoke. Her parents would be left to wonder

  what had happened to her, but there would be nothing of her left

  to find.

  And yet, even in the face of this insurmountable obstacle, Isabel

  could not let go. She thought of Edgar and tried to imagine what

  he would think if he saw her there. He would tell her to turn

  back, and for reasons she couldn't quite explain, this more than

  anything else made her want to find a way across the wide river

  of fire.

  From behind Samuel and Isabel an unexpected noise cut

  through the roar of boiling and hissing and snapping teeth. It

  sounded like the loud crash of rocks being torn asunder.

  "What is that?" asked Samuel, looking up from the tablet and

  feeling the stones beneath him start to shake.

  Gossamer had awoken and found them missing. He had never

  had a reason to go beyond the way of the yards before, so he'd

  never attempted to widen the narrow way. But it wouldn't take

  long for the great black dragon to pummel the walls into oblivion

  to come stand at the edge with Samuel and Isabel.

  CHAPTER 20THE PASSAGEWAY

  OF LIES

  Morning at the Silo brought Red Eye and Socket's usual bad

  temper down upon the boys in the barracks.

  "Get your lazy bones out of those bunks!" cackled Socket. He

  had already pulled out his bender and was walking along the

  row of beds, banging the frames loudly. Edgar leaped from his

  bed like everyone else and pulled on his sandals, hopping on

  one foot and then the other as he headed for the door.

  "Hold up, you," said Red Eye. He took two clanging steps

  toward Edgar and tossed a pair of metal-soled boots into the air.

  The boots flew straight at Edgar's head and would have

  knocked him to the ground, but Edgar ducked as they whipped

  past and crashed into the wall behind his bed.

  "What's wrong with you, boy? Can't you catch?" said Socket,

  laughing maniacally as he slapped the bender against the side

  of his boot. Edgar picked up the heavy boots and found they

  were badly scuffed and way too big for his feet.

  "Put them on," said Red Eye. "You'll be taking a little walk later

  today. Only boots allowed where you're going."

  From somewhere down the line of beds Edgar heard a howling

  cry of pain. Vasher had been whacked by another flying pair of

  boots.

  "You two better start paying more attention," said Socket.

  "You're expected to be men out there, not toddlers!"

  Socket always seemed to be the only one who ever laughed at

  his barbs and jabs.

  "Enjoy your breakfast," said Red Eye as Edgar passed through

  the door. "It'll be the last meal you have under my watch. Who

  knows when you'll eat again?"

  Edgar saw Hope when he reached the kitchen. She was telling

  the younger children silly stories while they drank their

  breakfast. All of the children had enormous, chalky white

  mustaches and giggled at one another. Hope knew Edgar

  would be leaving. She had a hard time looking at him. When

  she finally did look up they locked eyes.

  "I'm sorry you couldn't stay longer," she said.

  "Me, too."

  Edgar wanted to tell her who he was, but there was so little

  time.

  "What was he like?" Edgar asked. He stirred white powder into

  a metal cup of water.

  "You mean Dr. Harding?"

  Edgar nodded and began drinking his breakfast.

  "He was a little like Landon, actually. He had a lot of energy. I

  think he only slept a couple of hours every night, because I tell

  you what, that boy had a new invention every morning. Did you

  know the Silo used to just be a place for orphans to live? There

  were no vines or powder or any of that. Later on, after he had

  been at Station Seven, he invented all these processes. Said it

  was good for kids to work, good for their spirits, gave them a

  sense of purpose."

  "What else did he say?" asked Edgar.

  "He said he would come back," said Hope. She grew sad then,

  and seemed older than before. How old was she? Sixty?

  Seventy? Older?

  "Is there something you want to tell me?" she asked.

  "Let's go! Let's
go!" Red Eye yelled from the echoing hallway.

  He wanted to tell her all about Dr. Harding. She deserved to

  know the truth. He heard Red Eye's boots coming toward the

  kitchen.

  "Don't give up hope," said Edgar. "There's still a chance things

  might work out as he imagined."

  Hope didn't say anything as Edgar raced out of the kitchen and

  into the hall wearing his clumsy new boots. She turned back to

  the youngest children and began telling them the story of young

  Dr. Max Harding.

  Red Eye took the green and orange teams down the center of

  the Silo in one group, dropping orange in the vine room. If not

  for the oversize boots on his feet Edgar might have jumped off

  the descending platform so he could swing through the vines,

  the memory of the night before playing in his imagination.

  When they finally reached the drying room Red Eye pushed

  them off the platform. "Socket will be down before long to check

  on you. He better find at least four blocks or it's going to be a

  very long day for green."

  Red Eye focused his attention on Edgar and Vasher. "And don't

  you go getting lazy on me. You're still mine for a few more

  hours. I expect them to be productive ones."

  He tapped his bender on the rail of the platform, then pushed a

  button and was gone through the opening in the ceiling.

  "Finally, we can talk!" said Teagan. "It's like having a muzzle on

  in this place. Sometimes I think it's going to drive me crazy."

  "Socket won't be long and he'll be looking for a reason to get

  mad," said Aggie. She was al business as she held her hand

  out. "Let's see it."

  Edgar pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket, and like

  everyone else, seemed to forget that there was one member of

  the green team who had been left out of the loop. As the

  crumpled piece of paper passed from Edgar's hand to Aggie's,

  they glanced nervously at Vasher, who had already begun

  working.

  "What's with you guys?" he said, both curious and irritated. He

  had thrown off the big boots the moment Red Eye was gone,

  and he walked in bare feet to a tamping station. "We've got four

  blocks to make, didn't you hear him? I've already been hit in the

  head with a pair of boots today. The last thing I need is a

  lashing."

  He seemed particularly irritated by Edgar in his ridiculous

  boots.

  "Take those off if they're going to slow you down," Vasher

  commanded. "Like Red Eye said, you need to keep working."

  Vasher glared as Edgar untucked his soft sandals from the back

  of his shorts and wriggled out of his boots. In truth, Vasher

  wasn't angry at Edgar; he was terrified of being sent away. His

  frustration voiced itself as bitterness toward the only friends he

  had in the world.

  Landon's quiet voice broke the silence. "We're not working

  today, Vash. We're going with Edgar."

  "What do you mean, going with Edgar?"

  Vash was so mad he wanted to punch Edgar as hard as he

  could. He pulled the tamper out of the chalk box and held it

  firmly in his fist.

  "It's a lot to explain and we don't have time," said Aggie. "We

  planned this while you were sleeping last night. You should

  have come to the vine room like the rest of us."

  "Nobody woke me!" insisted Vasher. He wanted to be included

  despite the fact that he had no intention of going anywhere with

  them, especially if Edgar was leading the way.

  "We did try. You said you were too tired and didn't want to go,"

  said Landon.

  "This is crazy! You can't go anywhere around here. There's only

  one thing we need to do, and that's get the work done before

  Socket gets here."

  Teagan drew in a big breath and exhaled. She didn't like

  confrontations and wanted it to be over.

  "I'm going to say this as quickly and simply as I can," said

  Edgar, giving Vasher the benefit of the doubt and risking being

  caught before they'd even left. "I think I can get us out of here. I

  mean really out of here. But I can't do it from here."

  Edgar pointed at Aggie, who held up the piece of paper with

  impatient exasperation.

  "That paper shows me the way," he continued. "You don't have

  to go with me. None of you have to go, but you can if you want

  to."

  Vasher glanced at each face in front of him and couldn't believe

  what he was hearing.

  "So you're like Dr. Harding from the story, is that it? Came to

  rescue the world, did you?"

  Edgar knew it sounded ridiculous. He shrugged and turned to

  Aggie. "We need to get going."

  Vasher shook his head angrily. "Come on, Landon, we've got to

  get this done fast if they're going to stand around doing

  nothing."

  But Landon didn't budge, and this hurt Vasher more than

  anything. He had felt less and less alive as day 4000 came and

  went, knowing he would soon be banished to the outside world

  on some duty he could only guess would take his life. He had

  shut down almost all the way, feeling nothing but cold and

  empty as he waited for the end.

  But there had always been the one thing that had kept the dim

  light of emotion alive: Landon. He was like a little brother. If he

  let Landon go, the Dark Planet would win--Vasher would be

  dead inside just like Commander Judix or Red Eye or Socket.

  Vasher simply couldn't imagine the loneliness of the Silo

  without Landon.

  "You're not going out there without me," he said. "What if you

  get lost?"

  Landon ran straight to Vasher and wrapped his arms around the

  older boy, sending a plume of white dust into the air around

  them.

  "Trust me, okay?" said Landon, looking up into Vasher's eyes.

  "I know it sounds crazy, but I think this is for real."

  Vasher hesitated, but only for a moment, then he nodded and

  dropped the tamper into the bin. With his arm around Landon,

  they walked back to the circle of friends and everyone huddled

  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 fr
om 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