Atherton #3: The Dark Planet (No. 3) (30 page)

Seeing they were in good shape, Gossamer started to fold his

long wings and gazed into the opening at the end of the

platform.

"I think he wants his treat," said Isabel. "We'd better get off."

And so they did, but not before closing their eyes, smiling

broadly, and remembering what it was like to ride on

Gossamer's wings.

"Go on," said Isabel. "Go get the fig."

Gossamer bent low and passed through the opening, which

seemed oddly just the right size for him to fit through.

"At least he didn't have to make the opening any bigger," said

Samuel. "I imagine that's a lot of work."

The two followed Gossamer until they reached the opening and

realized this was the end of their journey. Where there had

been orange and red light before, there was a new, more

brilliant white creeping out from behind many of the rocks.

"What do you think we'll find?" asked Samuel.

Isabel shrugged. "Whatever it is has captured Gossamer's

attention. He should be back by now."

Samuel and Isabel walked through the opening, where they

found the dried fig sitting on the ground. Samuel bent down and

picked it up, handing it to Isabel.

"That's odd," he said as he watched her examine it and put it

back in her pouch. "He didn't seem to have any trouble finding

the last one."

"Let's keep going," she said. "He's fast, but he can't be that

much farther ahead of us."

As they curved downward their way drifted from side to side in a

long zigzag. It brightened as they went, and all of the new,

whiter light came from the ceiling, which had taken on a sharp,

glassy appearance far above. When they finally came to the

end of the passageway they found Gossamer standing at the

opening, looking out.

Samuel and Isabel walked up next to Gossamer, who also

seemed to be mesmerized by the unexpected view. They now

realized that they must have reached the bottom of Atherton. A

gaping hole opened to reveal the Dark Planet way off in the

distance.

"Do you think Edgar is stil there?" asked Samuel.

"I do," said Isabel, feeling something inside that told her he

wasn't home yet.

"Gossamer seems... I don't know, different," said Samuel. The

dragon regarded this new surrounding with a sense of

understanding, as if a distant memory had filled his mind.

"Maybe he knows something," said Isabel.

"What's this?" asked Samuel. He was the first to see a massive

wall rising to their right. There were thousands of moving

shadows shining through it, like large fish dancing in an

underground sea.

"Those look like..." started Samuel, and Isabel finished his

sentence: "Cleaners."

"I think that's the bottom of the lake in the middle of Atherton,"

said Samuel. "Or some hidden chamber of water we can't see

from up top. There are thousands of Cleaners behind there."

The shadows moved fluidly and seemed to touch the

translucent wall and move away again, over and over, as the

Cleaners danced and swayed.

The wall was covered with thousands upon thousands of

gigantic egg-shaped impressions. Within each wide impression

were millions of sharp spears of light.

"They're filled with crystals," said Samuel. "I've read about them

before. It's like glass, only it isn't. It grows."

They moved closer still and both seemed to realize at once that

this wall was more dangerous than it had appeared at first. At

closer look, the crystals were like spikes, hard and deadly and

filling the wall.

Isabel's eyes followed the wall up and over her head. The

ceiling was covered with white spikes, too. If she hadn't known

what she was looking for she might have mistaken it for a

ceiling that was merely glistening. But seeing the wal up close,

she knew better.

"I'm not sure we should stay here," she said. It would only take

one to fall from the ceiling to pierce her right through.

"I think you're right," said Samuel, looking back and wondering

how quickly they could escape.

"Gossamer," said Isabel, looking back and seeing he was still

gazing out at the Dark Planet. He turned to her and looked sad.

"Something's wrong with him."

"You're right, he does look different," Samuel agreed. "Let's get

him out of here. That might improve his mood."

"Come on, Gossamer. Time to go," Isabel coaxed.

He followed at first, though it was with some reluctance--but

when they came to the way out, he made a strange noise.

"What is it?" said Isabel.

Gossamer edged forward and brushed her aside.

"He wants to go first," said Samuel. "Better let him."

As Isabel stepped aside she noticed a kind of sadness in

Gossamer's expression, but also anticipation for something the

children could not understand. "What is it, Gossamer? What's

wrong?"

But he didn't answer. Instead, he drew in a breath and blew fire

all along the ceiling. Then he lay down before the opening as if

guarding it from their entry.

A few seconds later the ceiling began to rain down all through

the passageway in pure white shards that shattered like glass

when they hit the ground. The fragments were about a foot long,

four or five inches across at the base, and sharp as needles at

the tips.

"He's trapped us," said Samuel in disbelief.

Isabel couldn't believe Gossamer had betrayed them. She

wouldn't believe it.

"Let us through, Gossamer," she said, sure the beast would

stand, unfurl its wings, and cover them as they went. But

Gossamer only drew a breath and set his enormous head on

the ground to rest.

"Maybe we misjudged him," said Samuel. "Who knows what

he's really thinking?"

But Isabel was unmoved. "He blocked the way for a reason.

He's waiting for something to happen."

Gossamer lifted his head, craned his neck away from them, and

blew fire on the ceiling of the passageway again. The shower of

white needles looked as if it might go on forever.

"So what do we do?" asked Samuel.

"We do the only thing we can do." Isabel went to Gossamer as

he laid his head back down. She touched his nose gently and

wondered what he was thinking behind those dark eyes, so

much like her own.

"We wait with him."

CHAPTER 24THE YARDS

No one on the green team could be a hundred percent certain

who would come into Dr. Harding's unlocked laboratory next.

Maybe Commander Judix had sent Red Eye or Socket to

search the station and it would be one of them who stumbled in.

The green team was hiding by the door to the yards when the

door to the lab slipped quietly open.

Everyone waited, barely breathing.

"Anybody home?" said a soft voice they all knew.

"Hope!"

Everyone said her name at once and ran through the laboratory

as Hope entered and pushed the door gently shut with her

shoulder.

"You came!" said Aggie. "I knew you'd help us!"

Teagan, Landon, Aggie, Vasher, and Edgar all gathered around

the tall slender caretaker of the Silo and beamed. She wanted

to hold each one of them, but her hands were already occupied

with the item they'd asked for.

"This thing is really heavy," said Hope. "I hope you're not going

far."

"We're not sure how far we're going," said Vasher.

"But we think we're getting close," said Aggie. She didn't want

Hope to try and stop them or worry too much.

Hope set the powder block down with a thud on one of the

many tables strewn with junk. If a person hadn't known it was

from the Silo they'd probably think it belonged here. It fit right in

with all the other puzzling objects.

"I can't stay here for long. Commander Judix will be looking for

me. It's going to look awfully suspicious if I'm not there."

"You don't have to go back to the Silo, you can come with us,"

said Landon, expectation rising in his voice. He liked the idea of

having Hope along to keep him safe. "We're going to find

Gossamer."

"I can't go with you, Landon."

"Why, sure you can!"

Hope turned her gaze on Edgar and spoke volumes without

saying a single word.

Who are you? Please tell me you're not deceiving these kids.

Edgar was blunt, not because he wanted to be, but because he

had to be. Time was running out.

"Dr. Harding created me a long time ago. Probably right here in

this laboratory where no one could see. I was his biggest

secret. He's gone, Hope--I mean he's
dead.
But he sent me

back here, I think to finish what he started."

The words stunned Hope, but looking at the boy, it all added up.

It was why he was so different, and it was just the sort of thing

Dr. Harding would do.

"He never said anything about you. He must not have trusted

me as much as I thought."

"Actually, that's not true," said Edgar. He held out the piece of

paper they'd been using all along and pointed to a set of words.

The old woman whispered them aloud.

"'Hope you can trust.'"

Her eyes filled with tears and she began to wonder about

something Edgar had said. Could it
really
be true?

"You said Dr. Harding sent you back. Back from where?"

"From Atherton, of course!" said Landon. "He came in this thing

called the Raven. The Raven needs a powder block for some

reason, at least that's what we think --"

"Landon, please," said Vasher. Sometimes the rapid-fire sound

of Landon's voice made Vasher tremble.

"We really need to go," he said. "Every second we stay here

makes it more likely we'll get caught."

Hope knelt down and put one hand on Aggie's shoulder and

another on Landon's. All of the green team was pulled in close.

"I've been asked to leave the Silo before. I couldn't go then for

the same reason I can't go now."

"All those kids," said Landon, suddenly realizing why Hope had

to stay. "You can't leave them alone with Red Eye and Socket.

You're all they've got."

Hope smiled at the youngest boy and worried for his safety. But

she knew the truth of the matter. The Silo wasn't safe, and

eventually Captain Grammel's ship wouldn't be safe, either. In

fact, nothing about the Dark Planet was safe. She was only a

stopgap for these kids on the way to something far worse.

Wasn't it worth it to let them at least try?

"You seem to have a plan," she said, trying to put on a good

face and encourage them. "If you get sent back to the Silo I'll be

there to make certain they don't punish you too badly. But if by

some miracle you get off the Dark Planet, don't come back here

unless you're sure it's safe."

"We really have to go," said Edgar. The whole group was

feeling a huge weight of anxiety as the minutes slipped passed.

Hope looked at each member of the green team as she went for

the door.

"I'll be waiting at the Silo if you get in trouble."

When the door shut behind her there was a frenzy of activity.

Edgar grabbed the powder block and cradled it in both hands.

Aggie and Teagan had the map out again, scanning it to be

sure where they were going. Vasher and Landon were already

racing across the lab, past the statue of the ravens and the

model of Gossamer until they arrived at the door to the yards.

Vasher turned all seven of the locks on the old door. Each snap

calmed him, as if he'd been overfilled with energy and the

twisting motion had let out a bit of steam.

The door was thick and wooden, but it was tightly sealed on

every side. When it opened they were all immediately aware

that they were now exposed to something from the outside. It

smelled of smog and filth that stung their nostrils. Beyond the

door lay a staircase that went down a few steps and turned hard

under the laboratory to places they could not see. A row of ten

or twelve masks and goggles hung along the inside wall.

"Should we put these on?" asked Edgar. The air outside

seemed thicker and more poisonous here at the water than it

had in the forsaken wood.

"I think that would be a really good idea," said Aggie, pulling on

a filter mask and goggles and helping Edgar with his. Edgar let

everyone go down the stairs before him and was just about to

close the door behind them when he pulled his goggles up on

his forehead and took one last look out the window.

Captain Grammel had made it down the jetty and fired the great

boilers on his ship. Clouds of black smoke billowed from wide

pipes as the boat moved off without leaving a load of fuel for

Station Seven.

"Stay low along the rail," said Vasher. His voice sounded

muffled from inside the mask.

Edgar's lungs still burned even with the mask on, and the haze

seemed to envelop them in a deadly fog.

The map led them outside into the smog, along the wall where

there was a hard right turn. The line of companions sped up, but

as they neared the turn they piled up in a jumble and froze in

their footsteps. A noise, big and monstrous, erupted from