Atherton #3: The Dark Planet (No. 3) (37 page)

sitting out front gutting Cleaners. It was a truly disgusting and

slimy job, the one job no one on Atherton wanted to do. But

someone had to do it.

"Hi, Red Eye," yel ed Aggie, though she knew he couldn't hear

her.

"What's that you say?" said Socket, his ears buzzing. They

worked for Mr. Crane, who was a very demanding boss, and

they lived in the little shack at the end of the pier. Red Eye and

Socket kept to themselves mostly, but they seemed to find some

sort of peace there by the lake.

Sometimes Edgar would walk by at night and see them staring

out at the water, neither of them saying a word, and he

wondered what they were thinking. Edgar imagined they

probably had some regrets. Maybe Red Eye and Socket wished

they could go back to the Silo and do things differently, or

maybe they'd do it all the same if they were given the chance.

One thing was certain--there were enough Cleaners to be

gutted to last them a lifetime, so they were going to have a lot of

time to think about what they'd done.

It took the group a while to walk to the very place where Edgar's

trip to the Dark Planet had begun. They went straight to the rim

of Atherton, crawling on all fours so they could peek out and

see what they could see. But it was daytime so they couldn't

make out much of anything; only blue sky in every direction. But

at night every thing would change. Then, just like on the Dark

Planet, they would be able to see the whole universe laid out

before them. The night stars were there for both worlds to see.

"Do you think it looks any different?" asked Aggie, unable to

see her old home but thinking of little else. "I wonder how the

other teams at the Silo are doing. And Hope--I wonder if she's

okay."

They had all wondered the same things. They'd made a solemn

promise not to go near the edge for two months--sixty days!-and even Edgar had kept his word. For whatever reason, Dr.

Kincaid wanted them to stay away until the Raven returned. So

they had kept the promise, though it had been very tempting to

sneak away at night and peer out over the flat edge of Atherton.

It was midmorning as they backed away and opened the bags.

"Let's start the fire and cook the rabbits," said Landon. "They'll

be here soon and we can have it all ready."

Everyone thought this sounded like a good idea. It would keep

them busy while they waited, and besides, they had grown

hungry on the long walk. They set to work starting the fire,

skewering the whole rabbits, laying out the bread and leather

bag of water.

They became so involved in setting up the feast that none of

them saw the Raven come silently into view. It made a distinct

sound of many sharp points hitting a hard surface when it

landed and everyone jumped up.

"It's got its spikes back!" Vasher said. The Raven looked as

scary as ever.

The door opened and Dr. Kincaid emerged with Vincent. Edgar

thought Dr. Kincaid looked a little less ancient on his return, like

a long sadness had been lifted and it had given him a new

lease on life. They hugged and laughed and the questions flew,

all of them deflected until they sat together around the fire and

the crackling rabbits.

"They smell marvelous!" said Vincent. Landon watched as Dr.

Kincaid peeked curiously inside one of the empty bags. He had

only known Dr. Kincaid a short time, but already Landon knew

the old man's great love of a certain kind of food.

"Briney said if I bring you to the party there'll be plenty of Black

and Green," said Landon.

"A clever one, that Briney," said Dr. Kincaid. "He knows how I

hate parties."

The doctor smiled at the amazing new eight-year-old who had

arrived on Atherton. "I suppose we'll have to go, won't we?"

"I suppose we will," said Landon.

Dr. Kincaid glanced at Vincent with a knowing look, and then

turned his gaze on everyone.

And this is what he said.

"You can interrupt me if you must, but I think it will be better if

you don't. Try to let me tell it all at once, then you can ask your

questions."

He had been thinking of how he would tell them on the whole

journey home. Dr. Maximus Harding had always loved a good

story told well, and Dr. Kincaid aimed to honor the maker of

Atherton.

"It took me a while to piece every thing together, but after

studying the items in his laboratory more carefully, visiting the

secret room under the yards, and talking with a lot of people,

including Hope, I believe I have the whole of what Dr. Harding

has done in hand."

Everyone's eyes lit up at the sound of Hope's name and they all

opened their mouths, desperate to ask about their friend. The

firm look on Dr. Kincaid's face stopped them all.

"We will get to Hope soon enough," he said. "You have my

word. But first to the matter of the chill of winter."

Vincent settled in by the fire and began turning one of the

neglected rabbits over the coals. He was content to let Dr.

Kincaid tell the whole tale.

"The migration of white Ravens--as you so kindly named them-numbered in the hundreds of thousands. So the first thing we

have figured out is this: It would appear Dr. Harding used

Atherton not only as a new home for a very few, but far more

significantly, as an incubator for something awfully important.

"He was smart enough to realize that telling others would only

lead to problems. If Commander Judix had found out--which

she almost certainly would have with her powers of

persuasion--she might have corrupted every thing. Too much

meddling and Atherton probably would have never performed

its task. Trust me as you go out in the world: Decisions by

committee are almost always long in coming and dead wrong.

A world-changing vision comes from one person, not five or

twenty or a hundred, and more often than not, the best of plans

are laid to waste by the many."

Teagan was fidgeting, trying not to ask about Commander

Judix. What had happened to her? Was she still in control of

Station Seven? Was she even alive? Teagan barely held her

tongue as Dr. Kincaid went on with the story.

"The white Ravens could not have been formed by any other

method or in any other place besides Atherton. For reasons I

can't fully understand, these incredible objects are the product

of a changing Atherton. The swimming Cleaners are involved in

the deepest part of the lake, the eels and firebugs and rivers of

fire all play their part. I think even
we
play a part. The powder

block was the final element, the trigger if you will, that turned the

caterpillar into a butterfly."

Dr. Kincaid received some confused looks for this last

comment, but he raced onward before anyone could ask a

question.

"As I said, the white Ravens left Atherton by the hundreds of

thousands, and many of them circle the globe still. They release

crystals into the air by the trillions. Day and night, from high in

the sky of the Dark Planet, the crystals seem to melt and break

free, falling through the muck and filth of a broken world, and in

so doing, change every thing."

Dr. Kincaid poked his finger at one of the rabbits. "Those are

done," he said, his mouth watering at the thought of such a

tempting treat. Vincent pulled the spit off and slid the rabbits

onto one of the cloth bags. The cooked meat steamed as Dr.

Kincaid pulled off a leg and began eating. It was nearly

impossible not to ask a question or two while he enjoyed the

food, but everyone held firm as they'd been instructed, and after

he finished the leg he was back to the story of what they'd

found.

"Do you see how that cloth soaks up the grease from the

cooked rabbit? The crystals are something like that. They fall,

like an endless winter ice storm, and as they fall the smallest

particles of the poison on the Dark Planet are collected. But the

real magic happens after that, because the crystals aren't like

the cloth. They don't hold the things they touch, they make them

disappear. Not every thing the crystals touch disappears, only

the things that have sought to destroy the Dark Planet."

"But what happens --" Samuel started, but Isabel stopped him

with a brush of her hand.

Dr. Kincaid, determined to tell the whole story at once, stopped

and filled his mouth with a hunk of bread Samuel's mother had

made. He followed with a gulp of water. Then, when he was

sure they were going to stay quiet, he went on.

"The shards that don't get used up in the air fall to the ground as

rain, and you should see what happens when they hit the

oceans and land. You can almost feel the Dark Planet being

scrubbed clean, getting healthier by the hour as the rain falls

and falls and falls. Pollution of every kind sizzles and steams

away. It's nothing short of spectacular.

"Ten days ago Vincent and I both noticed the rain getting

heavier. But when we woke three mornings ago the rain had

turned softer again. By the time we left there was almost no rain

at all at Station Seven. And guess what? We weren't wearing

masks outside when we left, and neither was anyone else."

Everyone circled around the fire smiled at once.

"It took Gossamer a little longer to clear out the wood than we

thought it might. You've never heard anything quite like a

dragon going to battle against an army of giant Cleaners and

Spikers. Days and nights of fighting, until only the queen Spiker

and a very tired black dragon remained. Gossamer is a warrior

beyond anything I have ever seen. Vincent and I spent the

better part of an entire day watching from Station Seven. The

smog had cleared from the forsaken wood. Fallen trees and

creatures lay every where, and we were able to watch as

Gossamer destroyed the last and biggest of Dr. Harding's

mistakes. It was the scariest, most awe-inspiring show I've ever

seen or ever will see.

"But do you know what the best part was? Through it all,

Gossamer never once breathed fire on anything. He was too

afraid of burning down a single tree or accidentally setting the

Silo on fire. He took one look at the Silo and somehow knew it

was filled with children. He protected it above all else, and I

don't think a Cleaner made it within a hundred yards of the Silo

in all the days of clashing."

Dr. Kincaid paused a moment, pulling once more on one of

those floppy ears of his. Then he shook his head with a smile of

wonder on his face.

"Do you know, I don't think Dr. Harding ever really grew up? For

him, saving the Dark Planet was a story that had to be told, not

a problem that needed to be solved. I wonder if we thought

more like he did, more magically, if we'd have figured things out

on our own a long time ago. It's funny, but I remember he was

always terrified of anything that flew. Even small bugs bothered

him, but especially birds. And to think he made Gossamer to get

rid of all the terrible things he made by accident. Sometimes our

biggest fears must be overcome in order to find our way. I

suppose Dr. Max Harding knew that better than anyone."

Dr. Kincaid stared at everyone. It appeared that he'd come to

the end, and Edgar was the first to venture a question.

"Why didn't you bring anyone back with you?" He was thinking

of Hope, but also of the other children in the Silo.

"We can't do that, Edgar." It was Vincent, who had been sitting

silently next to Dr. Kincaid the whole time. "We can't start

shuttling people back and forth between the two worlds.

Atherton wasn't made to accommodate everyone on the Dark

Planet. Now, thanks to Maximus Harding, we think the entire

planet will survive--so long as they learn from their mistakes.

We're sending the Raven back to the docking station, where it

will stay."

Edgar wanted to protest, but he knew Vincent was right. Things

could get very complicated if people from Atherton wanted to go

back and others were constantly showing up from the Dark

Planet. What if Atherton failed as the Dark Planet had? There

was only one sure way for that to happen: invite a lot of people

from the Dark Planet to bring their things and live here. Edgar

could already imagine Atherton turned into a place of metal and

machines. The best solution was to cut the cord for good now

that the Dark Planet had been restored.

Vincent walked to the Raven, went inside, and returned with

something in his hands. "Hope asked me to give this to you."

He held out a wooden box and no one knew who should take it.

It was from someone they loved and were never going to see

again. Edgar felt like he was part of the green team now, but he

didn't think it right to take it himself, so he waited until Aggie

reached out and gently took the box from Vincent. It was a lot

heavier than she'd expected.

"Open it!" said Landon.

Aggie undid a string that held the box shut and took the lid off.