The Dark Planet

  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 n
ose 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.

  "You will get out of my way," said Commander Judix. And now

  she spoke with the old Commander Judix majesty and cunning

  that had been such an important part in her rise to power. She

  could not be denied.

  She had pushed a button on her chair and already Grammel

  could hear the sound of metal boots approaching from different

  directions. He stepped aside, astounded at the reception he'd

  been given, and two men arrived.

  "Give him whatever he wants," said Commander Judix. "I'll only

  be a moment."

  "That's more like it!" said Captain Grammel. He wouldn't be

  pushed around by anyone, especially not a desperate woman

  on a forgotten outpost in the middle of nowhere. There were

  plenty of 4000's along the shore, and he could--and did--throw

  them away when they became more trouble than they were

  worth.

  He ordered the two men to bring him something strong to drink

  and whatever they had to eat that was fresh off the kill from the

  forsaken wood. It was the one thing he loved about this place

  that kept him coming back. It was the only place with fresh

  Cleaner, a delicacy hardly anyone in the world knew about, and

  he aimed to keep it his secret for as long as he could. All those

  bizarre creatures in the forsaken wood were dangerous, for

  sure, but my, they tasted so good!

  As Commander Judix rolled toward the laboratory she began to

  feel a migraine rising up the back of her neck. It was a

  dangerous move, leaving Grammel to fume while she chased

  an unthinkable dream. Could Atherton be back within her

  grasp? Was that even possible? She turned down a side hall

  that would take her to a communication box. She would get Red

  Eye on the line again, just to be sure he'd gotten the name right.

  "You're getting heavy!" said Vasher. Teagan was standing on

  his shoulders and Landon had climbed up the side of them both

  to the ceiling, as if they were a human ladder.

  "Hold on! I almost have it," said Landon. He was so excited to

  be out of the Silo his hands wouldn't stop shaking.

  "What's going on up there?" asked Edgar from the hall. He and

  Aggie stood by nervously, wondering if the door to the Silo was

  going to open. The hallway ran a good eighty feet long before

  there were any turns to speak of. If someone found them, there

  would no place to hide.

  "Have you ever been in here before?" whispered Aggie. It had

  been years since she'd been out of the Silo at all, and she had

  never set foot in Station Seven.

  "I've only been in the woods and the Silo. This place seems

  big."

  "And empty. Like it's haunted or something."

  They both looked down the long hall and wondered how far it

  went. At some point it became too dark to see where it ended.

  "I got it!" said Landon. "Push me higher."

  "Not so loud up there," said Edgar.

  When Aggie and Edgar looked again they saw Vasher lifting

  Teagan up on his hands, which sent Landon right through the

  grate he'd opened in the ceiling.

  "He's in," said Edgar, marveling at Vasher's strength. Years of

  working in the Silo had made him wiry and strong.

  "You next," said Edgar, pulling Aggie gently toward Vasher.

  Aggie began climbing up at the same moment Edgar heard a

  noise he didn't like the sound of.

  "Hurry! I think someone's trying to open the door!"

  Socket was on the other side, spinning the dial and trying to

  remember the code. Because the door was almost a foot thick,

  he couldn't hear the green team scrambling.

  "Curse this thing!" howled Socket. "What are those numbers?"

  He kept spinning and stopping until the door finally clicked and

  swung open.

  The hallway was empty and still as he crept through.

  "Anyone there?" he said softly. Socket hadn't had a lot of

  experience in Station Seven and it seemed deserted since the

  last time he'd been there. "Hello?"

  Landon, Aggie, and Teagan had made it up into the space

  above the ceiling. They'd secured the grate in place just in the

  nick of time. Teagan looked at Aggie, both of them thinking the

  same thing. Where are Edgar and Vasher?

  Socket kept walking nervously, becoming anxious from the loud

  sound of his own boots. He didn't want to meet anyone and

  have to explain himself.

  Socket didn't really think they'd come this way--how could they

  have without the combination?--but he kept going just to be

  sure. He was approaching the place where
the passageway

  split off into three directions. He paused, wiping the grime from

  his eyes. Here it was dark enough not to need his goggles, but

  his eyes were forever leaking watery goo that had to be wiped

  away. As he stood clearing his eyes he heard something, soft at

  first but growing louder.

  Clang, clang, clang.

  Boots, thought Socket. Someone is coming!

  Socket backpedaled toward the door.

  The green team's not in here. This was stupid! They're up to

  some mischief in the Silo, and time's wasting!

  He dashed back through the passageway of lies and slammed

  the door shut behind him.

  Vasher and Edgar breathed a sigh of relief where they stood

  hidden around the corner, barely out of view.

  "What now?" said Vasher. Their little adventure was off to a

  frightening start and he was breathing at twice his normal

  speed.

  "Up!" said Edgar, running back down the hall toward the door.

  They both heard the steps getting closer and closer.

  "Hurry!" whispered Edgar. By the time they reached the door

  the grate was already out of the way again and Aggie held both

  arms down out of the ceiling.

  "Come on!"

  The footsteps were getting frightfully close. They were down to

  seconds or they'd be caught. Edgar and Vasher scrambled up

  the wall, and soon they were hidden in the ceiling like the rest.

  A lone guard, brandishing a weapon in one hand, came into

  view down the hall. He slowed, seeing that the door to the Silo

  was shut. The guard crept toward the door and touched it as

  Aggie and Teagan slowly lowered the metal ceiling grate back

  into position.

  The guard examined the unlock mechanism.

  "What are those fools doing over there?" he said, and then for

  good measure he yelled uselessly at the door. "Stop banging

  the door!"

  Everyone on the green team stayed perfectly still. It was

  harrowingly difficult, especially for Vasher. He wanted to move

  so badly that a nervous twitch began to form in his wrist. They

  listened for a long time until the sound of footsteps disappeared

  in the distance.

  "That was double close," whispered Teagan. "It feels like

  everyone is looking for us. Maybe we should go back."

  "No way!" said Landon. "Socket'll beat us senseless. We can

  do this. I know we can."

  "No one's going to find us up here. Let's go as far as we can

  and see where it leads."