Master of Shadows, Chapter 10: Answers

A few hectic minutes later Jack and Lily emerged from the underground plaza and made their way back onto the street. The explosion had temporarily dazed Jack, but with the help of his wife he was able to make it up the stairs and to the surface without incident. So far they had not been followed, but neither of them let their guard down. Lily continued to hold onto the glowing blue cylinder and Jack gripped his rifle, ready to shoot at anything that moved.

“That could have gone a lot better,” Lily remarked.

Jack nodded. “Sure. But at least we got what we came for! At least, I hope we did. If it turns out that cylinder is not an energy cell then we get to do that all over again.”

He took a moment to survey the area before they moved on. All around them were towering skyscrapers, ruined from extreme age. There was not a sound to be heard anywhere. The metal frames of the buildings that surrounded them emitted a blue light that matched the rays coming from the cylinder that Lily was holding. Overhead the weak sun was hidden by a bank of gray clouds. Jack saw nothing that looked dangerous.

“Let’s head back -” he began, and then he heard a whistling noise in the distance. Jack grabbed his wife and they dove for cover in a nearby building. As soon as they got inside a large shadow appeared in the street behind them, completely blocking out the sun.

Jack peered out the door of the building they were hiding in and looked up. Overhead was a large vessel of some kind. The underside of it was made of a smooth, blue metal. “I can’t believe it,” Jack muttered to himself. “That ship is at least the size of four city blocks! Where does this planet hide all this stuff? First robots, now ships…”

Jack aimed his rifle at it and fired. The white bolt shot harmlessly through the ship and struck a skyscraper on the other side. With an enormous pow the massive building exploded! There was a brilliant flash of white light, followed by a shockwave that rattled the entire block. Pieces of metal flew everywhere.

Lily’s eyes widened. “Jack!” she screamed. He followed her gaze and saw that the explosion had carved an enormous hole out of the building about five hundred feet off the ground. The hole had damaged the skyscraper’s structural integrity and the top half of it was beginning to collapse. With an enormous groan Jack saw girders begin to snap like toothpicks. The upper portion of the building then leaned over and crashed into a neighboring structure. Both buildings then tumbled to the ground in a mighty roar. A huge cloud of dust appeared, pushing shards of metal down the street at high speeds.

By the time the dust settled down the ship could no longer be seen. It had simply vanished. Jack shook his head. “I can’t believe it! It was just an illusion – like that annoying alien that keeps popping up everywhere. It wasn’t real! Who do they think they are?”

“Please stop firing that weapon,” Lily pleaded. “Suppose the top of that building had fallen on us instead of its neighbor. Where would we be?”

Jack shook his head. “I know, dear, I know. But you can hardly expect to destroy an alien mothership with a hand-held laser pistol!”

“But the ship wasn’t real,” Lily pointed out. “There was nothing there to destroy!”

“That robot was real, though,” Jack replied. “The ship could have been real. How was I to know?”

Lily sighed. “Let’s just get out of here. Nothing good ever comes of being in this city.”

Jack and Lily stepped out onto the street. The way forward was blocked by debris from the fallen building, so the couple took a series of side-streets to go around the obstruction. After they were on the other side they began the long hike back to the desert.

After ten minutes had gone by and nothing else had happened Jack breathed a sigh of relief. “I guess they’ve had enough,” he said quietly. “Maybe they’ll leave us in peace now.”

At that moment Jack heard a crunching noise behind them. He whirled around in time to see a huge cloud of dust and debris form a few blocks behind them, not far from where they used to be. Jack frowned. “How many buildings did we destroy, anyway? Did I miss something?”

“Maybe the collapse of those first two weakened the foundation of another structure,” Lily suggested. “None of these buildings look very safe. It might not take much to knock them over.”

As the dust settled there was suddenly a blue flash of light, followed by a loud crack. Before the echoes from the sound had even died down the the city suddenly went dark. All of the buildings simultaneously stopped glowing and the shield that protected the city vanished.

Jack grimaced. “Please tell me that wasn’t my fault.”

“I’m pretty sure it actually was, dear. After all, you were the one that decided to start shooting at everything in sight!”

“I didn’t quite mean to destroy the city’s power grid,” Jack said ruefully. “But maybe something good will come out of this. It’s just possible that the city will leave us alone now and stop sending giant killer robots after us.”

“Let’s not stick around and find out,” his wife suggested.

“Agreed,” Jack replied.

The couple resumed their hike. The sun was directly overhead by the time they reached the Raptor. “At least the ship is still here!” he said cheerfully. The two of them boarded the ruined starship. When Lily began walking toward the stairwell, however, Jack stopped her. “I know it’s lunchtime, but would you mind if I went ahead to the computer room and got things going? I’m not very hungry and I’d like to get a start on things. Connecting that blue cylinder to the ship’s computers is not going to be easy.”

Lily shrugged. “Go right ahead. Is there anything I can help with?”

Jack shook his head. “Sorry, dear. I mean, I love you and all but without a degree in electronics there’s just not much you can do.”

“What if I keep a lookout?” Lily asked. “It might be nice to have some advance notice that we’re about to be attacked. So far we’ve just assumed that nothing on this planet means us any harm, but I’m not sure that’s a valid assumption anymore. Not after you blew up their city, anyway.”

“True,” Jack said thoughtfully. “They may get a little testy about that. Do you want to borrow my rifle?”

Lily shook her head vigorously. “I don’t even want to touch that thing. I wish you’d get rid of it, Jack. It’s dangerous.”

Jack laughed. “That’s the whole idea behind weapons, dear! They’re supposed to be dangerous. But I get your point.” Jack took the blue cylinder from his wife and headed into the rear of the ship, while his wife dusted off a chair and sat near a gash in the ship’s hull. From where she was sitting she had a clear view of the surrounding desert, but it would be difficult for anyone outside to see her.

Jack made his way to the room that housed the ship’s computers and scoured the area for tools. After he found everything he needed he started working. An hour later he was interrupted by his wife.

“How’s it going?” she asked.

Jack looked up from the computer that he had just dismantled. Parts lay strewn all over the ground, and the blue cylinder was now connected to a maze of wires. “Kind of slow, actually,” he replied. “I’m pretty sure this thing is producing power but I’m having a terrible time extracting it. And that’s just the easy part! After I find a way to get the energy out I’ve still got to convert it into something that won’t fry every piece of machinery in this room. It’s not very easy.”

“You’ll get it,” his wife said confidently. “No intruders have approached us, by the way, so we’re good there. Are you getting hungry?”

“Come to think of it, I am,” Jack said thoughtfully. “Do you think you could fix me a sandwich or something?”

“Sure,” she replied. “I’ll be right back.”

Jack watched his wife disappear and then turned his attention back to the job at hand. Twenty minutes later Lily returned bearing sandwiches and a drink. Jack thanked his wife, ate the meal, and then returned to work.

After lunch Lily resumed her guard duty. Three hours later, however, she walked back into the energy room. This time she found Jack staring intently at the blue cylinder.

“Any luck?” she asked.

Jack sighed. “I’m not sure. So far this afternoon I’ve ruined almost a half-dozen power transformers. Apparently I’ve found a great way to destroy perfectly-good machinery. This thing excels at that.”

“Well, that’s progress!” Lily said encouragingly. She found a chair in the corner of the room and sat down. “Mind if I watch the fun? It’s kind of boring outside.”

Jack sighed. “Guard duty is supposed to be boring, dear. If it’s not boring then that means aliens are invading, and that’s a bad thing. The more boring it is the better.”

Lily shook her head. “That’s easy for you to say – at least you have something to do! I just have rocks to look at. Do you know how exciting it is to stare at rocks for hours on end? And it’s not like these are pretty rocks, either. They’re black. They’re ugly. They’re not the least bit exciting. They don’t even have anything interesting to say.”

“I don’t know that this is going to be much better,” Jack replied. “I’ve yet to meet a power transformer that was a good conversationalist. But you’re welcome to stay and watch if you want! I won’t make the love of my life leave the room and go do something else.”

“Thanks,” she said, smiling. “So what are you doing now?”

“I’m about to plug in the cylinder again and watch it burn out another transformer,” Jack said. “Are you ready?”

Lily nodded. Jack gritted his teeth and carefully set the blue cylinder down inside his makeshift connector. Instantly the transformer hummed to life!

Jack looked at a power meter that he had connected to the circuit. “Ok, wait for it…”

Without warning the room suddenly came to life! The handful of unbroken lights that dangled from the room’s ceiling began glowing. Many of the computers in the room were damaged, but the undamaged ones powered up and started to boot. Rows and rows of tiny orange and green lights began blinking.

“Wow!” Jack exclaimed. “I can’t believe it. It actually worked! This must be my lucky day. But how long will it hold, I wonder?”

Lily stuck her head out into the hallway. “It looks like the lights are on in a few other rooms too! At least, the lights that are still intact.”

Jack nodded. “So that’s good. The next question is -”

He was interrupted when a holographic figure appeared in the room. The figure was of a woman slightly shorter than him, with short red hair, green eyes, and a stylish orange uniform.

Jack groaned. “Please tell me it’s not another hologram! I am so tired of dealing with holograms today.”

The woman’s eyes widened. “I apologize for your inconvenience, Jack Rossman. Is there any way I can help?”

Jack gasped. “It talks!”

“Of course,” the woman replied. “My name is Rachel. I am the computer for the starship Raptor. Or, perhaps, the former starship. The few sensors I have left indicate extensive damage.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Lily replied. “My name is Lily.”

Rachel nodded. “I know. I apologize for the role I played in abducting both of you. I did not realize what was going on until we reached Lemura. I then attempted to remedy my mistake but by then it was tragically too late.”

“Too late for what?” Lily asked.

Rachel looked at her sadly. “Too late for many things, I am afraid. Too late to stop Alice Montaine from stealing the Third Treasure. Too late to return you to Eagle City. Too late to contact the authorities and let them know that they have a dangerous problem.”

“Wait a minute!” Jack exclaimed. “Hold on. Who stole the Third Treasure?”

“Alice Montaine did,” Rachel replied. “You see, some time ago she came to believe that the weapon that was used to destroy the First Races is hidden inside a secret chamber on this planet. She also came to believe that someone was trying to break into that chamber and steal the weapon – presumably so they could use it against mankind.”

“Who are the First Races?” Lily whispered.

“I’ll explain later,” Jack replied. “Let her finish.”

Rachel continued. “Alice brought this information to Caedmon Starlight, but instead of acting on her recommendation he told her to study the problem further. All of this I knew. What I did not realize until too late, however, was that after Caedmon rejected her advice Alice decided to take matters into her own hands. She tricked Mayor Seaton into giving her access to the computer systems that guarded the Third Treasure, and she used that access to plant a virus in each system. That virus brought Eagle City to its knees, shutting down its defenses and allowing her to steal the Third Treasure.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense!” Jack said. “Everyone in town saw Alice board the Molly and chase the thief that had stolen the Raptor. Besides, the creature that forced me to transport the Third Treasure out of the museum was a black alien shadow, not a human.”

Rachel shook her head. “That creature was Alice in an Ahmanyan invisibility cloak. She had adjusted it to give off the appearance of a shadow in order to conceal her true identity. Disguising her voice was not hard. It is true that she boarded the Molly, but like many ships of its class the freighter had a wormhole transporter. It was a simple matter for her to transport herself into your work environment and then transport back to the Molly.”

“But someone stole the Raptor!” Jack protested. “We all saw it happen.”

“Nobody stole me,” Rachel replied. “I did not even realize I had been reported stolen. Alice simply contacted me and told me to leave immediately for Lemura. She said something had come up and she would meet me there. When your wife appeared on board she claimed that she was a spy and asked me to keep her in stasis, so I did. When you came after her I assumed you were a spy as well and placed you in stasis with her. I am deeply sorry for this misunderstanding. I take full responsibility for it. I should not have been as trusting.”

“I just can’t believe it,” Jack repeated. “When did you find out the truth?”

“It was when the Molly entered orbit. I immediately detected the Third Treasure on board her ship and realized what had happened. I contacted Alice and told her that I was going to report her to the authorities. Instead of surrendering, however, she opened fire on me. I returned fire in hope of disabling her ship and recovering the stolen artifact. When I saw that Alice had transported off the ship I destroyed it so she would be trapped on the planet and unable to escape. Sadly, her last salvo destroyed me as well. I was not able to call for help.”

“So what do we do now?” Lily asked.

“Panic,” Jack said. “I think this would be the perfect time to panic.”

Rachel looked at Jack curiously. “Why is that?”

“Lots of reasons! Let’s see.” He started ticking reasons off on his fingers. “We’re trapped on an alien planet. The planet is trying to kill us. The only other human being on this planet is a rogue Starman that kidnapped both of us. And there’s no way to call for help. Do you want me to continue?”

“You have to stop her,” Rachel said. “You must recover the Third Treasure. That artifact contains some very dangerous information. Alice may be planning to use that knowledge to destroy this entire planet.”

“But Alice is alone here, right?” Jack asked. “Surely she needs more than just a crystal ball to do some real damage.”

“She may be alone but she is not without supplies. On her previous trip here she established a base camp deep below the planet’s surface that she stocked liberally with supplies. She has enough claytronic material with her to produce almost any of the machines that are recorded within the Treasure.”

Jack whistled. “Oh boy. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse! Do you have any other wonderful bits of news to add to this conversation?”

Rachel nodded. “I do. Someone on this planet has noticed that I am now operational again and has fired a guided missile at us. It will strike us in less than thirty seconds.”

Jack’s mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”

“Run!” Rachel shouted.

Before Jack could respond Lily was already out the door and down the hall. Jack raced after her but to his surprise he could not overtake her. It took them less than ten seconds to leave the ship. Once outside Lily ran out into the desert, as far away from the vessel as possible. Jack followed after her as fast as he could go. He had almost caught up with her when he heard a whistling noise behind him. “Hit the ground!” he shouted.

His wife dove onto the desert floor and Jack followed suit. Seconds later he heard an enormous explosion. His head was buried in the ground but he could feel a searing heat behind him and knew that a huge fireball had just gone up. The sound from the blast temporarily deafened him.

Jack rolled over and looked at the ship. What he saw did not surprise him. “It’s gone,” he said softly. A giant crater now sat where the battered hull of the Raptor used to be. The blast had tore the starship into shrapnel and scattered its tiny pieces all over the desert. There was nothing left of the once mighty vessel but small shards of metal.