Beta Planet: Rise (32 page)

Allea nodded and smiled.

“I know that you know pretty much everything there is to know about this planet and the animals that have inhabited it. I want you to start working on the ultimate beast for Jungle Wars, okay? Can you get it done by tomorrow?”

“Jungle Wars? Geon, what are you talking about?”

“G, we can’t enter into the battle,” Sabien added as Kumuki looked up from his food in surprise. “You know that. It would cost one of us all our credits. And then what would we do?”

Geon smiled and took a big sporkful of his fish sludge in his mouth. “You let me worry about that. Ally, can you make a creature that can take on any other creature at Jungle Wars?”

Allea tapped her fingers on her lips as she thought about it for a minute and then smiled and nodded.

“Then do it. By tomorrow.”

Chapter 15

Geon awoke the next morning thinking about the JetSurf competition from the evening before. He had waited until the end of the school day to tell Coach Aquila that he was too ill to compete and that he would have to drop out, and not surprisingly, the coach unleashed a wide array of expletives and insults on him. Despite the lecture and creative onslaught of criticism, Geon was so preoccupied with the other things going on that it didn’t even bother him.

He, Kumuki, and Allea sat with the other students and watched the competition, cheering Sabien and the others on. Unfortunately, the moral support was not enough to contend with the dexterity and speed of the opposing school, as they were pummeled into a loss with a less-than-tolerable time margin. The only saving grace was that Shiv finished dead last, taking Flounder, and Sabien finished second for their team, taking Porpoise. A nagging guilt lie in the back of Geon’s mind, feeling like he had let his team down and knowing that he could have contributed something if he hadn’t lost control of himself with Shiv. Sabien later reassured him, saying, “Sometimes sacrifices need to be made for the greater purpose.”

He stepped out of his REMpod and rushed through his morning routine, excitedly joining the others at the breakfast table.

“Geon, baby, how are you? You sleep okay? Why you are smiling so much, hah? Mama V vant to know vat’s so funny?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, Mama V,” Geon said, looking over at the others. Sabien and Kumuki were looking at him and smiling and Allea was fiddling around with a hologram of some different animals on the E-pillar. “Just happy to see you, that’s all.”

“Oh, my baby, Mama V happy to see you, too! Are you all excited for your big day today?”

“We sure are, Mama V,” Sabien said, still smiling. “We’re going to walk around town a bit and then meet you back here to go to Firewater.”

“Ally,” Geon said quietly. “So? How’s it going? Do you have the
animal
?”

Allea looked up, seeming frustrated and concerned. “Well, I have it, yes. But, I don’t know. I’m worried. I don’t know if it’s ready. I didn’t get much time to prepare enough intuitive and reactive behaviors. I’m running some hypothetical scenarios and it seems to be performing well, but it’s hard to say.”

“Don’t worry about it, Ally. It’ll be great,” he said as Allea scratched her head and began reconfiguring some of the animal’s artificial intelligence on her model. “By the way, what
is
the animal?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

Geon tried to sound optimistic, but was stressed and concerned. He didn’t want to worry the others and tell them his plan, for fear they wouldn’t support him, so he decided it best to keep it a secret until the last moment.

“G, you haven’t even told us WHAT we’re doing and HOW we’re going to enter that thing
into
Jungle Wars!” Sabien loudly whispered.

“GRUNGGGLE GROAARS?” Kumuki sputtered through a mouthful of food as spittles of fish-food went flying onto the table.

“Vat’s dat, Kumuki, dear? You vant more? Dat’s my boy here have some more of dis fishy slop!”

Kumuki nodded as Mama V squirted another blob of off-white sludge into his bowl.

After everyone finished eating, they each gave Mama V a hug and headed outside.

“Okay, G. Now spill it. What’s the plan?” Sabien said, more loudly now.

“I promise I’ll tell you when we get there,” Geon replied, sensing that Sabien would not hold on for much longer. “Let’s hurry up.”

The four of them hurried to the underground space where the battles were held. Once inside, Allea sent the code to unlock the door and they entered into the noisy room once again.

“Okay, guys,” Geon said to the others. “So, here we are.”

The other three looked at him in bewilderment but he just stood there smiling at them.

“What in the galaxy are you up to?” Sabien mumbled as Allea checked her cuff to see what other creatures would be fighting on this day.

“Interesting,” she said. “Looks like I may need to tweak a few things here and there.”

“Allea, I don’t know why you would need to tweak
anything
at all,” Sabien said, becoming flustered at being kept in the dark about Geon’s plans. “Considering we certainly can’t enter into Jungle Wars without credits, and we
certainly
can’t risk every credit that we have!”

“Trust Geon, Sabe. He knows what he’s doing. Right, G?”

Geon smiled as Sabien shook his head and he and Kumuki looked around the room at some of the other competitors for the battle.

“Okay, guys. I’ll be right back,” Geon said, pushing his way through the crowd and over to one of the organizers in the back of the room. Moments later, he came squeezing through the crowd and back to them. He had a smile on his face and was buzzing with energy.

“It’s done,” he said. “We’re officially entered into Jungle Wars!”

“What do you mean it’s done, G?” Sabien yelled over the crowd. “How are we entered? That would take every credit you have in the… wait, G, you didn’t…”

“Geon, what did you do?” Allea asked, looking up from her cuff with a worried expression.”

“What’s happening?” Kumuki cried.

“G. Please don’t tell me you did what I think you did,” Sabien asked, stepping closer to Geon.

Geon smiled and nodded and looked slowly at each one of them.

“I did, Sabe. I bet nearly every credit I have.”

He lifted up his arm to show that his LifeCuff had only a few credits left on it.

“OH MY GOD!” Kumuki shouted, looking at Geon and then back at the others.

“G, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS. I CAN’T BELIEVE IT. WHAT IN THE GALAXY WERE YOU THINKING, G?”

“G,” Allea said calmly. “Sabien is right. Why would you do that? You have been accruing those credits since you went into a coma. You know that we don’t have much in this world, and that we need those credits to eat… to
survive
.”

“I know, Ally,” Geon said, putting his hand on Sabien’s shoulder. “And I know that none of you would have let me do it, which is why I didn’t tell you. But you have to understand something. I feel like everything is connected. And everything that has happened since I awoke… it’s, it’s not just random coincidences. I believe that we’re a part of this for a reason. That
I
am a part of it for a reason. And Ally, you’re the most intelligent person I’ve ever met, and what you’re building for the TechSci Concours could one day change this world. This is the only way to get enough credits to get that water filter that we need to exchange with the Dissenters for your parabolic antenna. So if I have to make a sacrifice for you, I would do it. I would do it a thousand times if I had to.”

Allea’s eyes became glassy with tears and she smiled and put her hand on Geon’s. Kumuki sat staring with his mouth open and Sabien stared at Geon, still shaking his head back and forth.

“Guys,” Geon continued. “Don’t worry. You aren’t responsible for what I did, and I know we’ll figure it out together. If I have to skip a few meals, I’m okay with that. And most importantly, I
know
Ally can win this battle, so there’s nothing to even worry about!”

Allea turned to look at Sabien who finally stopped shaking his head and smiled at Geon.

“You’re unbelievable, you know that, G?” he said.

Geon laughed and looked at Allea as the voice from above signaled all the competitors to submit their creature for verification.

“Which brings us to the question of the day,” Geon said. “Ally, what
is
our animal?”

“Well,” she said, looking up and playing with her hair. “I went back and forth between a few different options. At first I was going to use a large mammal like a rhinoceros but then I realized I needed more intelligence so I switched to something from the ape family, but then I thought I needed more ferociousness so I switched to a crocodile, but then I realized I needed more agility so I—”

“What is it?” Kumuki squealed.

“
It
is right there on the board,” Allea said as she sent the animals info to the organizer. They looked up at the clearboard on the side of the platform and saw that all the contestants’ names and animals were appearing on it.

“LEOPON!” All three boys cried out in unison.

“WHAT IN THE GALAXY IS A LEOPON?” Geon yelled out, suddenly nervous about his risky bet.

“Oh my God, we’re doomed,” Sabien said putting his face in his hands. “Lions, hippos, bears, boars, snakes, dinosaurs… and we’ve got something called a leopon. Oh my god.”

“Doomed!” Kumuki repeated, looking at Sabien with a worried expression.

“Well,” said Allea with a droll smile. “I wanted to find something that no one had ever used, that way we would have the upper hand in terms of fighting style surprise. A leopon is a very rare creature, a cross between a lion and a leopard. Canis lupus hominis, to be exact. It almost never happens naturally in the wild, but I was able to find the E-DNA information online from a zoo that had one in captivity in the mid-1900s!”

“Wow! LEOPON!” Kumuki said with a smile.

“I almost used a liger or a tiglon, but I really like the addition of the leopard in the animal because it gives it more jumping ability and agility than just about any animal on the planet!”

“Whaaaat?” Kumuki croaked.

Geon began laughing loudly as Sabien and Kumuki looked at him in confusion.

“I
knew
you’d come up with something great, Ally,” he said with a huge grin. “A Leopon? Half-lion and half-leopard? That’s the best of both animals. That’s brilliant!”

“Actually, it’s really… genius,” Sabien humbly admitted. “I personally might have gone with something a little less exotic, but I’m sure your choice is just fine.”

Allea smiled and looked back up at the board. “I’m just glad the silverback didn’t show up today. That was the one I was most worried about. Though there are a couple animals up there that I’m still really concerned about.”

“Don’t worry about it, Ally. One match at a time.”

A voice from above signaled the first match in the event, as the four of them made their way closer to the platform. The first match was between the cassowary and the anaconda.

“By the way, what in the world
is
a cassowary?” Geon asked.

“You’ll see,” Allea responded with a smile.

Suddenly, the platform lit up and a giant slithering spotted green snake appeared on one side, its enormous pointed-teeth-lined mouth agape and its cold dark eyes staring straight ahead of it. On the other side appeared a large round black bird, with long thin clawed legs and a long bright blue and red neck. Just atop its head, above its pointed beak, was a yellow horn-like crest.

“This one is going to be over quick,” Sabien said, motioning to the snake on one side.

“Definitely,” Geon agreed. “That bird is going to get slayed.” Allea looked at them and smiled, mumbling, “We’ll see.”

“Three… two… one… FIGHT!”

Within seconds of the battle starting, the cassowary sprung to life and flew across the platform, straight for the head of the snake, its clawed-feet outstretched in front of it. It squawked loudly as it ripped and scratched as the snake’s face.

“Oh my God!” Geon exclaimed. “Look at that bird. It’s insane!”

“Run, snake, RUN!” Kumuki shouted.

The anaconda tried to slither away and protect its head from the bird with the rest of its body, but it was already too late. Both of its eyes had been badly damaged by the cassowary, leaving it to try to rely on its other senses. The snake stopped moving and sat perfectly still for a moment, waiting for the bird to strike again. When it did, the snake opened its mouth and launched out at it, trying to grab it in a ferocious bite. The bird was too quick, deftly avoiding its jaws and landing right on top of its head where it proceeded to peck and scratch it once more. Its skin was punctured many times and blood came pouring out of it. The bird tried to grab the snake and pull it off the platform, but it proved to be too heavy for it to lift.

“That’s the problem with the bird,” Allea said. “It’s fierce, but when you have to knock the animal off the platform, it has a size disadvantage.”

“Still,” Geon added. “I woudn’t have bet on that bird, but it’s destroying the anaconda.”

Allea nodded and continued, “It won’t be able to pull the snake off the platform very easily. But by the looks of it, if it continues to attack at this rate, the snake will lose too much blood and die.”